Summer vacation would begin tomorrow. But Xin Qing had no intention to go home at all. What Chen Ming said in the afternoon had been resounding in her head. She had no means to get rid of it.
She idled the afternoon away in the dormitory. Shi Qianqian and Zhang Mi were already gone. When it was getting dark, she packed up her stuff slowly and returned to the Ying"s. It was totally dark when she got home. Villas at the top of the mountain were far away from each other. The stars shone on the pieces of forest scattered among them, quiet and deep.
No matter how hard she wanted to escape, here she was, in front of the house. It was completely dark inside the villa. Standing beside the car, Xin Qing wanted to ask Ah Che what happened, but the car left quickly before she opened her mouth. She had to walked in by herself and turned on the lights in the yard. When she was in the hall, she noticed a faint light from the garden in the back.
Normally, Le Le would run over at the sound of her. But it was nowhere to be found now. Xin Qing immediately thought that someone must have broken in. But she quickly gave up this stupid idea. The faint light suddenly flashed. Xin Qing was already standing in the garden. She could vaguely see a figure sitting over there.
She moved forward with quick steps and was then relieved. "Ying Qingcang! You scared the h.e.l.l out of me. Why don"t you..." Xin Qing stopped abruptly when she saw her notebook in his hands.
"You read all of it?" She asked. She couldn"t believe how calm sha was right now.
Ying Qingcang"s handsome face showed no emotion under the dim light. There was only his deep voice, "Yes. Are you going to accuse me of invading your privacy again?"
Xin Qing felt relieved instead. If Ying Qingcang had read her journal, he would understand her confusion for the future and the weakness and helplessness in her heart.
"It doesn"t matter now!" She asked in a low voice, "What about you? What are you going to do with me?"
Ying Qingcang stood up and approached her, his breath scattered on her forehead. "Why don"t you ever tell me? I"ve told you I never liked anyone before, so there might be something that I don"t know. If you don"t trust me, why don"t you ask me?"
"I..." Xin Qing could say nothing.
"Do you know what you said to Chen Ming today made me really scared?" Ying Qingcang suddenly said.
Xin Qing looked up in shock, asking, "How do you know?"
"I didn"t send anyone to spy on you. It was Young Master Shen. He was having lunch there, sitting not far away from you. He told me what you said in the end."
Xin Qing"s voice faltered, "I... I said nothing. I didn"t say I want to leave you..."
"Yes. Because we have an agreement. Because we both have the tattoos. Because we have an agreement about the full-moon nights at the beginning." Ying Qingcang"s eyes were as dark as the sky above. "Qingqing, you mentioned all the reasons for staying with me, except that you like me and you love me!"
Ying Qingcang"s image turned blurry before her. She rubbed her eyes with the hands and felt some moisture.
"Qingqing, I don"t need an alliance through marriage. I"ll only marry the woman I love and the only woman I love is you!" Ying Qingcang wrapped her in his arms carefully, as if he was holding a thin porcelain, which was easily broken with a little force. "I understand all your worry and fear. I"m the one to blame. I didn"t do enough and give you the strength to trust me."
"It"s not... It"s not true." Xin Qing shook her head with a sob, "It was me who always worry and think too much. I"m not determined enough and am easily disturbed by others."
Ying Qingcang carried her and sat on the swing. He wiped out her tears and said, "Now, I"m seriously telling you that I will marry you and you can only marry me. Don"t care about what others say anymore. They"re not me, and I"m not them. I can do what they cannot. Do you understand?"
"Eh, eh, eh..." Xin Qing bit her lips and kept nodding. Ying Qingcang put a kiss down her lips to stop her from piercing them and gradually licked off all her tears.
"To punish you for not trusting me. Let"s do it on the swing today." Ying Qingcang bit her earlobe, his husky voice full of temptation. Her skin was quickly exposed in the air, brighter and smoother in the dark night.
Like a small boat sailed by Ying Qingcang, Xin Qing was thrown to the surface of the sea in scream and then dragged down to the bottom, again and again.
In the empty garden, the low scream resounded in the dark night without stop, lasting for a long time.
When Xin Qing woke up, she was already back in her bedroom, held tightly by Ying Qingcang. She moved a little and Ying Qingcang was awakened. Before she had time to speak, he rolled over and she pa.s.sed out again.
When she opened her eyes again, her throat was burning. A man"s voice appeared, "You screamed a lot. Take some water."
Xin Qing didn"t have the strength to roll her eyes to him. They both knew who was to blame.
She sipped some water and leaned weakly against the headboard. Ying Qingcang was already in his comfortable home dress. He went downstairs and came back later with a tray. There were two bowls of porridge, several steamed stuffed bun and two plates of dish.
When the two fed themselves, Ying Qingcang climbed into bed again. Xin Qing stared at him with caution, preparing to kick him out of bed if he dared to take off her clothes again.
"Don"t move. I have something to say." Ying Qingcang pressed her kicking legs under his body and folded her in his arms, saying, "Aren"t you interested in what kind of favor I owe Monica, and how I got the scars on my back?"
Xin Qing"s eyes shone a little and remained still in his arms.
Ying Qingcang put a kiss on her and began slowly, "My father is an overseas Chinese immigrating to Britain in the early days. My family has been engaged in business for several generations. At the time when my grandfather was in power, Ying Enterprises was already one of the best financial groups.
But Britain follows const.i.tutional monarchy. Our family couldn"t insert our power into politics and earn money from the country. When my grandfather was studying abroad, he met a duke, whose family were immediate relatives of the royal family. This duke became my maternal grandfather later."
"No wonder you look so handsome. You"re a mixed-blood!" Xin Qing held Ying Qingcang face and gave him a kiss. Ying Qingcang kissed her back and continued.
"The two old men decided to connect the two families through marriage, because they appreciated each other and it was in the interest of the two families. But they had no idea their children loved other people. My father had no choice. He sent his love away and married the daughter of the duke."
Xin Qing noticed that Ying Qingcang called her the daughter of the duke instead of mother...
"My father gave up his happiness for the sake of the family, but she was not willing to. She believed it was my father who ruined her whole life. When I was four, her lover suddenly came back and asked her to steal a doc.u.ment for him."
"This doc.u.ment was extremely important for the Ying family and the duke"s family. If it fell to the hands of the opponent, the two families" estate acc.u.mulated through several generations would be totally ruined."
Ying Qingcang"s voice grew cold and he even wore an ironic smile. The smile made Xin Qing feel distressed, but she didn"t know how to comfort him.
"She helped her lover steal the doc.u.ment, but was stopped by the two families. Her lover was caught, asking her to run away with the doc.u.ment. But she couldn"t leave him behind. So she came back in secret, planning to rescue him. Having no way out, she kidnapped me, intending to get her lover back in exchange of me."
Xin Qing was trembling with anger. How could there be such a mother on earth? Was she qualified to be a woman?
"My father had no choice. In order to rescue me, he agreed to exchange. But the condition was she had to return the doc.u.ment she had stolen. She only wanted her lover back and agreed right away. But when her lover learned that they had to return the doc.u.ment, he caught me back at the last minute and took me away."
Ying Qingcang"s voice turned colder and colder, his expression more and more severe. Xin Qing could feel his frozen body.
"Then they began to torture me. In order to make her lover feel relieved, she allowed him to beat me every day and even tried to add some fun for it."
"Stop, stop!" Xin Qing held him tightly in her arms and said, "Don"t think about it anymore. Don"t try to recall. It has pa.s.sed. All pa.s.sed!"
The story was frightening enough even when she heard it now. How could a small child pulled through all that... Xin Qing cried, her hands still holding Ying Qingcang and wouldn"t let go. Ying Qingcang patted her on the back, trying to comfort her. "Three days later, Monica"s father found me. In order to save me, he fell down the cliff with the woman"s lover. At last, she jumped off the cliff and died for love."
"In that case, you owe your life to Monica." Xin Qing made up her mind to treat Monica better when they met again.
Ying Qingcang smiled and said, "This is why I hate women so much."
"Childhood trauma..." Xin Qing signed.
"Yes!" Ying Qingcang rolled above her and looked down, saying, "Therefore, do not leave me. Do not betray me. Or you"ll also cause some trauma to me."
"Puff!" Xin Qing couldn"t help but laughed. "Don"t say such strange things with so serious a face."
Ying Qingcang thought of something and added, "There"s another woman." He looked at Xin Qing, whose eyes turned anxious. "Your childhood sweetheart?"
"Not even close. You totally misunderstand." Ying Qingcang"s hand became naughty again. "I won"t explain anymore. Anyway, you"ll meet her soon."
Xin Qing stopped his hands and asked in surprise, "Is she coming, too?"
Ying Qingcang bit her ears and said, "She"s not. We are going!"
Xin Qing was stunned. "You... You mean... mean that..."
"Eh! I already planned to take you to Britain during your summer vacation so that you will understand a lot of things. You can meet my father by the way. You"re my future wife and I want to introduce you to them."
Ying Qingcang stared at her with playful eyes and continued, "But someone won"t trust me. She always feels anxious. In order to make her feel relieved, I have to tell her now!"
Xin Qing was a little embarra.s.sed. She rubbed her legs on his waist and said, "I won"t behave like this if you told me that earlier!"
"Therefore, you wronged me! How do you compensate me?" Xin Qing stared at him and shouted quickly, "I already did last night."
"Not enough. Compensate me again!"