The moment Xiong Zhi entered the car, she quickly took out her notes and started writing furiously.
Pages turned as the driver waited blankly, looking at the serious and focused expression of his young miss.
'What happened to our Young Miss? Suddenly writing madly. Is she upset?'
After a while, Xiong Zhi closed her small notebook and placed it inside her jacket's pocket. Then, she stared blankly into the air.
The driver still waited anxiously.
Actually, Xiong Zhi was thinking of and laying out her plan in her mind.
The driver could not hold it anymore.
"Young Miss Zhi, where are we going next?"
Xiong Zhi snapped out of her thoughts.
"Home."
"...." The driver did not expect that.
'Hahaha, right, where do I expect Young Miss to go to at this late hour?'
The driver bitterly scolded himself.
Xiong Zhi bit her lips. She was thinking of a big 'how' in her head.
After a while, she called out to the driver.
"What is your name?" Xiong Zhi asked with a serious expression.
The driver gulped. Did his Young Miss want to shut him up about today's matters?
"I-I a-am... My name is Ji Yu," the driver stuttered.
"Mr. Ji, can I ask you something?" Xiong Zhi's voice became grim.
The driver sped up, he wanted to go home! He would not pry into his Young Miss's business anymore or make any guesses.
"Can I?" Xiong Zhi asked again, her face dark.
The driver was really scared. Did he offend his Young Miss? Tell me how and when, author!
(A/N: I also don't know.)
Feeling pressured, the driver muttered 'yes'.
Xiong Zhi heaved a sigh of relief. She was not sure if it was alright to ask something personal from someone you did not know.
"I—how do you ask a favor from someone?" Xiong Zhi continued.
The driver who had broken out in a cold sweat stared at Xiong Zhi dumfounded.
'That... that was what she wanted to ask?! She got me nervous for nothing!'
The driver calmed himself and focused on driving while answering.
"It depends on who you wanted to ask the favor from, Young Miss," the driver started.
"Can you please elaborate?" Xiong Zhi leaned forward to the driver's seat to hear more clearly. The opening statement of Mr. Ji was very true. It seemed like Xiong Zhi would learn a lot today.
Seeing his Young Miss eagerly wait for what he would say, Mr. Ji felt like he was a teacher with a big responsibility of teaching a very important matter to his student, and that student was his Young Miss!
He cleared his throat and focused his eyes on the road. With a very serious tone, he said, "As I said, it depends on who you are going to ask. Are you close to the person you intended to ask the favor from?"
Xiong Zhi thought about it.
"I don't think so. We just talked once."
"Is the talk good or not?"
Remembering their conversation, she said, "I don't know, we both did not compromise."
"So it may be not a good impression. It was like a situation where I ask for a favor from one of my seniors."
Xiong Zhi nodded in agreement.
"There are two ways to ask a favor effectively." His hand stretched out two fingers.
"First, you need to praise the person. You have to tell them their good points. Especially their appearance."
Xiong Zhi tilted her head, puzzled. She could not understand the connection of praising someone to asking a favor.
These are different matters, right?
The driver glanced at Xiong Zhi through the rearview mirror. He seemed to know what Xiong Zhi was thinking about, so he added.
"Like for example—" He cleared his throat.
"'Senior, you're very handsome today! What brand are you wearing? I want to buy it too! I really admire you senior. You're such a genius in fashion! Can I become your fan? Ah, senior this fan of yours really, really respect you. That's why I'm a little shamed to ask you this, but you really are the only one capable, the only unmatchable senior. Can you please kindly lend me your beautiful hand for a moment?' That's how I usually ask for a favor from my seniors and so far, it's proven effective," the driver said proudly.
Xiong Zhi solemnly nodded in understanding. The way the driver asked sounded pleasant to the ears. Even she might end up helping Mr. Ji.
"The second?" Xiong Zhi asked. He said there were two ways.
"Oh. The second one is more effective than the first. Actually, it is always my plan B. If that person is not persuaded by your praises, you just have to give them a gift. A gift that they cannot reject. And that plan B never failed me. "
Xiong Zhi thought hard. Indeed, giving a gift was more plausible.
"Like a bribe?" Xiong Zhi muttered.
Mr. Ji was startled.
"No! It's not! It's a gift! I will not teach Young Miss Zhi those immoral acts!" Mr. Ji denied hurriedly.
(A/N: .....)
Xiong Zhi did not think hard about it. She was actually glad that her problem was solved. She looked at Mr. Ji in the mirror and said.
"Thank you, Mr. Ji, you are really reliable. I hope you can advise me more in the future."
Mr. Ji swelled up in pride. Their Young Miss had thanked and praised him! She even said she looked forward for more advice from him in the future.
'Praising, eh… Why does it seems like Young Miss just put in action what I had told her earlier… She's a fast learner.'
After arriving at the Xiong family's mansion, Xiong Zhi opened her laptop and went to the shopping website. She ordered for some stuff and wrote the address of her school, TIHS.
Then, she went to sleep.
_____________________________
A black Maybach was parked at the Xiong's Mansion.
A handsome youth in a school uniform came out from the car and went into the mansion.
Inside the wide living room, he stood at the base of the stairs and waited. No one could see or guess what the youth was thinking about at this moment.
The maids who were working secretly peeked at the dashing young man who was standing by the stairs like a beautiful statue.
They looked at the youth with admiration. They were tempted to chat with him while he waited, but no one had enough courage to do that.
Then, one pretty maid who in her teens decided to give it a try. Every staff in the Xiong mansion knew that she was the prettiest among all the maids, and her figure was good too. A beauty like her was comparable to a celebrity. She chose to be a maid of the Xiong's because the income was more generous than being a celebrity. Her family's generations had also worked for the Xiong's and is comparable to other rich families. Hence, they were loyal to the Xiong's as their family's prosperity depends on them. Besides, her target also worked here.
The pretty maid walked towards her target and smiled sweetly.
"Fen'ge—Mr. Zhou, have you eaten breakfast? We are just having our meal, come and join us."
The maid almost slipped and called the youth by his name in an intimate manner, which she often used secretly.
Linfeng, with his sharp senses, caught on what this girl wanted to do. Calling him by his name intimately? Breakfast? The girl obviously made him as her husband goal.
Linfeng did not like it a bit, but he still needed to be polite.
"No need, I already ate. Thanks," he said coldly.
The maid was disappointed, but she did not give up. She acted cute and pitiful.
"Is that so? I thought we could hang out with you. After all, we are all coworkers. We ought to get along well."
The pretty maid stepped forward and was about to stick her plump chest to Linfeng's arm when a cold voice sounded above.
"Linfeng, sorry to make you wait."
Linfeng quickly distanced himself from the maid. He looked up to Xiong Zhi.
Xiong Zhi gracefully made her way downstairs. With an especially icy expression, her aura was more chilling than before. Her beautiful eyes squinted at the maid and quickly turned to Linfeng.
Linfeng's expression was still the same, but he could not help but notice the chilling aura from Xiong Zhi's body. It seemed she was in a bad mood. When his eyes met hers, he sweated.
Those eyes of hers were accusing.
'Did I offend her?'
Xiong Zhi walked forward. Her daily habit of staring and admiring Linfeng did not occur today.
Of course, Linfeng who was the subject of every day's torment noticed this.
'She was really upset… at what? At me? What did I do?'
On the way, Xiong Zhi was quiet.
Mr. Ji was enthusiastic this morning. He even greeted the Young Miss a 'good morning', feeling that his relationship with the Young Miss was closer than before after the Young Miss asked him a 'personal question'. But to his disappointment, the Young Miss just returned the greeting and did not speak more to him throughout the whole ride. He also noticed that his Young Miss daily routine of 'you're good today' to Mr. Zhou was absent.
'What happened? Did Young Miss fail with my 'asking for favor' tactics? Oh no, I'm dead!'
Mr. Ji dejectedly drove towards the school.
The atmosphere in the car was gloomy.
Xiong Zhi was truly upset. At what? She did not even know. What she knew was that the moment she saw a pretty maid flirting with Linfeng, she was agitated. What was more, when the maid was about to shove her sexy body to Linfeng, Linfeng did not even evade! He just stood there and waited to be violated by the pretty maid. Maybe he even liked it!
Xiong Zhi felt strange. She was mad, upset, and something else… This was the first time she felt this strongly.
And she did not like it.