8 MR. LU

On entering the Tang Mansion, Lu Xiang was shocked at what he heard. He had never thought he would ever encounter such in such a prestigious home.

"...Stupid, worthless piece of trash, why are you so damn useless?" A woman could be heard yelling at the top of her voice.

After this, there was a loud sound, the type that could be heard when someone was slapped with a lot of force.

Lu Xiang could only pity the person undergoing such harsh treatment.

Another slap was heard again; followed by silence, then the sound of a door being banged. In a short while, Tang Jin appeared at the top of the stairs.

She descended majestically, the tip of her long pearl white dress following closely behind her. Her thick chestnut- colored hair seemed to be flowing with the wind.

Every step she took was magnificent, like a goddess descending from the heavens.

On reaching Lu Xiang, who stood dazed, she extended her hand in greeting.

Lu Xiang snapped out of his daze; shook her hand and gave her a kiss.

"Welcome Mr. Lu of Lu corporations to my humble abode;" she said in a soft elegant voice.

"My dearest Madam, thank you for gracing me with your hospitality, your deeds have been duly noted;" Lu Xiang said to her in response.

She smiled a sweet smile and said; "I can see you are looking well these days, being a young man in the world must be a rather difficult job, most especially for one about to venture into a business."

"Well Ma, what can I say, a man has to do what a man has to do."

"True that Mr. Lu, true that.

How old did you say you were again?"

"I'm twenty-one years old Ma."

"Twenty-one, wow, that's interesting;" She said.

"My son Tang Jiang is a year younger than you, and my daughter… Well, she is eighteen. Still rather young though."

At that moment, an old man dressed in fine corporate attire emerged from the corner. He had pure white hair and he bore a pair of glasses on his nose- the type that did not have handles.

He looked old, but not too old. He was tall, not too skinny, and not too fat, just about the middle. He had large sleep bags under his eyes, which entailed that he had not gotten enough sleep the night before. However, none of this really mattered.

Tang Jin looked in his direction and beckoned him over.

"Mr. Lu, this is our butler Mr. Yan, he has been working in this house since the time of Grandfather Tang.

He will lead you to your room. I hope you enjoy your stay here, feel free to feel at home."

She turned to Mr. Yan and said; "Mr. Yan, do lead the way, and see to it that Mr. Lu is most comfortable in his lodgings."

Mr. Yan gave a bow in response. She turned to Lu Xiang and said, "You're in good hands, I will be on my floor if you need anything; it's the 4th floor."

With this, she walked towards the elevator and disappeared through its door.

Mr. Yan turned to Lu Xiang and said; "This way sir;" he led him to the second elevator which they boarded. Then he pressed the button to the second floor.

In the elevator, Mr. Yan seemed a bit restive and looked anxious about something. Lu Xiang noticed all this but decide to keep quiet about it.

When they stepped out of the elevator, Mr. Yan again turned to him and said,

"This way sir."

This time, he led him to the end of the hallway, which had its walls painted a bright lilac, with gold trimmings on every corner.

There were several doors on this floor, all of which were white oak. Each doorknob was golden, with a ruby embedded into it.

Although there were a number of doors here, Mr. Yan only walked to the last door, which was open. Immediately he stepped in front of the door, his ear suddenly turned pink and he became fidgety again.

Lu Xiang furrowed his eyebrows as he was a bit surprised at his behavior, and wondered what had set him off.

He only found out the reason to this unusual conduct, when he stepped in front of the open door which was actually mahogany.

What he saw also set him off, a girl with her back to him was trying to pick some things from the floor. Mr. Yan ran to her side offering his help to pick things up.

Her chestnut colored hair was in a disheveled bun on her head, the large shirt she wore carried various stains, she was in short knickers, which also bore similar stains, and on her feet were flip-flops. Her pearl white skin had lost its color and now looked pale.

He didn't need a magician to tell him who this was, but his brain was still trying to comprehend what his eyes saw. He couldn't believe that this was the girl with the bubbling attitude from the day before.

Sobbing and sniffling sounds were coming from the girl, and when she turned around, a bright red mark the shape of a hand was on her cheeks. Her eyes were red and swollen with tears, and her nose was running like a tap. She tried to use her sleeves to wipe it up, but it only made things worse.

She pushed through Mr. Yan who made way for her and was about to make a run for it with her eyes to the ground when Lu Xiang caught her by the elbow and turned her to face him.

He turned her face so he could examine the red hand-shaped mark on her face. Her eyes were still looking at her shoes. He tried to touch it, but the girl forcefully shrugged her elbow free from his grip and ran away, hitting Lu Xiang in the process.

Lu Xiang watched as Tang An's retreating form ran away, then stopped at a door at the far end of the hall way, opened it, and banged it behind her.

Lu Xiang turned to Mr. Yan, who by now had his ears turn a bright red, bright enough to light a room.

"Take me to Mrs. Tang;" he said in a harsh tone that could send shivers down your spine.

Mr. Yan hesitated for a while, debating on what to do.

"Take me to her now!" Lu Xiang snapped, his patience fading with every second.

Mr. Yan was a bit startled, and hurriedly walked towards the elevator again. He pressed the button, which led to the fourth floor.

Inside the elevator, Lu Xiang tried to calm his anger, although what he sore was completely unacceptable, he wouldn't want to anger his host.

Seeing Tang An in such a dreadful state broke his heart, why would someone do this to her. A feeling of sadness rested upon his chest, and his usual emotionless expression gradually turned into a frown. He drew in a deep breath in hopes of clearing this up.

He didn't know what it was about this girl that he liked. He didn't even know her, and didn't believe in love at first sight. Heck, he didn't even believe in love at all.

And there was no way he loved her, he didn't even know her name. But there was just something about her that just… He couldn't say, because he didn't know what it was.

He sighed inwardly, why was he even here in this house, the excuse he gave to Tang Jiang was far from the truth.

'A place to stay because his house was far from town.'

What a ridiculous excuse, he could build a mansion in two days if he was so inclined; after all, he was the heir to a construction company.

But he didn't like mansions, they were too grandeur, he always wondered what people saw in such houses. Owning one would literally give him a headache.

Why would he build a mansion when he could just build a small bungalow? The simple life pleased him, and all this city drama was a bother. He hadn't even stayed here for a whole hour and there was already drama.

His main objective of moving here was so that he could get to know 'Her' and find out what it was about her that made him so…

"Uneasy," yes, that was the word uneasy.

Meanwhile, the only thoughts going through Mr. Yan's head were,

"Oh God, Oh God, I'm dead, done for, I'll surely lose my job now. Is this man going to confront Madam? Am I the one leading him to her?"

He inhaled trying to calm himself, but it didn't work.

"Why am I taking him to her? Do I want to lose my job? Madam will surely have my head for this."

"I should have run away with Tang An when I had the chance, but I didn't.

Stupid! Stupid! I'm so done for now."

The elevator door opened and Lu Xiang stepped out of it, by now, his anger had reached a minimal.

Mr. Yan also stepped out of it, but didn't go any further, he pointed at the door that was at the right hand corner of the hallway, and said; "Madam is in there, this is how far I can go."

With this, he hurried back to the elevator and he was gone in a matter of seconds.

The walls of this floor were a simple cream, nothing really stood out, but there was one open window at the end of it, which let wind in.

Lu Xiang stood alone in the hallway for a while; the breeze from the window blew through his silky auburn colored hair, and cooled him off some more. He took in a deep breath and walked towards the door.

He knocked on it, and after a few seconds, it slowly opened.

AUTHORS' SIDENOTE.

Hi guys, as promised, here is an update. Sorry again for the lack of updates before, I already addressed the issue.

I received a lot of comments about some of my characters being cliché and I just wanted to know what you guys would suggest I should do to fix this issue.

Please feel free to leave your ideas/suggestions below. I would need your help to be able to create a book, which would be to your satisfaction and up to standards.

Thanks for your corporation and loyalty up to this point, I deeply appreciate.

Don't forget to leave a review and comment.

Thanks again.

XOXO

Author.