She patted his shoulder in comfort.
"Cheer up. It's not the end of the world just yet. Do you want to hand it over to your grandfather?"
Lu Yin Ze shook his head. "Not now. I am afraid grandfather wouldn't take what happened to mother lightly. I'm worried how it will affect him. I will keep it for myself right now." He was worried that his grandfather's health, given his old age, would be impacted terribly.
Xiong Zhi stared at him. For her, it would be wiser to let Master Lu know what his son-in-law had done to his daughter and grandson.
Yet again, she did not have a say in this. It was a family matter.
It was right to say that she was here to help, but that did not mean she could poke her fingers into the Lu family's affairs.
Xiong Zhi simply nodded. "If that is your decision, I will support you. But this matter seems serious. Are you sure you can handle it alone?"
Lu Yin Ze stilled. Just basing from his mother's diary, his father was not someone a small person like him could take head on.
He shook his head helplessly. This was what was bothering him. He could not handle this matter alone by himself, but he could not tell it to his grandfather carelessly, too.
He still needed to wait until he was stronger, and gain the power of the Lu Empire before he could take his father head on.
Xing Zhi sensed his worries.
"Hey," she called his attention. Lu Yin Ze turned to her about obediently, his head tilted in question.
"Let me help you with this. I already promised to your ancestors that I will assist you," she said. "But we have to take consideration of all things. We go to do it step by step. No rash actions, do you understand me?"
Xiong Zhi knew that Lu Yin Ze had bottles, or maybe even tanks, of emotions pent up in his heart. This kid might be triggered by a simple provocation and foolishly reveal all his cards.
No one knew what the enemy would do.
That was why she came here in fast speed, to let him take this slowly and not alert the enemy. In fact, Xiong Zhi did not have any idea just who the enemies were and how powerful they were.
They had to tread carefully.
The boy with fluffy hair, whose grievances were apparent on his face, nodded obediently. He understood what she meant.
"Good. For the meantime, make sure to hide those properly," she pointed at the diary and the flash drive. "After the trip, I will take a look at what is inside the drive."
Lu Yin Ze nodded obediently again like a puppy. His silver hair bobbed up and down.
Xiong Zhi stared at the moving curls and could not help but pat his fluffy hair, before putting them down. "Good. Do you want to come with us on this trip? It will help you distract yourself."
Lu Yin Ze faintly blushed and took a sneaky peek at Xiong Zhi. He touched his hair on the same spot she had patted. He could still feel the remaining warmth.
"Did Gu Zhen come?" he asked instead.
"Yes."
"How about... your butler? Would he come?" He carefully asked. He furtively watched Xiong Zhi's face.
The cool girl's eyes lit up very subtly.
"Yes. He will be coming later," she said, the corner of her lips curling up into a smile. She was clearly happier saying this, compared to when she mentioned earlier that Gu Zhen would be joining.
A trace of loss flashed in Lu Yin Ze's eyes. He lowered his head to hide it, and took the chance to compose himself.
"I see..." After saying muttering this, he looked back up, his watery silver blue eyes softly gazing at her.
"Have fun then," he said with a smile.
Xiong Zhi stared at him, feeling that his smile seemed a bit forced.
But who could smile earnestly after knowing the horrible events that happened to their parents?
This kiddo needed to loosen up.
Xiong Zhi tried to persuade him again.
"Are you sure you don't want to come? It's nice to take a break from time to time. You can take in some fresh air and enjoy new sceneries."
The boy's ear twitched. He fidgeted a bit, as if tempted.
"Would you be with me in these two-day trip?" He stared at her. There was hope evident in his eyes.
Xiong Zhi stilled.
…The answer was 'no'. Naturally, she would stay with Linfeng. That was her plan and she would do just that.
"I..." Strangely, she felt somewhat guilty looking at his shiny eyes, as if he was a ruthless owner leaving her pitiful pet puppy to fend by itself.
"Err... I'm sorry. Both Xuantin and I can't stay with you all the time during this two day trip. There are a few things we need to do during the trip." Xiong Zhi said honestly. "But we could still hang out from time to time. We also brought an interesting friend with us. You can make new friends."
The boy's eyes slowly dimmed. By the sound of it, it seemed that she planned to spend the whole two-day trip with her butler. Disappointment washed over him, as well as heartache.
He let out a smile to assure her. "It's okay. I figured as well. Actually, I really planned to just stay here and clear my mind." Seeing that she still seemed unsettled, Lu Yin Ze said to ease her worries, "I promise I won't do anything reckless."
She must be worrying that he would take things on an extreme way again.
That was the old him. He would not do that again.
Xiong Zhi did not know what to say. It was not a good idea to just leave at this point. What could she do for him?
She checked her watch. By now, the bus should have left the school and probably arrived at the airport. Their classmates must be boarding the plane now. Thirty minutes later, they would be in F City.
Xiong Zhi could still catch up with them through her family's private plane.
Thus, she decided to spend some more time with him. She could still join her classmates in the afternoon.
She looked at the silvery white puppy whose eyes were watery and ears were drooping in grievances. "Let's have a short walk?"
Lu Yin Ze was stunned. His drooping puppy ears slowly perked upwards as his eyes lit up.
He wanted to say that he was fine and there was no need to... That she needed to hurry so she can catch up and meet with her butler.
But his mouth could not say those words.
He smiled instead, quite happy with her decision.
Xiong Zhi took that sincere smile as a 'yes'.
"Let's go. You will be my tour guide in this place, in one of the most luxurious gardens in the world," Xiong Zhi said with an accommodating smile. She seemed to see a fluffy tail wagging happily behind him in response.
The silver puppy had a thought at that moment, 'Yeah, it's alright to be selfish.'