"Hey, where are you going?" The old lady asked Li Nuxie as she headed to the stairs.
"Uhm, going home?" Li Nuxie doesn't understand why the old lady would ask her that. Didn't she just rescue the cat successfully?
"Wait," the old got her phone inside the bag and dialed someone. "I'm at the fourth floor, go over here," the old lady told the other line before ending the call.
"Do you need anything still, madam?"
"Me? I don't need anything. How about you?"
Li Nuxie wrinkled her forehead. She doesn't need any reward for rescuing a cat. Li Chanying will definitely kill her with all the teasing. "If you're talking about reward or something, you don't need to give me anything,"
"I hate owing something to someone. Even more, to strangers," the old lady declared. Hatred flashed through her eyes but vanished immediately.
If Li Chanying was the Vulture of the hacker world, it can be said that Li Nuxie was the Kingfisher of the real world. Just like her brother, she was trained to read the eyes of the people around her. Her grandma used to tell them that if they can learn the person's strengths and weaknesses through the eyes, then both of them can be invincible. However, based on what happened to Chao-ge, it seemed that Li Nuxie's brother didn't put to heart their grandma's teachings.
"Then let's just pretend that this didn't happen," Li Nuxie suggested.
"And let you grab the opportunity to appear in front of me in the future?" the old lady snorted.
Li Nuxie did not understand the sentiments of the old lady in front of her. She knew that the old lady was anything but ordinary. Wearing a Hongli design, she can tell that the material used on the dress was supplied by the Li Textile. The Li Textile does not supply materials to random fashion houses. Only the upper echelon of Country C society has access to Hongli dresses. She knew this because after all, she's the Young Miss of the Li Family.
A man wearing a black suit went out of the elevator. Bowing to the old lady, the man looked at Li Nuxie.
"Give her a blank check, Huezhong," the old lady told the man.
The man swiftly brought out a check book from his breast pocket before pulling a check from the booklet. Li Nuxie resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the obvious humiliation. She accepted the check with two hands, not missing the disappointment that clouded the old lady's eyes.
As the Young Miss of Li Family, she literally grew up with blank checks. She used to draw nonsense on her grandma's check book so what was the difference? She even has her own check book inside her bag. She gave a forced smile to the old lady as she randomly put the check in one of the pockets of her sling bag. After all, it was bad to refuse a good grace.
Outside, a white Alfa Romeo was parked at the other side of the road. Its door opened as soon as Li Nuxie took a step out of the building. Her lips formed a thin line as she watched a man with a gray hair went out of the car.
"Young Miss," the man bowed as he greeted Li Nuxie.
"Dao Ze, fancy seeing you here," she said. As expected of the Old Matriarch of Li Family, nothing escapes her attention within the City S.
"Old Madam thought that you might need a lift," Dao Ze took the traveling bag from her grip. "Taking the public transportation is a little bit inconvenient for the Young Miss."
Li Nuxie did not answer. She got inside the car. As she looked around, her eyes became serious. A few meters away from them was a black motorcycle. She leaned back as the Alfa Romeo started to vibrate.
"What's wrong with your people, Dao Ze? Tell them to do their job well. The Lis are not paying them to slack off," she said before closing her eyes.
At the driver's seat, Dao Ze was sweating profusely. His neck could not be straighter. The Young Miss Li is known for her acidic tongue. Normally, Li Nuxie would keep to herself. But when she gave comments, it was like facing the thesis panel of a doctorate program.
His men were doing their job well. The Young Miss was just of top caliber. Dao Ze kept praying to Buddha that her Young Miss stayed asleep until they reach their destination. As if not enough, he kept glancing at the rear view mirror every minute. Yes, every minute. His timer said so.
The car stopped in front of a two storey house. The main door can only accommodate two people at the same time. As if sensing that they already arrived, Li Nuxie opened her eyes. Grabbing her sling bag, she opened the door, not waiting for Dao Ze to do his job.
The property is situated in a middle class community of City S. It was one hour away from the Li Ancestral House which is located at the gated community of Pavilion. Pushing the door, the familiar scent of lavender has flooded the air, giving a sense of comfort. As she took a step inside, the sound of her sneakers against the wooden floor disrupted the stillness of the house.
Dao Ze followed her inside the house. He put the travelling bag near a wooden cabinet. From what he knew, the Young Miss has bought the cabinet from Country P. The country was known for its wooden furniture. This was the second time that Dao Ze has set foot in the house. The first time was during the feng shui ritual two years ago. The Old Madam has insisted to conduct a feng shui in the house or she will not let her youngest granddaughter live on her own.
The living room was a mixture of ancient and modern setting. Li Nuxie has always liked well-lit rooms; hence she opted for floor-to-ceiling glass windows. The last rays of the sun have penetrated thru the windows when she pulled the string of the curtains.
"Does grandma have anything to say?" Li Nuxie asked Dao Ze.
"She just wanted to have a dinner with you tomorrow night."
She nodded. "Did Li Chanying track down my brother?"
"She did, Young Miss. Young Master is currently at Island H."
Li Nuxie took a deep breath. "If that's the case, then you may leave now. Tell my grandma that I will go to dinner tomorrow."
Dao Ze bowed at her before leaving.
Not feeling hungry, Li Nuxie got ready for bed. Just when she was ready to turn off her lampshade, her phone's ringtone has disturbed the relaxing atmosphere of her bedroom. Without looking at the caller ID, she accepted the call.
"What is it?" Her number was unlisted and only a few people knew it so she was currently wondering about the person who has guts to call her just minutes before she hit the sack.
"Little sis, miss me?"
"Chao-ge?" She looked at the caller ID and indeed, it was her brother.
"I've heard you are back in City S?"
"Well, obviously. I need to clean up your mess."
The sound of Li Chao's laughter answered her. "Sorry about that. Just consider it as your training."
"Chao-ge, I'm so closed to becoming a hermit. But you forced me to tender an early retirement. How can you be so heartless?" Li Nuxie hugged her pillow. The last time she talked to her brother was six months ago.
"Becoming a hermit is not your destiny, little sis. Remember, you are the Young Miss of the Li Family," Li Chao's tone became serious.
"Why do we need to grow up so fast?" She cannot help but whine.
"What grow up are you talking about? You're already twenty-nine, if I may remind you."
"You're daring enough to talk about my age? I am not a leftover woman," Li Nuxie sounded so defensive which made Li Chao laughed again. "Stop laughing!"
"I didn't say anything, little sis. You are so defensive. By the way, the dinner tomorrow might be your marriage dinner. Just a heads up."
Li Nuxie turned to the other side of the bed. "This is your fault. How can you just let Yang Lina back out from your engagement?"
"Whatever happened between the two of us, you're out of it."
"Good luck on that. Remember who you are talking to."
"Xiexie, Yang Lina is mine. Stay out of it."
Li Nuxie curled her lips. Wait, what? Her brother seems to love this Yang Lina still. She really doesn't like the woman. Yang Lina is older than Li Nuxie by two years, and yet she acted as if Li Nuxie was the older one.
Truth was she's happy the two broke up. Yang Lina belonged to one of the powerful families in City S. And so was Li Nuxie. However, when it comes to life experience, Li Nuxie has been immersing herself in different cultures since she was eight years old. And when she says immersing, that's literally all by herself. For Yang Lina's part, she was also well-travelled. Along with her bodyguards and personal assistants.
"Did you hear me?" Her brother's voice has disturbed her flow of thoughts.
"Loud and clear," she answered. If her brother wanted her to stay out of the Yang Lina affair, so be it. Besides, Yang Lina was hardly her match. Duh.
"Mmmm, sleep now. You need to be beautiful tomorrow night."
"I'm always beautiful," she retorted before pressing the end call button.