Chapter 464 - Project: Mafia Wars

Qing Lok and Liu Meilien were in the car. He was drumming his fingers on the steering wheel along with the beat of the song when he finally realized that his girlfriend was being too quiet.

His hand immediately went out and cupped hers over the console. "Everything okay?" he asked, pulling her attention to whatever it was she was looking outside the window.

Liu Meilien almost looked surprised when she turned to look at him. She pulled a smile to her face. "Nothing, I'm just thinking about everything."

"Everything as in…?" Just how much of everything was she thinking about?

"Everything," she repeated. "I mean it. The whole entirety of it."

Qing Lok's eyes narrowed on the dark road. "You need to be more specific."

"I'm thinking about us," she answered. "In this world."

"You mean, this mafia world?"

"Yes." She pursed her lips. "You told me before that you don't always agree with Qing Chen's decisions. But why? He's trying to avoid bloodshed. Don't you want that?"

Ah, that, his mind whispered. "I only disagree with him sometimes. There's a reason we're a mafia, you know? I just think Chen's breaking the legs of Enigma. But anyway, he's the boss, I just follow."

Liu Meilien leaned to him, "But how can you disagree? Do you think that the mafia should be all cruel? Guns and all that? All the pain that you could give someone who were not following your rules?"

Qing Lok got defensive. "It's the way of the world. How are you a mafia without that?"

His girlfriend smiled at him and trailed her on his arm. "Aren't you tired of that kind of life? Shouldn't we try something peaceful?"

"Peaceful?"

"Like, living near a beach or something, when this is all over."

"It's not going to be over," he replied, l.i.c.k.i.n.g his lips. "This… whatever this was that Qing Chen started, he thought he was solving things. But what I think, he's making things worse. Everyone was having a peaceful time. Everybody else's mafias were staying where they were and then he just had to start a conflict with La Hiena and now here we are."

He squeezed on his nose, wanting to backtrack. "I'm not blaming Chen, alright? I only don't agree with his decisions. The world was fine and now it's all in chaos. Some things are just supposed to be left the way they are."

"What?" he asked.

"Lok," she said but paused. He took a peek at her and saw that she was thinking really hard before she opened her lips again. "I'm thinking long-term here. If you want to be with me, then you're going to have to change that kind of mindset. I don't have plans on living with this… this war bearing down on us like a spotlight. I want to live peacefully."

Qing Lok found a sudden irritation but he kept his mouth shut. An argument was not going to do them good. She was only saying that because she was not seeing the whole picture. She had not been there from the start. And it was not like he had not given her a way out? She could have left with a promise that she would keep her mouth shut and he would have left her alone.

It did not have to be that hard.

But she stayed. She made him love her. What was he supposed to do?

He bit his lips, contemplating. It was not like he was going to change his entire perception because she told him to. He knew where his beliefs lie.

So he went with the oldest trick in the book on how to make women feel heard and understood. "Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with me. I'll think about it."

Liu Meilien nodded, a small smile on her lips, satisfied with his answer. She turned again to the window and started drawing shapes with the tip of her finger on his clean glass. "I want to be with you forever, Qing Lok. But we have to make this work."

Suddenly, there were weights on his shoulders. He WANTED it to work. He grabbed her hand and squeezed on it. "Let's talk about this again, some other time, huh? Pack your bags, okay? We're going to stay in the house for a while."

When the whole family was reunited at the house, there was too much noise with everybody and their luggages. Teams were being assembled in different parts of the house. They were going to start tonight. No time to waste.

Qing Chen was delegating more tasks when he heard his parents getting down the stairs followed by his grandmother. "Hey," he greeted and turned back to the list that he had.

"What's going on?" his father asked, wrapped in his blue robe.

"Sorry to wake you up. Enigma matters."

His mother spoke. "Is everything alright?"

"It will be. All of you can go back to bed."

"Answer me this then," his grandmother's voice was loud and clear. "Are we going to die?"

Qing Chen threw her a smile over his shoulder. "No. Not while I'm alive. Go back to sleep."

"That's all I need to know." His grandmother clutched the shawl on her shoulders tighter and she disappeared upstairs.

His mother's eyes were alert despite being pulled down with sleep. "Do you need help with anything?"

Qing Chen shook his head. "I got it from here." Then he looked at his father. "I'll tell you all about this tomorrow. I'll keep the noise to a minimum."

His father grunted. "Alright."

Qing Chen had already given everybody their orders and he joined the rest of the family where the IT team was because that was where Qing Lok would be.

Wuming grinned, "Alright, we're now complete. Let's start, Project: Mafia Wars."