"Xin Qing, I"m pregnant!" Tang Shuang said gleefully over the phone.
"You are? Well, congratulations, then," Xin Qing said flatly. "Is that all you want to tell me?"
"I"m calling to tell you the truth!" Tang Shuang said, her voice inordinately smug. "Ah Cang told me everything about how you two got together. If it weren"t for some Ancestral Behest and some Totem, he would"ve ignored you a long time ago."
There was a split second where Xin Qing found herself taken a surprise. Then, a surge of panic ensued. "How does Tang Shuang know all these?" she thought.
"Do you really think Ah Cang still loves you?" Tang Shuang taunted. "Right now, he just isn"t sure whether the behest will change again. That"s why he decided to keep you in a place far away but still within reach. That way, he can get to you when you"re useful to him."
Xin Qing released a cold sneer. "You know, people used to tell me about pregnancies lowering the IQ of women. Looks like it"s true. Aren"t you already married to him? Is there even a point in telling me all these?"
"I just want you to know. I suggest you give up any hopes of a reconciliation with Ah Cang. Ah Cang doesn"t love you at all. He told me all this himself. How about it? You"re sad, aren"t you!" Tang Shuang"s chuckles could hear all over the phone. "You know what? I"m going to invite you to my child"s first birthday party after delivery!"
Xin Qing hung up the phone with a loud smack. That woman must have come in contact with the mastermind looking to harm them. Otherwise, she would not have access to this kind of information. Xin Qing spun herself around twice. After that, she decided to send a text to Ah Che. Shockingly, Ah Che showed up at her door in the middle of the night dressed up like an old man.
"Why did you come here?" she asked, quickly dragging him indoors.
Ah Che took off his hat and wiped his sweat away. "The Young Master is worried," Ah Che said, pulling out a phone and handed the device to her. Xin Qing tapped the only icon available on the screen. It was a video file. Ying Qingcang"s face appeared on screen when the video started playing.
"Babe, I miss you so much!" Xin Qing"s tears started to flow the moment she heard it. She stared at the screen greedily. Ying Qingcang"s gentle voice floated beside her ears. "That person had made an appearance, but we haven"t been able to catch him yet. We have no idea who he is, either. But we know for sure is that he has been drawn out by the news of the baby." Ying Qingcang frowned on the screen. "I know you"re against using the child. But that"s unavoidable now, considering the circ.u.mstances."
"Do you still remember what I told you before? If I did something that you find despicable, you can"t be mad at me and ignore me." Ying Qingcang laughed. "Well, things aren"t that serious, actually. We"ll try our best to be careful."
The rest of the video involved romantic, lovey-dovey stuff which was disgustingly sappy. Finally, Ying Qingcang said, "You should record a video clip and have Ah Che to deliver it back to me. Remember to record if after you"ve taken your bath. Don"t worry, Ah Che won"t dare sneak a peek!"
Xin Qing glanced towards the couch where Ah Che was sitting ramrod straight with an earnest expression on his face. The latter returned her gaze with an I"m-totally-deaf-and-therefore-can"t-hear-a-single-thing look.
"I"ll be leaving tomorrow. Young Miss, you can take your time with the recording!" Ah Che threw out those words before heading upstairs.
After her bath, Xin Qing held a few bras in her hand, unable to decide which one to put on. From her understanding of Ying Qingcang"s message in the video clip, this was probably what he had in mind. He wanted to see her dressed like this. "I"m going to have to wear them anyway," she thought. "Might as well pick one that he likes." At that thought, Xin Qing changed her mind. Instead of putting on a bra, she lay down on the bed naked with only a thin satin sheet covering her private parts. Then, she adjusted the room"s brightness to maximum intensity and began she recording herself, moving the camera starting from her legs towards her head.
Xin Qing kept blushing after Ah Che left the next day; she had no idea what Ying Qingcang"s reaction would be after he saw the video clip she had made for him. In the meantime, Ying Qingcang was having a meeting with Boss Wan and Ah Nan.
"I thought this guy is smart. Seems like I"ve overestimated him," Boss Wan said disdainfully. Boss Wan thought the mastermind had acted foolishly by suddenly reaching out to Tang Shuang at the risk of exposing his own ident.i.ty.
Ying Qingcang stared at Boss Wan"s face on the screen of his computer and shook his head. "I think he did it on purpose."
"How so?"
"There are two possibilities," Ying Qingcang said, raising one finger. "First, he did it because he knew that Tang Shuang would go to Xin Qing and brag about the knowledge he had revealed to her. If Xin Qing and I are just acting, then Tang Shuang"s pregnancy would suffice to make Xin Qing think that I might have developed actual feelings for Tang Shuang during the act. Second, if Xin Qing took the bait, she would have come to me in order to seek some kind of verification from me. When that happens, she will no doubt have a run-in with Tang Shuang. Then all the guy has to do is to sit around and watch what kind of move I"ll make. Will cut ties with Xin Qing and take Tang Shuang"s side if something were to happen to the child?"
Boss Wan nodded. "But if Xin Qing does nothing? What if Xin Qing never return?"
"Then he will believe that it"s truly over between Xin Qing and I. So his next move will be to wait!"
Ying Qingcang had no doubt whatsoever that the b.a.s.t.a.r.d would kill the child just to end the line of the Ying"s family.
"I"ll move back to the house starting tomorrow," Ying Qingcang said, rubbing his forehead. "The more I care about the child, the safer Xin Qing will be."
Ah Nan suddenly remembered the results of his investigations. "So we won"t touch Ah Hai for the time being?"
"Of course, we won"t. Have him stay put. After everything is dealt with and if that child survives the whole mess... Then we"ll let him take the child away!"
Ying Qingcang postponed his plan to move back to the house for one more day. That night, Ah Che returned and gave him the phone. Ying Qingcang"s face darkened as soon as he tapped on the screen. He kicked Ah Che out immediately and locked the door. Then, he went to the lounge behind his office and, with red-rimmed eyes, he watched the video clip from start to finish. He burst into the bathroom when the video ended. For the first time in his life, he took care of himself with his hands and came all over the phone"s screen. The video clip playing on the phone"s screen showed Xin Qing licking her lips, winking back at him.
Also experiencing one of his life"s firsts was Young Master Shen. Due to the snake venom afflicting his hand, he was forced to chug down a special drink concocted by soaking frogs in alcohol; the idea was to fight poison with poison. It tasted like s.h.i.t, literally. It was so disgusting that he would rather die.
"Hehe. Just bare with it, man," said Chen Ming gloatingly. "When I broke my leg back then, they actually applied horse urine on my body." Chen Ming was sitting at the head of Young Master Shen"s bed.
The person Zhang Mi had seen before she collapsed that day was Li Xiaoru. Li Xiaoru was shocked when she saw the state that Zhang Mi and Young Master Shen was on that day. She had hurriedly asked the villagers to carry them both back into the village. Zhang Mi was fine since she had merely collapsed due to exhaustion and severe dehydration. But Young Master Shen had snake venom inside his body, and the village"s chieftain had to spend a full night plus an entire day to save his life.
"You mentioned before that this village is strange. Which part of it is strange?" Young Master Shen asked, sitting himself up. All the buildings here were wooden huts and were all constructed rather high above ground level, probably to ward off floods due to the rain. From where he sat at the edge of the bed, Young Master Shen was granted a full view of everything outside the window. Under a big tree not too far away, Zhang Mi and Li Xiaoru were learning how to st.i.tch animal hide. Young Master Shen remembered hearing Zhang Mi"s crying voice while he was out. She mentioned something about not bickering with him ever again as long as he could wake up. She also swore not to call his women "dirty".
Back then, Young Master Shen realized that to Zhang Mi, he really was just another sc.u.mbag. If it were not because of the guilt that Zhang Mi felt after he had gotten hurt to protect her, she probably would have launched a bunch of celebratory fireworks if he did end up dying.
"The people of this village are highly capable," Chen Ming said, pulling Young Master Shen from his thoughts. Seeing the confusion on Young Master Shen"s face, Chen Ming paused in thought before he elaborated. "Put it this way, then. If an ordinary person utilizes 0.1 percent of his or her capabilities, then the people here probably utilize 10 percent of theirs, perhaps even more. If you insist on putting a label on it, then I guess the term "superhuman" will be apt."
"Then again," Chen Ming went on, "I guess I"ve exaggerated a bit. Their capabilities are still within the limits of science, though. Just that they are far more superior than any average human!" Chen Ming stood up and clapped his hand. "You"ll get it when you get out and see what"s out there."
Young Master Shen frowned. "I"m good. But I"m worried that Xin Qing might not have that long to wait."
Chen Ming felt his heart stop momentarily. "What"s the matter with Xin Qing?" Chen Ming asked. Young Master Shen had mentioned Xin Qing"s name before Chen Ming managed to ask about her. "Is she in trouble?"
"The specifics are rather complicated..."
Tang Shuang was very excited when she saw Ying Qingcang coming home before dinner. So it was indeed true that Ying Qingcang felt something for her. "Looks like I can"t believe everything that man says," she thought.
"Have you eaten yet?" Tang Shuang asked tentatively.
"Not yet. Let"s eat together, then." Ying Qingcang sat down. Ah Hai shot him a glance before standing up to leave.
Tang Shuang called out to Ah Hai twice, but the man never looked back. She stared at Ying Qingcang sheepishly. "Sorry, I don"t know what"s gotten into him these days. He isn"t like this before."
"It"s okay," Ying Qingcang said. Then, he studied her face for a long while. Tang Shuang touched her own face and tilted her head to the side. "Why are you staring at me?" she asked.
Ying Qingcang pa.s.sed a bowl congee to her. "Just trying to see if you"ve put on weight," Ying Qingcang said with a bland expression.
"It"s only been a month, still too early for me to be gaining weight." Tang Shuang laughed happily. She was thrilled to be discussing these things with Ying Qingcang.
"What I mean is you"re too thin. And you don"t look too healthy. You must watch out, especially now that you"re pregnant. Even if you manage to keep the child healthy later, we still wouldn"t want you to be falling ill," Ying Qingcang said, giving her body a once-over.
Exhilarated, Tang Shuang stared back at Ying Qingcang. "Ah Cang, you"re worried about me!"
"You"re pregnant with a child, of course, I"d worry," Ying Qingcang said. He never said "my child", though Tang Shuang never did realize it. All her mind could think about was Ying Qingcang"s caring words just now.
Grinning like a Cheshire cat, Tang Shuang filled up a bowl with congee and served it to Ying Qingcang. Then, she filled up another bowl for herself. "I"ll feed myself well and get my body into top condition," she said sweetly. "That way, I"ll be able to give you a son!"
That night, when Ying Qingcang stated his wish to sleep in the guest bedroom, Tang Shuang stared back at him antic.i.p.atorily.
"You"re pregnant right now. I"m worried that I"d hurt you," Ying Qingcang said, dropping her off at the bedroom before leaving. Tang Shuang"s heart was filled with happiness right then. "This is what I call the life of a real husband and wife!" she thought. She was thoroughly convinced that their family of three will be happy once the baby was born! At the thought, she took out her phone, gleefully typed in a few lines, and then tapped send.
It was only evening time over at Xin Qing"s place, and she was in the middle of embroidering a mark onto Ah Sha"s riding uniform; Ah Sha"s riding lessons would begin next week, and her white pony had long since been transferred to the Caesar Academy"s stable.
Beep! Beep! She grabbed her phone and glanced at the new message. She deleted the message with a frown.
Tang Shuang had bragged to Xin Qing about how well Ying Qingcang was currently treating her. Apparently, Ying Qingcang had decided to sleep in a separate bedroom to avoid harming the child. Xin Qing sighed in relief. The incident with Randa had taught Xin Qing how to be more tolerant to things in life. The happier Tang Shuang was right now, the more she would be crushed when she finally woke up from her dream. Like what Ying Qingcang said, this was her choice. Others could not be blamed for her choice.
Back in the village, Young Master Shen was finally allowed to get out of bed after being bedridden for half a month. There he stood, right at the center of the village. When he saw a middle-aged man lifted a frigging bull over his head with ease, he finally understood what Chen Ming meant before.