9 An Offer

"It's fine."

Ai Jing placed her hand on Butler Xu's shoulder. As she did so, she noted how tense he was – his muscles were tightly wound, to the point that they were almost as hard as rock. He relaxed somewhat at her touch, though not before turning his head and flashing her a look of concern. "Be careful, Madame," he seemed to say.

"Well? What will it be? I don't bite."

The man crossed his arms, and Ai Jing was reminded for a moment of Chairman Zhou's massively-built form. The sleeves of the man's suit jacket were also pulled back slightly, revealing that his wrists were wrapped in bandages. He probably wasn't a Chuuni, right? More likely than not, those bandages were there for a practical reason. So much for "I don't bite" – his appearance was not helping his case.

Even so, Ai Jing nodded. She had no intention of taking any offer that the man had to give her, but she figured there was no harm in hearing what he had to say. If nothing else, it might help her get a better idea of what she was dealing with, now that she had decided to press charges against Liu Yong.

"May I ask your name?"

"You may, Miss Lingling, but I'm not going to answer. Don't concern yourself with such pointless details."

He smiled his golden smile. Meanwhile, Ai Jing was trying not to frown. When it came to dealing with people, Ai Jing preferred to take an amicable approach. The air in the room was already too stiff for her liking, and she wanted to defuse the situation. But if the man wasn't even willing to give her his name… well, being friendly was probably out of the question.

"Alright," she conceded.

At this, Officer Zhang raised her hand, indicating that she wanted to speak. She took on an interrogatory tone when she began.

"You said Liu Yong sent you here. Does that mean he's awake?"

"Yes. My master contacted me as soon as he regained consciousness."

"What did he tell you? About what happened?"

The man thought for a moment. He spoke casually, as if he were simply taking part in a game.

"He told me that there's been a small misunderstanding between my master and this lady here. A misunderstanding that caused my master to sustain rather severe injuries. Though he's been wronged, he believes the matter to be frivolous. As such, he has no intention of pursuing it in court, and he asks that Miss Lingling would show him the same courtesy."

Officer Zhang had a vicious look on her face.

"Misunderstanding? Frivolous? And what, Liu Yong thinks *he's* the one that's been wronged? This has to be a joke."

Ai Jing bit her lip. Obviously, Liu Yong would never admit outright to what he tried to do. She couldn't exactly blame him for asking his subordinate to keep things vague. But still – trying to turn the tables on her, implying that she might be at fault for the beating he sustained? That was pushing it.

"How much does he intend to pay me?"

The man smiled again, pleased that things were seemingly going in his favor.

"Three hundred thousand," he said with finality.

Ai Jing tilted her head. Had she heard that right?

"Is that… American dollars? Hong Kong dollars? Yuan?"

"Yuan."

Three hundred thousand Yuan. Around fifty thousand USD, going by the last exchange rate Ai Jing remembered. As she struggled to wrap her head around what she'd just heard, she noticed how Officer Zhang was looking at her worriedly. Three hundred thousand was how much a police officer could expect to make in three years.

To Ai Jing, however… how could she put it? She hated to flaunt her wealth, as she knew full well the pain of poverty. But she couldn't help herself – she said the first thing that came to mind.

"Is that really all he can afford?"

The man narrowed his eyes.

"What do you mean?"

Ai Jing shook her head.

"Liu Yong thinks I'm small fry, doesn't he?"

The man considered her for a moment.

"Are you not? The daughter of a local investor. One who's been going through a rough patch because of Edelweiss's poor performance. Isn't that what you told Liu Yong?"

He sneered.

"Take the offer, girl. Save yourself the trouble. Save yourself the legal fees. Three hundred thousand is enough to buy you a nice car. Give it to your father for his birthday or something. Maybe that'll prevent him from offing himself like that one Edelweiss investor… What was his name? Ma Xiong?"

Ai Jing clenched her fists.

"It never crossed your mind that I might have been lying?"

"What? Are you going to tell me you're actually the heiress to one of the Eight Dragons? My master told me you were alone when he met you. If you were anything more than what you said you were, surely you would have had bodyguards with you, no?"

"That's the one detail Liu Yong is counting on?"

"Don't play games with me, girl. Will you accept the offer or not? Though, before you give me an answer…"

He was no longer putting up any pretense. His lips were curled in a snarl, and his brow was angled menacingly.

"Keep this in mind. Whoever you are, we have the means to find you. I'm sure you value the wellbeing of your family. Of your loved ones. If you don't accept, well… Who knows what will happen?"

He eyed Miaomiao, still asleep in Ai Jing's lap. Ai Jing glared at him.

"Officer Zhang, who's the best lawyer you know? For this kind of case."

"Oh, um… His name is Adam Hess. He's from Germany, I think? But yeah, he's successfully prosecuted a number of high profile cases in recent years. He's adored by the police in this city. Well, the clean ones..."

"Would you happen to know how much he charges?"

"It's…"

The officer hesitated.

"I don't mean to be rude, Miss Ai –"

She caught herself, too late, and covered her mouth with her hand.

"Er, I mean… Lingling…"

The man in the doorway raised an eyebrow. Ai Jing, meanwhile, waved it off.

"It's fine. What were you going to say?"

"Um. I don't mean to be rude, but… Last I heard, he charges upwards of $3000 for every hour of consultancy. That's US dollars, mind you. And, well... that doesn't even guarantee he'll take the case. The $3000 is just to listen to it."

"Huh. That's actually pretty high."

Not that it was unmanageable. But from what Ai Jing remembered, the most expensive legal consultants at Edelweiss… cost between one and two thousand per hour?

"Yeah, it is. Mr. Hess plays a rather dangerous game. Since he pretty much only takes on bigshots, there have actually been many attempts on his life in the past. So he charges accordingly, I think."

"Yeah, that makes sense."

She turned to the man in the doorway again and cleared her throat.

"I'm sorry, but I'm really not interested in taking your offer. You can tell Liu Yong that I'll be seeing him in court."

The man's demeanor had completely changed. The menacing air around him had dissipated, and he actually looked afraid; he was blanching.

"She called you Miss Ai. Ai. You wouldn't happen to be Ai Jing, would you? The last CEO of Edelweiss?"

"Yeah. That's me."

The man in the doorway closed his eyes and tilted his head back, like he was suddenly in terrible pain.

"Master Liu… of all the people…"

He scowled.

"One million? Let's make it one million? Actually, how about two?"

"I'm not interested in money."

The man threw his hands into the air. Without so much as another glance at the other people in the room, he turned and stormed back out into the hallway, cursing loudly as he went.

"Sir! Sir, please quiet down!"

"Sir, there are patients sleeping! Sir!"

The door closed behind him, shutting out the nurses' angry voices. Ai Jing and Butler Xu shared a sigh of relief.

"Well, that's that."

"Madame, if I may – you should probably start thinking about hiring some bodyguards again. Things might be a bit more dangerous for you from here on out."

"Yeah, good idea."

She yawned.

"I should probably get some sleep. Officer Zhang, what will you –"

The officer was muttering to herself, looking at Ai Jing like she had just seen a ghost.

"La Chaleur. Butler. Ai Jing. Thinking about hiring Adam Hess. Not taking an offer for three hundred thousand, let alone an offer for one or two million..."

She frowned.

"How didn't I put the pieces together. You're… *that* Ai Jing? I hear that name on the news every now and then, but I never thought… I…"

Ai Jing laughed.

"Yeah. *That* Ai Jing."