Chapter 346 - Advance Birthday Gift

Andrea was carrying Angela on her lap, checking her stand. She smiled at the sight of her baby girl already trying to firmly keep her legs steady. "Soon, my love. You will be able to walk just like your sister and brother."

Andrea's phone rang, and she handed Angela to her husband. It was Li Wen calling.

"Hey, sis. What's up?" Andrea asked while holding up her phone. 

"I just wanted to let you know that whoever was looking for Hanxi was very persistent. Anyhow, I was able to dig deeper into this and found out that the laptop used to make the inquiry was a certain Alice Lombardi. She had email conversations with her brother, Manuel Lombardi. The guy seemed extremely jealous of Hanxi, Andy," said Li Wen. 

"Hmmm… Is that so. Thanks, Wen. Give me the details. Let me take over from here," Andrea answered before twitching her lip. 

"Any problem?" Asked Lu Fang while avoiding Angela's hand, trying to stick her fingers inside his ear. "Angela, no - Don't - don't do that."

Andrea chuckled and grabbed their baby from behind before complaining at her husband, "Babe? She wants to play with you? Besides, what can a baby's finger do to you? Seriously."

"Hah! See that smirk on Angela's face? She is probably tickling me on purpose. She knew, being a baby, she could easily get away with it," said Lu Fang. 

Andrea merely hugged her baby as Angela blabbered at her dad, giving baby laughs.

Turning to her husband, she said, "Someone is trying to find out about Hanxi and it isn't the from Isabella's side."

"Hmmm… Don't even think about going to Italy," said Lu Fang. 

"Who says anything about me going to Italy? In any case, should my bro need back-up, didn't you say it was about time for you to visit France again?" Andrea implied without looking at her husband. 

"Hmmm...," he squinted as he gave his only reply. 

Upon arriving at their home, Andrea handed Angela to her husband. Since they have had their dinner with her in-laws, she went straight to Lu Fang's study and looked into the intel Li Wen had sent her. 

The Lombardi family were old friends of Isabella's family. They were involved in the financial business, having shares with a commercial bank in Italy. Alice Lombardi was not a very private person. In fact, she was a rising model and looks like she was a friend of Isabella. 

Li Wen had longed developed a program that invaded the network of anyone who tried to find out about their family and those who belonged in their secret organization. She had a website set-up with all their pretend profiles and it looked absolutely legitimate, one would easily believe it was a record kept by the government. 

Although Li Wen had ties with the state, the truth was, they would never have a system providing such a convenient data of their countrymen, most especially their protected assets. It had always been meant to be a trap. 

Scanning through Alice's email, she found the conversation between her and her brother. It was there that Andrea found out of their purpose, looking into Hanxi. Apparently, this Manuel Lombardi had a liking for Isabella. It was Alice who kept feeding information about Isabella to her brother. 

Andrea found a thread that covered their scheme and the more she read it, a smirk appeared on her face. 

It was already passed midnight that Andrea came up to their bedroom and all throughout, whenever the man would come to check on the study, he saw her giggling and laughing. When he asked her what was going on, she said," Oh, nothing. I just found a perfect advance birthday gift for Hanxi - Haha! He replied! Idiot!"

Lu Fang merely shook his head, realizing his wife was having fun. Still, he reminded her, "Remember what the doctor said, babe. Take a rest."

"Oh - Yeah! Sorry, babe. Will wrap it up. This is just so much fun! Haha! It's also a form of stress reliever," she said before giving him a wink. 

The next morning, Andrea received a call from Hanxi. She was in the living room, carrying Angela when they spoke about meeting Isabella's relatives and how he was worried about it. She had decided to take a day off from going to Lu Fang's office, having slept so late last night.

"What really is bothering you, Hanxi? Tell me," Andrea asked. 

"It's just that… I am a nobody, and I had chosen that path for a long time - "

"Don't ever say that, Hanxi. You chose to strengthen your skills in fighting and to be by my side, but that does not make you a nobody. Besides, you are a shareholder of Andres Islands," said Andrea, recalling the time she had given him a small share as a gift. 

"And don't forget the amount of money you had saved up all this time from our jobs. You had barely spent your own. You had asked me to keep it for you, well guess what? I invested those in Yeong Guns and Ammos! It wasn't really enough to buy a share, but I made sure Yeong gave you a fair share of the profit."

"How about that? Does that make you feel better? Just tell them you are an investor on the sides and you chose to spend a life where you can have time with your family," added Andrea. "It's pretty much understandable given - "

Andrea stopped herself, realizing she was about to remind him of his parents. 

Hanxi was silent for a moment before he finally said, "It's okay, Andy. I know what you mean. It doesn't hurt as much anymore."

She let out a heavy sigh before saying, "I'm sorry, I did not mean to remind you, but I'm glad that you are able to talk about it little by little."

"Thanks, sis. I miss you already."

Andrea suddenly felt like she was about to cry. It suddenly reminded her that her brother was starting to live differently from her. "Stop it! You are making me emotional. I miss you too, bro. Now, stop worrying because what matters most is that Bella loves you."

"Thanks, Andy. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"By the way, I am going to give you an advance birthday gift. Do you mind buying the gift for yourself?" Andrea asked out of nowhere.

"Huh?" Said Hanxi, confused by her statement. "My birthday is not until next month."

"That's why it's called advance! Haha! Listen to me carefully. Tomorrow, open a bank account in Italy the moment you land. Specifically, open one at Milan Commerce, since the owner is a friend of dad's, you'll be done in minutes, "Andrea directed as she sat on the couch. 

"On the day of Bella's father's birthday, drop by the bank and withdraw five million dollars in cash. Keep it safe and take it with you to the party. Put it in the trunk and until the offer becomes available," said Andrea in a serious tone. 

"Hah?" Hanxi asked. "What kind of gift would cost that much?"

"Pfft! It's nothing. Besides, I won't only let you buy for yourself but for me as well - "

"Andy - "

"Just do as I say, okay? You will be presented with a special deal that very same night and you will know exactly when to grab it. Don't ask anything more. Angela is already crying. Have a safe flight for tomorrow and send my regards to Bella and Matteo."