When the car pulled up in front of the city hall, Xin Qing immediately realized what it was that Ying Qingcang had in mind. Zhang Mi and Young Master Shen were there, standing on each side of Ying Qingcang, grinning at her.
"Hurry up! You guys can skip the queue since your man got in through the backdoor."
Xin Qing saw Ying Qingcang and noted his tender stare. "I didn"t bring my ID with me," she said a little sheepishly.
"I have it," Ying Qingcang said, reaching for her hand. "I brought it with me when I left this morning! Now, let"s go get our license and go through the formalities. Everything should work out fine if we have our wedding ceremony during the National Day."
Xin Qing nodded obediently. What Ying Qingcang meant was that she would have no choice but to undergo plastic surgery if the scar behind her ear still did not fade by the end of this summer. More and more, Xin Qing was getting used to Ying Qingcang"s overbearing "my way or highway" att.i.tude which he occasionally showed. In fact, she thought it was a very good thing, as if her heart had now found reliable support to lean on. Right now, Xin Qing saw Ying Qingcang as a huge tree and herself as a parasitic vine; without the tree, the vine would never be able to survive.
She no longer cared much for things like "female independence", or "women being fully capable of leading happy lives without a man" and whatnot; Xin Qing would take such declarations with a grain of salt nowadays whenever she heard them. Right now, she was willing to live under Ying Qingcang"s wings. In fact, she wanted to entangle him and have him caught up in her web. She wanted to have a secure hold of him, trapping him in her hands.
They paid 19 bucks and took their photos. Five minutes later, they were each given a red booklet. After that, Ying Qingcang led her into the room next door, where a bespectacled young man awaited them. There were also a few others who stood behind the young man. Each of them was carrying a bunch of folders and doc.u.ments. One of them, a woman, was looking at Xin Qing with a mixture of envy and jealousy.
The hair on the back of Xin Qing"s neck rose when she noticed that look. "I don"t know these people, right?" she thought.
"Miss Xin!" the young man with gla.s.ses greeted her in an overly polite manner. Xin Qing stared at Ying Qingcang in confusion. Ying Qingcang led her to a chair and asked her to sit down. After that, Ying Qingcang sat in the chair beside hers.
"We can proceed," Ying Qingcang said to the bespectacled young man, who nodded in response. The few people who were carrying the doc.u.ments headed over and arranged the stacks of doc.u.ments on the table in neat order. Xin Qing glanced at those papers and found that there were at least ten of them.
"Miss Xin. This row here contains the t.i.tle deeds of fifty-one real-estate properties owned by Mr. Ying all over the world. More specifically, in China, New York, England, France and Greece..." said the young man with gla.s.ses who went on to list out the names of a bunch of countries. After that, he handed a pen to her and said, "You can sign them now."
Xin Qing recoiled and withdrew into Ying Qingcang"s embrace. "What"s he doing?"
Ying Qingcang kissed her forehead. "Sign. These properties are now yours."
"I don"t want them!" Xin Qing tossed the pen onto the table.
Beside her, Zhang Mi"s eyes were shooting daggers at her. "Are you stupid or something? "Hurry up and sign. After this, you"ll be a female billionaire!"
"You don"t want me anymore. That"s it, isn"t it?" Xin Qing stared at Ying Qingcang, her lips pressed into a line and her face laced with hurt. Ying Qingcang felt an ache in his heart when he saw that expression. Reaching out, he hugged her and then gave her a pa.s.sionate kiss. "What nonsense are you on about? This is a wedding gift."
Xin Qing shook her head. "I don"t want them. If we stay together forever, what do I even need those things for?"
"This is my promise to you. I know that material things don"t mean much to you. But by doing this, I"m sending everyone a direct message. I"m telling everyone how important you are to me. So from now on, if another woman checks me out, you can just tell her "I own all of Ying Qingcang"s money. If you"re willing to support him financially, come on, then!"" Ying Qingcang joked, pinching her nose. "From now on, I"m your employee, Boss Lady Xin!"
"But I... What if I lose all of them?" Xin Qing sniffed.
"Oh for heaven"s sake!" Zhang Mi said in exasperation. "It"s not like you"re going to keep them in your pocket or something. How will you end up losing them? Hey, I say big sis. Hurry up and sign the thing!"
Holding back her tears, Xin Qing picked up the pen and signed every doc.u.ment in the frontmost row of the table. After she was done, the young man stepped forward, collected them and then put them away. After that, he pushed another row towards her. "Now. These are all of Mr. Ying"s industrial a.s.sets across the globe. Among them are 8 starred hotels, 5 holiday villas, 3 vineyards, and 2 farms!"
"My G.o.d, you"re really rich!" Xin Qing exclaimed, looking at the photos inside the folders. She had seen a few of those hotels before, on magazines. Apparently, the price for a night"s stay was equivalent to the price of a car.
The young man smiled. "Actually, Miss Xin, right now you"re richer than Mr. Ying!"
The last of the doc.u.ments was Ying Enterprises" share transmission doc.u.ment; apparently, Ying Qingcang had placed half of Ying Enterprises" shares under her name.
Ying Qingcang stared at Xin Qing who was nearly in tears at this point. Then, in a voice that was practically dripping with warmth and tenderness, he said, "The other half was acc.u.mulated from the previous generations of the Ying family. I didn"t touch those. What I"ve given you was my own portion!"
Young Master Shen, who was observing the whole thing on the sidelines, shook his head. "Tsk, tsk! This trick really does work on all women. Hey, Ah Cang, I suggest you quickly state your demands while Xiao Qingqing is still touched. Ask her to dress up like a maid, or a playboy bunny or something!"
Zhang Mi shot a contemptuous glare at Young Master Shen. "You think everyone is as base as you?"
"It"s called spicing things up in the bedroom. But of course, this is a concept that"s beyond a lunatic woman like you."
"That"s just you being promiscuous!" Zhang Mi"s eyes traveled downwards to his crotch. "I swear, one of these days you"ll contract HIV."
Ying Qingcang"s cold stare swept between the bickering pair. "Keep that up and I"ll kick you both out," he said.
"Don"t you dare. I"m the witness!" Zhang Mi said before she clammed up instantly and sat back down.
Xin Qing signed all the doc.u.ments. As witnesses, Young Master Shen and Zhang Mi were required to sign them too. In the end, the bespectacled young man, who turned out to be the lawyer in charge of the procedure, stamped the doc.u.ments.
"Alright, we"re all done!" the lawyer stood up and began to congratulate Xin Qing. "Miss Xin, right now, you"ve officially joined the ranks as one of the world"s wealthiest billionaires. I hope I"ll have a chance to serve you again in the future!"
After that, the lawyer gave Ying Qingcang a nod and then left.
Xin Qing was smiling like a fool; her lips had yet to close even when they had all arrived at the restaurant. Ying Qingcang watched her in amus.e.m.e.nt, and then he shoved a piece of pork rib into her mouth.
"Alright, enough. We"re here to celebrate. If you keep acting like a fool, I might just regret my decision."
"Don"t you dare!" Xin Qing said almost instantly, and then she let out two evil laughs. "You"ll become a penniless man if you regret it."
The door of the booth opened with a bang. Monica stomped in angrily while Ah Nan trailed after her.
"You guys have gone too far. I just went on a business trip for a few days and now look at you guys! You"ve gotten your marriage license already!"
Ying Qingcang gave Ah Nan a pointed look. "Unauthorized disclosure of your superiors physical location is an offense. Your one year"s salary will be deducted."
"I was forced!" Ah Nan protested. The injustice of it made him feel like dying. Monica glared at Ah Nan. "What are you so afraid of? He"s no longer our boss! Haha... Xin Qing, give me a raise!"
Other than Xin Qing, the rest of them were staring at Monica in pity. "Well, can I?" Xin Qing asked seriously.
Monica jumped in before Ying Qingcang could speak. "Why are you asking him? Right now, you"re the biggest shareholder!"
"Um... Monica." Ah Nan reminded kindly, "Although the young master had transferred his shares to the young miss, he owns a copy of the POA, which authorizes him to act and make decisions on behalf of Ying Enterprises."
"Ah?" Monica went stock still. Then she turned her head and looked at Ying Qingcang. "Um... cou-cousin!"
"I don"t recall having a cousin like you," Ying Qingcang said flatly.
Monica inched closer to Xin Qing. "Xin Qing, you won"t let him fire me, right?"
"Hehe!" Zhang Mi said gloatingly, "Did you two actually grow up together? I don"t think you know Ying Qingcang that well at all. Surely, you know how vicious he is?"
Monica was not in the mood to bicker with Zhang Mi. She turned towards Ying Qingcang and looked at him tearfully. "President Ying, please give me a chance to make it up to you!"
"Fine!" Ying Qingcang agreed candidly, which unsettled Monica a little; she was unaccustomed to such display of acquiescence from him. "What are you planning to have me do?" she asked anxiously.
Picking up his chopsticks, Ying Qingcang fed Xin Qing another mouthful. "The William family will be here during the end of this month. You"ll be in charge of dealing with them," he said lazily.
"You mean that psycho"s family?!" Monica exclaimed. "That people must be insane too. It"s too dangerous!"
"I"ll leave Ah Nan with you," Ying Qingcang said, ignoring the pleading look that Ah Nan was giving him. "He can be your bodyguard and will be available 24/7 to you."
Monica smacked the table with her palm. "Leave it to me, then!"
To ensure Xin Qing"s safety, Ying Qingcang had kept the fact that they had claimed their marriage licence a secret. A few days later, however, plastered on the front page of the newspaper was the headline that read: The President of Ying Enterprises had transferred all his a.s.sets to his beautiful wife as a wedding gift. The lawyer who handled the process called to apologize, saying that it was a failure on his part for allowing the people under him to leak the information. He also said that he had informed HR and as a result, the offender was no longer under their employment.
"I know which one!" Xin Qing told Ying Qingcang cryptically when she found out about the article.
Ying Qingcang was sitting behind his desk, poring through doc.u.ments. "What which one?" he asked, not knowing what she meant.
Xin Qing was curled up on the couch, enjoying ice cream. Ying Qingcang had specially brought the purple couch into his office for her use. It was soft and nice to sit in, though it did not fit the overall dark theme of the office at all.
"There was a lady among the team of lawyers that day, wasn"t it? It"s got to be her. She must be the one who leaked it."
"Ah, looks like our confused little idiot has finally grown up! You even know how to a.n.a.lyze a problem now!" Ying Qingcang raised his head and praised her.
Xin Qing bared her teeth. "It"s called female intuition. She was glaring at me fiercely that day, like I had stolen her money or something." Then, Xin Qing did an impression of a philosopher and said, "It was pure, unbridled jealousy."
"Well, based on what you just said, then you"re now every woman"s public enemy. All the women in the city are jealous of you!" Ying Qingcang said, staring at her pet.i.te figure as she revelled in his praise. All of a sudden, he felt a surge of need in him, like a sudden itch inside his heart that yearned to be scratched. He tossed the doc.u.ments aside, headed towards Xin Qing and then embraced her.
Ingratiatingly, she leaned into his embrace and said, "I know, right?! "They"re all jealous of me. In fact, even I myself think I deserve hatred. I mean, how did I get so lucky?!"
"Ah Qing!" Ying Qingcang shouted her name all of a sudden. Xin Qing glanced her him. "Yeah?"
Ying Qingcang shook his head. "Nothing. I just feel like calling your name!" he said, pulling her tighter, thus securing her in his arms.
"Now this is the real Xin Qing," he thought. At only 20 years old, she was still a little girl. The way she was acting right now was more like her. Ying Qingcang recalled the time when he and Xin Qing first got together. Back then, she was like an abandoned creature, weak and sensitive; she was constantly on guard and saw everyone in her surroundings as a potential threat. She had been afraid, but had clashed with him due to her pride. Even after they fell in love with each other, Xin Qing had never truly opened her heart to him; she was still overly careful and was walking on eggsh.e.l.ls around him. But her reaction right now was perfect!
"You have to remain like this forever. I wish for you to live a carefree life without having to hold anything back. I will handle whatever problems that you might face. You just have to stay by my side!"
Xin Qing lifted her face from Ying Qingcang"s chest. "You"ll spoil me rotten!" she said, pouting. Her eyes were red once again.
"Then you should repay me!" Ying Qingcang said and kissed her.
The man was just about to take things further when they heard a loud bang.
"Hey you know I was saying that..." Young Master Shen"s voice paused abruptly. Ying Qingcang turned around quickly, holding Xin Qing in his embrace. Then he scowled at Young Master Shen darkly. "Have you decided how you want to die?"