Young Master Shen charged into Ying Qingcang"s hotel room. "Are you out of your f*ck*ng mind?" He roared. "You didn"t even try to save Xiao Qingqing?"
After all the c.r.a.p Ying Qingcang had previously put him through, Young Master Shen had run off to take a vacation. Upon touching down, he had received Ah Che"s phone call. Ah Che had been crying and screaming into the phone and had requested his immediate presence. When Young Master Shen came in, Ah Che was holding up a bowl, trying to get Ying Qingcang to eat something. At the sight of Young Master Shen, Ah Che burst into tears.
"Please hurry up and persuade young master to eat something. He hasn"t eaten anything for two days."
"Eat? You"re still in the mood to eat?" Young Master Shen pushed the bowl away. "What the heck is going on? Everything was fine until you went s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g around with Molly. Why did you do that?"
Ah Che quickly recapped everything that happened and then he looked at Ying Qingcang mournfully. "It wasn"t that Young Master didn"t try to rescue her, just that he was one step behind William. But young miss... Young miss..."
"Serves him right!" Young Master Shen said, stomping his foot. "If it were me, I wouldn"t have forgiven him too." Young Master Shen"s hand slammed down on the table. "Start talking. What the f*ck were you doing?"
Ying Qingcang turned around slowly. Red, threadlike strings seemed to have woven themselves into his dark pupils. It was obvious that he had not only been starving himself, but had also been depriving himself of sleep too.
"Molly told me that she knows why Xin Qing left me. She said she knew the secrets behind the Ying"s residence"s Ancestral Behest."
"And then what? You just went and sold yourself?" Young Master Shen countered. "How can you even be sure that she"s telling the truth?"
Ying Qingcang stood up. He walked towards the huge French window before stopping in front of it. "She must know something. Otherwise, she wouldn"t have known about the Ancestral Behest at all. She asked me to enter into a fake engagement with her. She wanted me to convince her family that I"ll marry her. That way, her family will give her one-third ownership of their a.s.sets."
Young Master Shen snorted. "I thought you"d really gone and sacrificed yourself!" Young Master Shen lifted the corner of his lips into a smile, and then he frowned. "What were you two doing at that auction?"
At this point, Ying Qingcang was fed-up to the teeth with everything. "Greed." He said. "She wanted half the ownership instead of one-third. So we went undercover to that auction as fake husband and wife in order to fool a wealthy businessman who had just returned from Eastern Europe. Her family would put their trust in her as long as she has that businessman"s support. Everything was going according to plan, but..." Ying Qingcang clenched his hands into tight fists. His entire face twisted into a look of agony. "I didn"t expect Xin Qing to be there. That businessman hated Asians, so I didn"t step forward at that time."
"When I saw her, I immediately tried to get to her, but I was too late. William beat me to her." Ah Che said in self-blame. "This is all of me. I didn"t arrange a security detail for the young miss when she got here."
Young Master Shen heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness! Good thing nothing happened to Xiao Qingqing. Otherwise you folks would regret it until the day you die!"
"If something happens to her, I"ll send those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds straight to their graves." Ying Qingcang said, an evil glint flashing across his eyes. "Look into it. Find out if there"s anyone behind all of this."
Young Master Shen frowned. "You mean it"s not a coincidence that Xin Qing was grabbed by those people?"
"The underground trafficking ring is beyond my reach. So you"re going to have to do it." Ying Qingcang said, shaking his head. "But one thing I know is that they haven"t been selling Chinese people for quite a while. Why would they suddenly take Xin Qing?"
"As far as I know, there"s also a naked party to be held tonight. When Xin Qing was being auctioned, the clothes she was wearing had that clubhouse"s symbol."
Young Master Shen sprang to his feet. "Don"t tell me Xiao Qingqing was..."
"No." Ying Qingcang cut him off. "If she really was brought there by the people running the auction, they won"t touch her before the auction."
"Good to know, good to know..." Young Master Shen said, patting his chest a few times. He stood up and headed straight for the door. "I"m going to see her. Poor girl must"ve been scared s.h.i.tless."
Ying Qingcang held him back. "Wait. Let me get ready. We"ll go together."
The two men went to the hotel where Xin Qing was staying. As Young Master Shen rang the door bell, he asked Ying Qingcang, "You sure that Xiao Qingqing would want to see you?"
Ying Qingcang pressed his lips together without replying. Just then, the door opened. Xin Qing stood there with a hand rubbing her forehead. Her clothes were so unkempt that a good half of her shoulders was exposed. She looked hazy with sleep, as if she had just woken up. She rubbed her eyes and then raised her head. "Who is it..."
When she realized that it was Ying Qingcang, she shuddered and moved instantly to shut the door.
Just then, Young Master Shen swooped in and enveloped her in a hug. "Xiao Qingqing!" He said. "Are you okay? I"m here to see you!"
Another male voice came from inside the room. "Didn"t you ask who it is before you open the door?"
Cracks began to form in Young Master Shen"s smile the moment he heard that voice. Ying Qingcang kicked the door open and rushed inside. William came out from within the bedroom. His clothes were equally dishevelled, and there were even lipstick marks on his shirt. The sight of Ying Qingcang made him pause for a short while. After that, he was smiling as if all was right in the world. "Mr. Ying!"
"Why did you come here?" Xin Qing pushed Young Master Shen away. She frowned when she noted her state of dress. She grabbed the jacket which had been lying nearby, put it on, and then stood in front of Ying Qingcang. "I don"t want to see you. Please get out." Young Master Shen quickly tugged Ying Qingcang towards the door, laughing as he did so. "Um... Well, then we"ll head down first and give Xiao Qingqing some time to make herself presentable. After that, let"s have a meal together!"
Ying Qingcang was releasing a bone-chilling aura from head to toe. Young Master Shen could even feel the other man"s tremors at this point.
"Hey, man. Calm down, okay? Xiao Qingqing isn"t that type of person. Maybe all they did was talk for the whole night."
After a seemingly momentous effort, Ying Qingcang managed to open his mouth to speak, "Are you really... Not going to forgive me?"
"That night was the most humiliating night of my life. I don"t ever want to be reminded of it again," she said, staring at Ying Qingcang. When she noticed the pain contained in Ying Qingcang"s eyes, her heart wavered slightly. Gritting her teeth, she pushed on, "But whenever I see you, I"ll be reminded of the state I was in that night."
"Go!" Xin Qing said, closing her eyes. "I beg you. Please don"t appear before me again." With that, she turned around and stalked into her bedroom. When she pa.s.sed by William, she smiled at him. "Thank you! I"m alright now."
William patted her shoulder. "Rest well, okay? I"ll be off first."
Ying Qingcang turned around and left before Young Master Shen could get another word out. At the carpark, they brushed past William.
"Please take care of her." Ying Qingcang said all of a sudden.
William had just been about to enter his car. He turned his head around when he heard Ying Qingcang"s words. "Are you giving up just like that?"
"The Ying family needs me. I have no choice but to go through an arrange marriage." Ying Qingcang said, still looking at William. "It"s probably better this way. Now she can forget about me."
Even after Ying Qingcang"s car had left, William was still standing there, rooted to the same spot. Whatever that was going through his mind was anyone"s guess...
"What did you mean by what you said just now? Are you still suspecting William?" Young Master Shen did not believe for a second that Ying Qingcang would give up on Xin Qing. Xin Qing was the man"s life.
Some time throughout all of this, the pain had receded from Ying Qingcang"s eyes. Now, they were filled with clarity. "I never stopped suspecting him."
"Then why are you still allowing him to be near Xin Qing?" A change went across Young Master Shen"s face as he suddenly thought of something. He was just about to open his mouth when Ying Qingcang shot him a look. "Nothing happened between them," Ying Qingcang said.
"You"re that sure?" Young Master Shen said, pursing his lips.
"I can tell just by looking," Ying Qingcang said flatly. He and Xin Qing had made love so many times. n.o.body knew better than he how Xin Qing would look like after coitus. "If his real target is me, then telling him about my engagement would diminish Xin Qing"s value as a tool that he could use against me. Instead bringing further threat to her, she will actually be safer."
"You"re that confident?" Young Master Shen felt a bit concerned. "From the looks of it, the guy seems to have taken quite a liking to Xiao Qingqing."
Frowning, Ying Qingcang stared out the window. After a long stretch of silence, he said, "It"s better if he genuinely likes her. At least he won"t try to harm her."
Just like that, a soul-stirring compet.i.tion had come to an end. Relief only came to Xin Qing when the plane touched down at the airport. The compet.i.tion that had brought her international fame was also the one that had given her the worst possible nightmare. Representatives from CK were there at the airport to welcome her return. Xin Qing declined their offer to hold a celebratory party for her. All she wanted was to go home and sleep.
Lying amidst the familiar place and smelling the familiar scent, Xin Qing managed to sleep through the entire day. When she woke up that night, she realized that Zhang Mi and Shi Qianqian had left her quite a number of calls. She quickly went online and was surprised to see those two still online.
"Xin Qing!" Zhang Mi yelled. "Are you alright? Are you okay?"
"I"m fine. I"m still alive and talking to you, aren"t I?"
Shi Qianqian barked with a humorless laugh. "If we didn"t asked, you weren"t even planning on telling us about it, were you?"
Regardless of what was going through Ying Qingcang"s mind, it did not sit right with Young Master Shen to have Xin Qing misunderstand Ying Qingcang like that. That was why Young Master Shen had told Zhang Mi about everything that had happened. Of course, he had left out the part about the deal between Ying Qingcang and Molly. There was too much at stakes regarding that deal. If things got screwed up, all Ying Qingcang had done previously would go to ruins. The only thing Zhang Mi and Shi Qianqian knew was that Ying Qingcang had justifiable reasons that had forced him to act the way he did.
"No, I was just too exhausted. See, I called you guys straight after I woke up!" Xin Qing said unctuously. "Hey, can we not talk about this anymore? I want to forget everything as soon as possible."
Zhang Mi"s wide-eyed stare could be seen on the video. "What about Ying Qingcang? Are you really planning to ignore him forever?"
"I don"t want to talk about him either," Xin Qing stated in an icy tone.
Zhang Mi smacked her desk. "Yeah! "Just ignore him. What b*llsh*t reason does he have, anyway? What reasons could possibly justify the fact that he had left you for death? I can"t believe he"s that type of person. I must"ve been out of my frigging mind to have idolized him all this time."
"You be quiet." Shi Qianqian said in protest. "Xiao Qing, just ask yourself what type of man you think Ying Qingcang is? Sometimes what we see isn"t necessary the truth. You"ve been with him for so long. Don"t you believe him?"
Xin Qing shook her head. "I know that he has his reasons. I also believe that if William hadn"t been there that day, Ah Che would"ve saved me." Xin Qing"s hand went to cover her chest. The image from that night, the way that Ying Qingcang had turned his back on her, flashed across her mind once again. She took a few ragged breaths. "You guys won"t be able to understand what I was feeling at the time. It was complete hopelessness, as if the whole world had abandoned me just because a man had turned his back on me."
Zhang Mi was about to say something else, but one look from Shi Qianqian held her tongue. "Let"s not talk about this anymore. There"s still half a month until Chinese New Year. Why don"t you come home!"
"Let me think about it," Xin Qing said, and ended the call. With both hands on her head, she walked into the bathroom.
In S City, Molly strode haughtily into Ying Qingcang"s office.
"Ah Cang, when are you planning to publicly announce our engagement?"
Ying Qingcang kept his head down. "Get out!" He yelled without even looking at her.
"What? Don"t tell me you"re regretting it?" Molly wiggled her a.s.s and sat on his desk. "Don"t tell me you"re no longer interested in knowing the truth?"
There was a loud smash. Ying Qingcang had given the woman a harsh kick, causing her to end up on the floor. "Get out of my sight."
"Ah!" Molly screamed out, holding her waist. "You... If you regret everything now, you"ll never be with Xin Qing for the rest of your life!"