11 11: COUSINS (PART 2)
[LONG MANSION]
Wang Xiu hurriedly goes back inside the mansion instead of going to the bar to get drinks. She wanted to avoid her Aunt Ming Zhu whose eyes fiercely glared at her across the lawn when Li Jun and her were dancing. That look means trouble, and she remembers seeing it before.
When she reaches the hall where the round staircase is, Wang Xiu turns around and finds the elder woman hastily walking towards her with an intense stare that can make anyone shiver in fear.
But not Zhang Wang Xiu.
Mrs. Long Ming Zhu immediately confronts the young woman to loathe, "Li Jun just got back and you are already tainting his image."
"I didn't do anything, Auntie." Wang Xiu replies, fighting the look the old woman throws at her.
Mrs. Long steps forward, closer to where she stands, and with teeth grinding together to control her anguish, Wang Xiu's aunt exclaims, "You saw how they look at you two."
"We were simply dancing. Those malicious people will think of anything suspicious between me and Li Jun." The young woman responds with a steady tone.
Wang Xiu can fight her Aunt eye to eye but she would rather not tonight. There are too many guests from the company that might see or hear them bickering at each other. Being disrespectful to an older woman is not a trait she wants them to discover, implying how bad her relationship is with the only blood relative she has that connects her to the Long Family that took her in.
Mrs. Long Ming Zhu's face flushes with anger and yells loudly at the young woman, "That suspicion wouldn't have started if you didn't make a scene two years ago."
"A scene? My twenty-three years old cousin kissed me while he was drunk on his birthday and I slapped him. And you think it's my fault?" Wang Xiu screams back at the older woman, accusing her of tarnishing Li Jun's reputation.
She recalls the young man's birthday two years ago, where Li Jun has been overly intoxicated and kissed her in front of her fiance Susu Ming Qu, but instead of being quiet and saying it was a mistake, she slaps his cousin in the face that made everyone gasp in surprise from the unexpected incident.
Mrs. Long Ming Zhu's eyes widen, glaring at the young woman that she blames for the visitors' maliciousness. "Who else would it be??? You are just like your mother. Seducing anyone like a WHORE!!!."
The sound of a hand hitting someone's cheeks echoes throughout the hall. The older woman's face reddened from Wang Xiu's sudden upheaval. She lost control of her emotions and hit her Aunt's face. An action she didn't regret to express after insulting her mother from the grave.
Mrs. Long Ming Zhu softly touches her cheeks that the woman lay her palms on. The anger in the old woman's eyes burns like a red hot ember, and the minute she manages to recover from Wang Xiu's assault, she slaps the young woman's face with the same force she was dealt with a while ago.
"MA!?!?" A voice can be heard from a distance that made them both turn their face in the direction of the man.
Li Jun saw her mother slap Wang Xiu's face. He doesn't know why they are fighting again but he has an idea why it happened. His mother has the same furious expression the first time they fought and since then, his mother would pick on Wang Xiu whenever he gets close to her.
The young man doesn't have time to calm himself down and directly inquires about the situation while running towards where Wang Xiu quietly stands, "Ma, what's wrong??? Why did you hit her???"
"You are asking me??? She hit me first!!!" Mrs. Long Ming Zhu answers, screaming her words. The older woman wants to play innocent from the confrontation and touches the cheek that Wang Xiu shockingly hit minutes ago.
Li Jun replies with a louder voice, "Wang Xiu wouldn't hit you if you didn't say anything wrong."
"You are defending that WHORE?!?!" Mrs. Long Ming Zhu yells, reacting with an insult to the young woman with wide eyes, glaring furiously at her son
"MA!!! STOP IT!!!" Li Jun responds with a stern voice to calm his mother from the anguish that consumes the old woman's emotion.
Quivering from the outrage, Mrs. Long Ming Zhu set her clenched fist pointing on her chest, and painfully wail, "A-After all that I gave you, after how much I loved you like a real son after we ADOPTED you!!! You are going to treat me like this, because of that woman!!!"
"What???" Both Wang Xiu and Li Jun's eyes widened from the surprising revelation from Mrs. Long.
The knowledge stunned them both, leaving them speechless for a moment. Before the young man's eyes could tear up from the overwhelming emotion, he ran towards the double door and left Wang Xiu and his mother looking agitated on how to comfort his shattered heart.
Wang Xiu glares at her Aunt whose eyes begin to well up and when the tears flow down the woman's cheeks, Mrs. Long quickly walks away from where they stand. After the old woman left, she hastily went outside to go after Li Jun but all that she saw was the man taking her Uncle Li Wei's car and driving off as fast as he can, away from the Long Mansion.
The young woman let out a loud sigh and stared at the dust that the car left in the driveway. There is a wide smile on Wang Xiu's face that comes from the surprising knowledge that her Aunt revealed out of anger. If the board of directors knows that the only son of CEO Long Li Wei is adopted, they will have second thoughts in allowing him to take over the position.
And it's the opportunity that Wang Xiu has been waiting to have. Now, it all depends on how she can use the information without making it destructive to Li Jun's life. She's only after the man's position, not his life.
The sound of footsteps disrupts Wang Xiu's attention and turns around to see her Uncle Li Wei scanning the driveway.
"Where's Li Jun?" The stern voice of the man has a tone of irritation.
"Li Jun left, Uncle." Wang Xiu replies, hiding the smile on her face and replacing it with a purse on her lips.
"Why?" Mr. Long Li Wei's forehead creases asking a question.
"Why did you hide about Li Jun being adopted, Uncle Li Wei?" The woman inquires without hesitation.
"Who told you that?" The man's voice suddenly went loud, almost yelling at the young woman standing in the middle of the pathway back to the mansion.
"Auntie did." Wang Xiu answers and walks back inside the house, leaving the old man alone, contemplating from the knowledge that their secret has been disclosed.
The old man was silenced by the unexpected confrontation with her wife's niece. His pale face did not register any emotion about their secret being uncovered, only a clenched jaw to make his face tough.
The party is over before midnight comes. CEO Long Li Wei announces that Li Jun retired soon from the exhaustion of his long flight. The visitors soon dispersed one by one out of the Long Mansion while Wang Xiu left the place without a word to her aunt and uncle.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Long Ming Zhu decided to remain in their bedroom, crying her eyes out from the confrontation she had with Li Jun when the door opened. The old woman turns her furious face to take a glimpse of the man who entered1q.
"This is all your fault!!! If you didn't bring your whore's daughter in here, this wouldn't happen."
The old man is stunned by the demeaning words from his wife. He couldn't say a word to defend himself or the child he chose to bring into his family. The man opens the door and goes out of the room quietly to give his spouse a space to calm down and think of a gift he could buy to appease the woman's suffering.
π - π - π
[TIANLONG TOWER]
Wang Xiu drives back home to the exclusive Tianlong Residence owned by the Long Family to use as their main lodging in the city as the ancestral Long Mansion is two hours away from Youshi Tower in Soho and can be a nuisance to drive back and forth going to work.
The establishment is surrounded by a black transparent glass wall on the ground floor with a lavish lobby decorated with a chandelier on the ceiling and soft beige leather couches for visitors. The twenty-four hours guards patrolling the entrance and around the vicinity makes the residents feel secure. While the parking lot on the basement is filled with luxury cars owned by the tenants who came from rich families or entrepreneurs and businessmen.
"Ms. Zhang!" The receptionist greets Wang Xiu with a bright wide smile.
"Yes?" The woman quickly raises her brow and steps closer to the woman.
"There was a man who came here a while ago, asking to borrow keys to your unit. He said he's your cousin, Long Li Jun." The young woman behind the round white marble slab says with a worried face, mumbling her words and leaning forward to her.
Wang Xiu tilts to hear the young woman's message, she looks at the name tag pinned on the left side of the woman's chest and reads.
Li Chang Ying.
Staring down, Wang Xiu's eyes caught the black dress that the woman was wearing. It has a low V-neckline, showing the top of the woman's bosom tightly gripped together by the woman's brassiere.
"Did you give him my keys, Ms. Li?" Wang Xiu inquires hastily gazing back at the woman's eyes.
"No, we didn't. But he insists that we do and he made a scene and told everyone he's the son of CEO Long Li Wei." Li Chang Ying softly answers, worrying if they made the right decision.
"He is." Wang Xiu answers, curving her lips into a sly smirk.
"I'm sorry, Ms. Zhang. We didn't know." The receptionist answers with low eyes nearly in tears as the fear of not recognizing the son of the owner of the building might compromise her employment.
"It's fine, Ms. Li." Wang Xiu reacts with a fine tone to assure the woman's choice will not jeopardize her job. "Did he leave?" She asked.
"No, we have him at the employee's lounge to rest." Li Chang Ying responds with a wide smile feeling at ease at the woman's answer.
"Can you take me to him?" Wang Xiu request, winking her eyes.
"Sure, Ms. Zhang." The woman nods and struts her way to the door behind the reception.
The employee's lounge is the room where security personnel and staff gather to rest and eat on their breaks. A row of lockers can be seen from the right side while the fifty inches television hangs on the side of the wall where the door is at. At the center of the room is a long L-shaped grey couch where a man lays sleeping with his coat covering his face and upper body.
"Li Jun…" Wang Xiu calls the man and lifts the black jacket to reveal his face.
The young man opens his eyes and gazes at the woman who called his name. Li Jun immediately stood up from the sofa and marched out of the room without looking at the distressed employee's faces that accommodated him while waiting for his cousin.
"Thank you." Wang Xiu lets out a smile to show her appreciation to everyone and quickly nods before going out to follow the man.
They reach Wang Xiu's unit without saying a word. Before she can open the lights, Li Jun quickly pulls her close and kisses her lips
