It's 3am and his eyes are fully opened. He watched the ceiling for a few minutes feeling refreshed but wondering why he woke up so early. He sat up on his bouncy bed, he stared at his phone. He remembered his mother at the outcasts of the city.
Zhao sent a message. A man will pick up the briefcases, he's ready to purchase.
Okay.
Li walked out of the house, he picked up the briefcases, he wanted to drive off to the Jade industries but he saw a masked man standing by the door. He quickly stayed calm until he saw a gun. He moved back, the man removed the mask. It was Zhao.
He said, "Let's go."
Li followed him in his pajamas.
They waited for a while in the car. He saw Zhao with a knife and other sharp tools. "Did you bring this to me? To torture me?"
"Li watch me." They moved straight to the field. The man he texted stood there.
He realized he just passed the test.
Zhao passed it to him. "Nice doing business with you."
"Same here." He walked off into his car.
Li watched from the car. He was way too scared to get down. "Li that's how you handle it, see you at the office." They drove off leaving him there.
Li drove off himself. He nearly cried himself to death as he drove off, Zhao called in again, "Li? I sent you fifty million yuan. That's yours. Good job."
"Thanks. Okay." Zhao could tell his eyes were filled with tears.
He asked, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
"Are you lying to me?"
"No." Li hung up.
Zhao felt his heart drop. He quickly switched lanes to get through to Li. He drove into his compound before he did.
Li drove on the road until he reached his house. He cleaned his eyes the moment he stopped the car, he walked out of the car calmly. He shut the car doors and walked into the house.
He opened the door and saw Zhao standing there in his black clothes from his head to his toes. He tried to run but he knew it would be nothing but a waste of time. "Don't you ever hang up on me again."
"Or what? You'll fire me? Lead me to clan and tell them to beat me up? You'll make them Yue me up and throw me into the sea? Or maybe you'll take all you've given me? Right? Cast me out of the city and back to the trenches!" Li yelled.
Zhao stood in silence. "Zhao you hang up on me every time and I don't dare complain!"
"I'm your boss. I can do what I want. You can't."
"Excuse me? You can treat people right too."
"How? What do you know about people? You just got here. Maintain it."
"I might as well just leave it then. Maybe drop everything and cast myself out of the city? How about that?"
"Don't speak to me with that tone." Zhao warned calmly.
"Or what?" Li dared.
Zhao pushed him over. He held his throat, he strangled him a little. Li hit his head and ran into the room, he locked the door and shut the lights down. He cried again.
This time he held his sob in his hands. Zhao ran up to his door, "Li! Open the door!"
He hit the door violently. He hit the door a couple of times, "Li! Open it! Now!"
"Leave! Get out!" Li yelled back.
"Stop this. Just open the door. I'm sorry."
Li cried, he sobbed and tried to control his tears but he found it hard to do that. Zhao said, "Li please. Open the door. I won't fight. I promise."
In the darkness, Li reached for the door knob. He unlocked the door and he opened it. Zhao walked in calmly. He could see the the tears flow down his cheeks, he held Li to himself and he hugged him tight.
"I'm sorry. I won't do that again."
Li held him tight, slowly they walked till they reached the bed. They stayed on the bed, Zhao on top of Li. He kissed him softly.
"Stop it. You are making me feel bad." Zhao smiled at him.
"I feel bad not you. I'm hungry."
"I'll get you food. I'll order the food. I'll get you a private chef? Would you want that?"
"Yes. Thank you."
It's a few minutes later. The chef brought the food. Li noticed the plates of large portions, he felt like it was a little to early to eat this much. "It's 5am right now. I need to get to work."
Li ate a few plates of food. He topped it down with water. He burped, he laid his head on the bed while he sat on the ground. "I need to sleep but I've got serious work to do."
Zhao stopped him, "You are an executive assistant. You can walk into the office at will. Are you sure you even read your contract properly. Just make sure you checkmate your other assistants always." Zhao sat on the bed.
Li turned to him, "There's someone new coming today. I'll need to meet with her later on. I think her name is Jane? I need to prepare to meet her later on."
"Surely you'll be able to meet with her later on, right?"
"Yeah sure. Later on. I need to sleep." He feel down to the bed and shut his eyes after he yawned. Zhao watched him sleep off. He stared at the cute little baby on the bed, the one named Li Wei.
He moved closer to him and placed a kiss on his head. He walked out of the room, he shut the door and walked out of the house. He drove off.
Zhao maintained his sight on the road, he noticed a calm few on the road. He stopped his car faraway from it. He knew that smoke, he knew he saw it somewhere else.
He turned back to Li's house, he turned back to the smoke. He knew it was a trap. Someone knew about his location or Li's location. Someone knew about the transactions and didn't think it would make any sense to just attack but to lure them out.
Zhao waited for a while. He picked up his gun and shot into the air, he shot up three times. Slowly, after a while, the smoke cleared off. He waited for a while and drove through what he could see.