Chapter 10: The inevitable disaster of imposition 2
There was a very rich breakfast on the table, and the aroma could be smelled from afar. When Hongze and I went downstairs, Zhou Mian and Ling Jiao were already sitting at the table eating.
Ling Jiao looked up and saw us, and said jokingly: "Hongze, please walk properly. Your whole body is so stiff. If you roll down the stairs, I will blackmail you."
Hongze next to me said in a very bad tone: "Tsk, can you please stop talking?"
Zhou Mian, who was helping us distribute breakfast, raised his head and said, "What's wrong? Why are you so angry this morning?"
I knew in my heart that Hongze was annoyed by what Ling Jiao said last night, but I didn't know what to say in response to Zhou Mian's question, so I could only shake my head.
Fortunately, Ling Jiao didn't care and smiled proudly.
Hongze and I had just sat down and hadn't even taken our first bite of sandwich when Lingjiao's nanny came in in a hurry. She said in a panic, "Jiaojiao, it's bad. There are so many people outside and they want you to hand over someone!"
"Hand over someone? Hand over whom?" Ling Jiao asked doubtfully, and glanced out the window. "Is this a gangster drama so early in the morning?" She stood up and walked towards the door.
Zhou Mian also quickly stood up. He glanced at me and said, "It might be someone from the Nie family. Stay here and don't come out."
"How can that be?" I refused outright, took the Soul Binding Cage off my neck and stuffed it into Zhou Mian's hand, "You hold this and don't let Hongze out." After saying that, I ran to chase Ling Jiao.
When I got to the door, I realized that it wasn't just one car, but a row of cars. Seven black cars completely blocked the road in front of Ling Jiao's house. Except for the leading car, there were four burly men in black standing next to each car. There were three men in black standing in front of Ling Jiao, and the one who was talking to her was none other than the person in charge!
The scene before me made me realize that I had thought too simply before. The person in charge definitely does not represent himself. To a large extent, he represents the Nie family.
My mind raced, trying to find a solution, but the voice of the person in charge sounded like a death sentence: "Lingmiao, in view of your performance in school, the chairman wants to see you." I pretended to be surprised and asked tentatively: "My performance in school? Person in charge, don't scare me, I haven't made any mistakes, right?"
The person in charge was about to speak when the door behind me was suddenly pushed open and Zhou Mian and Hong Ze rushed out. They blocked me from the left and right and said in unison, "Don't even think about taking Ling Miao away!" The moment Hong Ze appeared, I saw the person in charge's eyes light up and I couldn't help but shout in my heart that something was wrong. Hong Ze's appearance was just what he wanted.
"Uncle Li, you brought so many people to my house and showed off in front of a little girl like me. If this gets out, it might not be good." Ling Jiao said in a sonorous and powerful voice, "The three of them are now guests of my Ling family. I am a child and I don't know much. I am afraid of offending you. How about I wait for the master of my Ling family to come back and then give you an answer? "
"Jiaojiao, since you call me Uncle Li, I advise you not to get involved in this mess. Ling Miao is from our Nie Group, and now the chairman specifically wants to see her. We can come here to pick her up, so we naturally know where this is." The person in charge looked at Ling Jiao with appreciation, patted her on the shoulder, and said with emotion, "A good father will have a good daughter. Ling Kun is so lucky to have a daughter like you."
The person in charge walked towards us step by step, stopped three steps away from us, waved his hand quite naturally, and said to me: "Lingmiao, let's go."
Hongze and Zhou Mian responded and blocked me behind them more tightly. I shook my head. The person in charge would not let me go easily today. Fortunately, I handed the soul-binding cage to Zhou Mian before I came out. Thinking of this, I felt a little relieved and said loudly, "Let's go." As I said that, I walked from Hongze's side to the person in charge.
"I am coming too!"
Behind me, Hongze grabbed my hand. I paused and turned to look at him. He was looking at the person in charge firmly.
Obviously, the person in charge was quite satisfied with Hongze's initiative. He smiled and nodded, raised his right hand to make a "please" gesture, and said: "Of course, on behalf of the chairman, I welcome you." The respect shown by the person in charge made me feel very uneasy. Did they already know Hongze's identity?
"I am coming too."
Zhou Mian also reached out and grabbed my hand that was held by Hong Ze. My eyelids jumped, and he stuffed the Soul Binding Cage into my palm!
"Zhou Mian, right? Don't worry. Ling Miao belongs to my Nie family after all. The chairman just wants to talk to her. Say hello to your father for me."
The person in charge dismissed Zhou Mian casually.
Zhou Mian did not insist, he withdrew his hand and said worriedly: "Be careful."
I nodded solemnly, clenched the soul-binding cage in my hand, and followed the person in charge into the car. Hongze followed closely behind me.
The car kept moving without turning off the engine. The street scenes on both sides quickly receded and soon we arrived at the familiar Nie Building.
Although it was the weekend, there were still quite a few people in the Nie Building. The person in charge took Hongze and I directly to the top floor in a special elevator. When the elevator arrived, it made a "ding" sound, as if it was sounding the war charge.
Opposite the elevator was a mahogany door with intricate patterns. The door was opened from the inside, revealing a huge office.
"Let's go." The person in charge said and walked into the office.
I glanced at Hongze, who smiled at me easily and strode in: "Now that we are here, let's make the best of it."
With Hongze's words, I felt much more at ease and walked into the office.
The lights were off in the office, the curtains were closed, and the room was dark. In the middle was a huge long table, and behind it sat a man with his head bowed. I thought, that should be the chairman.
At this time, the man standing behind him saw us and said, "Chairman, they are here."
Chairman Nie's head fell down, and he suddenly woke up. He raised his head, and in the dim light I saw an extremely old face, with sagging muscles and loose skin that seemed to be unable to support it. Age spots covered his face, which was very scary.
My breath stagnated. Although I had only seen him once when I was six years old, and he had not appeared in any public places or newspapers for at least eight years, I still recognized him at a glance as the high-spirited man who personally selected me. But the man in front of me made me doubt my eyes. As far as I know, Chairman Nie should be only 65 years old this year, and he should not look like what I see now.
"Fu Lingmiao, you still remember me. You are not afraid to see me like this. You are worthy of being the elite I chose." Chairman Nie's lips moved, and his voice was unusually hoarse, sounding short of breath. "Don't be nervous, relax. Today, I invited you here just to chat about family matters."
Chairman Nie’s praise did not make me happy. The more he told us to relax, the more I straightened up unconsciously and stared at him with a frown.
"Over the years, I've always heard from Li Mi that you don't seem to get along well with everyone, and I've been thinking that your closed-off personality might not be suitable for a company like Nie's. But recently," Chairman Nie said a little excitedly, he raised his right hand tremblingly, but it fell down weakly when it reached shoulder height, "Recently, I heard that you have a new friend, so I wanted to ask you to come over to chat, and by the way, let me meet your new friend."
Hongze snorted coldly and said, "What a good person to meet by the way. Just tell me straight, why are you pretending in front of me?"
"Okay!" Chairman Nie leaned forward a little, as if he was infused with energy. "Mr. Hongze is a straightforward person, so I won't beat around the bush. I just want to sign ."
"Contract?" I asked in confusion, wondering if Chairman Nie wanted to sign a contract with Hong Ze? However, since he knew Hong Ze's identity, how could the contract be binding on Hong Ze?
"Contract?" Hong Ze's face was full of anger, but he actually laughed in the end, "Ha, you are so bold that you dare to sign a contract with me?"
Hongze's words made me realize that the contract Chairman Nie mentioned was not as simple as I thought. Not only was it quite binding on Hongze, but it also sounded like Hongze was quite wary of this contract.
"I just want to borrow a small thing from Mr. Hongze, just a piece of reverse scale." Chairman Nie shook his head slightly and said calmly.
The word "reverse scale" made my eyelids jump, and I blurted out without thinking: "Impossible! It has always been said that 'a dragon has a reverse scale, and if it is touched, it will die', Chairman, don't you know?"
"If you touch it, you will die. I'm not talking about the dragon whose reverse scales were plucked." The chairman's eyes suddenly became sharp, as if he wanted to pierce through me. "The one who died was the one who plucked the reverse scales for no reason. I just accepted Mr. Hongze's gift."
Hongze sneered again: "Gift? Why should I give you a gift?"
"Of course it's to thank the Nie family for their care and cultivation of Ling Miao over the years." The chairman said as a matter of course, grinning inch by inch, revealing a greedy smile.
I couldn't believe it and couldn't help laughing: "The chairman is really a straightforward person. What if he doesn't? No matter from which angle, he has no reason to do that for me." The chairman didn't look at me, but looked straight at Hongze and said, "Oh? That's not what I heard."
"The so-called contract is probably not as simple as a reverse scale." Hongze said calmly as if he was talking about someone else, "You should finish it all at once."
"Okay!" The chairman nodded in appreciation. "Mr. Hongze is really straightforward. I need Mr. Hongze to use Ni Lin as a matchmaker to sign a contract with me to ensure that I live as long as Tian Qi. Of course, money is not a problem."
Hongze said sarcastically: "Live as long as the sky? You are quite courageous, and your appetite is huge."
"Hongze!" I grabbed Hongze's hand and stared at him, "Don't be crazy! How could this be possible?"
"Lingmiao, you'd better not interrupt me when I talk to Mr. Hongze." The chairman said threateningly, "This kind of win-win situation is of course completely feasible."
I thought the chairman must be crazy, so I asked him, "Win-win? Why can't I see a win-win situation at all?"
"Paying a small price in exchange for a lifetime of worry-free food and clothing, isn't this a win-win situation? What could make people happier than having endless money?" As he said this, the chairman excitedly stood up from his chair, laughing crazily and morbidly, but after just three laughs, he fell back in his chair, gasping for breath.
I couldn't bear the chairman's look. He was once so high-spirited, but he has become like this now. I secretly estimated the size of the room. From where I was standing now, I ran to the corner by the window, which was about 10 meters away. As long as I could walk 10 meters, I could suck Hongze into the soul-binding cage. I just had to insist that Hongze did not accept the chairman's conditions and had already run away.
"You have endless money, but you look like neither human nor ghost. Are you happy? This house without sunlight is where you will spend the rest of your life, right? This is not the palace you built with money, it's the prison that imprisons you!" After saying that, I ran to the corner, wanting to open the curtains so that the sunlight could penetrate the darkness.
I had just run two steps when Hongze caught up with me and grabbed my hand. He shook my hand vigorously and said softly, "It seems like you haven't seen the real me yet."
As soon as I finished speaking, I felt a gust of wind blowing up and I couldn't open my eyes.
When the wind gradually weakened, I opened my eyes and saw a huge snake coiled around me, its dark blue scales glowing, and two black four-fingered giant claws stepping on my feet. Above my head was a snake head spitting out its tongue, and three silver-white scales appeared under its neck.
It was Hongze. The huge monster in front of me was Hongze. He surrounded me and protected me. The voice in my heart made me feel at ease. I couldn't help but raise my hand and touch his scales. The cold touch made me sober up a little.
"Ah! My dragon! Quick, the reverse scale! Pull it off!" The chairman's excited voice was accompanied by a chair falling to the ground and a muffled groan.
The snake head spoke in Hongze's voice: "Lingmiao, close your eyes."
I knew what he was going to do, and I shook my head in pain, grabbing his body with my hands, begging him not to do it.
Hongze's tail quietly lifted in front of my eyes, blocking my view.
I jumped up and grabbed Hongze's tail, almost flying in the air. In an instant, I saw Hongze swung his claws and a piece of silver-white scale was torn off by him, and blood gushed out from under his neck.
The scales were thrown to the ground by Hongze, and the huge snake body writhed in pain, and the hard scales rubbed on the floor, leaving marks one after another. Hongze kept spitting blood from his mouth, and he roared in pain, but his tail was bent at 90 degrees and did not move at all.
I sat on Hongze's tail, tears streaming down my face. I didn't know how to ease his pain. I patted his tail helplessly, murmuring like the director's mother coaxing me, "Hongze, be good. I'll blow it for you. It hurts, it flies away. Blow it, it hurts, it flies away quickly..."
The chairman picked up the scales that were quickly losing their luster on the ground as if he had found a treasure. The man who was originally standing behind him supported him and asked him to meditate on the spot.
The man took out a huge brush from somewhere, dipped it in Hongze's blood, and drew a huge talisman with the chairman as the center, completely wrapping Hongze in it.
I wanted to jump off Hongze's tail to stop it, but I found myself completely unable to move. Until the man finished the last stroke, Hongze, who had been tumbling, suddenly stopped, as if he had lost his life.
I don’t know how much time had passed, I just felt that my tears were almost dry, and Hongze finally moved.
He slowly lowered his tail, laid me flat on the ground, slowly shrank his body, and turned back into Hongze.
I had no time to care about other things. I just wanted to run to Hongze, put his arm around his neck, and carefully help him up.
The weak Hongze was like a feather , leaning on me and was almost dragged out of the office by me.
"Let them go."
Behind him was the chairman's voice, deep and powerful.
It was his words that made no one stop me. I walked through the crowd and dragged Hongze into the elevator little by little.
Hongze seemed to have fainted, and only his faint breath proved that he was still alive. I didn't dare to pause, I just wanted to get out of the Nie Building as soon as possible and find a place where no one was to summon Jiheng.
