After retrieving the Hard Drive from the dog house, the girl headed to the train station once again the same evening. Xi Jingfei took a train to City M where she was heading to see an old a.s.sociate. Since the ticketing in trains only needed an ID card and no further checking, it was much convenient than that of the airlines.
Sitting comfortably in her seat, looking out of the window, pa.s.sing trees and farms and barren lands, she suddenly got lost in her own world. Not realizing where she was, she started humming to herself,
~~You shouldn"t blame me for not shedding tears,
~~For you are the reason I"ve no fears.
~~Not because you loved me but hated,
~~Maybe we weren"t the ones who were fated.
~~ Where did the wind flow away,
~~ After causing agony to my breath? ~~
"Are you a singer? You have a really refined, melodious and heart touching voice. Paired with these lyrics, they sound as if you are a professional, going through the downs of life."
A fellow pa.s.senger suddenly clapped for her as she sang the song. She wasn"t loud but audible enough to those who sat near to her. While some other took some interest too. The girl looked up and around only to find a lot of fellow pa.s.sengers were looking at her.
He said again, the one who commenced the talks, "How come I"ve never heard of this song? I"m quite keen on hearing different melodies you know…"
"I composed the song and the lyrics…." Xi Jingfei sighed.
"Oh it"s simply a treat to hear it. Then, could you please sing its second verse as well? But this time in a little louder voice. Look even people around want to listen too."
"Okay…." Xi Jingfei simply wasn"t in a mood to argue with anyone and right now she needed to let it out, her feelings, her agony, her anger, her heartbreak, everything, so she agreed without even looking up for once.
~~ But you abandoned me when I was in wounds
~~ You ditched me when I was all bruised.
~~ Impaired as we were, injured as I was,
~~ Alas! Why didn"t you think for once?
~~ It took all my courage to gather
~~ To think about the times we were together.
~~ Why did you break me in such a way that
~~ There"s nothing remaining in my heart to beat
~~ Not just shadows, even my mirror has become stranger to me.
~~ I don"t even know my own address anymore...
Xi Jingfei"s pleasant voice echoed in the train coach once again but this time since she was allowed to resonate in loud voice, she became vociferous. Piercing through everyone"s heart with her heart wrenching lyrics and thunderous voice, she was flamboyant as no one could distract their gaze from her in those few minutes.
A tom boy with spectacles and a few acne on her face, wearing ripped jeans paired with a hoody and sports shoes, looking like someone who had no care for the world what so ever, was singing such a lamentable, emotional and mournful song in a lyrical and harmonious vocals, was something none bystanders had ever thought.
"You"re simply amazing!!"
A loud cheer surrounded her as others applauded while the man in front seat to hers, the one who had been showing his interest all along, was gazing at her with a smile on his face, forming a small dimple. Xi Jingfei cautiously looked at him.
The man looked in his late twenties, silver eyes with long eyelashes, perfect shaped nose, closely trimmed beard with a chin patch, and hair perfectly combed backwards, firm muscles and trained body made him look no less than a model or an actor. For some reason, Xi Jingfei found that man a bit familiar but couldn"t tell.
"You didn"t answer my question earlier… Are you a singer?" The man sitting opposite to her asked once again.
"Well… No, I"m not." Xi Jingfei casually answered truthfully.
" As I can see you have a beautiful voice that can win people"s heart in no time. Maybe you should try in the entertainment industry. If you"re lacking an opportunity, I can give you one."
The man was clearly persuasive as he told her about his intention. But Xi Jingfei had so much going on in her life that she had no time to think about a career in such things, so she politely refused the offer. Having been impressed by her singing, politeness and lyrics of the song, the man proposed her to look for him in case she changes her mind and advanced his business card towards her.
"Huang Sheng, Creative Director and Chief Music Producer, Art Entertainment…"
Xi Jingfei read out loud. So, the man sitting next to her was the famous music producer, Huang Sheng. The one famous for bringing together modern and traditional folk music to form a piece of art no one can deny to be the best, is that him? The fussy perfectionist producer? Not even in her squalliest of fantasies, had she thought she could meet Huang Sheng in this remote area that too in a train.
"No wonder I felt familiar with his face… I had seen him in the news quite a few times. But meeting him here is sure a.. surprise?." Bottling her stupid thoughts inside her head, she once again looked up at the person only to find he had never shifted his gaze from her.
"Why can"t you give it a try in the industry once? Trust me people will fall head over heels for you once they hear your pleasant-sounding voice. Even I got all my hair up when I heard." The man asked again. As if he had touched her Achilles heel, she groaned in pain, inside her heart while giving a bitter smile on the surface.
*Why? Because I"ve to avenge my family and not waste their sacrifice.
Why? Because no one loves me anymore.
Why? Because I"ve to get back at those who turned me into this.
Why? Because... this nation has abandoned their daughter...*
It felt as if a sword was pierced right through her heart yet she couldn"t even weep. Once again Xi Jingfei had her memories of the recent events flowing back to her causing her heart to ache. But as always she reminded herself that she had a long way to go, can"t give up just yet.
Coming back to her calm and composed mood again, she answered, "I don"t want to. Thank you."
Sensing the girl is bottling her emotions and is uncomfortable, the man didn"t press anymore and just let her be only after carefully reminding her to look for him whenever she changes her mind.
The 2 hours journey finally came to an end. The girl reached City M at last, and immediately took a cab to reach her destination. It was past 9 pm when she reached place she wanted. The cab dropped her in a locality surrounded by farm houses and mansions.
Xi Jingfei knocked a door. A man appeared and asked her who she was looking for.
"Huang Ming." The girl answered unhurriedly.
"There"s no one with that name here The man shrugged.
"First go and ask that "crooked artificial intelligent" "before you answer me." The girl wasn"t going to give up as she was sure of her friend"s presence.
The man went in and came back a little later. Opening the gate wide open to welcome her in. He gestured her to sit while waiting in the living room. Not long later, the man long awaited appeared. The man was around the same age as hers. Coming down from gla.s.s curved spiral staircases positioned at the side of the living room where Xi Jingfei was waiting, patiently, wearing a custom made wine red British style three piece suit, b.u.t.toning his cuffs, the person looked manly with a tinge of arrogance. In the bright lit room, the temperature rose as Xi Jingfei looked up in the amber colored eyes of the person.
"Who are you? How do you know of this nickname?" The man arrogantly asked as he looked up and down at the tom boy girl in front of him.
"Who else? Xi Jingfei..." Knowing that she needed to be truthful here, the pet.i.te girl answered as she reflected back his gaze.
"No wonder I heard someone calling me "Crooked artificial intelligent". Other than you, Miss Xi, no one else can dare say such things. And wait, are you out for some lame fashion show or what… wearing this super unmatched clothes? Hahaha… you look the funniest right now, you know that right?" Suddenly the arrogance in the man"s voice changed to humorous tone.
"Do I look like I care what you think, Mr Huang? I have better things to do in my life than feigning looks." Xi Jingfei was no less arrogant.
If Huang Ming was supercilious, she was no less than a queen. This was one of the reason they could harmonize with each other like a perfect pair.
"What brings you here?" Sitting opposite to the girl, the man asked again.
"Need your help." Xi Jingfei told precisely.
"Get me a Mazagran, and a hot chocolate for the lady." Huang Ming, being a companion of hers for years, was familiar with her tastes. Sensing that the girl needed some time and free s.p.a.ce to talk, he gestured the onlookers with fixated gaze, to leave them.
Mazagran, an iced coffee beverage with lemon juice served especially in Portugal, was Huang Ming"s favorite as he had lived there for some time before shifting to Country K.
The man brought her to his study so that she can relax and talk without any disturbances. The room was quite s.p.a.cious with a French window opening to a picturesque garden and artificial lake fountain. There were quite a lot of books on different choices of interests, comfy sofas and table equipped with a computer and water battle as well as a fruit basket.
Scrutinizing the interior of the room, Xi Jingfei unexpectedly thought of her first time meeting with "Crooked Artificial intelligent" in the library of her college.
Huang Ming wearing broad nerdy looking specs, was sitting aloof in the chair opposite to hers while she was using her laptop. For some reason, the laptop hanged for a minute or two losing all the unsaved data. Xi Jingfei was completing her essay on the last day of submission, so as a matter of fact, was fuming that she would have to redo the work again. Huang Ming smirked when he watched her annoyed. He then offered his help, and in less than two minutes all the lost data was recovered. He was good in these stuffs. Xi Jingfei was a management student while the latter was a reputed student of computer science department. This was a piece of cake for him. While the girl, being on clock, didn"t give him second look after thanking him once, plainly.
The guy was taken aback by her behavior so the second time he saw her in the college campus, he tried to show off his amazing talents in computer. Loud cheer of girls around him, were making him more excited, but once again, the girl he actually wanted to impress, distanced herself and went away with her group.
The third time they accidentally b.u.mped into each other, the boy was competing against one of his fellow mates but got his laptop broken. From that day on, Xi Jingfei nicknamed him as "Crooked Artificial Intelligent".
After this, they met a few more times here and there, and each time would either tease or help one another forming a different kind of bond. But once they left college, there was no reunion again.
Snapping out of her dream world, at the tap on the table, Xi Jingfei remembered what she had come for.
"So tell me what is it? Looking for me out of the blue after all these years that too without informing beforehand and showing up at my doorstep. Is something the matter?" Huang Ming asked as they both sat on the comfy sofas in the study room.
*Looks like you still don"t read or watch news. Or else you would know what the matter is. But well, that saves me a lot of trouble. Since that, I won"t have to tell you everything and can just get my work done.* Xi Jingfei thought to herself. "Yes. I need your help with something." She spoke as she pulled away her backpack.
"Hmm… I"m all ears." Still admiringly looking at the tom boy, Huang Ming said.
She bent down to take out the Hard Drive from her bag when a knock was heard at the door. The house servant had brought their respective beverages.
"Taste and see if it suits you…" Huang Ming happily served the girl her drink, himself. The servant shook his head a bit before clearing his eyes to see if it was a dream or reality. The Second Young Master of Huang Family was gleefully serving some lady? The servant took his leave with a confused expression thinking if the girl he had almost offended at the gate, was their Future Young Mistress. Carefully locking the door behind him, the servant asked others to be vigilant when dealing with the girl inside in the future.
In the study room,
"It"s perfect to my taste. Thank you." Said the girl contentedly. "Now let"s get down the business. This is a Hard Drive, a really really important one. I want to get all of its data ASAP." Xi Jingfei didn"t beat around the bush and asked the favor directly.
"So this is the thing that brought you here. May I ask what this is all about?" Huang Ming took the Hard drive from her hand.
"Nope. Just do what I"m asking of you. And yeah when you"re connecting it to any of the devices, I"m emphasizing, you must take proper measures regarding the IP address and stuffs. You cannot get found out, am I clear?"
Gulping down his coffee, Huang Ming continued to look at Xi Jingfei, not missing out on any detail. Be it the fringes of her hair, the expressions changing often, her mood swings as if she is a little nervous and angry at something at times, nothing went unnoticed by him. The thing she was asking for was something a bit too off to be asked by an Administrative Officer. But keeping down his horses in mind, Huang Ming asked, "Is it something illegal?"
"Don"t know…. I"ve no idea what info is there in this but it"s something too important for me to think about the consequences of being found out… " Yes, given her situation, the girl could care less about anything that the future held for her. She had already decided to take things as they come. She continued, "And as for you, Second Young Master Huang Ming, no one can do anything to you anyway. Let me wildly guess, even your parents don"t know you"re staying here, do they?" Mockingly, she spoke.
"You got me… This is why I can"t hide anything from you. Because even if we haven"t seen each other for a few years but you know me so well… Though it"s not vice versa… I don"t know you this well. But how did you guess it so correctly?" Pouting like a wronged child, Huang Ming asked.
"Your servants told me…"
A servant had just came in the room to inform his master about someone"s arrival. He got cautious and shook his head hard denying any betrayal on his part, while Huang Ming continued to glare at him with cold gaze. Seeing how the scene unfolded, Xi Jingfei couldn"t help but chuckle as she said,
"Don"t worry, they weren"t back b.i.t.c.hing you. Actually, when I came and asked for you, your "well trained" servant said there wasn"t anyone with that name but outside the house the name plate said otherwise. And that"s how I knew your "old illness" was back and you were hiding away from your own kins."