Silence.

"He cannot be present today?" As she enounced every word, the invisible pressure in the atmosphere tightened as if it would strangle and kill you.

Fu Renshu said, "Apologies, Old Madam. There came an emergency work in Shanghai for which the Boss had to personally visit…"

As Ruomei heard this, she felt disappointed. She didn't know that Wei would be unable to make it today. All her hopes crashed.

So Wei will not be here today…Wait does that mean that this discussion would be postponed until he comes back?

The Old Madam's cold and detached gaze sent shivers down his spine. "What is so important that the Mafia King had to personally take the trip as opposed to coming here?"

"Clashes between some gangs."

Jiang Weizhe stepped down the stairs as he calmly took his seat. He had no particular emotion or expression in his eyes as he faced everybody. The Old Madam's already cold demeanor turned even more dire at his presence.

"You finally got the time to be here?"

Jiang Weizhe didn't comment, that only irked her even more. He simply propped his arm on the armrest and paid no attention to her.

Fu Renshu inwardly felt relieved on seeing him. Before a confrontation started between the mother and son, he quickly said, "It's as Master Jiang said. There were clashes between our gangs in Shanghai that caused a lot of trouble. It brought the attention of the police which was unfavorable, so Boss had to go. The situation had become heated."

The Old Madam asked, "Who gave him the permission to leave without consulting me?"

Fu Renshu gulped and eyed Jiang Weizhe.

Master! Please help!

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Did you?"

He didn't reply which made Fu Renshu wish to shed a river of tears. There was silence for a long time.

The Old Madam's face darkened by such disrespect. "Open your mouth!"

Her voice thundered in the villa so loudly that everybody jolted in their seats except Jiang Weizhe. Ruomei shook in fear. Even if she wasn't the target of her anger, she felt intimidated like hell.

In the future, I shouldn't do anything to make her angry. I need to be in her grace, she reminded herself.

Just at that moment, a middle-aged man quickly stepped into the villa and greeted the Old Madam. "Apologies, Old Madam for being late."

The elderly man whose features resembled Fu Renshu, raised his head. His gaze met his son's, but he didn't show any visible change in his expression. Neither did Fu Renshu react upon seeing his father.

The Old Madam smiled with an air of danger to it. "Yes, please. After Wei and Weizhe, you were only left to be late. Seems like Jiang family's protocols have become lighter for all of you."

Fu Shen, respectfully said, "No excuses, Old Madam. I am ready to face any punishment."

Jiang Weizhe glanced at him and Fu Shen straightened up. "Old Madam. Master Jiang simply relayed the news to the young master. Young master immediately booked his flight as soon as he learned of this trouble. As the Mafia King, he had no other choice but to head himself to resolve the dispute."

The Old Madam said nothing.

Shi Zhen, Ruomei's father quickly said, "Old Madam. We understand. After all, Wei has a lot of responsibilities on his shoulders and emergency like these could come up anytime."

Shi Cuifen nodded and was about to support her husband when he secretly glared at her not to say anything. The atmosphere was tense. He didn't want it to screw it up. She pursed her lips and promptly sat back.

"Old Madam. I think we should leave. We can discuss after Wei is back."

Ruomei didn't show it, but her shoulders slumped. All her excitement died down. She was so eager to learn the date of their engagement.

The Old Madam raised her palm. "No. We will discuss it right now irrespective of whether Wei is here or not. His absence wouldn't matter anyway because I will decide when the engagement will take place."

Ruomei brightened.

Thank God!

The Old Madam coldly said, "We will not delay this engagement any longer. One week from now, that is next Friday, we will hold the engagement banquet in the Jiang villa."

Fu Renshu stiffened.

One week?

That's too soon. So only a week until Boss and Song Lihua can be together. After that, he has to…

Naturally, the Shi family was more than happy with this announcement. "Thank you, Old Madam. We are grateful to you. We will immediately start with the preparations."

"Ruomei," she called out and stared at her with a serious countenance.

"Yes, Old Madam."

She wasn't allowed to call her Grandma. The Old Madam wanted everybody to address her with her title.

"I want you to be on your best behavior on that day. You should act accordingly like the daughter-in-law of the Jiang family. You will not do anything to embarrass us or there will be heavy repercussions on your family."

Ruomei felt the maddening pressure on her with her words. She gracefully smiled. "Rest assured, Old Madam. I will not do anything to embarrass the Jiang family."

The Old Madam stared straight at Fu Renshu and said, "I don't need to say that he should be present in his own engagement ceremony, right?"

"No, Old Madam! Boss will be present."

She sneered and left the hall. Since the discussion was over, the rest of the Jiang family left as well while the Shi family were escorted out.

Jiang Weizhe gracefully got up and was about to leave when Fu Renshu called out. Master Jiang!"

Fu Shen coldly said, "Master is busy now. Don't bother him. Do I need to teach you this now?"

Fu Renshu respectfully said, "No, Sir. I know the rules. But I really need to have a word with him."

Jiang Weizhe glanced at him. "In my study."

In his study room, Jiang Wei signaled him to continue as he took his seat. Fu Shen stepped back. "Don't take much time."

Fu Renshu paused to gather his thoughts. He slowly raised his head and faced him. "Master Jiang. Will you... please help cancel this engagement?"

---

At college, as soon as the test got over, Meng Ya came sobbing to her best friend's side. "Lihua! You have to listen to me! Last night I faced hell! I met a demon! Demons do exist!"

But Lihua had no time to hear her sad story. "Sorry Yaya. I really need to head somewhere. It's important."

Meng Ya dramatically clutched her chest and accusingly said, "You! Your friend was tortured by a demon here and you got no time to console her?" She fumed and pouted.

Lihua grinned and hugged her. "Sorry Yaya. But if this wasn't so important, I would have listened to your story leisurely having popcorn."

Meng Ya glared at her and smacked her hard. "What is so important? The test is also done."

Lihua turned grim as she thought of her sister.

Mo Huojin and I have to quickly find out about that Mafia King and investigate him.

"Sorry Yaya. I cannot tell you for now. But I have to leave. Bye!"

---

"What did you find out?" Lihua asked as she kept her bag and sat beside Mo Huojin who had his laptop running on the table.

"There are three most suspicious companies," he said as he took a sip from his coffee mug. "The CEO of Jingling Corps got a sudden huge investment from some unknown sources that have increased their share price. It can be said that some shady deal is going on.

Lihua nodded.

"Jian Steel has some of its employees selling raw materials illegally and secretly through the mafia channels to other countries to make a profit."

She grimaced.

"And JBV Chemicals is the same. My informant has heard from the grapevine that the oldie managers there are selling some dangerous chemicals in exchange for an exorbitant price. These chemicals are mainly used to make bombs but even deadlier."

Lihua was horrified. "What? How could they do this!?"

"Money runs the world. There is no end to greed."

She gritted her teeth.

How shameless!

Mo Huojin had also investigated other companies but they came out clean except that he couldn't shake his mind off Jiang Industries. It seemed as if even if they had any connections to the Mafia, it was very well hidden. Their image and background were so clean that nobody could doubt them.

But his instinct told him to keep Jiang Industries on his radar. Lihua confidently said to keep Wei out of the loop. But he didn't. He was secretly going on with his investigation.

Lihua said, "That means that sis is investigating from one of these companies."

He nodded. "For sure."

"How will we narrow down into one?"

Mo Huojin leaned back on his couch. "We have to give some sort of a bait."

She blinked her eyes. "Bait?"

"Yeah. If Song Jia is connected to any of these companies, one of them will react and make a mistake in exposing themselves."