Since Lu Zihao wasn’t answering her questions about what he had been up to while he was gone, Iris decided to move on to another topic instead. She didn’t want to annoy her big brother, especially since they hadn’t seen each other for such a long time. She glanced at his people following some distance behind them.
They were men and women who also had a dangerous air about them like Lu Zihao. But of course, they couldn’t compare to their boss’ own aura. They might appear intimidating to regular people, but they were still considered tame compared to the Vetrovs’ subordinates from the siblings’ past lives. Their family organization’s subordinates were cold-blooded and deadly human machines. Lu Zihao’s current subordinates, however, still retained their humanity despite their dangerous aura.
“You bought a lot of people with you, Big Brother,” Iris commented, as they continued walking along the hallways.
“Hmm… Yeah,” Lu Zihao simply replied, not elaborating.
She didn’t give up and continued asking him, hoping that he would at least give a satisfying answer even to just one of her questions.
“Why do you need so many people? Are they staying here, too? Do you need that much protection? You’re really doing something dangerous, aren’t you? Wait, how long are you going to stay here? Don’t tell me you’re leaving again soon?”
He chuckled at her insistent questioning.
“Yes, some of them will be staying here with me. The others will just visit on a regular basis. I already informed your Jin Liwei, and he gave permission to allow them to stay here. Don’t worry about them too much, little sister. They’re just my training partners to strengthen this weak-ass body of mine. I need to train it regularly because it’s the type of body that degenerates quickly if I don’t keep it active. So pathetic. And yes, I’ll be staying here for a while so don’t worry,” he told her.
Iris’ eyes lit up after hearing that he would be staying this time and wouldn’t leave so soon.
She didn’t even notice that he didn’t reply to her question about doing something dangerous. She just felt happy to be with her big brother again.
Lu Zihao gave his excited sister a sidelong glance while allowing himself to be pulled along by her. It was obvious how much she loved Jin Liwei by her expression whenever she mentioned his name. Although Lu Zihao already accepted and approved of their relationship, there was still a small part of him that wanted to punch Jin Liwei in the face. It was just a natural urge stemming from his protectiveness of his sister.
The moment he envisioned punching Jin Liwei in the face, a small twinge inside him protested.
‘Oh, shut up!’ he scolded the annoying presence inside him.
The intangible presence inside him gave a silent harrumph before settling down.
Iris’ phone vibrated. It was a text message sent by Ketchup. It said:
“[cute kitty emoji] Mommy, Uncle’s people have surrounded the entire property and have begun patrolling with Daddy’s subordinates. Ketchup is waiting for Mommy’s instruction on what to do about them. [a cuter kitty emoji]”
The message was written in Hausa, a language Lu Zihao wasn’t familiar with. He glanced at the message. When he didn’t understand what was written, he lost interest. He had no idea that it was about him.
Iris slightly tilted her head to the side. However, she didn’t feel too suspicious. This was her big brother, after all. Besides, she was too happy about his return that she didn’t want to create conflict between them so soon. She figured that it was just her brother being cautious as usual, that was why he ordered his people to patrol the property. It seemed that Jin Liwei didn’t mind, even instructing his own subordinates to go along with it.
“Ketchup, leave them,” she replied in an audible voice, speaking in Mandarin.
“What ketchup? You want to eat?” Lu Zihao asked, confused.
“I’ll tell you some other time but not now,” she replied with a mysterious smile.
“Heh~” He raised an eyebrow but didn’t continue asking any further. After all, he didn’t answer all of her earlier questions either.
Iris didn’t mind telling her big brother about Ketchup. She trusted him but not his people. She would tell him when they weren’t around.
Finally, they arrived at the door leading to the huge rotunda which had been transformed into an indoor forest. Lu Zihao gave a silent order to his subordinates with just his eyes alone. They nodded and stationed themselves outside the door. They wouldn’t follow the siblings inside.
He opened the door and entered with his sister. As soon as they stepped inside, a streak of orange flew towards them. Popcorn launched his agile body at his mommy who caught him. He meowed loudly and rubbed his head quickly against her before attempting to leap at the man beside her. The affectionate cat remembered his Uncle Zihao, even though the man had changed a lot since the cat last saw him. Iris handed Popcorn to her brother who could only sigh, as he received the cat in his arms.
A big grey furball arrived next at a much slower pace. Ice Cream huffed and puffed, as she jogged with much effort to greet her mommy. However, she stopped in her tracks when she saw the tall and big man beside her mommy. Her eyes became suspicious, and her body language indicated that she went into full-alert mode.
Iris chuckled seeing Ice Cream. “Come here, baby. Look, it’s Uncle Zihao.”
The grey cat refused to come closer, even when her mommy called for her.
“Meow~” Popcorn became even more affectionate to Lu Zihao, thinking that his uncle was praising him.
Iris pouted, unhappy that one of her babies had been insulted. Although she agreed that Popcorn wasn’t a smart one, his big brother was too mean for speaking too bluntly.
“Little sister, you should be more cautious and suspicious like Popsicle. You’ve become too trusting of people,” he told her.
She pouted even more. “Her name is Ice Cream, Big Brother. Not Popsicle.”
He only shrugged. “Popsicle, Ice Cream. Same thing.”
“No, they’re not.”
“Whatever.” Then he looked at her with a serious expression. “Stick to naming your pets. When you have your own human children, let your man name them. Promise me, alright?”
“But I want to name my own babies! Liwei agrees that I have an excellent and creative naming sense.”
Lu Zihao blinked a few times. “Ah. You know what? You couple shouldn’t be allowed to name your own children. Let other people name them. Your kids will thank you when they grow up.”
A faint sense of panic rose inside Lu Zihao. He mustn’t allow his sister to name his human niece and nephew. There was no way he was going to call his future niece or nephew with a ridiculous name like…like Barbeque or Cheesecake. Jin Liwei would probably even praise his sister for such cursed names. Lu Zihao inwardly shuddered at the thought. He quickly thought of a way to dissuade his stubborn sister. Then a bulb lit inside his mind.
“How about let the old man name your child instead? He’s been whining about wanting to have a great-grandchild for so long. Have some pity on such an old man and give him the privilege of naming your child. It’ll delight him to no end for sure. How about it?”
He waited for her reply, a hopeful look in his eyes. He trusted Grandpa Lu’s naming sense more than his sister’s or Jin Liwei’s.
“Oh.” Iris’ defensiveness immediately evaporated. “Well…you’re right. I’m sure that Grandpa Lu would love to do that. Hmmm. Fine. But I’ll have to discuss this with Liwei first. After all, I can’t make a baby on my own.”
Lu Zihao’s relief was short-lived. He scowled at the idea of his sister making a baby with Jin Liwei. He mentally kicked himself in the head for initiating the topic.
“Little sister, remember. Marriage first before pregnancy,” he said through gritted teeth.
Instead of becoming intimidated by his dangerous aura like she would have done before, this new Iris just giggled at her big brother.
“Okay, Big Brother. Don’t worry. We always use protection without fail. Liwei is very responsible. Sometimes I would forget, especially when I become too caught up in the moment, but he always remembers,” she told him.
He scowled and released the orange cat in his arms who already had enough petting. Then he grumbled, “Too much information. I don’t want to hear about it. In my mind, my sister is still a virgin.”
Lu Zihao growled. “I said I don’t want to hear about it!”
