Ten Years of Yearning. My Love, Let Me Protect You.

While in another place…

Inside the Sheng Industry and Corporation\'s branch office which was several miles away from the penthouse, Sheng Ruming was residing recently.

The chief manager of the branch company was in his office, sitting on his chair as many files were placed beside his computer while he was staring at the computer screen in front of him. The man was currently waiting diligently for Sheng Ruming to call again yet there was no sign of him calling back.

When he received the news that Sheng Ruming had come to this country he had thought that he came here to inspect the branch office and their subsidiaries. He even had to waste his two days\' worth of night sleep to make several reports he had to give Sheng Ruming. It was not the year of time for Sheng Ruming or any representative to come for an inspection so he was thrown in a disarray at that sudden news. Now he had gained two dark eye circles around his eyes and he appeared as if he was under a great pressure.

Suddenly a knock came from the door and his secretary entered the room with a coffee mug. The young man walked towards his boss and lightly placed the mug on his table.

"Boss Tan, have some coffee. You\'re looking too haggard these past few days." At his secretary\'s reminder, the man called Tan, took off his eyeglasses and sighed. He turned his attention to the coffee mug and took it. He didn\'t notice the secretary\'s cold eyes when he looked away from him. 

The man blew air on the mug and the next second he gulped down a large amount of black coffee. He appeared very troubled as he turned towards the secretary whom he thought was his accomplice in every crime.

"Xiao Huo, we are in trouble. The CEO has said he will stay here for a long time. I just hope he won\'t discover our secrets." The Secretary tsked in his mind as he gloated in delight. After he was transferred from another branch to here, he had thought his life would be good from now on but it was even worse. He hated this man who was seated before his eyes. 

"Don\'t worry, boss. He has a lot of work to do. We have concealed the matters very carefully. It\'s unlikely for him to find out. You can rest assured." The secretary assured him and talked for a long time. 

After thirty minutes or so, the chief manager received a call from Sheng Ruming. The secretary already went away a long time ago. Thus now he had to sit in the office and report everything to Sheng Ruming and it went on for a long time.

The secretary walked back to his desk and tried to be calm. If the CEO could find out what the two of them were doing under the table,  they would be thrown out from the company as well as fined. But he was innocent. He didn\'t want to do any illegal things but the manager forced him to. 

The chief manager looked very honest and upright on the surface that no one could guess the shady deals he was doing. 

Using the company\'s connection, he had bought many properties at the lowest price and those prices were ridiculous. Also when signing a contract, he would favour the ones who gave him money in other words bribing him. He also harassed a female worker onetime in the office while nobody was there.

The woman had to keep up with his harassment until now as she had difficulty to find other jobs thanks to his oppression. Under his leadership, this branch office became very successful but nobody knew the things he had been doing in the dark. One time, he had even hired someone to kill his opponent to gain upper hand in a business deal. 

Who could guess the highly educated, the upright individual is a demon in a sheep\'s skin?! He knew all of these and he didn\'t have another say. If he showed a single trace of betrayal, the next day he would find a stalker following him to kill him. Another person had already died because he wanted to send the main headquarter of the company the evidence. If the CEO was good enough he would find the anomaly in this branch but the problem was nobody complained about the chief manager. Also as a mere secretary, what could he even do?

*** ***

Luo Lixi forgot that she had yet to buy some suitable dresses for her. She intended to go on a shopping trip but for now, she put the matter aside. She took all the bags and packets and went to the 19th floor. After she had  rang the doorbell, the door opened after a few seconds. 

"Sarah, we meet again." Sarah instantly became cheery as she saw Luo Lixi but when her sight fell on her bandaged hand, her little face became sad. 

"Sister, what happened to you? Did you also fall on the ground like me and become injured?!" The girl went ahead and brought her into the penthouse. 

"Nah. My hand had some problems so it needed surgery. Did you fall in the past and was injured?"

The girl nodded and gave her a pair of indoor slippers to put on. Also she closed the door tightly and checked if it was securely locked. 

Her father had told her that she should always be careful or any bad person can enter their home and steal her mommy. After the little girl was frightened, she would always give extra attention to the door. 

While they were walking towards the living room, Luo Lixi glanced around but didn\'t see another soul around the place.

"Sarah, where is your mommy?" Luo Lixi had put all the things on the dining table and didn\'t find anyone. 

"Mommy has gone to the supermarket to buy things. She will come back around dusk as she has more work to do. I am alone here." Luo Lixi became bewildered by the answer.

"How can she leave you alone here?" No matter from which angle she saw the matter, it was bad. Leaving a little child alone in this big home was a bad decision. What if something went wrong and an accident happened to the child while the mother was away.

"Don\'t worry. I can stay alone at home. Mommy wanted to take me with her but I refused to go with her." 

"Why?"

"My favourite cartoon will start in the meantime. I will have to miss it if I go so I insisted on staying back." 

"Ohho~ i understand." Luo Lixi laughed as she patted Sarah\'s little head \'Really a child\'s mind…\' 

"I was alone and wanted to play but didn\'t find you yesterday so I left that paper on your door. Did you find it?"

"Yes. That\'s why I am here sweety~" 

The little girl already got up on the chair beside the table and stood on it.  She curiously glanced at the bags and hesitantly asked, "Sister, what are these things?"

Luo Lixi was glancing around the room when she spotted a lot of toys scattered on the mattress that was placed on the ground right before the sixty-inch TV. 

Then she turned her sight to the girl and softly said, "I have brought these for you, sweety. See what you like. All of these are only for you." Sarah became very happy when she heard it. She opened all the bags and found her favourite snacks.

"Thank you sister, will you accept my heart?" Sarah immediately hugged her upper waist and kissed her tummy. The girl appeared awestruck because Luo Lixi had brought a lot of them. Luo Lixi slightly smiled as she kissed her on the temple.

"Your heart is so easy to get, huh? These mere things can make you so happy?" Luo Lixi pinched Sarah\'s cute cheeks lightly. The little girl was too cute. \'If my hand isn\'t bandaged now, I would have taken her in my embrace and pinched her cheeks until I felt satisfied.\' 

"I love all of these but mommy won\'t let me eat more than two pieces of fries. She said I will become fat." The little girl looked distressed when she told her. Luo Lixi guessed why her mother wouldn\'t let her. After all, the things she brought here were all fast food which shouldn\'t be eaten too much or one would gain weight. Also Sarah was already a little chubby. If she eats more of these things she would become a fatty. Now Luo Lixi was regretting the things she had brought. But she had made up her mind to let the child be happy.

"If your mommy forbids you to eat more then… today is your lucky day, honey. You can eat more than two pieces of chicken fries. But I will give you everything in a little portion. Is that okay with you?" Sarah nodded her head. Thus both of them went to the kitchen and took five plates. Luo Lixi placed all of them on the plates and gave her little portions of everything.

Then Sarah told her, her favourite cartoon would start  in ten minutes so both of them took the plates at the TV area and they sat down on the mattress. Sarah made empty space for Luo Lixi and both of them sat side by side while the little girl turned on the TV and switched to her favourite channel.

"It would have been good if your mommy was present. We would have spent time together while munching on our snacks. Don\'t you think so?" Luo Lixi asked her as the girl didn\'t touch the food as if she was waiting for the cartoon to start. When she heard her, Sarah eagerly nodded her head.

Then, suddenly Sarah stood up and ran towards the kitchen. 

"What are you doing?" Luo Lixi asked and stood up to look at what she was doing. Sarah had taken two bottles of orange juice from the freezer and went to her. 

"One for you, one for me." Luo Lixi nodded as both of them sat down again. When the cartoon started, both of them watched the TV. They became fully invested in the screen while munching on their snacks. After she ate a little, she didn\'t want to eat more so she stopped. While Sarah kept eating and both of them didn\'t notice she had finished her food and now she was eating from other plates.

After two hours, Luo Lixi\'s phone rang out. It was from Sheng Ruming. She glanced at the time and saw it was already too late. But then she saw Sarah had already fallen asleep on the mattress. 

"How can I leave her in such a state? I shall let him know the situation." Luo Lixi immediately received the incoming call. 

At Sheng Ruming\'s penthouse…

The man had already made a table full of lunch and most of those were Luo Lixi\'s favourite. Only after he finished preparing did he call her.