White Lotus Act

The morning after her confrontation with Kang Jun, Qiao Lan was in a foul mood.

She had to go on a retreat with a couple of socialites that day but she had told them to delay it for a day, so she could confront Elder Kang about yesterday's incident but that wasn't possible so she went with them anyways.

When she came back, a week and a half later, it was late at night so she ended up falling early, but as soon as she woke up the next day, the first thing she did was hurry to Elder Kang's study.

To her surprise, she found it empty.

At this point, Qiao Lan was slightly annoyed. She had tried to call the Elder several times during her trip but the line was always busy or out of range. And now the man was not in his study?

It was strange.

There were a limited amount of places that Elder Kang could be, but once she checked the dining room, the garden, and even the elders room and found no one, she finally understood that he had gone out.

Seeing as he was not home, she decided to give him a call.

It was so strange!

The elder rarely went out and when he did, he would go visit her grandfather but every time he would go he would always make sure to bring her along.

The phone began to ring.

Hearing this, Qiao Lan took big breaths, getting ready to put on her best white lotus act, but to her disappointment, Secretary Rong answered the phone, instead.

"Hello?"

Qiao Lan smiled despite her unhappiness, "Good morning Secretary Rong, where is grandfather?"

The man heard no unpleasantness in her voice but he could hear her dismissiveness, so he didn't respond to the woman pleasantries. He didn't really like Qiao Lan but he understood and respected her status. She was precious to Elder Kang and a lucrative member of the Kang family so Secretary Rong tolerated her as much as he needed to.

"I'm sorry miss Qiao, the Elder is in an important meeting, I can't interrupt him." Secretary Rong's voice was as kind as it always was.

Qiao Lan: "Can he spare a minute?"

"I'm afraid not."

Qiao Lan frowned at the response. "Do you know when he'll be free? I have something to discuss with him."

Secretary Rong didn't pause. He had dealt with many situations like this in his long life. He just answered, "I'm not sure, but I'll make sure he calls you when he's done."

"Thank you," Qiao Lan said kindly, though in her heart a storm raged.

When Secretary Rong hung up the phone, Qiao Lan let out an exasperated sigh.

She had planned out her whole conversation that morning in bed. She was going to speak to the elder calmly at first about how Kang Jun's been trying to pick a fight with her and then, she was going to cry, to assure that he would sympathize but everything had gone down the drain and it was all Kang Jun's fault.

Qiao Lan was only looking for someone to blame but she didn't know how right she was.

At the moment of her call, Elder Kang was with Kang Jun discussing the final terms of the contract that would take Mingyu away from Qiao Lan whether she liked it or not.

The contract was almost completely finalized by Secretary Rong, though there were still a couple of things to discuss and then once they were done, they would sign it. After that, there would be no loose ends. There would be no way for neither Kang Jun nor Elder Kang to back out of it and no way for Qiao Lan to fight it.

She didn't know that though, but her anger was still boiling at the pit of her stomach. She didn't doubt what Secretary Rong had told her for a minute, but the woman was so used to people dropping everything for her that she couldn't stand being the second choice.

After she'd hung up, Qiao Lan's grip tightened on her phone as if she was about to crush it and with a swift action, she chucked her phone across the room. A swooshing sound was heard before it hit the couch with a thud.

Her throwing arm was good. She'd always been good at sports but her grandfather never allowed her to participate, in fear that she would get hurt.

Suddenly, Qiao Lan's face lit up. If she couldn't speak or meet with Elder Kang she would meet with someone better.

Her grandfather.

It would be hard for Kang Jun to fight against her with her grandfather standing by her side and even if he didn't decide to take her side in public, he would somehow find a way to convince Elder Kang. They were best friends, and Elder Kang owed her grandfather.

At first, Qiao Lan was planning on calling him but she remembered that she hadn't visited him in a long time. Either way, what she planned on doing would have more of an effect in person.

Qiao Lan quickly changed into a blue cheongsam that her grandfather had gifted her for her birthday and applied a layer of makeup, making sure to accentuate her big fox-like eyes. Her eyes resembled her mother and grandmother, so her grandfather always commented on how pretty they were.

Elder Qiao was a great man of values and if there was one thing he valued the most in the world, it was his one and only granddaughter. Unlike many in his entourage, Elder Qiao had been blessed with only one daughter who gave birth to a single daughter and he spoiled the both of them rotten.

The old man would do everything and anything for both of them. That was what gave Qiao Lan the courage to fight against Kang Jun.

She looked at herself carefully in the mirror and the smiled.

She had to look perfect, her grandfather would surely compliment her.

Qiao Lan made her way downstairs. She was deep in thought, thinking about how she would approach her grandfather. Was it best to come straight out and complain or give him hints so he would ask her if something was wrong?

She wasn't quite sure as of yet, but whichever way she chose should give her the result she craved for.

Thinking about it, Qiao Lan's mood instantly lifted.

Once downstairs, she looked for Mei Xue who, like always, sat in the dining room writing something that Qiao Lan didn't care to ask about. She was with the housekeeper

As soon as Mei Xue saw Qiao Lan she smiled.

"How was it?" The girl young asked curiously.

"It was fine."

Despite her short reply, Mei Xue's eyes slightly gleamed. Seeing this, Qiao Lan felt a bit awkward. She didn't like documenting her time spent to anyone.

Qiao Lan never elaborated much on what she did when she was with her friends, it was really nothing special. They would just go shopping, stay at a hotel and then have some fun on a private island but to Qiao Lan, those were simple things. She didn't want to waste time talking about them.

"Sorry Mei Mei, mommy can't chat much right now. I'm going out."

Mei Xue lifted her head up higher to look at her mother in the eyes and nodded before she spoke indifferently, "Okay."

Since Mingyu had gone, Mei Xue had been extremely bored but she never uttered a single word of complaint.

She never did.

For a second, Qiao Lan considered bringing Mei Xue with her but she didn't want the child to hear her complaints about Kang Jun.

Despite the rocky relationship between Qiao Lan and Kang Jun, the woman couldn't deny his part in raising both Mei Xue and Mingyu. Because of that, both kids thought of him as their father figure.

"Auntie," Qiao Lan called for the housekeeper.

The both of them left Mei Xue to her own devices and went to speak at the front door.

Qiao Lan: "I'll be heading out but if Elder Kang or Kang Jun come back please contact me immediately."