Alix was very nervous when the car finally stopped and her nerves further worsened when she realized where they were, the Zhang family home. It was a mansion in the East river villas, one whose pictures had occasionally graced weibo every time they held a family event. The beautiful magnolias which welcomed guests to the entrance of the large three storied house were as lovely as they looked in pictures.
"Young madam, please keep moving." Caishen's secretary said to her when she paused her feet to take a look around the brightly lit mansion.
"En." She whispered and followed him into the house nervously.
Alix felt like an intruder who had been plucked out of the slums and suddenly thrust into the world of glamorous. She tried her best not to gawk at the long line of servants standing in two lines, with their heads bowed. They included body guards and maids.
When he got to the front, close to the stairs, Caishen stopped his wheel chair and turned around. Alix had no choice but to stop as well, and stand nervously beside him.
"This is the young madam." Caishen said loudly.
"We have met the young madam." They replied uniformly.
Wow, one would think that this is a mafia family like those ones in movies, she thought.
Alix looked at the servants awkwardly, unsure of how she was to proceed. Was she expected to address them or give an introduction of herself?
"Leave us." an authoritative female voice ordered, coming from the doorway.
The servants scattered in an orderly manner, vanishing within seconds like they had done this many times before.
It was the voice of Zhang Caishen's mother who was glaring hostilely at Alix. This was not unexpected to Alix, of course. She had been waiting for it, anticipating and practicing the most appropriate answers in her mind.
"Alix, little Li, is that really you?" another voice of a different female called to her.
She recognized grandma Zhang immediately, she had met her twice, when she was younger. That was a very long time ago, when her mother was still alive.
Noting the smile on the old woman's face, Alix had a strong feeling that maybe she had an ally in this house.
"Grandma." she responded softly. "It's me."
Grandma Zhang came closer and observed Alix's face, then, she raised her right hand and touched her cheek. "Child, we have not seen you for so many years. Why have you not visited us even once?"
"It must be that step mother of yours, after all, they say when you get a step mother you get a step father." Grandpa Zhang commented as he moved closer slowly.
"Child, how did you end up marrying our Caishen? You rejected the engagement when you were younger." Grandma Zhang asked Alix.
Before she could respond to the question which she also expected, grandma Zhang pulled her to sit down in the nearest chair.
"By scheming of course, she must have schemed with her sly father." a young woman shouted.
Alix looked briefly at the young woman and recognized her too. She was Zhang An, Caishen's younger sister.
"It's not enough that the Lin's fooled us but they dared to send us the pigeon of their family over their phoenix. Do they believe that we will not dare to do something about it?" she continued on, looking at Alix disdainfully and completely giving of the aura of being repulsed by her.
A little boy, who looked to be about eight or nine years old laughed. "Ha-haha, Pigeon,"
"An An, don't say that." Grandma Zhang said. "Little Li is not like that. She has always been a good girl, and she has always obeyed her parents. I am sure that they had a hand in this. Right, little Li?"
Grandma Zhang looked at Alix with so much trust in her eyes.
In her mind, Alix could not believe that she had been compared to a pigeon. So, Billi was the phoenix!! The one who stole everything was a phoenix while the one who was stolen from was a pigeon, how funny life was.
In a soft polite voice, Alix looked at grandma Zhang with pitiful eyes and said, "I didn't scheme anything, grandma. I found out at the last moment that my younger sister had no plans to marry the young master. In that moment, my heart felt very troubled for him, I thought that it would bring shame to your family if the bride was a no show. My father suggested that I marry in Billi's place since I was the original fiancé and I agreed. I know that this is an unconventional situation but the situation was quite urgent."
Grandma Zhang believed Alix's words, falling for them completely.
"I knew it, little Lin, thank you for saving our family from a humiliation. You have always been so nice and kind to others ever since you were little."
"Mother, we have still been humiliated. The news that Lin Billi rejected Caishen is already everywhere. Others are guessing whether Caishen and this one had an affair. The hashtags home wrecker and poor Billi are trending. I don't know if she did us a favor or a disservice." Caishen's mother spoke angrily, showing them what was being said on the internet.
"Look, that Lin Billi has posted a picture of herself on a stage in Venice and she is wishing her sister a happy marriage. Are the Lin's playing us for fools? Do you expect us to believe that you did not know that your sister was out of the country?" Zhang An shouted and she glared at Alix.
Calmly, Alix looked right back at her and said, "Miss An, I think you are over estimating the level of closeness between my sister and I."
She did not even have Billi's phone number so why would she know about her movements?
"I don't care, if you see one, you have seen them all. All of you Lin's are very untrustworthy people. At least the other one was slightly worthy to marry into our family but you...." Her eyes roamed over Alix from head to toe.
Tensions were flying high and if they kept going this way, a full blown confrontation would soon follow.
"I am tired." Caishen said.
His three words instantly ended all talk about the disaster that the wedding had been.
Everyone switched into worried mode, fussing over Caishen as if he was an infant.
"You have not eaten, you should eat something first."
"I will call your assistant to give you a bath before you can take your medicines and sleep."
"Does your neck hurt, you had to look up a lot today."
Alix had been abandoned in the chair, and she watched them curiously. What she going to do next? She had no luggage, except for the purse in her hands. Where was she going to sleep? Also, why wasn't Holea calling?
"I will be fine, stop fussing." Caishen told them. His eyes turned to Alix who was looking at her phone and frowning. "Mother, I will have a private talk with her upstairs."
"Why?" his mother asked.
"Why else, she is my wife, isn't she? There are some things we should discuss alone."
"Biting her lower lip, and very much unwilling in her heart, Alix had no choice but to follow as Caishen's mother personally took her by the hand and ensured that she delivered her to her son, in his bedroom.
"Whatever he wants, give it to him. If you make him unhappy in any way you will not like what I will do to you." she warned Alix sternly and left.
Alix could feel the anger Caishen's mother had towards her. It was practically seeping through her bones and dripping off her tongue with every word that she said to her. Did she prefer Billi or was she angry about the whole standing her son up thing. Or perhaps, it was the same thing her daughter had said, that she, Alix was unworthy to marry into their family.
Whatever it was, the deed was already done, she had already married Caishen. If the worst came to it, she would just divorce. If they tolerated her, she could stay for a while as she made plans to start her life over.
Besides, there were other things to occupy her mind with unceasing worries rather than her mother-in-law's unhidden dislike of her, like her small music school which would shut down in two months if she did not earn enough to pay the rent.
The door suddenly closed on it's own and jolted her out of her thoughts. It's closing was silent but it might as well have sounded like a loud 'welcome to your hell' announcement.
She could fool the elders but Zhang Caishen was no fool. She chose to take the road of silence and wait for him to speak.
Coldly, Zhangye pointed to another door and said, "That door leads to another bedroom, it's yours. Do not come into my room unless I send for you. I don't care why you married me because I had my own reasons for marrying you when I realized who you were but I will not tolerate infidelity. You would rather bring a divorce document to me which I will sign than tarnish my reputation or drag my family into a scandal.
Do not ever invite any member of your family here because they will be humiliated at the doors if they come here.
Finally for now, my study is out of bounds to you and don't you ever dare to use my name to gain benefits for your family. Should I find out, I will break your legs and then we can be two cripples in this marriage. You can leave."
Alix was all too glad to leave, and she scurried away as if she was being pursued by something scary. She went to the bedroom that he pointed to and locked the door tightly behind her. Additionally, she sighed and fell down to the floor slowly.
"What have I got myself into?" she asked herself.
Her mind did not give her a moment's rest as she thought about her nanny. She called Holea, grateful for Zhang Caishen's quickness in giving her those instructions. At least, she had time to herself now.
"Holea, Holea, quick, tell me if you found my nanny." She said hurriedly, not giving her friend a moment to exchange greetings.
On the other end of the phone, Holea replied in a slow voice. "Mmm, I found her but it was not easy getting into her apartment. There were some shady thugs manning the door to it. I had to call the police which scared the men away. Right after the shady men left I met your nanny. You won't believe it but she has been locked in her apartment for three days and they took her phone away. She run out of food yesterday but they would not allow her to go and buy anything. She was weak when I found her so I took her to a hospital first. Anyway, I brought her to my place because I figured that your stepmother is involved in this. She is sleeping in the bedroom, you can come and visit her when you get time but don't send her back to that place for her safety and yours."
Alix could finally breathe easier and after a few more reassurance and thankful words to her friend, she hung up and finally found the energy to stand up and observe her new bedroom.
It was a large room that had one large bed in the middle, with white sheets and a white duvet. Probably expensive sheets, she thought. There was a table with one chair and a computer.
A large dressing room with already arranged female products and a few clothes. She looked at the shoes, all of them were Billi's size. They had made preparations for their daughter-in-law it seemed.
"There is no time to waste host, you should log into the system and start your journey to being the luckiest woman in your world." The system said in her mind.
"How do I log in?" she asked.
A virtual screen appeared in front of her eyes, it looked just like a gaming system. She used to play games before her fingers were broken and she could quite easily discern what this was.
"Like I said, I am the infinite luck gaming system, you the host will be required to enter the gaming world play a game, go on quests, kill the villains and do all sorts of tasks. Each task comes with rewards and lucky drops. The things acquired in the game can be transferred to the real world, the skills learned in the game can also be used in the real world and the lucky items can be sold or used to make yourself richer. Keep in mind that you will not be the only player, twenty players have been chosen from different worlds and the earliest to the prize takes the biggest loot. You must earn experience points, points can buy other things in the game like health, vitality, intelligence, skins, weapons, vehicles and so much more." The system explained, and while it explained, it showed her the different features of the game.
"How do I play the game?" she asked.
A laptop suddenly appeared in the space next to her and fell down on the bed.
"You can play the game using this computer, gaming cabin, gaming chair, virtual helmets and other equipment that connect you to the infinite gaming realm. As a newbie, you get the cheapest device available on your world, a lap top. However you will not lag behind, all other amenities have been provided like a key board, mouse, noise cancelling headphones, scanners."
"Is the game visible to other people?" she was worried that someone would sneak up on her and see what she was doing. Wouldn't they find out what she was up to?
"Yes it is, and others can also play the game but only you have access to the infinite gaming realm. Other humans will see a normal game, perhaps unfamiliar to them but they won't be able to tell. Do you want to start playing now? Others have already started."
"Will the lucky items heal my fingers like that fruit?" she asked.
she looked at her fingers and moved them slightly, amazed by their ability to even move in the slightest bit. Soon, she would be able to play a piano again if the game was as magical as it seemed.
"Alright," she agreed, she had nothing better to do anyway. Her nanny was safe, and she could not escape this house right now even if she tried. She might as well do something beneficial.
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