At 11:00am, the whole of the Li family was gathered in the lobby, ready to head out for some brunch, but soon to be lunch if their oldest daughter keeps them waiting any longer.
They watched the elevators earnestly with growling stomachs. The doors slid open, revealing their first daughter-in-law, Xie Fanlong, and their second, Zhang Wenshi. Both were pale and shakey.
"So?" Grandma Li questioned the two individuals, "Where is my grandchild?"
"We knocked on her door, and nobody answered," Fanlong started the conversation.
"So we asked a passing cleaning maid to open the door for us,"
By now, everyone in their group was looking at them, "Nobody was inside,"
"The room looked good as new,"
"Even her clothes and whatnot were gone,"
"We searched everywhere, nothing,"
"Do you're saying, she disappeared along with all of her things?" Zhou Aonu popped in.
The two shaken girls nodded. Long Ao and Shen Hui moved up to comfort them, exchanging worried looks with the rest of the family.
"The first successful kidnapping after five centuries of the Zhou family history." Grandpa Zhou looked ashamed, "We have let down our ancestors,"
"Last night's shooting,"
"-was planned," Wang Xiuying finished off her husband's sentence.
Li Fu Ning looked at his in-laws and immediately pulled out his phone, the military couple and the grandparents followed behind. All of them were using their connections and pulling in favours to search for the missing Princess.
While they did that, mama Li called the An family to check in on her second daughter, after receiving confirmation of Anshi's safety, she called the Hu family.
"Get on the car, we have a lunch meeting with the Hu family," Zhou Li Jie looked at his older sister perplexed.
He grabbed her by the arm and leaned into her ear, "Sis, they are a mafia family, we can't associate with them,"
"You think I care? If they can get my daughter back for me, then I'll f*cking associating with them!"
"But-,"
"If you don't want to come then don't," And just like that, Li Kanghui boarded the car along with the rest of the family.
Seeing his wife follow his sister on, Zhou Li Jie sighed and boarded the car as well.
"Where are we going?"
"St. Bernard Chateau,"
The driver nodded and pulled away from the hotel.
All the way there, the family continued making calls, Xie Fanlong and Zhang Wenshi as well.
Xie Fanlong contacted her family and friends while Zhang Wenshi contacted her family and ordered her squadron to start searching for her missing friend.
When they arrived, they walked in like a busy business family during an emergency. Mama Li led them up to the front counter, raised her sunglasses and spoke in a perfect British accented English.
"We are here to meet with the Hu Family," The waitress was surprised by her English, she had assumed by the loud Mandarin yelling that their English would only be subpar at most.
By the time they arrived at the private VIP room, everyone had put away their phones and now looked like a sophisticated family. Drenching everyone in their powerful aura.
As the door opened, the eyes of the Hu family rested on them.
"Good Morning," Mama Li smiled politely.
"And to you too, please, have a seat," Mama Hu returned the polite greeting.
As they all settled down, a waiter came in with iced water.
"What is this emergency you speak of?" Hu Dajing took a sip of his water.
"This concerns your son the most," CEO Li spoke, "Our daughter, Li Yaorui had gone missing this last night during the shooting at Big Ben, we are not sure how we got back to the hotel, none of us knows, we all woke up in our rooms dressed in the clothes we had worn the previous day,"
Hu Angli waited for Li Fu Ning to finish before the glass in his hand shattered from the pressure.
Mr. Li sent a sidewards glance at him, "As of now, we have to clues,"
"We'll help," Hu Angli blurted out, "We'll help find her at all costs,"
The Li family inspected the Hu family for any signs of rejection or reluctance and were happy to see none.
"On one condition," Hu Dajing said.
"Your daughter will fulfill the promise our ancestors had made,"
Li Fu Ning looked confusedly at his parents, "What promise?"
"A betrothal," Granpa Li looked down dejectedly.
"Between the first daughter of the Li Family and the first son of the Hu Family,"
"AND I DIDN'T KNOW OF THIS WHY!"
"We were hoping to let the two fall in love of their own accord," His father sighed.
"That didn't work now did it?"
"Oh it did when they were younger, but the Samuel boy came in and deceived your daughter with our son's identity,"
"What do you mean?" This time it was Li Kanghui who spoke.
"You remember your daughter mentioning a boy by the name of LiLi when she was younger correct?" Liu Longlie looked at Li Kanghui dead in the eyes.
"Yes, but I thought that it was just some imaginary friend,"
"So, you are saying that my sister had been flirting with a boy at the age of FIVE!" Li Long Ao shot up out of his seat and exploded.
"That would be correct," Hu Angli answered.
Brother is sorry, Yaorui! Brother has failed as your brother and let you flirt at the age of five.
Long Ao silently cried inside his heart at his uselessness.
Grandfather Zhou took a look at his promising military grandson and shook his head.
"Since we have your assistance, what are your thoughts on the kidnapping?"
Liu Longlie, the Hu family mistress, answered the old man, "Someone with connections, be it the rich or someone from the underworld, for all we could know, it could be someone living the life of an average person,"
"It could also be a crazy fan," Aishi put in.
"Someone with connections to the black market," Zhou Li Jie confirmed Liu Longlie's suggestion, "The guns they were using aren't found in the military,"
"They were personalized,"
The Hu family exchanged glances, "This gun, did it have this symbol on it?" Hu Weibin, the oldest of Angli's sisters, took out a pen and begun a quick sketch on a nearby napkin.
When she finished, she slid the napkin over to Wang Xiuying.
There was a samurai with a sword in his head, there were two words on the sword in Japenese, るい.
"Ando," Li Fu Ning translated.
"The Ando family have long been our rival family in the mafia world." Hu Dajing informed them, "Recently, they have moved their base to China, we assumed it was to take our land, but now that I think about it, their purpose may not be that easy,"
"If you are saying what I think you are saying, then Yaorui maybe in China right now?" Xie Fanlong spoke up.
After hearing her statement, Hu Weibin nodded.
"I'll tell my men to start searching for any flights from London to China," Zhang Wenshi pulled out her phone.
"They might have connections, and make sure to check the private landings as well as the passenger's faces," Wenshi nodded at Zhou Zhangmin and left.
"Your child, how old is she?" Liu Longlie held a spark of panic in her eyes.
"She turned fourteen this year,"
"Two years before the marriageable age in Japan for women,"
"My sister will not be married before the age of 25!" Shen Hui slammed the table. The grandmother's rolled their eyes at the men in their family.
"This Ando family, who are they?"
"The Ando family consists of 5 people, the head of the family, Ando Kiro, he had two children with his first wife, the first is his son, Ando Wade, his second is his only daughter, Ando Akari, his wife died while giving birth to her. Nine years later, he remarries a woman named An Amira, she enters their family with her only son, An..."
"An Samuel," Zhang Wenshi burst into the room, interrupting the mafia boss's sentence.
Hu Dajing nodded, "An Samuel is the suspected culprit,"
Instantly, all the colour drained from the Li family's faces. Their daughters were both in the hands of the Ando clan.
"So...what about Anshi?"
"What about her?" Hu Huibai questioned.
"Li Anshi is currently residing with the Ando family," Hu Angli said it for them.
A knock came at the door, "Your orders have arrived,"