“Surprisingly, Qin Chuan did not reveal that you are his daughter. Revealing your identity would have created a lot of ripples in the business community.” It has been days since Qin Hao’s news and Zhang Yifei’s kidnapping broke the internet and yet, no one knew of Lily’s involvement until now. Also, apart from that no one has any clue that she was a Qin from the main branch.
“He is a smart man,” Lily answered while her gaze was fixed on the salad bowl that Zhuo Jingren had made for her. “I asked my father to talk to Qin Wuyang alone. Do you think… I made the right decision?”
“You are asking me?” amusement instantly flashed in his eyes. Lily was asking his opinion about something that she did. This…
“I am. I know we have already talked about all this and for some reason, my curiosity is killing me but I also know that he will suffer soon. I don’t really know if I want to face a man like him. Maybe I am just being emotional or something… I don’t know.” She shrugged. “The important thing is I want to move forward and leave everything behind.”
Zhuo Jingren nodded in satisfaction. Her words only meant that she wanted to spend more time with him, right? “I think what you did is right. We could have him deal with Qin Wuyang while we move forward. But don’t you want to know why he wanted to ruin his own brother?”
“Men are really simple,” she answered. “It’s either, jealousy, love or greed. I’m sure the reason is one of those three.”
“Simple, huh.”
“I’m sure my father would tell me about the reason and also ask my opinion about it. So… it’s okay. It’s almost the middle of October and the opening of Harmony Isle is fast approaching. I don’t want to waste a lot of time being involved in the things that would not give me profits,” she answered. “Speaking of which… Tomorrow is the day that we go to Japan for your mother’s death anniversary, right?”
“Hmmm… Bei Tian is also coming.”
“He seemed to love your mother and father so much.” She noticed just how Bei Tian would always act like a brother to Zhuo Jingren and judging from the man’s reaction every time they talked about Zhuo Jingren’s adoptive parents, Lily could say that Bei Tian truly respected them.
“He does. He is especially close to my adoptive mother and usually does whatever she wants of him. Remember those 300 step stairs that I carried you towards the abandoned temple?”
“Yes. Of course.” How could Lily forget this man’s antics when they had climbed the stairs towards the temple?
“Well… didn’t you ever wonder how could an old woman climb up and reach the temple? It was always Bei Tian. He would carry her on his back as he sang her favorite song,” he said, his eyes seemed to sparkle as he reminisced the past. “He just spoils her too much,” he shook his head.
“I guess she was the only mother that Bei Tian knew,” Zhuo Jingren added.
“So why not adopt him as well?”
“At that time… my father needed someone to work in the shadows. Bei Tian had a way with people. He was talkative and cheerful and no one would suspect someone like him. His charm is different,” he explained. “By the way… why are you asking so many questions about him? Aren’t you interested to know more about me, instead?”
Lily lifted an eyebrow at the man in front of her. He was wearing a simple V-neck shirt and sweatpants with a towel thrown over his shoulders. Zhuo Jingren had just finished his work out and Lily could still see small beads of scattered sweat on his face. “Are you jealous?”
“Jealousy is for the weak,” he instantly denied it as he turned his back on her and walked towards the fridge to get a bottle of water.
“Is it? Then… why don’t you tell me more about him?”
“Why should I?” he countered, meeting her gaze, his eyes had turned colder. But it wasn’t enough to make Lily shiver. Instead it made her laugh in glee. This was actually the first time that the man had showed her that he was jealous.
“Alright.” Lily nodded and turned her back on him.
“Where are you going?”
“Since you don’t want to tell me… I will go and ask him myself,” Lily said. However, before she could even take a step away from him, Zhuo Jingren had already stopped her with his hand hugging her from behind. Lily could feel his hot breath just behind her ear.
“You wouldn’t dare.” It was not a command nor an order. However, the danger in his voice was just enough to make her stand frozen. But Lily easily recovered from her stunned state. She narrowed her eyes as she could hear his drumming heartbeat against her back.
“You wouldn’t do that.” This time his voice had mellowed down. It was more gentle, subtle. It was as if he was coaxing a child. It was the exact opposite of the tone that he had used before.
“Relax,” Lily said, her hand subconsciously stroked his arms, calming him down. He was jealous and that was pretty obvious. However, Lily did not understand why he would actually get jealous over his friend and she would not ask him now. This was not the right time for that, she thought. “The best way to know someone better is to know the company that they keep.”
“Hmmm…” She felt him nod behind her as she felt his breathing grow calmer. “I’m sorry.”
…
“Master, we just found out that someone has taken over the Qin Family’s diamond business in the black market. They are foreigners. The same people who took over the Tang Empire in Hong Kong,” the clean shaven burly man’s voice reveberated inside the room, breaking the ominious silence as he announce his presence.
The man in front of him, only nodded at his words. His gaze was glued in the newspaper in his hand. To his left sat an unfinished tobacco that was still emitting some smoke. Beside the ashtray was a cup of hot tea that provided the room with the faint smell of jasmine, his superior’s favorite.
“Observe and report,” the man’s gentle voice echoed after a few seconds. It was soft and surpringly sweet to his ears.
“I understand.” the burly man replied and slowly left the room, as quietly as possible so as not to disturb his superior.
After a few seconds, the man with the newspaper lifted his head, an unfathomable gleam flashed his eyes as he looked at the news once again. In the newspaper, an image of Qin Hao being arrested could be seen.
“Interesting,” he muttered.
