52 Chapter Fifty Two

"No." She scoffs at him, "You act as if you have a choice in the matter." Liang Zhong Zemin scowls at her while pointing at the box. "Who is this for? Tell me and then I will have it sent to where you told me to." Hua Fan taps the box a bit unconcernedly, her attitude on the matter was rather clear. If you won't send it then I will have somebody else send it. She says exactly that to the annoyed man, "What does it matter? Even if you don't deliver it I will have someone else do it." The man returns words with a sarcastic response of his own, "Then why don't you?" The girl gave a half-smile, "Because I know you can keep your mouth shut about it. Plus, Ye Ye doesn't monitor you as he does me."

He frowns, though he knew the old master loved Hua Fan, the more he loved his granddaughter the more endangered she will be so it was understandable he was worried about her safety. But that did not mean he approved of her twenty-four-seven protection schedule. Unless Hua Fan said something against it directly to her grandfather Zhong Zemin knew it would not change anytime in the future. He also understood this matter rather well and sighed while taking the box from her reluctantly. "Just promise me this, this box doesn't contain something detrimental to your well-being does it?" Hua Fan looks down at her thumb ring and twirls it once while humming thoughtfully. "Hmm, I suppose you can say it does in a way." He quickly moves to return it but Hua Fan looks back up at him with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "The longer it stays with me the more dependent I seem to get. It's better for you to send it away before I change my mind and decide to keep it." Zhong Zemin hesitates and was tempted to open the box but then seeing her smile he thought better of it and grits his teeth while warning her.

"Just this once I will do this no more questions asked." He was aware she was asking him to do this because only then would it not come to her grandfather's attention. Meaning whatever was in this box she wanted her grandfather to be unaware of it and never find out, he was essentially playing smuggler for her. Her smile widens into a satisfied grin, "Brother Liang you treat me so well~." "You're still in the mood for teasing your senior. How many pages of your essay have you finished?" Wanting to burst the girl's playful bubble he bitterly asks about her homework which makes the girl proudly puff her chest up instead. Her eyes twinkling mischievously, "You should know I've long finished it, do you want to check over my work Zemin?" Seeing her smug look he felt a hint of irritation and rose a hand with bad intentions which she ducks away from. Her smug look transforms into a scowl similar to his own. "Are you crazy? I spent hours getting my hair just right don't touch it!"

A knock on the door interrupts their fun, Zhong Zemin could see the light in her eyes die out suddenly. "Young miss? The car is ready." "Mn, I'm coming." Standing with the help of Zhong Zemin and flattening the wrinkles in her dress. She seemed to return to the robot he rarely saw these days under her grandfather and his care. Tossing the matter into the back of her mind Hua Fan's smile fades away to reveal a more artificial one as she goes to leave his room. It was a smile that looked as if she spent hours staring at the mirror to perfect, he felt troubled. Placing the box in his pocket he easily caught up and took her hand to lightly place it on his arm. "I am also invited to your birthday celebration, as the host shouldn't you greet me too?" A bit surprised but not showing it she rose a brow up at him. "Since when did I invite you?" He uses his free hand to shamelessly take out a letter he stole from her desktop one day waving it around carelessly.

Her lip quirks up into an amused smile, "I stole one from the pile a few days back." Hua Fan gave a carefree bell-like laugh making him also smile in return as he felt the uneasy feeling fade away a bit. "I didn't take you for a thief, even if I didn't invite you I assumed you would have known you can come along even without an invitation. But are you sure you want to ride in the same car as me? I may end up staying late because it's my party." He looks down at her with mock disdain, "Am I so fragile in your eyes? You forget I am older than you. If anything you should be the one who has to wait for me." She pats his arm in mock comfort, her expression patient as if she was coaxing a child. "Yes yes, you are the older one." "Bah, stop that it's disgusting seeing you try to act gently. Let's hurry before your grandfather starts to worry."

"There is one thing I am curious about, on that letter, there should be the name to whom it's addressed to. Can you tell me whose you took?" He feigns ignorance and pretends to not hear her humor-filled question pulling her to walk a bit faster. "Ahh~! Look at the time we really will be late at this point!" She gave a bark of laughter seeing his obvious dodging of the question. The Xu family doesn't need an invitation anyways, they seem like the shameless type. Not knowing his thoughts Hua Fan went along with his rushing, feeling the gloom over her head lighten the tiniest bit. "Stop pulling my hand I'm getting tired." Hearing this, he no longer rushes her and considerately slows down to an almost snail pace while looking over every few seconds to make sure she was alright. He could not tell if she was lying or not but seeing the light bit of sweat on her brows he took out a handkerchief to wipe it away worriedly. "You haven't even been standing for that long. Maybe you shouldn't have gone out yesterday before the party after all." Her smile only deepens as she wordlessly continues walking, this time dragging him along toward the awaiting car.