Chapter 203 - Long, Boring, Happy (Don't Skip)

Once Qing Lok was out the door, the three of them fell into complete silence. Suddenly, their living room felt like it was too small for them. It was their father who moved first, not saying goodbye or anything. Then he heard him going up the stairs.

Wuming collapsed on the chair Qing Chen was sitting on earlier. "Who should go check on Lok?"

Qing Chen walked to the table and took the three pistols. "Let's just leave him be. He's probably letting off steam."

"Do you think he'll come back tonight?"

The corner of Qing Chen's lips quirked upwards. "From the volume of your voice, I assumed you would be packing your bags and return to your mountain."

"I was thinking about it to be honest," he sighed and sat a little straighter. "But I'm not leaving Chengshi. Not until we're done with all this crap. The Zookeeper. The mafia. And dad."

His eyebrows shot upwards. "You still want to kill father?" he joked.

"We were not going to kill him. Lok took the joke way too seriously for his own good." He suddenly grinned. "But I have to admit, it came to my mind once or twice."

"You're nuts," Qing Chen said and took his coat from the armrest. "Our plans remain the same. One at a time. We'll pull ourselves out of this hole."

"I hope so… before dad kills us."

"Something is really wrong with you if you think father is out to get our heads."

Wuming only smiled at him. "I'll try not to think about it. We both know who's going to survive that."

Qing Chen shrugged his coat on. "You're welcome to stay in our place if you don't want to be here."

"Nah," he said. "I don't want to disturb the love nest."

"What are you gonna do tonight?" Qing Chen asked.

He shook his head. "No idea. Maybe I'll check in a motel with a pretty chick and forget all my problems."

"Good luck with that."

**

Qing Chen went straight home, thinking about his father and Dai Fang at the same time. He was more irritated with Dai Fang than what happened in the house. Just how stupid was he bringing that up? He could go to the police and he would find the files about The Seven Seas Motel had been closed by the force's top detective—which they paid of course. 

Qing Chen could only shake his head. He was not that careless when it comes to The Kingly Empire. Dai Fang had the drive but not the means to bring him down. He should really put him out of his mind. They needed that family out of this city soon.

It was after dinner when he finally told Feng Xuan about what had happened in his day and with his family.

"Is Wuming okay?" was her first question. "Is he going through something?"

Even Qing Chen had been surprised earlier when he suddenly burst out at their father. Wuming had always been smooth and calm. "I don't know," he answered. "Must've something to do with the girl he had been seeing. We haven't heard anything about her for a short while."

"Maybe it didn't work out with them. It fell through?"

"I'll ask him about that," Qing Chen said and got under the sheets. "Do you think I should ask Lok to find the girl?"

"For what purpose?" Feng Xuan was at the side of her bed, wearing a pair of pink silk pajamas. She has labeled folders on top of her lap. The gold colored ones were for YANG and the pink ones were for Gretel's.

Qing Chen propped himself on his elbow, enjoying the view in front of him. He never thought he would want a wife who loved working and thought about business. His mother had always been at home, taking care of them. But looking at Feng Xuan dealing with business matter… it was hot. "Yeah, that won't be the right move," he answered his own question. They had promised Wuming.

"By the way," he said, "Da Xia sent some updates about her opening. She requested for more budget with the physical store. I think she's going to up the construction time so she could open sooner. In two or three weeks, she'll open."

Feng Xuan nodded. "That's fun," she said with a huge grin. "I need to come up with something else to do on the day of her opening…" she appeared to be thinking. "She cannot be the talk of the town…"

"We'll find something to bury her with."

"Something good for YANG and would overshadow Da Xia." They have exhausted their exposure in the last few days. People might get fed up if they came up with something new too quickly.

Qing Chen could imagine the cogs in her mind working so he stayed quiet. Finally her eyes lighted up. He looked expectant.

Feng Xuan laughed at his face. "No, I haven't thought about anything yet." She leaned over and gave him a kiss. 

Qing Chen didn't let her go and pulled her by the waist until she was flushed against him, folders forgotten. "You'll come up with something for sure." It looked like something was bothering her as she nestled herself in his arms. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I think I'm just turning to one of the old women I talked crap about," she laughed lightly. "Just stirring whatever's in the pot because I am bored."

"When we got through everything—I meant everything, this is the kind of life you'll be living without the guns and knives."

"Heavens help me."

Qing Chen kissed her nose. "Don't you want to live a long, boring, happy life with me?"

Feng Xuan giggled. "Do YOU want to live a long, boring, happy life?"

"If that means we'll grow old together then yes." He pressed another kiss at her doubtful face. "Let's talk about this again once we're done with everything."