"Thank you!" Zhang Liling replied softly without meeting his gaze, as she picked up the glass of water to drink from it.
After drinking up to half of it, she put the cup down before picking up her cutlery. She was so embarrassed that she had her head down from the start of lunch till the end.
In the middle of eating, she felt a wave of pain in her stomach, and held that part of it, while trying to control her facial expression.
But Chuanli having been paying attention to her, noticed the slight frown on her face and asked, "Miss Zhang, does your stomach hurt? Sorry, but you will have to endure the pain for a while."
Zhang Liling nodded and continued to eat. She knew the pain was as a result of not eating on time.
With all this happening, Zhang Liling did not realize whose company she was in. This was the first time she was eating at the same table with Mr. Fang, and that too, accompanied by his personal assistant and doctor.
It was when she went to her bedroom to rest that she realised it.
After eating, Zhang Liling thanked Mr. Fang and said in a nervous tone, "Mr. Fang, about the new sheets, I'm sorry I wasn't able to get the exact colour as the old one. The store only had Cleopatra white, and as the only one in stock, I had no choice but to get it."
Mr. Fang waved his hand. "Go to your room."
He didn't have the energy to scold her anymore, and with her being in a pathetic state, it's not like he had nothing better to do.
Chuanli and Bolin left after eating, and Mr. Fang didn't remember about them until evening.
They had come to his house together, but for what important reason? That was something he couldn't figure out.
*******************
"Mum, what is this place?" Zhang Mingyu asked with a look of shock on his face.
Even in the day, he felt that the villa was creepy.
Shi Wenqian glanced at him and said with a smile, "Why don't you go in and see for yourself?" Saying that, she shifted her gaze to Zhang Xiaoling to see her staring at the building in anger.
She knew now, that she has realized where they were.
Someone came out of the building and went to Shi Wenqian's side. The man had a tattoo on his arm, and his chest looked bulgy. His looks were average and his hair was shaved.
His countenance looked serious as he approached them.
Bowing to Shi Wenqian, he greeted her before saying, "The match was put on hold until your arrival. Everyone has been waiting for a while now."
"Good boys!" Shi Wenqian said with a smile before glancing at her son and daughter. "You two cover your noses with the face mask and come with me." Then she followed the man with the bulgy chest and went inside the building.
Seeing Zhang Xiaoling about to tag along, Zhang Mingyu caught her hand to ask, "Xiaoling, are you just going in like that? Do you know what this place is all about?"
Zhang Xiaoling immediately hit his hand off in anger. "Are you asking me? Whose fault do you think it is, that we finally made it here?" She asked as her anger heightened.
"What do you mean by that? How is any of this my fault?! Did I ask mum to bring us to an abandoned house?"
Zhang Xiaoling scoffed. "If it was not because of your incapability to defeat and overshadow Zhang Liling, do you think I would ever step foot into this dammed place?! Mingyu, I hope that after today, you will be forced to pull your shitty self together!" She said and walked past him.
Zhang Mingyu was still tongue-tied by her outburst and watched her leave. If there was anything he got from her anger, it was the fact that she knew what was behind the abandoned building. And also, that stuff was not a good thing.
"Are you not coming along?" The housekeeper, secretary Cha asked while standing at the entrance of the building and staring at him with a neutral gaze.
Zhang Mingyu released a deep breath before stepping forward. When he got to the entrance, he took the mask that was handed to him, before making his way inside.
Zhang Mingyu was surprised to see that inside the mansion was looking different from his imagination. He thought that the inside would be wrecked, but obviously, it was in a good condition.
So, the outward appearance was a disguise.
There was even a living room, but the condition was not that bad. There were normal seats in their, and a small television secured on the wall.
Taking a turn around the corridor, he saw two other hard-looking men staring at him. They were standing guard around the corner.
Quickly, he turned his face away and continued the line down the corridor, where they took another turn before going down the stairs.
"What?! This building has an underground part?" He said almost in a loud voice.
Shi Wenqian who was at the forefront said, "Will you keep your voice down!"
Zhang Mingyu didn't say anything again, until they got to their destination, which shocked the hell out of him.
This place they were in now, looked like a shabby arena, and what was more surprising, were the men that were gathered in that room.
Most of them hard tattoos, and their face was rough. But immediately they sighted them, they all got to their feet to greet the one they have been waiting for.
The man with the bulgy chest who came to greet Shi Wenqian outside, introduced them to Shi Wenqian.
"This is our boss, you can address her as Ma'am. You don't need to know her name and what she looks like because now is not the right time."
The man looked at the men in the room and continued, "Ma'am as always has graced us with her presence today. She has a huge monetary gift to all the winners of today's matches. But if you lose, you know what will happen."
With that, he showed Shi Wenqian to the seat that has been prepared for her, which was in a place that looked like a small VIP booth.
"Housekeeper Cha, what kind of match are they playing?" Zhang Mingyu asked curiously.
"Master Mingyu, please go ahead," Secretary Cha said while gesturing for him to follow behind Zhang Xiaoling who was already walking ahead.
'So, this is the place where she secretly stores her blood bank and does her blood business?' Zhang Xiaoling thought while glancing at every corner of the room.
As for the men in the room, she didn't bother to spare them much glance.
'Does she take their blood as punishment for losing the match, or is there other hideous things she does in this place?' Zhang Xiaoling thought to herself as she took a seat beside Shi Wenqian in the booth.
Zhang Mingyu also sat at the right-hand side of Shi Wenqian, and fixed his gaze at the open space.
Soon, a hoarse masculine voice was heard through the speakers in the room.
"The match is about to start. Please, let the contestants in the first round sign the agreement before stepping into the arena. Once you have signed the agreement, your life belongs to us if you lose. But if you take a look at the agreement and you don't like it, you are free to step down from competing."
This announcement rang out again for two more times before it changed.
"Alright, the competition will start in 2 minutes. Will the contestants for the 1st round please step into the fighting Arena."
Zhang Mingyu felt that this was not a good thing after hearing the first announcement.
What does it mean by someone will lose the right to his life if he fails to win the competition?
Zhang Mingyu suddenly felt a shiver run through his spine. He glanced at his mother whose face was covered up, and couldn't tell her facial expression.
He was wondering if she was who she normally displayed herself to be in the house. He really wanted to ask, 'Who is this woman that is sitting beside me?'
Shi Wenqian felt his gaze on her and turned to look at him. "Why are you staring at me instead of paying attention to the stage?"
Zhang Mingyu quickly moved his gaze away from her to stare at the stage. He was a little afraid.
Zhang Xiaoling glanced at him and noticed him clutching his shivering fingers when she shifted her gaze to it, and scoffed inwardly.
If that he wasn't her brother from the same mother, she could have sworn to teach him a big lesson from dragging her into this bloody mess related to their mother.
Soon, the bell rang to signal the start of the competition after the two competitors entered the ring. From a closer glance, their eyes were red, and they were staring at each other as if they were ready to devour their long time enemy.
"Please pick your weapon." The man with the mic announced as three bulky men pushed in a mechanical truck load of different weapons. Almost all the dangerous kind of weapon was there, apart from a gun.
The men about to compete, hurriedly stepped forward to pick their weapons.
"Here is a tip for picking your weapons. Don't chose a weapon because it looks more intimidating, but pick the one that you can easily wield." The man with the mic announced with a smile plastered on his face.
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