36 2.19

"Cousin, why did you drag me here? If you and cousin-in-law are going out on a date, why are you having me tag along for?"

Li Haoran was woken up early on his off day from work by his cousin who smacked him awake with a pillow and a brief "Get up, we're going somewhere."

He had initially thought that the company was holding an emergency meeting about the recent scandal and would discuss damage control. Little did he know that Li Xiaofeng and Wan Junli were planning an outing to an art gallery today. What he didn't get was, why was he also brought along?

One of the reasons Feng Mian brought Li Haoran along was because old man Li didn't trust Li Haoran to his own devices while he was away and had her, the older cousin, on babysit duty. Old man Li had been heartbroken after finding out that his great-grandchild was gone and had gone to visit some family old to solve this distress. Not only is he exerting pressure on the Yu family for causing the miscarriage directly, but he had also pressured the Zhang family.

Feng Mian had done an intensive background check on Zhang Wei and found some interesting information. There had to be a reason why he had wanted the downfall of LXT Enterprise aside from them being fierce competitors. So she did a little digging and shared that piece of startling information with old man Li. The latter immediately blew a fuse and tore down Moza in a ferocious sweep of Li's wrecking ball.

From one side, old man Li was attacking, prohibiting any other affiliate companies to partner with Zhang. From the other, Feng Mian tore into Moza with a pending lawsuit and let the others know that it was a sinking ship. Those who wanted to drown with them are welcomed to stay on board. Zhang Wei's company's stock values dropped overnight and Moza has had trouble signing projects ever since.

"I brought you over so you can appreciate art. They say learning about art improves emotional intelligence."

"It's enough that you're the only intelligent person in our house, cousin. Let me be a carefree young little master for a few more years."

Feng Mian glowered at the little carefree young master. "Preposterous! If one day I'm no longer here, you're the only descendent of the Li family who can take the reins. At the rate you're going now, you're going to run the family business to the ground."

"Why are you saying that? You'll definitely live long and provide for me and the family for many many years. With you here, we have nothing to worry about," Li Haoran whined and convinced optimistically.

Feng Mian looked at this confident naive cousin of hers with a face that hated iron for not becoming steel. She went to look for Hao Junli who had wandered to who knows where.

Hao Junli had made himself at home in the art gallery and roamed the many exhibition rooms. He stared mesmerised at a painting of a water nymph swimming in the dark abyss of the ocean. He had always preferred paintings with sentient life forms as subjects rather than abstract drawings. Even his own paintings were inspired by live human paintings that uses oil techniques.

Feng Mian found him standing in front of a portrait, in his own world. She stood behind him and squinted her eyes in an attempt to see the attraction behind the particular painting. All she saw was a sushi girl who could use a flashlight.

But it must have been something special in Hao Junli's eyes.

Feng Mian sought after the gallery's staff, and after finding one who happened to be walking in their direction, tapped the woman by her shoulders to get attention.

"Excuse me, I would like to buy that painting." She pointed at the sushi painting.

The lady staff could tell by the posture and branded designer's suit that this man was wearing, he ought to be an important clientele. The gentleman hadn't even asked what the price was and outright asked to buy it.

"I'm sorry sir, this painting isn't for sale. The artist had only agreed to have it on display for the exhibition," she said politely.

Feng Mian frowned. "Only for the exhibition? In this gallery?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then who do I talk to if I want to buy the gallery?"

The staff became flummoxed. Her jaws hanged open, unable to answer. It was the first time she saw a person who threatened to buy the entire gallery if they couldn't buy the painting. From the looks of it, this well dressed eccentric person was dead serious.

"Ah- I'll... go ask the gallery director and see what she can do." She scurried off to the gallery's office in panic.

Hao Junli at this time had satisfyingly looked at the painting enough and was ready to move on to the next gallery. He saw Feng Mian standing behind him.

"It's a pretty painting," she said casually.

"En." Hao Junli nodded.

The gallery's director speed-walked all the way to the second exhibition room once he was informed that instead of buying a painting, someone was looking to buy the entire gallery. She wanted to see who this impressive ancestor was.

Her eyes widened as she saw that the person was the notorious Li Xiaocheng who had recently gotten a lot of online heat. The same Li Xiaocheng who bought Chop Suey with one million USD.

She greeted the couple courteously. "Good afternoon. I'm Director Song, the person in charge of the gallery. One of my staff has brought it to my attention that you were looking to… buy the gallery?"

Hao Junli's face whipped towards her. "You're buying the gallery?"

Feng Mian shook Director Song's hand. "I actually like this sush- underwater painting very much, but was told it wasn't for sale."

'So you wanted to buy the gallery as a last resort?' Director Song sweatdropped at this show of extreme tyranny. 'You rich folks sure like to play.'

Hao Junli knew that Feng Mian had never shown interest in oil paintings before, and didn't have a doubt in his mind that the person she was buying it for was not herself.

"I don't like the painting," he exclaimed. This Feng Mian, since becoming rich, has a habit of treating money like flowing water. Maybe the next time he stares at the moon for too long, she'd find a way to buy it from NASA.

"You don't?" Feng Mian asked suspiciously.

"No, I admired the techniques a bit but found that the colour mix was a bit lacking."

Director Song couldn't let this rich tyrant buy his gallery; they might all lose their jobs. She offered, "Why don't I talk with the artist and see if we can get him to change his mind? I'll personally contact you to deliver the painting once he agrees."

Whether the artist agrees or not doesn't matter. She'll coerce the person if she has to.

"Nevermind, I'm not interested anymore. Let's go Hao Junli."

There was no longer a point in buying it if Hao Junli didn't want it, so Feng Mian smoothly walked away.

Director Song: 'What's wrong with your mood? Do you have split personality disorder?'

No matter what it was, she was thankful towards CEO Li's wife who had saved the gallery from being bought out by her husband with just one word. Rich, henpecked, and a dictator; what a dangerous combination!

Dictator Feng Mian and her nominal wife moved to the gallery's centre exhibition, following most of the moving crowd. Hao Junli passed over a carton of melon juice. "I heard you're charging attempted murder?"

Feng Mian sucked and bit at the straw's edge. She hummed in response.

Hao Junli looked at her and contemplated silently. "You don't think you're being too harsh?"

Feng Mian's eyes bore down into his. "Why do you think so?"

More people were gathering at the centre hall and it was getting crowded. Hao Junli grabbed her hand and lead Feng Mian to exit the hall so that they would sit at the garden's gazebo. The air outside was much more refreshing, and it was better to have a conversation here.

Hao Junli's expression was serious, but his tone was soft. "The minimum sentence is ten years. But I know you'll be pushing for more. Feng Mian, you of all people should know that prison is not something to be taken lightly. A decade in there would ruin someone's life."

Feng Mian's throat constricted, and anger brewed in her heart. "So you want me to let her go free? Why don't I just hand her the company on a silver platter while I'm at it?!"

She really couldn't understand Hao Junli's sudden streak of benevolence. He wasn't usually the virtuous kind. Moreover, if he hadn't protected his head during his fall…

There was a limit to how forgiving one can be. Want her to forgive? Then Yu Yan would have to drop dead first!

"Her father really is sick."

The sentence stalled Feng Mian.

"But I'm not telling you to let her go free. And it's not her I'm worried about, it's you."

"What do you mean?"

"Why are you so angry?"

"She betrayed you! She used your money, spied on the company, then tried to kill you! If I'm not angry then I'd be Buddha!"

The rise and fall of Feng Mian's chest was a clear indication of her agitation. Hao Junli waited until she finished venting before clasping her hand once again. Not minding her outburst, he coaxed gently.

"This isn't just about her. You're angry at something else too."

"You're saying I'm unreasonable?"

"I'm saying you're taking your anger out from someplace else."

Feng Mian stood up, her expression aggrieved as she stared down at her housemate. "If this happened to me you would be angry just the same."

Hao Junli, despite the serious conversation, smiled winsomely. "I would be. But you'd tell me that I was wrong."

As her friend, he was obligated to tell her his mind. "I won't force you to tell me where your anger stems from, I just want you to live your life with a clear conscience. As you've always done."

"I don't know how many worlds that you will have to travel in the future, and I won't know what the me in those worlds are like, so I only have this one chance to tell you. Don't lose yourself, Feng Mian. Someday, we're going to go back to our world and I don't want you to live regretting what you have done. The body changes but the heart doesn't, I hope that when this is over, you'll still be able to recognise yourself."

The garden was quiet except for the sound of the trees rustling as their leaves swayed with the wind. Hao Junli had seldom disagreed with her, and when he does it was hard for her not to listen. Probably because he was usually right.

Hao Junli did not disrupt Feng Mian's silence. After some time her brows finally relaxed into straight lines. "Okay. I won't push for more than five- no eight years. But I won't be budging on this anymore, Junli."

Hao Junli's smile was tender. "Whatever you think is right, Xiao Mian."