Ying Qingcang grinned at her, and then he kissed her. "What do you think?"
"Ah Sha!" Xin Qing said, picking up the child. Then she pointed at the enclosure not too far away and said, "Look! That"s your little pony. Daddy has brought your little pony back from France!"
Ah Sha had no clue what Xin Qing was on about, though she could feel her mommy"s happiness at that moment. Plus, she heard mommy mentioned the word "pony", which had her perking up instantly. "Pony! Pony! Little Pony!" she squeaked happily.
A middle-aged man dressed in a full riding gear led them into the stable, which was wide and well-maintained; not a single stench could be detected. There were several horses there, swishing their tails as they grazed on gra.s.s. It only took Xin Qing one glance to recognize Ah Sha"s little white pony.
"Look how big it"s grown in just a few months!"
Ah Sha was waving her tiny arms excitedly when Ying Qingcang raised her higher. Slowly, Ying Qingcang settled the child onto the horse"s saddle. Perhaps Xiaobai remembered Ah Sha, since it remained still and obedient, not moving an inch as the little girl stroked its fur.
"It"s almost a year old!" said the middle-aged man in an envious tone. "Mr. Ying, this horse of yours has the blood of a race horse. Plus it"s a pure breed. We can start training her during winter."
Ah Sha was exhilarated to be reunited with her little pony. Xin Qing never knew that children had such a strong memory. When it was time for them to leave, Ah Sha cried and refused to get off the pony. In the end, Ying Qingcang gave her a carved wooden toy horse. He told her that if she listened to mommy and stop crying, they would bring her here to visit her pony every weekend.
A young child at Ah Sha"s age had yet to develop a good grasp of the concept of time. Hearing that she would be able to "come to visit again" sufficed to rea.s.sure her, so she happily let Ying Qingcang take her down from the pony. Ah Sha"s mouth was mumbling something the entire way down.
"Daddy brings Ah Sha here! Daddy brings Ah Sha here!" Those words never stopped leaving her mouth even until they were in the car on the way home. She finally quieted down when she fell asleep.
Xin Qing stared at Ying Qingcang. There was a worried look on her face. Ying Qingcang reached out and pinched her cheek. "What"s wrong?"
"Won"t you end up spoiling Ah Sha?" Xin Qing felt that Ying Qingcang had the tendency to spoil their child. At such a young age, Ah Sha was wearing, eating, and using the best products available. Sometimes, Xin Qing would cringe as if she was in pain when she saw the price tag on Ah Sha"s clothes.
Ying Qingcang"s arms slid towards Xin Qing"s waist and began caressing the soft flesh there. "Girls need to be raised in wealth. That way they"ll be able to resist the temptation of wealth when they"re older. Otherwise, they"ll end up being tempted by material things and be fooled by men in the future." Lowering his head, Ying Qingcang kissed Xin Qing"s forehead. "I won"t allow my daughter to go through an arranged marriage in the future. I want her to lead a carefree life, to have a life full of freedom. And then she can find herself a man like me!"
The beginning part of his speech sounded fine. That last line, however, caused Xin Qing to laugh out loud. "You"re just praising yourself in a roundabout way!"
"Do you think I"m wrong, then?" Ying Qingcang gave her a mocking glance. "Are you unhappy right now?"
Xin Qing reached out quickly and held his face. She kissed him. "I"m happy. So happy that I"m swooning!"
"Why are you acting more and more like Zhang Mi these days? Whatever that comes out of your mouth aren"t your honest feelings at all." Ying Qingcang sealed his lips over hers before she could get another word out. Xin Qing"s eyes went wide as she tried to push him away; however, Ying Qingcang"s hands had already found their way under her clothes.
After getting out of the car, Xin Qing"s eyes shot daggers at Ying Qingcang as she adjusted her clothes. Ying Qingcang could not help but laugh at the sight of her acting like a cat with raised hackles. He spoke into her ear. "What we did just now was only half of it. We"ll finish the other half in our bedroom later!"
Xin Qing grabbed Ah Sha and bolted out of there. She slammed the front door shut, keeping Ying Qingcang outdoors. Laughing, Ying Qingcang reopened the door and stepped inside. When he saw the person in the living room, his laughter died and his lips were pressed into a tight line.
"What kind of face is that?" Ying Hao held Ah Sha in his arms while glaring at Ying Qingcang. "If you don"t want to see my face, we can always go outside."
Ying Qingcang gave him a look of disdain. "This is my home."
"Okay! Okay! That"s enough!" Xin Qing jumped in quickly, seeing that the father and son were about to get into a fight again. "Come on, let"s eat. I"m so hungry!"
When he heard her, Ying Qingcang dragged her into the dining hall. Ying Hao gritted his teeth and trailed after them.
Young Master Shen had been down in the dumps for the past few days. He had already called New York and learned that the old man had left New York a long time ago. The problem was that Young Master Shen had yet to receive him here. He had no clue where the old man had run off to this time.
In the end, Young Master Shen was so depressed that he did not even have the mood hook up with women. When one of his guys called to tell that something had happened in the KTV, he drove down there immediately. "Maybe I can take it out on some clueless idiot," he thought. When he opened the door of the private booth, however, he was dumbfounded by what he saw. A second later, he decided to turn around and flee the spot.
"I"ll break your f*cking legs if you dare run away!" An energetic voice rang out behind him. Young Master Shen saw two smiling middle-aged faces before him.
"Young master, don"t give us a reason to beat you up!" one of them said and winked at him. Young Master Shen"s henchman was just about to step up to protect his boss even at the cost of his own life. But before the henchman could act, Young Master Shen, with his head hung low, plodded to one corner of the booth where he sat down.
"Your old man isn"t dead yet! What"s that crying face for?" the old man yelled again, causing everyone outside the booth to pause whatever they were doing for a brief moment.
Old man... Well, this old man was none other than Young Master Shen"s father, and Young Master Shen"s father was none other than the underworld legend, Shen Batian. While everyone in the crowd was anxiously trying to figure out whether or not it was really Shen Batian, they heard Young Master Shen"s disgruntled voice. "Hey dad. Why didn"t you tell me you"re coming?"
It really was Shen Batian! This old man who was dressed in a floral-themed shirt and a pair of slippers really was the underworld legend, Shen Batian!
"Look at those guys of yours. Acting like useless pieces of trash one after the other," Shen Batian rebuked, pointed at the few people who were standing at the door. "I want stinky tofu and yet they f*cking denied my request. Who are they to stop me from eating whatever the h.e.l.l I want?"
Young Master Shen gritted his teeth. "Who would even allow you to have that kind of stuff here!"
"Aha!" Shen Batian smacked his thigh all of a sudden. "You might be right! That type of thing makes your mouth stink. The little girl will hate it later!"
Young Master Shen had thought that his old man was about to beat someone up. In the end, all he got was this strange remark from the old man.
"Little girl? Which little girl?" Young Master Shen asked. Then, just when he had finished asking the question, Zhang Mi"s voice sounded at the doorway. "F*ck. Why are you dunces blocking the door? Is your Young Master Shen doing a striptease inside or something?"
A scowl formed on Young Master Shen"s face. "This G.o.dd.a.m.n woman," he thought.
"What are you doing here?" he asked, scowling darkly.
Shen Batian grabbed a cup and tossed it at Young Master Shen. "Why are you acting like such an a.s.shole? I"m the one who called her here!"
Having been trained since a young age, Young Master Shen dodged the incoming object skillfully. After that, he pointed a finger at Zhang Mi and yelled, "Since when did you and this crazy woman even know each other?"
"He"s your son?" Zhang Mi pointed back at Young Master Shen with a look of disbelief. Shen Batian nodded at the remark. "Little girl, you also think he"s not like my son, right?"
Zhang Mi planted herself beside Shen Batian. Right then, two pairs of eyes, old and young, stared back at Young Master Shen in contempt. "That"s a given, isn"t it? I mean, look at you. You look so mighty and bada.s.s. How come you have such trash for a son?"
"Eh?" Shen Batian suddenly realized something. "You two know each other!" Then he smacked his thigh again. "Perfect! Just f*cking perfect! This is what I call fate. Both father and son know this little girl. This is literally the work of fate."
The corner of Young Master Shen"s lips twitched. "Dad, how did you come to know this crazy..." Four eyes glared at him all at once. Young Master Shen immediately corrected himself. "How did you come to know Zhang Mi?"
During the weekend, Zhang Mi had been requested by her grandfather to deliver some items back to their hometown. On the way back, two people had pulled a "staged crash" stunt on her at the airport; they insisted that she had ruined their luggage, claiming that the antique inside their luggage was broken because of her. That was when Shen Batian stepped in and, without saying a word, dealt with the two idiots. Zhang Mi practically had stars in her eyes as she witnessed the whole thing. After that, the young woman and the old man hung out together, chatting with each other in low whispers. They quickly hit it off, and now it seemed like they had some kind of surrogate father-daughter bond between them.
Young Master Shen thought nothing could go any worse at this point. "If these two hang around each other, how unfortunate it will be for everyone in the immediate surroundings..." he thought.
"Fine then!" Young Master Shen said, staring at the young woman and the old man who was, right then, in the middle of flattering each other. "You two just make sure to simply run off on your own. Hang out here everyday. Sing and drink all you want. But do not go anywhere else." Young Master Shen had no plans to follow them around just to clean up their messes.
Shen Batian glared at his son. "I"m going to meet Old Ying"s granddaughter tomorrow!" Smiling, he turned to Zhang Mi. "Little girl, join me tomorrow. Let"s visit my old friend"s house."
Young Master Shen rolled his eyes. "She and Ying Qingcang"s wife are besties. They know each other well!"
Shen Batian was starting to get all worked up once again. "Argh! I"m telling you, this is truly fate!" He gave Zhang Mi"s hand a tug. "Come, come! Let"s have a celebratory drink!"
When Shen Batian and Zhang Mi appeared at Ying"s residence the next day, Xin Qing nearly jumped out of her skin; she thought Zhang Mi was kidnapped.
"Hahaha!" Ying Hao lifted Ah Sha in jest. "Hey, take a look. This is my granddaughter. She"s cute, right? Isn"t she pretty?"
Shen Batian reached out one hand and held Ah Sha. "Such a cute child, but she doesn"t seem to share the same appearance as you people from the Ying family."
At that remark, Xin Qing felt as if her soul was nearly ripped out of her body. She reached out, wanting to take Ah Sha back into her arms, but Ah Sha was laughing and chuckling relentlessly. "Fly high high! Fly high high!" Ah Sha squeaked happily.
"Hey old pal, put my granddaughter down. What"re you gonna do if she falls?" Ying Hao s.n.a.t.c.hed the girl back. "If Ah Cang saw what you were doing, he"d chased you out."
Zhang Mi drew closer to Ah Sha and stood before the girl. "Little Ah Sha, do you still remember aunty?"
"Remember!" Ah Sha kissed Zhang Mi"s cheek and then turned to Shen Batian. She stared at the old man for a long while before she said, "Bear!"
Ying Hao burst out laughing, slapping his thighs as he did. "Yes! That"s right! He"s just a bear!"
Xin Qing corrected her instantly. "Ah Sha, that is grandpa, not a bear."
"Granddaddy bear?" Ah Sha asked, tilting her head. To Ah Sha, the old man before her eyes, with his broad back and thick waist, looked exactly like one of the bears in her picture books.
Shen Batian inched closer to the girl. "Come, baby. Call me granddaddy! After that I"ll give you a new toy!"
At the mention of new toys, Ah Sha became obedient instantly. "Grandaddy!"
Shen Batian extended his arm, and two of his bodyguards stepped forward while carrying a box with them. Shen Batian opened the box and placed it before Ah Sha. "Baby, this is a steel dagger, one that is capable of cutting through steel as if they were clay! Take it and play with it!"
...
Everyone stared at Shen Batian as if he was a madman who had grown two heads. Everyone other than Ah Sha, of course. Ah Sha only stared at the dark-colored dagger inside the box. She reached out, wanting to take it.
"Don"t!" a few voices rang out simultaneously. Xin Qing quickly picked up Ah Sha. "Uncle Shen... Um... She"s too young to play with the dagger," Xin Qing said. There was a strained expression on her face, as if she was teetering between laughter and tears.
Shen Batian closed the lid of the box and then shoved the box against Xin Qing"s chest. "You think I don"t know? The blade hasn"t been sharpened yet! When Ah Sha is older, ask the Ying brat to find her a master. She needs to learn some Kung Fu!"