Gu Sheng was shaking outside his boss's study room. 'Boss wouldn't let this go.'
He knocked on the door twice.
"Come in."
"I got in touch with their vice president and this is the message they sent.", he passed the tablet to Yang Lingyun whose eyes grew darker than it was in a second.
"Hah," Yang Lingyun chuckled softly, his fingers tapping slowly on the sleek surface of the iPad.
The only thing the email contained was three words. "No. F*** off." He had finally found someone who could rival him.
Gu Sheng's anxiety reached its peak, his fear almost reducing him to tears. The sight of Yang Lingyun's unusually pale complexion intensified his dread, as he realized the severity of the situation. He presumed that his neck was at risk so he instinctively touched his throat making sure it was still intact. 'Who is this daring bastard who dared to challenge his master? They didn't know who the king of this country was?'
Yang Lingyun tilted his head and pursed his lips as he bit out harshly, "Fair enough."
When he heard that Xia Lihua had debuted under Hua de World he was really surprised as she had a long list of scandals. Hua de world was now one of the top entertainment companies in this country, rising into fame within a span of just 3 years.
He expected her to be under a small company which he could easily acquire and then dismiss her, but it looked like this was going to be hard. He knew that 7 billion dollars was too less, Hua de World was worth more. He already knew that he couldn't buy the company, but he was expecting to see an email saying that they wanted to negotiate further as the proposal had come from Yang Corporation.
But did they just say F**k off on his face?
"Ask them to schedule a meeting with their president. In person."
"Wh-what?" Gu Sheng was puzzled. He had expected Yang Lingyun to instruct him to take drastic measures to damage Hua de World's reputation or even push them towards bankruptcy. However, Lingyun's response seemed to deviate from his usual approach. Yang Lingyun was notorious for not tolerating any form of disrespect and rarely granted any concessions to those who dared to challenge him.
Yang Lingyun hardly gave face to anyone who disrespected him, everyone knew that.
"Did I not make myself clear?"
"No but..." The fact that Yang Lingyun wanted to meet with Hua de World, despite their apparent disrespect, left Gu Sheng bewildered. "Why?"
"If I can't buy the company I will start by buying the shares of Hua de word."
***
At Xiaoyun pavillion
"Michelle be a good boy." Xia Lihua combed her fingers through the tangled fur of her ragdoll cat.
The cat rubbed against her hand, but refused to eat the cat food and looked at her with indignant eyes.
Xia Lihua Lihua blinked. "Mimi are you mad at me?"
The cat "Grr"ed seemingly annoyed at the nickname.
"Baby, I'll come back home early from next time, alright? Today mommy was late", she laughed and patted the cat's snow white fur.
The cat reluctantly sniffed the meat, then tasted it with it's little tongue.
"Finish it quickly." Xia Lihua smiled and added more cat food in the bowl making him mewl. "You need to eat more."
He scratched her hand in response.
"A naughty one are you not", she teased, tickling his fur.
The cat meowed and strutted out from the kitchen after he finished eating whatever Li Hua had given him. She took the bowl from the floor and got up. She stretched her back which had became stiff because she had been squatting down for so long.
She headed downstairs after changing into new set of clothes.
"Don't touch me, you just touched the damn cat!"
Xia Lihua glanced at the girl playing on the new ps5. "I'm literally standing two meters away from you."
"But still it might trigger my fur allergy.", Ling Feiyi said.
Lihua sat down on the sofa and rolled her eyes. "I just came down after changing my clothes."
"Oh! My Lili is the best~", the girl paused her game to hug Xia Lihua. "Congratulations on your idol debut."
Xia Lihua scowled and pushed her away. Ling Feiyi didn't seem to care. She continued pressing the controls, focusing on her game again.
Ling Feiyi was Lihua's personal secretary. When she had met her in Milan she didn't know that Ling Feiyi was the genius hacker who went by the name Dragon Ling. She had become a target of a mercenary gang and Xia Lihua saved her. After that Ling Feiyi started working for her as her personal secretary.
Xia Lihua, fully aware of Ling Feiyi's double life, understood the importance of keeping her hidden from the underworld. If she served as a regular secretary no one would suspect her to be the notorious Dragon Ling.
Ling Feiyi brushed her purple bangs and said, "Yang corporation is trying to buy our shares. I impeded them from doing so, but they hacked into our firewalls."
Xia Lihua's eyes widened in disbelief.
"He is going too far," she muttered under her breath, feeling a surge of frustration. "Don't let him cause any damage to our stocks."
"Don't worry even though he tried to hack into our system I was fast.", Feiyi grinned. "I already stopped him from doing so, all he must have gotten is a string of error codes."
Xia Lihua immediately relaxed and her attention shifted to the black t-shirt Fei Yi was wearing. "That's an interesting shirt you have got."
Fei Yi looked down at her baggy t-shirt which had 'If you think you are sexy look in the mirror again cause you are not' written in white bold letters.
"Isn't it cool?", she stuck her tongue out playfully.
Ling Feiyi was a goth girl. With her hair dyed deep shade of purple, heavy make up and dark red lipstick she looked like an e-girl from late-2000s. She had a unique sense of fashion. She had a penchant for black oversized t-shirts adorned with bold white letters, each featuring different quotes that made a statement. These shirts were often paired with black flared skirts, adding a touch of femininity to her edgy ensemble. On colder days, Fei Yi would occasionally complete her look with fishnet stockings, adding an extra layer of texture and style.
"I'm convinced that you have zero clothes of any color other than black in your closet."
"I thought you already knew that."
Xia Lihua's phone rang. She checked the caller id and picked up the call. "Hello?"
Liang Sichen's deep masculine voice sounded from the other end, "The Yang Corporation is asking for a face to face meeting with the CEO of Hua de world."
"Refuse them."
"Is it Brother Sichen?" Ling Feiyi piped in between, but Xia Lihua had already ended the call.
"Yes, it was." Xia Lihua got up from the sofa and headed towards her bedroom. "I'm tired, so I'm going to bed. Don't forget to lock the door before you head home."
"Alright I won't forget, sleep well."
"Bullshit! Last time you had forgotten to lock the main door and my baby Michelle had escaped!"
"That was just one time! And your housekeeper found Michelle back, don't be so petty." Ling Feiyi ranted but Xia Lihua had already gone upstairs.