Mr. Tycoon's Daring Wife

One of the women surrounding Xia Mengxi and Zhao Linhua spoke up. "I see they have the Red Parlor Grand Piano on display right now." She turned towards the shining white piano with a pop of crimson red underneath the cover. "Linhua, we haven’t seen you perform for some time now, why don’t you play a piece on it?"

Zhao Linhua’s face transformed into a calm smile, like the small ripples on a lake during a soft drizzle. "I’m not sure about this... Isn’t the piano going to be auctioned off?"

"Well, even if it is, you would only add value to it. Having a world-class prodigy play it would be a dream come true. I’m sure Madam Ning will not mind."

Right on cue, Liang Yunxi walked past them with Zhao Lifei in tow, ready to introduce her to a group of women.

Xia Mengxi, whose entire week was plagued with fatigue, truly wanted to hear the soothing melody of her friend’s magic touch. "Madam Ning, would you mind allowing Linhua to play the piano? I think it would be a nice way to start the auction."

Madam Liang Yunxi tilted her head a bit. She wanted to object since the choir she hired was already providing enough entertainment and the piano was supposed to be an auction piece. Then, she saw Zheng Tianyi’s gloomy expression. When their eyes met, he glowered at her and that was enough to make her unwillingly nod her head. "I suppose so."

Zhao Lifei remained quiet and never once did she look at her younger sister. Instead, her eyes trailed to Xia Mengxi’s wrist where a silver charm bracelet dangled comfortably. That design... She had seen it somewhere. She tilted her head, lost in thought.

Zheng Tianyi stood protectively in front of his lover, his stormy eyes glaring daggers at Zhao Lifei. If she was not accompanied by Zhao Moyao himself, Zheng Tianyi would’ve lashed out at her. But currently, she was with the Head Monarch of the Zhao Regime, and doing such a thing would be extremely disadvantageous for him.

Zhao Linhua’s smile grew a bit. "Thank you for offering the opportunity." She gracefully turned to the piano and with fairy-light steps, made her way towards the stage.

Liang Yunxi gestured for the employees to get everything prepared. In less than five minutes, the stage was set up for Zhao Linhua. The lights were dimmed and shone solely upon the stage where a young woman brushed up the stairs, her face and gestures capturing the eyes of nearly every man in the room.

From the first melody, Zhao Lifei already recognized the magnificent piece that was going to be played. La Campenella by Listz, one of the hardest piano pieces to play in the world. From the gentle note that it starts off as, it transformed into a faster tempo. It was perhaps not that suitable to start an auction. But it was most definitely the best way to capture the audience, for almost every music fanatic would know how complicated it was to play this piece. What made it so difficult was the fact that one had to perform enormous jumps from the right hand that would need to play the piano at an uncomfortably fast tempo.

Not a single beat was missed. Everyone stood up to give her a thundering round of applause, paired with a standing ovation.

"Wow, we saw the genius at work!"

"One of the best pianists of her generation."

"Madam Wang Nuoli must be so proud of her daughter. Beautiful and talented, what more could a mother ask for?"

"I can see why she’s so treasured by Zhao Wenjin. If I had a daughter like that, I would boast of her for days to come!"

Compliments after compliments poured out for the young lady.

Zhao Lifei was thoroughly impressed by her younger sister, as she always was in the past. She could still recount the days a little girl sat beside her on an enormous cushion bench and together, the two playing symphonies that could bring an entire auditorium down.

"If you’re thinking about forgiving her, do not even consider such a stupid idea." Zhao Moyao’s quiet voice rang in her ears. He could tell she was reminiscing of the past that could never be changed. "That child has betrayed you by choosing the side of the mistress."

"Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer." Zhao Lifei muttered under her voice, turning to face her grandfather. "I never considered the idea of forgiving her."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course." She kept her hands loosely tucked behind her back with her chin held high whilst she observed everything in the room.

"You seemed hesitant."

"I was never that nice to consider forgiveness." She turned to the direction of their seats. "Let’s get over with this auction. I’m tired."

Zhao Moyao let out a heavy sigh of relief or perhaps, true fatigue. She could not decipher which one it was. "Alright then."

Zhao Lifei walked with Zhao Moyao towards their seat which was near the front, closer to the stage. She dutifully helped her grandfather into his seat first before she fathomed the idea of sitting down herself. Once Zhao Moyao was comfortably seated, she pulled back her chair and sat down.

Ning Yijun took his position on the stage and started his speech. "Ladies and gentlemen, I thank you for attending tonight’s dinner auction. I appreciate every effort contributed to fundraising the Ning Charity. Like every year, all of the proceeds will be fully donated to help keep children in third-world countries in school."

Zhao Lifei zoned out whilst he made a long speech. After five minutes, he raised his glass in the air and took a sip, followed by everyone else. She did the same, but instead of wine, she drank lemon water. She ignored the sniggering of her grandfather when she made a face.

"What is it?" She asked him, setting the wine glass down.

"How is your lemon water?"

"Fantastic, thanks for asking." She snorted, turning her attention to the plate of salad being set in front of her.

"I see you’ve kept our promise."

"I didn’t drank any alcohol since the time I confessed to you." She honestly said, taking a sip of her lemon water again and setting the glass down. Perhaps she should grab some sort of soda because this drink was beginning to bore her.

"You know, it’s alright to drink a healthy amount. I will only be angered if you drink yourself stupid and make a mess out of yourself." Zhao Moyao truthfully told her. He picked up his fork and poked at the salad before setting his utensils down. He began to look forward to the other entrees more than this boring salad built for a rabbit.

"Well, that’s quite hard. When it comes to wine, I sometimes don’t know when to stop myself." Zhao Lifei teased him, meaning it as a joke, but who knew this old man would take it so seriously?

"If you’re going to be an idiot, then do it when that imbecile is present." He thoughtfully said, preferring not to say that man’s sinful name.

"Imbecile... You mean Yang Feng?" She queried, confused at the nickname.

"Who else?"

Zhao Lifei sat still for a second before letting out a small laugh. "Grandfather, do you trust him that much?"

"Given the fact that I’ve yet to see a grandchild, yes, I do trust him." He grumpily replied, half-wishing they would just announce their marriage already.

"What if I told you I didn’t want to have children?"

"Then go and adopt one." He sniped, not giving a damn if the child had their blood or not. All he wanted was a small child to play with, though, he would like it a bit more if the kid had his mother’s features.

Zhao Lifei became quiet. Her grandfather’s reply was too good for her to combat. She kept her mouth shut and poked the salad. She set down her fork and waited for the next entree. The salad looked very appetizing but there were too many leafy greens and carrots.

Was Yang Feng that trustworthy in her grandfather’s eyes? He never took advantage of her or forced her to do things that she did not want to. In bed, he was fairly patient with her and never once did he push her beyond her boundaries. On the other hand, he was very overbearing and borderline ’too possessive.’ In the end, she deemed him a very trustworthy man. She was vulnerable in front of him so many times, yet he never did anything to her except cuddling her to death.

"Why are you looking at the salad like that?" Zhao Moyao scoffed. She had set down her fork, yet she was staring at the plate like it was the love of her damn life. He thought she disliked carrots, so why was she eyeing it with so much adoration?

"Huh? Like what?" She snapped back to reality, turning her head to her grandfather whose sour face was beginning to wilt the salad. Luckily for both of them, the first course finally ended and out came the next entree: French Onion soup.

"Were you daydreaming about that rascal? If you ask me, there’s nothing good that comes into my mind when I think about him."

"I can’t agree more." She let out a laughter, airy and sweet, tickling the heart of the men around her. In particular, a man who had been watching her ever since she stepped foot in this room.

"He’ll cry himself to sleep if he hears of this."

"I’d pay good money to see that." She chuckled. She tried to picture something as hilarious as that, but her mind was blank because the possibility of it happening was close to zero.