Rong Siman stared at them in surprise.
"You two have become good friends after just a short month?"
Still grinning, Monica shot a glance at Xin Qing. "That's because we're so like-minded and our personalities match! Right, Xin Qing?"
At the same time, Ying Qingcang was coming out from the study and saw that Monica was leaning her whole body against Xin Qing. Annoyed, he stalked over and yanked Monica off Xin Qing. "Why are you leaning on her when you're so tall?"
"Geez. It's not like she'll break just because I leaned on her a bit," said Monica, her lips downturned. She pulled Xin Qing towards the couch and they both sat down. "Don't hang around Ah Cang too much. Tomorrow, I'll bring you to the woods to see the elaphures!"
"Oh, he'd brought me to see them already!" Xin Qing said, squinting. When she remembered their activities during their horseback ride, she blushed.
Monica cried out in disbelief. "He seriously brought you to do something that boring?"
"If it's boring then why'd you offer to bring me?" Xin Qing glared at Monica, who waved her off. "What I mean is that he finds it boring," Monica said, glancing at Ying Qingcang.
Ying Qingcang was befuddled. "Since when were those two women on such good terms?" he thought. Xin Qing received his stare and pouted her lips to silently convey her message. "Of course you wouldn't understand."
"You came at the right time," Rong Siman said to Monica. "Ah Cang refused to organize a ball for Xin Qing. You should persuade him. This is just too unfair to Xin Qing."
At those words, the other three people each reacted with different facial expressions. Ying Qingcang's face grew even colder, Xin Qing looked at Monica as if she had just heard something hilarious, whereas Monica gave a cold sneer.
"Only you would want to attend those boring dance events." Monica glanced at Rong Siman. "I think Ah Cang just didn't want to trouble Xin Qing, that's why he refused. Plus, they'll only be staying for two months, so why bother getting acquainted with those pretentious people?"
Ying Qingcang looked at Monica. "You can come back if you still intend to finish your internship."
"That's great! I'll go back immediately after I graduate." Monica grasped Xin Qing's hand joyously. "Xiao Qing, we'll be able to hang out every day in the future."
Ying Qingcang's face darkened. "Find your own place to stay."
"Huh? Oh..." Monica pouted. Xin Qing stifled her laughter. Monica was definitely looking like good friend-material at this point.
Rong Siman was quiet for the whole time, her face expressionless. Xin Qing thought it must be troublesome for Rong Siman to keep coming up with ways to provoke her for no reason. That was why Xin Qing decided to take the lead and initiate a conversation with Rong Siman.
"Aunt!" Xin Qing said. At that call, Rong Siman's face visibly paled. She stared at Xin Qing with wide eyes as if she was in shock. "You... you... what did you just call me?"
Xin Qing looked at her innocently. "Aunt, of course. I mean, you're Uncle Ying's wife, which makes you my elder. So, of course, I need to address you as Aunt!"
Xin Qing glared at Ying Qingcang in slight reproach. "Ignore Ying Qingcang, he's always been rude."
Then, Xin Qing smiled again. "Aunt, let me tell you something. You should stop fretting about our affairs. They say that it's very likely for older people to grow wrinkles if they worry too much. I mean, you're putting so much effort into your makeup and cosmetics every day. Aren't you doing all that so you could look young and beautiful?! If that's the case, then you shouldn't let yourself be worrying about other people's problems. You should be relaxing!"
Rong Siman was only 27 years old. Plus, she had always been taking very good care of herself, which was why she did not look old at all. Anyone who looked at her would see a woman in her early twenties. But... Xin Qing was only 18! If Rong Siman were to compare herself to Xin Qing, then it was undeniable that she was old!
"I thank you for your concern. But this thing relates to Ah Cang. It's not just anybody's affair." Rong Siman's lips looked like they were about to twist out of shape any second, and yet her smiled persisted. Even Xin Qing was in awe of the woman's ability to maintain her poker face. Beside them, Monica held a hand to her mouth and was laughing so hard that she was near the point of having stomach cramps.
"You and I are not related," Ying Qingcang stated coldly.
"Ah Cang!" A look of hurt formed on Rong Siman's face. "You... forget it. I know you've always blamed me. But that time I..." Before she could finish, Ying Qingcang stood up and pulled Xin Qing to leave. Monica watched the couple leave before she smiled humorlessly at Rong Siman. "After so many years, and you still can't see it."
Shaking her head, Monica stood up. "Looks like you've really gotten old. Your mind's losing its edge too."
"Monica, get back here!" Rong Siman yelled. "What's wrong with you? Haven't you always been in love with Ah Cang?"
Monica turned around and stared at Rong Siman. "You're wrong. What I feel for Ah Cang is familiarity, nothing more. He's been my idol ever since I was young. I saw him as a brother and my ideal partner. But I also know that he'll never love me back." Monica sighed. "Seeing as we grew up together when we were young, I'll give you a piece of advice. Don't kid yourself anymore. Otherwise, nobody will be able to save you."
Xin Qing shook off Ying Qingcang's hand. "Are you going to tell me or not?"
"Tell you what?" Ying Qingcang looked at her strangely.
"Tell me what's wrong with that aunt of yours."
Darkness descended upon Ying Qingcang's face. "Don't remind me of her. It's disgusting."
"I'm not being suspicious of you or doubting you." Xin Qing pouted. "But I don't like being provoked by her all the time without having any idea of what's going on."
Ying Qingcang pulled her to his arms. "I'm sorry. I just feel so disgusted whenever I hear her name."
"So! It's better to let me do the talking, then." Monica emerged from behind and blinked at Ying Qingcang.
Xin Qing leaped away from Ying Qingcang's embrace. "Okay. Tell me."
"Just tell her the truth." Ying Qingcang frowned. In the end, he had relented. Otherwise, Xin Qing would be unhappy because of this, and that would not sit well with him at all.
Monica and Xin Qing found a shady area in the garden and sat down.
"I'll have to start from the time when we were young..."
Monica's father had been Ying Hao's subordinate. Monica was two years younger than Ying Qingcang. In order to let two young children become playmates with each other, Ying Hao had decided to have Monica raised in Ying's family.
"When it happened, I was probably 8 years old, and Ying Qingcang was 10. One day, Uncle Ying suddenly brought home a little girl. Yes, that little girl was Rong Siman. I know she looks all pretty right now, but when I first met her, she was thin and tiny. She looked like a six or seven-year-old back then. Uncle Ying told us that she was actually two years older than us, that she was an orphan and the daughter of a deceased friend."
Monica thought for a moment. "Even then, Ah Cang's personality was already very peculiar, especially his attitude towards women. He hated women a lot. But Uncle Ying wanted to keep Rong Siman in the house. He even told Rong Siman that Ah Cang was her little brother and that she should take good care of him."
"That's why when we were young, Rong Siman was constantly following Ah Cang around, especially during the first two years she was with us. I think she felt insecure, like she was afraid that she would be sent away again. So no matter how badly Ah Cang treated her, she didn't mind at all."
Xin Qing nodded. "So, you were all infatuated with Ying Qingcang. I guess that's to be expected."
"Yeah! To spend every day around such an outstanding man? Any girl would be infatuated," Monica agreed. "Including Rong Siman and I."
Monica glanced at Xin Qing. "That's in the past, you know. Now, I only see him as an older brother. You have to trust me."
"Mmhm. I trust you. What happened after that?"
"After that, the three of us kept living at Ying Ancestral Home. We even went to the same school. With age, Rong Siman became a beauty.
"A lot of boys in our school were in love with her back then. But she kept saying that she was Ah Cang's girlfriend. Ah Cang never said anything, bu he never denied anything either. Which was why they were known as the best couple of the school until we graduated."
All of a sudden, Monica patted Xin Qing's arm. "Don't get the wrong idea, okay? Now that I think about it, Ah Cang probably just didn't want to deal with the advances made by other girls back then, which he thought of as bothersome. I mean, if everyone thought he was dating Rong Siman, then at least the other girls wouldn't be bothering him every day."
"Not probably. I think you've hit the nail right on the head," Xin Qing said decisively, thinking of Ying Qingcang's cold and icy behavior.
Monica hummed her agreement twice. "After our graduation, I went to study abroad. When I returned during the winter holidays of my second year, I received the sudden news that Rong Siman was about to marry Uncle Ying. After Chinese New Year, Ah Cang left for S City. Since then, Ah Cang would only come home during Chinese New Years and stay for two days."
"That's it?" Xin Qing asked when she saw that Monica had stopped talking.
"That's it."
Xin Qing stared at Monica. "But you were only just getting to the main point. Why did Rong Siman end up marrying Uncle Ying? Why does Ying Qingcang hate her so much? And also, don't you feel that Ying Qingcang's attitude towards Uncle Ying is a little strange?"
"Ah Cang has been treating Uncle Ying poorly ever since Uncle Ying and Rong Siman got married." Monica's eyes moved in their sockets as a thought came to her. "So all this while, Rong Siman thought that Ying Qingcang was in love with her. She thought Ying Qingcang resented her for marrying Uncle Ying, so much so that he'd stay away from Ying family just to avoid being heartbroken."
Xin Qing shook her head. "She must've been reading way too much CEO-themed novels."
"What kind of man does she think Ying Qingcang is? The type that would abandon his own father for something like this? How laughable." Xin Qing thought. If Rong Siman truly loved Ying Qingcang, how could she not know this?
"Say, what do you think happened that year?" Monica scooted closer to Xin Qing and began speaking secretively, "You should go ask Ah Cang about it. I'm sure he knows."
Xin Qing released two chuckles and poked Monica's forehead. "No wonder you're offering to tell me the story. You just wanted to find out what happened."
"Tsk, don't you want to know what happened as well?" Monica lowered her voice, "Listen, I suspect Rong Siman's son doesn't belong to Uncle Ying at all."
"Seriously?" Xin Qing stared at her. "You can't just say things like that so carelessly."
"Well, that's what my gut tells me, anyway." Monica scratched her head.
Xin Qing thought for a moment before she asked, "Do you think someone like Uncle Ying is foolish enough to not realize it when he was being cheated on?"
"... Nope," Monica said after a moment of deep thought. "Anyway, just ignore her. Whatever she tells you, just ignore her."
Xin Qing smiled. "It's not like you and I haven't been rivals before. Am I the type to let people push me around?"
"No, you're not. On the surface, you look soft and weak. But in reality, you've got a lot of backbone, and you're fierce." Monica nodded. "You'll have Ah Cang as a support anyway. So you'll be fine even if you hit her."
After her conversation with Monica, Xin Qing felt her curiosity piqued even further. It seemed to her that only Ying Qingcang and Ying Hao knew what happened that year. Xin Qing felt she would get more reliable answers from Ying Hao rather than Ying Qingcang. But the thing was she was not allowed to go to Ying Hao.
Who knew what sort of unknown family secrets were involved in all this, such as the Ying family's ancestral behest.
Xin Qing suppressed her curiosity for now. A week passed, and the night of the full moon arrived. It was the night they were supposed to pay respects to the ancestors of the Ying family. Xin Qing had already showered and was waiting for Ying Qingcang to come to pick her up. However, the voice that came through the doorway belonged to Rong Siman.