In a flash, summer was approaching. The so-called cousin was going to land. Xin Qing got nervous these days, and Ying Qingcang"s heart ached for her.
"Why are you so nervous? She is nothing to us. If you feel uncomfortable, I will not allow her to come here." Ying Qingcang finished the words and was about to call the person in England.
As Xin Qing complained in her heart that he did not really understand her worry, she had to persuade him not to make the call.
"I"m fine. You know, I am not good at getting along with strangers. I"m just worried that I cannot look after her well."
Ying Qingcang frowned, "Why will you look after her? She is the guest and should comply with us."
"Can I ask you a question?" Xin Qing took a look at him.
Ying Qingcang took her hands and kissed, "Why not? Go ahead!"
"What favor do you owe her?" Xin Qing asked cautiously.
Ying Qingcang"s countenance changed, and he remained silent for a long while. Xin Qing found a trace of anguish flashed in his eyes. Though it disappeared in a blink, she could catch it clearly. Thinking that Ying Qingcang suffered misery, Xin Qing felt her heart stung badly.
"Don"t say, don"t say please. I won"t ask!" She clutched Ying Qingcang to her closely. Ying Qingcang put his head on Xin Qing"s shoulder, wanted to say something, but merely remained silent. They just held each other quietly.
Xin Qing did not mention the matter after that. "Everyone has his own past that he is reluctant to recall. And the past that can make Ying Qingcang distressed must be something he is unwilling to remember. Whenever he is ready to speak out, I will listen to him."
One night, when Ying Qingcang came to take Xin Qing home, he told her that the guest had arrived. But Xin Qing now was in a dilemma, because tonight was a full-moon night.
Ying Qingcang did not take other"s feeling into consideration at all. They did not go home until they had dinner outside. On entering the house, Xin Qing saw a woman in a white casual suit sitting in the living room. The woman with a ponytail looked energetic, but her vitality did not contradict her radiant appearance. She was beautiful indeed and looked like mixed-blood, because her eyes were brown.
"h.e.l.lo, Ah Cang!" The beautiful woman greeted Ying Qingcang with great enthusiasm. Xin Qing thought that she would come to hug Ying Qingcang. Unexpectedly, the woman just waved her hands and said to Xin Qing with a great smile, "You must be Xin Qing. Nice to meet you! I am Monica."
Xin Qing offered her hands promptly and said, "Nice to meet you, Monica!"
Monica gave her a warm French hug and winked at Ying Qingcang, "I can"t hug you, but I can hug Xin Qing anyway."
"Why not practice in England?" Ying Qingcang nodded to her as a greeting and asked.
Monica held Xin Qing"s hand and took a seat opposite to Ying Qingcang and answered with a look of disgust, "You know, I dislike that woman." Ying Qingcang said nothing but stretched out his hand to pull Xin Qing to his side.
"Gee, are you still Ah Cang who is loath to be touched by any woman?" Monica joked, "I have only one month for the internship. Have you set it up? I will go to work in your company tomorrow."
Ying Qingcang took Xin Qing"s hand and stood up, "You will go to the company with me tomorrow. Good night." And then he came upstairs with Xin Qing. Xin Qing looked backed and smiled at Monical apologetically. Monica waved at her in a careless manner.
"Good night! Xin Qing."
Seeing their figures disappear, Monica retracted her smile gradually and twitched the corner of her lips bleakly, as if she had not been the ebullient girl before.
Ying Qingcang had moved into Xin Qing"s room. While he was taking a shower, Xin Qing began a.n.a.lyzing Monica—Monica was completely different from what Xin Qing had expected. She did not behave as a cousin, instead, like a childhood friend reuniting again.
But... at the thought of Ying Qingcang"s att.i.tude, Xin Qing felt that he treated Monica differently. At least, he stared at Monica when they talked, which showed the basic respect. After all, Ying Qingcang usually took no notice of women.
"What are you thinking about?" Ying Qingcang came out from the bathroom, naked. Looking at his wet chest with water rolling down, Xin Qing lowered her head, her face burning. Ying Qingcang loved to see Xin Qing get flushed, especially for him.
Ying Qingcang threw the washcloth in his hands away and jumped at Xin Qing. Xin Qing dodged his hug and said, "You haven"t dried yourself up."
"So I hug you to dry myself." Ying Qingcang said shamelessly. Xin Qing ran her fingers over his chest and caressed his back softly. It suddenly occurred to Xin Qing that Young Master Shen had once mentioned Ying Qingcang"s back. So she wanted to turn on the light and see his back clearly. In the past, she felt embarra.s.sed to do so, but now she was eager.
"What"s wrong?" Ying Qingcang held her hand and said, "Why do you want to turn the lights on?"
"I want to take a look at your back." Xin Qing replied.
Ying Qingcang"s body came to a halt obviously, and he said, "Nothing good to see. The same tattoo as yours."
"You"re lying. Young Master Shen said you have something special. Let me have a look." Xin Qing pushed him away and opened the light.
Ying Qingcang had no choice but to turn around. Xin Qing just took a look at it and screamed with her hands covering her mouth, "Oh, my G.o.d! How could it be?"
Streaks of scars crawled all over Ying Qingcang"s back densely and startlingly. The scars had become shallow and pink, which indicated these were the old wounds for many years. They were not so visible unless under the lighting.
"Who did it?" Xin Qing put her hands on them softly, as if Ying Qingcang would get hurt with the least exertion.
Ying Qingcang turned back and held her to lie down. He put the cover over themselves and said, "I was once kidnapped when I was a kid, and was beaten by the kidnappers."
"How old were you?" Xin Qing choked with sobs.
"Perhaps five years old. I cannot remember clearly." Ying Qingcang said with an air of indifference.
Xin Qing embraced him tightly and her fingers outlined each scar on his back, "How young you were! It must be badly hurt."
"Yes, it is!" Seeing she was about to drop tears, Ying Qingcang turned over on Xin Qing and kissed her, "So you should console me now." Then, his hands began drifting amorously on her.
"No...no, We...we will be heard." Xin Qing covered her mouth and said in a lapsing tone.
Ying Qingcang pinched her softly, "We won"t. I have had her live downstairs. She will not hear us."
"Young master...young master!"
Xin Qing heard Uncle Fu"s calling vaguely and opened her eyes, finding that it was still dark. Ying Qingcang had got up to open the door.
"What"s wrong, Uncle Fu?" Xin Qing shouted at the door.
Ying Qingcang entered very quickly and said, "There is something wrong with Le Le."
"Le Le?" After hearing it, Xin Qing put on clothes quickly and hurried downstairs, running into Monica who came out of the room. Seeing Xin Qing covered with various hickeys under her incomplete pyjamas, Monica furrowed her eyebrows and asked, "What"s wrong? What happened?"
"Miss Xin"s dog seems ill," Uncle Fu followed Xin Qing and answered. Ying Qingcang took up the car key and put a coat on Xin Qing, "Let"s go, go to the hospital."
Xin Qing held convulsive Le Le in the arms and held back the tears, hurrying to the hospital with Ying Qingcang. Watching the car drive away, Monica walked to Uncle Fu and exclaimed, "How nice Ah Cang is to Xin Qing! He has always had a loathing of small animals, and now he allows Xin Qing to keep a dog just because she likes it."
Uncle Fu took a glance at her, tilted his head down slightly and said, "Young Master lovers Miss Xin deeply. They are a good match."
"Are they?" Monica tugged the corner of her lips and said, "I can"t see why they are matched."
"Miss Monica, at least, I have never seen Young Master is as happy as now before. He grew up without love. You know what he has gone through. So why are you here to destroy his happiness?"
Seeing Monica fall into silence, the old man said with a sigh, "I know you are the woman in England. If you are for the good of Young Master sincerely, you should send your best wishes to him and should not make him sad any more."
"Uncle Fu!" Monica shouted loudly, "As you say, Ah Cang would die without that woman! What"s she got? Even you are on her side."
"Don"t you get it? I am not on the side of Xin Qing. I am on the side of Young Master." After saying that, Uncle Fu turned around and left, leaving her alone.
Le Le got a sudden enteritidis and had to stay in the pet hospital to take some transfusion. When Xin Qing and Ying Qingcang returned home, it was almost dawn. Ying Qingcang cuddled Xin Qing and said, "Sleep well. I will take days off for you. When you get up, I will let Ah Nan take you to see Le Le."
Xin Qing huddled in his arms and closed her eyes, "How about you? Will you have to work tomorrow?"
"I am okay. Sleep now!" Ying Qingcang kissed her and said.
Xin Qing slept till the noon of the next day. Ying Qingcang had gone to work early with Monica. Xin Qing made chicken porridge for Le Le and took some of its favorite tools and snacks, ready to go to the hospital. She was about to leave home when she received a call from Zhang Mi, asking why she took days off. Zhang Mi exclaimed to see Le Le after knowing it was ill.
At the gate of the pet hospital, Zhang Mi and Shi Qianqian had arrived earlier than Xin Qing since they lived not far off. Three of them came across an acquaintance the moment they entered the hospital.
"Miss Xin? Qian...Qianqian?" Jian Jie looked at the three girls coming in, surprised.
Shi Qianqian frowned and said nothing. Xin Qing uttered immediately, "Miss Jian, why are you here?"
"This pet hospital is run by my brother." She understood the moment she saw what Xin Qing was holding and said, "Is your pet sick?"
Looking at Le Le anxiously, Xin Qing answered as she walked in, "My dog is sick. It was sent here yesterday."
In low spirit, Le Le was lying in a transfusion tank with its leg having an intravenous drip. Seeing Xin Qing coming, it wagged its tail hard, eager to stand up to lick her.
Xin Qing petted its head to signal it to lie down. Le Le was so obedient that it kept unmoved but just licked Xin Qing"s hand with pleasure.
A young man with gla.s.ses came over and said, "Sister, your friends?"
"This is my boss" fiancee!" Jian Jie pointed at the good-looking young man and introduced, "This is my younger brother, Jian Bai, a veritable veterinarian!"
"Haha!" Jian Bai cackled, looked at Le Le, and comforted Xin Qing, "It will be fine. You sent it here in time. It will recover soon after taking some infusions some days. I guess, it must eat something indigestible, which led to a sudden enteritidis. Now it is getting warmer, so please do not let your dog eat too much at night."
Xin Qing was about to reply when Shi Qianqian"s voice rang suddenly, "Have I seen you before?"