Chapter 22

It was five o'clock the next morning. The birds were singing weirdly with the wind. It had been a bit hot for a few days in Shanghai. Today, it was quite cold. The breeze was entering the guest room. Riya was wide awake in the guest room. The breeze was crushing on her body. She took out the light orange cotton blanket to enjoy the breeze. It was a big room with modern furniture and bedding. The walls made the room lively with their bright pastel yellow. The beddings had summer colors. As usual, the furniture was arranged neatly with much space in between each piece of furniture. Riya was looking at the shiny light grey ceiling. The designs were the only thing that caught her eye in this house including the kitchen.

Suddenly, there was shouting coming from outside. She slowly got up from the bed. This time, she did not have to put so much afford to get up. The shout sounded more like training because the people kept on saying the same word every five seconds. It also sounded like men screaming. Riya stopped by the windows the opened the curtains. There was another huge garden behind the house. There were hundreds of men doing their training. One line had about fifty men, standing two meters away from each other. There was a maximum of twenty lines. All of them were shirtless and only wearing black loose pants. A man was walking around with his hands on his back. He had a big yellow and white python tattoo on his back. The head and the tail were missing. The was checking that his men were doing the training properly. The man turned around to look at the other men. Then he could sense someone was looking at the garden. He looked at the guest room where he saw a woman standing by the window.

Riya flinched a bit when she caught Liang's stare. She went away from the window and even drew the curtains. Liang watched the whole thing. He laughed and shook his head at the same time. Then he looked at his men to check on their strengths while they were punching. Riya rested her back against the window. She took a deep breath. That snake tattoo also scared her a bit. She moved away from the window. There was another room which was a bathroom. She walked into the bathroom to brush her teeth. She was getting hungry. There was still shouting coming from the garden. Riya entered the kitchen while rubbing her eyes. She took a toothbrush, put toothpaste on the brush then started brushing her teeth. The paste was strong that it was burning her gums. It was a good thing because it was killing the germs in her gums.

She finished brushing and washing her mouth. She came out of the room feeling refreshed. The shouting was gone. The training was over already. Riya was curious about how much training Liang did during that short time. She walked out of the room. She closed the door and then walked down the empty hallway. The house was very simple with modern designed furniture. Still, the wall designs were only catching her attention. She was looking around the house while going to the kitchen. The smell of scrambled eggs was floating in the house already. Riya could even smell bacon, sausages, toast, and jam. She ran quickly to the kitchen because she was really hungry.

Liang was taking out a plate from the oven warmer. He could hear footsteps coming into the kitchen. "Good morning Moods.", he answered.

Riya stopped in the center of the kitchen. "Ah!", she blocked her eyes immediately.

Liang started laughing when she saw his tattoo. He turned around and then put the plate on the table. "I'm glad you are looking at my tattoo.", he said. Riya was still blocking her eyes. She even trembled after seeing the snake tattoo. "It's okay, you can remove your hands."

Riya did not want to believe him at first. She looked in between her fingers. His face was facing her. Then she slowly removed her hands from her face. She was looking at Liang who was shirtless. His muscles were really visible. Liang stood upright and then walked towards her. The V line was really visible. Riya did not expect Liang to be that muscular. She stopped staring at his abs and then went to the counter to have her breakfast. She took a seat and started having her breakfast. She took a bite of the scrambled eggs. It was super delicious. Liang did not add bacon to her plate because she did not eat pork. Liang walked towards her then he stood right next to her. She could feel his big chest on her shoulder.

Riya looked at him weirdly with a piece of toast in her mouth. "Yes, Wang."

Liang looked her in the eye. "Why did you move away when I looked at you?", he asked her.

Riya was speechless. "Well...", she did not know how to answer the question. "I didn't want to disturb you from the training. Just out of curiosity, how many men do you have?", she sort of changed the subject.

"A lot. What you saw just now was not even a quarter of them. Bobby and Kris do the next training.", he answered.

"RRRRRIIIIIIIYYYYYYAAAA!!!", someone screamed for her.

Riya and Liang looked at the hallway. They could hear Bobby explaining the situation. Bobby and the person entered the kitchen. Riya was shocked to see this person here. It was Michael. Michael stopped in front of her while Liang moved away from Riya. He walked to one corner so he could give them some space.

Michael did not look happy at all. "Why didn't you respond to my message last night?", he asked.

Riya looked confused. "What message? Firstly, how did you know I was here?", she asked.

Michael looked at him with an annoyed expression. "Holly told me when I was standing in front of your door. You didn't read my message."

"Michael, why should I read a message that is coming from my boss? Is it against the regulation that a boss and an employee should be having personal contact?", Riya asked.

Liang was impressed with that question. "Not in my company. I will be lifting that regulation.", Michael answered.

"Why? So you can put more work on us. I do know people like you. You put pressure on us to get the work done as soon as possible. Then you will be receiving the credit while the people who did the work will be continued to be taken advantage of.", she explained.

Michael did not respond for a minute. Bobby looked at Riya for a moment. "This girl got some attitude.", he whispered.

"Well, I'm not going to put the pressure on you.", Michael answered.

Riya got up slowly. "You don't like it when your employees get credited for their hard work. You don't even understand half of The Principle of Business. So, you make your employees do your homework. When the management sees your reports, you will be getting As while your employees will be receiving zero!", she went over him.

Michael's back was hurting a bit. Riya's face was close to his face. "I don't put pressure on my employees. I do know some Principals in Business. You think I'm those types of a boss but I'm not one of them."

Riya was not convinced by that. "I don't believe you. Plus, I don't want to have my boss's number in case of sexual harassment."

"There will be no such sexual harassment will happen in my hotel. I might disagree that women should become a business owners." Michael was getting uncomfortable in the position. "Please get off me. You know that I'm dating Bingting.", he reminded her.

Riya removed herself from him. She stood upright, standing two meters away from him. Michael was relieved that she did not do anything stupid. "You should say that I agree women should become business owners. Why are you so eager that I should attend your birthday party?", she asked.

"Let me correct you, it's not my birthday. My birthday has already passed. My group is celebrating our latest song which is ranked first. I didn't want to invite you at first."

"Then why are you inviting me?", Liang asked.

Michael looked at him. "Because my members asked me to. They were interested in you since the first day we met so they told me I must invite you.", he told Riya.

"I hoping that they will be no one kidnapping women and girls in your party.", she saw indirectly meaning that he was working with Yanwu.

Michael looked at her with shock. "No, there will be no such thing."

Riya looked away from him. "I will think about it."

"Come on Riya. I will be screwed by my members. Bring Liang along as your date. The party is in two weeks."

Riya looked at Liang who was looking at the situation in a calm manner. "I will think about it and I will let you know by tonight.", she said.

Michael was fine with that. "Okay, you have my number so message me."

Riya did not nod or say anything. Michael was leaving to meet his members. Bobby walked with Michael to escort him to the door. Riya and Liang were watching him leave. Riya was really curious about this party. She already knew that Michael's friends did not ask her to come. Michael was up to something.