They managed to catch Meyer and bring him back on the third day of Chinese New Year, and there was no cordiality in Ying Qingcang"s treatment of him at all; they had locked him up for two days straight before they finally went to see him. Meyer"s face was pale, and his clothes were filled with wrinkles. "Is Xin Qing okay?" That was the first thing Meyer said when he saw Ying Qingcang.
Ying Qingcang stared at him coldly, "Why did you do it?"
"It really wasn"t my intention to cause her trouble. I was desperate at the time and I didn"t know who those people were. I just wanted to get away from them as quickly as possible. I didn"t know that things were that serious," said Meyer regretfully. "Look, I"m not trying to defend myself or find excuses for what I did. I know it"s my fault. So I"ll accept whatever it is that you intend to do to me."
Ying Qingcang stood up and looked away from Meyer, "I brought you here because I know that Xin Qing had been feeling very upset over this. She was afraid that you had deliberately set her up. She saw you as a friend. Now, leave. I"ll explain everything to her."
Meyer"s hands clenched into tight fists. He had wanted to make a request to see Xin Qing. But now he was too ashamed to see her.
Ying Qingcang waited until the fifth day of Chinese New Year before he told Xin Qing about it. The two days" delay was deliberate and out of his own selfish wish: he did not want to give Xin Qing the chance to see Meyer.
"Oh, so he didn"t do it on purpose!" Xin Qing"s eyes had brightened instantly when he told her. Ying Qingcang sighed inwardly. "This woman is obviously still feeling bad about it, and yet she acts like she doesn"t care," he thought. "Yeah," said Ying Qingcang. "Still, I don"t want you to have any further contact with him. Regardless of whether he had done it on purpose, it was still him who had planted the CD on you to save his own life. And that, per se, is a selfish behavior."
Xin Qing bared her teeth in a grin. "I guess you just have to keep watching over me, then. Otherwise, you won"t be able to see me ever again if someone sold me out."
Xin Qing had spent the rest of Chinese New Year feeling contented: she had a man whom she loved deeply and an obedient daughter. Xin Qing thought that her life could not have been more perfect that it was right now. Chen Ming came to see Xin Qing on the 15th day of Chinese New Year. That was when Xin Qing noticed something wrong with his behavior.
"What"s the matter with you?" She asked.
They were having dinner together to celebrate the Lantern Festival, and Chen Ming stared at her across the table while holding on to his bowl. He seemed hesitant, opening his mouth to speak before changing his mind and closing his mouth again. After a while, he finally got out, "Hey, Xin Qing... Do you know someone called Li Xiaoru?"
"Li Xiaoru?" For a moment, Xin Qing was caught off guard. "What"s up with her?"
Chen Ming told Xin Qing about the two encounters between Li Xiaoru and himself. When he was done, he said, "I think she might have misunderstood my intentions."
"In thinking that you have fallen for her, you mean?" Xin Qing chuckled twice. "So you"re saying you feel nothing for her?"
"The idea never even cross my mind." Chen Ming shot a glare at Xin Qing. "And yet she"s been coming to my company everyday, waiting for me downstairs. She even brought me supper." Chen Ming felt entirely helpless in situations like this. Right now, he was truly envious of Ying Qingcang"s personality; the man could slap a woman without batting an eye. Chen Ming"s own personality rendered him incapable of such a feat.
"Well, how"re going to know for sure if you don"t try?" Xin Qing thought it was quite a good thing. Li Xiaoru seemed like a kind and decent woman, so if would not be bad at all if she were to end up together with Chen Ming!
Chen Ming waved his hand, "Then why didn"t you try loving me before?" Chen Ming cut her off before Xin Qing could respond to that. "Don"t feel like you owe me anything. I know very well what I feel about her." There was a pause during which Chen Ming noticed Xin Qing"s silence and her lowered gaze. He kept talking, "And don"t feel like I"m in such a state because of you. I"ve long since gotten over you. If I ever meet someone I like, I will pursue her."
"Oh. Then I guess my worries were unfounded, then," Xin Qing said sheepishly. Then, she looked back at him awkwardly. "What do you want me to do?"
Chen Ming sighed. "I know you"re her senior. So I want you to relay a message to her. Ask her to stop wasting time on me. You know as well as I do that I kinda suck at rejecting girls."
"Sure!" Xin Qing thought for a moment. "I"ll go talk to her."
That night, when she told Ying Qingcang about her conversation with Chen Ming, Ying Qingcang laughed at her mockingly.
"If you do this, wouldn"t it just make others hate you? I"m pretty sure she"ll end up thinking that you"re interested in Chen Ming."
Xin Qing glared at him, "What, you think everyone else is devious like you?"
Ying Qingcang nodded, "Yep. I certainly am a lot smarter than you."
"But still, I guess she really will end up getting the wrong idea..."
Ying Qingcang patted her head. "It"s alright. It won"t matter even if she gets the wrong idea. She still won"t dare to do anything to you."
Ying Qingcang"s comment had suddenly made Xin Qing feel less emboldened. When school reopened and she ran into Li Xiaoru at the school stadium, Li Xiaoru was the one who had greeted her; Xin Qing had planned to slip away and pretend that she never saw the younger woman.
"Senior!" Li Xiaoru smiled and waved at Xin Qing. "Happy New Year, even though it"s a bit late."
Xin Qing decided to bite the bullet, "Hehe. Are you free right now?"
"I am!" Li Xiaoru replied with enthusiasm. "Do you have something you want to talk to me about? If you do, please feel free to do so."
Xin Qing invited Li Xiaoru to hang out at the dessert store near the school. By the time they were both seated, Li Xiaoru had guessed from the way Xin Qing was behaving that Xin Qing really did have something important to tell her. Li Xiaoru stared at Xin Qing seriously, waiting for her to speak.
"You like Chen Ming, don"t you?" Xin Qing decided to speak frankly. Beating around the bush would only lead to more troublesome things.
Li Xiaoru did not expect Xin Qing to mention that name, so she was caught off guard for a moment. Several moments later, she asked tentatively, "Senior, you know him too?"
"We were neighbours who grew up together. He"s like a brother to me." Xin Qing said as she observed Li Xiaoru"s reaction. Indeed, Li Xiaoru"s expression had changed.
Li Xiaoru had construed "growing up together" as "childhood sweethearts". "Why did Xin Qing ask to meet me today? Isn"t she already married?" Li Xiaoru thought.
"Don"t get the wrong idea. I said that he"s like a brother to me," Xin Qing said, emphasizing her point once more.
Li Xiaoru"s kept her eyes on Xin Qing. "Senior," she said, "just get to the point if you have something to say to me!"
Xin Qing sighed. She truly regretted ever agreeing to this. Xin Qing spent a brief moment to carefully choose her words. "Chen Ming wanted me to tell you that he thinks that both of you aren"t compatible with each other," Xin Qing said.
"He asked you to tell me?" Li Xiaoru"s eyes went wide with hurt.
"Actually, having me tell you all this isn"t really appropriate. But Chen Ming doesn"t know how to reject woman, and he didn"t want you to waste your time on him. That"s why he"d asked me to relay the message. You..." Xin Qing suddenly stopped speaking when she saw that Li Xiaoru was at the verge of tears.
"I understand," Li Xiaoru said, biting her bottom lip. "Then please inform him that whether I like him or not is my own business. He"s allowed to not return my feelings, but he can"t stop me from liking him." After that, Li Xiaoru stood up and ran off.
Feeling helpless, Xin Qing called Chen Ming and told him the result of her intervention. Silence took over the line as Chen Ming said nothing. Several moments later, Chen Ming said, "Understood." Then he hung up. What Xin Qing did not know was that right now, Chen Ming was staring contemptuously at a woman sitting in his office.
"Mr. Chen, are you really not going to consider my suggestion?" Fang Lu wore a form-fitting cheongsam with a low-cut neckline; a good half of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s was exposed. On the exposed skin of her left breast, there was a tattoo, which had been designed to look like a red lip. The mere sight of it would bring a surge of desire to just about anyone.
Chen Ming did not feel like wasting his breath on Fang Lu any second longer. He had already made it clear that he was not interested in making an investment. What the h.e.l.l was this woman"s problem?
"I"ve already made it very clear that I"m not interested in that piece of land. That"s not going to change no matter how many times you come to see me."
Fang Lu smiled, "Fine, then. It"s my birthday tonight. If you humor me by having dinner with me, I promise not to bother you again."
"What the h.e.l.l are you planning?" Chen Ming frowned. He knew d.a.m.n well about all the scandals surrounding Fang Lu. "I remember telling you before that I"m not interested in you."
Fang Lu smiled meekly as she stood up, "I know. That"s why I said it"s just dinner. I mean, surely, you don"t want me to visit your workplace everyday! Those reporters are keeping pretty close tabs on me."
Ever since Fang Lu"s s.e.x tapes started circulating in the Internet, reporters from gossip columns had been following her around everywhere, hoping for a chance to reveal more mind-blowing news about her.
"Fine," Chen Ming said impatiently. "After this dinner, I hope you never appear before me again."
Hesitance was definitely a bad thing. A man who was incapable of saying "no" would always end up in awkward or worst, dangerous, situations. For the life of him, Chen Ming never expected Fang Lu to be capable of doing such atrocious things, like drugging him.
Chen Ming had been forcefully brought to a hotel room, where he saw Fang Lu setting up a video camera. After that, Fang Lu slowly undressed herself and sat down at the edge of the bed. "Let"s see how long you can last!" She said.
Chen Ming leaned himself against the door and kept pinching himself. He had no idea what drug it was that Fang Lu had used on him. It was like his entire body was on fire. Glancing down, he noticed his hardened and swollen manhood, which was also burning with pain. Then, Fang Lu raised her a.s.s, the sight of which made his blood rush. He found himself taking step after step towards the bed. The only thing he saw right now was that white, pale-looking body.
"Ding Dong!" The doorbell suddenly rang, snapping Chen Ming out of his trance. Startled, Chen Ming bolted into the bathroom. Fang Lu covered herself with a blanket. "Who is it?" She asked in annoyance.
"Room service, to serve your red wine!"
At the mention of red wine, Fang Lu got up and went to answer the door. Her vision went dark before she could even identify the person at the door. Immediately after, she felt a sharp pain at the back of her head. She was unaware of everything else after that.
Li Xiaoru stared at Fang Lu, who was now sprawled on the floor. Startled, she tossed aside the ashtray she had been holding. Li Xiaoru was deeply saddened by what Xin Qing had told her. Before this, she had been wandering alone in the streets, wondering whether or not she should call Chen Ming. She really wanted to call him, but at the same time, she was afraid that he would flat out reject her. In her daze, she somehow wandered all the way to Chen Ming"s company. She had gotten there just in time to see Chen Ming driving off in his car. Unable to help herself, she had followed him. In the end, she saw Chen Ming entering a hotel. Shockingly, the person waiting for him was Fang Lu.
Li Xiaoru had to hold back her tears as she stared at the two of them from where she stood at the door. Chen Ming had rejected her because he was interested in Fang Lu. She never knew that Fang Lu was acquainted with Chen Ming as well. Li Xiaoru had waited until Chen Ming and Fang Lu had finished their dinner. Afterwards, she saw the two of them entering the elevator together. Only then did she give up. Just when she was about to leave, however, she saw Chen Ming burst out from the elevator. Following that, two men came out and forcefully dragged him back into the elevator.
Li Xiaoru immediately smelled something fishy, so she hurried over. The two men reappeared just when Li Xiaoru was stepping out of the elevator, and she overheard the conversation between them. They were talking about how women had resorted to drugging men these days, and also something about that woman looking totally wanton.
That was how Li Xiaoru ended up here, staring at this whole scene before her.
Li Xiaoru tried her best to keep her legs from shaking as she dragged Fang Lu"s body to one side. Seeing that no one else was in the room, she hollered, "Chen Ming? Chen Ming, are you there?" Drenched from head to toe, Chen Ming emerged from the bathroom. When he saw Fang Lu"s unconscious form on the floor, he heaved a sigh of relief. But he frowned when he noticed Li Xiaoru"s presence.
"Are you okay?" Li Xiaoru rushed over towards him, reaching out her hands to help keep him steady. Chen Ming pushed her aside and staggered a few steps towards the video camera. He picked up the device and tossed it onto the floor. Then he stomped on it, smashing it into pieces. Panting, he sat down on the floor.
"Help me call the cops. After that, leave."
Li Xiaoru had noticed his bloodshot eyes and the fact that he was green around the gills. "What"s wrong with you? Here, let me help you off the floor first."