“Oh, so I was out for a day!” Ah Sha pecked him on the lips. “I want to have a barbecue for dinner!” She remembered the inadequately seasoned (salt only) rabbit meat that she had eaten back in the forest and decided that some real barbecue was in order. Time to compensate herself for all the suffering she went through!
“Deal!” Wan Qingsi buried his head underneath her jaw. For a while, he stayed in that position, listening to the sounds of her heartbeat, and said with a sense of contentment. “You know, when you were lost inside the mountain, I wanted to chop An Ru into pieces. You had no tools, no food, no communication devices, nothing. You have nothing. But you were stranded in the wilderness! How were you to survive in that kind of environment!”
Wan Qingsi went on, “There was nothing else on my mind back then other than to find you as quickly as possible. I was so scared. I was scared that you’d run into danger, that you’d be left hungry with nothing to eat. I was worried that you couldn’t find a good shelter to spend the night in, that you’d fall sick.”
Ah Sha nodded along as Wan Qingsi spoke in his tender voice.
“Besides, Depp was with you. I knew for sure that the idiot would become burden to you.”
Ah Sha laughed at that comment. “You really do know him well,” she said.
Then, Ah Sha remembered that there were still a lot of essential things that she had yet to tell him. She spent the next few minutes telling him about Lin Musheng’s discovery of her ident.i.ty as the poison queen.
A deep crease formed on Wan Qingsi’s brows. “What the h.e.l.l is he up to?”
“Why? What’s wrong?” Ah Sha sounded worried. “What did he do?”
Wan Qingsi patted her shoulders comfortingly. “Bai Qi called me this morning,” Wan Qingsi said. “He told me that Lin Musheng had rescinded the bounty on you. Bai Qi pretended to disagree. In the end, Lin Musheng settled it by paying him a sum of money.”
In Bai Qi’s own words: “This is my first time ever dealing with such a weird employer.”
“Back in the mountain, did he attack you?”
Ah Sha shook her head first, and then nodded. “I wouldn’t say attack,” Ah Sha said. “He was trying to take off my mask.”
“He saw your face?” Wan Qingsi’s eyes dimmed. “d.a.m.n, this is going to be difficult.”
“You’re worried that he might start spreading the news, right?” Ah Sha sighed. “I’m worried about the same thing.”
Wan Qingsi planted a kiss on her hairline. “Everything else could be handled,” Wan Qingsi said. “The problem is Aunt Qing finding out about your status as a bounty hunter. She’d be crushed.”
Xin Qing had developed a kind of phobia towards high-risk professions ever since what happened to Ying Qingcang last time. Xin Qing didn’t want any of her loved ones to be involved in such professions.
“By the way, how did you handle the situation back at the movie set?” The reporters must have begun coming up with a bunch of wild theories regarding their sudden disappearance.
“It’s fine. Zhou Na and the others are handling it.” Wan Qingsi’s palm slid under Ah Sha’s shirt, stroking the tender skin of her waist. The smoothness he felt there was so addicting that he didn’t want to let go, ever.
Ah Sha shifted closer towards him. “I’ll go back to the movie set tomorrow and continue with the filming.”
Wan Qingsi frowned. “No, take a few more days off.”
“There’s no need for that!” Ah Sha glared at him. “You know my body and how much it can handle. It’ll be fine.”
That night, Ah Sha came up with an excuse so that she and Wan Qingsi could go back to their place. That way, Xin Qing wouldn’t be able to stop Ah Sha from going back to the movie set tomorrow. Depp winked at her when she arrived on set the next day. She figured Wan Qingsi must have talked some sense into Depp since he never mentioned anything about female warriors after that.
Deep down, Ah Sha felt extremely lucky that Depp had been sleeping like a log that night. Or else there was no way she could explain the incident about the wolves’ attack.
From the corner of her eyes, Ah Sha noticed Tang Yue’s wheelchair approaching her. “I heard about the prank that Senior Wan’s friend played on you,” Tang Yue remarked. “Took you guys straight overseas for a vacation, I see? A little sudden, don’t you think?”
Ah Sha gave Tang Yue a sidelong glance. “Too bad you weren’t there with us,” Ah Sha said. “It was a memorable trip for us.”
“There’s nothing else going on?” Tang Yue asked, unwilling to let it go. “An Ru had suddenly become so quiet during the past two days. You don’t know anything about that?”
An Ru would usually make Weibo posts everyday. But for the past two days, she had been suspiciously quiet. Tang Yue had a feeling that it was somehow related to Ah Sha’s being brought away by the helicopter.
Ah Sha smiled. “You sound pretty worried about her,” Ah Sha said. “Why don’t you just ask her yourself, then?”
Tang Yue merely chuckled and said nothing. It wasn’t like she could tell Ah Sha that she was waiting for An Ru and Ah Sha tear each other apart, while she gloated on the sidelines.
“Must be fun watching us destroy each other, huh?” Ah Sha looked at Tang Yue with a smirk.
“How could you say that?” Tang Yue feigned a look of surprise. “I was just worried that she’d hara.s.s Senior Wan again.”
Ah Sha nodded in amus.e.m.e.nt. “At least she has the guts to hara.s.s him. Some people don’t even have the guts to do that.”
Tang Yue’s face paled instantly. She turned her wheelchair around and left without another word.
“I already told you a long time ago not to bother with those petty schemes of yours,” Ah Sha said. “I know you better than you think.”
Tang Yue’s body went taught and her wheelchair stopped. When her a.s.sistance ran up to push her wheelchair, her demeanor had already returned to normal. After a while, Ah Sha saw Tang Yue chatting happily with the movie set’s makeup artist. Ah Sha looked away from Tang Yue.
“I wonder when Young Master Wen would show up,” Ah Sha thought. “Until then, you don’t even have the right to go toe to toe with me…”
“Young miss! Phone.” Xiao Hua handed the phone to Ah Sha.
Ah Sha took the phone and answered. “h.e.l.lo.”
The voice on the phone was both familiar and foreign. “So, you’re alright now?”
Lin Musheng…
Ah Sha recovered from her daze and frowned. “What do you want?”
“Why, to celebrate the fact that you and I have both survived the a.s.sault from a pack of wolves, of course! So, Ah Sha! Let’s have lunch together! My treat, of course!”
Ah Sha chuckled humorlessly. “Is that a joke? So not funny.”
“Well, what can I say? I’m an impatient and quick-tempered type of guy. Say, how do you think Ying Qingcang would feel if he finds out that his only daughter is a bounty hunter?” Lin Musheng said lazily. Ah Sha could even imagine the smug look on his face, which she felt like punching over and over again.
“Where?” she growled.
Lin Musheng chuckled. “My people will pick you up,” he said. “Oh, another thing! Keep Wan Qingsi out of this. I might just lose my patience if I see him.”
“Go to h.e.l.l!” Ah Sha hung up. Xiao Hua approached Ah Sha nervously. “Young… Young miss, isn’t that your friend? I heard him calling you ‘Ah Sha’.”
Ah Sha held her forehead and waved off Xiao Hua’s concern. “Yes. Yes, he’s a friend.”
Wan Qingsi had a meeting that afternoon. Ah Sha gave Xiao Hua the afternoon off before she waited on the roadside for the ride that Lin Musheng had promised her. When it came, she climbed into the car.
The place they had agreed on was a modern barbecue restaurant. The food was of top quality. Then again, it would also cost an arm and a leg.
“I fell in love with barbecues ever since tasting that rabbit meat!” With practiced-ease, Lin Musheng grilled a plate of mutton for Ah Sha. “Here, have some. It tastes so much better than the one we did the other day!”
“What the h.e.l.l do you want?” Ah Sha gave him a strange look.
“What do I want? To eat, of course!” Lin Musheng said, biting into a piece of venison. “You know, I don’t mind at all if you’re interested in some other activities.”
Ah Sha chuckled and dug into her food.
When the food on the table was cleared, Ah Sha took a sip of barley tea and said, “Alright, enough. The food’s gone. Now you tell me what you want.” She paused for a moment. Then, she added, “If it’s because of that one hundred million, then I can tell you that it has nothing to me. I’m not going to pay you.”
Please. The guy was reselling weapons in private. The one hundred million loss was nothing compared to the benefits he’d gained.
“I have a suggestion which I think suits you,” Lin Musheng said in a lazy tone.
Ah Sha suddenly had a bad feeling in her stomach.
“Leave Wan Qingsi and be with me!” Lin Musheng stared right at him. “Wealth, status, and influence. I’m better than him in all three. If you want to be a star, then I’ll support you!”
“Is this guy joking?” Ah Sha glared at him. “So, you think I’m with Wan Qingsi because of his money?”
“Fine, then I’ll take another approach,” Lin Musheng said. “I’ll love you more than he does!” Lin Musheng placed a hand over his heart as if to rea.s.sure her.
Ah Sha stared at him as if he belonged in a mental inst.i.tute. “What, did you have too much c.u.min that you finally lost your mind?”
“I’m perfectly normal,” Lin Musheng said. “This is me making a love confession.”
“Yeah, to the wrong person.” Ah Sha stood up decisively. “Did we discuss anything after the meal? Hm. I don’t think so. If you did say anything, then I didn’t hear anything. Okay, then. Bye!” Ah Sha grabbed her handbag and ran out. Lin Musheng stared after her, smiling.
“Did I come on too strong? Guess I scared her just now.”
“Brother!” An Ru suddenly appeared. “You’re really interested in her?”
Lin Musheng frowned. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m here with a friend.” An Ru’s eyes sparkled. “Brother, if you’re interested in Mei Jing, I can help you!”
“Stay away from her.” Lin Musheng leveled a cold stare at An Ru. “I’m warning you. Don’t test my patience. Film your movies and don’t step out of line. Or else I’ll send you back to the old man. Good luck with listening to his nagging by then.”
An Ru’s face changed and she lowered her head. “I understand.”
“Who did you have lunch with?” That was the first thing Wan Qingsi asked Ah Sha when he came home that night.
“Lin Musheng,” Ah Sha said, stealing a glance at him.
Sure enough, Wan Qingsi’s expression morphed into a scowl instantly. “Who gave you the permission to go? Don’t you know how dangerous he is?”
“The b.a.s.t.a.r.d threatened me!”
Wan Qingsi stared at her for a long while, not saying a thing. “What else did he tell you?” he asked after a while.
“He said…”
“Don’t bother lying. Your lies don’t work on me,” Wan Qingsi said. From the day they met, Ah Sha had never told a successful lie to Wan Qingsi. That was also the reason why she admired Wan Qingsi when she was young: he could see through her lies all the time. Back then, she thought he was some kind omniscient and omnipotent person.
Then, she grew up and saw reality for what it was. The reason none of her lies worked wasn’t because of how good Wan Qingsi was. It was just because she was too stupid and ignorant.
Ah Sha released a resigned sigh. “He confessed to me and asked me to be with him,” Ah Sha got out weakly.
Wan Qingsi laughed out loud, though his face looked like it belonged to that of a demon.
“Come on, ignore him. I just pretended not to hear him,” Ah Sha said, stroking his cheek. “Ignore him. Ignore him.”
Wan Qingsi kissed Ah Sha’s lips. “You’ll be eighteen after September. Let’s get married right away!”
“Huh? No. I’m turning seventeen this year,” Ah Sha said, correcting him.
“You’ll be eighteen according to your nominal age,” Wan Qingsi said with an intense look on his face. “Look around us. We have so many nuts in our lives. I think getting married earlier is a good idea.”
None of those dumb a.s.s would have non-platonic intentions towards her again after they got married.
Ah Sha didn’t argue with him any further regarding their marriage. Wan Qingsi would have to ask Ying Qingcang for Ah Sha’s hand in marriage. Ying Qingcang had to agree first before they could marry. If Wan Qingsi could convince Ying Qingcang, then Ah Sha would have no objections either.
The movie’s production had moved into its final stages. Ah Sha’s daily travels pretty much consisted of “home, movie set, repeat”. At the same time, Stars Entertainment was partnering with a TV station for a joint project; Wan Qingsi was busy with meetings every day. As the days pa.s.sed, the weather grew warmer and warmer. Lin Musheng would give her a few calls here and there to hara.s.s her.
After she wrapped up work at the movie set today, Ah Sha brought Xiao Hua to a joint opposite of Stars Entertainment’s building, one that sold cold drinks. Xiao Hua’s stomach began to hurt once while she was eating.
“I told you to go slower, but you just had to shove everything in your mouth.” Ah Sha stared at Xiao Hua worriedly. “Are you okay?”
Xiao Hua hugged her stomach and shook her head. “I’m going to the bathroom,” Xiao Hua. “Don’t leave me, okay?”
“Where else can I go?” Ah Sha said, signaling Xiao Hua to hurry up.
Her phone rang all of a sudden. Ah Sha rolled her eyes the moment she saw the caller ID.
“Lin Musheng! Can’t you stop with your games? The weather is hot enough as it is!”
She never heard Lin Musheng’s voice on the phone. Instead, she heard a din, some commotion. Seconds later, she heard a man’s voice: “Quick, tie him up.”