Chapter 27 - First Step to Change

It had been the old maid's job to care for the sons of Qing Zihao as the master of the house had always been busy tending to business matters. She watched Qing Chen and Qing Lok grew up to be the men they were today. In truth, Shao Ai only wanted to have some peace and quiet. She believed that helping raise two boys made her age too quickly.

Qing Zihao might be the master of the house, but Shao Ai's true boss was the children's grandmother, Xie Changying. When she was first hired in her mid-thirties, it was as if Xie Changying's eyes never left her. She watched her every move until one day she just stopped. She never knew why. Xie Changying just did. Only then, was she able to sleep a wink in the Qing household.

But here she was again, being sent to care for the older of the brothers, Qing Chen. Shao Ai sighed internally so Xie Changying would not hear. She had grown close to the older woman. Xie Changying might appear to be intimidating, but Shao Ai knew she would do anything for her family.

It was early in the morning and they were sure the newly-wed couple were both out of the house. Feng Lizhao had provided them a spare set of keys to enter the home and they found the house enormous and beautiful. But it looked too artificial in Xie Changying's taste.

They inspected almost every corner and found that the house was clean. The fridge and pantry were well-stocked. There weren't a lack of bathroom supplies and the few plants looked in their greenest green considering the weather. Up they went on the second floor. The bedrooms were empty but in one, they found some of Feng Xuan's things.

They both snooped for a little while, looking at her old photo albums and clothes. Her things looked intricate and delicate. Xie Changying thought it well-suited Feng Xuan's physical characteristics. She looked... frail. Xie Changying thought that Feng Xuan was too thin and fragile to be able to do any household chores.

On the final bedroom, which was the biggest, they found a wide bed. "That's too big," Xie Changying commented. She started shaking her head and Shao Ai sighed internally, yet again. This was going to be hard, she thought.

Qing Chen was already on his second cup of coffee. He had asked for his father's audience to talk to him. Qing Lok was also present in his office. Although he was the one in the big seat and both his father and his brother were on the smaller ones in front of him, he felt a little small.

Once, he tried talking to his father about this matter, but he was easily shrugged off and was given the strict instruction to not change anything. But he went ahead and raised the membership fee in The Kingsman's Club anyway. Qing Zihao never laid a hand on his sons. But he looked like he was about to punch Qing Chen when he found out what he did.

Clearing his throat, he said, "We really have to talk about this shipment."

His father's eyebrows immediately knitted together, his eyes already hinting that he did not want where this conversation was going. "What about it?" he grumbled with his pipe on his lips, already disagreeing with what it could possibly be.

"Yeah, what about it, brother?" Qing Lok asked, looking away from his phone.

"We have to stop this," he said. "It was because of these shipments that the mafia is struggling to keep its finances at bay."

He knew his father was no stranger with the enormous amount of money the mafia was making even when most of their illegal businesses had already closed because it already became too risky. "There are other places we could put the money."

"Father," Qing Chen said, trying to keep his voice from rising. "We have storage rooms full of cash. We have nowhere to put them."

"We burn them!" Qing Lok exclaimed, a grin came out showing his pearly whites. "Much like Escobar. That way we can have more space and drive to earn it back."

Qing Chen ignored his younger brother and kept his eyes on his father's unsmiling face. "We have enough money—more than enough for our lifetime. We don't need more."

"Why does it have to be the shipments?" his father glowered.

"Because aside from The Underground, that's the second biggest source of our income. Would you rather let The Underground go?"

"No," his father glared. "We are not going to let go of anything." He stood up from his seat. "I'll get back to you on the money. In the mean time, accept this shipment."

When their father left the room, Qing Chen kicked on the floor and spun his seat, his hand massaging his temples.

"Why did you say that?" Qing Lok asked.

"Because," he began, "at this rate, if you had five children and they got five each of their own, they would not be able to spend every single cent of the mafia's money." Qing Chen tossed him a folder and Qing Lok opened it and it was filled with bar and line graphs. "If you finished your schooling, you might understand what was really happening there."

Qing Lok made a face. "I don't need to finish schooling to know the amount of money here." He glanced at the line graph and its current point was labeled with the year below and it was quadruple of the amount it was the last two decades (which was already plentiful in the first place). "What are we supposed to do with this money?"

Qing Chen grinned tiredly, "Burn it. Much like Escobar."

Qing Lok grinned back. "We aren't really going to, are we?"

"Of course not," Qing Chen huffed. As much as he did not want to problematize where they would put all that money, neither did he wanted to burn it. It was just their father. If he would just listen… You cannot really teach an old dog new tricks.

It felt like hollow blocks on his shoulders that he could not stop the shipment immediately. But he had to let it pass this one time until his father get back to him.

**

Feng Xuan had a pretty long day at school. Ever since the rumor started, it seemed like everyone just wanted to stay away from her, but some liked to bask in the the grace of the wife of the richest hotelier. People randomly would ask her to lunch and greet her in the hallways.

It was nice that Jiang Lijun stood by her side despite him teasing her so much for being a rich girl. Regardless, Feng Xuan survived yet another day at the graduate school. All she wanted was to have a nice dinner and go to sleep.

She had been looking forward for a couple more tiring hours to prepare food and have dinner with Qing Chen. That was why she was so surprised when she came inside, the house smelled great and she could hear something frying from a pan. It immediately made her stomach grumble.

"Qing Chen?" she called. Was he that home early that he had time to make dinner? "That smells amazing!" she said as she made her way to the dining. "Is it almost... done?" her own voice died in her throat.

An unknown woman was setting the table.

"Hello," Feng Xuan greeted. "You must be..." and only then she realized she did not know the woman's name.

"Shao Ai," the woman said. Her graying hair was in an updo and her plump body was covered with a gray dress and a white apron. "You may call me Ms. Shao."

"Ms. Shao," she repeated. "It's nice to meet you. I am Feng Xuan," she said.

"I know who you are," the woman replied dismissively. "You might want to change clothes before you dine."

A sudden nervousness crawled to her skin. Feng Xuan went upstairs and she took her sweet time in the spare bedroom to change. It was as if she was moving fifty percent slower than normal. She almost jumped when she heard a car pulling in the driveway.

She headed downstairs to greet Qing Chen who was smiling when he entered the door.

"That smells so good. What's for dinner?"

Then there was movement from the corner of Feng Xuan's eyes and both of their gazes followed.

Qing Chen could feel the energy leaving his body. "Ms. Shao," he greeted.

"Welcome home, master. Dinner is served."

Feng Xuan clamped her mouth shut. Surely that greeting was far warmer than she received.

"Come on," Qing Chen told her and she completely descended the stairs. Qing Chen took in her silence and asked her. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just a little nervous."

"She's harmless."

But Feng Xuan knew that Shao Ai was not a hundred percent harmless.