Underneath A Thousand Skies ✔️

189 Vixen Above, Mensao Below (3)

Ignoring the envious stares of her classmates, Song Jia followed Ye Minzhe and her gang of flowery boy companions towards their suite. Their rooms were situated above the bridge, where the captain navigates and oversees the rest of the ship.

"I still have something to do, so I'll go first." Ouyang Che was quick to say his goodbyes, not wanting to risk getting another kick from Ye Minzhe.

"I'll go too, I have a girl to meet," Gong Qiye gave Ye Minzhe a sidelong glance. "I don't know what you're thinking, making her get the chance to be close to you, but it's better to stay away from people like them."

He coldly glared at Song Jia. "The farther, the better."

Then he left, following Ouyang Che.

Long Aotian, who had stayed quiet since the beginning, finally spoke up.

"I'll go back to my room, I'm sleepy," he told Ye Minzhe with a wave of his hand. "See you later."

Then he left too, leaving the two of them alone.

"What are you staring at Aotian for?" Ye Minzhe scowled at Song Jia, irritated. "I'm your master, not him!"

He grabbed her wrist and pulled her to the direction of his room, which was the most luxurious and expensive cabin in the whole ship: the regent suite.

It was thrice the size of an average home, with a 950-square foot balcony and a private spa. There was also a 24-hour butler service, a reservation to all of the excursions all over the cruise ship, and an exclusive access to selected lounges and casinos.

Song Jia gazed at the stunning décor of handcrafted marble and exotic wood, with limited-edition art books and Murano glass bowls displaying fresh flowers and potpourri. There was even a Steinway Arabesque piano worth at least 250,000 USD being displayed.

"For you, it must be amazing, isn't it? But for me, this isn't much at all." Ye Minzhe saw Song Jia's awestruck expression and thought inside his heart, Heh, such a country bumpkin. "Father had us enrolled at the same school, but that's about it. Don't you see how much he loves me more than you?"

Ye Minzhe's voice was relaxed, smug even. "Ye Jia, you should have just stayed abroad. This place isn't for the likes of you. I'll make sure you'll be living there comfortably, so don't worry about the expenses and just leave. I'll even let you borrow one of our private planes to escort you home."

As he was talking, he took off his tie and started unbuttoning his uniform shirt. Song Jia stared in shock at his sculpted abdomen that hinted of his athletic figure.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

Ye Minzhe arched one eyebrow and pulled off a Plush Etro bathrobe from one of the coat racks.

"Why, amazed at what you see? Ye Jia, you should always remember that we're siblings. You can't be tempted by me."

Song Jia, "..."

"Since you're my personal servant now, I'll let the butler retire. Ye Jia, turn on the TV for me."

He grabbed an apple from the fruit basket and took a big bite out of it, before hopping onto the bed in a quick and graceful motion. He watched Song Jia with sparkling eyes, the bathrobe slipping a little to reveal his chest.

"Turn the channel to CGTN, I want to watch ER Doctors."

This was truly treating her like his personal maidservant?

Song Jia didn't move from her spot, crossing her arms under her chest and staring at him.

After a minute of them just staring at each other, Ye Minzhe started to scowl. The tips of his ears were red. "Ye Jia, I know I'm good-looking, but I told you to do something just now."

"I'm not your personal maidservant." Song Jia added, emphasizing the word, "Gege."

"Ye Jia!" Ye Minzhe sat up straight, his curls getting mussed from his rough movement. "Are you rebelling against me?"

"Why should I rebel against you? You're not the boss of me. And Ye Minzhe, engrave this in your mind. I won't be leaving here, and I certainly won't go abroad. Whether you hate it or not, I'm going to take my rightful place in the Ye family!"

She had just pivoted on her heel and turned her back on him when a pillow smashed against her back.

"Ye Jia! Come back here!"

Song Jia gritted her teeth, picked up the pillow, and flung it back at him with force.

Song Jia watched as Ye Minzhe's eyes went wide with shock and disbelief before the pillow hit him squarely in the face. He landed with a muffled thump on his back on the bed, looking dazed.

Song Jia muttered a scornful "Hmph," and left the room, slamming the door loudly behind her.

A few seconds later, a defeaning yell echoed inside the regent suite.

"Ye Jia!!!"

...

Song Jia didn't have time to bother with him. She had to quickly find out who was patient zero [1] among these passengers, and stop the virus outbreak from happening.

Otherwise, if the infection begins to spread...by then, it would be too late to stop it.

Suddenly, there was another series of chimes coming from the ship's main intercom.

"Ding - dong."

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, this is once again Tan Peng of the entertainment squad of the Fudong Cruise ship. The time is now 1:30 PM. The weather looks good, clear and sunny, with a high of 25 degrees for this afternoon. For those interested, stop by the shore excursions desk on deck 7, we have plenty of activities for you to do. Also, there is a fireworks display at 6 PM and the Midnight Club on deck 12 is having a live music performance..."

Song Jia stopped in front of a large overall layout display of the cruise ship's deck plans, tracing her finger across the ship's seventeen levels. Finally, she found the cruise ship's Health Center on Deck 3.

The announcer on the intercom was still speaking.

"...once again, my name is Tan Peng, part of the entertainment squad here aboard the Fudong Cruise ship. I'll look forward to seeing each and every one of you, as we head on down to Shanghai City. Until then, safe travels!"

"Beep."

Song Jia saw that there were more people loitering on the open decks now than there was before, with kids running around in their swimming trunks and women wearing wide-brimmed hats chattering with each other. Sunshine poured through the large glass windows, turning millions of dust motes into glittering specks of gold.

It was hard to believe that after night fell, this dream-like atmosphere would transform into a real nightmare straight from hell.

"Hold the elevator please!"

Song Jia called out as she slid into the elevator, pushing the button that would take her down to deck 3.

If she wanted to find patient zero, the health center where the sick people went for treatment would be the best place to begin.

[1] Also known as index case, this refers to the first human infected by a viral or bacterial disease in an outbreak.