Xin Qing woke up at the hospital. When she opened her eyes, the first person she saw was Zhang Mi...
Xin Qing sat up. "What are you doing here?" She asked, puzzled.
"Your man knows everything," Zhang Mi said as she poured some water for Xin Qing. "I"m just here as a witness!"
"Huh?" Xin Qing did not follow. She felt a little bit light-headed still.
The door opened, and Ying Qingcang and Young Master Shen walked in. Xin Qing"s gaze immediately went to Ying Qingcang"s ear. He was the one who had gotten hurt. How come she was the one who ended up lying here...
"The doctor said you"ve been too stressed lately. Plus, you were in shock. Your body couldn"t take it so you pa.s.sed out," Ying Qingcang said, his eyes never leaving hers. "Now, it"s time to settle our score."
Xin Qing suddenly felt a bit guilty. "Set... Settle our score? What score?"
"That old man said something to you, and you believed him. That"s why you broke up with me. Are your feelings for me so flimsy and fragile that you would be swayed by the words of another person?" Ying Qingcang"s face had become dark amid his tirade. All the worry, fears and anger that he had been feeling for the past year were unleashed all at once. He had kept these emotions bottled up for far too long.
Xin Qing shook her head erratically. "I don"t know what you"re talking about."
"Alright, that"s enough!" Zhang Mi said, giving Xin Qing"s head a poke. "Stop pretending. I told you I"m here as a witness. Ying Qingcang"s dad had spilled everything. Even that Molly had admitted it. It was Ying Hao who had drugged your man last time before chasing you away."
Xin Qing listened to the end in a state of stupor. All the while, she sat there without any reaction whatsoever. Seeing her like this, Ying Qingcang"s heart went out to her, but at the same time, he was also p.i.s.sed off.
Ying Qingcang sat down beside her. "Have you gone dumb?" He said slowly. "I told you so many times already. Do not believe in those things. And now look at you. Not only did you believe it, but you even left me because of that b*llsh*t of a behest. You never loved me, did you? Is that it? From the start, you never loved me. That"s why you could just leave and break up with me on a whim, you—"
Ying Qingcang shut up instantly. When Xin Qing raised her head, tears were streaking down her entire face.
"Why are you shouting at me? Do you think I haven"t been suffering? You kept having these accidents, and they kept getting worse everytime. Your dad told me that I could save your life by leaving you. Do you think I"d be able to say no to that? You want me to just sit by and watch you be involved in another accident? What if you really died? What would I do?"
Xin Qing stared at him and said in between sobs, "By leaving you, at least I know that you"ll be fine. Even if we aren"t together, I know that you"ll be somewhere else. So when I miss you, that"s where I"ll be looking towards." "But if... If you"re gone? Where am I supposed to look?"
All of a sudden, Ying Qingcang hugged her with such a force Xin Qing felt pain right down to her bones.
"I"m sorry!" Ying Qingcang hugged her tightly, as if he was trying to meld their bodies together.
Young Master Shen gave Zhang Mi a look. Zhang Mi had no plans to leave, but was dragged out by Young Master Shen in the end.
"This is all my fault. I"ve caused you pain and suffering." Ying Qingcang"s deep voice echoed within the walls of the hospital room. "G.o.d, how I wish you are more selfish. That way, you won"t leave me, not even if it"s for my sake. I"m such an idiot. All this proves just how much you love me. I always thought that my feelings for you are stronger that what you feel for me. I thought you were just following my footsteps while receiving the feelings that I kept imposing on you. I was wrong..."
With both hands, he cupped Xin Qing"s face and started kissing away her tears.
"You love me very much, right? Just as much as I love you. From now on, let"s never part with each other. Xin Qing, don"t ever leave me again, no matter what the reason is. Trust me, I won"t let anything happen to me. I haven"t married you yet. We haven"t had kids. And I still haven"t made love to you in the places I want."
"Ahem! Ahem!" Xin Qing nearly spit out her snot. She glared at Ying Qingcang. "You... What are you even saying!" She snivelled.
Ying Qingcang laughed before pulling her into his arms once again. "I was just reminding you. You"ve been away from me for over a year. Your actions had prevented me from touching you for so long. How are you ever going to make it up to me!"
"B... But..." Xin Qing stammered, wanting to bring up the behest again.
"I don"t know why and how those few extra lines suddenly ended up behind the Ancestral Behest, but I can tell you that none of those are accidents." Ying Qingcang grabbed a hankerchief and began drying her tears. After a while, he found that the hankerchief was too dry and that rubbing it against her face would cause pain. He ran into the bathroom to wet the hankerchief. When he returned, he embraced her again.
"I"ve interrogated the thugs who kidnapped you," Ying Qingcang said as he wiped her face. "They confessed that it was William who had ordered them to do it. Also, when Ailey drugged you, he was the one behind it too. That time when you were captured by the trafficking ring, William was also the one who had pushed Mira to act. He was the one pulling the strings all along."
Xin Qing gaped. It was just too much for her to take in at once.
"Why would he do that?" Just what kind of deep-seated vengeance would prompt him to go through such lengths in order to destroy them?
Ying Qingcang shook his head. "I don"t know. I"ve been looking into his ident.i.ty. I got nothing."
Xin Qing suddenly remembered something. "What about Dianne? How is she?"
"William abandoned her on the streets. She was shot in the leg. She just got out of surgery and isn"t awake yet." Ying Qingcang paused momentarily. Then he went on, "I did suspect her at first. But now it seems like she has nothing to do with William."
Xin Qing buried her face in Ying Qingcang"s chest, avoiding his gaze. "If William is behind everything, then does it mean I"ve been silly to leave you for the last year?"
"What do you think?" Ying Qingcang kissed her cheek fervently. "Regardless of whether William is the one behind everything, leaving me is itself a silly thing to do."
Xin Qing blushed. "I"m sorry. From now on, I"ll discuss it with you first if there are any problems."
"How nice will it be if you"re like this from the start!" Ying Qingcang bit her nose. "From now on, you"ll stay by my side. You"re not allowed to go anywhere!"
Xin Qing nodded. The one year that she and Ying Qingcang had been apart was the toughest and the unluckiest year of her life. No matter what the Ancestral Behest claimed, she would no longer believe in them.
She shifted in Ying Qingcang"s arms.
"Stop moving," Ying Qingcang said in a strained voice, holding her still. "The doctor said you"re still too weak. Otherwise, I would have taken you to bed a long time ago!"
Xin Qing dared not move again after that. She lay obediently still, allowing Ying Qingcang to keep hugging her. At long last, he could finally have her in his arms again. Plus the fact that Xin Qing was acting so obediently? Ying Qingcang"s heart was instantly filled with joy. He rested his chin on the crown of Xin Qing"s head. His hand found Xin Qing"s wrist and he said softly, "After you feel better, you have to promise me something. Promise me that you"ll consent to any position I suggest. Also, you"ll agree to let me ravish you anywhere I want!"
"You... Are these things all your mind can think about?" Xin Qing pinched him. "You"ve touched other women during the past year, right?"
She was smacked in the a.s.s the moment the words left her mouth. Ying Qingcang bit down on her earlobe. "Keep saying nonsense like that, and I"ll strip you naked right now. I"ll let you experience the fact that I haven"t touched any woman other than you."
There was a bang as the door opened. Zhang Mi entered noisily. "Hey, save that stripping each other naked talk and whatnot for when you"re home. I"m so hungry I could die. Are you guys planning to eat or what?"
Ying Qingcang glanced at Young Master Shen who was chuckling behind Zhang Mi. Ying Qingcang"s eyes shot daggers at Young Master Shen. How dare he purposely allowed this woman to enter the room.
"You should quickly get discharged. You"ll become weaker if you keep lying in the hospital," Zhang Mi said, glancing at Ying Qingcang, who looked a little hesitant at her suggestion. Zhang Mi stepped closer to him. "Oh, by the way, it"ll be a little inconvenient to do naughty things if you"re in a hospital!"
"Get her discharged immediately," Ying Qingcang said, turning his head towards Young Master Shen. "Go take care of the paperwork."
Xin Qing glared at Ying Qingcang. "Can"t this guy rein in just a little?" She thought, staring at Zhang Mi who was teasing her endlessly.
"She"s just jealous. Now she"s the only one who"s single and alone." Ying Qingcang taunted Zhang Mi without hesitation.
Zhang Mi pointed at him. "What an ingrate. I came all the way here just to be your witness, and this how you repay me!" She scolded.
"Don"t speak as if you are some kind of virtuous person. Aren"t you just here to enjoy the show?"
"Xin Qing, I think you should consider finding another man!"
Ah Sha, who had not seen Xin Qing for nearly two days, was very happy with the fact that they had so much company in the house. Even more so when Ying Qingcang was there too.
Xin Qing had always felt that Ah Sha adored Ying Qingcang more than herself, though that was probably due to the time Ah Sha had spent with Ying Qingcang before this. From the moment Ying Qingcang stepped through the door, the child had not once left his arms. Ah Sha kept shoving the food that she found delicious at Ying Qingcang"s mouth while screaming "daddy" non-stop.
"Ah Sha, you"re going home! Are you happy?" Zhang Mi kept herself close to Ah Sha, wanting a chance to hug the child. Too bad the little girl was unwilling to part from Ying Qingcang"s body. The child never gave her any face at all.
Ying Qingcang had originally planned for them to leave tomorrow. But Xin Qing still had some unfinished business at CK, plus she was planning to pay Dianne a visit. After all, Dianne had been dragged into all this because of her. In the end, they had to delay the date of their return by three days.
"You don"t look too bad!" Xin Qing held a bouquet of flowers, glancing at Dianne on the bed.
Dianne smiled. "It actually still hurts like h.e.l.l!"
"I"m sorry. I brought you into all this!" Xin Qing said guiltily. Dianne stared at her. "Oh, come on. I was just messing with you! Have a seat. Are you returning soon?"
Xin Qing nodded and placed the flowers into a vase. "I"ll be returning tomorrow. In the future... We might not be able to see each other again."
"Yeah!" Dianne sighed. "Then why don"t you just stay!"
Xin Qing angled her head and blinked. "Sure!"
"Haha! Mr. Ying would kill me for sure!" Dianne laughed suddenly. "Xin Qing, you"re so lucky to have a man love you that much. I"m sure everyone would be jealous of you!"
Those words did sound a bit strange, though Xin Qing paid no mind to it.
Ying Qingcang stood outside the door. William had yet to be caught, so he had been shadowing Xin Qing wherever she went for the past few days.
There was a sudden knock on the door. A doctor who wore a mask entered.
The doctor went through Dianne"s medical records and said, "It"s time for you to take your x-rays." He then pointed at the wheel chair beside the bed.
Xin Qing stood up and helped Dianne onto the wheelchair. "I"ll take you there."
"Thanks!" Dianne smiled at her warmly. Ying Qingcang stood at the door, watching everything. Xin Qing"s eyes met his, and she spoke to him in a feminine tone, "We"ll be back soon. Will you wait here?"
The warmth was practically dripping from Ying Qingcang"s eyes at that point. "I"ll go with you!"
"Miss Xin, will you be so kind as to help the patient onto the machine?" Ying Qingcang closed the door and waited outside. "We should hurry back to China, and then I"ll take Xin Qing to see a traditional Chinese doctor. She needs to regain her health," he thought. Eventually, he was lost in his own thought. After that, he saw a nurse pushing a patient into the room where CT were done. He snapped back to reality and shoved the door harshly, which startled the people inside.
"Where are the people from the previous session?"
"Who?" The nurse asked, puzzled.
"d.a.m.n it!" Ying Qingcang turned around and ran.