Chapter 312 Another Ying Xin?“What? You saw me?” Ah Sha touched her face to make sure her mask was still in place.
Lin Musheng nodded. “Yes. The real you.”
Wan Qingsi and Ah Sha stared at Lin Musheng in silence. After a while, Wan Qingsi repeated the question, to make sure. “So what you’re saying is that you saw a woman who looked the same as Ah Sha?”
“No,” Lin Musheng said, staring Wan Qingsi right in the eye. “It’s a different Ying Xin.”
Ah Sha’s head was spinning. She glared at Lin Musheng. “What on earth do you mean?”
As it turned out, Lin Musheng took a business trip to j.a.pan a week ago. At his hotel, he saw a woman who was Ah Sha’s doppelganger. At first, he thought that his eyes were playing tricks on him. However, when he followed the woman and got a closer look on her face, he realized that her appearance matched Ah Sha perfectly.
Suspicious, Lin Musheng ordered his men to check the hotel’s registrar. What he learned was shocking, to say the least.
“And guess what, that woman’s name is also Ying Xin,” Lin Musheng said, rapping the table with his knuckles for emphasis. “Same face and same name? Tell me that it doesn’t smell fishy at all.”
Wan Qingsi frowned and glanced at Ah Sha. “Isn’t there a double attending cla.s.s for you overseas?”
“Yeah, mother-in-law sent her,” Ah Sha said. “If she puts on make-up, she does look like me a lot. But she applied for an internship and left the dorms after I left to avoid having to interact with the other students.” Ah Sha paused in thought, then pulled out her phone to call Chen Huan.
When Ah Sha briefed Chen Huan on the situation, Chen Huan immediately sent someone to look into the matter. Fifteen minutes later, Chen Huan called back and told Ah Sha that they couldn’t get in touch with Ah Sha’s double.
“Whoever that’s behind this kidnapped your double, thinking that she is you. Then stole your ident.i.ty,” Wan Qingsi said, getting to the crux of the matter. Lin Musheng nodded. “Yes, that’s what I think as well.”
“Which means that the girl’s in danger…” Ah Sha said worriedly.
“Mother’s already sent someone to track her down. All we can do is wait,” Wan Qingsi said, then frowned. “If they’re stealing your ident.i.ty, then their target is obviously the Ying family.”
Ah Sha sprang to her feet. “Then we must tell daddy and mommy immediately! Let’s go home!”
“Hey, wait up! I’m coming too!” Lin Musheng yelled.
Wan Qingsi didn’t bother arguing with Lin Musheng, so the three of them drove quickly towards Ying’s residence. The first thing they saw when they entered Ying’s residence was Xin Qing speaking on the phone with a slack-jawed expression.
Ah Sha placed her index finger against her lips and gave Xin Qing a pointed look. Xin Qing got the message instantly. “Then you be careful on your way home, okay? We can’t wait to see you!” Xin Qing said into the phone.
Xin Qing went into a panic the moment the hung up. “There’s a woman claiming that she’s you,” Xin Qing said, pulling Ah Sha’s arm anxiously. “Even her voice is the same.”
“Yeah, that’s why we’re here,” Ah Sha said, then pointed to Lin Musheng. “Mommy, this is a good friend of mine, Lin Musheng. He’s the one who gave us the heads-up about this. He told me he saw a woman in j.a.pan who looks exactly like me. Then he did some digging and found that the woman even has the same name as me.”
Understanding dawned on Xin Qing instantly, and she gasped in horror. “Someone stole your ident.i.ty!” Xin Qing exclaimed.
Ying Qingcang burst into the living room just then. “What the heck is going on?” he growled. Wan Qingsi had called Ying Qingcang on the way to Ying’s residence, telling Ying Qingcang to come home immediately.
Ah Sha told her daddy everything, starting from Lin Musheng’s discovery. It didn’t escape Ah Sha’s notice that Xin Qing’s hand was trembling violently even it was held tightly by Ying Qingcang.
“Shh, Ah Qing. Look at me, okay? I’m here. Ah Sha’s here too!” Ying Qingcang wrapped his arms around Xin Qing. “Whatever their schemes are, there’s nothing to fear. We’ll never part again, I promise, okay? I’ll always be here, I swear!”
Xin Qing’s shoulders shook as she burst into tears. “Why! We’ve finally had a few years of peace! Why is someone trying to destroy our peace again…”
Surprise flickered in Lin Musheng’s eyes. Appearance-wise, Xin Qing seemed pretty close to Ah Sha’s age, but Lin Musheng knew that she was already in her early thirties. What surprised Lin Musheng was how freely she expressed her emotions and showed her vulnerable side. That alone, to Lin Musheng, was proof of how much Ying Qingcang doted on her.
“Mommy!” Ah Sha hugged Xin Qing as well. “Please, don’t be scared. Daddy is right. We’re all here!”
Only when Xin Qing had calmed down did she realized that they had a guest with them. She smiled sheepishly at Lin Musheng. “Mr. Lin is it?” Xin Qing said. “I’m so sorry you have to see this.”
“It’s totally fine, Aunt!” Lin Musheng grinned. “You can just call me Musheng. Actually, I was planning to call you ‘big sis’ or something, because you honestly look at the same age as Ah Sha!”
“Haha!” Xin Qing covered her mouth. “That’s not true at all. There’s more than a decade of the age gap between us!”
“But hey, you can’t really blame me for coming to that conclusion,” Lin Musheng said. “You honestly looked so young that I couldn’t tell!”
Ying Qingcang gave Lin Musheng a thorough appraisal. “So. The head of the Triad, huh?” he said.
“At your service!” Lin Musheng said. “It’s a pleasure, Mr. Ying.”
“Enough with that,” Ying Qingcang said. “I want to know how you know Ah Sha’s real appearance.” Ah Sha cleared her throat and told her parents about how she’d accidentally saved Lin Musheng’s life, leaving out all the parts that might give away the fact that she was a bounty hunter, of course. Xin Qing was sparkling by the time Ah Sha finished. It was as though Ah Sha had just told her miracle.
Ying Qingcang, on the other hand, shrewdly identified the core implication behind the series of event. “So, let me get this straight,” Ying Qingcang said. “You saw Ah Sha when you were younger. Then, after so many years, and despite the fact that she’s all grown up, you’re still able to recognize her?” Ying Qingcang smirked. “Some memory you have.”
Lin Musheng winked at Ah Sha and said, “Well, sir, I tend to remember the people who are important to me.”
Lin Musheng’s intentions were visible to a cunning man like Ying Qingcang, who then gave Wan Qingsi a gloating look. Subtext: “Ah Sha’s about to be taken away from you!”
“Are you guys forgetting something?” Wan Qingsi said. He’d just got off the phone and was now looking at Ah Sha with a conflicted look on his face. “Your double is dead.”
Ah Sha sighed, closing her eyes. That girl was about the same age as her. She’d been brought up on the base. But now…
“You found the body? No. That makes no sense,” Lin Musheng said. “Why would they leave a body for you to find if they plan to steal Ah Sha’s ident.i.ty?”
Wan Qingsi shook his head. “We’ve trained our people to leave a particular signal if they couldn’t get in touch with the base during a mission. Ah Sha’s double left a signal that says ‘Killed in Action.’ Even if she’s still alive, she’s probably in grave danger as we speak.”
“You guys already know who’s behind this, don’t you…” Xin Qing said in resignation. During the entire conversation, Xin Qing realized that none of them seemed surprised at all. It was as though they had been antic.i.p.ating this day to come.
Ying Qingcang returned just then with a gla.s.s of milk. “It’s Ying Muhai,” Ying Qingcang said, handing the gla.s.s to Xin Qing.
“He’s back already?” Ah Sha said in shock. “It’s about Rong Siman, isn’t it? He wants to avenge her.”
Wan Qingsi snorted contemptuously. “I think vengeance is just an excuse,” he said. “More like he’s trying to claim Xin Enterprises for himself.”
“What right does he have!” Xin Qing yelled angrily. “He isn’t even the Ying family’s legitimate son!”
“Whoa, whoa, hold on a sec, guys,” Lin Musheng cut in. “What makes you so sure it’s him?”
“It has to be him,” Ah Sha said, then told Lin Musheng about Lin Musheng’s attempt to locate the prescription formula. “I think he’s acting out of desperation.”
Xin Qing squeaked all of a sudden. “Oh, my G.o.d… Thank goodness you came back earlier, Ah Sha… Otherwise, you would’ve been…” Xin Qing said in a trembling voice.
Not wanting to cause any more distress to Xin Qing, Ying Qingcang gave all of them a subtle wave of his hand, asking them to leave. Wan Qingsi and Ah Sha pulled up in front of their building after dropping Lin Musheng off at their hotel.
“None of this is your fault,” Wan Qingsi said, killing the engine. When Ah Sha said nothing, he sighed, got out of the car, then led Ah Sha to the elevator.
Ah Sha hadn’t said a word throughout the entire way home. Wan Qingsi knew she was feeling guilty over her double’s death.
“She’s dead because of me…” Ah Sha finally spoke when they were inside the bathroom. Wan Qingsi’s heart clenched when he saw the devastated look on her face. “I owe the girl her life,” Ah Sha whispered.
Sighing, Wan Qingsi filled up the bathtub, then undressed Ah Sha. When tried to step away to take off his own clothes, Ah Sha clutched his arm tightly and refused to let go. “I don’t want to be alone…” Ah Sha said.
“I’m not leaving. I’m just going to take off my clothes, okay?”
The two of them soaked in the tub. Then, seeing that Ah Sha was still depressed, Wan Qingsi began to pepper her neck with light kisses, leaving red marks all over her skin. The slight rosiness on Ah Sha’s cheeks was Wan Qingsi’s cue to take things to the next level; Wan Qingsi rose from the tub and lifted her into his arms, then carried her to the bed.
Wan Qingsi brought Ah Sha to the edge over and over again until she felt as though she was floating in s.p.a.ce. By the time he was done, Ah Sha didn’t have the energy left to think of anything else. She fell asleep without knowing it.
The next morning, Wan Qingsi noticed that Ah Sha was still down in the dumps. “Why don’t I ask them to give you a few days off?” he suggested.
Ah Sha shook her head. “I’ll go nuts if I’m left alone at home with my thoughts.”
Wan Qingsi had had enough at the point. “Alright, babe, look at me,” he said, pulling her into his lap. “Her death isn’t on you, okay? It’s on that son of a b*tch, Ying Muhai. If you really feel like you owe it to her, then let’s find that son of a b*tch and end his life. Let’s avenge her death!”
“I know,” Ah Sha said, leaning into him. “We have to avenge her death. Whatever it takes. Don’t worry about me. Give me some time. I’ll be fine in a few days.”
Unsurprisingly, Ah Sha’s mood affected her acting, though she really was trying her best to keep her emotions in check. The problem, however, was that when Xin Qing was on the phone with fake Ying Xin the other day, fake Ying Xin had told Xin Qing that she would be returning shortly! It wasn’t just Ah Sha who was concerned about this; Wan Qingsi and Ying Qingcang were busy trying to find the best way to handle this as well.
“There’s only one way to lure Ying Muhai out,” Ying Qingcang said. He and Wan Qingsi were in his office, going over the matter. “We’ll have to play the fool for now and accept the impostor into the family,” Ying Qingcang went on.
“True. Plus, she probably won’t make any moves before she gets whatever information she wants from you.”
Ying Qingcang growled. “I still don’t like it. I can’t just let her hang around at home. That’ll make Ah Qing at risk.”
“What if we send my mother to the base?” Wan Qingsi offered.
“No. She’ll be all alone. I don’t like that,” Ying Qingcang said.
“Then we’ll have to find another solution,” Wan Qingsi said. He wouldn’t try to force Ying Qingcang to take that risk; he himself wouldn’t want to put Ah Sha at risk too.
Ah Nan had been listening to the conversation beside them. “I think… If their target is Xin Enterprises, then the fake little miss would find a way to get a position in the company.”
“That’s good, since I can watch her every move,” Ying Qingcang said, then paused in thought. After a moment, Ying Qingcang told Ah Nan his plan. “Pick her up at the airport tomorrow. Take her home straight away and let her see Ah Qing. You and I will take turns to keep an eye on her for the next few days.”
Wan Qingsi frowned. “Then, Ah Sha…”
“Don’t forget that everyone knows that you’re Ah Sha’s fiance.” Ying Qingcang gave him a pointed look. “If she’s impersonating Ah Sha, then you can bet your a.s.s that she’ll treat you as her man.”
“So disgusting,” Wan Qingsi said, scowling all of a sudden.
“Ah Che and I will pick up the fake at the airport tomorrow,” Ah Nan said. “But what about the young miss? Will she be able to pull off the act?”
It was probably difficult for Xin Qing to treat the fake as the real Ah Sha.
When Ying Qingcang returned home that night, he briefed Xin Qing on the outcome of their discussion. Xin Qing agreed immediately and promised that she’d perform her part well!
“Don’t worry! I’ll put up a good act.”
Ying Qingcang sighed. “Why don’t… why don’t you stay at Chen Huan’s place for a few days?”
Xin Qing balked at the suggestion. “No!” she protested. “Don’t underestimate me! Haven’t I proven myself already when you pretended to lose your memory that year? Don’t worry. I’ll play my part and act like a doting mother.”
Ying Qingcang nodded and kissed her. “You don’t have to try hard. Just let her set the pace. I think they want to know how much we love Ah Sha. So we’ll give them just that. We’ll act like loving parents.”
“I understand,” Xin Qing said, smirking. “In that way, she’ll show her true colors quicker.”