Fang Qingping lit a cigar and sat down on the couch. Looking at Fang Lu, he said, "That"s right. I"m thinking about how it feels when I finally get her to bed."
"Humph!" Fang Lu gave him two glances. "I thought you"ve developed feelings for her!"
This nominal brother of hers had never been one to refuse women. He would not mind taking any woman to bed as long as she could be seduced. One thing, however, was the fact that her seemingly aimless and purposeless brother was actually very clever. He could always tell the difference between women that he could and could not touch. He would never force himself on any woman, either.
Fang Lu did fear that he would refuse her when she asked him to seduce Xin Qing. Obviously, Fang Qingping was still clueless about Ying Qingcang"s background. Otherwise, he would not have agreed to go along with her plans that easily.
"My true feelings are with you!" Fang Qingping said, pulling Fang Lu into his arms.
Meanwhile, the two people that they were scheming against were having their own showdown at the hot spring.
"Get over here!" Ying Qingcang yanked at Xin Qing"s bathrobe. Xin Qing held the robe tight, refusing to give him what he wanted.
"No! I don"t want to!" Xin Qing hid behind a ma.s.sive rock. "I don"t want it like that!"
A miniature hovercraft floated out of nowhere. Xin Qing stared at it and realized that it looked different from the last time she had seen it. The hovercraft had something tied to it, like some kind of rope with adjustable tension. Before she knew it, she was placed into the hovercraft by Ying Qingcang, which caused the hovercraft to sway back and forth several times. Xin Qing wrapped her arms around Ying Qingcang"s neck, not daring to let go.
"Scared?" In the night, Ying Qingcang"s voice sounded remarkably deep, and it contained peculiar hoa.r.s.eness too.
Xin Qing gave him a sidelong glance. "You think?"
"Hehehe!" Ying Qingcang smirked, and then he kissed her. "Fine. Let"s head over to the shallow area." Ying Qingcang guided the hovercraft and trudged slowly through the water. Xin Qing, on the other hand, was blushing heavily. As the spring water became shallower and shallower, Xin Qing swallowed.
Finally, Ying Qingcang stopped moving. Xin Qing was just about to leap off the hovercraft to put some distance between them when suddenly, she felt the rope being tied on her. Ying Qingcang began adjusting the rope"s tension. While he did so, he bit down on her earlobe. "You"re not allowed to run, hm?"
The sound of that "hm" made Xin Qing feel as if her heart had been caressed by numerous feathers; it felt ticklish, like there was an itch there. The sensation, however, was far from gratifying. It did not feel enough, and she felt a strong urge to touch her heart with something just to get more of it.
By the time she came to her senses, Xin Qing found herself tied to the miniature hovercraft.
"What on earth are you doing?"
Seeing the panic in her eyes, Ying Qingcang quickly embraced her. "Don"t be scared. I"m here with you. You"ll know soon enough!"
The following morning, Xin Qing hid herself under the blankets, refusing to come out. She finally found out what that rope was for. She ma.s.saged her waist, which honestly felt like it was about to snap in half. "You"ve become more and more like an animal..." she mumbled.
"Hahaha!" Ying Qingcang"s laughter rang out. At that point, Xin Qing could even imagine the man"s shaking chest and lewd expression as he laughed. She brushed the blanket aside.
"Where did you even learn that? Did Young Master Shen teach you that?"
Ying Qingcang sat down on the bed and began ma.s.saging her waist. "He recommended it," he said, shamelessly putting the blame on Young Master Shen.
"I knew it!" Xin Qing said, her lips twisted into a look of disdain. "Don"t do it anymore. It"s too unbearable. Right now I"m sore all over, and my legs feel like they"re broken. You, you"re torturing me by doing this."
Ying Qingcang saw that her eyes had become red amidst her rant. "Sh*t, maybe I really overdid it this time," he thought. Without further ado, he pulled Xin Qing into his arms and apologized, "I"m sorry! I"m sorry! It"s my fault. I got careless. I"ll be gentle next time!"
Xin Qing pounded him with her fist and then bit down on his jaw. "Gentler? Next time? You still want to do it next time?"
"But... Last night, you were moaning and telling me how good it felt!" Ying Qingcang reminded shamelessly as he kissed her earlobe.
Covering her face, Xin Qing kicked him off the bed.
They headed back to the city that afternoon. Ying Qingcang was worried that she was still feeling unwell, so he drove straight home. That night during bedtime, Xin Qing refused to let him enter the bedroom.
"Animal! Go sleep on the couch."
Ying Qingcang frowned. "Why?"
"Because I"m still sore! My waist and legs feel as if they"re broken!" Xin Qing yelled at him. "You have to sleep on the couch until I get better!"
Ying Qingcang turned around and left without saying another word. Xin Qing closed the door and listened for sounds of any movement. After a while, she realized that the man had really left, which p.i.s.sed her off a little. She dove into bed, hugged the blanket and pounded the mattress with her fists.
"d.a.m.n you. Won"t you at least try to coax me? If you like the couch that much, you can sleep there for the rest of your life!"
Sleeping without anyone hugging her was not something that Xin Qing was used to. It was then that Xin Qing realized, much to her surprise, that Ying Qingcang was like some kind of drug; it had spread into her organs, merged with her bloodstream, circulated through her entire body before it finally reached her heart. She was already addicted. She could no longer go a single day without him. Without him by her side, she would not be able to sleep soundly.
Hugging the blanket, Xin Qing rolled around the bed. Suddenly, she saw a flash of light outside the window. "Lightning?" Xin Qing thought, blinking a few times. Before she could react, thunder exploded, and the loud rumble reverberated through the room. In just a blink of an eye, the patter of the rain sounded outside.
Thunderstorms during the summer were usually very ferocious. Soon, everything outside the window was overlaid by a blaze of lightning and a cacophony of roaring thunder, punctuated with the pattering of huge raindrops. Feeling a little scared, Xin Qing buried herself under the blanket. Outside, the thunder was becoming louder and louder. In the end, she jumped out of bed, opened the door and ran outside. She ran smack into a pair of waiting arms.
"Not bad! You"ve lasted this long. I"ve been expecting you to run out at the first sound of thunder!"
Xin Qing stared at Ying Qingcang stupidly and only came to her senses when she was carried to the bed.
"You, you were outside all this while?"
Ying Qingcang slid under the blanket and pulled her towards him. "If not?" he said, pinching her nose.
"Hehe. I thought you"ve really gone to sleep on the couch!" Xin Qing said, tangling her legs with Ying Qingcang"s leg. The sounds of the thunderstorm suddenly seemed inaudible.
Ying Qingcang tightened his embrace and glanced at her teasingly. "It"s impossible that I"ll actually sleep on the couch. I know you"re afraid of thunder. So I was waiting for you to come out!"
"So you did that on purpose? You were waiting for me to humiliate myself!" Xin Qing took a bite on his chest.
Ying Qingcang turned off the light and then kissed her. "I"m not G.o.d. How am I supposed to know when it"s going to rain? This is called being smitten. I"ll stand guard and watch over you even if you"re the one who chases me out!"
Xin Qing chuckled like an idiot. Feeling safe in Ying Qingcang"s arms, she closed her eyes.
When she woke up the next day, she realized that she had once again been tricked.
"You watched the weather forecast, didn"t you?" she said, bursting into the bathroom. Ying Qingcang had just finished his shower. At her question, he slowly untied his bathrobe. "Shall I take another shower to accompany you?"
Xin Qing gritted her teeth and pushed him out of the bathroom. When it was time for Ying Qingcang to leave for work, Xin Qing refused to give him a goodbye kiss. After that, Ah Nan mentioned, in a totally piteous manner, that a bunch of people were still waiting for Ying Qingcang to be present for a meeting. Only then did Xin Qing relent and give Ying Qingcang a kiss. Following that, the man got into the car with a satisfied smile on his face.
Soon, Xin Qing forgot all about the man"s despicable deeds. She took a trip down to the hospital secretly and did a checkup at the OB-GYN department. When the results came out, the doctor told her that she had a healthy uterus; she was fully capable of conceiving.
Xin Qing then told the doctor about the failed implant. She asked the doctor whether it would have any major impacts on her subsequent pregnancies. According to the doctor, the failed implant was not a big issue.
The doctor was an old lady. Noticing Xin Qing"s dejection, she even took it upon herself to offer a few words of comfort to Xin Qing.
"Little Miss, you"re still so young. You don"t have to rush. Do know that fate plays a huge role in this type of thing. Fretting over it will be pointless if the time isn"t right!"
Apparently, Xin Qing remained unconvinced even by the time she was about to leave the consultation room. She asked the doctor one last question about whether she was allowed to take traditional Chinese medicine. The doctor was not opposed to it, though she did give Xin Qing a few words of caution. The doctor told her to just stick with the ones that were meant for health conditioning and to take them in moderation.
In the wake of Xin Qing"s trip to the hospital, her examination report now ended up on Ying Qingcang"s desk.
"Why is this girl doing a checkup for no reason at all?" Ying Qingcang studied the report before him. The doctor had given him repeated a.s.surance that there was nothing wrong with Xin Qing"s body.
For the next few days, Ying Qingcang noticed Xin Qing acting strangely around him. When he asked her what it was that she was hiding from him, a cryptic "why don"t you take a guess" look was all he got in return.
"Where had she been going to for the past few days?" Ying Qingcang asked Ah Che.
Ah Che thought for a moment before answering, "The workshop. Shopping trips with Zhang Mi and Shi Qianqian."
"She didn"t meet with anyone else?"
"No!" Ah Che shook his head. Beside Ah Che, Ah Nan asked, "Shall we get someone to look into it?"
Ying Qingcang raised his hand. "No. That"ll upset her. Just make sure she"s safe. It"s probably some woman thing, I guess."
He knew Xin Qing well; his little woman was incapable of coming up with any fancy plot worth a d.a.m.n. Vaguely, Ying Qingcang felt that she was planning something, and that thing probably involved him.
"But my birthday has pa.s.sed a long time ago!" Ying Qingcang thought. Suddenly, he was. .h.i.t by another thought; he realized that Xin Qing had never celebrated his birthday with him before despite the fact that they had known each other for over 2 years. They had spent the first year torturing each other. Xin Qing ran away to France during the second year. So all this while he had never truly received a birthday gift from Xin Qing...
That thought left a bad taste in Ying Qingcang"s mouth. Then again, there was no point in dwelling on it further. He would just have to wait until his birthday next year.
"Young Master!" Ah Nan called out, completely oblivious to the fact that Ying Qingcang was acting like a girl by fussing over such things. "Fang Lu"s proposal seems viable. I think it"ll benefit us!" Ah Nan reminded.
Ying Qingcang"s eyes swept over the folder on his desk, and then he picked it up. "I agree! But it"s not something we need. Tell her that Ying Enterprises is not looking for a collaboration with any party."
"Understood!" Ah Nan was well aware that Fang Lu"s chance in forming a collaboration with Ying Enterprises had gone down the drain from the moment she tried to make moves on the young master.
Staring after Ah Nan"s retreat, Ying Qingcang said to Ah Che, "Be extra vigilant these days. Let me know instantly if there"re any strangers appearing around Xin Qing!"
Ah Che nodded. "Young master, are you saying that Fang Lu"s presence poses a threat to the young miss?"
"If that idiotic woman can follow us all the way to the resort, it means that she"s been secretly investigating me, or more likely, secretly investigating Xin Qing." Laughing humorlessly, Ying Qingcang went on, "She better not be trying anything funny. I don"t want any new problems cropping up before the wedding."
Too bad Fang Lu had already decided to live up to the t.i.tle of "idiotic woman".
After stewing over it for a few days, Xin Qing decided to take traditional Chinese medicine anyway. She dared not ask Ying Qingcang to take them though; she figured she would try it out first.
She would only ask Ying Qingcang to take them with her if there were no signs of problems after some time.
Xin Qing dropped by the Chinese medicine clinic that Xin Yudie had introduced her to last time; she wanted to get a prescription for herself. By the time she came out, a throng of reporters were gathered in front of the clinic. When the reporters noticed Xin Qing, they came up to her instantly.
"Miss Xin, is it true that you can"t get pregnant?"
"Does Mr. Ying know about this?"
"Are you still able to marry him if you"re infertile?"
"You own half of Ying Enterprises" shares. If you"re no longer getting married, will you hand the shares over to someone else or will you remain with Ying Enterprises?"
An endless barrage of questions. .h.i.t Xin Qing square in the face, catching her completely off guard. Stunned, Xin Qing stood rooted on her spot. In the end, it was Ah Che who came over and helped her into the car. From the car window, Xin Qing glanced at those reporters. She patted her chest in an attempt to dispel her lingering fear.