"Smack!" Xin Qing"s palm connected with Molly"s cheek. Xin Qing was so enraged that she was shaking all over.
"You filthy b*tch! You dare hit me?" Molly pounced on Xin Qing. Before Molly"s strike could find it"s target, her arm was grabbed by Ying Qingcang, who then flung her to the floor.
Having heard the commotion, Aunt Tian and Uncle Fu rushed into the room. At the sight of Ah Sha, Aunt Tian began to panic. "Oh my G.o.d. I just left to prepare some milk powder for the child. How did it become like this?"
"Ah Sha, don"t cry! Mommy is here now. Mommy is here!" With great care, Xin Qing wiped off the stains of applesauce from Ah Sha"s mouth. Turning to Aunt Tian, she said, "Thank you so much for helping me look after Ah Sha all this while. Can you help me pack her things? I"m taking her away from here."
"Young Miss!" Aunt Tian had felt tremendous joy when she saw Xin Qing. But upon hearing Xin Qing"s plan to take Ah Sha away, Aunt Tian looked at Ying Qingcang with a conflicted expression.
Ying Qingcang stared icily at Molly, who remained seated on the ground. Molly held her cheek with her hand, trying everything to avoid his gaze. Time and again, she would shoot glares at Xin Qing. Deep down, she felt the urge to bite Xin Qing to death.
"Ah Sha and Xin Qing will stay outside the house for a few days." Ying Qingcang said. But the moment those words left his mouth, Xin Qing spoke with a face that was completely devoid of emotions. "I"ve changed my mind. I"m bringing Ah Sha back with me to France."
Ying Qingcang frowned. "How are you supposed to take care of her all alone?"
"That"s my business. I know I won"t let Ah Sha stay here and be abused." Xin Qing picked Ah Sha up. Before heading upstairs to start packing Ah Sha"s belongings, she threw out a cold parting shot, "If you try to stop me, then we"ll see each other in court."
Xin Qing packed Ah Sha"s things and then had Uncle Fu and Ah Che load the things into the car. In the meantime, Aunt Tian was crying surrept.i.tiously. When you come right down to it, Aunt Tian had practically raised Ah Sha. Aunt Tian was already emotionally attached to the child, so naturally, this would be difficult parting for her. Through all that, Xin Qing never spared Ying Qingcang a single glance. Ying Qingcang could do nothing other than stand there with a dark scowl on his face, giving out a bone chilling aura from head to toe. When Xin Qing was getting in the car with Ah Sha in her arms, Ying Qingcang moved to the driver side and opened the door to get in.
"There"s no need for you to drive me. Ah Che can do it." Xin Qing still refused to look at him. Ying Qingcang"s fist slammed down on the door. "Come here!" He roared. Those words were meant for Molly, who was standing at the front entrance. Molly staggered over.
"Kneel." Ying Qingcang said, glaring at her. Deep down, he wanted to wring this woman"s neck until it finally snapped in his hands.
Molly stared back at him. "Wh-wh— what did you just say?"
"Apologize," Ying Qingcang said, kicking Molly from behind. Molly stumbled and nearly rammed her head into the car. She kneeled on the ground and finally began to cry.
Xin Qing looked at them quietly. "You guys can carry on with your charade after I leave. Ah Che, if you don"t start driving now, I"ll get down and start walking."
"I"ll start driving right away!" Ah Che closed his side of the door and sneaked a glance at Ying Qingcang. After that, he fired up the engine and drove off.
Ying Qingcang stood there for a long time. After a while, he turned around and began walking towards another car. "Uncle Fu, I don"t want to see this woman here later when I return."
Molly threw herself at the car door, refusing to let him leave. "Ying Qingcang? You promised me we"d be engaged. Don"t you want to know..."
"And I also mentioned to you before not to test my patience. Otherwise, I won"t mind using other methods to get that information out of you." Ying Qingcang said. After that, he floored the accelerator and drove towards the company. Ah Nan had heard about everything from Ah Che. When he saw Ying Qingcang at the company, he quickly asked, "Young Master, did you really let the young miss take Ah Sha away?"
If Xin Qing really did take Ah Sha away, then Ying Qingcang could no longer use Ah Sha as an excuse to go see Xin Qing.
"Sir, you could always ask the lawyer to talk things out with the young miss..."
Ying Qingcang waved a hand. "It"s useless. If you use the same old trick and threaten her with the fact that she can"t adopt Ah Sha without being married, she won"t hesitate to find a random person and then marry him."
"Ah!" Ah Nan"s jaw dropped. He did not dare say anything else after that.
Just then, Young Master Shen stormed in and began shouting, "Hey, hey! What the h.e.l.l did you do again? Why the heck would Xiao Qingqing be taking Ah Sha away?"
"You came just in time. Ask your people to take Molly away. Do whatever it takes to get the words out of her," Ying Qingcang said. Then he turned to Ah Nan and said, "Withdraw all our funds from the Morgan family. Tell them that I no longer want Molly and that if they"re still looking for a collaboration, then they should show me the right att.i.tude."
Ah Nan nodded and left to carry out the directive. "Tsk, tsk, tsk," Young Master Shen said complacently. "Yo, yo. What did that dumb bimbo do again? Looks like she has finally made you snap."
Irritated, Ying Qingcang grabbed the nearest object on his desk and hurled it at Young Master Shen. Young Master Shen dodged and continued his gloating, "I told you ages ago not to hold back when dealing with her. Just force the words straight out of her! But you didn"t listen and had insisted on going round in circles. And look what happened? Let"s see what kind of excuse you can come up with to go see Xiao Qingqing!"
"The old man owed the Morgan family a favor. The doctor said he doesn"t have long. I was just planning to drag things out for a little while before taking action." Ying Qingcang sat down, ma.s.saging his forehead. All of a sudden, his eyes flashed with menace. "But Molly kept testing my patience. And now Xin Qing hates me even more. D*mn it to h.e.l.l!" Ying Qingcang"s pounded the desk with his fist. When he recalled the way Xin Qing had refused to even look at him, his heart was once again filled with panic and hatred.
"It"s best if you give your grandfather a heads up. Otherwise, he"d be clueless when Morgan"s people go to him." Young Master Shen said, standing up. "Leave that dimwit Molly to me. I"ll get her to spit out the truth."
"About Xin Qing..." Ying Qingcang said all of a sudden.
Young Master Shen"s head popped back in through the doorway. "Don"t worry. I"ll clear things up with her. Although... I bet she won"t forgive you even after I told her everything."
"Get out!" Ying Qingcang tossed an ashtray at the door.
Young Master Shen ran off, laughing creepily as he did.
Xin Qing and Shi Qianqian were unpacking Ah Sha"s belongings. At the same time, Zhang Mi was sitting there, watching the little person in her arms. The little person was munching on an apple. "Hey, don"t take this the wrong way, but I think baby Ah Sha resembles Xin Qing a lot!" Zhang Mi said as she poked at Ah Sha"s meaty face. "She"s like a mini version of Xin Qing."
"That"s perfect. That way n.o.body would suspect that Xin Qing isn"t Ah Sha"s biological mother when she grows up." Shi Qianqian ruffled Ah Sha head. Ah Sha, being the good-natured child that she was, rubbed her face on Shi Qianqian"s palm twice.
"Okay, fine, she gave birth to Ah Sha. But the problem is, with whom?" Zhang Mi said and then gave Xin Qing a nudge. "Is this your way of cutting off all ties with Ying Qingcang?"
"If not? What was I supposed to do? Keep waiting until they"re married and go on abusing my little Ah Sha?" Flames of anger rose within Xin Qing at the thought. She wanted to strangle Ying Qingcang to death. How dare he allow someone to treat Ah Sha like that. "Good thing I saw the whole thing in time. Otherwise, I really can"t imagine what"ll happen."
The first thing Xin Qing had done when she returned to Shi Qianqian"s place was to carefully bathe Ah Sha. While doing so, she had taken the opportunity to check Ah Sha"s body for wounds and any signs of physical abuse. Heck, she had even brought out a magnifying gla.s.s for that. In her mind, Ah Sha"s wounds might not come in the form of obvious physical trauma, but in forms undetectable to the eyes, such as needle punctures, for instance. Thank goodness she had not discovered anything in the end. Ah Sha"s white and plump skin was clean and flawless.
In truth, Molly had some pretty bad luck. Normally, she would not have the chance to interact with Ah Sha at all. Aunt Tian and Uncle Fu had been watching over the child vigilantly all this while. Today was the first day Molly had the chance to get her hands on Ah Sha, yet she was caught red-handed by Xin Qing...
Young Master Shen came over again that night and had shamelessly insisted on staying for dinner. He spent the entire meal trying to clear Ying Qingcang"s name. He had refused to leave until it was very late. When it was time for him to leave, Shi Qianqian asked him to give Zhang Mi a ride. Young Master Shen balked at the request and had thrown out an offhand remark.
"My car has no room for her!"
Chuckling, Zhang Mi picked up her clothes and dragged Young Master Shen out by the ear. "Not only will I ride in your car tonight, but I"ll also be stomping my feet all over your steering wheel."
Before he left, Young Master Shen paused just outside the door. When he looked at Xin Qing, his expression was grim and sombre. "Xiao Qingqing," he said, "I know that there"s nothing more I can say to change your mind. But you know him. You know as well as I do the kind of man he is. Stop making things difficult for yourself. Everyone will be in pain if things go on like this."
Xin Qing shot him a deep, profound look. Turning around to close the door, she said, "Living with this kind of pain is simpler."
The meaning behind those words eluded Young Master Shen. It was the same for Ying Qingcang, too, when Young Master Shen relayed her exact words to him. Only Xin Qing knew the meaning behind her words. Since it was no longer possible for her and Ying Qingcang to be together, it was better for them to severe all ties rather than being entangled like they used to. That was why she had decided to take Ah Sha away. That way, there would be nothing left between Ying Qingcang and herself.
Though Xin Qing had completely underestimated the level of shamelessness that Ying Qingcang was capable of...
"What are you doing here?" It was bright and early on Chinese New Year"s eve when the door bell rang. Xin Qing had answered the door and saw Ying Qingcang standing there carrying a huge box with him. Young Master Shen was there too.
"Haha! We"re all single, unattached recluses. It"s much livelier to celebrate Chinese New Year together!" Young Master Shen said as he tried to shove Ying Qingcang through the door. Xin Qing was about to stand in his way to prevent his entry when a soft voice rang out from behind.
"Daddy! Daddy!" Those two words had come out from little Ah Sha"s mouth in a way that was indisputably clear. Xin Qing turned her head and saw a tiny figure waddling towards Ying Qingcang. Ah Sha dove at Ying Qingcang and buried her head against Ying Qingcang"s chest. Ying Qingcang picked Ah Sha up in one swift motion. Ah Sha rubbed her face against his in response.
"How about daddy play with Ah Sha!" Ying Qingcang took out a ma.s.sive doll from the large box. Ah Sha clapped her hands and said, "Daddy doll! Daddy doll!"
By the time Xin Qing snapped out of her daze, the father-daughter pair had already moved into the living room.
Young Master Shen came up to her. "Enough. You really have the heart to let him spend Chinese New Year all alone in that house?" He remarked, which earned him a glare from Xin Qing. Shi Qianqian and Ding Lei had been secretly watching the scene from the kitchen. Ding Lei was not happy at all now that his private time with Shi Qianqian had been ruined by so many people.
"I"ll go book a flight right now. We"ll spend Chinese New Year abroad." He said fiercely.
Shi Qianqian kissed him. "Be a good boy, okay? We can"t leave. Otherwise, Xin Qing would feel bad. I mean, it"s good to have more people around. It"s more lively that way!"
"Then tonight you must be on top. And you must allow me to ravish you however I want it!" Ding Lei had sneakily thrown out the request. Shi Qianqian had been unable to relax and fully let herself go in bed. All these while, Ding Lei had been trying to condition her and teach her more about s.e.x.
Shi Qianqian glared at him. "How can you be so shameless?"
"If you don"t promise me now, then I"ll go book the flight right away!"
Shi Qianqian pinched him before nodding begrudgingly. "Fine. Go and greet Ying Qingcang. I"ll ask the restaurant to send over the reunion dinner."
Ying Qingcang felt completely at home here. A few times, Ding Lei had tried to fool him into releasing his hold on an event next year, but he had flat out refused. In the end, Ding Lei just sneered at him.
"Serves you right that your woman had tossed you away!"
Ying Qingcang glared at Ding Lei. "I heard from Xin Qing that your s.e.x life isn"t all that satisfying. Need me to give you a few pointers?" Ying Qingcang shot back coldly.
Ding Lei spit out his drink, though he might as well be spitting out his own blood at this point. "They talk about these things among besties?" He thought.
Things had been going quite well until the time they were about to have their reunion dinner. Well, until Young Master Shen received a sudden phone call, to be precise. After taking the call, he turned to look at Ying Qingcang with a grave expression. "Someone had rescued Molly."