377 Criminals

"Zhuo Jingren? He is coming?" Zhou Huifang's lips twisted into a cruel smile. The small scar beneath his left eyes crinkled, highlighting it on his flawless face. He stared at the image on his hand and narrowed his eyes towards Lily. "Interesting."

"I heard that Mr. Qi liked Mr. Zhuo Jingren's wife," the scrawny man, wearing an oversized suit who was standing behind Zhou Huifang said. He eyed Lily and let out a grunt. "I wonder why he liked that woman. She is mediocre at best. A seven."

"Fool." Zhou Huifang huffed before he shook his head. His brother is truly pitiful. As expected, he would not be able to recognize a gem from the sea of stones in front of them. "This Lily is not only attractive but her ability in business is also top-notch too. Men who marry women like her are… lucky."

"Are you saying that Zhuo Jingren is lucky to have her?"

"No. On the contrary, this Zhuo Jingren is unlucky to be her husband, Xiaodan. Please use your brain and think about it." Zhou Huifang said calmly. "A woman like this, someone with brains is the most difficult one to control. Only few men can handle women who know their worth."

Zhou Xiaodan nodded as if he understood his elder brother's words. However, he did not hide the confusion in his eyes.

"Ah… Xiaodan… you are still young indeed. You don't understand a lot of things."

"Brother… I am learning. I want to be like you and father."

"Hmmm. That is good. Very good. I like people who loves to learn."

Zhou Xiaodan beamed at his elder brother's words. "Are we going to see them tonight? Can I join and watch?"

"No. Me and your elder sister will attend this time. She needed to make a good impression and clean her nasty reputation. I want those rumors about her to disappear completely after this gala." Zhou Huifang knew that a simple banquet like this won't make her sister a saint in the eyes of the public. But he already arranged a lot of things in advance to make this gala eventful. "Call Mr. Qi. I want him to accompany me in this gala."

Zhou Xiaodan nodded and smiled before he left the room. His heavy footsteps echoing as he closed the door behind him. How could a skinny man have such heavy footsteps? Zhou Huifang only sneered as he thought about his younger brother. Then he stared at Lily's beautiful smile again. His eyes lingered on her peach lips before it trailed down her slender neck.

"Do you like her?" the sudden interruption of the soft voice made Zhou Huifang frowned. He eyed his sister who sat on the chair to his left.

"What do you want this time?"

"Why are you making it sound like I only came here because I want something?" she rolled her eyes and crossed her legs. Seeing the dark look that her younger brother gave her, she stifled a burst of laughter and continued, "I just want to gossip. That's all."

"Did mother tell you? Or was it Xiaodan? That boy could not keep a secret."

"I am the eldest. Everyone is obliged to tell me what I want to know." Zhou Lanying smiled, her brown eyes swirling with mischief. "So? Is it true? Is he our uncle's son? Do you think father will…"

"Shush. Lanying… keep your mouth shut."

"What are you so worried about? If he is our uncle's son, then… he should be the owner of Zhou Co., and not us. Why can't we just give it to him in peace? Then we can all live happily ever after."

"Are you high again?" Seeing the smile that Zhou Lanying gave him, the line between Zhou Huifang's brows became even more apparent. "We have a party to attend to tonight and you decided to use drugs? Have you gone crazy? I thought you will play the piano tonight? We already talk about this! What the hell are you doing?"

"Hey… Hey… relax Mr. Grumpy pants. I can handle this." She beamed at him. "This is what I do alright? I get high and impress everyone, including father and grandfather. I am good at this."

Zhou Huifang clenched his jaw and glared at his sister, the genius of the Zhou Family, Zhou Lanying. He rose from his seat and turned his back on her.

"Where are you going? Come on… you know me. Since when have I disappointed everyone?"

"Lanying… stop this nonsense. Grandfather wanted you to take the business seriously."

"What business? Oh… the one that we stole from his brother? Wait? Is that the one that we stole from the main line of the Zhou Family? Oh.. I remember… this business should be the reason why I have to marry someone that I don't even know. To… what was the term that he used? Uhhh… to broaden our influence." Zhou Lanying stifled another laugh as she stood next to her brother. "The influence that was not even ours, to begin with. I am no criminal. I am an addict… yes but that I have never killed people just to get what I want."

"We are not criminals and I already told you to stop saying these things. If Grandfather hears you then…"

"Then let him kill me. He did it once to our brother. The fact that he was born from a prostitute was not enough reason to kill him. Or are you saying that this was a lie too? Are you going to say that everything that I heard was just a hallucination? Huifang… open your goddamn eyes and look at everyone around you. The family that you thought were saints are sinners. They are murderers."

"Shut up." Zhou Huifang hissed. "You are high when you claimed that you heard grandfather and father talk about things and you are high now. What makes you think that I would believe a word from you?"

His words only earn shrug from his older sister. "Oh well… don't blame me once karma hits everyone in this family. I already warned you brother… I already did my part and warn you." Zhou Lanying said before she walked out of the room.