At the end of June, S City was experiencing an influx of visitors ranging from multi-billionaire celebrities to ordinary foreign citizens, and even farmers.
Caesar Academy would sponsor the tuition fees and living costs for students with outstanding grades as well as students with exceptional talents in specific fields. As for those rich second generations with s.h.i.tty grades but wished to enter the academy, well, they had no choice but to pay a large amount of sponsorship fee to secure their spot in the academy. After all, money was nothing to those people.
Parents of the sponsored students could stay at any hotel owned by Xin Enterprises for free. To Xin Enterprises, these kids would yield much greater returns in the future. In Xin Qing"s own words, these kids were long term investments.
The play, which would take place inside the largest hall of Caesar Academy, began at 8PM on the dot. Below the stage, celebrities from all over the world were seated in rows. Currently, Xin Qing was sitting beside a foreign man.
"So why did you come here all of a sudden?" Xin Qing had been shocked when she ran into Lyle this morning.
"Are you guys separated for real this time, or is this another act?" Lyle said as he watched the performance onstage with interest.
"Pfft!" Xin Qing burst out laughing. "Ying Enterprises sought you out, didn"t they?"
"Well, according to that Rong Siman woman, Xin Enterprises will eventually become hers. She asked me to set my sights further." Lyle released a mocking laugh. "I frankly don"t give a d*mn about what happened between you and him. I"m very happy with our partnership so far. I won"t be changing a thing."
Xin Qing shot him a glance. "Geez, relax, will you? n.o.body"s asking you to switch sides."
"Come on, I saw the news and was worried about you!" Lyle drew closer to her. "Don"t forget that I"m always willing to be your spare tyre."
Then, it was Ah Sha"s turn to give her cello performance onstage. Xin Qing focused all her attention to the performance and promptly ignored Lyle.
After the students" performance, Xunxun, the president of the student council, got onstage and announced the location for the school"s summer vacation trip this year. After that, Zhang Mi went on stage to give out scholarships to outstanding students. Then finally, Xin Qing gave a speech on behalf of the academy, thanking the government and various world leaders for all the support given to the academy.
There was a dance party after the event, though it was mostly the students who were having fun while the adults used it as an opportunity to talk shop and expand their business interests. Xin Qing and Lyle were sitting somewhere in the corner of the room when Xin Qing saw Rong Siman heading towards them from afar.
"Didn"t you say you wanted to know who Rong Siman is? Well, she"s coming to us right now." Xin Qing gave Lyle a smile before she returned her gaze to Rong Siman, who was now standing in front of her.
At first Lyle had wanted to stand up out of chivalry, but when he saw that Xin Qing had barely moved from her sitting position, he remained seated as well.
Anger leaked out from Rong Siman"s mouth the moment she opened it. "Xin Qing, you did it on purpose, didn"t you?"
"Geez, I wonder what"s got her panties in a bunch this time?" Xin Qing thought, blinking her eyes. "I did a lot of things on purpose. Do you mind being a bit more specific?"
"You little..." Rong Siman was about to smash her wine gla.s.s at Xin Qing, but Lyle"s quick hand had given Rong Siman"s arm a little shove, causing all the red wine in the gla.s.s to spill onto Rong Siman"s dress. Rong Siman"s dress was a light, skin-colored satin dress, so the stain of the wine was highly conspicuous. The fact that the stain came in a disgustingly large patch made it even more obvious.
"Argh!" Rong Siman screamed. A commotion that large had long since drawn the attention of the surrounding people. By then, Zhang Mi and Young Master Shen were already walking quickly towards Xin Qing. When they arrived, they both stood behind Xin Qing.
Xin Qing stood up calmly. "Xin Enterprises didn"t invite you here to cause a ruckus. Well, of course, I won"t be able to stop you if you"re so h.e.l.l-bent on humiliating Ying Qingcang. Just please don"t affect my other guests."
"Oh? And this is the way you treat your guests, President Xin?" Came a deep and low voice. Ying Qingcang emerged from the crowd. Although he was on his own, the aura he exuded had sufficed to cause everyone in the crowd to start stepping away from his path.
"Ah Cang!" Rong Siman leaned into him. "I just wanted to talk and ask her if she"s willing to let us be a part of Caesar"s shareholders. This is what you have given her before after all. But she had not only mocked me, but had even spilled wine all over me."
All of a sudden, whispers broke out among the crowd.
"Look! Look! It looks like President Xin and President Ying are wearing matching outfits!"
"I know, right? I"ve already noticed it just now. It"s like they"ve agreed beforehand. What a matching pair."
Rong Siman was so furious at this point that she nearly broke off all her fingernails. Xin Qing"s grey dress was the first thing Rong Siman had noticed the moment she arrived at the event. When she left for the event tonight, Rong Siman noticed that the color which Ying Qingcang had selected for his suit was silver, a color that he had never picked before. She had specially selected a light color dress in order to match his black suit, but now it seemed like all her efforts had gone to waste.
Rong Siman was convinced that it was impossible for Ying Qingcang to know the kind of dress that Xin Qing would be wearing to the event. Even more impossible was the fact that he would deliberately try to match his clothes to the color of Xin Qing"s dress. Therefore, it must be the case that Xin Qing had heard something from somewhere and had then deliberately picked a dress to match his suit. That was what Rong Siman had wanted to confront Xin Qing about just now. But she lost her temper and ended up making a scene.
"Hey, what"s the deal between you two?" Zhang Mi whispered to Xin Qing softly. Zhang Mi had also noticed the way in which Xin Qing"s dress had matched Ying Qingcang"s suit to a tee.
Xin Qing turned her head and leaned her ear towards Zhang Mi. "How should I know?" Xin Qing whispered back. "Have you forgotten that I"ve only had my dress made last week?"
Ying Qingcang blatantly ignored the crowd"s whispers and fixed his calm gaze upon Xin Qing. "Aren"t you going to give me a proper explanation, President Xin?" he asked.
"No. I can"t lose. This is just the beginning!" Xin Qing pepped herself up inwardly. Recently, she had been spending a lot of time brainwashing herself and telling herself that Ying Qingcang was now the sworn enemy of Xin Enterprises. Besides, how dare he help another woman bully her? This kind of despicable behavior was utterly unforgivable.
Now that Xin Qing had witnessed Ying Qingcang coming to Rong Siman"s defense again, it was like something had lit up Xin Qing"s tiny universe. With a bland smile plastered on her face, Xin Qing said, "Explanation? What explanation? You mean you want me to explain how we have a loose dog from your house running around the place and biting others because you"ve somehow forgotten to shut the gates of your house?"
Then, Xin Qing aimed a pointed stare at the pathetic state of Rong Siman, who was now glaring at her with nothing but hatred in her eyes. Xin Qing continued, "Though I can"t help but notice what a generous man you are, President Ying. I mean, take a look at her. Her dress is so drenched right now that it"s practically see-through. And yet here she is, displaying herself to all the male eyes here. Tsk, tsk! Miss Rong, surely you must realize by now just how worthless your flesh is."
Both Zhang Mi and Monica sucked in a cold breath. "d.a.m.n, since when had this chick become so feisty? And that mouth! So vicious!"
A roar of tumultuous laughter sounded among the crowd. Only then did Rong Siman discover that her dress was practically see-through from the waist down. She cried out, covered her face, and bolted to the washroom. Ying Qingcang turned around to the person behind him. "Go get her another dress," he said in a flat tone.
Then, his gaze once again settled on Xin Qing. Something flashed in his eyes, something indecipherable. Xin Qing snorted. "You wanna stare? Fine. Let"s stare. I"m not afraid of you!" she thought. She raised her head and met Ying Qingcang"s gaze defiantly. Ying Qingcang lowered his head for a moment, and n.o.body saw the smirk tugging at the corners of his lips when he did. When he raised his head back up again, his eyes held their usual coldness. "I"m here to thank you for giving up voluntarily," he said. "Looks like you know your place after all."
Xin Qing knew he was referring to that thing with Smith. "Since President Ying cares so much about the things that have been discarded by Xin Enterprises, I must, of course, grant you your wish!" Xin Qing retorted discourteously.
"Heh!" Ying Qingcang took two steps forward. If Xin Qing raised her head, she could touch her forehead to his chin. Their breaths entwined with each other in their proximity. There was a moment when Xin Qing could have sworn that she saw something in Ying Qingcang"s eyes. Whatever it was that she saw, it disappeared so quickly that it was as if it had never appeared.
"I eagerly await the surprises that President Xin has in store for me in the future. That"s how we make this game fun."
Xin Qing could not help but take a step backwards. The presence of this man was too imposing.
Just when Xin Qing was about to speak, a puerile and soft voice suddenly rang out: "Don"t you dare bully my mommy!" A small figure dashed out of nowhere and rammed into Ying Qingcang"s body. Ying Qingcang"s hand reach out instinctively to steady the child, only to have the kid pouring an entire canteen of fruit juice onto his suit.
"Well done, Ah Sha!" Zhang Mi made a V sign behind her back.
Xin Qing pulled Ah Sha straight into her arms. This was exactly the kind of scenario that she feared the most. She had no idea if this would hurt Ah Sha.
"I couldn"t care less about not having you as my daddy. I"ve already had a new daddy!" Ah Sha yelled, and judging from the redness in her eyes, it was obvious that she had been holding back tears. Regardless, Ah Sha"s hand was now clutching Lyle"s arm in a tight grip. "Here," Ah Sha said, "this is my new daddy. He"ll never bully mommy and he"s nice to mommy. He"s nice to Ah Sha, too."
After her tirade, Ah Sha stared up at Ying Qingcang with teary eyes. It might just be some kind of delusion, but the crowd suddenly felt as if the air surrounding Ying Qingcang"s body had dropped several degrees. His dark gaze fell upon Lyle before he gave Xin Qing a probing look. After that, he turned around and left.
Ying Qingcang"s brushed past Xunxun and Xiao Rui as he left. The brief physical contact had Xiao Rui going still for a split second. Then, Xiao Rui turned his head around and stared after Ying Qingcang"s back. He kept his gaze there for a long, long time...
This dinner party had sent a lot of messages to the public. The first was that Ying Qingcang and Xin Qing had separated for real and were now fighting tooth and nail with each other for the company"s ownership. Also, everyone now knew that Xin Qing was not a softie at all. Her charisma and aura were by no means inferior to Ying Qingcang"s. The final winner of this battle soon became the subject material of idle gossip.
Of course, to all the employees of Xin Enterprises, Xin Qing performance that night was no doubt akin to an anti-anxiety pill.
After ruminating for a few days, Zhang Yafei decided to personally seek out Xin Qing.
"I know why you"re here," Xin Qing said in greeting. "Have a seat!"
"President Xin, I have a few things to say to you." Zhang Yafei fisted her hands. "I know that our company is no longer involved in that brand I"ve been endorsing. I won"t endorse for Ying Enterprises. I wish to stay. Look, I can do other tasks. Maybe some PR stuff, or other small commercials. I can be involved with tasks related to corporate image, too. And I won"t take any endors.e.m.e.nt fee. Just give me a normal salary and treat me like any other normal employee in the company."
Xin Qing had never looked away from Zhang Yafei throughout Zhang Yafei"s entire speech. All of a sudden, Zhang Yafei felt a bit hesitant. She had no idea if she had overstepped any boundaries by recommending herself in such a way. "I... I..."
"Thank you!" Xin Qing grinned at her. "But I really don"t need you to do any PR stuff, small commercials or things like that."
Zhang Yafei paled instantly. "I can be a normal employee!" she said desperately.
"No, I don"t need that from you." Xin Qing shook her head.
Zhang Yafei was in a state of utter cluelessness at that point. With shaky hands, she rose from her seat. "Alright, then. I understand. Thank you so much for all the care and guidance you"ve given me for the past three years, President Xin. Don"t worry. I will never become an endorser for Ying Enterprises."
"Where are you going?" Xin Qing stared at the other woman in amus.e.m.e.nt. "You still have to endorse for me!"
"Huh?" Zhang Yafei"s eyes grew wide as she stared at Xin Qing in disbelief. "But... Isn"t it..."
Xin Qing tilted her head to one side. "It"s not like there"s only one brand we can endorse, right? Just finish your task at hand and don"t worry about anything else!"
For a moment, Zhang Yafei found everything a bit difficult to accept. But soon, she understood. She nodded at Xin Qing happily. "Okay! I understand. I"ll be heading off first, then."
After Zhang Yafei left the office, the door which led to another room in the office opened. Zhang Mi walked out while stretching herself. "Your judge of character isn"t bad at all! It isn"t a waste to nurture her!"
"I"ve always been a good judge of character." Xin Qing laughed a bit gleefully.
Then, Zhang Mi gave her the stink-eye. "You"re really planning to go on your own?"
"Mm. Having more people there won"t do us any good. Going alone is more convenient," Xin Qing said, glancing at her calendar. "Let"s head home earlier tonight. The kids are going for their summer vacation trip tomorrow."