Six years later.
Song Qian was sleeping soundly in bed, when suddenly, a five-year-old little girl walked in with a piece of mille-feuille in one hand, and a lollipop in the other.
"Mommy, I saw a very handsome man!" The girl put down her breakfast, climbed onto the bed, poked Song Qian's eyelids, and her little bottom was sticking up to the sky.
"How big was he?" Song Qian asked sleepily, her voice low and laxed.
The girl blinked her clear and bright eyes, her short fingers twirling around the loose hair on her shoulder, she enunciated clearly, "Very handsome!"
The incident that happened six years ago made Song Qian pregnant with this little kid, Qian Mengmeng. As a money-loving mom, she gave her daughter “Qian” as the surname, under the circumstance when she didn't know who her daughter's father was.
Speaking of that stinking man, Song Qian was still angry.
After the incident, she returned to the Crown Holiday Hotel to find the CCTV footage, but they had been taken away by a mysterious person. Until now, she didn't know who the man who slept with her was.
Song Qian slowly opened her eyes, mumbling, "Mengmeng, handsome men are not edible. When can you change your lovesick habit?"
"This one is different!" Qian Mengmeng spoke seriously, and the meaning of her words wasn't deciphered by the drowsy Song Qian.
"What's so different about him?" Song Qian asked. "After all, it's just a face, and you can't eat it."
Qian Mengmeng laughed out loud, her money-loving and foodie mommy was just too adorable!
"Mommy, do you want to find an daddy?" Qian Mengmeng asked, her little face full of anticipation.
Song Qian's sleepy eyes suddenly lit up, a heavy rage flashed through them, she gritted her teeth, "I do!"
A chill traveled down Qian Mengmeng’s spine, she cautiously asked, "What would you want to do after finding him?"
"Kill him." Song Qian speaks half in jest, half serious.
Qian Mengmeng was taken aback for a moment. Seeing her mom continuing to snooze, her eyes glinted with mischief. A plot surfaced in her mind and she silently smiled.
Qian Mengmeng lightly kissed Song Qian's cheek. "Mommy, I love you. Breakfast is on the table." She then got off the bed, braided her hair into two WiFi braids in front of the mirror, and left the room.
Song Qian continued to sleep until the afternoon. After breakfast, which was prepared by Qian Mengmeng, she set off to the playground she usually went to.
Even though Qian Mengmeng was just five, her ability to look after herself and her intelligence surpassed those of her peers.
Perhaps due to her lack of a father figure from a young age, she always stuck around handsome guys and threatened that if her mommy wouldn't find her a daddy, she'd find a suitor for her mother.
"What? Mengmeng didn't come today?" A sense of dread filled Song Qian's heart.
"She left early, said she was going to find a 'handsome brother'," recalled the playground administrator.
Three lines formed on Song Qian's forehead. Qian Mengmeng had always loved chasing after handsome guys, but she knew her boundaries and would never leave her mommy far behind.
Who was the top-tier handsome guy that managed to keep Qian Mengmeng away from home today?
Without wasting any more words, Song Qian hurriedly called the leader of the Red Lotus Assassin Hiring Center, Xiao Honglian.
"My daughter is missing." Song Qian's voice was very calm.
Xiao Honglian, well-connected in both the underworld and the law-abiding world, appeared to be in his fifties. But his ability to helm the top assassin hiring center shouldn’t be underestimated.
"Oh?" Xiao Honglian’s voice went up a notch, "Qian Mengmeng is just the daughter of an unworthy man, no loss if she's gone."
"Xiao Elder." Song Qian replied lightly. "I've been busy lately, could you temporarily remove my name from the hiring list?"
"I'll call you back in two minutes," said Xiao Honglian before hanging up the phone.
Song Qian found a set of steps to sit down, looking up at the blue sky and white clouds, she stretched leisurely.
"Your mischievous girl is about to cause a big trouble this time!" Xiao Honglian’s tone became serious as soon as she called back.
"What's happened to her?" Song Qian ask worriedly with furrowing her delicate brows.
"This time she has taken a fancy to the president of 'Mu Hua Group', Pei Yilin, who can cause a global financial crisis with just a flick of his fingers," Xiao Honglian's voice was very soft.
Mu Hua Group, the largest and strongest listed company in the whole of Asia, is internationally renowned. Its president, Pei Yilin, is rumored to be Satan incarnate, with a ruthless and iron-fisted approach that is domineering and cold.
What is most frightening, however, is that Pei Yilin is close to the mysterious leader of the world's top underworld organization "The Dark Empire", making him a figure that no one dares to provoke.
“Is Meng Meng okay?" Song Qian was most concerned about this question.
Considering the character of Pei Yilin as reported by rumors, Song Qian wondered if her daughter's life had already been claimed while she was oversleeping.
"Not for the moment," Xiao Honglian answered.
Relieved a bit, Song Qian then stood up. "Got it." and she ended the call.
Stopping a taxi, Song Qian rushed to Pei Yilin's private mansion, which was already surrounded by bodyguards.
Song Qian looked around and saw two queues at the entrance of the mansion, one of men, the other of women.
What were they up to?
Song Qian couldn't expose herself just yet, so she quietly hid to the side and dialed Xiao Honglian’s number again.
"Mr. Xiao, could you tell me, what are those men and women doing in front of Pei Yilin's door?" Song Qian asked.
"I was just about to inform you," Xiao Honglian replied nonchalantly, "The Pei family has lately been hiring bodyguards and maidservants."
"Alright." Song Qian agreed, a plan quickly forming in her mind, "We can have a feast once we rescue Mengmeng." Then she ended the call.
Adjusting her ponytail, Song Qian began to head towards the queue for the maid positions.
At that moment, two fashionable young ladies came out, both with faces showing signs of defeat.
"I initially wanted to seize this opportunity and enter the Pei family, then seduce Pei Yilin and become the lady of the house!" One of them complained.
"How many girls came with the same intention?" The other girl lamented, "However, his requirements for selecting maids are even stricter than choosing a TV starlet!"
"Beauty is a must, not a single mole on the body, legs need to be over 110 centimeters, must have virgin hair that has never been dyed, and so on, I can't even remember them all."
The girls grumbled and sighed, their voices fading as they walked away.
Song Qian remained in her place. She had never seen what Pei Yilin looked like, due to his cold and aloof disposition, no media outlet or magazine had ever interviewed him.
Looking down at her own chest and legs, Song Qian realized that aside from her hair meeting the criterion, she fell short in every other aspect.