Li Yu Yan: "Fei Hong, will you be free this weekend?"Tseng Fei Hong: "I"m free Sat.u.r.day afternoon." She had plans with Li Na to go to the spa on Sunday. She had noticed that lately, Li Na would go out more and more without Li Yu Yan. Li Na would now even mingle with those not necessarily within the same social circles.
Li Na glanced at Tseng Fei Hong before looking down at her drink.
Li Yu Yan: "Xiao Na we"ll be meeting on Sat.u.r.day at 2 pm at Shen Mo Chou"s house."
Li Na: "Okay Jie."
2 waitresses came over and put their mains on the table.
...
Lai s.h.i.+-on: "My Oracle vibes are tingling."
Yao Changying: "You should probably have that checked out."
Lai s.h.i.+-on smirked he looked at the piece of steak that was perfectly marbled and glistening with juices. He proceeded to take a bite and reveled in the savory taste of the meat and the creamy mushroom sauce.
Lai s.h.i.+-on: "I bet that blue and purple will confront Sister Xiuying one more time."
Yao Changying: "You don"t need to be a fortune teller to work that one out. They"ll ditch the people they"re with and wait until they can get YingYing on her own before threatening her and tell her to watch her back or sleep with one eye open. The typical script for any villain."
Ren Daiyu: "Hmph. They won"t get the chance to get YingYing on her own."
Li Xiuying shook her head: "Bait."
Yao Changying: "You want to use yourself as bait? I don"t know if that"s wise."
Li Xiuying: "Only way to find out their intentions."
They continued eating their meals. When Li Xiuying was done she leaned over to Ren Daiyu and whispered: "Look around and then point to the right-hand area for the ladies room."
Ren Daiyu followed the instructions and pointed to the right. Li Xiuying stood up and grabbed her purse: "Powder room."
Yao Changying was too enthralled in her dish that she completely forgot about putting the bait out. She reflexively asked: "Do you want me to come with you?"
Li Xiuying shook her head and then glided to the ladies" room.
Lai s.h.i.+-on: "I bet that guy in the black suit will follow in about a minute."
Ren Daiyu curiously asked: "Not one of her cousins?"
Lai s.h.i.+-on: "No, they are probably still feeling the effects of their earlier humiliation. The guy in the black suit has been trying to subtly look over here without anyone noticing."
Yao Changying: "How did you manage to see what he was doing?"
Lai s.h.i.+-on: "From where I"m sitting I can see him from the corner of my eye."
Yao Changying and Ren Daiyu then realized that Lai s.h.i.+-on had moved his chair to a different position from before.
Lai Yongliang: "s.h.i.+-on has always been adept at reading people."
Qilin: "Be it in the business world or in the fighting world."
Yao Changying: "Fighting?"
Lai s.h.i.+-on: "I do MMA."
Yao Changying: "Professional?"
Lai s.h.i.+-on: "Semi-professional. I just fight whenever I feel like it." His words had a deeper meaning that probably only he and his brother understood.
Ren Daiyu: "Are you in the restaurant business with your brother then?"
Lai s.h.i.+-on: "No, that"s completely my brother"s area. I own several gyms."
Ren Daiyu: "I didn"t know that the Lai family also invested in the fitness industry."
Lai s.h.i.+-on: "They don"t. My older brother did initially loan me the startup capital for my venture. It"s all paid back now with interest."
Lai Yongliang looked at his brother curiously. Usually, his brother wouldn"t openly talk about his businesses.
Ren Daiyu: "That"s very impressive for someone so young."
Yao Changying nodded in agreement.
Qilin looked at Lai Yongliang and then discretely indicated at Yao Changying and Ren Daiyu.
Lai Yongliang had already discerned that Lai s.h.i.+-on was trying to impress one of the women. He wasn"t sure how to feel, he was happy that Lai s.h.i.+-on was finally showing interest in someone after his ordeal, on the other hand, the Lai family may not accept either of them.
Ren Daiyu began speaking when she saw movement at the other table: "The fitness industry is ... Look he"s getting up now."
...
Chen Wei glanced at his watch to see how much time had pa.s.sed: "Excuse me. I"ll be back in a moment." He stood up and b.u.t.toned his blazer.
Li Yu Yan smiled sweetly: "Don"t be gone for too long."
Chen Wei patted her head gently.
He briefly glanced at Li Xiuying"s table before heading to the gents. He had seen Li Xiuying leave on her own and wanted to suss out her aim for being here tonight.
....
Lai s.h.i.+-on: "And there he goes."
Ren Daiyu: "I don"t feel comfortable with this."
Yao Changying: "Me neither but YingYing seems to know what she"s doing. Let"s give it 9 minutes."
Lai Yongliang: "That is a very precise time to wait. May I ask how you reached this number?"
Yao Changying: "Even if he wanted to hurt her, he couldn"t hit her for fear of her screaming out and attracting attention. He hasn"t taken any weapons with him so if he was trying to kill her it would most likely be through strangulation. For someone who is struggling, it would take the attacker up to 5 minutes to strangle someone into unconsciousness."
Qilin: "Why 9 minutes then?"
Yao Changying: " Xiuying sent me a text when she was in the ladies, at her slow pace it took her 2 minutes. So 2 minutes for him to get to the facilities and wait for Li Xiuiyng to exit. Another 2 minutes for Li Xiuiyng to infuriate him with her nonchalance. Plus, he seems the type who likes the sound of his own voice. I"ve started the timer on my phone and text YingYing and told her to call Yu if there any problems."
Ren Daiyu took out her phone and placed it on the table.
Qilin, Lai s.h.i.+-on and Lai Yongliang "..."
Yao Changying: "Of course it is highly unlikely he would do anything to her in such a public location. It"s always better to be prepared for the very worst-case scenario your mind can imagine."
.....
Ladies Room
Li Xiuying turned on her recording device and put it in her bag. She then had Ren Daiyu"s number up and ready to be dialed.
She looked at herself in the mirror: "Showtime."
Li Xiuying exited the ladies and found Chen Wei waiting outside for her. He was leaning on the wall and looking straight at her.
Li Xiuiyng glanced at him before turning away.
Chen Wei: "Xiuying."
Li Xiuying stopped.
Chen Wei: "You look different tonight. I"ve never seen you get dressed up before."
Li Xiuying shrugged: "Your attention was always focused elsewhere."
Chen Wei pushed forward off the wall and slowly walked over to Li Xiuying: "Xiuying are you still upset about everything that happened before. I"ve apologized and said that we can start anew."
Li Xiuying: "No."
Chen Wei stood in front of Li Xiuying and loomed over her.
Chen Wei: "Xiuying you wanted my attention and now you"ve got it. I"m tired of your little game of playing hard to get. I"ve only ever shown my good side to you all these years and trust me when I say you don"t want to see the bad."
Li Xiuying met his gaze: "I"ve given you everything you wanted. A chance to be with our true love Li Yu Yan. Congratulations on your engagement by the way or should I say your welcome instead, since I helped you be together? Oh and I even helped your precious "wifey" get admitted into medical school so in a couple of years you"ll have someone who will work wholeheartedly for your family."
Chen Wei: "Xiuying, you"re walking a tightrope with me especially after the trouble your little news article caused me. I"m warning you my patience is wearing thin. This is the last time I"ll let you come back voluntarily. The next time you"ll be crawling back on your hands and knees begging me."
Li Xiuying gave him a disgusted look before making her way to her table. She had now completely figured him out. He didn"t only care about her working at Emerald hospital, he wanted her to completely submit to him and would stop at nothing to make it happen. Chen Wei saw her as a possession that only belonged to him and he took joy in trying to break her. Seeing that he had even hired The Soulless a few times to destroy the lives of his colleagues and enemies without blinking, adding one more to his body count was nothing.
Chen Wei watched Li Xiuying"s figure getting further away and was excited at the prospect of breaking her fiery spirit and having her submit to him entirely. He said sinisterly: "If I can"t have you, then I"ll just make it so no one else will want you."