"I need to know just who is trying to harm Jiang Zhi."
"I'll help you check," came Shuang Jiang's words. "On a side note, someone else has committed another new crime under your identity."
Someone doing bad things out there under her guise, this wasn't the first time such a thing had happened
Zhou Xufang couldn't contain her anger, and her pupils began to glow blood-red as it did hours before. Lowering her head, she blurted out a question. "Do you know who this person is?"
"Yes. I've confirmed it." It was Shuang Jiang's time to unveil the truth. "It's that woman named Luo. Both cases of burglary and robbery that happened days ago were committed under her orders. Remember Zhou Qingrang's case? She's trying to bite back after that incident."
Luo Qinghe.
Zhou Xufang wasn't very fond of this merciless woman. "I'll go and meet her."
Shuang Jiang, feeling anxious about her partner's decision, tried to stop her. "Ah Fang. Don't you see it? She's doing this to lure you out. Don't go. I fear for your safety. Luo Qinghe is a very despicable person and she's the type who would bear grudges for years to come.
"There is no other choice." Zhou Xufang tossed the blood-stained wet wipe into the trash can. "If she can bear grudges, so can I."
Once Zhou Xufang started to feel bitter about someone, she would not sleep a wink until sweet revenge was taken.
The crescent moon dimly lit up the night sky, covering the city below in a thin, silver veil of moonlight.
A 36-floor skyscraper stretched into the clouds above, and located at its top floor was Chief Xiaoluo's office.
Secretary Han knocked on the door before entering her office. "Chief Xiaoluo."
Luo Qinghe was seated on her executive chair with a cigarette resting between her fingers. Like a dragon, she blew smoke out from between her red lips. Slowly, the white wisps of smoke dissipated into the air within her room. "What's up?"
"There is a slight problem regarding Zhou Qingrang."
The fingernails which pinched her cigarette were neatly trimmed. Tapping lightly on her cigarette, she looked down at the ashes which had fallen off its end. "You can't even deal with a mere cripple?"
Han Feng's neck was glistening with sweat as he replied cautiously. "I've already meddled with the TV station where he works and he was originally bound to be made redundant, unfortunately, it seems that the Lu family has decided to intervene in this matter."
After the whole sex scandal incident, Zhou Qingrang had been transferred over to host a low-rating late-night show.
Zhou Qingrang was in good graces with the higher-ups at Central Television, meaning, so long as he remained a host, going back to hosting his old radio program was inevitable. Of course, Luo Qinghe would never be satisfied with such an outcome. She wanted everything in absolutes. She would never let Zhou Qingrang get back to hosting his own program ever again in his lifetime.
Putting out her cigarette, she asked the secretary, "Who, from the Lu family, decided to intervene?"
Among the Big Four families, messing with the Jiangs was the worst thing you could possibly do, followed by the Lu family.
"It's the second daughter of the Lu family, Lu Sheng," Han Feng replied immediately
'So it's Lu Sheng. Huh, another person you wouldn't want to mess with.'
The heir of the Lu family suffered from chronic narcolepsy which, even after a series of intense treatment plans, still prevailed. For him to lead the family was out of the question, and so, someone had to step up to fill in his shoes. This person turned out to be Lu Sheng, who was single-handedly managing their entire family's funds.
Lu Sheng had her fair share dealing in the underground sex industry and was by no means, a kind-hearted saint.
"How the hell did Zhou Qingrang manage to seduce Lu Sheng?"
In great detail, Han Feng explained to his boss. "Apparently, Lu Sheng is an audiophile. According to information taken from her henchmen, she had recently fallen in love with Zhou Qingrang's voice." Taking a break, he continued. "I'm afraid Zhou Qingrang won't be staying with his current program any longer. Once the Lu family opens their mouth, the TV station will have no choice but to bow down to give them face. Still, there's a chance that she's only testing the waters. Maybe she'll get tired of him soon."
Luo Qinghe cackled. In the end, Lu Sheng was naught but a naive little girl. While Zhou Qingrang may be a prince charming, there was no denying that he was a cripple. How long could they shelter him? No doubt, these people, sooner or later, would start resenting the man.
"Let's sit back and watch for now."
Han Feng nodded before turning around to leave. Without warning, the lights in her office died out.
Luo Qinghe's expression changed in the blink of an eye. "What's happening?"
Taking out his phone, Han Feng lit up the room with its flashlight. "I'll go and chec-"
Creak.
The door opened, stopping Han Feng mid-sentence. The light from beyond the door flooded his vision, blinding him momentarily. He reached his arm out to block the light, but just as words were about to escape his mouth, a breeze blew past his collar and his neck grew numb. Limply, he collapsed onto the floor.
Click.
The door clicked shut.
Luo Qinghe rose furiously from her seat. "Who's there?"
The room was shrouded in darkness with the moon being its only source of light. Under such a condition, Luo Qinghe was only able to vaguely make out the intruder's silhouette. A cold voice echoed through the closed room, sending chills up her spine. "Do you not know who I am?"
Professional runner, Z.
Luo Qinghe's face changed in an instant. Overflowing emotions got the best of her and she sent the ashtray flying across the room. "How did you manage to get up here!?" The floors below were still filled with people, and counting her bodyguards alone yielded over 20 men. How?! Just how did she get past these obstacles without making a ruckus.
In the dark, a pair of eyes were glowing brightly. With a forcefully lowered voice, Z spoke. "I'll tell you right now how I came in."
As soon as the final word escaped her mouth, she started moving. The intruder moved so fast that she kicked up a pile of A4 papers that were lying on Luo Qinghe's desk.
In just the blink of an eye, Zhou Xufang, fully-clad in black clothing, was standing right in front of Luo Qinghe.
The woman was dumbfounded. "Yo-"
She wasn't even given the chance to speak when two fingers came in and pinched down on her neck. Then, her entire body was hoisted into the air.
Calmly, Zhou Xufang spoke clearly, one word after the other. "With just a gentle squeeze, I can snap your weak little neck in two."
Luo Qinghe struggled in Zhou Xufang's death grip and kicked the air underneath her relentlessly. Being momentarily deprived of oxygen, her face turned beet-red in an instant.
"W-why yo-"
As she was being choked, she struggled to produce words out of her mouth. Her eyes widened at the sight of the demonic eyes that glowed in the dark. The owner of said eyes squeezed tighter around her neck, forming a noose with just two of her fingers.
"Look closely at my face. See? When I'm angry, they will turn red," Zhou Xufang spoke in a completely flat tone, making her sound all the more creepy. "Don't piss me off again. And don't even think about tracking me down. It'll be very, very easy for me to take your life."
Luo Qinghe's mouth was wide open as she gasped for oxygen. So much force had been exerted that the veins on her neck were now swollen. The legs which she used to furiously kick at empty air slowly went limp. Since the oxygen flowing through her blood was now at an all-time low, her brain was starting to shut down. The feeling of slowly losing consciousness only served to terrify the woman even more. Even at such close proximity, she could not make out the outline of her assailant's face.
"Do you understand?" Xufang asked softly. Her face was hidden underneath a mask, leaving only her eyes, which were colder than the streets outside, staring into Luo Qinghe's soul.
Luo Qinghe put all her effort into squeezing three simple syllables through her throat. "Un...der..stood."
Zhou Xufang loosened her grip, allowing Luo Qinghe's body to smack down onto the cold, hard floor.
"Oh." She suddenly remembered something. "About Zhou Qingrang. Don't you ever bully him again. Else I'll snap that neck of yours like a twig."
Zhou Xufang had made her point. Pulling down the brim of her cap, she strutted off at a walking pace.
"You…" Luo Qinghe sat on the ground panting heavily. Her face, now drained of color, was dripping profusely with sweat. Her eyes were locked onto that masked face, and with a trembling voice, she yelled out, "You're no human, are you? No, you're a demon!"
Her speed, strength, and even her eyes were not that of a regular person's.
The person standing at the doorway looked back one more time before vanishing into the night.
Luo Qinghe stared at the place where she had stood, wide-eyed.
Moments later, a guard from the floor below hurried over. He was visibly taken aback upon seeing the aftermath of Zhou Xufang's infiltration into the building that he was supposed to protect.
"Chief Xiaoluo."
The guard stepped forward to help Luo Qinghe up, but she instead reached for the ashtray which she had thrown across the room and smashed it right into the man's skull, instantly drawing blood. Her anger had yet to subside, and in a shrieking voice, she yelled at the guard.
"How did she get up here!?"
Blood spurted out from the wound on his head, covering most of his face in dark red. Even so, the guard remained still. Despite being the middle of winter, the man was soaked in sweat.
"Our surveillance cameras did not pick up her movement. She most likely entered from the roofto-"
"Rooftop!?" Luo Qinghe was red-eyed. Loudly, she yelled a question back at the guard's face. "So you're telling me that she grew a pair of wings and flew up to the rooftop!?"
"W-we're still unsure of that."
She was going berserk. "Trash! Trash is what you all are!"
The guard lowered his head in silence.
"That runner." She balled up her fist so hard that her thumbnail stabbed right into the flesh of her palm. "I want every bit of information we can get on her."
Regardless if she was a human or a demon, Luo Qinghe wanted her to taste what it was like to piss her off.
The next day, there was a significant drop in temperature. It seemed as though snow would be imminent, and Jiang Zhi hated weather like this the most.
Feeling as if the cold had sapped away all his energy, he nestled himself in the car's backseat.
His condition wasn't particularly good as of late, but somehow, this guy had managed to kick another guy off his feet.
Ah Wan just couldn't wrap his head around this, so he decided that the best approach to this was to not approach it at all. "Boss, you didn't sleep a wink last night, did you?" Those eyelids of Jiang Zhi's were seemingly glued shut.
Though, it was hard to tell whether he was truly asleep or not. There were no movements at all underneath his eyelids.
Ah Wan started guessing. "You still thinking about that harlot from last night?" Since the young master was a prideful man, to be toyed around by that d*mned harlot must've devastated his pride. And so, he decided to lick Jiang Zhi's wounds. "Rest assured, boss, one day, Master Qiao will lock that harlot behind bars. When that day comes, you'll be able to do whatever you like to that woman!"
Although he didn't particularly hate that woman because she had proven herself to not be a "bad guy", Ah Wan couldn't forgive how much of a pervert she was!
Glancing at the mirror, Ah Wan saw Jiang Zhi's eyelids peel open suddenly. He glared back at Ah Wan. "She's not a harlot."
"Ah?"
Ah Wan was stunned.
'Was I wrong? But if she wasn't one, then why did she touch the young master here and there? No way she wasn't trying to take advantage of Jiang Zhi!'
Jiang Zhi ignored Ah Wan. Although he no longer felt drowsy, there was a slight pain in his brain. He had stayed up all night, causing intolerable dizziness. Holding the can of milk in his hand, he looked out the window absent-mindedly.
Ah Wan was surprised at seeing him hold on to the can. "Huh? You still haven't touched the milk yet?" Ah Wan, the two-hundred-pound man, giggled like a high school girl. "Boss, don't tell me you're hesitant to drink the milk Miss Zhou gave you." This was what the screen protector-selling Miss Zhou had given the young master yesterday evening.
So, how was he able to tell this particular can of milk apart from the others?
Lo and behold, it was because of teeth marks that were imprinted on the can's body by the young master himself, presumably to help him differentiate this can from the others that he had. Jiang Zhi must've developed feelings for this can, just like the rooster that Miss Zhou had given him.
"Focus on the road," Jiang Zhi reminded him with an unpleasant look on his face.
"Oh."