Chapter 1 – The Prince in distress
Nine O’clock in the morning.
Buzz~~ the shop was open, and the door bell rang.
“Welcome!”
With a professional smile on his face, Chen Xiao quickly bowed in front of the person who came inside the shop. He was very handsome, his complexion was white and his physique appeared slightly frail.
The person who entered the restaurant was a woman and as she took off her hat, her pretty face was revealed. She was smiling and dimples on her cheeks really complemented her face. Her facial features were delicate, but she could not be called very beautiful, but her smile and small dimples made her look pleasant to the eyes.
Chen Xiao came close to her, stood upright and sighed: “You’re late again, are you not afraid that the manager may deduct your salary?”
She stuck out her tongue, pulling out a fearless face: “I’m not afraid! I know you’ll help me find an excuse……” In spite of the brave words that she uttered just now, she subconsciously looked carefully to the back of the restaurant.
“The manager is not inside—ah, well, a moment ago he asked about you, I told him that you have gone to deliver an order.” Cheng Xiao looked at the clock hanging on the wall, and then he took out a purchase order from his pocket: “Promise now, when the manager will see this thing, you won’t betray me.”
“Thanks, I will introduce you to some beautiful girls, someday.” said this beautiful woman. She chuckled and received the purchase order from him and ran up to staff room and changed her clothes. She came out and stood behind the counter together with Chen Xiao. She had tied a neat ponytail. She had not used cosmetics on her face, yet she looked quite youthful even at this age.
Chen Xiao didn’t use to talk much with her in the restaurant. He took an interest in his work only. So he wore gloves in his hands and began to carefully slice the bread to make sandwiches.
She was looking at Chen Xiao but didn’t speak to him. From the look in her eyes, she appeared somewhat disappointed. She thought for a while then took the initiative and said: “Hey, today is a weekend so the business is going to be bad. We might be able to call it a day early today. I have heard there’s a clearance sale going on in the west street stores. Would you like to go with me for shopping? I remember you also want to buy a mp4 player.”
Chen Xiao listened to her, gave a little thought and calmly shook his head: “No, I still have other work to do.”
“What? Do you have one more part-time job?” She stared at him.
“Yes, tutor.” Chen Xiao as if did not want to say that, but simply replied, then lowered his head and continued to work.
Today was a weekend and vacations in the schools naturally affected the morning breakfast sales of the restaurant, but today, after half past nine, it caught up its speed.
80 % of the customers were girl students who used to come to the restaurant in a group of twos and threes for having breakfast. Their age ranged from 12 to 22 years old. Normally, on the weekends, obviously they should have slept longer at their homes, but instead, they got up so early in the morning and rushed here to have breakfast.
The woman worker was somewhat surprised to see this unusual scene where all these girls seemed attracted to Chen Xiao.
Since Chen Xiao started his part-time job in this restaurant, soon, the girls from the nearby schools came to know that a handsome young male worker had started working in this restaurant.
Chen Xiao was tall, slim and his facial features were delicate, particularly his smile had a devastating impact on the hearts of these girls. He looked even more handsome than those Korean stars on the television. He was an elite student of a famous college. He did not have a vulgar temperament. Nowadays, these ignorant girls had become the fangirls of this prince-type of guy.
Since he started working here, the number of girls visiting the restaurant abruptly increased. Whether it was breakfast, lunch or dinner, they would come here in a group of twos and threes especially to see Chen Xiao. They bought snacks but they did not get them packed, rather they would sit there for half an hour, holding a cup of cola and a sandwich, while resting their elbows on the table, all the while staring at the busy Chen Xiao.
(Humph! Silly immature flirts!
It was not clear why this woman worker was unhappy in her heart. She was getting increasingly unhappier as the number of girls increased in the restaurant. Suddenly, her heart was filled with anger when she saw two girls, not more than 14 or 15 years old, drooling while staring at Chen Xiao.
More appalling was……..This restaurant had a long counter with her and Chen Xiao as two a.s.sistants, but these girls would stand in a queue in front of Chen Xiao instead of her!
She got more and more angry!
She mustered her courage and puffed up her cheeks to calm her anger and looked at a pair of customers, a man and a woman, standing in the queue in front of her: They seemed quite intimate and from their affectionate appearance, they were certainly a couple. She rolled her eyes and intentionally asked them with a sweet smile: “May I ask what you would like to order, sir and madam?”
“…………”
Before they could answer, Chen Xiao soon served Hamburgers and sandwiches to them with two cups of soft drink.
He moved fast but his movements were smooth. His fingers were gentle and the expression on his face continuously looked tranquil like water. He always remained self-poised even in the presence of many customers in front of the counter. His cool performance and hot looks certainly impressed the hearts of the girls.
Chen Xiao could vaguely feel that these girls were secretly looking at him while biting the straws, and sometimes he also heard these girls talking about him in whispers.
Surely, Chen Xiao had become accustomed to all these things.
He knew that these girls were discussing something related to him. In fact, Chen Xiao’s sense of hearing was very keen since childhood, and even if he was busy at this time, but he could hear that the two girls whispering and discussing him while also referring to him as ‘Prince in distress.’
Prince in distress……
Chen Xiao smiled bitterly in his heart.
Like these two girls, other people also gossiped about him.
However, Chen Xiao did not pay attention to all these things. He was accustomed to being talked about, especially after the incident that took place two years ago.
Chen Xiao was 18 years old this year. He was called Chen Xiao because his father’s surname was Chen and his mother’s surname was Xiao. But after his birth, the fortune teller said that his body lacked the water element out of the five elements, so his name should be changed to Xiaosa (confident and at ease) from Xiao (desolate).
It was really praiseworthy that at the age of 18, he had acquired such a silent steady temperament, which was rarely found in general.
In his childhood, his father and mother were rarely around to spend time with him. His parents were engaged in some kind of research work. It was hard for him to imagine how his straight-faced father, with a perennial ice-cold look on his face, got hold of his flower-like beautiful mother.
Because of their work, Chen Xiao’s parents would mostly stay out of the country and shuttled back and forth perennially. Particularly, when he was three years old when his parents became the main R&D personnel of some unknown project in a secret research agency of North America.
Finally, probably to gain power, his parents bought the shares of that research inst.i.tution and became its shareholders. Thus from mere working personnel, his parents’ status turned into that of the bosses, and now, their time was more precious than gold, so how could they possibly find time to take care of their child?
Therefore, Chen Xiao, from infancy to maturity, studied in a boarding school. His parents did not want to take him with them to North America, so they invited an aunt to take care of him. Therefore, he was used to living alone since childhood. When he was just 9 years old, he knew how to cook fry rice and he would also make tomato chicken egg soup for himself.
His parents were very rich because they got huge profits from that North American scientific research facility. So, Chen Xiao actually was never short of money and spent his childhood without monetary problems. But, his parents always remained busy in research work so they could not spare time to meet him all year round.
From the age of four, his parents would see him less than four times a year. This continued till he reached the age of 16 years.
On that day, he was in school when his aunt, who took care of him, came running to the school. Her eyes were swollen and she had come to bring him back home.
Afterward, he obtained the sad news: His parents died in a terrible accident in the laboratory of the research inst.i.tute where they worked.
Later it was identified after their accidental deaths that the research agency actually went bankrupt as a result of that accident and since his parents had invested their complete family belongings for buying the shares of the research agency, so in the end, nothing remained for Chen Xiao. A poor kid like him who was only 16 years old at that time just got the pension from the research agency.
His misfortune still did not come to an end. Now the debtors began to frequent his house and took away his family car, luxury villa, and all other belongings. Later on, Chen Xiao came to know that his parents had certain differences with their partners in the research agency and they were forced to carry on their own scientific research, and that was why huge money was needed to spend on it, so finally, they took loan from the bank after mortgaging their family belongings.
Originally, he used to be a rich kid but overnight became a poor kid. Only the old family house that was registered in his name was not taken away by the bank.
After Chen Xiao performed his parents’ funeral with the pension amount, he silently moved back to his old house.
Surely, if a kid of his age had suddenly faced such sad news, it was certain that nine out of ten such kids would have collapsed. But he was accustomed to hard life since childhood, and his bearing capacity was unexpectedly extraordinary.
Afterward, he became even more silent and did not like to speak too much.
At such a young age he came to experience some of the harsh facts of life. When he was economically well to do, his relatives frequently visited his villa and he was very affectionate to them, but as misfortune fell on him, they kept a good distance from him. His uncle and other relatives never met him after his parents’ funeral.
Interestingly, Chen Xiao also did not want to rely on these people. Now he was 16 years old and was considered a legal adult. He also disinclined to look at the faces of these relatives.
He was emotional and sensitive in his nature. These personality traits grew in him because his aunt took care of him since childhood. She was a 40 years old kind hearted woman, who did part-time job in his house for many years taking care of him. Now, misfortune befell on him, but this woman did not give him up, rather wanted to adopt him as her son. She and Chen Xiao had no blood relationship. She was simply a maid servant and her income was not substantial, but she wanted him to continue his studies, and this charitable disposition of hers deeply moved Chen Xiao.
Unlike those relatives, she was the only person close to him. But, he firmly rejected the idea of going to her house and decided to return to his old house.
Since he lost his source of income, in order to make a living, he began to work to earn money.
When his parents were alive, his family had a high living standard. He lived in a luxury villa, had several cars, and wore clothes of the international brands. He grew to be very smart probably because of the inherited genes from his parents. He grew up playing piano very well. When he was 14 years old, he dared to drive a sports car on the highway with the speed reaching up to 200 Km per hour. At the age of 15, he hacked a web portal of some foreign website. At the age of 16, when he got the sad news about his parents’ death, he began to learn karate and was ready to test a higher stage.
Now, it was hard to imagine that how this rich kid would cope with the current hardship of his life, but his bearing capacity was extraordinary. Not just intelligence and smartness, he also got perseverance from his parents.
During the day, he would go to school, and at night, he looked for a place to work. He worked in a computer repairing company. He also played piano in the hotel and even worked as sales boy in the supermarket. Although he was young, and it was difficult for him to find a job, but his keen nature to do any job diligently and his handsome looks supported him to find part-time jobs.
For example, since he came to this fast-food restaurant, girls of nearby schools came to dine here and were openly attracted to him, making the manager laugh at all these things. Chen Xiao also faintly knew that this manager had disclosed many things about his life to these girls and this had given them topics to gossip about him.
Finally, the business of this fast-food restaurant flourished by leaps and bounds, and the manager naturally reaped a good profit.
Even in the most difficult time, Chen Xiao did not resort to any bad work. In fact, once there was an acquaintance who wanted him to hack websites. They wanted to draw him into their business and work together in credit card forgery.
At that time, he had only one week worth of living expenses in the pocket but refused the tempting offer.
Because, when he was a child, his father used to say: You must always seek the just path and go straight! If you do bad things, and even if you don’t get caught, you still cannot escape from your own heart.
Although there wasn’t a very deep bond between him and his parents, but he always kept their teachings in mind.
Now, he did not have his precious sports car. He rode his bicycle to go to school and workplace. He did not live in a luxurious villa, but he felt the same peace of mind living in a nice apartment. He never got the opportunity to work in high-end hotels, but he was still satisfied from working in a roadside fast-food restaurant.
Surely, he was a little lucky that before the accident, his parents had deposited his education fees, for all the remaining school years, in the elite expensive school where he studied.
Otherwise, it would have been impossible for him to study in the city’s most famous aristocratic school for elites, by relying on the meager income from his work.
……
“Wow, he is a rich kid in trouble….. ah yeah!”
“……Yes ah, good and handsome type……”
“Wow, did you see that? He just looked at us!!”
A girl’s eyes twinkled as she literally shouted with excitement.
Chen Xiao scowled and went inside the staffroom, leaving a bunch of girls to sigh in disappointment.
At noon, Chen Xiao called it a day, changed his clothes and put on his own casual attire. He greeted the manager to take leave.
“Chen Xiao.” The woman worker called out to him. At that time, she stood behind the counter and looked at him while her face revealed a sweet smile. Her eyes were not big, but whenever she smiled, they gave out a very charming appeal: “Hey, today is your birthday, right? Then lowering her voice, she said: “I found out from the staff register.”
Chen Xiao was startled by this. She secretly looked at the manager who did not seem to care. She quietly took out a wrapped gift box and gave it to him. Her eyes shone brightly as she said with a smile: “Happy Birthday.”
“……Thanks” Chen Xiao had some unusual feeling as he unconsciously replied.
The gift box in his hand was not big, and from the wrapping, it was clear that it was not packed by the company, but personally done by her.
He thought for a moment, but in accordance with courtesy, he opened it personally in front of her. It was actually a new compact mp4 player.
He froze for a moment then looked at her.
She blinked and said: “Last time you said you want this. My memory is very good you know.” Seeing the blank facial expression on his face, she hastened to explain further: “Don’t say no! In the morning I forgot to bring your gift with me, so I had to turn back midway and return home to get it. That’s how I got late today.”
Then, she used soft words and lightly said: “If you are embarra.s.sed, then my birthday falls after few days when you send me one thing I want and that’s the end.”
Now, he simply could not say no, thought for a moment and nodded to accept it. His smiling face was very sincere: “Thank you.”
He noticed a trace of shyness in her eyes. He worked with her in this restaurant for many months, so how could he not know what was going on in her heart?
Surely, he sighed in his heart, but he did not have the nerve to tell her about his plan. He had actually decided to resign from this fast food shop in the end of this month because he had found a new job as a tutor. This new job was far better than working in a restaurant and always getting stalked by immature girls, or being a topic of their gossips.
……Ah, now he would also have to give her a good gift on her birthday.
He came out of the restaurant. He rode on his bicycle, and as he was to cross the road, he felt his mobile phone vibrating in his pocket. The caller ID was showing a series of strange number…… Although he did not recognize the number, but from the beginning of its code, he recognized that it was an international call.
He hesitated for a moment then pressed the answer key.
“Is it Mr. Chen Xiao?”A strange female voice fell into his ear. From her voice, she didn’t sound like a young girl.
The noise in the call was making it difficult to hear her voice clearly.
Moreover, she was speaking in Standard English.
Fortunately, Chen Xiao was skilled in English because his parents worked outside the country and he grew up in an English-speaking environment.
“……Yes.” Chen Xiao replied.
“That thing, did you receive it?”
“Thing? What thing?”Chen Xiao was somewhat at a loss, was she mistaking him for someone else?
“You are Chen Xiao, your address is K, City XX, Avenue No. XX, right?” She seemed nervous and somewhat anxiously asked.
“Address is right, but may I ask who is calling?”
“Please go home immediately and be sure to collect that thing. This is very important!”
“You are ……”
“Beep Beep ……” She hung up the call.
Chen Xiao frowned, thought for a moment but could not understand anything. He was going home anyway to change clothes because he had to go on tutoring job in the afternoon. He did not want to ride a bicycle all the way home.
His old house was the former residence of his parents at the time of their marriage.
He called it an old house, but it was still quite new.
It was a three bedroom apartment of 100 square meters area. It was not too small for an ordinary family. When facing a financial crisis, he had considered to live in a bedroom and rent the other two rooms. The rent of these two rooms could have helped him to a lot.
But afterward, he gave up the idea. He knew his own nature very well because he had mostly been alone without his parents. Over time, he had become more and more eccentric and did not like others disturbing his personal s.p.a.ce. Especially after his parents pa.s.sed away, he talked less and less. He did not want a roommate and he certainly did not want to get too close to anyone, because he believed that it would cause him trouble. Later, he could work hard and make money gradually then the life would be much easier.
He rode all the way back home, entered the house, changed his shoes, washed his face and drank water. In May, the temperature was a bit high in the southern city and he was sweating a lot. He had almost forgotten about that strange phone call a moment ago.
He was still panting for breath when suddenly he heard the door bell ringing.
He opened the door and saw a man in white uniform standing in front of him.
“Mr. Chen Xiao?” The man said in a polite manner: “We are commissioned to deliver this package to you, please show your ID proof and sign here.”
The employees of international courier companies used to wear same type of uniform, the only difference was the tag that they used in their uniforms to denote their companies. Chen Xiao was actually familiar with the abbreviations such as “dhl” or “tnt” or “FedEx” and so on.
But “P”.
P? This was the abbreviation for which company?
Moreover, behind this man, there was a package as high as a person. It had a large volume like a refrigerator, the outer sh.e.l.l was hard, perhaps made of plastic- Was it a refrigerator?
Who would send a refrigerator to me? Why would they send it from the foreign nation? The transportation expense would surely catch up with the price of the refrigerator itself………..
For a moment, his mind went blank. However, he calmed himself down and took out his ID card. The courier man verified it. Then with some doubts, he signed the form…….
Then the man pushed the wheeled refrigerator to the room and politely said goodbye.
When the man left, Chen Xiao looked at such a big thing. He was simply stunned.
A moment later, Chen Xiao racked his brain, looked for a scissor and opened it!
Once he was done unpacking it, he saw something inside……
Clang Clang!
The scissor fell to the ground and bounced twice. He subconsciously stepped back several steps. He was dumbfounded while looking at this refrigerator.
Indeed, it was a refrigerator or more appropriate to say, it was a “cabinet freezer”.
Inside this thing, the base was a metal structure, and the sh.e.l.l was a transparent thick gla.s.s…..It was obviously thick reinforced gla.s.s.
There was a touch of cold air inside the refrigerator.
But ……There were not the most important points to notice about this refrigerator!
The most important thing was: There was a person inside this refrigerator!!
It was a girl almost his age. She had long golden hair and her eyes were tightly closed. She had the kind of figured he had never seen before! Her skin was white like the snow, and even if she was locked in a refrigerator, her skin looked soft and fresh.
Long eyelashes were covering her eyes. She seemed to have fallen into a sweet deep sleep. She had a small nose and soft juicy lips. Her eyes were closed. Although she was asleep, but she still had a soul-stirring beauty.
More importantly……..
In this refrigerator, her hands were folded across her chest and her slender legs were straight and close together. Her slim body really looked elegant…..actually……
Actually, she was entirely naked!!
Chen Xiao stared at her……..
Bang!
His subconsciously stepped back but his vision fell on a plastic case inside the refrigerator. He took it out and suddenly saw a letter inside the case.
He took a deep breath and tried to relax. Then he quickly opened and saw few lines in English.
“Mr. Chen Xiao,
Unfortunately, I eventually have to disturb you. This delivered item is the most precious heritage that your parents have left behind. I have been taking care of ‘Ya Ya’ for two years according to the wish of your parents, but now, I am unable to continue to undertake this task. So, according to your parents’ wish, I give ‘Ya Ya’ to you. I believe that you will certainly take good care of this precious heritage that your parents have left behind.
Finally, I want to tell you that your parents were the greatest scientists I have ever seen in my life!
Good luck!”
The following inscription was the English word “three”.
“Three …..Three?”
Who in the world uses this name?