Ah Nan, who was just a few steps behind Young Master Shen, was now feeling extremely lucky that he had not entered the office. He pulled back his leg that had been about to cross the door sill and took a step back. Silently, he stood at the doorway, not moving an inch.
"I didn"t see anything!" Young Master Shen said, covering his face.
Ying Qingcang adjusted Xin Qing"s clothes. Xin Qing pinched down on Ying Qingcang"s waist, hard. Ying Qingcang patted her back and coaxed, "He didn"t see anything. I was quick to turn around."
Xin Qing"s face reddened further. She hid herself in Ying Qingcang"s embrace, refusing to come out. Well, Ying Qingcang was more than happy to keep her there. He turned his head around and glared at Young Master Shen. "You better have a d.a.m.n good reason for coming here. Otherwise, I"ll kick your a.s.s all the way back to New York," he said coldly.
Young Master Shen slowly walked over. "Someone from the William famiy has arrived!"
"So soon?" Ying Qingcang frowned. "What are they playing at?"
Sensing Ying Qingcang"s willingness to listen, Young Master Shen sighed and sat down. Xin Qing raised her head and shot him a glare. Young Master Shen chuckled in response.
"The guy who came is called Smith. He"s the current eldest son of the William family. Oh, and he"s also the new heir."
A sudden thought came into Xin Qing"s mind. "Why didn"t they make any moves regarding William"s death?" she asked curiously.
William had died for no good reason at all. Even if the police had claimed it to be a traffic accident, it was impossible for the William family to not do their own investigation! Plus, William was their previous heir. How could they possibly let things slide that easily? The whole thing never even made it to the news let alone having people from the William family paying them a visit. That was not normal at all.
"Maybe they don"t know that we"re the ones who did it?" Xin Qing asked and immediately realized how stupid she sounded. If they were clueless, they would not have sent a message demanding a meeting with Ying Qingcang back in France.
Young Master Shen pa.s.sed a few sheets of paper to Ying Qingcang. The papers held the results of the background check done on Smith.
"Based on our investigation, this guy is a legitimate playboy. He"s also arrogant, domineering and cruel. He"s gotten on the bad side of a lot of people, though. Not even the members of his family dare mess with him. After William"s death, he had gained the most support to become the next successor."
"He"s definitely not a simple character. If it were really true what your information said, then he wouldn"t have accepted the successorship so soon." Ying Qingcang said and then paused in thought. "Whatever reason he"s here for today, I don"t think it has to do with William."
Young Master Shen nodded. "I"m thinking along the same lines. So, you plan to meet him?"
"Of course! Arrange everything. We"ll give him a proper welcome."
The summer weather was unpredictable. Some time in the evening, it suddenly began pouring. Chen Ming was driving home. When he drove past a crossroad, something caught his eye. A woman dressed in a skirt had slipped and fallen down into the middle of the road. He stopped the car and headed over.
"You okay?"
"I think I sprained my leg," Li Xiaoru said through her pain. She went into a momentary daze when she saw Chen Ming. Then she lowered her head quickly and tried to stand up with both hands holding onto her leg.
"Let me help you," Chen Ming said, reaching out his hand to pull her up. He noticed the swelling on her leg which looked slightly red. "That looks pretty serious. Come, I"ll take you to the hospital!"
Li Xiaoru felt ill at ease about the whole thing. She hesitated and dilly-dallied for quite a while before allowing Chen Ming to take her to the hospital. On the way there, she called her family. Soon, Zhao Jiali rushed to the hospital. Chen Ming frowned when he saw Zhao Jiali.
He turned to Li Xiaoru and said, "Since your family is here, I"ll take my leave." After that, he left without a backward glance. Li Xiaoru did not even manage to ask for his name.
As Chen Ming drove home, he found himself confused by his encounter with Zhao Jiali. "How come Zhao Jiali seems like she"s been having a good life?" he thought. With that, he took out his phone and dialed a number.
Xin Qing and Ah Sha were having fun with a toy piano when Ying Qingcang hung up the phone. Soon, Xin Qing noticed Ying Qingcang staring at her. "What is it? Who called?" she asked curiously.
"Cheng Ming," Ying Qingcang said in a peevish tone. "He still cares about you a lot. Didn"t you ask when he"s getting married last time you met up with him?"
Xin Qing rolled her eyes. "And you think I have a say in when other people should get married?"
"I won"t feel at ease as long as he isn"t married," Ying Qingcang said, and then he paused in thought. "No. Scratch that. I won"t be at ease even if he"s married."
Xin Qing thought he was being ridiculous, but at the same time, she also found Ying Qingcang rather cute and endearing this way. She grinned and nestled up to him. "Why? Which aspect do you think he"s better than you at?"
"Nothing. He"s got nothing on me." Ying Qingcang pinched Xin Qing"s a.s.s.
Xin Qing kissed him. "Well, that settles it, doesn"t it? There"s no point for you to be jealous!"
"Who says I"m jealous?" Ying Qingcang bit down on her retreating lip, taking it into his mouth. "I just don"t like it when that man keeps stalking my woman."
Xin Qing shoved him away. "What on earth did he say?"
"Nothing much. Said he ran into Zhao Jiali and noticed that she"s been living well. He called to remind me about it."
"Ah. So he"s worried that I"d be at a disadvantage!" Xin Qing smiled.
Ying Qingcang pinched her cheeks. "What are you smiling about? Don"t you dare smile. I don"t need his reminder to prevent you from being thrown into a disadvantageous situation."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah!" Xin Qing took the initiative and planted her lips on his. "My Ah Cang is the best!"
Ah Sha suddenly noticed her mommy"s absence. Turning her head, she saw her daddy tasting her mommy"s lips. Swaying and waddling, Ah Sha pounced and squeezed herself between them. "Ah Sha wanna taste too! Daddy eat deliciousness!"
At nearly two years old, Ah Sha could already voice out her thoughts. Ying Qingcang released Xin Qing and picked Ah Sha up. "Only daddy can taste mommy"s lips. Ah Sha isn"t allowed to!"
"I want to eat tasty" Ah Sha did not understand Ying Qingcang at all. The girl reached out and patted Xin Qing"s face. Xin Qing glared at Ying Qingcang. "Next time, don"t kiss me in front of the child!"
"I seem to recall you"re the one who started it," Ying Qingcang said, raising his brows, which earned him a bite on the nose from Xin Qing. Xin Qing took Ah Sha from him and brought the child upstairs for a bath.
Well, trouble seemed to always be around the corner on rainy nights like this; Monica was curled up on her couch watching a DVD when she received a text. She nearly jumped in surprise when she checked it.
"How come this crazy woman is back again?"
The following afternoon, Monica sat in a lavishly renovated restaurant, waiting for someone. The whole place and its surroundings made her lose her appet.i.te. Only someone like Fang Lu would pick a place like this; it was like she was afraid that people would forget how rich she was.
"Monica!" Fang Lu sauntered over in her Chanel suit and ten-inch heels.
Monica remained seated languidly in her seat, barely moving. "Didn"t you go home? How come you"re still here?"
Fang Lu had tried to get close to Ying Qingcang before this. But then Ying Qingcang suddenly went to France. After that, Fang Lu just up and left for no reason at all. When she left, she even sent a text to inform Monica of her departure.
"This time, I"m representing my father to handle an investment project in S City," Fang Lu said with a gleeful look. She had failed to approach Ying Qingcang last time, so she went home and did her research on him, whereupon she learned that the man was practically immune to feminine wiles; for so many years, he had remained loyal to Xin Qing. At her newfound knowledge, Fang Lu decided that a change of strategy was in order; this time, she would get Ying Qingcang to see her as not just a woman, but as a woman who could benefit Ying Enterprises! What Fang Lu did not expect, however, was for Ying Qingcang to suddenly transfer all his a.s.sets to Xin Qing"s name. When she found out about it, Fang Lu felt an urge to murder Xin Qing. Apparently, the loose screw in Fang Lu"s mind made her think of herself as being the only woman with the right to marry Ying Qingcang. She thought of herself as the only woman befitting the t.i.tle of Mrs. President of Ying Enterprises.
Just for that, she had fought tooth and nail to convince her stepfather to leave her in charge of the investment plans in China. In fact, she had already obtained the development rights of a piece of land in the New City. Now, all she had to do was convincing Ying Qingcang to join her investment venture, which would no doubt tie them together!
"You? Investing?" Inwardly, Monica laughed mockingly. "What have you been learning in university?" Monica thought. "All your time and energy were spent going on dates. Do you even know how to make investments?"
Fang Lu stared at Monica. "It"s not your call, right? Fine. Let me see Ying Qingcang. I"ll tell him myself." Fang Lu smiled. "I don"t know why Ying Qingcang suddenly broke off your engagement, but I"m guessing he hasn"t found out about the fact that you"ve been seeing a gigolo behind his back. That gigolo was even his a.s.sistant."
"Are you threatening me?" Monica laughed coldly.
Grinning, Fang Lu poured a gla.s.s of champagne and handed the gla.s.s to Monica. "Don"t make it sound so bad. I was just giving you a chance to pull strings from behind. In other words, I could go to him straight away even if you refused to help me. I came to you because it"s easier."
Monica went quiet for a moment. Fang Lu did not push Monica any further. Instead, she was enjoying her steak, all the while affecting an air of elegance and poise as if she was some kind of queen.
"Fine! I"ll agree to your request!" Monica said in the end, "Come to Ying Enterprises tomorrow morning."
Having lost her appet.i.te, Monica left and went to see Ying Qingcang.
"No wonder. There was another anonymous company other than Li Chenggui who had obtained the development rights. So it was her."
Ah Nan had already compiled a full profile of said company and pa.s.sed it to Ying Qingcang. "Other than Ding Enterprises and us, Xu Enterprises and w.a.n.g Enterprises were pushed aside by the sudden appearance of Li Chenggui and Hao Tian finance group. Hao Tian is Fang Lu"s company."
"Ding Lei wants to set up a commercial district. That won"t clash with our plans to build a hotel," Ying Qingcang said after going through the profile. He sneered. "Li Chenggui is investing in a resort. Seems to me like they"re keen on b.u.t.ting heads with us."
"An old man who goes around following the whims of a woman won"t last too long," Ah Nan said, and his lips twisted into a look of derision.
"Will you meet Fang Lu?" Monica asked.
Ying Qingcang smirked. "Sure."
Today, Xin Qing had requested a bunch of maintenance guys to clean up the swimming pool. After lunch, she would take Ah Sha for a swim. The water level of the pool was made shallow since Ah Sha still could not swim. It was probably a child"s nature to have a strong affinity for water; Ah Sha leaned against her duck float, her tiny legs kicking forcefully in the water. All that accomplished was spinning her around in circles on the same spot. After a long while, Ah Sha realized that she had barely moved an inch from the same spot. Pouting, she turned her eyes on Xin Qing. Xin Qing had been watching the whole thing in amus.e.m.e.nt from the air bed she was lying on. Seeing that Ah Sha was about to cry, Xin Qing jumped into the pool and dragged the child around in the water.
The mother-daughter pair were just getting out from the pool when Ying Qingcang returned.
"Aren"t you busy at the company? How come you"re coming home every afternoon lately?" Xin Qing asked, though deep down, she was filled with joy. She and Ying Qingcang were practically inseparable these days. He was worried that she might exhaust herself by going out in this sweltering weather, so he chose to spend only half a day at the company. Sometimes, he even managed to make it back for lunch.
Ying Qingcang handed Ah Sha to Aunt Tian with a straight face. Then he wrapped an arm around Xin Qing"s waist and led her upstairs to change.
"Who gave you permission to wear bikinis?"
Xin Qing bit him brazenly. "You"re the one who bought them for me. None of them are modest! You..."
The remaining words were swallowed by the man"s mouth.