After being humiliated and brought to her lowest, Zhao Lifei left the city. Even when the powers of the country"s top hackers and investigators were combined, they still couldn"t find her. Many people came together in hopes of finding her location. The reward for her head was alarmingly high, 50 million to be exact. Zheng Tianyi was the one to fund the first half of the 50 million, and the rest was anonymous, but most people suspected it was the angry socialites who was eager to see their dethroned Queen fall to a lower level.
After two long years, there wasn"t a price on her head anymore. Zheng Tianyi"s anger had slightly soothed and after a lot of convincing from the Zheng family and Elder, he finally retracted his money. Seeing the King had pulled out, the rest of the socialites stopped funding for Zhao Lifei"s head. Within the span of a week, she wasn"t a wanted woman in the Underground World anymore.
"Mm, let"s not meddle with the past. This time, I have a very important task. Trust me, it"s not some petty face-slapping of a white lotus." Zhao Lifei chided herself at the memory of her foolish past.
She used to be so bitter and horrible to Xia Mengxi, not that she didn"t deserve it.
In some way, Zhao Lifei regretted raining h.e.l.l on Xia Mengxi, when she should"ve directed her anger towards Zheng Tianyi as well...It took two to cheat, and she mistakenly focused too much time on one side.
"I was such a spoiled and bad-tempered brat. Throughout the year I thirsted for Xia Mengxi"s blood and downfall, I"m surprised you stood by my side." Zhao Lifei thought about the bad memories she never wanted to resurface.
She had sunk to the sea of desperation when she saw Xia Mengxi wrapped in Zheng Tianyi"s arms. She tried to do anything and everything to destroy the couple and along the way, she destroyed herself.
"Like I always say, you"re signature perfume is unbelievable wealth. Anyone with that scent will always have a safe spot in my heart." Lu Minhong cracked a dry smile at her words. Was she really doubting why he stayed with her? This foolish woman...
If there was one thing that Lu Minhong would never admit, it was the fact that he actually cared more about Zhao Lifei"s well being than her money. She was someone very special to him and once upon a time, she was his savior.
"But there was so many people that paid you to abandon me." Zhao Lifei softly said, suddenly feeling very self-conscious of herself.
Lu Minhong was quiet for a while and Zhao Lifei thought he didn"t hear her because he was so occupied by the loud game.
After a few moments of silence, he spoke. "No money can pay me to abandon you. Not after what you"ve done for me." His voice was somber and soft, nothing like the loud and outgoing person he was.
Zhao Lifei had a soft expression on her face, as she thought about the hard times that Lu Minhong experienced.
There was a period of time where Lu Minhong"s wrists were filled with cuts, his eyes dull, the hope long gone from his heart, and his entire body was filled with horrific marks, it was hard to recognize the man he had become.
"Ah geez, you"re going to make me cry if you don"t speak up." Lu Minhong sighed, his voice getting a bit emotional. This was why he disliked talking about the past.
Zhao Lifei let out a small laugh. "Seeing you cry would be worth a billion dollars." She joked, a tiny smile on her face.
Lu Minhong sat up straighter, his eyes going wide with excitement. "Wait seriously? You"d pay me one billion dollars? I"d cry as much as you want if you pay me that much-"
"No you idiot. I was only kidding." Zhao Lifei chuckled at his desire for instant wealth.
"Boo, you"re no fun." Lu Minhong pouted. He had truly taken Zhao Lifei seriously...
"Besides, what is your new mission this time?" He added on, turning off the game and then flipping to the second monitor of his computer.
Zhao Lifei became more serious. "I need a full report of a silver van that ran into a black Maybach on Kingston Street. Investigate into the van"s background, owner, licence plate. Every little thing you can find out, report it back to me."
Lu Minhong raised his brow at her surprising a.s.signment. "How much are you willing to pay?"
Zhao Lifei smiled. He didn"t even hesitate at the harsh mission. "State your price, I can pay anything reasonable." She leaned back in her chair and stared out of the enormous window in front of her.
Money wasn"t an issue for her, but she knew Lu Minhong was not a greedy man to demand an outrageous price.
"One million." He bluntly said. This surprised Zhao Lifei. One million? His rate has increased by 200% since the last two years since she had contact him.
"The price is fine with me, but are you alright Lu Minhong? Is there something I need to know about?" She asked, pulling out her laptop to wire him the money.
Lu Minhong was quiet for a few seconds. Amidst the soothing clicks of his finger against the keyboard and his somber expression, he didn"t know where to begin. "I-I..." He stuttered, unable to say a word.
Zhao Lifei"s expression softened. "Don"t push yourself, I"m fine if you don"t tell me. I"ve already send the money to you." She quietly said, knowing it would take time for him to open up.
Lu Minhong"s felt grateful for her peaceful approach. For as long as he had known her, she was never the type of woman to force him to say something. When it came to him, she was patient and kind.
Because Lu Minhong had personally witnessed Zhao Lifei"s unwavering kindness, his impression of her was always good. Regardless of the malicious rumors that surrounded Zhao Lifei and the horrible things she used to do, Lu Minhong would always remain loyal to her...
"Okay, I"ll get started on your mission right now. It will be done by tomorrow afternoon." He said, already hacking into the security cameras on the street lights.
"Alright, have a good night." Zhao Lifei said, breathing out a quiet sigh.
"Good night, Xiao Li." He ended the call and began to immerse himself into the task.
After the call ended, Zhao Lifei texted Yang Ruqin the details, but she didn"t include the big price tag on the mission.
[Qinqin: Thank you so much, Feifei! I"ll treat you to our next meal!]
Zhao Lifei smiled at her friend"s energetic response.
[Alright, I"ll hold you accountable to that~] She texted back.
Yang Ruqin didn"t reply for a while and Zhao Lifei figured it was because she was so drained from an entire day of working.
Not wanting to do anything else, Zhao Lifei collapsed onto her bed and fell asleep. Peacefully sleeping, Zhao Lifei was not aware of the storm that would hit her tomorrow...