The scent of spring floated about in the air among the murky night mist. It was the smell of the Canola flowers that came from the plantations that surrounded Bailu town.
Xia Lei slid out his phone and called someone.
“Why are you still awake at this hour?” Tang Yuyan’s voice came ringing through the device. She was probably woken up by the call but did not mind. On the contrary, she was rather pleased by Xia Lei’s unexpected call.
“I was just about to sleep.” Xia Lei went on, “But I have two good news to tell you. I won’t be able to sleep if I don’t get it out of my system. I’m sure you’ll be intrigued.”
“What is it?”
“Firstly, I found the CIA’s safe house.”
“What? Quick, tell me where it is.”
“I have a request before I tell you that.”
“Well, go on. What is it?” urged Tang Yuyan.
“I want to operate with you to capture Yang Shan and Sperry. We’ll move tomorrow night. Do not send a monitoring team to the location for the time being to avoid alerting them,” said Xia Lei.
“That’s not an issue. I’ll be almost fully recovered tomorrow night, I’m able to lead a team too.” Tang Yuyan impatiently pressed on, “What is the next good news?”
Xia Lei smiled. “It’s really good. You need to brace yourself for it.”
“Oh, come on. Stop beating around the bush. You know I’m an impatient woman,” huffed Tang Yuyan.
They were talking about official affairs but words like that seemed to hint at something else.
Xia Lei went silent. “Yuyan, we…”
That rendered Tang Yuyan with silence, she listened intently.
“Nevermind, let’s continue talking about business.” Xia Lei was absolutely reluctant to talk about relations.h.i.+p matters with her. He swiftly switched the topic, “I got a list from the CIA, it involves all agents that America has planted in our country.”
“Huh?” Tang Yuyan gasped. She gushed, “Is the list genuine?”
“Of course it is. Why would I joke about something like this? Some have been here for tens of years. Some of them have even achieved high governmental positions as officials or military figures. Some have even blended into the industry and became big bosses. These are all people with influence and status. How can I make light of the situation?”
“No, no. That wasn’t my intention. I’m sorry.” Tang Yuyan apologized right off the bat.
Her apology caught Xia Lei by surprise. From what he remembered about her, Tang Yuyan was someone who would never apologize. But her apology today was a small sign that things were changing.
“Yuyan, there’s no need to be so courteous with me.” Xia Lei returned the topic to their current track. “This list is of utmost importance to us. I’ll send them to you. This is a huge contribution and it’d help you stabilize your position as head of Bureau 101. It could also bring great interest to your family. Consider this as thanks from me for saving Long Bing and the others.”
“Why…?” Tang Yuyan was initially filled with joyful antic.i.p.ation but Xia Lei’s response had dimmed all the fantasies she had.
“Yuyan, I know you’ve always been nice to me but I can’t give you what you desire. We… We have no fate.”
“I don’t care about fate!” Tang Yuyan’s tone clawed at him with desperation and anguish. There was a breath of fury too. “I could understand your relations.h.i.+p with Long Bing. I can do the same for Jiang Ruyi and Liang Siyao. But was it fate that you and Fan Fan got together? Did you really love her? You got married to avoid me. Do you think I was stupid enough not to pick that up? Why are you still lying to me? Tell me, just why? You always say that you can’t give me what I desire. But let me ask you this. Have you ever asked about what I wanted ever since we met? Have you?”
She was crying.
Xia Lei too felt awful. It was true that he had never once asked her that.
“I’m telling you, Xia Lei. Though I am a daughter of the Tang family, I’m a woman before anything else. Do I not reserve the right to fight for my own happiness and love? Do I not?” She sobbed and sobbed.
Xia Lei had always been afraid of women when they cry. He was even beginning to regret this call. He sighed audibly and braced himself. “Yuyan, please don’t cry. Get some well-deserved rest. We still need to work tomorrow night. We’ll talk more about this tomorrow, okay?”
“Okay. But make sure it’s just me and you. I don’t want to see your four pregnant wives. With them around, I won’t be able to speak a single word with you.”
“They won’t be involved tomorrow, it’s just me alone. Alright, I should let you off to rest. Good night.” Xia Lei was ready to hang up.
In that brief moment, Tang Yuyan felt the sudden surge of courage. “Xia Lei, I love you. I can’t live without you.”
“I…” Xia Lei just didn’t know what to say.
Tang Yuyan fell silent and ended the call.
The deafness of the line allowed Xia Lei to sigh in relief but he could already feel the migraine threatening to erupt at its seams. It was his genuine intention to compensate Tang Yuyan’s contribution of saving his family with the list. Despite that, Tang Yuyan was evidently reluctant to have him repay her kindness just like that. How was this going to end? Xia Lei had no idea.
At this moment, Tsukino Kyoko’s voice rang from behind him. “Boss, if you can marry four women, why can’t you marry one more? You can just bed her and try to cultivate feelings over time.”
Xia Lei turned to look at her, speechless.
Did the female ninja even understand how that worked?
Tsukino Kyoko beamed at him then dragged a large heavy sack for the back door. In her grip was a shovel, a tool for Li Youdun’s burial.
There were patrol teams that consisted of Special Force members in the back of the Peace Mansion. But obviously, it wasn’t an issue for an experienced ninja to hide from their sight.
Xia Lei scrunched up his nose at Tsukino Kyoko’s voluptuous back before scooting away into his room.
But before the man could even enter his doorway, his attention was brought towards the main entrance. He noticed Lu Sheng heading for the main door to open it for someone. With a twitch of his left eye, the obstructing wooden door quietly faded away.
A silver Rolls-Royce Phantom was parked at the main entrance. There was a woman in a long sleek dress beside it. She was exceptionally elegant, posture straight with a cold expression on her face. Shentu Tianyin was here.
“What… What is she doing here?!” If his mind was already pulsating from his earlier call, the sight of his ex-wife had threatened to blast his brain into bits.
He suddenly remembered something. He had signed the back of a nurse’s uniform in the day, slipped in Shentu Tianyin’s number and instructed the nurse to call her.
The rationale behind that was simple. He had intended to inform her that he was not dead through the lips of a third party. Telling her as soon as possible was just to avoid any potential awkwardness in the future. That was his sole motivation and nothing else. He couldn’t make the call himself to not instil jealousy among his wives. He had only meant to preserve the peace and stability of his family unit but what he did not see coming was Shentu Tianyin paying the mansion a visit that very night.
Lu Sheng answered the door.
Shentu Tianyin greeted him politely, “Ah, it’s Mister Lu. I’m here to meet my hus... No, uh, my ex-husband.” She turned a little sheepish.
Lu Sheng replied, “Director Xia is…”
But before Lu Sheng could finish his sentence, Xia Lei urgently imitated a cuckoo’s call. “Cuckoo! Cuckoo…”
Why was there cuckooing in the dead of night?!
Was the bird bored out of their mind?
Unable to control his curiosity, he turned around.
Xia Lei frantically jumped into a nearby flower bed. The man had deliberately delayed his response so as to let Lu Sheng notice his obvious hiding.
This was an obvious hint.
Lu Sheng could no longer face his head forward. In an apologetic tone, he replied, “Miss Shentu, I’m sorry about this but Director Xia is out at the moment.”
“Huh? Why is he out at this hour?” Shentu Tianyin allowed disappointment to wash over her features. She tried to crane her neck and peek beyond the huge door in hopes of catching a glimpse of Xia Lei.
Lu Sheng apologized profusely. “Sorry, I don’t know anything about that. Director Xia most probably had invited some big authority figure for discussion but I don’t know much about it.”
“What did he leave?”
“He left as soon as night fell.”
“And when will he return?” Shentu Tianyin wasn’t eager to leave just yet.
Lu Sheng answered, “I don’t know anything about that either but I presume it’ll be tomorrow. I heard he took a plane. Miss Shentu, I advise that you visit again on another date.”
“I see, then I shall take my leave then. Sorry for the trouble. Goodbye, Mister Lu.” Shentu Tianyin found it difficult to mask her dismay.
“Farewell, Miss Shentu.” Lu Sheng shut the door after Shentu Tianyin had turned around to leave.
Xia Lei watched her climb into the back of her Rolls-Royce Phantom. Bo Mingmei ignited the engine and off they went for downtown Jingdu.
It was only then that Xia Lei stood up from between the flowers. He flashed Lu Sheng a thumbs up.
Lu Sheng quickly approached him with a smile. “Director Xia, even if you did not hint me, she wasn’t going to get past these doors. Siyao had already told me that if Shentu Tianyin were to visit, I need to stop her from meeting you no matter what.”
“I’m leaving now, take care.” Lu Sheng left him behind with that.
Take care? What could he possibly mean with that?
Xia Lei shook his head with a wry smile and continued his path to his room.
Alluring fragrances welcomed his presence into the room. There was Fan Fan’s, there was Siyao’s, there was Long Bing’s and there was Ruyi’s. Different scents were wafting off different women. It was distinctly different from one another, each of them a unique smell, a different type of s.e.xiness and beauty.
They said that the pa.s.sion that followed a short separation was stronger than that of newly-weds. Xia Lei was away from them for a while but they missed him extremely, both mentally and physically.
“Got it done?” Long Bing asked with a gentle curl of her lips.
Xia Lei returned a nod. “Yes. Tsukino Kyoko is handling the rest. She’s the expert in this, there shouldn’t be any problem.”
“Oh, that’s good to hear. Alright, I think it’s time for us to go back to bed,” said Liang Siyao as she got off the bed and turned for the door.
Led by Liang Siyao, the other three women did the same. There was a teasing smirk on both Long Bing and Fan Fan’s face. Jiang Ruyi, on the other hand, had lowered her face to hide from Xia Lei’s gaze.
The four of them made it to the door.
Xia Lei felt dejected. “I have so many things to tell you. Are you really leaving now?”
“Yeah. You can’t be expecting us to sleep with you,” Liang Siyao grumbled.
Xia Lei sneakily fed himself the mental image of him in the sheets with four pregnant ladies. Just the fantasy itself was sufficient to have his heart tremble with excitement.
Jiang Ruyi reached for the door handle but Liang Siyao was fast to stop her.
Jiang Ruyi felt panic rise to her stomach. “Hey, what... what are you trying to do?”
“Hehe.” Liang Siyao chuckled evilly. “All three of us have been through this, you’re the only one who hasn’t experienced it. We’re essentially sisters and a family, you can’t try to be a special case.”
“I…” Jiang Ruyi couldn’t even bring herself to imagine it. Her cheeks immediately flaring red as a result.
Xia Lei huffed out a light laugh. So it seemed that they had no real intention to leave. Otherwise, they wouldn’t even have bothered to wait for him in his room. “How about I ma.s.sage you all? Ma.s.saging is good to ease your pregnancy discomforts and my skills are pretty good. I’m sure you’ll feel great after this.”
“N...no thank you. I just remembered I have something to do, I need to get to my room first.” Jiang Ruyi’s nervousness grew tenfold, she was fully aware of what Xia Lei’s ma.s.sage had enticed.
Unfortunately for her, Liang Siyao, Fan Fan and Long Bing were not about to let her loose. They dragged her over to the bed and pressed her into the sheets.
“Aren’t you going to ma.s.sage her? Come on, hurry up,” urged Fan Fan.
Jiang Ruyi struggled but her motions were weak and more for show.
Xia Lei was itching with temptation, he walked over slowly. But he abruptly remembered something. His eyes trembled unsurely. “But wait, isn’t Master Liang…”
Liang Siyao was quick to reply. “I laced his milk with some sleeping pills. He won’t be checking on us any time soon.”
Xia Lei was speechless.
And the lights were turned off.