Zhang Mi was still worried despite the fact that Ah Sha had been brought back safe and sound, which was why she had insisted on returning to China to see Ah Sha. Young Master Shen felt that it was no longer safe to keep Ah Sha inside the country. After discussing with the others, they decided to just allow Xunxun and Ah Sha to follow Young Master Shen back to New York. Well, unless you possess hidden abilities of flight, don"t even think about taking Ah Sha away while she"s under the protection of the Shen family.
Young Master Shen told Boss Wan"s men to relay his message to Ying Qingcang that everything had gone smoothly and that Ying Qingcang could come pick up Ah Sha after Xin Qing"s treatment. Upon receiving the message, Ying Qingcang handed a voice recording pen to Boss Wan"s men and asked them to pa.s.s it to Ah Nan.
"Are you really going to destroy Ying Enterprises?" Boss Wan knew precisely what was contained in that voice recorder: the details of Ying Qingcang"s plan to purchase Ying Enterprises England.
"Since he"s unwilling to accept Xin Qing, let"s see if he still insists on kicking Xin Qing to the curb when all of Ying family a.s.sets are owned by the Xin family," Ying Qingcang said with a cold sneer. "He has dedicated pretty much his whole life to the Ying family. Right now, I"m relieving him of that burden."
Ying Qingcang"s plan was to purchase every single one of Ying Enterprises England"s a.s.sets and then transfer their ownership over to Xin Qing. He had even left instructions in the recording pen that upon the completion of the acquisition process, the official owner of all of Ying Enterprises" a.s.sets would be Xin Financial Group.
"Your father will die from anger," Boss Wan said, shaking his head sympathetically. "If I have a son like you, I would"ve disowned him a long time ago."
Ying Qingcang shot him a disapproving look. "Oh yeah? If I have a son like you, I would"ve kicked you to death ages ago!"
As if appearing out of thin air, Chen Huan added, "That"s great! Kick him to death, then!"
Ying Qingcang frowned. "Aren"t you supposed to be staying with Ah Qing for her acupuncture therapy?"
"Oh, but the chieftain is asking for your presence instead!" A change went across Chen Huan"s expression. "My guess is that... Things aren"t looking too good again."
Overwrought, Ying Qingcang ran towards the chieftain"s house. When he entered, he saw the chieftain removing the acupuncture needles from Xin Qing.
Ying Qingcang walked over and held Xin Qing"s hand in his. "How are things looking?" he asked. Ying Qingcang"s flicked a glance at Xiao Rui, who was holding Xin Qing"s other hand.
The chieftain sighed. "I"ve been noticing the diminishing effects of the acupuncture since two days ago. There won"t be much point in continuing with acupuncture therapy."
"I"ve had it with this! First, you told us that she shouldn"t be taking the medicine for prolonged periods of time, and now you"re telling me that acupuncture won"t do as well? None of your methods work!" Ying Qingcang said with a dark scowl all the while staring at the chieftain with icy eyes.
Chieftain Mo Lin was starting to panic as well. "Why are you raising your voice at me? Let me make things clear here. Right now, you guys are the ones seeking me for help. Is it really my fault that my treatment isn"t successful?"
Chen Huan quickly asked Boss Wan to physically restrain Ying Qingcang while she apologized profusely to the chieftain.
"Sorry! Sorry! Please don"t mind him, sir. You know as well as I do how difficult this is for him. He had to watch the person he loves suffer while being powerless to do anything about it. You"re our only hope now, sir!"
The old chieftain"s lip drew inward, wedging itself in the gap formed by his missing teeth. "I"ll look into it again, see if I can make modifications to the prescription. I still think it"s better to stick to the medicinal approach."
"That sounds like a plan!" Chen Huan said subserviently. "Take your time. Make all the improvements you need!"
Xin Qing had been silent for the whole time, fixing her gaze at Ying Qingcang. Ying Qingcang pulled her to her feet and led her back to their wooden cabin.
"What"s the matter? Why are you looking at me like that," Ying Qingcang asked with a smirk. "You"re craving for some action, aren"t you?"
"Oh, shut up! Is that all you can think about?" Xin Qing said, pounding him with her fist. "I"m making things clear, okay. I want to deliver the baby regardless of whether I can be cured!"
Ying Qingcang thought for a moment and then wrapped his arm around her. "It shouldn"t be a problem. It wouldn"t affect your body as long as we can keep your condition under control. I, too, hope we can go through with this pregnancy." Xin Qing"s eyes suddenly turned red-rimmed. "But what if we can"t keep the condition under control?"
"Silly girl! It will be under control considering how skilled the chieftain is. Don"t worry," Ying Qingcang said. Then, just when he was about to ask Xin Qing to take a nap, they heard Boss Wan"s men shouting outside. Apparently, someone had gone nuts.
"It"s too chaotic outside. Don"t come out. I"ll go have a look!" Ying Qingcang said. Then, he yelled at the door. "Get in here!"
The door curtains parted and Xiao Rui stepped in.
"He"ll be keeping you company," Ying Qingcang said. "I"ll be back soon!"
Xin Qing smiled at Xiao Rui and waved him over to her. Then, the two of them lay down together to have a nap. Ying Qingcang huffed in annoyance and went outside.
A crowd had formed around Boss Wan"s cabin. One of the men was claiming that his buddy was dancing around naked and that there was nothing he could do to stop it. It was as if his buddy had gone nuts!
"Let"s go check it out?" Boss Wan asked Ying Qingcang. When they got to the warehouse, a man charged at them while swinging his pants in the air. Chen Huan shrieked and covered her eyes. Boss Wan glowered.
"Why are you still standing there?! Hurry up and hold the man down!" Boss Wan barked out the order to his men. The man who was charging at them did not have a single st.i.tch on, and he was chanting the lyrics of some kind of song: "The bright moonlight by the window, a pair of shoes on the ground..."
Prompted by Boss Wan"s order, the other men burst into action and scrambled around to hold the man down. Nonetheless, the man did not seem to show any signs of stopping his shenanigans, so Boss Wan walked over and struck the man at the back of his head. The man"s eyes rolled back as he pa.s.sed out. With a frown, Chen Huan said, "Based on his behavior just now, he might have been hypnotized."
At Chen Huan"s comment, Boss Wan and Ying Qingcang shared a look with each other.
"Take him back inside," Boss Wan ordered. "Who was the last person he saw?"
A few men carried the unconscious man back inside. One of them said, "It was a man named Lin Quan from the village."
"Let"s pay him a visit, then!" Chen Huan said excitedly. "He might know how to perform hypnosis!"
Boss Wan"s men led the three of them to Lin Quan"s home. There, they saw a scrawny young man drying vegetables in the sun. The man smiled when he saw them.
"Has that guy woken up yet?"
"Was it you who hypnotized him?" Chen Huan jumped forward, but Boss Wan"s hand shot out, yanking her back before shooting her a warning glance. Then, he turned to Lin Quan. "Why did you hypnotize my henchman?"
"He"s the one who asked for it," Lin Quan said, still smiling. "He asked me what abilities I have, and I told him I know hypnosis. He didn"t believe me, so he forced me to hypnotize him." All of a sudden, Lin Quan seemed a little sheepish. "I"ve caused you trouble, haven"t I?"
For a moment, Boss Wan just stood there quietly with his ever-present facial paralysis on full display. Ying Qingcang gave Boss Wan a sidelong glance. "Nah, there"s no trouble. We just thought that the guy had lost his mind, that"s all."
"Oh, no, no. He"ll stay like that for five minutes at most," Lin Quan said hurriedly. "Why don"t I go over and wake him up now?"
Ying Qingcang smiled politely. "That"s not necessary. He"ll wake up on his own soon."
It was not clear whether or not Lin Quan had understood Ying Qingcang"s statement. Lin Quan"s only response was an "oh" before he returned his attention to his vegetables.
Boss Wan brought his men away, all the while giving them a piece of his mind: "It"s not like you knuckleheads don"t know that everyone here has some kind of special abilities. From now on, behave yourselves, all of you! And stop embarra.s.sing me!"
The men dispersed and went away. "I can"t believe there are people with such talents here," Ying Qingcang said, shaking his head. "Do you think you can find out Mo Lin"s true ident.i.ty?"
"I"ll look into it once we get out of here," Boss Wan said, pausing in thought. "I suspect he might be former military."
"Not, "might be". He has to be!" Chen Huan said smugly, chewing a weed.
"Oh, yeah? And you"re able to tell?" Boss Wan took the weed away from her mouth. "That"s disgusting."
Chen Huan pouted. "With that kind of s.h.i.tty att.i.tude? Fine! I won"t tell you!" Chen Huan turned around and stormed into the cabin.
"Don"t worry, I"ll pry the information out of her," Boss Wan said in a serious tone. Then, he turned around and entered the cabin as well. He even bolted the door.
Ying Qingcang snorted and walked back to his own cabin, all the while mocking Boss Wan for using s.e.x as an emotional release, and when the sun was still up, no less. Not once did he considered the fact that he himself was the same; the pot had called the kettle black indeed.
Roughly a week later, Chieftain Mo Lin summoned Ying Qingcang to him happily.
"Here you go, this is a modified version of the prescription. There won"t be any side effects this time, which means it can be consumed for a prolonged period of time. For this one, she only needs to consume it three times a month. Although it still can"t cure the root cause of the condition, I can guarantee you that she won"t be experiencing any headaches again."
"And how would it affect the baby?" Ying Qingcang was still far from rea.s.sured.
The old chieftain glared. "Of course it won"t harm the baby. Do you think I"d be prescribing it to her if it does?"
"By the way, once you leave here, she should start consuming ginseng, snow lotuses, caterpillar fungi and the like more frequently. Those will help nourish her body!"
Ying Qingcang frowned. "So what you"re saying is that... We can leave?"
"I recommend that you leave," Chieftain Mo Lin said in a serious tone. "To be frank, I"m not confident that I"m able to eliminate the root cause at the moment. I"ll definitely need a long time to conduct a more thorough research. Her stomach will start to show as the months go by. Staying in the mountains while she"s in that kind of physical condition will inconvenience you."
Ying Qingcang thought for a moment. "You guarantee that she"ll be fine after taking the medicine?"
"You have my word!" The old chieftain nodded. "You can send a messenger here every month. And bring some of her blood samples here as well. I"ll relay my progress to you through the messenger."
"Alright," Ying Qingcang agreed. "We"ll leave once the rain stops."
Just like that, the news of their departure spread all over the village. According to the chieftain, the rain would stop after three days. Thus, for every night during those three days, the villagers had invited them to sit around a bonfire where they feasted on meat and alcohol. The presence of outsiders in the village was rare. The villagers really enjoyed revels like this once in a while.
While Ying Qingcang was away, the chieftain approached Xin Qing.
"I have a request that I hope you will agree to," said the chieftain. Xin Qing had noticed the way the chieftain had kept staring at Xiao Rui, so she quickly said, "Don"t worry, chieftain, we"ll definitely help Xiao Rui locate his family!"
"No, this isn"t about that," Chieftain Mo Lin said, shaking his head. "I"m hoping you can bring this child with you when you leave."
"Huh?" Xin Qing was stunned. "You want me to take Xiao Rui with me?"
The light in Xiao Rui"s eyes dimmed the moment he saw Xin Qing"s reaction. Xin Qing noticed Xiao Rui"s dismal and quickly grabbed his hand. "It"s not that I"m against the idea. I was just a little surprised that"s all," Xin Qing said. Then, she turned to the chieftain. "Back then, when Young Master Shen offered to bring him away, didn"t you reject it?"
"It wasn"t that I"m unwilling to let the kid go back then. It was the kid himself who had refused to leave." Chieftain Mo Lin laughed. "Now, he"s going with you willingly!"
Xin Qing understood. She sat down and picked up Xiao Rui. "Alright, then! Looks like we"re going to be family from now on!"
Xiao Rui nodded sheepishly and buried his face into Xin Qing"s embrace.
Xin Qing smiled at the chieftain and gave him her word: "Please don"t worry. We"ll do everything in our power to track down his family. If we really can"t find them in the end, Ah Cang and I will adopt him and raise him as if he"s our own child!"
"I"m glad to hear that!" The smile on Chieftain Mo Lin"s venerable face suddenly made him look like a flower. "He"s chosen you, so of course I won"t worry. You shouldn"t worry, too. I will figure out a formula that will cure your condition once and for all."
Ying Qingcang had only found out about the new addition to the family when he returned that night.
"Ah Cang, are you mad at me?" Xin Qing clung to him and tried to sweet-talk him. "See? We"ve gained another child. A son this time! How nice!"
"Ugh, fine. I"m good as long as you"re happy!" Ying Qingcang pinched her nose. "Come on. Let"s sleep. We"ll start packing our stuff tomorrow. We"ll be leaving the day after that."
They finished packing their things the next morning. In the afternoon, Chen Huan once again visited Lin Quan"s place. For the past few days, Chen Huan had been hara.s.sing Lin Quan, begging him to teach her the art of hypnosis. Seeing that she was leaving soon, Lin Quan finally agreed to her request.
"Right now, you will obey my command. Go to the village entrance and bring me the stuff..."