These Maps

"Your assistant, when did you replace Miller?" Liu Zijian asked his brother after both Ye Ming and the small guy went out to prepare something.

"Miller is on leave. I told him to get married within a year. If he can't secure a married certificate with that woman who kept occupying his mind, he's a failure as my assistant." Liu Zilong answered with a smile. If he wouldn't push Miller, that man would be single for the rest of his life and would only have an unrequited love until his death. 

"You make it sound so simple." Liu Zijian commented without lifting his eyes. He was still focused with the initial file he got. He examined the different maps sent to him, but except from the varying margin of error, he couldn't see any difference. 

Liu Zilong chuckled. "Don't tell me you're showing off your expertise since you're already married." 

"I'm just telling the truth. People can get married easily, but maintaining the relationship is more important." In his case, it was easy to sign the contract but took a lot more effort to make his marriage work out. To put it simply, it's an everyday task. The good thing was, he's enjoying this kind of task. And the benefits kept piling up. 

Liu Zilong slightly shook his head, still smiling before speaking again. "What are going to do in Q City? Did you change your mind? Are you going to accept the position head?"

Liu Zijian finally looked at his brother. "I'm not. You're the older one. It's your responsibility." It actually slipped his mind that his trip would coincide the election of Liu Family's heir. 

"I am, but I'm not married. You are. Besides, you've been managing businesses for a while now."

"I'm only managing part of it. I don't intend to take in the full responsibility. Like you said, I'm married. I still prefer to spend more time with my family. But you're not the same." 

If Mr. Liu would hear his two sons pushing each other to be his successor, he would really cry without tears. 

*

After the plane successfully landed, Liu Zijian called Han Meixiu. His wife insisted that as soon as he landed, he should call her. 

It wasn't a simple call. Han Meixiu demanded a video call. 

Thus while walking towards the parking lot, for the first time, Liu Zijian held his phone in front and talked. The woman on the other side was wearing her usual headband. She just clearly washed up. Taking note of the time, Han Meixiu was really planning to sleep late again. 

"I was expecting you're already lying down."

"I'm about to sleep...but I can't sleep in our room. I'm planning to sleep with the twins."

"Stop working. The additional people of digital team will arrive tomorrow. You only need to assign them the appropriate work then you can relax." 

"I know." Han Meixiu answered. "Brother Long is with you?" She asked after seeing the familiar figure behind.

Liu Zijian look over his shoulder and saw his brother a few steps away from him with his new assistant. He has doubts with the man's identity as he's not one of the familiar faces following his brother. But when he asked, Liu Zilong didn't elaborate further after telling him not to worry. 

Since his brother said so, he dropped the subject. The man looked harmless and didn't actually fit to be his brother's assistant. 

After retracting his gaze, he nodded. "He has new assistant while Miller is on leave." 

"Oh, that's surprising. Does Ye Ming ever took a leave?"

"He never asked." Liu Zijian answered. "Should I give him?" 

"Isn't that normal?" Han Meixiu asked in return. 

'ding'

"Hold on, I have to check something." Han Meixiu said and she quickly disappeared from the screen. 

By this time, Liu Zijian was about to get on the car. His eyes lingered on Ye Ming for a few more seconds before he moved again.

"Jian! I found something." Han Meixiu sounded excited. 

"I thought we talked about that you're going to sleep now."

"Err.. that's.. I was running some comparison program for maps... I got some results."

From time to time, Han Meixiu would create her own program to help her work efficiently. Recently, she improved one of the programs that analyze topographic maps. It was actually an impulse to try it out this night. But instead of the usual area of K country, she tried the metropolitan area of Q City. 

"Send it to me, then sleep."

"But..." Han Meixiu pouted. She wanted to see his reaction and she's too excited to sleep. 

"Okay, I'll call you once I checked it." He resignedly said and ended the call with him having a small smile on his lips. 

*

"The difference was subtle over time. As you can see there were parts omitted. Also the contour lines changed." Han Meixiu explained as she showed set of imaged with highlighted parts. 

"This is different from what I received from your mom." Lu Zijian answered after following the pointer being controlled by his wife. 

"It is different. But the size and the quantitative details are almost identical." 

"So, she's looking at the wrong place?"

"Most probably, yes. But I wonder why create a confusion? Is there anything special in these two places?"

"Except from the usual land value that kept on increasing as the nearby city develops, there's nothing special on the record of the place. I'm not sure about the other one. It will take some time to get a detailed report. Sleep now. You've been suppressing your yawn." 

"Update me always." Han Meixiu responded and rubbed her eyes. She looked like a sleepy little lazy cat. 

"Of course. Goodnight."

After the call, Liu Zijian pondered on how to contact Zhang Huiling. His mother in law's instruction was to wait for her to contact him. But if he would wait for her, she might be wasting time investigating the wrong place. 

He tried to call the usual number but like what he expected, it didn't connect. He also sent an encrypted email but it bounced. He sighed as he massaged his temple. For the time being he could only wait. 

Like what his wife said, there must have been something in both places. He didn't receive the report yet about the initial place he was investigating. Now that there's another one, he didn't think twice and moved his fingers and sent a request. 

*

Han Meixiu woke up and saw Aunt Jing walking inside the twins' room. 

"Young Miss, do you want to have breakfast now?" 

Han Meixiu nodded and stood up. There's a sofa bed inside the room and it's her usual bed every time she spent the night in the twin's room. 

Looking at the two little angels holding their own milk bottles, a smile appeared on her face. "You guys are really well behaved after your father talked to you, huh." 

The days she took care of the two were exhausting but after her husband talked to them, they surprisingly became more obedient. She really started to believe that these two little dumplings understood her husband's words. 

Remembering when she was still pregnant, everytime she was having a hard time, Liu Zilong would stroke her bulging stomach gently and talked to them. He would always say 'don't make your mom suffer more.' 

It seemed that the two clearly remembered his voice. 

After Aunt Jing delivered her breakfast, Han Meixiu started to eat. 

By the time she finished eating, she started to work again while watching the two who were busy playing. From time to time, she would smile and reached out her hand to play with them. 

Before the end of the day, she received a call from Liu Zijian informing her that there might be a connection between the two places. 

*

"Is this the place you wanted to visit alone?" Liu Zilong asked after letting his eyes examined the entire place. 

The two were currently standing on top of a hill. There was an old and small cabin behind them. Han Mingxia was holding a basket of flowers that she has been scattering since they reached the top.

"En." The woman simply answered without looking at him.

"This is your mother's resting place?"

Han Mingxia silently nodded. Her mother's last request was her own ashes to be scattered in this place. Even though she hated her own father, it was him who arranged everything. Back then, she really wanted to follow her mom, but she was coaxed. 

There were no other sounds except from the occasional wind and the rustling of leaves from the trees around the area. 

Liu Zilong continued to look around but didn't ask anything anymore. Until now, he didn't read the report about this woman. The envelope was still on his desk. Maybe because he also wanted to give her privacy. 

After a while, the old woman who was the current caretaker of the place, came up.

"Miss, someone wants to talk to you." She said and handed a card to Han Mingxia.

With a knitted eyebrows and a question on her mind, she extended her hand to accept the card. 

"Liu Zijian?" After reading, Han Mingxia looked at Liu Zilong. There was also surprise on the man's face. 

Liu Zilong walked a few steps and held the card. It was indeed from his brother.

"We'll be there in an hour." Han Mingxia said to the old woman.

After the woman left, Han Mingxia faced Liu Zilong. "Why is your brother here?"

"I have no idea."