The manager turned to see two figures standing there, when he got a good look at one of them, he couldn't help but shrink back.
"Do you want to know where Jin Soohyang and Mr. Tian are?" The two figures were slowly approaching, and a cold voice spoke, making his entire body freeze up.
The disappearance of Mr. Tian and Soohyang was sudden and without any trace, but the company didn't even give a single statement about it. In the beginning, he had suspected that they had both escaped in fear of retaliation from Tang Enterprise, but it looked like that wasn't the case at all? Was it possible that their disappearance had something to do with the man in front of him?
The manager's legs were shaking when he came to that conclusion, facing the two figures, there was a heavy pressure in the air that made it hard to breathe.
Lisa glanced at Jungkook, the cold expression still on his handsome face. She rubbed her chin thoughtfully. So what had happened to Soohyang and Mr. Tian in the end?
Silently going around and doing these things, Lisa felt like she had a new understanding of the man beside her.
"Where, where are they?" The tremble of the manager's voice was not something you could miss.
"In the sky." Lisa smiled harmlessly. "Mister, do you really want to go up into the sky? But the words 'never turning your fortune around' is really suitable to be applied to you."
She snapped her fingers, and continued to stare at the manager. "What do you think?"
The man already felt his body not responding to his thoughts, even when he opened his mouth, there was no sound. He looked at the angelic face of the beautiful girl in front of him in terror.
"I think it's pretty good." Lisa responded to her own question, immediately deciding that people who committed too much evil were destined to have a rough life in the next half of their life. "Enjoy the rest of your life, mister."
Although her tone was light, if you were standing near her, you could clearly see the seriousness inside her eyes. He suddenly realized that she was not joking about it at all!
"Miss Ning." Lisa turned her attention to Jieun, and seeing that she was pulling a box along, she said, "Can we find a place to talk?"
"Miss Lalisa?" Jieun was looking at Lisa in a daze.
Those threats that the manager had aimed at her, it was impossible to say that she was not afraid of it at all. Sometimes, when she thought about how she had stayed strong and firm for so long, it really hadn't been easy, and there would always be times where she thought about just giving in, but had managed to hold out at the end.
Lisa flashed her a smile. "The car is parked out front, let's go."
The group of three walked towards the outside.
With a light flick of his fingers, a loud 'bang' came from behind them.
The sound was too loud to ignore, and Jieun couldn't help but turn her head in curiosity. The manager that had been standing upright had somehow fallen down face first onto the ground, and it looked like it hurt a lot.
Seeing the state he was in, Jieun winced in sympathy.
"Get in the car." Jungkook had already opened the door, and seeing that Jieun was still staring in stunned silence, Lisa nudged her with a smile on her face.
"Ah? Oh!" She was still someone in the entertainment industry after all, and Jieun knew that this brand of car was low-key but still luxurious. She had been struck dumb for a bit, but she carefully climbed into the back seat.
Lisa also climbed into the back, and Jungkook glanced at her but said nothing.
For A Millenium: How long will it take to hack someone?
Namjoon: It depends on what, but it usually takes about half an hour.
For A Millenium: How slow!
'My little system can be done in minutes, sigh, I really miss the little system.'
Namjoon: ...That's considered slow? Really?
For A Millenium: Alright then, help me hack somebody then~
Namjoon: ...
Half an hour later, the manager received a text message. The balance of his bank account was only 211.56. His eyes rolled back as he fell down again, and he had just gotten up too.
"Miss Lalisa, this is...?" Jieun looked at the papers in her hand, a startled expression on her face.
The contract clearly stated that the other wanted to invest in her, and she kept flitting through the words, and they remained unchanged, she had not seen it wrongly.
Lisa shoved her phone back in her pocket. "It's a contract, Miss Ning. Ah, but I'm not the one who cares about all these matters about signing a contract. I'll bring you to a place to stay in a bit, and someone will meet with you to sign it. The conditions and requirements are all written down clearly, so you can take it back and go over it at your own time."
"But... Why?" Jieun glanced up at Lisa. She knew that she was poor, having accomplished nothing in the three years she had been in the entertainment industry, she basically had no value at all, why would Lisa want to invest in her?
"Don't you have your own dream?" Lisa said, meeting her gaze. "I believe in my own eyes, Ning Jieun. I will wait for the day when you received an international award."
After a while, the car came to a stop in front of a peninsula community.
A young woman was waiting by the door. "Miss Lalisa."
"Un, take her to find a room then," Lisa said, nodding slightly to the woman. She then turned to Jieun, who was getting down from the car. "Well then, bye now."
Jieun didn't expect Lisa to have arranged for a place for her to stay in a peninsula community. The peninsula community was not a top-notch community in the Imperial Capital, but it was much safer than most of the other communities around. Those people who lived in these kinds of communities were usually people of high ranks, and back then in her company, she knew that only first-rate artistes would be arranged to live in these communities.
She never expected to see the day that she would be able to do it too.
"Miss Ning, which floor would you like to live on?" The young woman led Jieun inside the building towards the elevator, a warm smile on her face.
Jieun's eyes were round and wide. "I can choose which floor to live on?"
"That's right, Miss Ning. This entire building belongs to our company, so you are free to choose any rooms, apart from those that have already been taken."
...It seemed that she had joined a freaking great company?
"Then... the eighteenth floor(*), please." Let's start anew with a good omen then.
The woman pressed the button for the eighteenth floor. "A new tenant has just moved into the eighteenth floor, and there are three rooms left."
They reached the eighteenth floor soon enough, and when Jieun stepped out of the elevator, she saw a young man. He seemed to be surprised at the sight of her, but he recovered and gave her a light smile. "Hello."
"Hello." Jieun returned the greeting without much thought, and remembering that they should be colleagues in the same company, she continued, "My name is Ning Jieun."
"Su Yugyeom." Yugyeom returned easily, and pointed at the plate in front of the unit. "I'm living next door."
"I'll be in your care." Jieun chose the unit next to his, and walked in to see the refined facilities in it. She felt like she was in a dream, and in her hands she still held the contract that Lisa had given her.
She slowly brought the contract up to cover her face, and a choked laugh came out from her mouth, and then another, and it soon became a cross between sobs and laughter.
***
Outside the door, Yugyeom was waiting for the elevator. Thinking of Jieun who had just walked into the unit, he muttered under his breath, "I'll be in your care too, lucky one."
He quickly obtained the property deed, and the house had also been renovated a while ago. Now, all he needed to do was retrieve his parents to stay here.
Yugyeom returned home quickly, and drove the ordinary Volkswagen that was the company's standard vehicle, he reached his destination not long after.
He didn't expect that he would find a bunch of other relatives in his house. His grandparents from both sides, and even his aunts were all present.
"Little Yugyeom, your aunt was just telling me that you didn't take the clerical work that she had introduced to you, and even said that you wanted to continue writing scripts. How are you going to have good future prospects at this rate? Look at your cousin, Dazhi, he even owns properties now, you need to buck up!" This was said by his maternal grandmother, who was a daughter of a landlord in the old society. She had always been a dictator, and only favored Dazhi, the most promising grandson in her eyes, and she found Yugyeom to be an eyesore.
Yugyeom didn't really care for such things, he glanced around to find his paternal grandparents sitting on the sofa, shrunk into themselves and silent. His parents were sitting to the side, their expressions grave, but also silent.
His aunt was sitting on the soda, drinking tea with her legs crossed. Her face had an extremely smug expression on it, and unexplainable anger surged in Yugyeom's heart.
If it were the past, he would have gotten angry and drove these people out with his anger, but today, he merely smiled softly and said, "I have found work in a company, and I was even allocated a house now. Since you guys are here, why not come along and take a look too?"
"You? Allocated a house? It isn't a basement, is it?" His aunt glanced at him, unabashed contempt clear in her eyes.
Yugyeom leveled a glance at her. "Whether you believe it or not, I don't really care. Why not see for yourself then?"
The Yugyeom today was different than usual, and his aunt and grandmother seemed to be stunned in the change of his attitude. Seeing Yugyeom leading his parents downstairs, they looked at each other before following them down.
There were all old neighbors here, and his parents had played mahjong with them to pass time, and they had a good relationship all around. They met many people along the way, and Yugyeom would greet them and told them that he was moving house, and that he would invite them over for a drink soon.
"I knew that Little Yugyeom was promising the moment I saw him."
"The elders of the Su family are blessed indeed!"
"I said it before, how bad can a child who managed to test into a prestigious university be?"
"..."
The neighbors were happy when they heard the news, and they were also cheerfully discussing what sort of gifts they should bring to the Su family when the time came.
Compared to his relatives, he didn't know how much better they were.
"The youth shouldn't boast about themselves, let's see how you end up when you can't find the so-called house that you've been allocated!" His aunt couldn't help but throw out an insult while they walked. When she saw that Yugyeom was driving a brand-new Volkswagen, her eyes burned with envy. Because they had just bought a house, the car that she drove was only a pitiful second-hand car. This Su Yugyeom, showing off so much!
She drove her own car and followed behind Yugyeom into the peninsula community, and she was stunned when she reached the doors.
"Yugyeom really lives here?!" Yugyeom's maternal grandmother couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.
"How is that possible?" His aunt's shrill voice rang out. "Everyone who lives here are definitely people of higher status and are wealthy, how can he be living here! It's definitely just a pretense!"
Seeing Yugyeom drive straight in, his aunt immediately let go of the accelerator.
"Hello, please show me your permit." The security guard was very polite.
The aunt, who didn't have a travel permit, glanced at the security guard. "The man in front of me just now is my nephew, tell me, does he really live here?"
"Ah, you're talking about Mr. Su? He just moved in yesterday." The security guard said cheerfully, he already had a good impression of the polite young man that was Yugyeom.
The words he said rang loudly in their ears, did he really live here?! It wasn't a lie?! Dazhi worked in such a big multinational company, and he didn't get such good benefits either. What kind of sh*t luck did Yugyeom step in?! The aunt's face flushed in anger, and she turned her car around, driving away in anger.
"Little Yugyeom, you have to work hard and well in the future, don't let your boss down." Yugyeom's parents looked at the exquisitely decorated house with surreal feelings inside them. After hearing Yugyeom's affirmative answer, they continued to remind him again and again.
Yugyeom continued to nod his head in the right places. "Yeah, I know, don't worry Mom."
It was fortunate that he had landed in Nine Heavens, he would definitely work harder than anyone else, and wouldn't disappoint anyone in the company.
***
Chanyeol changed into something more solemn in the afternoon, and then he sneakily creeped into Rosé's Weibo. After browsing for a little while, he went off to meet the manager of Nine Heavens at the agreed time.
Both parties arrived on time, and Jinhee was stunned for a while when he caught sight of Chanyeol. He hadn't expected for the man to come in person.
When Jinhee had arrived at the Imperial Capital, he knew about all the big tyrants here. The Tang family was undoubtedly at the head of the Imperial Capital, and he even heard of some mysterious forces behind their strength.
However, he was also well aware that Nine Heavens had done some earth-shattering things in the Imperial Capital in the short time they had been here. When he first came to know about them, he had been heartbroken. He had wanted to ask Lisa why she didn't let him come and join the fun. Hearing Yoongi recount the events in excitement, he regretted not being able to come over earlier.
Chanyeol always had such a majestic aura that he exuded, and it was completely different from the other businessmen that he had encountered in the past. Fortunately, Jinhee had been around Lisa for quite a while now, and he had even met Jungkook a couple of times. He recovered fairly quickly, and adapted fast too, and he composed himself to make sure he looked neither too humble or rude.
"Mr. Mu, I actually wanted to meet with your president." With one look at Jinhee, Chanyeol already knew that he was not the driving force behind the scenes of Nine Heavens. A person of that capabilities wouldn't appear so humble in front of him.
It wasn't only him, the entire Imperial Capital wanted to see the enchanting figure behind the scene of Nine Heavens, who wouldn't be interested?
Jinhee smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry, President Tang, I doubt she would agree."
"Why?" Chanyeol was sad and regretful about it, he was really looking forward to seeing an idol, even if it was just a glance. "Can't we negotiate something?"
Jinhee thought about how Lisa was as a person, and he couldn't help but let out a sigh. "Lazy. She's just very lazy."
Chanyeol was caught off guard at such an answer, it was completely out of his expectation. "..."
If she was so lazy, how was she able to develop Nine Heavens into what it was today? He really wanted to pull out the person behind the scenes to see what kind of god or deity they were!
"President Tang, the collaboration that we would like to enter with your company pertains to cell fusion." Jinhee began their business discussion as he adjusted his glasses.
Chanyeol, who was about to accept any collaboration with Nine Heavens to get into their good books: WTF?
"How did you even get the authorization for cell fusion?" Chanyeol was still not able to reconcile the image of Lisa being the patentee yesterday, and he didn't ask after her for the patent right and instead planned to talk about it after a few more days.
He was stunned by Jinhee's words, his face felt numb from the information given to him.
Jinhee thought about it for a while, he still wasn't aware of how big this collaboration was. Initially, when Lisa had first handed him this document, he still had major doubts in his heart. He wasn't sure if Tang Enterprise would turn their nose up at this, but seeing Chanyeol's reaction, it seemed that this collaboration was anything but simple.
"Our boss sent it to me last night." Jinhee said truthfully.
"Who is your boss? We're all partners here, right?"
Jinhee apologized again, and said, "I'll ask her when I get back."
"Alright." Chanyeol sighed, mollified for the moment. He glanced at Jinhee's face, and found only a calm expression looking back at him, and he couldn't help but add, "This cell fusion is a major breakthrough in the medical field. When the time comes, it will send waves in the global medical community, so I think that we should first determine a team, so that the later chaos can be contained properly."
"I can feel the sincerity and earnest feelings from the values of your company, I hope we have a good collaboration." Chanyeol stood up with a grave face. He had first come here with the wish to see the founder of Nine Heavens, but he didn't expect the other party to give him such a collaboration plan, and he still wasn't sure whether it was a good surprise or a terrifying thing. He discarded his initial disappointment.
The patent was in Lisa's name, so she must be acquainted with the person from Nine Heavens, right?
Chanyeol quietly plotted inside his heart.
Jinhee, who was completely unaware of how f*cking terrific and kick a*s the documents in his hands were: Boss Lalisa, you prodigal person!
***
The prodigal Boss Lalisa had reached home at this time, and she gave a call to Mrs. Zhang. The two spoke about something for a while, and after hanging up, Lisa rubbed her chin thoughtfully.
Jungkook was pouring some water into Haha's bowl.
Xixi was flying around in front of Haha. Whenever it saw this glamorous bowl of Haha's, it really was so tempted to knock it over!
"Brother Jungkook, let's go to N City!" Lisa suddenly opened her mouth after pondering seriously for quite a long while.
Jungkook straightened up from where he was, and turned to her. "Why the sudden decision?"
"I just got off the phone with Mrs. Zhang, she said that her daughter had gotten married to a rich man." Lisa said in a worried voice.
"Isn't that a good thing?" Jungkook asked as he washed his hands, raising an eyebrow.
"Something was weird with her voice." Mrs. Zhang was a housekeeper, and her household had an average income. Her daughter had married a rich man, and you could imagine how much the husband's family would dislike them due to the difference in their background.
Lisa always remembered Mrs. Zhang's kindness in her heart. She had seen the notes that Mrs. Zhang would write, on the things that she could or could not eat. Little by little, she would remember it seriously.
She also understood Mrs. Zhang's stubborn behavior, when she thought about this part, Lisa couldn't sit still. "Brother Jungkook, let's go and pick Mrs. Zhang up, and take a look at how her daughter is doing, being married to that family. If he's not a good person, then let Mrs. Zhang drown him with money."
"How do you intend to do that?" Jungkook asked with an indifferent expression on his face.
Lisa thought about it for a while. "I'm thinking about what method would look a bit more cooler."
Jungkook raised his brows again. "Shouldn't you be considering how much money you need to use to look more like a tyrant instead?"
"Do I look like that sort of person?" Lisa retorted, looking at Jungkook.
The man took an apple and peeled, slicing it and offering to her instead of responding to her question. "Here, have some."
Lisa poked an apple and nibbled on it, picking up her phone and started browsing Weibo. Since getting a Weibo account, it had been her favorite pastime to browse Weibo every night.
As soon as she logged into Weibo, Lisa was shocked by the terrifying amount of replies and likes on her account. Apart from reposting Suzy's Weibo, she hadn't done anything else today, right? These were all mentions and tags of her, not comments directly posted under her posts.
She flipped to several of those mentions of her.
【Ahhhh, Baby Lalisa, hurry up and tell me whether you painted this or not! @ForAMillenium】
【I can smell the pride and boastfulness of A Flowing River practically oozing out from the screen, what a b*tch! Tell me goddess, that one of the two shadows we see is not actually you, right? @ForAMillenium】
【@ForAMillenium There's someone who stole your painting here @ForAMillenium】
【Am I the only one who thinks they look fitting together? Just look at those shadows!】
"..."
They even spotted that? Lisa felt her person shuddered slightly at that, and she flipped over to Jungkook's follower list, it had soared to almost fifty thousand, and they had all crawled over from her Weibo. The comments under his post reached almost ten thousand, and it was still on the rise.
Jungkook was also swiping Weibo silently at the side, his lowered eyes concealed the mirth in them. But then his fingers paused suddenly, he had come across the comment with 'Baby Lalisa', and it was the most popular comment by far.
His eyes narrowed, and he quickly clicked on the comment, easily pressing the 'report spam' button on it.
After doing this, his eyebrows remained furrowed as he continued to encounter these comments calling her 'Baby Lalisa'.
WTF? When did this start?!
He meticulously reported each and every one of it.
Lisa had intended to browse for a little while more, but then her phone vibrated and a WeChat notification popped up. She saw that the sender was Seokjin, and so tapped on it to read.
Seokjin: I heard that you want to invest in a movie, what do you think of taking me in?
It really was 'ask, and ye shall receive!', she hadn't even needed to bait this big god of an actor, Seokjin himself came looking to hook up with her!
Lisa felt that she shouldn't be so aloof at this juncture, for fear that Seokjin would withdraw his interest if he were to think too long about it.
For A Millenium: Sure~ Sure~
Seokjin: Great, I'll let Director Cheng know tomorrow. 'Empire Under Siege' is about to be done, so I have plenty of time.
After sending the message to Lisa, Seokjin wiped the imaginary sweat off his face. In order to take up a role in Lisa's movie, he had turned down two other partners and lost about thirty million yuan in that.
For A Millenium: I'll be out of town tomorrow, when I get back I'll bring you to meet our female lead ^_^
Looking at the expression that Lisa had sent in the message, Seokjin always felt that her smile harbored some evil designs.
Seokjin: Sure, I'm free any time ^_^
Lisa swiped her phone a while more before lifting her head to look at Jungkook. "Brother Jungkook, Seokjin texted me just now."
"Hm? What for?" Jungkook responded, glancing up at her with the usual expression on his face.
"To ask for a role in my movie." Lisa continued to stare at Jungkook, feeling like something was wrong with him. "What are you doing?"
Jungkook put away his phone calmly, and ignoring her question, he said, "I know, I predicted it. Now hurry up and take a shower, we have to get up early to head into N City tomorrow."
Lisa replied affirmatively, and she watched as his figure disappeared from her view in a rush. She rubbed her chin thoughtfully, then shrugged, going upstairs to take a shower and sleep. While heading upstairs, she made a stop by Haha's dwelling to wish him goodnight.
Xixi, who was left hanging at a corner, wasn't even spared a glance. With it being left alone like that, it really was adopted, wasn't it?
Haha glanced toward Xixi with a cold, arrogant look, and turned around to slip into the doghouse to sleep.
"..."
***
Lisa woke up early the next day, and when she went down, Jungkook already had breakfast bought and ready on the table.
"Beauty Lisa, good morning." Xixi immediately flew out from his cage to greet her when he saw her come down.
Lisa flashed it a smile, her clear voice greeting it back, "Good morning, Xixi."
Xixi was cured and overjoyed by the greeting, and flew toward the doghouse.
"Chirp chirp chiiiiirp~" (Beauty Lisa said good morning to me~)
"Woof woof woof." (Oh.) A cold, indifferent response.
"Chirp chirp chirrrp!" (You're just jealous of me!)
"Woof woof woof." (I just don't want to waste my time talking to a retard.)
Xixi stayed silent at that, and vowed to go online more to change so that even Haha couldn't look down on it anymore.
The bird and dog were loaded into the car together, crammed into the backseat of Jungkook's car.
"I haven't seen you going to classes much." Jungkook suddenly remembered after he had driven onto the highway. In the beginning, he would pick her up from college, but she had been idling around the house the past few days, when she should be at her busiest. "Are you skipping them?"
"No way!" Lisa glared at him. "Do I look like the kind that does?"
Jungkook thought about how she lazed about usually, and even sitting on the sofa she would slump down into a puddle as though she was boneless, and then he replied to her with a straight face, "Yes."
Lisa: Then there's nothing to talk about ╮（╯▽╰）╭
"You should be participating in clubs in your college days, getting along with classmates or just generally getting to know more people." Jungkook felt that Lisa was too much of a loner, not socializing in groups, and he was slightly concerned about her situation in school. "When we get back from N City, go to your classes, stop skipping them."
He had initially wanted to add on that skipping classes made it easy to fail when it came to the end of term, but then he recalled the results of her national finals, and went silent.
But he was very sure Lisa was skipping classes.
In order to provide proper guidance to this child, he really was worried most of the time.
"Haven't I got to know a lot of people in the capital already?" Lisa said, holding up her fingers to count. "Director Cheng, Seokjin, Sister Suzy, Brother Sejin, Jieun, Yugyeom, Sister Yu..." And a whole bunch of the production crew.
Jungkook sighed. "Those are all the people from the production crew, they're not your classmates."
Moreover, the fact that Lisa wanted to study medicine was something he didn't approve of in the first place. And it was even a five-year-long course, but she was seemingly idle the past few days. She couldn't be tired of it already, right? She even had time to work on her oil painting.
"If you don't want to study medicine anymore, you can switch to oil painting." There was a toll station in front, and Jungkook slowed the car behind the queue.
"I'm on good terms with my classmates too," Lisa said, pulling out her phone and going into the Tencent QQ messenger a.k.a Penguin. She swiped to the group chat for her class, and typed in, "Hi everyone! ^_^"
And then swiped down immediately.
"Hello, class pet!"
"I've been awakened from my sleep, hello Beauty Lisa!"
"Beauty, look over here~"
"Beauty Lisa, when are you coming to school?"
"You're all on, careful not to let Professor Jiang smack you guys if he catches you!"
"Professor Jiang will wanna smack Beauty Lisa more when he finds out she started it（*^__^*）"
"Beauty Lisa, let me show you how depressed Professor Jiang looks [JPEG]"
"..."
At this time of the day, it was still in the middle of class. The usually silent group of classmates were busy swiping their screens the moment Lisa had started the conversation. Although she hadn't been in school for long, she was extremely attractive, though she looked aloof and cold. She was also friendly, if you asked her a question she would answer it perfectly.
Everyone in class knew the warmth that was underneath that cold exterior.
In addition, she was already known as a big shot in school, and her influence wasn't something to be underestimated.
Lisa smiled cheekily as she turned the screen toward Jungkook for him to read. "Aren't I popular?" She actually didn't know she would cause such a big impact, but everyone in class was quite harmonious, she knew this from the time in their military drills already.
Jungkook glanced up at Lisa, he didn't expect that she would be so popular in class.
Having also been in university, Jungkook knew that it was a diversified place. People in classes were usually assigned the same dormitories, and they would find their cliques there. The relationships in college were as complicated as those in society itself, and that was why he was worried about Lisa. He feared that someone would try to make use of her with malicious intent, but it seems like there was no need to be concerned after all.
"Then what about your studies?" Jungkook asked as the car inched forward. "Are you not interested in medicine anymore?"
"That's not it." Lisa typed in a farewell in the chat before answering, "The professor granted me permission. He said that as long as the research report was done, I could take off for the rest of the semester, and just come back for the exams at the end of it!"
If Professor Jiang could hear her now, he would definitely try to find a way to go back in time and choke himself to death before he could say those words again.
"What kind of research can be exchanged to get leave for an entire semester?" Jungkook didn't know that A University had this kind of method.
Lisa grinned. "Even if I told you, you wouldn't understand."
Jungkook recalled the conversation she had with Yoongi the other night, and he was silent. It was true, he probably wouldn't understand anyway.
After traveling for close to six hours, the car finally left the highway. It was noon by this time.
Lisa took out her phone, ready to give Mrs. Zhang a call. "Brother Jungkook, let me ask where she stays."
Before her finger could press the button, Jungkook stopped her, shaking his head. "No need, I've already found the address. They're holding the wedding in a hotel, the gifts have also been bought."
"Huh." Lisa looked at him. "Then what about the red packet that I've prepared?"
Jungkook was silent for a while, before replying, "You could buy a bowl for Xixi." It had been jealous of Haha for a very, very long time after all.
Xixi, who was sitting behind: Fortune has come so suddenly, it could feel its soul floating toward the heavens above~
"Xixi? What does it need a bowl for, to beg for food?" Lisa rejected the idea immediately, thinking inside that she would use the red packet to bribe Mrs. Zhang's in-laws if she needed to.
"As long as you're happy." Jungkook sighed, turning the car and driving in the direction of a hotel in the city center.
The wedding of Mrs. Zhang's daughter was actually tomorrow, hence they didn't head toward where she was immediately. After getting off the highway, they continued to drive for about an hour, and the entire journey took almost seven hours in total. Even though the both of them were not mentally tired, the journey clearly took a toll on their body.
It was mainly because Jungkook saw Lisa yawning.
Before they had set off, Jungkook had already booked a hotel with luxurious facilities. Flashing for his ID, an attendant came up to them with a smile. "Mister and miss, please follow me this way."
As the two followed the attendant upstairs, Lisa hooked her finger through his. "Did you book it yourself?"
Being such an aristocratic, noble and man of a few words, it was hard to imagine Jungkook making the call and booking a hotel in person.
"Yes." Jungkook glanced at her. He couldn't believe it himself either, he had done everything that he would never have done himself in the past. It seems like whenever there were things that concerned her, he would be extra cautious and more prepared, not wanting to leave it to anyone else.
In the ancient martial arts world, he was a cold, majestic man that stood above everyone else. Everything in regards to his accommodation, food, clothing, and transportation were all handled by others for him, no one would have expected him to become how he was now.
Jungkook had reserved a master suite. It had two bedrooms, a living room, and a bathroom. Although it wasn't very big, it looked extremely comfortable.
After finishing up the meal that Jungkook had ordered, Lisa went into one of the rooms and slept immediately.
While Jungkook stayed outside, first feeding Haha, then feeding Xixi, and reminding Xixi to not let Haha run around too much. Xixi's spirit wilted upon hearing that.
Lisa slept all the way until the evening, and when she got up, she saw Haha lying down beside her bed. "Haha, let's go out for a stroll."
There was a pedestrian street not far off from the hotel.
Lisa took Xixi and Haha to the night market for a stroll. Although it was called a night market, there were only three commercial streets which were filled with food, clothing, and some other gadgets, and there was still quite a crowd.
Jungkook walked beside her, staying close. There were a lot of people on the streets, and you could see his furrowed eyebrows, but there was nothing to be impatient about here.
He wore his usual white shirt, the contour lines on his face as deep as usual, an indifferent expression on that attractive face of his. The lights of the night market were dim, and you practically couldn't see two meters in front of you, but the people who were walking back and forth couldn't help but take a second glance when they passed him.
Lisa went into a ten yuan shop and bought Xixi a bowl.
Xixi: ... I really want to die right now.
Jungkook didn't understand the mirth that threatened to bubble out of him, but he held it back when he thought about how Xixi might feel sad about it.
Lisa pretended not to see the resentment in those beady eyes, and she handed Haha over to Jungkook, and proceeded to buy a big kebab for it.
Biased! Xixi feels wronged, but it didn't say anything.
Suddenly, a loud shout came from the middle of the crowd.
"Brother Jungkook, hurry," Lisa said as she took Haha back into her arms. "Catch that thief!"
Jungkook looked at her, but didn't move. After waiting a while, a faint light flashed on his fingertips, and a figure fell beside him.
It was a man, Jungkook thought as he leaned down to pick up the bag that the man was holding with ease. The mighty unstoppable thief in the crowd was just a weak little chicken in his hands.
There were people gathering around among the excitement. Although they didn't see clearly what Jungkook had done, he had caught the thief, and it was enough to garner their adoration for him.
"That's my bag, thank you kind..." The thief had stolen the bag from a young woman, and the makeup on her face looked quite exquisite, it was no wonder the thief picked her as his target. The things in her bag were extremely valuable, and she was almost on the verge of despairing when she saw someone stop the thief for her, and the gratitude in her heart swelled when she saw the scene unfold.
Before she could finish speaking, she caught sight of the man's outstanding profile, and her words were caught in her throat, stopping abruptly.
Jungkook was not looking at her, but he handed the bag to Lisa, taking Haha in exchange. There was no change in the expression on his delicate face.
"Your bag." Lisa handed the bag over to the woman.
The woman finally came back to her senses. She smiled sweetly to Lisa, but the corner of her eyes never left Jungkook's face. "Thank you, is that your brother?"
Lisa raised an eyebrow. "Miss, where are your eyes, and how on earth did you come to that conclusion?"
She wanted to continue her insult, she couldn't be showing weaknesses at this sort of time after all.
But then Jungkook took out a handkerchief from his pocket and slowly wiped the hand that she had used to hold the bag just now, and then having done that, he pulled Lisa away. He lowered his head to look at her face, the light reflection in his eyes as he spoke with a low and gentle voice. "Baby, don't be so nosy in the future."
He didn't even spare a glance at the woman, and it was obvious that he was not the least attracted by her appearance from head to toe.
The smile on the woman's face was frozen stiff as she looked at the two figures in disbelief. This was the first time in her life that someone had ignored her so thoroughly.
Lisa, who was being pulled away, felt like she was floating on air.
***
The next day, Lisa got up early, greeted Jungkook calmly, and then proceeded to call Mrs. Zhang, saying that she wanted to come over to see them in person.
Mrs. Zhang was startled for a long while, before giving her an address. She ended the call by telling Lisa not to come.
Naturally, she ignored it.
The place that the wedding was being held was not too far from the hotel they were at, and they arrived soon after Jungkook drove them out. There were a lot of people today, and there were also various high-end cars in the parking lot.
Lisa found Mrs. Zhang with her daughter upstairs in the dressing room. When Mrs. Zhang caught sight of Lisa, she was clearly surprised, before quickly wiping her eyes. "This child, really. Why have you come? Don't you have classes?"
"To see you, of course." This was her daughter's dressing room, so Jungkook was waiting outside. Lisa looked at Mrs. Zhang's red-rimmed eyes. "Mrs. Zhang, what happened?"
"Nothing happened." Mrs. Zhang responded with a weak smile. "I'm just sad that my daughter is getting married."
Mrs. Zhang's daughter looked delicate and graceful. When she saw Lisa, she was taken aback. She never expected that the 'Miss Lalisa' that her mother talked about would look so beautiful and refined, and didn't even look like any ordinary person.
"I'm going to get the wedding dress. Lili, wait here for a while." Mrs. Zhang said to Lisa, and hurried out of the room.
She was surprised to bump into Jungkook outside, and was still surprised as they exchanged a few words.
"Mrs. Zhang has left, can you tell me what's going on now?" Lisa said, turning around after closing the door. She looked at Liu Ying, Mrs. Zhang's daughter.
Seeing the gentle expression on Lisa's face, Liu Ying couldn't help the tears that pooled in her eyes, the grieve in her heart as she burst out, "I don't want to get married anymore."
She was getting married to Qi Hao, who owned some assets in the country. The two had known each other since high school, and it had been seven years since then. The wedding had been delayed until this day.
Qi Hao's parents disapproved of her family who came from a line of farmers, especially when they heard that Mrs. Zhang was working as a domestic helper slash nanny. They disagreed with the match immediately, and Qi Hao had worked on them for a long time before finally being able to hold this wedding. However, there was a condition, that was no one from her family would be able to attend, for fear that someone would recognize her as the daughter of a servant.
Qi Hao had actually discussed this with Mrs. Zhang a few times, asking her to change her job, but Mrs. Zhang didn't agree.
He had actually already done a lot, and although Mrs. Zhang was sad, she didn't say anything. Qi Hao sincerely loved Liu Ying after all.
However, now when it was time for the wedding, Liu Ying had a change of mind, she didn't want to see her parents being wronged for something like this.
"At this time, we should solve the problem." Lisa took out the gift that she had brought, it was a diamond necklace. She put it on her and whispered, "You have great parents. Don't worry, they won't be on the receiving end of the short stick today."
Mrs. Zhang soon returned with the dress, and helped Liu Ying into it. After she changed her clothes, her eyes turned red again.
The beginning of the ceremony came then, with Qi Hao waiting outside, two children walked in first. A bridesmaid came after to lead Liu Ying out.
The wedding was held directly in the hotel lobby, and a T-shaped red carpet was rolled out. At the head of the carpet, Qi Hao's parents would be there.
On the other side, it was Liu Ying and her bridesmaids. It should have been Liu Ying's father who would hand her to Qi Hao, and her parents should also have been standing with Qi Hao's parents.
However, Papa Liu and Mama Zhang could only stand at the side with a bunch of waiters, like ordinary spectators.
"Madam, there seem to be two relatives from Miss Liu's side." A middle-aged man in a suit said to Madam Qi.
Thinking it was Liu Ying's poor relatives that had come to take advantage of the wedding, Madam Qi frowned and said coldly, "Watch them. Don't let them suddenly appear in front of the guests."
The middle-aged man had wanted to say that they didn't look like ordinary people, but Madam Qi suddenly stood up. "The distinguished guests have already arrived, hurry and proceed with the ceremony."
Papa Qi was leading a young man over, a completely respectful attitude being displayed. Madam Qi straightened her clothes and stepped forward with a big smile on her face.
Those that gathered here today were all partners from the Qi family business, and some politicians. This guest especially, was even more important than every single person combined here. Madam Qi didn't have time to think about those poor relatives from Liu Ying's family.
(*) there's the number 8 in eighteen, which is the symbol of good fortune in Chinese. On the other hand, number 4 sounds like 'death' in the Chinese language, so most building elevators would skip that number, going with level 3A instead of level 4.