If you asked Li Lynn what it was like to be her, she’d tell you wasn’t easy and that you shouldn’t judge people by their looks. Probably because it was very easy to tell that Li Lynn came from money. Li Lynn looked absolutely spoiled, from the pearls that adorned to the designer coat that brushed her knees as she walked in her high heels down the street. If her high-class style wasn’t enough to convince you of her status, then seeing her enter the critically acclaimed, five star Le Manger a L’aube for breakfast of all meals should indicate something of the money she came from.

But the label ‘spoiled rich girl’ was just the surface of who Li Lynn was. Upon her entrance to the restaurant, the host scrambled to attention, immediately recognizing her and leading her to a table in the back, properly seating her and murmuring to her table that the usual would soon be served. The other patron, an elderly man in just as dapper of dress as Lynn, nodded and the host scampered off, presumably to do his job, although the two intimidating bodyguards on either side of the table probably encouraged the quick send off.

Lynn wasted no time starting business, pulling out a rather thick envelope out of her purse and placing it on the table in-between her and the older man.

“There’s half of what Guo owes.” She said, pursing her lips. Her left hand that had handed the money off was bandaged, a bit of purple bruising still peeking through some of the more sparsely covered parts. The man raised an eyebrow as Lynn attempted to settle the hand down gently as to not aggravate it anymore.

   “Only half? What happened, my dear?” He asked, leaning over the table to take the bandaged hand in his own wrinkled ones. Lynn sighed, her entire being relaxing and taking on a more familiar tone with the elder.

“He tried arguing, and when he attempted to insult me, I may have punched him… It got messy after that. I mean, really, what did he expect, trying to intimidate a member of the Zhu-Lis? Why did you even do business with him, Yeye?” She whined lightly as he inspected the hand. His brows furrowed before releasing it, and Lynn placed it lightly on the table as he spoke.

   “He had money at the time of business, I apologize for your inconveniences.” He spoke, before gesturing to one his men to lean down and whisper in his ear.  A short single nod was the only response the guard gave, and was all Lynn needed to see to know that Guo would be much less of a problem when she went to retrieve the remaining debt. “Next time, there will be no trouble, I assure you.” Yeye assured her.

Lynn waved it off, “No, no, Yeye, it’s fine. I just wish I had brought my gun so I could’ve been seen as more of a threat…” She sighed, before straightening herself as trays were brought to them. On the silver trays were assortments of breakfast treats and foods, as well as a tea set, teapot bright and shining with steam escaping from the spout. She set about serving the tea and buttering the biscuits as the conversation continued.

“Business is continuing as usual, seems that our stock share in Shanghai is flourishing thanks to Jun’s careful eye.” Yeye commented before taking the assorted fruits and biscuit that Lynn handed to him, “Ah, thank you dear.”

“Of course,” Lynn answered, “Is it SSE 150? I heard it jumped over 4% the 12th. Very good indeed, if you ask me.”

He nodded his head, gathering his utensils and beginning to pick at his plate. “I knew you would say that, after all, you did handpick the boy to oversee the Shanghai stock market.” Lynn smiled, allowing a little pride to swell for her little Jun. Barely 20, the orphaned young man had managed to find his way into the Zhu-Lis and Lynn took to him immediately. Upon realizing his intelligence, she was determined to get him to a high position within her grandfather's family business and put that mind to good use. But he wasn’t the only one she was curious about.

“How’s Mingi?” She managed to ask as she poured the tea, glancing up to gauge her grandfather’s expression. While he would usually respond generically as to not give her much more of a hint, his face told more than he thought.

   “Well, I’d like to think,” His eyes made direct contact with hers, a good sign that he wasn’t lying, “He misses you.”

Lynn nodded, “I miss him too. Will there be a visit soon?” She asked, and saw the quirk of the old man’s eyebrows that he did when he was fighting in-between two answers.

“We will have to see what we can do, my dear.” He nodded, his answer quiet. Lynn’s jaw clenched in irritation, Yeye always thought he could get away with these generic responses, but she had found herself terribly missing her dear friend, and she wasn’t going to let it go. Lynn knew that her grandfather hated her pushing anything dealing with Mingi, but…

   She decided to push it, “Do you promise? It’s been…” She trailed off, seeing him look at her with mild exasperation. Both of them knew it wasn't a secret that when it came to Mingi she'd push the boundaries of anyone in the family, but even he had his limits. He sighed, shaking his head in a mixture of fondness and exasperation.

“Three years, I know my dear. As soon as we can, I promise.” He made eye contact with her, if only for a moment. This gave her some hope, after all, Yeye didn’t explicitly say, “I promise” unless an honest attempt would be made. She nodded, dropping one sugar cube in one of the cups and stirring it thrice before handing it to him. He accepted it, thanking her before allowing the tea to cool. They sat in a comfortable silence before he took to sip. Lynn’s own cup remained untouched, something that didn’t go unnoticed.

   “Aren’t you going to have some tea?” He asked. When Lynn made no move to drink, he sighed and shook his head. “Still a coffee person, I see.”

   Lynn shrugged sheepishly. “I prefer the taste of it to the bitterness of tea.”

“Coffee is bitter, my dear.”

   “Yeye~” She whined lightly, and the light conversation and general air of familiarity continued on throughout their small meal. They brushed over a variety of topics, to her parents that were doing well back in Changsha, mentions of business and general conversation, and then the subject of Lynn's expenses were mentioned. Yeye made no hesitation to scold his granddaughter about this.

"You get closer and closer to your budget limit every month." He raised an eyebrow. He wasn't stingy with his money, he had plenty, but Lynn had come within hundreds of her limit this month and she knew he wasn't going to let it slide. Lynn smiled sheepishly.

   "It's not me... It's my new roommate?" She hesitated, before going on to explain, "I have a cat now. Fei Mao is his name, he was just so precious, I had to make sure that he was healthy and well, I did splurge a little buying the baby things to keep it comfortable --"

Yeye sighed, fond but exasperated, a tone that was standard for dealing with Li Lynn. "I'm not against a cat, but do check your expenses more regularly, and you did check in with Madame Zhang about this, I presume?"

Lynn nodded, "Of course, Yeye! I would never sneak anything past Madame Zhang, she ends up knowing everything that goes on in her tenants places anyways." She insisted, before pulling out her phone to show said pictures of her newest roommate to her grandfather. It was an amusing scene, watching Lynn coo over a picture and the older man looking at the screen with greying eyebrows so far raised up they'd disappear into his hairline, if he still had one. Conversation continued before turning into a more serious matter.

      "How was Mingi's meeting with the Families?" Lynn asked quietly. The last time she had news of her dear friend, Mingi was about to officially meet the heads and the heirs of the Families of the Triad. The Wangs were second in command, having their son Jia Er officially as their Head with Ruiji's untimely and sudden death last year, and the Song family with their eldest daughter Qian at the wheel to take over within the year. At the Head of the Families was the Li family, where Yeye had reigned as the Duizhang for many years, but soon Mingi would be taking over. To say Lynn was worried for him was an understatement.

"They took to him very well, I think." Yeye nodded, "He will be a good Duizhang. You will be too, when Mingi instates you."

     "I just don't think it's fair that I have to be kept hidden, I do have the family name..." She sighed, but she knew why. It wasn't the first or the last time they'd have this conversation before Mingi became Duizhang. Mingi passed as a biological heir, while she would not. Once he was initiated as Duizhang, however, he could half the power and she'd no longer have to be in hiding. She pursed her lips, while most would be terrified at the prospect of being a mafia head; Lynn accepted it as apart of her family life. It was her heritage when she came into this family, after all. Yeye wouldn't have brought her into it if he thought she would crack.

   “Here’s the next assignment, my dear. He’s really not all that in debt, but he’s been avoiding his collection for quite a while, and my patience has almost run out with him.” Yeye mentioned, having a bodyguard hand him an envelope before handing it off to Lynn. She took it, tucking it into her purse for safekeeping. She’d go over the details later this evening.

“Of course, I’ll look into it and give you a time frame of when I’m able to do collection. Does that work, Yeye?” The professionalism had seeped back into her character, and the old man chuckled a bit.

   “Yes, of course. So same time on the… 18th, how does that fair for you?” He asked, tucking his napkin away before standing up, still spry for his old age. Lynn pulled out her planner from her purse, looking over the date and smiling.

“Perfect. I’ll be off first, Yeye. I’ll be in touch about the assignment.” She waved, pulling her bag over her shoulder after marking the arranged date. He waved in response, seeing her off with a fond smile. As she exited, a sigh escaped her lips. While she loved seeing her grandfather and talking, she did so hate that it had to be so early in the morning and in such a secluded area of the high-end part of the city. A glance at her watch confirmed the early hour; it was only 10 past 10. Another sigh escaped her as she pondered what to do. She had no appointments until later tonight, so until then her day was free. She pondered for a minute before setting off towards the square near her apartment.

A day is always started right with coffee, no matter what time.

Hello all! Do you like The Hepburn Syndrome? I'm sad that Baby Mine ended, but I do hope that you all enjoy this story just as much! I've been working on this baby on and off for the past two years, and it's been through some... major changes to say the least but I can't say I'm upset with it <3 What do you think of our heroine, Lynn? She's certainly not... typical in my opinion. I do try and create interesting and diverse characters, and let me tell you, if you enjoy multiple plotlines, you're definitely going to like this story. So please anticipate more updates from The Hepburn Syndrome <3 Remember to do all the regular things, like subscribing, commenting, upvoting, all of those nice things! Happy Monday and Happy Reading!

~Smile