Chapter 861 - I Like You More
Lu Zihao once again dropped off Long Jinjing at Orchidia Beauty. They were silent for almost the entire ride because both were preoccupied by their own thoughts. When the car stopped in front of the office building, Long Jinjing didn't get off immediately.
"Nikolai," she called in a soft voice.
"Hm?"
"Uhm..." She bit her lip and looked at him warily. "When you were talking to my mom at home earlier, you...uhm, you were acting so w-weird."
He sighed and cursed the remnant, even though he was the one who allowed it to temporarily take over the body in order to deal with Long Jinjing's mother in a mindful way that he couldn't. The only problem was that he didn't expect that the remnant would be so good at it to the point of charming Sun Jingfei into accepting him as her daughter's boyfriend right away. However, it also made his woman uncomfortable.
The remnant didn't react to his internal cursing. It had become silent since he finished showering at the condo. Perhaps it ran out of energy and had to recharge for now in order to have a conversation with him again later. He wasn't looking forward to being pestered again but he couldn't do anything about it for now.
"Don't think too much about it anymore," he replied to Long Jinjing. "I was just acting mindful to your mother as per your request."
"I requested you to be mindful, not act like a completely different person! You called me b-babe!" Her face turned red. "It was so...c-creepy!"
"Creepy?" His expression turned black. Once again, he had the urge to beat up the remnant. But then he turned curious. "You don't like it when I call you 'babe'?"
"I..." Her face turned even redder before she looked away to avoid his eyes. "I...don't mind it. I just...uhm, it doesn't sound right coming from you."
"Heh~"
She peeked at him out of the corner of her eye. "And didn't you say that you don't like saying sweet, mushy things?"
He didn't reply but continued to observe her expression.
Long Jinjing squirmed on her seat as she felt the weight of his gaze.
Finally, he said, "You don't like it when I act sweet to you like that?"
"I like it...but it's too creepy coming from you," she whispered and turned her eyes outside the window, feeling too shy to look at him. She didn't see his expression turning blacker because of what she said.
"Jinjing, look at me," he said in a commanding voice.
She looked at him by instinct.
"Who do you like more? Me, Nikolai? Or that rogue who charmed your mother and called you 'babe'?"
She frowned, feeling confused at his question. However, the intensity of his gaze prompted her to answer him. "I...I like you more, Nikolai."
The devilish smile he flashed made her IQ plummet to amoeba level as usual. No surprise there. Yet it also comforted her. This was the smile that she knew, not the charming, carefree smile he used in front of her mother earlier that creeped her out.
"Good," he said. Then his smile was gone and he turned serious. "When I start acting like that again in the future, don't let me kiss you. Do you understand, Jinjing?"
"H-huh?" Her amoeba-level brain hadn't returned to normal yet.
He repeated what he said, causing her to become even more confused but she still agreed because she could sense that this was important to him. She didn't know what was going on with him. Perhaps this was another one of his fetishes—pretending that he had a dual personality or something. What a weird man.
"Now give your boyfriend a kiss before the security guard knocks at our window again," he said.
She felt shy but she still leaned towards him. But before she could kiss him, he grabbed her head and smashed his open mouth against her delicate lips in an almost brutal kiss. A whimper escaped from her throat as her body thrummed with need. When the kiss ended, both of them were panting.
"I'll pick you up later after work," he told her. "Don't forget our dinner with your mother tonight."
She nodded like a stupid idiot before getting off the car like a mindless zombie. The kiss affected her so much that she forgot to check her appearance before climbing off the car. She didn't notice the employees giving her furtive glances. More specifically, they were looking at her once again tomato-red face and swollen lips.
This was the second time that Orchidia Beauty's CFO Long Jinjing arrived at the company looking like she had received some fierce and passionate loving so early in the morning. Now everyone felt curious about the identity of their CFO's man.
As for Long Jinjing, she snapped out of her daze as soon as she reached her office. Work was hectic. She couldn't afford to be absent-minded and waste time daydreaming about her boyfriend.
###
Shadow Winds Headquarters.
After an important strategy meeting with his team leaders, Lu Zihao headed to the underground armoury to inspect the new shipment of weapons they received last night. He wasn't pleased by the quality. They were a far cry to the ones he was used to in his past life.
The Vetrov organization manufactured their own weapons and also sold slightly inferior ones to selected customers all over the world. Although they sold slightly inferior versions of the weapons that they used themselves, Vetrov weapons were still some of the best in the world. In fact, arms sales were among the top three most lucrative businesses that their organization controlled.
"How are they, Boss Hao?" his subordinate asked, interrupting his thoughts.
"Terrible," Lu Zihao replied.
"These are already the highest quality that we can procure with our current connections and financial capability. We're still a new group and the arms dealers are wary of us. Because they don't know anything about us yet, they're all giving us their highest rates with barely any discounts."
Lu Zihao grunted. He knew the drill because the Vetrovs were also one of the biggest arms dealers in the past.
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Chapter 862 - Don't Run
It was very frustrating for Lu Zihao that he couldn't provide his group with the best weapons that he was used to when he was still the crown prince of the Vetrov organization. Procuring high-quality weapons, something that he took for granted in his past life, was now extremely difficult to do especially on a limited budget.
He already amassed quite an impressive wealth for his group but it still wasn't enough to fund everything that he wanted to do. There were still a lot of things that needed to be done.
Sighing, he left the armoury and headed straight to the training room to let off some steam. The remnant was still silent which gave him some much-needed peace and quiet. He wasn't looking forward to it "waking up" and pestering him again.
The remnant promised Sun Jingfei that he would take the mother and daughter to a restaurant for dinner tonight. He wasn't available at all and yet the fool made a promise without consulting him first.
Fuck. This was one of the reasons why he didn't do relationships. They were too much of a hassle.
However, the promise already came out of his mouth, albeit it wasn't actually him who made it. He wasn't such an asshole as to cancel a simple dinner especially if it was with his own woman and her mother.
The mother and daughter, Sun Jingfei and Long Jinjing, were both good women. Eating dinner with them shouldn't be too bad. Perhaps it might even relax him a bit before he had to talk to his sister and Jin Liwei face to face very soon.
Later, Lu Zihao was in the process of decimating his second punching bag in the training room when the now familiar carefree voice began talking inside his head again. Despite his irritation, he was determined to ignore the remnant.
"By the way, Nikolai. You told your sweet and shy Jinjing that she's your first girlfriend. Asshole, I think you've totally forgotten that you're now me, Lu Zihao. What if one of my exes show up in front of her? How will you explain your 'lie' to your pretty girlfriend?"
He only realized this point after the remnant told him.
"Fuck!"
He started beating up the poor punching bag until it joined the other decimated punching bag on the floor.
The remnant laughed with great delight inside his head. "Good luck, dude!"
###
Dragon Palace Home #10.
It was already past midnight when Jin Liwei returned to the bedroom. He just finished an important and very long business meeting via video call conference at his home office with a few investing partners from different parts of the world. Since they were all in different time zones, some of them had to attend the virtual meeting beyond regular office hours like him.
The meeting started after dinner for Jin Liwei and went past midnight. It wasn't only him who was busy today.
Iris also had several meetings earlier at JJ's record label. She met with the other artists that she had chosen to perform the extra songs she wrote. A few agreements had already been successfully finalized that very day while the others were still pending. Most of them were excited to work with her.
Fortunately, her pregnancy symptoms didn't flare up too badly during the meetings. She didn't bring Little Liwei, the big teddy bear, with her this time but she wore a men's sweater that Jin Liwei wore the previous day. She managed to survive all of her meetings without fainting or making other people suspicious of her oversensitive behaviours.
Jin Liwei felt relieved that nothing happened to his baby girl while she was out working earlier today. He already hired a private, live-in doctor for her while waiting for the hospital wing to be built in their home. The doctor would accompany her wherever she needed to go.
She was unhappy that there was an additional person following her around but she didn't complain because it was not only for her sake but also for their twin babies' health and safety.
They ate an early dinner together at home before he had to head to his home office for the video conference. Ketchup sent him text updates during the video conference about what his pregnant wife was doing.
Iris was at her home studio working on her music. However, she only spent a couple of hours there before heading to their bedroom to sleep early. She brought Ice Cream and Popcorn to accompany her in bed while Jin Liwei was still busy working at his home office. Ever since her nightmare, she had become a little afraid of sleeping alone.
Back to the present, Jin Liwei climbed on the bed and lay down beside his baby girl after changing into his pyjamas. The annoyed Ice Cream meowed a sleepy complaint at him for disturbing her beauty sleep on the bed while Popcorn remained sleeping on the chaise longue without stirring.
After kissing his sleeping baby girl on the lips and petting the surly Ice Cream, he fell asleep soon as well. Some time later, he was dreaming of two, little daredevils running all over their home while he and his baby girl laughed in happiness when he was awakened by a sudden movement beside him.
"Hm?"
He opened his eyes a crack and saw his baby girl rushing to the bathroom.
"Don't run," he murmured in a sleepy voice.
He thought that she must be in hurry because she couldn't hold her pee anymore. The frequency of her need to pee had increased ever since she became pregnant, so he wasn't surprised that she woke up rushing to the bathroom. He closed his eyes again, intending to go back to sleep.
Then the loud sounds of vomiting started coming out of the bathroom. His eyes flew open in an instant. The two cats moved faster than him. They were already running like little rockets to the bathroom before he could even jump off the bed. Even the fat Ice Cream managed to move with a speed that she hadn't displayed in a long time since she was a kitten.
"Love!"
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Chapter 863 - I Love Them Already
Inside the bathroom, Jin Liwei held his baby girl's long hair while she vomited into the toilet bowl. Ice Cream and Popcorn were meowing restlessly beside their mommy.
Jin Liwei knelt beside Iris and rubbed her back while she continued retching. He peeked at the toilet bowl and saw the clear water. She was vomiting so hard and yet nothing was coming out. Teary whimpers escaped her throat in-between the powerful, rolling heaves of her body.
His chest tightened at her pitiful state. If there was a way to take away her suffering and make her feel better in an instant, he would've already done it without even giving it a second thought.
"Ketchup, call your mom's doctor to come to our room immediately," he instructed, referring to the private, live-in doctor he hired.
"Wuwuwu! Yes, Daddy! Meow...."
Much later, Iris lay exhausted on the bed. She felt much better after sipping hot ginger tea that the butler delivered. The female doctor examined her and announced that she was now officially experiencing her first bout of morning sickness. The doctor assured the couple that everything was normal and all she could do was prescribe some methods to help alleviate the symptoms.
After the doctor left, Jin Liwei felt helpless that he couldn't do anything more substantial to ease his pregnant wife's suffering. He sighed and tucked her into a more comfortable position on the bed. Then he glared at her flat stomach.
"You two should tone it down a little," he scolded his twin babies who were still growing inside their mother's womb. "Don't make your mom suffer too much."
Iris pursed her lips and threw him an unhappy look. "What are you doing? Our babies aren't even born yet and you're already scolding them. What if they don't want to come out because they're too afraid of their dad?"
"I just don't want you to suffer too much."
"All the symptoms that I'm experiencing are normal. I'm not the only pregnant woman in the world suffering from morning sickness and all the other symptoms. And it's not our babies' fault that I'm like this. You're the one who made me pregnant—"
Jin Liwei chuckled and leaned down to give her a quick peck on the lips. "I know. It's my fault."
The gentle kiss made her feel better. "No, it's nobody's fault. Aren't you the one who kept on telling me that these twin babies are blessings to us?"
"En, they are."
She rubbed her stomach. "I'm so afraid that I might do something wrong and accidentally hurt them. It makes me so worried every day. I've never felt so stressed in my entire two lives and I've been in many stressful situations before. But...I also feel so happy."
He also rested his hand on her stomach. It was still very flat. "I know. I also feel very happy."
"I haven't even met our babies yet and I love them already."
He smiled. "Same here."
They both smiled at each other before gazing at her abdomen. Then Iris yawned, her eyes fluttering close with drowsiness. And just like that, she fell asleep again.
Jin Liwei kissed her forehead and then her abdomen. In a stern voice, he told his unborn babies, "Be good."
After reclaiming his spot on the bed from Ice Cream and Popcorn, he once again fell asleep and dreamed about two little naughty daredevils bringing joy and exasperation in their home.
###
A cloudy weekend arrived, bringing intermittent light showers and an overcast sky. Iris' current emotions mirrored the grey weather. Her stomach felt a little more unsettled than normal as she took countless glances at the clock.
"Mama, look!" Little Jun presented her with his latest artwork. Colourful, squiggly lines and various random shapes decorated the piece of paper he was waving in his hand.
"Oh, wow," Iris said as she lifted the child and sat him on her lap. "What did you draw, Little Jun?"
The child began babbling excitedly at her. She could only understand some of her godson's words but it was already enough for her to get the gist of what Little Jun was saying. It seemed that he drew her and his Papa Liwei together with all his four cat cousins, and of course, himself as well.
"Great job, Little Jun," Jin Liwei praised and patted the child's head.
Little Jun giggled and wiggled his way down from his Mama Xiulan's lap. Then he shoved the artwork to his Papa Liwei before returning to his temporary art studio on the carpet. His cat cousins accompanied him on the floor. The lazy Ice Cream napped beside him while the hyperactive Popcorn was playing with a crumpled piece of paper.
They were in one of the mansion's coziest lounge rooms where there was a fireplace producing natural warmth to the entire room. Jiang Ying Yue was still on duty, so both Iris and Jin Liwei volunteered to take care of Little Jun instead of leaving him to the nanny. Dom was busy ironing the rest of Iris' additional meetings with the artists that she wanted to perform her songs. The two would join them at the lounge room later.
Jin Liwei took Iris' hand. It felt a little cold so he gave it a gentle rub to warm it up.
"Don't be nervous, love," he told her in a soft voice. "Everything will be fine."
She nodded but the tight feeling in her chest didn't disappear completely. Fortunately, Little Jun's cuteness eased her anxiety a little. She looked at Jin Liwei.
"How about you?" she asked. "Are you nervous?"
He didn't answer right away but eventually admitted, "A little."
"I hope that our talk with my brother later will go well. I'm not sure what to expect, to be honest. Even to me, my brother can be such an enigma. Nobody really knows what he's thinking."
"We'll soon know when we talk to him." He kissed her before standing up. "Take a short nap, love. You'll feel better when you wake up. I'll play with Little Jun for now."
"Okay," she murmured before closing her eyes.
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Chapter 864 - Is My Sister Sick?
When Iris woke up, the lounge room sounded lively with familiar voices chatting away. She found herself lying in a more comfortable position on the biggest couch. Someone covered her with a warm, fluffy blanket, probably her darling. She petted Ice Cream who was curled on top of her stomach.
The grey cat meowed, and then rolled in an adorable manner to expose her fat, fluffy belly, asking for more rubs from her mommy. Iris chuckled softly and gave her eldest what she wanted. Ice Cream purred in pure satisfaction.
Iris looked up and saw Little Jun chasing Popcorn all around the room. His loud giggles caused the adults to chuckle at his cuteness. He was holding what looked like a half-eaten pineapple bun. His mother, Jiang Ying Yue, caught him and wiped the yellow, gooey mess on his face before letting him chase his equally hyperactive cat cousin Popcorn again.
"Boss, you're awake!" Dom's voice exclaimed, catching everyone's attention.
Iris looked the other way and saw Dom sitting together with Long Jinjing on another couch. There were several gift bags on the coffee table. Some of them had already been opened. There were different types of buns, cat treats and toys. She instantly knew that Long Jinjing must have been the one who brought the presents. Long Jinjing also brought some beautifully-wrapped pastries for the rest of them.
"Little Sister Xiulan," Long Jinjing greeted with a smile. "Were we too noisy for you?"
Iris shook her head and rose from her lying position. She made small talk with her friends while sweeping her eyes across the room. Finally, she saw who she was looking for.
Jin Liwei and her big brother were sitting by the bar counter at the corner of the room. The two men were both looking at her. Her darling gave her a warm, doting smile while her big brother's expression also gentled but only people who knew him would notice it. In other people's eyes, he looked stone-faced.
She smiled at them but her chest tightened and her stomach did some kind of a double-flip upon seeing her brother. It reminded her that the three of them were finally going to talk today about the truth of her and her brother's past lives. Then she turned pale as a powerful force rolled upwards from her stomach to her throat.
Jiang Ying Yue reacted the quickest. She was beside Iris in an instant holding a trash can she grabbed along the way. Iris bent over and dry-heaved over the trash can while Jiang Ying Yue held her hair up and murmured soothing words to her.
"Mama?! Mamaaaaaa!" Little Jun was shocked at seeing her Mama Xiulan acting like this. Fortunately, the little guy didn't cry but he looked quite scared.
Dom carried Little Jun and moved to the corner so that the child wouldn't run to her Mama Xiulan and get even more scared.
Jin Liwei also moved quickly and was already beside Iris with a worried expression on his face. He whispered an instruction to Ketchup to call the private doctor and the butler so that Long Jinjing wouldn't hear him.
Long Jinjing and the other members of the girl squad living outside their household still didn't know about the existence of the cat AIs. They only knew that Iris and Jin Liwei had two additional cats, one white and one black. But for some reason, the two cats were too skittish and never showed themselves to visitors.
Lu Zihao also came over but didn't go near because he remembered that his sister couldn't stand his scent the last time that they saw each other. He couldn't risk her condition worsening because of him. His stone-faced expression cracked and revealed his own worry for his sister as he watched her vomiting nothing into the trash can.
Long Jinjing came to him and grabbed his arm. "W-what's happening? Is my sister sick?"
"No, she isn't sick," he said.
"Then why..." Then her eyes widened as she realized something. "Oh! Is she perhaps...pregnant?"
Lu Zihao didn't answer her. However, she understood that his silence meant that it wasn't his place to reveal something that held such importance for the couple. She could only wait for her little sister and soon-to-be brother-in-law to tell her the news themselves. Right now, she and Lu Zihao watched what was happening in front of them, both feeling helpless seeing their sister suffering like this.
###
Iris' bout of morning sickness in the lounge room soon passed. She regained her composure and energy after sipping fresh, hot ginger tea that the butler delivered as per her doctor's recommendation.
She and Jin Liwei also took that chance to finally tell Long Jinjing that she was pregnant. Long Jinjing became a little teary but her congratulations to the couple was genuine. She also promised not to tell anyone, including Chen Fei.
Iris sighed. "I don't mind if you tell her. She's our friend, anyway, so I know that she'd keep my pregnancy a secret."
Long Jinjing shook her head. "It's not my place to tell others about your pregnancy."
"Alright. Thanks, Big Sister."
The group chatted with each other for the entire afternoon. Then they headed to one of the nearby smaller dining rooms for an early dinner just before sunset.
This time, the food seemed agreeable to Iris and she was able to eat her fill. Jin Liwei looked relieved to see her eating like normal.
After dinner, the trio—Iris, Jin Liwei and Lu Zihao—excused themselves and made their way to the couple's suite for their important talk.
Before leaving, Lu Zihao grabbed Long Jinjing and gave her a quick but firm peck on the lips, causing the sparkly-eyed Dom to squeal and fan himself with his perfectly manicured hands. Long Jinjing turned red while Lu Zihao didn't care.
"Hang out with your friends and the kids for now," he told her. "I might be late to come back, so you can head to my room first if you feel sleepy. Ask your friends to lead you there. They know where it is."
"Okay," she whispered. "I'll wait for you."
He nodded and followed Iris and Jin Liwei.
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Chapter 865 - Are You Prepared To Know The Truth?
After Jiang Ying Yue put Little Jun to bed and left Ice Cream and Popcorn to accompany her sleeping son, she headed to her adjacent room where her friends were waiting for her. Dom was grilling the red-faced Long Jinjing about her relationship with Lu Zihao.
The TV on the wall was playing a video on demand episode of Dom's favourite romance drama of the season—"Our Love, Our Destiny". The first season of the highly-rated drama adaptation based on the popular with the same title had already finished airing but Dom liked to re-watch his favourite episodes.
Iris Long and Jin Chonglin's voices harmonized beautifully together in the heart-fluttering theme song, "Shining Eyes", as it played in the background while the male and female leads stared deeply into each other's eyes.
The friends all stopped what they were doing to watch the scene. Dom started squealing and bouncing on the bed as the male and female leads' heads started inching closer for a romantic kiss. Even though he already knew what was going to happen, it didn't lessen his excitement.
After the show ended, the three friends sighed dreamily at the romantic episode that they just watched. Then Dom remembered that he was grilling Long Jinjing before he got distracted by the drama.
"I heard that you're not going to sleep in your usual guest bedroom but will be staying with Mr. Yummylicious Big Brother Boss in his room," he said while waggling his eyebrows. "Hehehe."
Long Jinjing turned red and looked away, feeling too shy to meet both of her friends' eyes. "I...yes. That's what Ni—Zihao wants."
"How about you?" Dom asked. "Is that what you want?"
She flushed more deeply before nodding.
"Kyaaaaaaah!" Dom grabbed a pillow and started hitting Long Jinjing with it.
Both Long Jinjing and Jiang Ying Yue couldn't help but laugh at his antics.
"You go, girl! Gosh! I'm feeling a little jealous! My gorgeous and fabulous self also wants to fall in love! Dear future lover, where are you? Oh! Are you even in this dimension? Or are you going to stay in my dreams?"
Jiang Ying Yue continued laughing while Long Jinjing continued to avoid his eyes. She became subdued when Dom mentioned that he ALSO wanted to fall in love, indirectly referring that SHE was in love with Lu Zihao. Thankfully, her friends assumed that she was only being shy like always and didn't figure out her confusing thoughts about her real feelings for her 30-day boyfriend.
Wanting to change the topic, she asked the two of them, "Do you have any idea about what the three of them are talking about in private?"
The two became silent after her question.
"I honestly don't know," Dom eventually said after thinking about it. "I think something happened between the three of them and created some sort of tension. Boss always looked sad and...hmm...worried, I guess, whenever Big Brother Boss' name was mentioned in the past few days. Even Sir Boss' expression would become sort of tight."
Jiang Ying Yue nodded, confirming Dom's words.
"So I think that Big Brother Boss must've done something to upset both Boss and Sir Boss, but that's just my speculation. We don't know what really happened. But whatever the case may be, I'm just glad that Big Brother Boss decided to return here again. All of us missed him! I'm sure that the three of them would be able to resolve whatever issues they may have with each other."
"Oh." Long Jinjing felt bad for asking. She also felt the slight tension earlier between Lu Zihao and the couple. Then she became worried. "Little Sister Xiulan is pregnant. I hope that whatever they're talking about right now won't be too upsetting for her."
"Sir Liwei and Sir Zihao both love Xiulan very deeply," Jiang Ying Yue said. "I'm sure that they'll take care not to upset her."
Dom nodded.
Long Jinjing still felt worried but seeing her friends' trust in the two men, her worry eased a little. Perhaps she could ask Lu Zihao either later tonight or tomorrow about what he talked about with her sister and brother-in-law.
Wait.
No, she couldn't do that.
He didn't like her prying too much in his private life. Her mood sank upon remembering his terms in their agreement. However, she already agreed to all of them. Although she felt curious, she had to restrain herself from asking too much information about his private life. Sighing, she could only force herself to feel satisfied by their current arrangement.
Fortunately, she had her friends to distract her tonight from thinking too much about Lu Zihao and their unorthodox relationship. She kicked Lu Zihao to the back of her mind and joined her friends in gossiping about random topics.
###
Inside Iris and Jin Liwei's suite, the lights were turned low to dim mode. Iris recently disliked the lights being too bright during the night because her head would start hurting.
At the moment, the suite's living room was silent. Iris and Jin Liwei sat together on one couch while Lu Zihao leaned against the wall by the window. He wasn't looking at the couple but gazing at the darkness outside instead. There was a closed-off feeling surrounding him. He looked like he didn't want to be in this situation right now.
"Big Brother," Iris called.
Lu Zihao still didn't move but his pupils looked at them out of the corner of his eyes.
"I want to tell Liwei everything...about us. About who we were in our past lives."
His jaw tightened. "If I say no, are you going to listen?"
She looked down. "No."
He sighed. "Do what you want."
Her expression brightened a little and became hopeful. "Really? So you agree?"
"I don't like this nor do I want to agree but what can I do if your mind is already set to tell your man everything?"
She bit her lower lip. Jin Liwei wrapped his arm around her shoulders and gave her a gentle squeeze to encourage her.
Finally, Lu Zihao faced them. His intense gaze, however, was set on Jin Liwei. "Are you prepared to know the truth?"
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Chapter 866 - The Vetrov Report Part I
Jin Liwei met Lu Zihao's gaze full-on without faltering. His own gaze was calm and steady. In his most resolute voice, he answered, "Yes, I am ready."
Lu Zihao smirked but there was no humour in his eyes. "We'll see about that." Then he turned to his sister and spoke to her in Russian. "Evelinka, go ahead and tell your man everything since that's what you want. I'll be here to clarify details if needed."
Jin Liwei frowned because he couldn't understand what Lu Zihao said.
Iris nodded before standing up. "Wait here a moment, darling. I'm going to get something from our bedroom."
He nodded.
Then she left.
The two men stared at each other with impassive expressions.
"The two of you were...Russians back then?" Jin Liwei asked.
Lu Zihao crossed his arms over his chest and sat down on the window sill. "Yeah. My sister and I are more comfortable speaking in our mother tongue so get used to us speaking in Russian. If you want to understand what the two of us are talking about, then you better start learning the language."
"I am."
"Good luck."
Jin Liwei narrowed his eyes at his fifth brother who wasn't really his fifth brother anymore. The last time that they saw each other in person, they almost brawled. Lu Zihao—no, Nikolai would often emit a heavy pressure that made people uncomfortable. Sometimes, it wasn't noticeable especially if he was deliberately acting nice and pretending to be the actual Lu Zihao. Then there were times that he would purposely intimidate others with his force of presence alone, just like what he tried to do to Jin Liwei during their confrontation in Iris' piano room.
Right now, however, Jin Liwei couldn't feel anything like that from the other man. "You're being awfully nice today," he remarked.
Lu Zihao raised an eyebrow. "What do you expect me to do? Throw a tantrum? My sister is fucking pregnant and that smartass AI son of yours told me to stop giving more stress to his mother or I'll be the one to blame if something happens to her. Fucking dramatic kid."
"Good job, Bacon," Jin Liwei said.
"Thank you, Father," Bacon's voice replied.
Although that was what Lu Zihao said, Jin Liwei still felt that there must be another reason why the man was acting extra cautious and even agreeable today. He also sensed something weird ever since the man arrived with Long Jinjing earlier in the afternoon. There was something familiar about him that Jin Liwei hadn't felt for a long time. He just couldn't put his finger on it. Before he could think more deeply about it, his AI children's voices distracted him.
"Uncle Haohao said bad words!" Ketchup's voice exclaimed. "Uh oh! Quick, Bacon! Cover your little kitty ears like the cute and mighty Ketchup! Meow~"
"Father, are you going to ground Uncle Zihao? He said bad words."
Jin Liwei's serious face cracked as he laughed at his AI children's innocent and funny words. Ketchup and Bacon had broken the nervous atmosphere without meaning to.
"You two kids need to remember something," Lu Zihao said through gritted teeth. "Your father and mother can't ground me. They hold no authority over me. I'm my own boss."
"Ooooooh~ Wow, Uncle Haohao! That's amazing! Oh oh oh! Does Uncle Haohao know that the cute and mighty Ketchup is a boss of my own company, too? It's called the White Tigress International Virtual Assistant Services! But Mommy and Daddy still ground Ketchup sometimes when the cute and mighty me is being a bad little kitty because I'm still a baby! Uncle Haohao isn't a baby anymore, that's why nobody can ground you, not even my mommy and daddy. Meow~"
"So does that mean that Uncle Zihao will pay Bacon a good salary? Father and Mother say that good and responsible bosses pay their employees, including the freelancers, good salary."
Lu Zihao rolled his eyes and didn't bother replying. Jin Liwei chuckled at the other man being subjected to his AI's children's endless questions.
"That's enough, Ketchup and Bacon," Iris' light but firm voice interrupted. "Don't annoy your uncle too much. Secure this suite because your dad, uncle and I are going to have an important talk. We want no interruptions during our meeting."
"Okie dokie, Mommy! Meow~"
"Understood, Mother."
Afterwards, the two cat AI children stopped talking and obeyed their mother's instruction. The suite was now one of the most secured places in the whole world. With Iris' original security framework in addition to her two cat AI children's powerful systems, most intelligence service agencies all over the world could only dream of such advanced and sophisticated security that was currently protecting the suite from any breaches.
Iris returned to the living room carrying a tablet. She looked paler than usual and there was an anxious energy surrounding her. But her eyes looked determined and she walked with steady, purposeful steps. Without saying anything, she handed the tablet to Jin Liwei before stepping away. She decided not to sit beside him this time.
The atmosphere turned tense once again as soon as she sat down at the small dining table at the other corner of the room.
Jin Liwei frowned. He would have preferred it if she sat down beside him but he restrained himself from calling her back upon sensing her unnatural anxiety. The two siblings both looked at him. Their silence was starting to make him feel nervous. However, this was what he wanted—to know the full truth. He took a few deep breaths before looking down at the tablet.
VETROV.
The word was written in English, Russian and Chinese.
With just the title page, he instantly recognized that it was a report written by his baby girl. The style was the same with the other comprehensive reports she did for him before.
Ah, it seemed that the truth was more complicated than he initially expected if she needed to prepare a report like this. He thought that the siblings would tell him the truth verbally but apparently not.
He straightened his spine and swiped to the next page. Then he began to read with grave concentration.
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Chapter 867 - The Vetrov Report Part II
Iris couldn't sit still so she got up and started pacing around the room. Nobody stopped her. The two men remained unmoving. Lu Zihao sat by the window and gazed at the dark night outside. His stillness, however, strongly indicated that his other senses were alert and focused on everything that was happening in the room.
As for Jin Liwei, there was no change in his expression at first. He read every word written in the report carefully and tried to absorb the information as naturally as possible without rushing anything in order to understand all of the content as much as he could. He tackled the report in a cold and logical manner in the same way that he studied a textbook back when he was still a student.
His finger swiped to the next page in a slow but steady way. He took his own sweet time and didn't rush. This was something that needed to be digested in a measured fashion.
The first part of the report provided a summary about the Vetrov organization. He wasn't that knowledgeable about the international underworld but even he had heard about the former reigning criminal organization, the Vetrovs. They were so infamous that several documentaries, fictional books, films and TV shows had been based on them throughout the years.
Despite this, no media production could claim an accurate picture of the Vetrov organization's internal workings or the true extent of its power and influence throughout the world. Those who attempted to infiltrate the organization's ranks with the intention of exposing its operations had all been either assassinated or had mysteriously disappeared, never to be found again.
The organization was so powerful that the international authorities seemed helpless against them. Any actions they tried throughout the past decades to catch and prosecute its members all failed.
Who would've thought that such a formidable criminal organization which appeared almost invincible for many decades finally fell a few years ago?
When the Vetrov organization was defeated, it became big news all over the world. However, any detailed information about how it happened weren't released to the general public and were labelled as classified information.
Despite the enormity of the event and its massive effects on the international underworld, the news about the Vetrov organization's defeat only lasted for a few days before it disappeared. Those who were sharp and knew better could sense that the authorities were all suppressing anything concerning about the Vetrovs. As a result, the once powerful reigning organization in the criminal underworld became forgotten by many in a short period of time.
Jin Liwei was confused as to why he was reading about this fearsome criminal organization. A frightening possibility entered his mind as the pieces slowly fell into place. However, he tamped his guess for now and focused on reading the report.
The more he read, however, the more shocked he became. His heart thundered inside his chest. It was only his great self-control that prevented his hand from trembling as he swiped to the next page.
Finally, he reached the part about the Vetrov family. There was a long line of Vetrov family members who contributed to making their organization greater after every generation. Then he reached the last family line before they were defeated.
Patriarch: Arman Anatolyevich Vetrov
Matriarch: Evgenia Yuryevna Vetrova
The summaries about these two people gave Jin Liwei cold sweat. How frightening! Even the worst fictional villains in books, movies and TV shows couldn't compare to these two.
He paused for a bit in order to regain his composure. If he didn't know beforehand that the Vetrov organization was indeed a real existence, he would've thought that the report he was reading right now was fiction. In addition, this was a report created by his baby girl, a genius world-class hacker who already created similar and frighteningly accurate reports for him in the past.
Once he calmed down again, he swiped to the next page and froze upon reading the new entry.
Son and heir: Nikolai Armanovich Vetrov
His eyes contracted as he read the summary under the name. He looked at Lu Zihao who didn't move from his position by the window. The man looked back at him with an unreadable expression.
Jin Liwei looked down at the report again. His hands holding the tablet started to tremble.
A man like this—no, this kind of person was a devil! A devil like this now possessed his fifth brother's body?! His carefree and fun-loving fifth brother was gone, only to be replaced by such evil?!
"Heh~ It seems like you now know what kind of man now lives as your beloved fifth brother." Lu Zihao flashed a devilish smile but his eyes were cold.
"Big Brother, please...." Iris said in a soft, pleading voice.
"What do you say, Third Brother?"
"Don't call me that!" Jin Liwei hissed.
Iris flinched at his tone but he didn't see her reaction.
Lu Zihao threw his head back and laughed. The sound was utterly demonic like it came straight from hell. Then he stopped and looked at his sister. "Look. I told you this was a horrible idea. He hates us now. Everyone hates the Vetrovs because we're evil."
She held onto the table next to her for support, suddenly finding it hard to breathe while her heart hammered inside her chest. She stared wide-eyed at Jin Liwei and felt afraid that he would hate her, her brother, and where they came from.
"God, no!" Jin Liwei exclaimed and shot up from his seat when he finally noticed his baby girl's expression. "Evelina, your brother is wrong."
He walked towards her but she stepped back and away from him. He stopped and cursed at himself for his careless reaction just now. After making his expression gentle, he stretched out his hand towards her.
"Evelina, come."
She shook her head and stepped back again.
"Come here, love."
Almost half a minute passed without her moving. Nevertheless, Jin Liwei didn't retrieve his hand. He continued to reassure her with the sincerity of his expression until she eventually walked towards him one hesitant step at a time.
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Chapter 868 - The Vetrov Report Part III
Jin Liwei was patient and didn't rush his baby girl as she slowly made her way to him. It was only a few steps but it felt like a long time before she finally reached him. He pulled her in his arms before she could react.
Iris stiffened at first but she quickly melted in his tight embrace, especially after smelling his comforting scent. Her arms wrapped around his waist while she rubbed her face against his chest.
He kissed the top of her head and tightened his arms around her. "Don't listen to your brother. I don't hate any of you."
She looked up at him. "Really?"
"En."
The corners of her mouth curved up. "But you sounded angry just now."
He sighed and told her, "It wasn't directed at you."
"It was directed at me, obviously," Lu Zihao's voice interrupted the couple's moment.
They both turned to look at him. There was a slight mocking expression on his face but the couple could sense his guardedness. Despite his taunting words, he was still being careful in keeping his heavy aura contained so as not to affect the two of them.
"I don't want to fight with you," Jin Liwei said through his tightened jaw. He gave the other man a hard side-long glance. "Don't disturb me. I haven't finished reading the rest of the report yet."
Lu Zihao shrugged before walking to the mini-fridge and opening it. "No alcohol?"
"We don't drink alcohol in our suite," Iris explained.
He clicked his tongue before taking a bottle of orange juice, opening it, and then draining the entire bottle in five big gulps. Then he threw the bottle to the trash can at the opposite corner. His aim was accurate and the bottle fell into the trash can in a smooth arc despite the distance.
"Hurry up and finish reading that damn report," he told Jin Liwei without looking at him. "I want to return to my room soon and fuck my girlfriend before she falls asleep."
"Big brother!" Iris made a face at him.
"What? Long Jinjing is my girlfriend and we are fucking. A lot. We're all adults here. There's no need to censor things, especially since you yourself are pregnant. And we all know how a woman becomes pregnant."
She glared at him. "My children are listening!"
"Oh. Fuck."
Jin Liwei sighed before talking to a random corner. "Ketchup, Bacon, don't ever copy your uncle's way of speaking. If I ever hear you say those bad words, you already know what I'll do to you."
"Eeek! Ketchup doesn't want to be grounded ever again, Daddy! It's so sad and boring! Meowuwuwu! Nooooo! Uncle Haohao is the biggest meanie forever and ever, bringing trouble to us kitty babies! Hmph! Ketchup and Bacon need compensation from Uncle Haohao for emotional distress. Meow!"
"Uncle Zihao, speaking like that is not classy. And Bacon wants high salary as my compensation for emotional distress."
Lu Zihao's expression turned black. "You two little—"
"Alright, that's enough," Iris quickly intervened before her big brother lost his temper on her AI children.
She sensed that her brother wasn't as calm as his usual self. Taunting them was his way of dealing with his nerves which he refused to openly express through his emotions. She didn't want her AI children to be the trigger for him to finally erupt.
Although Ketchup and Bacon were AI beings, their emotion processing centres were highly advanced and had a huge effect on how they would develop in the future. She couldn't risk them being the targets of her big brother's anger especially during a stressful situation like this. Her brother could be very frightening. Ketchup and Bacon's development might become stunted if they were traumatized by their uncle.
She quickly said a few system commands in order to make both Ketchup and Bacon more stable. Then she sighed in relief afterwards when the two finally stopped complaining about their uncle and asking him for compensation for emotional distress. The two must have learned it from their Uncle Dom yet again.
Her friend and assistant was another person who had a huge influence on her AI children's development besides her and Jin Liwei. It was a good thing that Dom didn't have a foul mouth like her big brother or even Chen Fei, but Dom did have a rather...er, "creative" way of saying things which her AI children liked to copy, especially Ketchup.
She glanced at her brother and saw that he looked calmer now that Ketchup and Bacon stopped nagging him. He grabbed another juice bottle, apple this time, and returned to his earlier spot by the window.
"We're wasting time," he said.
"Fine," Jin Liwei replied. "I'll continue reading the report."
Iris began to feel nervous again but Jin Liwei gave her a gentle squeeze before pulling her to sit beside him on the couch. She originally didn't plan on sitting next to him while he was reading the report because it would only increase her anxiety. However, it was obvious that he wanted her by his side. And to be honest, she also wanted to be close to him as much as possible. His scent was currently her wonder drug.
Thus, she steeled herself and decided to stay beside him. She already prepared herself anyway for whatever reaction he might have once she handed him the report about the Vetrovs.
Jin Liwei finished reading the summary about Nikolai. His expression was unreadable but Iris sensed the turmoil of negative emotions radiating from him.
She glanced at her big brother who also had an unreadable expression. She felt helpless that it might not be possible for the two men to get along again after showing Jin Liwei the report.
Despite already trimming the summary about her brother to the bare minimum, it was still quite shocking to a civilian like Jin Liwei who lived outside the criminal underworld. Besides, she didn't want to lie and create a false report just to make her brother look good. It was against her own personal ethics.
"Evelina Armanovna Vetrova," Jin Liwei murmured, interrupting her thoughts. "What a beautiful name."
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Chapter 869 - Vetrov Report Part IV
"Thank you," Iris whispered in Russian.
Jin Liwei who had started to learn a bit of Russian understood what she said. "No need to thank me, love. It's the truth."
Then he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer, not allowing her to leave his side again like earlier, before continuing to read the summary about his wife.
Daughter: Evelina Armanovna Vetrova
Iris didn't take her eyes off him. Her heart was still hammering inside her chest but his close proximity and the warmth of his embrace managed to calm her irregular breathing. She remained silent so as not to disturb him.
"Fantom," he murmured. He paused reading and looked like he was trying to remember something. "Where did I hear this name before?"
She restrained herself from explaining to him. If he asked her directly, then she would tell her the facts. For now, however, she would allow him to digest everything in his own pace.
"En, I think I remember now."
Her body stiffened a little but she still didn't say anything.
"Back when I was still attending business school in the U.S., I had a friend back then who majored in computer science. He was a good hacker...well, we friends thought that he was pretty good. But I now know that he was nothing compared to a genius hacker like you. He sucked in school and almost flunked his subjects but he was making good money on his own through side jobs like designing simple software for start-up companies and things like that. He always told us that the person he admired the most in the world was a legendary hacker named Fantom."
Jin Liwei faced her. "Is that...was that you?"
She nodded.
He gave her a soft smile. "That friend eventually dropped out of university to start his own cybersecurity company. Then he sold it to a large competitor which swallowed his company afterwards. That competitor is currently one of the biggest players in the commercial cybersecurity industry. He became an instant millionaire after that."
His story piqued her interest. She liked hearing anecdotes about other people who loved computers just like her. She especially liked hearing about success stories because it made her proud of the field that she specialized in.
"He always bragged about Fantom's exploits as if they were his own," Jin Liwei continued telling her. "He told us that you hacked into the Central Intelligence Agency's database and left some pretty funny comments on highly classified reports as if you were reviewing movies or fictional books instead of actual incidents in real life."
"Ah, those." She chuckled while her expression became filled with nostalgia. "I did that on a lot of intelligence agencies all over the world, not just that one in particular. Not only intelligence agencies but also government and private institutions from various countries. I was so bored and I found a lot of those classified reports quite entertaining, that's why I did that."
Jin Liwei shook his head but there was a doting smile on his face. "That university friend of mine said that what you did wouldn't have been revealed to the general public because it would be a giant embarrassment to the agency but a whistleblower exposed it in the end before fleeing to Switzerland."
She shrugged, not really caring whether her exploits as Fantom had been exposed to the public or not. All she cared about back then was entertaining herself. She wasn't looking for attention or admiration from other people. What she craved, however, was the competition with other hackers, especially with those who were on-par or had higher skills than her. Competing against other highly-skilled hackers fired her up, and in turn, always triggered her to improve her own skills.
"You're amazing," he told her. "You were amazing back then but you're still amazing now."
She felt a little shy but warmth filled her heart and made her feel so much better about this entire situation of telling him about where she and her big brother came from in their past lives. However, he wasn't finished reading the entire report yet. It was quite long. He might still change his tune and end up pushing her away after reading something he didn't like.
But no matter what happened, she was determined to work everything out with him in the end. She was carrying his children and needed him in her life because of her own great anxiety about becoming a mother. And most importantly, she loved him so much. She couldn't imagine the rest of her life anymore without him.
It would be extremely painful if he abandoned her. Hopefully, that wouldn't happen. She trusted in his repeated assurances that he would accept her past no matter what, but there was still a lingering fear of rejection in her heart.
As if sensing her remaining anxiety, Jin Liwei gave her another quick peck on the lips before resuming to read the section in the report about her.
Afterwards, he asked, "You didn't participate in the organization's activities?"
She stiffened before forcing herself to relax. "No."
"Why?"
It was Lu Zihao who answered his question. "Because she is an angel whose heart refused to be tainted even by being born into a family of devils."
"Big Brother...."
"What? It's true, isn't it? We all tried to make you join the family organization but you refused to budge no matter what. Father and I enticed you using different methods while Mother threatened you a lot, even tortured you harder—"
"WHAT?!" Jin Liwei shot from his seat and snarled at Lu Zihao. "Say that again! Who tortured who?!"
"D-darling...."
"Evelina, let me talk to your brother."
Iris alternated looking between her man and brother. She felt stuck between them and it felt horrible.
Lu Zihao appeared casual but the desolate look in his eyes hinted that he was not proud of what happened to his sister in their past lives. "Being tortured was part of our training. It was supposed to increase our tolerance to pain and strengthen our mental resilience. Everyone went through that training, including Evelinka. She is...was a Vetrov, after all."
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Chapter 870 - The Vetrov Report Part V
Jin Liwei's vision turned red and he was already in front of Nikolai grabbing and shaking the man's collar before he even realized what he was doing. "Your family tortured my wife?!"
"Liwei, stop! Please don't fight! Big Brother, please!" Iris also arrived not long after and tried to squeeze her small body between the two men.
Lu Zihao pried Jin Liwei's hands from his collar, ripping the top part of his shirt in the process but not caring about it, before pushing the other man back with a casual-looking but powerful force. Jin Liwei staggered backwards but quickly regained his balance. Iris hugged him while placing herself in front of him to prevent him from coming for her brother again.
"I was just stating a fact," Lu Zihao said in an emotionless voice. "That was how we, the Vetrovs, lived."
Fury flooded Jin Liwei until it was all he could feel. "You didn't do anything to protect your sister?! You allowed them to torture her?!"
"Please stop, Liwei!" Iris cried and tried to force him to look at her. "Don't blame Big Brother! He was tortured, too! It was training, that's all!"
Finally, Jin Liwei looked at her with a face filled with furious disbelief. "That's all? You call torture 'that's all'?"
"He tried to protect me. He really did! He suffered more than I did when he tried to protect me—"
"Evelinka, that's enough!" Lu Zihao interrupted her in Russian. "No need to explain to him that part and try to defend me. Let him believe what he wants to believe. I don't care. He already thinks that I'm the devil anyway."
She ignored her brother and continued explaining to Jin Liwei as much as she could. "He was still a teenager that time and I was only a little girl, so Big Brother couldn't do anything—"
Jin Liwei was horrified and held her tightly. "The torture began when you were still a little girl?! What the hell, Evelina?!!"
She also ignored him, too caught up in finishing in her explanation. "But Big Brother eventually grew stronger and he was able to protect me! He really did! I didn't have to undergo the torture training as much when I became a teenager because of Big Brother's interference."
"Not always," Lu Zihao whispered. "I had to fulfill my duties, so I was often out of the estate, leaving you there all alone to fend for yourself."
She couldn't say anything to counter what he said because it was true. Although she reigned as one of the supreme hackers in the cyberworld back then as the legendary Fantom, she was still the weakest in physical combat among the Vetrovs. She couldn't always avoid being forced to undergo the Vetrovs' harsh basic training regimen which was a requirement for everyone in the family. There was only so much that she could do to resist whenever they literally dragged her away despite her protests and threw her into training.
However, it was also true that her brother went through much worse than her. The only difference was that he accepted his fate whereas she rejected hers. Slowly but surely, her will to live crumbled inside her gilded cage.
A wave of dizziness washed over her. She swayed a little on her feet. The two men reacted in an instant. Jin Liwei who was right in front of her caught her while Lu Zihao rushed towards her on instinct but stopped himself mid-stride upon remembering that she couldn't take his scent.
"Father, Uncle Zihao, both of you are upsetting Mother too much," Bacon's cold voice suddenly interrupted them. "If the two of you are unable to control your tempers, please get out of the room and cool off separately somewhere far away. If something bad happens to my mother tonight, Bacon will never forgive the two of you even if you're my father and uncle. No amount of high salary will tempt me to change my mind."
"Wuwuwu! Mommy, please be okay! Don't faint again. Ketchup is so scared! Meowuwuwu!"
Bacon and Ketchup's sudden interruption broke the volatile atmosphere between the three adults. Jin Liwei and Lu Zihao felt chastised by the AI child but couldn't retort anything because they also had the same attitude as Bacon. They would never forgive those who brought harm to Iris. This interruption managed to calm down the two men enough to remember that they both needed to control their own emotions so as not to upset the pregnant Iris.
"I'm fine." Iris' voice sounded weak and exhausted.
Jin Liwei assisted her back to the couch so she could rest. Lu Zihao wordlessly grabbed a bottle of water from the mini-fridge and threw it. Jin Liwei caught the bottle and uncapped it before offering it to Iris. She took a few sips before her pale complexion regained a bit of colour. Not much but enough for the two men to feel relieved that she no longer looked like she was going to faint.
"Yes, that's right! Daddy and Uncle Haohao should always cooperate with each other like basketball teammates and not fight like savages because we're one big happy family! Right, Mommy? Meow~"
"Right," Iris replied with a faint smile on her pale lips.
"See? The cute and mighty Ketchup is right! Mommy said so! Meow~"
"Of course, Mother is always right," Bacon agreed.
Iris chuckled weakly. "Thank you, Ketchup and Bacon, for your concern for me. But please leave us, the adults, to finish our discussion first."
Ketchup made a whining sound to express her worry.
"Understood, Mother," Bacon replied. Then he addressed the two adult men. "Father, Uncle Zihao, Bacon is watching you. Please don't upset my mother again."
"Ketchup, Bacon, I'll be fine," Iris repeated in a firmer tone.
The two cat AI finally listened and withdrew from the conversation. However, they still made sure to continue monitoring their mother's condition.
Iris released a big sigh of relief and took a few more sips of water. Then she looked at the two men who both looked much calmer now. However, she could still sense the turmoil of intense emotions emanating from them, especially from Jin Liwei.
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