Chapter 285 Bai Qi’s Agenda“a.s.sistant Qi, are the newspaper reports true? Is Qingsi serious about that woman?” An Ru had come straight to Stars Entertainment to seek verification. She didn’t even make a stop at home first. The way An Ru saw it, Wan Qingsi wanted to marry Ying Xin because of all the benefits he would obtain out of the marriage. That An Ru could accept, so long as she was the only one he could truly love.
Qi Xiu nodded. “Yes, they’re accurate.”
“Impossible!” An Ru’s voice turned several octaves higher. “How could he have feelings for someone else?”
“An Ru, watch your behavior,” Qi Xiu said with a frown. “You’re a celebrity represented by Stars Entertainment. You’re just another one of our celebrities, do you understand?”
When Wan Qingsi stepped out of the elevator, he saw An Ru standing outside the door of his office.
“Qingsi!” An Ru ran towards him. “What’s your relationship with Mei Jing?”
Wan Qingsi brushed past her and headed straight into his office. An Ru followed him inside. “Qingsi, why won’t you tell me? Are you too afraid to tell me?”
“An Ru,” Wan Qingsi said, loosening his tie. “I don’t owe you any explanations.”
“But what about us…”
“Us? What’s there between us?” Wan Qingsi shot her a mocking look.
“You didn’t reject me when I confessed my feelings to you in public!” An Ru yelled angrily. “Besides, I’m the only one who gets to call you Qingsi.”
“Are you stupid? Why should I bother rejecting you when you’re literally nothing to me? If you want to act like a lunatic, then go ahead. That’s your business, not mine. As for my name…” Wan Qingsi’s cold gaze swept across the room and landed on An Ru’s face. “Have I ever acknowledged you when you called me by that name?”
An Ru visibly blanched. She stared at the man before her with a look of utter disbelief. “But, but back then, at the bar, you told me how beautiful my singing voice was. You said that you’d turn me into a famous singer…”
“How do you think you got to where you are today? Surely you must know just how much money Stars Entertainment had invested in you?”
An Ru covered her face. “You really feel nothing for me? Nothing at all?”
“Don’t flatter yourself.” Wan Qingsi mocked, rising to his feet. “Who do you think you are to deserve my affections?”
“And Mei Jing deserves your love? Isn’t she just using you to climb to fame?” An Ru glared at Wan Qingsi, her eyes dripping with venom. “I want to see her! I want to see for myself what right she has to be with you!”
Wan Qingsi brushed past An Ru. “She has the right because of my feelings for her.” Wan Qingsi opened the door, pausing at the doorway. Then, he turned around and gave An Ru a warning look.
“I suggest you see a psychiatrist. There’s a name for your current behavior. It’s called delusional disorder. It’s best if you have your mental condition treated before it affects your career. Also, you’d better behave yourself while you’re here and focus on what you came here to do. Sing your songs, release your alb.u.ms, or whatever. But don’t ever let me find out that you’re involved in petty schemes behind my back. Or else…” Wan Qingsi trailed off for a moment, and then added, “Just know that if I can make you popular, then I can also destroy you.”
Watching Wan Qingsi leave the room, An Ru felt her knees grow weak and she fell limply to the floor. All this while, she had thought that she was this man’s true love.
She still remembered that night at the bar. He was the only one who had taken her performance seriously. When her performance ended, he had walked over to stand beside her and said, “You sing very well. Do you want to be a star?”
An Ru had been captivated and beguiled by those profound eyes right then and there. It was like someone had cast a spell on her and she had no control over her body when she nodded her head at his question. After that, she became a singer for Stars Entertainment; in fact, it didn’t take very long at all for her to make a name for herself.
“So all this while, he never had feelings for me…” An Ru rose to her feet. Then, she chuckled darkly. “So what? It’s fine as long as I have feelings for him.”
She had worked so hard in her singing career for Wan Qingsi’s sake. Now she was supposed to just give him up to some little girl? Like h.e.l.l that was going to happen. An Ru readjusted her clothes and made herself presentable. After that, she strode out of the office with her head held high.
It didn’t sit well with Wan Qingsi that Ah Sha was at home alone. He made a quick trip to buy the cake that Ah Sha enjoyed and arrived home before three o’clock. The moment he stepped out of the elevator, however, he saw Bai Qi standing at their doorstep.
“Your house is pretty hard to track down, Boss Wan!”
Wan Qingsi frowned and set the cake on the ground. His actions made Bai Qi laugh. “I didn’t come here to fight. You don’t have to act so edgily.”
“Yeah, you didn’t come here looking for a fight. You’re just here to murder someone, that’s all,” Wan Qingsi retorted without once taking his eyes off Bai Qi.
Ah Sha had probably heard Xunxun’s voice from inside the house; her voice was heard from the other side of the door a moment later, “Xunxun? Are you home?”
Bai Qi pinched his nose and then did a sh*t job of mimicking Xunxun’s voice. “Oh, yeah! I’m home!” For several seconds, no sound came from the house. Then, Ah Sha opened the door. An I-knew-it look formed on Ah Sha’s face when she came face to face with Bai Qi.
Xunxun hurried towards Ah Sha. “Why did you open the door if you already knew it was him?”
“What are you doing here?” Ah Sha pointed at Bai Qi’s arm. “Want me to cripple the other one, too?”
“Hey, hey. Like it or not, I’m your house guest. Shouldn’t you be inviting me in?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. How can you call yourself a house guest where you’re here to a.s.sa.s.sinate me?” Ah Sha blocked the doorway with her wheelchair. “Speak. State your business here.”
Bai Qi winked at Ah Sha. “Are you sure you want me to say it in front of him?”
“Come in,” Xunxun said all of a sudden.
Ah Sha turned her head around and gave Xunxun a confused look. Xunxun stroked her head and picked her up from the wheelchair. Then, he carried her all the way to the couch.
Bai Qi walked in and then strode around the house as if he owned the place. After that, he took the seat across from the pair.
“Allow me to formally introduce myself. I’m Bai Qi, professional a.s.sa.s.sin!” The man’s face no longer looked pale. In fact, now his skin tone looked just like that of any other normal person. There he sat, regally, like a young man of n.o.ble descent.
Ah Sha gave him a dirty look. “So?”
“So I want to know whether I should call you Mei Jing?” There was a pregnant pause. “Or Ying Xin?”
A murderous glint flashed in Xunxun’s eyes before it quickly disappeared. Xunxun’s eyes looked normal again when he patted the back of Ah Sha’s hand comfortingly.
“I don’t think you’re hesitating to make a move because of Ah Sha’s true status.” Xunxun smirked. “If my guess is correct, you’re hesitating because you need our help!”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Wan Qingsi, a.k.a Wan Laoda, a.k.a Xunxun, a.k.a Ken. With so many names, others all think that you’re just a weak sissy who relies on the Ying family for power. n.o.body knows how dangerous you really are.”
“You know, you should give me a tour of the Wan family’s base if there’s a chance,” Bai Qi said, his eyes sparkling brightly. “I’ve always wanted to check out the infamous base of your family which, apparently, not even the army could breach.”
Xunxun nodded. “You can try breaching it yourself and get some first-hand experience.”
“Hah. I don’t want to die just yet.”
“Your death warrant is signed from the moment you took on this mission.”
“Hey, aren’t we still sitting here, having a chat? Did you see me making any moves to attack you?”
“That’s only because you know you can’t beat me when it comes down to a fight.”
A helpless sigh escaped Ah Sha’s lips as she watched the p.i.s.sing contest between the two men. “Are you both done?” she asked when she finally had enough.
Bai Qi shrugged and then glanced at Xunxun. “Fine if you won’t listen to me. Just don’t regret it later.”
“Talk,” Xunxun said, pulling out his phone.
“What, you’re trying to record this conversation?”
“Your voice isn’t worth recording at all.” Xunxun gave Bai Qi a mocking glance. “I’ll call the cops once you’re done talking. You’ll be charged with forcible entry and trespa.s.sing into private property.”
Bai Qi cleared his throat twice. “Alright, alright. Let’s get down to business. Rong Siman,” Bai Qi said with a pause. “You guys remember her?”
Both Xunxun and Ah Sha froze in their seats, though Xunxun was quicker to react. “You know her?” Xunxun asked.
“Well, I don’t exactly know her. But I know that she died at the hands of the Ying family.”
Ah Sha stared at Bai Qi warily. “What does that have to do with you?”
“Have you guys forgotten that she has a son?”
Xunxun frowned. “Ying Muhai…”
“My daddy and the others had tried to look for him. But it was like he’d just disappeared off the face of the Earth. There’s been no news of him at all for the past several years,” Ah Sha said with a frown. “You know where he is?”
Bai Qi shook his head. “I don’t. But,” he said, “I know that he’ll show up eventually as long as I stick around you guys.”
Xunxun’s eyes turned several shades darker. “He wants to seek revenge!” he said.
“Indeed,” Bai Qi said, balling his fists. “Three years ago, I ran into him by chance. Even then, he already had ties with various terrorist organizations.”
“Okay, so what? Is he your client or something?” Ah Sha asked.
All of a sudden, Bai Qi’s face transformed into something vicious and savage. “I met him at an underground auction. We didn’t have anything to do with each other at first. But then he got p.i.s.s drunk and ended up raping a girl. After that incident, the girl jumped into the sea and drowned herself.”
“That girl… Is she your friend?” Ah Sha had noticed the faraway look in Bai Qi’s eyes when he mentioned the girl just now. The girl probably meant more to him than just an ordinary friend did.
Bai Qi took in a deep breath. “She’s a very, very important friend of mine!”
“So, you want to kill Ying Muhai in order to avenge your friend.” Xunxun paused for a moment, and then he went on, “But how can you be sure that he’ll be coming for the Ying family to seek revenge? For all we know, he could’ve taken Rong Siman’s money and is now living his dream life.”
“Yeah? I bet he’d love that,” Bai Qi said, laughing derisively. “But no. Rong Siman had a loyal servant. The servant cut a deal with Ying Muhai. Ying Muhai would only be able to get his hands on Rong Siman’s money only if he avenged Rong Siman’s death. Otherwise, he wouldn’t get a single penny.”
Ah Sha’s expression became more and more serious as the conversation went on. “Xunxun, please call daddy. He has to know this.”
“Hey, chill, you guys. The way I see it, he won’t make any moves on the Ying family at the moment.” Bai Qi sat up straighter. “Now, I wonder if I’ve earned myself a chance to collaborate with you with the intel I’ve just provided you.”
Xunxun stared at Bai Qi for a moment. “I don’t trust you. I won’t risk having an a.s.sa.s.sin hanging around Ah Sha.”
“Oh, come on! The only reason I took the a.s.signment in the first place was so that I could approach you guys!” Bai Qi glared at them. “Think about it. What would happen if I hadn’t taken the a.s.signment? Yeah, that’s right. Some other a.s.sa.s.sin would’ve taken it. Wouldn’t it be more troublesome if some other people discovered Ah Sha’s true ident.i.ty? My hunting you down is actually a form of protection in disguise!”
Well, the man wasn’t wrong, they would give him that. If it wasn’t Bai Qi, it would just be another a.s.sa.s.sin. Although Ah Sha had hidden her ident.i.ty, it could still be uncovered if someone dug deep enough. If Bai Qi could figure it out, so could others.
“I will help you guys go up against Ying Muhai on one condition,” Bai Qi said. “I must be the one who kills him.”
“Deal!” Xunxun said, standing up to make a phone call. After a while, Ah Sha asked Bai Qi furtively, “The thing you mentioned before, about… you know. Your impotence? You were just lying to me, right?”
Bai Qi broke into a grin. “Take a guess!”
“Guess my a.s.s…” Ah Sha thought, raising her hand and threatened to p.r.i.c.k Bai Qi to death with it. “It had to be a lie!”
Ah Sha had no idea what Xunxun had told Ying Qingcang during the call. After that, Xunxun ordered his men from the base to start looking into Ying Muhai’s current whereabouts. Meanwhile, Ah Sha stayed at home and stuck with her eat-sleep-repeat routine. The only difference was that she now had a neighbour.
By some crafty subterfuge, Bai Qi had moved into the floor above theirs. Every day, he came down to their floor to steal their food. What surprised Ah Sha the most was that the usually imposing and overbearing Xunxun was actually rea.s.sured enough to have Bai Qi hanging around her.
Ying Qingcang and Xin Qing returned from the Great Barrier Reef during the start of February. By then, Ah Sha had already switched to a smaller cast for her leg. Still, she wasn’t allowed to move around just yet. Xin Qing wanted Ah Sha to move back into Ying’s residence, but Xunxun and Ying Qingcang disagreed.
It was already spring by the time Ah Sha’s cast was removed and she could once again gambol around. The filming of the sci-fi blockbuster movie co-produced by Stars Entertainment and their American counterparts would soon begin.
“Wow, I feel a little bit unused to being outdoors after being cooped up at home for several months in a row!” Ah Sha was now on board Xunxun’s car as he drove her to the movie’s opening ceremony.”
Xunxun stared at her leg. “Slow down when you walk later. Don’t run, and for G.o.d’s sake, don’t even think about jumping. Your bones have just healed, so try not to injure it. Otherwise, G.o.d helps us all if you ended up crippled for the rest of your life.”
“So what if I end up a cripple!” Ah Sha said shamelessly. “You still have to carry me for the rest of your life.”
Xunxun parked the car. He reached across the center console and pulled Ah Sha close. “Yep. I’ll never let you go! Not in this life, or the next life. Or even the next, next life!” Xunxun said, kissing Ah Sha ardently.
Ah Sha got out of the car with a wide grin on her face. That was when she saw a young woman standing in front of their car. The woman was dressed provocatively in a leather jacket and a pair of form-fitting leather pants. Her long hair was pulled into a high ponytail as she stared at Ah Sha unkindly.