To Love You Again

The building where the IAmFashionista event took place was dark and empty. 

However, one of its private rooms was still occupied.

The warm yellow glow from the ornate lamp shade was the only source of light in the room. On the couch was a man leaning back quietly at the backrest with his eyes closed. A silver mask was on the table. 

The phone rang, disturbing the man's rest.

The man picked up the phone and answered the call lazily.

"Master… We failed." A weak voice was heard from the speaker.

The room was suddenly engulfed with overwhelming pressure. 

Even the man from the other side of the phone could feel the pressure from his master's silence.

After a long while, Ming Zhi Yi spoke slowly. "I have planned it carefully for you and sent you many people as help, yet none of you managed to kill one weak chicken?"

"I am deeply ashamed, Master. This servant deserves to die."

"Then die."

"..."

"Before dying, kill that woman first. If you cannot, bring me another head instead, one that will give me satisfaction."

The man on the other side of the phone sweated.

Bring him… another head?

To give his master such satisfaction, the head he should bring must be a person of equal value to the one they failed to kill today. 

In other words, an heiress or an heir.

And none of the heirs was easy to kill.

However, the man still treasured his life, so he had to do his mission. 

"Yes, Master. I shall not disappoint you any further."

His dark eyes held cold annoyance. His anger had nowhere to vent. His people that were supposed to be capable were all useless with their tasks recently.

"Lu Jin," he muttered.

The young man, who was sitting across Ming Zhi Yi and had his presence reduced to nothing, spoke in an emotionless voice. 

"Yes, father."

"That woman. She surprises me. Don't you think that she is being such a big nuisance?"

The man did not speak.

Ming Zhi Yi continued to talk. "I don't know if she is just stupid or eccentric like they said. But to become an heiress and receive approval from that old man, she must be an incredible woman."

The man still did not speak.

"Thus, I wanted to kill her to be sure. Besides, she really irked me today. What to do?"

Finally, Lu Jin moved. He looked at his father blankly. "Father should do what he usually does."

"Yeah, I tried that. But I did not expect that the people protecting her are quite incredible as well. Just one driver against the ten cars that I sent? I am truly impressed. It is too bad that that expert is not on my side."

Lu Jin did not talk anymore.

Ming Zhi Yi picked up the silver mask from the table and stared at the clear reflection on the smooth surface of the mask. "I first planned to set your little brother as the first example..." 

Lu Jin, who was quietly listening, froze. 

"...But I know that you will be upset, so I hesitated. And then the heiress appeared, so I turned to her instead." Ming Zhi Yi turned to Lu Jin. "But now that it failed, the Xiong family will surely be on tighter security and on guard after what happened. Now, my anger has nowhere to vent to. Should I turn to your brother instead?"

The man's eyes were curved up, as if seeing something amusing, yet seemed taunting at the same time.

Lu Jin was silent. His expressionless face did not give out anything.

Ming Zhi Yi laughed. "Don't be too rigid. Of course, I will not kill that child yet, especially for such a lame reason. After all, he is still my son. Unlike Gunan, that coward still has my blood."

Lu Jin looked down coldly. 

His father's joke was never funny.

Ming Zhi Yi leaned back again, raised his head to rest at the backrest, and put the mask on his face. 

"Now that I openly challenged the Xiong family, the other families will soon come running after me." The eyes under the mask glinted with excitement. "Just as I wished for."

His lips curved up cruelly. "Let them come at me. I have many welcoming gifts waiting for them." 

....

The incident of that night was not made public. However, the dead bodies, collision debris, and the leftovers of such intense gunfire were hard to cover up. But as there was no evidence that it was Ming Zhi Yi who ordered the chase, the Xiong family had no choice but to say that the young heiress was attacked by an unknown group whose goal was to challenge the Xiong family.

Inside the Xiong mansion, Old Xiong had a dark face after hearing Zhou Min's report. He slammed his fist on the table.

"What do you mean, you can't find anything? It has been two days since the incident happened. We need to arrest that bastard!"

That man dared to touch his granddaughter!

Xiong Zhi who was also inside her grandfather's office commented, "Grandpa, it is not surprising that we can't find anything. Ming Zhi Yi is originally a cautious man. What I am more worried about is something else. Since he touched me, a Xiong heiress, then he might reach his hands out to the others too. He failed this once, but he may not fail next time. You need to warn the others. The others are likely in danger."

Old Xiong's expression was grim. "You are right. He dared to harm you, he definitely has the guts. I will make sure that he will fully receive the blow of our family's wrath." 

Xiong Zhi poured some warm water for Old Xiong. "Do not overstress yourself, Grandpa. I managed to come out alright. As long as we tighten our security, there should be no worry about our safety."

"But we can't just stand by after he did this to you, granddaughter." Old Xiong drank the warm water to moisten his throat and continued. "The young Guan head once asked us old ones if we are willing to risk our family name just to defeat Ming Zhi Yi. I answered the young Guan head indifferently at that time. But it seems, I should not have. Now that Ming Zhi Yi, that bastard, is going after us like this, we should get him no matter what. Even at the risk of our family name."

Xiong Zhi's eyebrow rose in surprise. 

This was an unexpected reaction from her grandfather. It almost sounded like she was more important than their surname Xiong.

Xiong Zhi pushed away that thought. Although her grandfather had mellowed, her grandfather who loved the family's surname more than anything in the world would not suddenly put her first. It must probably be the anger that drove him to say this. After all, Ming Zhi Yi was the first one who challenged the Xiong family like this.

A knock sounded on the door. A butler reported that the other heads had arrived.

Old Xiong turned to speak to Xiong Zhi. "Those old people came here to see you." He scanned her from head to toe. "...At least act frightened, so that those old bones will be easier to convince."

Old Xiong was worried that Xiong Zhi might have suffered a fright from what happened. However, none of it could be seen on her face. It did not seem like she had gone under a threatening situation, instead, her gaze seemed more determined and fiercer than before.

Old Xiong's heart eased up, seeing that his granddaughter did not suffer a terrible trauma.

After that incident, Xiong Zhi's heart turned a lot calmer. 

It was because the day she and Linfeng were supposed to die had passed. 

They escaped fate once more. 

Overcoming that obstacle gave Xiong Zhi more strength and courage than she expected. 

Still, she did not relax even after the critical turning point had passed. Instead, she was more careful since what would happen onwards now depended on her choices and actions. Linfeng's life and her own survival all depended on what they would be doing from now on.

"I will, Grandpa. I am grateful for your concern. The gamble you made for me, I will make sure that you will never regret it. I can't tell you the full details right now. But I promise you, even though we risk our surname in the meantime, we will not lose."

Because they could not afford to lose. They must only win.

Old Xiong's eyes softened. He patted Xiong Zhi's shoulder. "You do not have to join this fight."

He knew that his granddaughter was capable, but he still could not help but worry about her. Knowing that she experienced that dangerous situation made him fear for his granddaughter's life. If it was before, Old Xiong might not care about it, but now that he had affection for her, it was hard for him to put her in harm's way.

Xiong Zhi shook her head gently. "No, Grandpa. This fight includes me. Of course, the path I chose to take is different from yours and the other heads. You and the other elders just have to focus on what you have to do. So shall I. We will surely succeed."

Old Xiong sighed. 

His stubborn granddaughter. 

"Alright, but do not let yourself be in danger." He turned towards the silent Linfeng who was standing on one side. "Young man, you have to protect her well."

Linfeng bowed respectfully. "Yes, I will definitely protect her at the cost of my own life, Master Xiong."

Old Xiong nodded gravely, patted Xiong Zhi's shoulders again, and finally left. 

The other heads were already waiting in the drawing room. They must continue the discussion they left at their last meeting. 

This time, his answer would be different.