Zhao Lifei’s eyes flew open in shock. Such a strange dream it was... Fengfeng? Who was that? She tried to rack her brain for any memories of him, but could not find any. The more she tried to remember, the more her head would hurt.
"What were you dreaming about?"
Zhao Lifei almost screamed bloody murder at the sudden whisper beside her ear. She turned around and instantly relaxed when she saw it was Yang Feng. "You scared me." She stammered, placing a hand on her racing heart.
"Did I now?" He patiently responded, his stormy eyes clashing against hers. So many emotions ran through the pools of ink, all of them, dedicated to her. "So, what did you dream about?"
"I-I don’t...ow..." She placed a hand on the side of her head, wincing in pain when a pounding headache slammed her. "I-I can’t..." The more she tried to recount what happened, the more her head hurt. She felt like she stumbled across a stubborn wall in her brain.
Yang Feng’s forehead creased in worry. He wanted to know if she remembered something, but her health was more important than the truth. "It’s fine, let’s not think so much of it." He helped her lay back onto the bed.
"Let’s go back to sleep." He slithered his arms around her again, lulling her to sleep, in hopes that she would find herself in the same dreamland, and maybe just maybe, she could see it as more than just a dream.
- - - - -
Over the next few days, Zhao Lifei’s schedule was packed with moving and decorating their new house. She quite liked the new place, since it was not as gloomy as Yang Feng’s dreadfully empty mansion where the color scheme only consisted of monotone colors. It was modern and extremely high-tech, but very lifeless.
She hoped to liven up the current house, which was less modern, but more high-tech. Replacing the minimalistic design of his previous house, this one was a lot homier. She ensured the color scheme here was bright and inviting, especially with the flower vases she set up and small trinkets here and there. It was also a suitable place to raise children, especially with the extremely high security she always passed by. With the number of guards, electric fences, sniper towers, and so forth, you’d think this was where the leader of the country lived.
Running back and forth from Feili was a hassle, but she managed to juggle it better than expected. Her eyes scanned the living room, a satisfied smile blooming on her face.
There was a comfortable and large leather couch in the center of the room with a colorful antique rug beneath it. She walked to the enormous French door and set the heavy white curtains into place. It was a nice contrast to this slightly modern and humble living room. Sunlight flushed into the room from the windows that overlooked the city. Upon hearing a car pull up, she opened the door with bamboo-tree glass, paired with a light-colored oak framing.
She shook her head upon realizing this door lead to the small garden beside the living room instead of a balcony.
Thinking Yang Feng came home early, she rushed to the front entrance only to see a different man enter. She blinked upon seeing his appearance, shining like a white knight. He had roguish-features and prominent eyebrows with a slight scar on the right one. His face was very appealing and paired with the loose smile on his face, he seemed friendlier than most of the people surrounding Yang Feng.
"Where’s the Boss?" His voice was airy and smooth. There was a slight accent to it, perhaps a dialect from his hometown. He was speaking to the butler who took his coat and folded it over his arm.
"The Young Master is currently on his way home. In the meantime, the Madam is home."
"The Madam?" He repeated, highly intrigued. Was it Zhao Lifei? Or was it Ice Queen, Fan Jielan? He shuddered when her stern and forever displeased expression flashed through his mind. She was a very beautiful and refined woman who didn’t look her age, but no matter how many times he had encountered her, he was still scared of her. She reminded him of his mother, who rarely smiled at him.
"That would be me." Zhao Lifei mused, running her hand over her creaseless tiffany blue dress. It suited her perfectly, hugging her in the right places, but modest enough to reach a few inches above her knees whereas the sleeves covered her elbows.
Yu Pingluo’s eyes flickered with surprise. Why, she was a spitting image of her grandfather... Or maybe it was just her eyes throwing him off. They were abnormally hazel and when she stepped closer, the sunlight from the foyer beamed upon them, it became a world of gold.
His eyes raked over her appearance. Flesh like ice, bones of jade, eyes of gold, and face of a fairy from heaven, he let out a small laugh. Now he understood why Yang Feng was so in love with her. It seemed the rumors were true. Their Lady Boss was too beautiful for the cruel Underworld.
"Zhao Lifei, was it?" He said with an enlightened, almost amused, tone. He stuck out a hand to which she took it and gave him a firm handshake.
"And you must be?"
"Yu Pingluo, at your service." He retracted his hand, folding it over his chest and performing a grand bow for her, resembling something out of a historic European movie. His playful nature always came out in the presence of breathtaking women like her. Not that there were many in this world...
Zhao Lifei quirked a brow. She recognized that name. Particularly because Yang Ruqin used to complain about this man in the past, however, she could not recount what exactly the young woman would be rambling about. That night, both ladies were highly intoxicated with finely-aged baijiu [1] and were giggling like hyenas during the majority of their conversations.
Yu Pingluo could hear the sound of a car approaching the front entrance. Judging by the way everyone rushed outside to greet him, the employees all lining up at the door, he already knew who it was.
Zhao Lifei’s eyes brightened as she made her way to the door, brushing past Yu Pingluo, only for him to lightly grab her wrist just as the hauntingly large door opened. In a loud voice, he said, "My dear lady, if you ever grow bored of the Big Boss, my arms are always open."
Dead silence.
The servants were so shocked by his words, all of them momentarily forgot to greet their Boss. They exchanged nervous glances and nearly cried on the spot when winter air flooded the room, instead of the humid summer breeze. Icicles formed on the ceilings, crystal sharp, ready to stab the man in the head. Oh my, was that a polar bear?
Zhao Lifei blinked before letting out a small laugh. "I see you’re fond of courting death."
"I’m more fond of you." He winked, bubbling with excitement at the idea of riling up his Boss. He swiveled around, ready to be faced with a fire-breathing dragon, but to his extreme disappointment, his Boss’s lips were curved into a wicked smile.
"Pingluo."
"Yes, Boss?" Yu Pingluo excitedly responded. His lips tugged into a million-watt smile.
"The Black Room needs cleaning. Go."
Yu Pingluo frowned. This was not the reaction he was waiting for! He wanted to anger his boss, piss him off to the highest point. He saw it as a payback for the stupid mission he was assigned to.
He purposefully found a very pricey, but extremely-well protected house that met his Boss’s expectations and beyond. He hoped the staggering price would frustrate his boss, but the man did not even blink at the unfathomable amount of zeros. Rumor has it, the Lady-Boss was very pleased with the house, therefore, it was bought without a second thought.
Must be nice being a woman, especially when they were naturally armed with two very powerful weapons: their tears and womanhood. But he was sure his lady boss did not use either to get them, seeing as she was very wealthy as well.
He was glad she was not some gold-digger found on the street, as most cliche romance novels went. A poor girl and a rich guy, that was such an unprecedented event. There would also be too many conflicts that would arise from it, like the infamous partnership between Zheng Tianyi and Xia Mengxi.
"I was just at the Black Room a couple of hours ago, it was squeaky clean." Yu Pingluo cheekily responded.
"Oh? Is that so?"
Thinking he was off the hook, Yu Pingluo let out a sigh of relief.
"Then go and become Guo Sheng’s doll."
"P-pardon?" Yu Pingluo squeaked. Become that lunatic’s doll? Hell no! He remembered the last time he was one. He left a brightly-colored room, extremely suitable to children, with his entire body wrapped in bandages from all of the cuts he got. On that particular day, the maniac wanted his "toy" to look like a voodoo doll, and well...the rest was history.
"Don’t make me repeat myself."
Yu Pingluo let out an entertained laugh, "I-I just remembered there was a mission I didn’t finish." And in the next moment, he was gone. Hopping into his Ferrari, he drove off with his tail tucked between his legs.