"I'm Liu Zhenzhen, Sir. Nice to meet you," Zhenzhen introduced herself with a respectful bow.
"She is my little sister. Her identity got compromised, so I had to bring her with me," Liu Ye added as he patted her head. "I can bring her out if Leader Xu wishes."
He already experienced Leader Xu's explosive nature so it was best to leave Zhenzhen out of it. Too bad, he wasn't the one holding cards.
"No!" Zhenzhen denied immediately and hugged him tightly. "I am not leaving!"
Xu Yue and Liu Ye paled, looking up at Leader Xu only to get surprised seeing a smile on his face.
"You must be the girl that ran up to them in the middle of a gunfight, right?" Leader Xu questioned calmly. "Were you not scared?"
"I was, but when I saw my Big Bro, my body moved on its own. I know it was stupid, he already reprimanded me for it," Zhenzhen replied honestly. "If the Police ask questions, I can testify for him. He was only protecting himself and Big Sis."
"That's very nice of you but don't worry. I just got off the phone with the Commissioner and your brother will not get in trouble," Leader Xu informed, causing Zhenzhen's eyes to shine.
"That's great! He was just doing his job and they were the ones who attacked first," Zhenzhen called out excitedly. "Thank you for the help, Sir!"
"You are welcome," Leader Xu replied gently. "If you want, you can call me Uncle Xu. Sir just sounds too formal, you know."
"Oh! Alright, Uncle Xu," Zhenzhen nodded eagerly. "Uncle Xu can call me Zhenzhen then."
Liu Ye was speechless. There was not a single person in this world that could call Leader Xu like that, even his own nieces and nephews. The whole interaction between them didn't make sense. Wasn't he supposed to scold Xu Yue instead?
"Sure. Zhenzhen, I have a question for you," Leader Xu spoke up, finally revealing his intentions. "How close are you to your brother?"
'Damn…' Liu Ye cursed in his mind, not liking where this was going.
Zhenzhen didn't hesitate with her answer as she hugged his arm and replied, "My Big Bro is my whole world. We would do anything for each other."
Leader Xu nodded in approval as he finally gazed at Liu Ye, "That's such a nice connection you two have. Liu Ye, I'm happy with how you handled the situation. Even though my daughter made a mistake by leaving her guards behind, you protected her well. I'm glad the money we pay you doesn't go to waste."
"Thank you, Sir. I did what you had to do," Liu Ye replied politely, trying to keep calm. He knew it was suspicious and the next words of Leader Xu only confirmed his guess.
"Anyway, you two should stay at our place until we make sure you are safe. Now that you are all over the news, it's best if you stay low until we find out who was behind this attack," Leader Xu suggested, causing Liu Ye to finally interfere.
"I am not returning to my full duties," Liu Ye announced. "I was brought in by Xu Yue and I will work with her on her project. I won't be taking any more additional work since I want to spend more time with my sister."
Leader Xu's smile disappeared, but he still nodded, "That's okay, as long as you keep her safe."
He then pressed a button on his desk and the butler entered inside right after. "Yes, Sir?"
"Please bring Liu Ye and his sister to the guest rooms upstairs," Leader Xu ordered as he gave Liu Ye a glance. "I would like to talk to my daughter alone."
"You can bring them to my room instead," Xu Yue changed the order. "I want to talk to them afterward."
"Yes, Miss."
It was obvious that Leader Xu didn't like his response but he had to be firm with people like him. This man didn't hesitate to think about using Zhenzhen against him. If he wasn't careful, he would return back into the dark world but this time without return.
When they left the office, Xu Yue didn't hesitate to send out a warning. "Liu Ye is working for me. Don't think I'm going to lend him to you."
"Who knows, maybe one day he will decide to take some voluntary work," Leader Xu replied with a shrug. "We will return to this topic later. For now, I need to find the person targeting you. I suppose you retrieved some information for me, right?"
Xu Yue's face darkened but it was pointless to argue with her father. He would always find ways to get what he wants. Zhenzhen was too innocent and pure to figure out his tactics.
"Master Yang," Xu Yue reported the name without revealing its true target. "We can't trust his words fully but that was the name of the client he told me. The boss of this mercenary group should know more. They had military-grade weapons and gear while having mediocre skills so I guess it was their client who provided it. He must have some connection to the military."
Leader Xu frowned and reached for the phone. "Alright, I got it. You are free to go."
A part of her wanted to smack him on the face but she restrained herself, walking to the doors. Her father was never nice to her, always either stern or cold.
"One more thing," Leader Xu called out just as she was about to leave. "Make sure to keep Liu Ye for as long as you can. If you can befriend his sister and keep her here, he will be more likely to stay. When you take over the leadership after me, he would make a good assistant."
———
"Weird…"
Xu Yue's room was just as Liu Ye remembered, the office connected with the bedroom, but something bothered him. He walked around the room and suddenly sensed something familiar. He didn't know what it was but he couldn't get rid of this feeling.
In some parts of the office, it was stronger and weaker in others. Eventually, he found its source and stopped in front of an oil painting of a forest hanging on the wall.
He touched the canvas but nothing happened aside from getting confused stares from Zhenzhen.
"Big Bro, did something happen?" Zhenzhen questioned as she stopped next to him. "You have been pacing around back and forth in silence."
"Can you feel it too?"
"Feel what?" Zhenzhen asked while reaching up to his forehead. "You don't seem to have a fever… Maybe you got hurt earlier?"
It definitely wasn't an illusion. He could still feel something but just couldn't describe it.
"Don't worry, I am good," Liu Ye assured as he checked the back of the painting. Just as he thought, there was a sensor on each corner. If he took it down without proper tools, Xu Yue would be notified immediately.
"There has to be a safe behind it…" Liu Ye muttered to himself when the door opened abruptly, forcing him to give up for now. He couldn't just ask Xu Yue to open the safe for him.
"What are you doing?" Xu Yue asked from behind and they both turned around with innocent expressions.
"We were watching the painting," Zhenzhen replied casually as she ran up to her. "What did Uncle Xu tell you?"
Xu Yue hugged her gently and replied, "I reported some details about the attack and then he told me to take good care of you which is what I planned to do from the beginning. You are now my little sis too, remember?"
Zhenzhen giggled before looking back at Liu Ye. "But what about my lectures? Or even our clothes. Uncle Xu said we should stay here but we don't have any of our belongings."
"Hmm, I will take you tomorrow to gather all your stuff. It should be fine if we take more people with us," Xu Yue suggested. "About your studies, I don't think you will be able to attend them in the near future. You were all over the news so I'm sure our enemies might think you are connected to us. It's too dangerous to let you wander on your own."
It was even more dangerous knowing they might use her to get to Liu Ye.
"For the time being, how about I lend some of my clothes? Our bodies should have similar numbers if my eyes are not wrong," Xu Yue added as she checked Zhenzhen out. "I might also have some of my old bikinis from high school. They would match you perfectly."
"Ah! The pool!" Zhenzhen exclaimed with renewed excitement. "I would love to!"
"Sure! Let's—"
"Xu Yue, can I have you for a second?" Liu Ye cut her off as he approached the window. He could see the vast gardens where he used to train his skills but all of it was in the past.
When she walked up, he grabbed her wrist and pretended he was kissing her neck as he whispered, "I know your father's plans. If I sense that my sister is in any danger by staying here, I will take her away and you will never see us again. I hope you know that."
Xu Yue looked at him with a smile and leaned to his ear as well but she kissed him for real instead.
"If my father hurts her in any way, I will make him retire in a coffin. Is my resolve to keep you mine enough?"
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