章 32: Their past (7) (EDITED)

After having dinner with her mother, Li Bingbing went to her workplace.

She was working as a bartender in a well-known bar. Since all the workers were wearing black masquerade eye masks, she worked there because she didn't want her identity to be known. What if someone she knew accidentally saw her?

From seven to two o'clock in the morning worked Li Bingbing until her shift ended.

As soon as her shift ended, she left the bar without wasting any time. It was apparent that she wasn't fond of her workplace at all. While she was walking alone in a dark, empty road, her senses kicked in. She was being followed.

She swiftly twisted her small body and saw three men in black suits following her. The men concealed their eyes with sunglasses. Fearing them, Li Bingbing moved her legs faster.

Li Bingbing's heart raced fast and cold sweats rolled down her forehead. The thought that these men might do something bad to her sent a chill down her spine. Why were these men following her? What if they suddenly attacked her? She must do something to lose them! Or else who knows what could happen?

When she turned around the corner to a new street, she almost screamed in terror when she bumped into something hard. It was the chest of a tall, handsome man.

"A-aah... I'm sorry." She bowed to the man while sighing in relief.

The silver-haired man smiled, "No worries, it's alright." He glanced at the direction the girl came from. His eyes caught three men who were looking at them. He then turned back to the girl. Because Li Bingbing wore a facemask, the man couldn't make out her face.

Wearing the mask to hide her identity in the bar was only half the story. The other reason Li Bingbing wore one was because she didn't want to catch any unwanted attention during the night. It truly kept her mind at peace. She was attractive after all.

"Please excuse me." Li Bingbing ran in a hurry, so she couldn't get a look at the man's features or face.

When Li Bingbing turned the next corner, the three men tried to stay on her tail. However, they bumped into the silver-haired man. "Oh, sorry."

"Tch, watch where you're going."

"Let's go! The boss will kill us if we weren't able to get her tonight, said one of the men as he was about to pass the silver-haired man. The silver-haired man had other ideas, though. He leaned down to pick up something from the pavement. By doing so, he blocked the path of suit-man. A car sped along the street next to the suited-men, so he couldn't maneuver around the silver-haired man.

"Hey!"

The silver-haired man gave them an innocent look while holding his wallet and waving it, "Is something the matter?"

The men cursed under their breaths and glared at him. This time, they were able to pass him, but by the time they did, Li Bingbing was long gone.

Meanwhile, the silver-haired man headed to a car that was parked nearby. He opened the door and sat in the passenger seat.

"What took you so long?" asked the man who was sitting next to him.

The silver-haired man took out his wallet from his pocket and wave it, "I lost my wallet, so I tried looking for it. And what a surprise, I found it sitting in the middle of the sidewalk. Good thing I found it." Said the silver-haired man with a smile on his lips.

"... A... Anyway, let's get down the business," the man handed him a folder, "the target this time won't be easy, Mr. Lu."

"It won't be fun if it's easy, right?" The man chuckled as he opened the folder and looked at the files inside.

----

Li Bingbing couldn't help but let out a sigh in relief when she arrived at her place safe and sound. She went straight to her room to change her clothes before lying down on her bed.

This situation was one of the reasons why she didn't want to work at night, but... she was desperate for money, so she didn't have a choice.

A couple of days back, she had noticed that there were men stalking her, but she ignored them since she thought they were one of the men that admired her. No one had the courage to approach her after all.

But tonight, it was different. These people were not ordinary stalkers. Why were they following her? Li Bingbing was sure that she didn't anger a powerful figure, so why were they into her?

Those men were wearing suits, so she was certain that they weren't simple. The only person she could think of was... her father. Since she refused to live with him, was he trying to force her by kidnapping her?

Li Bingbing clenched her fists tight. It must be her father, right? He knew that she was a genius like him. In addition, Li Bingbing was a very beautiful girl.

He could have tried to get custody over her, but since she was already seventeen, it would be pointless because she was just a few months away from turning eighteen.

It has been three years since her father left them, yet here he was, trying to steal everything from her mother. Wasn't he satisfied to have her mother broken already? What more did he want? Li Bingbing wouldn't allow him to break her mother further. She was her mother's only pillar; she will never leave her mother's side even if he throws a huge amount of money at her.

"Where's Meimei?" This was the first thing Li Bingbing asked when she saw Xia Sinian standing at her doorstep.

"She got a cold, so she said that she won't be coming with us." Xia Sinian said as his eyes stared at her. His eyes sparkled like the twinkling stars of the night when they comprehended the beauty of Li Bingbing.

As soon as he said that, Li Bingbing's phone vibrated. She pulled out her phone from her pocket and looked at the message; it was from Xia Meilin:

[Enjoy your date ;)]

Li Bingbing couldn't help but smile on the inside when she saw her message. How did she know that she liked her brother?

She kept her phone in her hand and turned to face Xia Sinian, who was waiting patiently for her. She locked her arm with his and pulled on it, "Let's go?"

Xia Sinian was left speechless because of her bold actions. A faint blush marked his cheeks when he saw how close she was to him. He could smell her nice scent, and it was making him nervous! Was it necessary for them to go about it this way? Nonetheless, Xia Sinian didn't argue or comment on it since, deep inside, he liked it that way.