Act 23

"H-Hello?"

A petite, uncertain voice asked, picking a call up from the vibrating phone right beside her. But what came after was perturbed silence as the person from the opposite line kept his mouth tightly zipped, not uttering a single word after.

The girl panicked in an attempt to calm herself, yet a husky voice suddenly echoed, leaving her with no room to hesitate. Immediately touching the bright red button, a long beep ensued from the other lane, causing the man who looked upon it to wrinkle his nose in disdain.

For the first time, someone else other than Yue XiFeng dared to reject his call, even after hearing the threatening tone of voice he displayed. And that fact caused him to feel perturbed and affronted, feeling that he had been far too lenient towards the people involved in the life of his woman.

First was her father who had once shooed him away, now it was her friend who declined the call he initiated.

The two instances were enough to cause him to feel shaken, as he was once an Emperor everyone revered and respected. Even in this life, he was still as imposing as ever.

In other words, he was in a state of disbelief, for it was his first time experiencing outsiders completely disregarding his presence.

He eyed at the secretary who quivered, a burning gaze felt as he whimpered. Not another word was said when the secretary took the matter directly into his own hands, in an attempt to quell the burning fire blazing deep inside the man.

With a nervous-blank expression, he tried calling the number, only to have it ignored three times over. Feeling despondent, he took out his phone, startled when he was met with yet another call that went unanswered.

Understanding the situation at hand, Li Qiang ordered his men to go discreetly fetch the girl named Lian Ji to the skyline restaurant located above him. The man felt as it was a waste of time to receive the consent of any other human being aside from XiFeng, as to him, they were all unrelated to him.

Quickly marching away, the burly men exited with indifferent facades, though they were familiar with this girl they were to collect.

Inside the elevator, the two discussed, of the buried feeling they felt when their pride was first stained.

Eerie laughter and mischievous grins appeared in the back of their minds, reminiscent of the time when she was divine. Though the unbearable pain had faded away, the embarrassment that came with it never once came to decay.

But they knew it was inevitable, as she was not one they could piss off.

Sadly, the same applies to her dear friend, as Tang Xiqing strictly commanded them to refrain from harming a single strand of hair on her head.

At this time, the men found the task to be simple, not as daunting as usual. However, they would've never expected that at a time this late, a certain someone was still daring enough to come and play.

***

Sitting on her pure white bed, Lian Ji stood still, petrified of the call she formerly received. Wallpapers with the color of fleeting lilies surrounded her, painting the room in a dainty pink, a feminine scream coming from it.

Under her was a large bed, its color as white as a sheet, only a pitch black phone and multiple pillows staining it.

The girl crossed her arms as she felt familiarity upon the voice she previously heard. And so, she decided to save the call before forwarding it to her friend, whom probably has an idea towards who the owner of the voice is.

Picking the phone and typing several digits, she sent the call data to her wechat and added a few question marks below it.

She prepared to place her phone down, suspecting that her friend would be dead asleep by now.

However, reality proved otherwise as she quickly got a notification soon after, indicating that Yue XiFeng was still wide awake to read the message.

With an anxious and excited expression, the girl hastily unlocked the phone to read the message her friend sent, blantantly surprised upon it.

"I'm coming to your house," was all there was inside the message box, nothing more, nothing less.

A quick and simple answer indicated that Yue XiFeng indeed knew of the voices she sent. However, at this point of time, Lian Ji wasn't in the know, hence her curiosity spiked drastically.

Large waves of confidence splurged through her as she dialed the number she previously texted, multiple times over, without a single one of them being picked up. Upon snapping out of her rush of adrenaline, the girl's face turned palid, spamming apology messages with cute emojis soon after.

However, instead of being mad, Yue XiFeng was merely grinning from ear to ear, immersed in the excitedness she felt upon the thought of ruining the plans Li Qiang had in store.