Xunxun had engaged in jobbery by setting England as the destination for the academy"s summer vacation trip. More specifically, they were visiting a place called Candy Town, a sugar cane yielding small town well-known for its production of various types of candies. While the students were flown to England via a plane chartered by the academy, Xin Qing was...o...b..ard a private jet with w.a.n.gw.a.n.g. Her destination, however, was another town called Saka approximately 200 kilometers away from Candy Town. The workshop of "For You" was in that town. Xin Qing had done an internet search beforehand and had booked her accommodation prior to her arrival; she had decided to stay there for two months.
It was past five o"clock in the evening when she arrived in the town. The evening sun infused a golden hue into the cotton fields. Curious, Xin Qing walked closer to the edge of the field and began inspecting the cotton plants she found there. Apparently, this was where the world"s finest and softest cotton was produced. Using the map she had with her, Xin Qing tracked down her accommodation, which turned out to be on the north side of the town. Xin Qing was very satisfied when she saw the house. It looked exactly like what was shown in the photos: navy blue furniture with floral patterns on the sheets, curtains and couch. When she entered, it was like she was. .h.i.t face-first by an old-fashioned, natural and fresh vibe.
The owner of the house was Yuna, a woman in her fifties. "Welcome to my house!" Yuna said as she lugged Xin Qing"s suitcase upstairs. With her fair skin and clean appearance, Yuna had a kind and motherly look. It was obvious that Yuna was very pleased with Xin Qing"s presence as well. "Please let me know in advance if there are any foods in particular that you avoid," she said.
The owner of the accommodation would handle the meals and housekeeping during a tenant"s stay. "I can"t have anything too spicy. Other than that, I"m good," Xin Qing said politely.
Grinning, Yuna stroked w.a.n.gw.a.n.g"s face. "Alright, then. As for this little guy, don"t you worry, okay? I"ll be preparing wholemeal bread and milk for him. Oh, and also the meatball soup created based on the secret recipe handed down to me by my ancestors!"
Xin Qing placed w.a.n.gw.a.n.g on the bed and began unpacking her bags. Outside, a few fireflies hovered above the garden. Xin Qing picked up a very curious w.a.n.gw.a.n.g and told him, "We"ll eat something first, and then I"ll bring you over there to catch a few fireflies!"
This town was by no means large. During Xin Qing"s search for the workshop the following day, she had gone from the north side to the south side of the town purely on foot. Even so, the whole journey only took her around 20 minutes to complete. She did not bring w.a.n.gw.a.n.g with her; Yuna had brought the little kid to milk the cows.
Admittedly, Xin Qing was a little surprised when she located the workshop. It was so much bigger than she had expected. The wooden workshop looked impressively tall and luxurious. Engravings of delicate patterns were everywhere. Hovering and floating above the windows were no doubt curtains that had been produced by the workshop itself.
A section of the workshop was open to tourists and visitors. Right now, Xin Qing looked like just another tourist, following the other tourists around as they toured the place. After that, when the tourists were brought to a place where they could purchase various beddings and textile products that had been produced on the spot, Xin Qing snuck away quietly and walked further into the workshop.
A foreign man poked his head out from upstairs and yelled, "Didn"t you see the signs? No tourists are allowed here."
Xin Qing raised her head and met the man"s eyes. Surprise flashed in the man"s eyes. Then, he ran down the stairs. "You an easterner?"
"I"m Chinese!" Xin Qing said before she mumbled a sheepish apology. "Well, I did see the signs. I"m here to see Ted!"
The foreign man stared at her for a long time before offering his hand. "I"m his son, Tyger. I"ll take you to him. You"ll just get lost if you go on your own!"
"Thank you!" Xin Qing sighed in relief. The man did seem very cordial, though she knew that was probably because she looked pretty. In Zhang Mi"s own words: "Beauty is an innate resource that must be fully utilized!"
Xin Qing had read Ted"s file before, so she knew that he was now a man in his sixties. But now that she had met him face to face, Xin Qing realized that he was tall and buff like a western cowboy.
"Ah, a pretty lady from the east! Why didn"t you come into my life thirty years earlier? That way I would"ve had a chance to pursue you!" Ted said jokingly as he pulled Xin Qing into a hug. Xin Qing smiled at him. "You don"t seem that old to me, sir! You look like you"re just a few years older than me."
Ted burst into laughter and motioned for Xin Qing to take a seat. "So. To what do I owe the pleasure!"
"Hm, actually it"s nothing important. I just wanted to see for myself the kind of person who would insist on remaining in the handicraft business despite living in the contemporary world, and not to mention someone who could produce such fine works of art!"
Xin Qing had changed her mind and decided not to bring up the business partnership. After that, Ted personally escorted her to visit the other parts of the workshop. He even invited her to attend their cotton harvesting ceremony which would be held in a few days.
Xin Qing said yes to the invitation. When it was time for Xin Qing to take her leave, Ted learned that she was staying at Yuna"s place and, judging from Ted"s reaction, it was as if her staying at Yuna"s place was some kind impressive feat. For that, Ted had brought out several beautiful handkerchiefs as a gift for Xin Qing. When Xin Qing returned to Yuna"s home that night, she discovered that a lot of the patterns and decorations in the house were similar to the ones found in Ted"s workshop.
"Aunt Yuna, do you know Ted, the man who runs the "For You" workshop?" Xin Qing asked. She was currently nestled comfortably on the couch, sipping a gla.s.s of iced chocolate milk.
Yuna was in the middle of preparing the raw materials for tomorrow"s pies. The movement of Yuna"s hands stilled the moment she heard Xin Qing"s question. "I"ve heard of him, yes," Yuna said.
"Ah. I suppose that makes sense. This town is only so big, after all. You had to know each other." Xin Qing glanced at w.a.n.gw.a.n.g beside who was playing with the fireflies beside her, then quickly reminded him not to shove the fireflies into his mouth.
Yuna seemed rather hesitant all of a sudden. Nonetheless, she said, "You"re not really here for a vacation, are you?"
"Mm. I"m here to obtain the dealership for "For You"," Xin Qing said, looking right at Yuna. She did not bother hiding the true purpose she was here. Xin Qing immediately noticed the change in Yuna"s expression, and that was when it hit her: Ted and Yuna must know each other, in fact, the relationship between them was not a simple one.
For the month that followed, Xin Qing had been visiting the workshop every day. As a result, there was now a bond between her and Ted which became stronger and stronger each time she visited. Today, when she was about to leave the workshop after her visit, Ted suddenly told her:
"President Xin, I know who you are and why you"re here. Go home. I won"t partner with you."
Xin Qing was not surprised at all that he had found out. "Mr. Ted, do you mind giving me a reason?" she asked in a tone of resignation.
"There are no reasons. Anyway, you shouldn"t be wasting any more of your time." When he was done speaking, he handed a bag to Xin Qing. "Please give this to Yuna for me."
"Alright!" Xin Qing took the bag and glanced at the man. After that, she turned around and left.
Xin Qing gave the bag to Yuna the moment she got back to Yuna"s home. It turned out that the bag contained a curtain that had just been made. Yuna merely took a glance inside the bag before she tossed it back to Xin Qing. "You have it. I don"t want it."
Xin Qing turned the incident over in her mind repeatedly and soon realized that Yuna was somehow the key to everything. If she could figure out the nature of the relationship between Yuna and Ted, Ted might be willing to help her in return. Ted had repeatedly given Yuna the things that he had made. From that alone, it was obvious to Xin Qing that there must be some kind of love affair between the two!
The next day, Xin Qing skipped her trip to the workshop. Instead, she volunteered to help Yuna with her ch.o.r.es. While they worked, Xin Qing chatted with Yuna. One night a few days later, Xin Qing had already lain down in bed when she suddenly heard noises outside her window. Opening the window, she saw Tyger waving up at her from below.
Xin Qing covered w.a.n.gw.a.n.g with a blanket and sneaked downstairs quietly.
"What are you doing here?"
Tyger smiled. "I"m here to tell you some things. Otherwise, you"ll never be able to get Yuna to tell you these things."
After that, Tyger began his account: "Well, it all happened over thirty years ago..."
After hearing everything, Xin Qing realized that everything between her and Ying Qingcang was not so bad after all. At least they were both still young and neither of them had gotten over each other yet. On the other hand, both Yuna and Ted were already old; they had both wasted their whole lives.
It turned out that Yuna and Ted were lovers back then. But for some reason, Yuna suddenly vanished a few days before their wedding. After Yuna went missing, Ted went berserk and searched everywhere for her. But half a year later, Yuna returned to him, pregnant.
Ted nearly had a breakdown because of that. He forced Yuna to tell him whom the child belonged to, though Yuna would rather die than tell him. One time, during a heated argument between them, Ted accidentally shoved Yuna, causing her to tumble down the staircase. The child did not survive the fall. Since then, the two of them became estranged from each other.
"I was adopted by my father. He never married after the incident. After all this time, he"s still in love with Yuna." Tyger sighed. "If you can get Yuna to forgive my father, he would agree to partner with you."
Well, Xin Qing felt like that was an even more daunting task...
To cause a woman to lose her child? That kind of deep hatred that would last for the rest of a woman"s life. No woman could forgive a man after that kind of experience. But at the same time, Xin Qing was now even more curious as to why Yuna had left that year.
The next day, the unexpected and the shocking happened.
"Mother!" w.a.n.gw.a.n.g ran in early that morning. "There"s a mister outside who looks just like me!"
Xin Qing instantly went into shock. She tossed aside the broom in her hand and ran outside. Then she saw Ying Qingcang standing at the yard"s entrance, staring back at her with calm eyes.
"You... What are you doing here?" Xin Qing felt like an idiot the moment the question left her mouth. As if on cue, she saw a glint of dismissal in his eyes.
"Look, doesn"t he look like me?" w.a.n.gw.a.n.g asked, still clinging to Xin Qing"s leg.
"w.a.n.gw.a.n.g, be a good boy and go back inside, okay?" Xin Qing coaxed him. "Aunt Yuna is about to feed the lambs!"
"I wanna go!" w.a.n.gw.a.n.g turned around and ran back inside.
Only then did Xin Qing approach Ying Qingcang. She stopped when she was about five steps away from him. "I can"t believe you found me here. Impressive!"
"You"ll only stand a chance against me if you can secure the dealership for "For You". Otherwise, you"re destined to lose." Ying Qingcang released a derisive laugh. "That"s why tracking you down isn"t difficult at all."
He paused briefly, and then continued, "Other than seeing me here, there"s something else that will make your day even worse. Want to hear it?"
"What?" Xin Qing stared at him warily.
Ying Qingcang walked up to stand beside her, enshrouding her figure within his shadow. "I know the secret between Yuna and Ted. Do you think Ted will partner with me as a gesture of grat.i.tude if I resolve the problem between them?"
"You..." Dread coursed through Xin Qing. She believed that Ying Qingcang was telling the truth, that he really did know. She took a deep breath to calm herself. Xin Qing raised her head and met his eyes. "Name your price," she said.
Ying Qingcang suddenly smirked. Then, he turned around and headed straight for the garden behind the house. Xin Qing hurried after him and yelled, "Hold it right there! Don"t go!"
Very soon, Ying Qingcang had pa.s.sed through the garden and had arrived at a place behind a small hill. Xin Qing managed to catch up to him, though she was out of breath when she did. Then, she realized, much to her surprise, that there was a fountain there as well as an old swing.
"Oh. You"ve chased me all the way here, I see. Is this your way of begging me?" Ying Qingcang was standing right beside the fountain, staring into the azure lake water. Xin Qing could discern his reflection from the lake water, which held obvious ridicule and mockery.
She walked over and stood beside him, shoulder to shoulder. "Can we talk?" she asked.
"Sure!" Ying Qingcang suddenly turned his head to look at her and then smiled. "But... only if you beg me."
Xin Qing gritted her teeth. "Please. I beg you."
Then she saw Ying Qingcang raising his hand and gave her a harsh, forward shove.
A splash sounded as Xin Qing fell into the fountain pool. She barely had time to scream when a pair of arms wrapped themselves around her body and yanked her to her feet.