The concave metal door was suddenly opened and the refres.h.i.+ngly s.e.xy Tang Yu-Yan walked into Xia Lei’s view. He had no smile for her.
“What the h.e.l.l’s this?” said Xia Lei angrily, “What are you guys doing? Are you treating me like a criminal?”
Tang Yu-Yan put on a smiling face. “Mr Xia, my sincerest apologies… This was a misunderstanding.”
“Misunderstanding?” Xia Lei snorted. “You think I’m a three-year-old?”
Tang Yu-Yan bit the bullet and explained, “This really was a misunderstanding. This room is our… multi-purpose guest lounge. It’s still in the beta phase. Long Bing went out for an urgent mission so she got me to come take care of you.”
Lies like these could only appease three-year-olds but she had no better excuse. Her rating of Long Bing and s.h.i.+ Bo-Ren fell to the pits as she spoke.
“No need!” Xia Lei strode towards the lift, looking like he didn’t want to hear any explanation.
“You…” Tang Yu-Yan didn’t know what to do.
Xia Lei ignored her and b.u.mped her shoulder as he swept past her.
Tang Yu-Yan suddenly reached out and grabbed his arm.
Xia Lei stopped in his tracks and looked at her. His face was still dark with anger. “What do you want?”
“Don’t be mad. You’re not a kid, right? If you"re a kid then I’ll buy you sweets, okay?” Tang Yu-Yan smiled and put some sugar in her voice.
Acting cute and sweet was the most effective method for a woman to use on an angry man.
Xia Lei’s expression softened. He didn’t want to take it out on Tang Yu-Yan either but it was necessary. He wanted s.h.i.+ Bo-Ren, Long Bing and Tang Yu-Yan to know that he had a temper and if something like this happened again, he wouldn’t just throw a simple fit like this. He would say ‘bye bye’ to Bureau 101!
“You’re not mad anymore?” Tang Yu-Yan asked tentatively.
A small smile appeared in the corners of Xia Lei’s mouth. “I’ll let it slide this time. I won’t come here ever again if you guys close me up again.”
This line was for Tang Yu-Yan to hear, and for Long Bing and s.h.i.+ Bo-Ren too.
“Look at you. Don’t be so petty, okay?” Tang Yu-Yan grinned. “I told you, this was a misunderstanding.”
“What mission did Long Bing go on?” said Xia Lei.
“She… Uh, we received a report that two terrorists sneaked back to the country. She went to clear it up.”
“And Boss s.h.i.+?”
“My G.o.dfather, he… he went to Russia on business. Our countries have been exchanging some information recently.” Tang Yu-Yan lied without batting an eye.
“Then there’s no need for me to stay here. Send me out. I can’t go out without the pa.s.swords,” said Xia Lei.
“Okay, I’ll treat you to a drink.” Tang Yu-Yan deliberately acted all chummy with him. “I haven’t thanked you yet for modifying that sniper rifle for me. I happen to have no tasks today. Let’s have a good drink, my treat.”
“Okay, but I want to go to Angel Orphanage first. Want to come with me?” said Xia Lei.
“No problem, I’ll go with you,” said Tang Yu-Yan with a smile.
s.h.i.+ Bo-Ren and Long Bing watched the monitors in an office. The monitors showed Xia Lei and Tang Yu-Yan walking towards the lift.
s.h.i.+ Bo-Ren frowned. “Will he believe a lie like that?”
Long Bing smiled wryly. “He’s a smart guy. You think he’ll believe it?”
“Then why doesn’t he expose the lie?”
“He’s letting us step out of an embarra.s.sing situation, Boss s.h.i.+. Didn’t you hear his last sentence? If we close him up again he won’t come back. This was him hinting that if we do this to him again he’ll quit,” said Long Bing.
“He’ll quit?”
“Then again, we did go overboard this time. He has contributed so much to the nation and we haven’t given him anything. Instead we investigate him. I’d be uncaring too if it were me,” said Long Bing.
“This is our duty.”
“Duty.” Long Bing repeated the word, her expression sombre.
s.h.i.+ Bo-Ren sighed. “He’s strong. He can be a pillar of the nation if trained well. If he’s tempted by the enemy and steps into the wrong camp - there will be trouble then.”
“He is not that sort of person,” said Long Bing.
“You must always remember that nothing in this world is permanent, especially a person’s feelings. You need to watch over him and make sure he is not negatively influenced. The Gu clan has collapsed so he has no opponents in China. He can build his military factory in peace. Bring him out on missions when his military factory’s operating normally. You need to polish this gem; train him,” said s.h.i.+ Bo-Ren.
Long Bing paused. “Bring him on missions. He… He has money, he has men. Would he go on dangerous missions with me? I think not.”
s.h.i.+ Bo-Ren gave Long Bing a glare. “You have blocks for brains sometimes. You’re a woman, remember? Is it difficult for a woman to get a man to do something? Look at Yu-Yan. The punk melted when she acted cute. Can’t you learn that?”
Long Bing was speechless.
s.h.i.+ Bo-Ren folded his muscular arms. “Try it on me.”
“I… need to go to the washroom again.” Long Bing turned and walked off.
Acting cute like Tang Yu-Yan was something less acceptable than death for Long Bing.
A Chevrolet Suburban stopped outside the gates of Angel Orphanage half an hour later. Xia Lei and Tang Yu-Yan alighted. Xia Lei felt a twinge of melancholy as he looked at the old and broken orphanage and thought of Sang Qing-Xin and Sang Yue-Yue.
He did not know what happened to Danny in the end but he could foresee that Sang Qing-Xin and Sang Yue-Yue would only be able to reunite with him after many years, even if he did not die. Sang Yue-Yue would be a mother herself by that time, wouldn’t she?
The world was like this. A kind woman like Sang Qing-Xin was not able to have her happiness, and an innocent, adorable child like Sang Yue-Yue was not able to have her father around while growing up, yet those vile, greedy people led superior lifestyles, had luxurious cars and riches. It wasn’t fair.
Xia Lei found Sang Qing-Xin in one of the run-down cla.s.srooms teaching Chinese to a group of about ten grubby children. She held pictures of a bird, a fish, the sun and so on for the word-matching lesson. Sang Yue-Yue was also in the cla.s.sroom. She stayed in a corner, playing with a tattered teddy bear.
The children had not one st.i.tch of decent clothing on them. The clothes were all donated - some too big, some too small. The sight of them made one’s heart ache.
The children were learning earnestly and Xia Lei and Tang Yu-Yan’s appearance disturbed their learning. The children looked at them and smiled, saying in chorus, “h.e.l.lo Uncle, h.e.l.lo Auntie.”
Their smiles pulled at Xia Lei’s heartstrings. “h.e.l.lo, h.e.l.lo.”
“Mr Xia, Miss… h.e.l.lo.” Sang Qing-Xin greeted them too.
“I hope I’m not disturbing you?” said Xia Lei politely.
“It’s all right. Children, please do your own activities.” Sang Qing-Xin left them with an instruction and walked out of the cla.s.sroom.
Xia Lei and Tang Yu-Yan went with her.
“Come have a seat in my office,” said Sang Qing-Xin politely.
“No thanks. Take us around your orphanage and we can chat as we go,” said Xia Lei.
“Okay, please come with me.” Sang Qing-Xin brought Xia Lei and Tang Yu-Yan around the orphanage.
Angel Orphanage had no support from charitable organisations and no governmental a.s.sistance. It relied on the kindness and donations of others and thus was very simply set up and had almost no decent facilities. Xia Lei’s heart ached at the sight.
“Is my husband’s wounds any better, Mr Xia?” Sang Qing-Xin had been dying to ask him that.
Tang Yu-Yan opened her mouth to say something but Xia Lei moved in front of her to cut her off. He nudged her toes with his heel. “Nn, much better. We’ve the best doctors in the nation looking after him. He will recover quickly.”
“Can I see him?” Sang Qing-Xin looked relieved. “I miss him a lot and Yue-Yue too. She keeps asking to see her Daddy.”
“This…” Xia Lei said, “He is still in the Intensive Care Unit. You won’t be able to see him even if you went.”
Sang Qing-Xin was disappointed. “Then when can I see him?”
“Soon, soon, don’t worry.” Xia Lei changed the topic. “Director Sang, I actually came here to see you as the Chairman of Thunder Horse Manufacturing. I want to talk to you about building a new orphanage.”
“Huh?” Sang Qing-Xin stared blankly.
Xia Lei continued, “I want to set up a charity fund for Angel Orphanage. I would like to build a state-of-the-art orphanage for you and the children, will all the facilities. The children will have their own library, bright and s.p.a.cious dormitories and a cafeteria, and a computer room…”
“Mr Xia, you…” Sang Qing-Xin couldn’t help interrupting but she didn’t know what to say.
Xia Lei smiled. “You’re a good person. You should have some recognition and repayment. I’ll build a new orphanage for you and the children, and I’ll give you fifty million in charity funds. You will have all rights to the money and you can do whatever you want with it.”
“Th, this…” Sang Qing-Xin was so emotional she could not speak.
“Please keep your mobile phone line clear for the next few days. I’ll send someone to contact you and talk to you about building the orphanage and the charity fund,” said Xia Lei.
“Mr Xia, I, I’m not dreaming, am I?” Sang Qing-Xin held her cheeks, suspecting that this was a dream.
“Director Sang, I believe that good things come to good people. Our company, Thunder Horse Manufacturing is going to walk hand-in-hand with you. You will not be alone in your journey of doing good for the community.” Xia Lei reached out a hand to Sang Qing-Xin.
Sang Qing-Xin took his hand with both hands, and tears of grat.i.tude fell from her eyes. Her voice grew husky too. “Mr Xia, no, Chairman Xia, thank you…. Thank you…”
Xia Lei wiped discreetly at the tears in the corners of his eyes after leaving Angel Orphanage.
He didn’t feel bad for a person like Danny but he felt terrible for Sang Qing-Xin, Sang Yue-Yue, and the poor orphans there. Sang Qing-Xin and the children touched him and this was why he was building them a new orphanage on top of the fifty million. The fifty million was because of the deal he had made with Danny and building a new orphanage for the children was because of his kindly feelings.
“I couldn’t tell that you were this sort of person,” said Tang Yu-Yan softly.
Xia Lei looked back at her with a faint smile on his lips. “What sort of person am I?”
“A kind person.” Tang Yu-Yan giggled. “A philanthropist.”
“Don’t make fun of me. I’m no philanthropist.”
“How not? There are many billionaires and gazillionaires in this world and compared to them you’re a poor man. But what you did today is something a lot of billionaires aren’t willing to do. What are you if not a philanthropist?” Tang Yu-Yan stared steadily at Xia Lei, as if she could see his other face.
Xia Lei laughed uncomfortably. “Don’t put a top hat on me. Didn’t you say you’d treat me to a drink?”
Tang Yu-Yan grinned. “I heard Long Bing say your culinary skills are the best. How about this - go to my place and you cook. We’ll have a good meal. We’ll learn from each other afterwards.”
The smile on Xia Lei’s face froze.