Chapter Three
Qin Song kept his promise. The following Monday ‘little country bun’ started her first day at her new workplace. The preschool was located in the same district as where Qin Song and Han Ting Ting lived together. Han Ting Ting could walk there within twenty minutes. She was responsible for teaching the eight oldest pre-schoolers how to sing and dance. Her new pay rate was three times that of her old preschool.
The truth was Qin Song was the investor of the district they lived in and getting her employed in the preschool was a cinch. But he never told Han Ting Ting how he got her the job that way she’d be grateful enough to be willing to sacrifice her life for him.
Han Ting Ting was an honest person. After Qin Song found her a job she was eternally grateful to Qin Song. From that day onward Qin Song was treated like the king of the castle in their home. She looked after his every need and revered him with all her heart.
There were many everyday events that happened that attracted them together and brought them closer.
On the first weekend of each month was a reunion weekend for all of Qin Song’s relatives on his mother’s side to meet up. Before they got married, Han Ting Ting met up with the Zhang household members twice. The first weekend they visited the Zhang household as a married couple was the third time.
The private road leading up to the Zhang mansion didn’t allow cars to pa.s.s through. Only Qin Song who relied on his status as Commander Zhang’s youngest and most doted on grandchild dared to drive his car all the way to the Zhang mansion.
The guards at the gate from the distance recognised the youngest master’s car and only raised their hands for the car to stop as pretence.
‘Qin Song!’ Han Ting Ting said. Even though she sc.r.a.ped through her driving theory test on her eighth attempt, she was a law abiding citizen. ‘You need to stop the car over there!’
Qin Song dismissed ‘little country bun’ and drove straight through the gate.
‘On both sides of the road are trees and lots of small animals. Last time I saw a rabbit crossing the road. What benefit do you get from driving through the road and scaring the small animals?’ Han Ting Ting asked. ‘Take a look, everyone else parked over there then walking to the mansion.’
‘You’re annoying!’ he grumbled, turned the steering wheel around and grudgingly parked the car in the designated parking.
‘Oh, Sang Sang! Have a look, is that really our young Qin master?’ Li Wei Ran asked.
‘Nonsense!’ Qin Sang teased.
‘That’s right. The young Qin master that we know usually park his car in front of the living room before he’s willing to get out of his car,’ Li Wei Ran quipped.
Li Wei Ran and Qin Sang approached them. Qin Song creased his forehead and was about to retaliate but Han Ting Ting beside him greeted them before he opened his mouth.
‘Fifth brother, Sang Sang!’ Han Ting Ting said.
Han Ting Ting’s gracious reaction stopped Li Wei Ran and Qin Sang’s sarcastic remarks in their tracks. Qin Song stood on the sidelines and watched them in a bind, they had no choice but be polite with his ‘little country bun’ around. Inside his heart he laughed with glee. His Ting Ting was thick skinned but had sharp claws, Li Wei Ran and Qin Sang wouldn’t dare bully him whilst he was under Ting Ting’s protection.
Zhang Yu was Commander Zhang’s youngest daughter. Zhang Yu had an older sister, Zhang Pu. Zhang Pu was beautiful and smart. Zhang Pu was both more gentle and understood social decorum better than Zhang Yu. Like Zhang Yu, Zhang Pu only gave birth to one son who was Li Wei Ran. The two first cousins Li Wei Ran and Qin Song grew up together, but their bond surpa.s.sed that of blood brothers.
Li Wei Ran married a cla.s.sic willowy beauty, Qin Sang. Qin Sang and Zhang Pu were cast from the same ladylike mold and for that reason Zhang Yu was not fond of either of them.
Han Ting Ting’s social background was different to Qin Song. When Ting Ting’s grandpa was still Commander Zhang’s guard, her grandpa’s relationship with everyone in the Zhang household was good. Both Zhang Pu and Zhang Yu called her grandpa, ‘uncle Han’ endearingly. After she married Qin Song, her bond with the Zhang household grew closer and everyone doted on her. Commander Zhang advised her many times. ‘Ting Ting, if Song Song dares to bully you don’t go soft on him. Come to me straight away and I’ll take out my horse whip to give him a treat.’
‘Ha!’ Qin Song grunted.
Han Ting Ting’s back shot up and she spoke up for him. ‘Qin Song treats me well. He won’t bully me!’
Zhang Yu heard Ting Ting’s backing Song Song and smiled cheekily. ‘Why am I always hearing Qin Song this and Qin Song that? Do the two of you still call each other formally at home?’
Han Ting Ting blushed red. Qin Song saw her blushing and wrapped an arm around Ting Ting’s shoulder. Qin Song pulled her closer to his chest, intimately leaned his forehead onto her forehead. ‘No one’s a stranger here, you don’t need to be embarra.s.sed.’
Most likely because it was a cold day and that was why Qin Song’s embrace gave Ting Ting a warm feeling. Qin Song’s boyish charm made her more fl.u.s.tered and her tongue kept knotting.
‘Song Song!’ Ting Ting said after several attempts.
The newlyweds’ sweet shyness made everyone around them smile happily. The elders grinned from ear to ear and encouraged Ting Ting to act casual around them. Ting Ting mumbled a casual greeting to each person in the room.
Zhang Yu glared at Zhang Pu in contempt. ‘Zhang Pu has a daughter-in-law too. Why is everyone bullying my daughter-in-law? When Qin Sang married into our family, no one forced Qin Sang to greet each person in such a manner. Stop picking on my honest Ting Ting.’
Zhang Pu had no intention of stopping the teasing and pretended Zhang Yu was invisible.
Qin Sang noticed the tension between the Zhang sisters and averted everyone’s attention. ‘Ting Ting, how’s your dad’s health? Is he stable now?’
‘Ha!’ Zhang Yu grumbled. ‘Ting Ting’s dad recovered long ago. He’s back at work already.’
‘Ting Ting, ask your mum to come over often whenever she’s free. Now that you’re married, your mum would be bored by herself at home,’ Zhang Yu said. ‘Song Song, make sure you take Ting Ting to visit her parents often. They gave away their only daughter to you. You need to look out for them more.’
Qin Song was busy playing with ‘little country bun’s’ arm and hand that he inadvertently blurted out their secret. ‘We go over there for dinner every day.’
‘Both of you eat dinner there every day?’ Zhang Yu asked out of shock.
Qin Song realised his tongue slipped and immediately smiled sweetly. ‘Mum… Ting Ting’s working now so we don’t frequently travel about anymore and we’ll be staying home to eat.’
‘You two go there every day…’ Zhang Yu said. Zhang Yu’s disappointed look was evident. ‘Why didn’t you take me too? I like eating spicy dishes Ting Ting’s mum makes lots!’
Qin Yun was used to Zhang Yu’s backward outbursts and awkwardly coughed twice. Zhang Yu’s relatives were too embarra.s.sed and faced away.
Commander Zhang was used to sleeping early. After dinner everyone left. Qin Song was the last to leave. When Qin Song and Han Ting Ting walked out the door the sky was pitch black, the atmosphere was good and the moonlight shone on the private road Qin Song and Han Ting Ting strolled along. Qin Song stayed silent. He was particularly quiet the whole day unlike his usual lively self. Han Ting Ting noticed he wanted to maintain the tranquilness, she too silently walked side by side with him. The moonlight shimmered on the long road and tree branches swayed in the wind.
‘Be careful!’ Qin Song shouted suddenly.
Han Ting Ting was scared out of her wits. Her arms automatically braced Qin Song and hid behind his back with a pale complexion.
Qin Song saw his mission accomplished, he let out a bout of laughter.
‘Hey!’ the ‘little country bun’ who was usually easy going, lost her temper. ‘Why did you scare me?’
Qin Song laughed even more boisterous.
Han Ting Ting looked at him condescendingly. ‘You’re such a kid!’
Qin Song scrunched his eyebrows. ‘Is your skin itchy? You dare to boldly talk back?’
Han Ting Ting didn’t say anything. She opened her eyes wide and stared at him. Qin Song didn’t mind having a staring contest with anyone before and stared straight back at her.
Perhaps it was the beautiful moonlight or from staring at each other for a long time or some other reason made Qin Song felt the usual young doll face in front of him was transformed into… an unfamiliar beautiful face.
‘Ahem,’ Qin Song coughed and broke eye contact. ‘Let’s go home!’
Han Ting Ting was like a well behaved kid, she saw that Qin Song admitted defeat and didn’t boast about it. She forgave Qin Song and obediently ‘ran little steps’ behind him.
The reason behind why she ‘ran little steps’ was because Qin Song’s legs were too long and he still held her hand as he took strides.
Playing newlyweds the whole day, the two people had fully immersed themselves into their roles.
The following day was a Sunday and both Qin Song and Han Ting Ting didn’t need to go to work.
Han Ting Ting made breakfast and went upstairs to wake Qin Song for breakfast. Inside Qin Song’s room was quiet, she surveyed his room a while and didn’t see anyone and thought he was out jogging. She went into the bathroom to collect his dirty laundry for washing. To her surprise she opened the door and saw someone stripped down to their white underwear flexing their chest muscles in front of the mirror.
‘You…’ Qin Song said frozenly.
‘I…’ Han Ting Ting was also paralysed.
A long time later the two people involved regained control of their muscles. One person stayed hidden in the bathroom and the other person ran outside the bathroom. In their recent state of embarra.s.sment… the person outside had slammed into the bedroom door that was half opened and the person hiding in the bathroom jumped into a tub without water. Following the harmonised loud banging sounds the two embarra.s.sed people were groaning in pain.
Qin Song stiffly walked downstairs, Han Ting Ting was sitting in a daze at the dining table eating with her head buried into the bowl of porridge.
Ting Ting’s face was flushed pink and the sunlight shone behind her back and shimmered pink silhouettes on the dining table, it gave the illusion that Ting Ting was a serene beauty. It was like her brightness struck straight through Qin Song’s eyes. He stood stunned for a while before sitting down and lowering his head to eat silently.
Qin Song thought that Ting Ting was an innocent maiden and the morning incident was unintentional and decided not to make a fuss about it with her. But in the afternoon, he went into her room and ‘accidently’ discovered Ting Ting had recounted the morning incident to Tu Tu.
‘How’s the size of his package?’ Tu Tu had texted to Ting Ting’s phone.
What a pervert! Qin Song lost his temper and his shaky hands opened Han Ting Ting’s outbox to see what she replied.
‘One… big package!’ Ting Ting texted to Tu Tu’s phone.
Lightning struck Qin Song’s hand, he was paralysed on the spot.
Ok, at least ‘little country bun’ was honest.
When Qin Song was about to close out of the outbox, the phone beeped and a text from Tu Tu appeared on the screen.
‘No picture, no evidence,’ Tu Tu texted.
‘Evidence your head!’ Qin Song within a blink texted a reply.
The moment Qin Song pressed sent, he got a bad feeling and before he deleted the text the phone rang, it was Tu Tu.
Suddenly the bathroom door opened. Qin Song chucked the ringing phone outside the window.
‘Ah…’ Han Ting Ting was startled at the sight of Qin Song. ‘What are you doing in my room?’
‘I… I,’ Qin Song choked. ‘Why didn’t you collect my dirty laundry to wash?’
Han Ting Ting’s face flushed red. Since practically seeing Qin Song naked in the morning and then running downstairs, she didn’t dare go back upstairs.
‘I think I heard my phone rang,’ she said and fumbled around looking for her phone to hide her embarra.s.sment.
‘What ring tone?’ he said. ‘You heard wrong.’
She stood straight and looked up to stare at him.
He couldn’t bear her intense stare and was about to open his mouth to confess but her nodding stopped him.
‘That’s possible… I do mishear things,’ she said.
His heart let out a sigh of relief.
‘But where’s my phone?’ she asked and looked for her phone. ‘Qin Song, can you call my phone… oh, where are you running to?’
Han Ting Ting’s phone had disappeared.
‘Hey! This is for you!’ Qin Song said.
Qin Song came back from ‘jogging’ and gave Ting Ting a new phone with a pink cover.
‘No need. This morning I was texting Tu Tu. It must be somewhere in my room. I’ll take another look,’ Ting Ting said and waved her hands to decline the new phone.
‘Ha!’ he grunted.
He kept his arm stretched out in front of ‘little country bun’ and grimaced.
Ting Ting saw that Qin Song’s complexion wasn’t good, hesitated for a while and accepted the new phone. The truth was she adored the pink shade of the phone cover to bits! She held the phone in her hand and looked at all its features. It was too adorable to let go.
‘But my contact list is on my old phone,’ she said. ‘Now I can’t contact Tu Tu.’
Someone’s heart silently felt… it was better you couldn’t contact Tu Tu.
‘What was Tu Tu’s number? 139… 611… 54… 540…’ Han Ting Ting mumbled but couldn’t remember.
‘We’re running late!’ Qin Song said coldly.
‘Oh!’ she gasped.
‘Little country bun’ jumped and ran into her room to change her clothes.
Qin Song rubbed his chest and escaped a confrontation.
‘Ah, that’s right!’ she said and suddenly turned around.
Qin Song who was sighing in relief, tensed up again.
‘What are you shouting about?’ he asked and grimaced.
Han Ting Ting stuck out her tongue and waved her new phone. ‘Thank you for giving me this beautiful phone!’
It was the first time she acted lively in front of Qin Song. The tip of her tongue was red and pink and it made his tongue dry.
‘No need for thanks! That phone was mine. I don’t need it anymore and let you have it,’ he said.
Han Ting Ting widened both her eyes… that colour? Qin Song liked the colour pink!
Qin Song’s outburst made him wanted to bite off his own tongue. He was too distraught and became speechless. One hand covered his face and the other hand waved at her to urge her to go change clothes quickly.
On the way, Qin Song talked about the wives of the other Liang’s sworn brothers.
‘Big boss’ wife, Gu Yan is brutally blunt. Unless necessary, stay out of Gu Yan’s way. Rong Yan’s wife, Ye Mu is a little beast. Ye Mu’s as shady as Rong Yan who’s in charge of entertainment… long story short, no need to be close with Ye Mu. Black belly Chen Yu Bai’s wife, An Xiao Li is a dummy. Keep your distance from her to prevent your IQ from deteriorating,’ Qin Song said.
‘What about Qin Sang?’ Han Ting Ting asked.
Qin Song accidently ran a red light, grumbled something and pretended he didn’t hear Ting Ting’s question.
Han Ting Ting discovered the truth. Out of wives of the Liang’s sworn brothers, Qin Sang was the deadliest. Even Gu Yan who was meant to be brutal had to obediently listen to Qin Sang. After Qin Sang accompanied Han Ting Ting throughout the night to socialise, Han Ting Ting felt everyone were good people.
When the banquet winded down, Han Ting Ting went to the bathroom. She pa.s.sed the hall and saw at the edge of the seating area, Qin Song was resting against a column. Beside Qin Song stood an exotic beauty in a tight silver dress. She saw Qin Song said something to the beauty and heard an alluring laugh… that face… that smile… gave Han Ting Ting a familiar feeling. She recalled the ice-cream incident involving Zhang Yu and then realised the beauty beside Qin Song was the same lady with him at the cafe that day!
‘Ting Ting!’ Qin Sang called. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘Nothing… nothing at all!’ Han Ting Ting said and pulled Qin Sang’s arm to leave.
Qin Song turned his body around and saw Han Ting Ting with Qin Sang. Qin Song’s expression looked a bit uncomfortable. His beautiful girlfriend smiled charmingly.
‘h.e.l.lo Mrs Qin junior,’ Chen Yun said.
Han Ting Ting pitied Chen Yun, because Chen Yun had to politely greet the current wife of the man Chen Yun loved and also maintain a charming smile.
‘h.e.l.lo Chen Yun. You can call me Ting Ting,’ Han Ting Ting said.
‘We met on your wedding day with executive Qin junior. You were a beautiful bride!’ Chen Yun said.
What a waste! Han Ting Ting felt heartbroken for the beautiful pair of lovebirds. Why wasn’t the bride who married Qin Song wasn’t Chen Yun… What was wrong with Chen Yun that didn’t satisfy Qin Song’s parents’ expectations?
‘Ahem!’ Qin Song coughed. ‘If you two have something else to do, go ahead. I have business to discuss with Chen Yun.’
The main male lead found the courage to speak up for his love! Han Ting Ting’s heart was deeply moved.
Qin Sang was observing from the sidelines. Qin Sang forced a smile and pulled Han Ting Ting’s arm. ‘Then we’ll head off!’
On the way back, Qin Song was abnormally silent like that day at Commander Zhang’s mansion.
Han Ting Ting’s heart pitied Qin Song’s predicament. Qin Song had to witness the beauty in his heart pitifully sneak around. Of course Qin Song would be in a bad mood and couldn’t help but grimace at Han Ting Ting.
‘Qin Song!’ she called gently. ‘Don’t feel sad! A year will fly by!’
‘What are you talking about?’ Qin Song asked.
Qin Song’s soul was wandering thousands of miles away. When he was alert again he couldn’t understand what was the meaning behind Ting Ting’s words.
‘I’ll help you! If you want to see her it won’t be a problem. I’ll help you keep it a secret from your parents,’ Han Ting Ting said.
‘What nonsense are you talking about?’ he asked coldly.
She sighed. ‘Qin Song! You’ve helped me a lot. We’re friends. No problem at all. I won’t reveal your secret to anyone.’
The cold streetlights swept pa.s.sed Qin Song’s face, his beautiful lips were pursed and it was a while before he opened his lips.
‘Who told you? My mum?’ he asked.
‘Your mum didn’t… she didn’t!’ she hastily explained in defence of her loveable mother-in-law. ‘I witnessed it myself. Qin Song, truly it doesn’t matter! I don’t know the specific circ.u.mstances but I understand you. You’re a good person. If you love her then you have your own reasons why!’
‘I don’t love her… at least now I don’t love her anymore!’ he said.
At the red light, he stopped the car and hit the stirring wheel to vent. ‘My situation can’t be explained clearly… I don’t know what sort of voodoo possessed me back then.’
‘I understand that feeling, making an impulsive mistake and when looking back can see how absurd it was!’ she said from the bottom of her heart.
Qin Song exhaled. ‘That’s right, really ridiculous…’
‘No matter what, cheer up!’ she said and patted the shoulder of the person on the same boat as her. ‘Chen Yun and you make a beautiful couple. If you really love her then after a year there’ll be an opportunity!’
‘Chen Yun?’ Qin Song asked. ‘What about Chen Yun?’
‘Of course… Chen Yun…’ she said weakly after she saw his scowl.
Perhaps Chen Yun’s name was exclusively for him to call… and others aren’t allowed to call Chen Yun’s name.
Qin Song squinted his eyes and the gleam inside looked like it wanted to swallow ‘little country bun’ whole.
Why was he like that? He loved her that much that one time calling Chen Yun’s precious name and he was angry to that extent… Han Ting Ting put her head down to avoid his scary gaze and minimise her existence.
The home phone was broken. The internet connection was useless too. The technician came over and had nothing but bad news.
‘Sorry Mrs Qin junior! Your phone and internet line are temporary disconnected,’ the technician said with a set of hair full of sweat.
The technician secretly glanced at Qin Song who wore a serious expression. It made the technician sweat more. The technician was responsible for Liang’s internet security not hardware maintenance. He didn’t understand why Qin Song dragged him here to look at a phone and modem that was perfectly fine, except their entire cores were taken out.
‘No problem at all!’ Han Ting Ting said.
She felt uncomfortable being called Mrs Qin junior. ‘We don’t need the home phone or internet urgently. You can take your time to fix it.’
Qin Song coughed and cleared his throat. ‘You can go. I’ll let you know when it’s a convenient time for you to come back to fix the phone and internet.’
The technician left and an annoyed Han Ting Ting probed the modem’s exterior.
Qin Song’s eyes were alarmed but he summoned a neutral tone. ‘He was a professional and couldn’t fix it. What are you fiddling it for?’
She turned off the power then turned it on again. ‘That’s strange. It’s been working fine for the last few days. Then suddenly both the home phone and internet stopped working…’
‘They share the same network,’ he said. ‘You work during the day. At night you can watch tv to relax after you’re done with housework. Whether the home phone and internet is connected or not doesn’t matter.’
‘But… I can’t get into contact with Tu Tu. I can’t remember her phone number and can’t go online to chat with her either,’ she said. ‘What do I now?’ She held her chin and an idea popped into her head. ‘Tomorrow I’ll bring my laptop to school and can go online.’
Qin Song choked on the cup of tea he was drinking. How was he going to tamper with ‘little country bun’s’ laptop so she couldn’t contact Tu Tu to find out what happened to her old phone?
Qin Song stayed awake all night thinking of ways to tamper with ‘little country bun’s’ laptop but by morning there were no opportunities left.
He was getting ready to go to work when Han Ting Ting’s new phone rang. He picked it up for her.
‘h.e.l.lo,’ he said.
‘Is that you Song Song?’ Ting’s mum asked and sounded surprised.
‘Mum!’ he said sweetly. ‘Morning mum!’
‘Uh, morning! Song Song, Where’s Ting Ting?’ Ting’s mum said.
Han Ting Ting was washing the dishes in the kitchen and ran out to retrieve her ringing phone.
‘Hey,’ he said and pa.s.sed her the phone. ‘It’s mum.’
‘Um,’ she said.
She was wiping her hands. He leaned the phone to her ear and his fingers brushed her soft skin… after she held the phone, he withdrew his hand but there was a strange sensation on his fingers. He swiftly turned away and put his head down to change his shoes.
‘Mum!’ she said and smiled. ‘Did Tu Tu call your home phone?’
Qin Song’s body froze whilst changing his shoes but his ears were perked up.
‘No she didn’t. You changed your number and you haven’t told her?’ Ting’s mum asked.
‘I haven’t yet… Tu Tu won’t remember your number. In the past we used our phones to contact each other… Don’t worry mum. I remember I kept a phone book in my old room somewhere. There’s Tu Tu’s number and address too. I’ll look for it tonight at your place after work,’ she said.
‘You can’t!’ he said and stood up. ‘Tonight we promised to go eat dinner at my parents’ house.’
‘What?’ she asked. ‘When did we promise?’
‘Last night I told you about it. What’s wrong? It’s been one night and you forgot already?’ he said.
Ting’s mum heard her hesitation on the other end of the phone.
‘Ting Bao, listen to Song Song. Don’t come over tonight. Each night both of you come over here for dinner and neglect his parents. That’s not a good thing,’ her mum said.
‘I know mum,’ she said and hung up the phone.
She was still suspicious. Last night did he really tell her about dinner plans at his parents? Why couldn’t she remember?
‘Ahem…’ he coughed.
His heart that jumped out of his chest had returned back inside his chest. ‘Hey, are you ready? Hurry up and change clothes. I’ll drive you to school on the way to work.’
‘Ok!’ she said and rushed to her room with a cardigan. On the way she kept mumbling to herself. ‘But I don’t remember anything…’
‘Little country bun’s’ confused state was really amusing, someone who stood behind her, had a heavy heart before changed into an elated heart when he was staring at her running into her room and his lips couldn’t help but curve upward.
End of Chapter Three