For the past few days, Young Master Shen had been pestering Ying Qingcang to sell him the lavender field.
"Look, even if you sell it to me, Xiao Qingqing can still use it. I'll supply her with all the cosmetics she needs."
At this point, Young Master Shen was really starting to get on Ying Qingcang's nerve. Ying Qingcang picked up a folder and hurled it towards the other man. Young Master Shen's face darkened the moment he opened the folder. "Everything's already settled? So fast?" He glared at Ying Qingcang. "Why didn't you tell me earlier? I've wasted so much time over this."
"Well, if you still want it, you could always go to Qingqing and beg. See if she's willing to give you a post as a manager or something." Ying Qingcang smirked.
Young Master Shen snorted. "What kind of idiot do you take me for? If I become the manager, I'd be working myself to death for your Xiao Qingqing. She doesn't know a thing about managing a business."
"But you'll have access to cosmetics at a moment's notice." Ying Qingcang tempted. Then, he frowned. "Why are you suddenly so interested in all this?" Understanding flashed in Ying Qingcang's eyes. "So, who is it? Which woman has caught your fancy this time?"
Young Master Shen's eyes shone brightly as he leaped to his feet. "Do you know Ling Lang?"
"Nope."
"Are you even an inhabitant of planet Earth?" Young Master Shen mocked. "Her movie had won an award overseas just one week after her debut."
Ying Qingcang had always known about Young Master Shen's fondness for celebrities, but what surprised him was the effort the man had put into his pursuit this time. "You really like her?"
"Yeah. I really like having sex with her!" Young Master Shen said with a yearning look plastered on his face.
Ying Qingcang chuckled. "Looks like you haven't had any luck with her yet."
"You don't say. Otherwise I wouldn't be bugging you about the lavender field. Her two favorite things are perfumes and flowers."
Ying Qingcang raised his brows. "Fine, then. Take her overseas. You can buy those things abroad just the same."
"That's too troublesome. I mean, just for a woman? Nah. Completely unnecessary." Young Master Shen waved his hand. "It's not like she's my future wife or something."
"I find it very hard to believe that you'll have a wife in the future." Ying Qingcang frowned. "This dude seems to have forgotten what happened between him and Zhang Mi two months ago," he thought. Xin Qing had never mentioned anything either. So presumably, she had no clue about it too. "Looks like Zhang Mi had deliberately kept it a secret. Well, that girl's pretty special, that's for sure," Ying Qingcang thought.
Young Master Shen was about to start boasting about his luck with women when Ying Qingcang's phone rang. Ying Qingcang glanced at the caller ID. His face softened immediately.
"Hi! Qingqing."
"What's wrong? Don't cry. Tell me exactly what happened."
"Which hospital?"
"Alright. I'll head over immediately. Stay calm."
Young Master Shen stood up as well. "I'm going too!"
"Why do you think they allowed you to marry into the family? I'll tell you why. It's because Xin Haoyu is sick. He can't get it up anymore. So the baby in your stomach is the only descendant that the Xin family has. Too bad you're such a failure and end up pregnant with a girl. You think they'd still want you after this? Hahaha. After you give birth to baby, that's the time they kick you to the curb, I'm afraid."
Xin Yudie's laughter echoed in Lin Xiaoyu's mind as her body grew lighter and lighter. In the end, the life of happiness that she thought she had been heading towards was nothing more than a sick farce. When Lin Xiaoyu had collapsed due to distress, Zhao Jiali took off without so much as a backward glance. Lin Xiaoyu did not even know who she should call out to. Only Xin Qing... Xin Qing! Lin Xiaoyu opened her eyes suddenly.
At the ER's entrance, Xin Qing and Zhang Mi were pacing back and forth anxiously. Lin Xiaoyu's entire lower body was covered in blood just now. Neither Xin Yudie nor Zhao Jiali had cared enough to help the poor woman. Xin Qing and Zhang Mi could not bear the thought of leaving Lin Xiaoyu to die, so they sent her to a hospital. According to the doctor, because she had lost too much blood, and because of the emotional distressed she had experienced, it was unlikely for the baby to make it.
"It's probably a good thing that the baby won't survive. Just look at the state the Xin family's in right now. God knows they might end up selling the child for money." Zhang Mi consoled Xin Qing, knowing that at the same time, she was consoling herself too.
Xin Qing was on tenterhooks. This was the second time she had to deal with death ever since she lost her mother. The image of Lin Xiaoyu collapsing to the ground with blood streaking down her legs kept appearing before Xin Qing's eyes.
"Qingqing!"
Xin Qing raised her head. When she saw Ying Qingcang, her tears began to flow. "The baby. The baby's gone."
"Hey, don't cry. Don't cry. What happened?" Ying Qingcang said, patting Xin Qing's back. Although Ying Qingcang viewed the child's death as something that had nothing to do with them, his heart still ached at the sight of Xin Qing's grief. Behind Ying Qingcang, Young Master Shen's face changed when he noticed Zhang Mi's presence. He began turning around to leave. He stopped when he noticed Zhang Mi's quick glance at him. Then, Zhang Mi acted as if he had nothing to do with her at all.
"Could it be that she'd been so drunk that night that she couldn't remember?" Young Master Shen thought. After that, he stared Zhang Mi for a long time until she glared at him, yelling, "What are you staring at? Never seen a beautiful woman before?" Only then did the relief come.
"Looks like she really doesn't remember. Awesome!" He thought.
Xin Qing had relayed to Ying Qingcang the series of events from start to end. Ying Qingcang knew that she was in shock after seeing the state Lin Xiaoyu was in. Wrapping his arms around her, Ying Qingcang guided her towards a bench to sit down. He was in the middle of coming up with a distraction for her when the indicator above the operating room's entrance dimmed.
"Are you friends with the pregnant lady?" Asked a doctor who had walked out.
Xin Qing and Zhang Mi nodded hurriedly.
"How's the baby?" Xin Qing asked.
The doctor's face had a complicated look. "The baby's fine. But the mother won't make it."
"What? How can this be? Why won't she make it?" Xin Qing was stunned by what she had heard. How could a person who was perfectly fine and healthy suddenly not be able to pull through?
"When she woke up, she begged us to save her child. This is a signed consent by her. She has also agreed to donate her organs. Our hospital will make arrangements for the funeral. You should make full use of the time you have left to say your goodbyes."
Xin Qing leaned against Ying Qingcang for support as she walked into the surgical theater. Xin Qing was trembling all over. When she saw Lin Xiaoyu on the surgical table, she tried calling Lin Xiaoyu's name. "Xiao... yu."
Lin Xiaoyu opened her eyes and saw Xin Qing. She wanted to smile at Xin Qing, though she was so weak that she could only move her lips slightly.
"Xin... Qing. I... I got what I deserve. But the child... is innocent. I... no longer had a reason to keep living. Please... please. Seeing that we were once classmates, please... adopt this child."
Crying, Xin Qing shook her head. "You're the child's mother. You have to be brave. Otherwise, the child would become an orphan."
"Lis... Listen to me. Don't tell the child that she has a mother like me. From now on, she will be your... your child."
With the last bit of strength she had left, Lin Xiaoyu stroked the face of the baby beside her before closing her eyes.
Xin Qing and Zhang Mi burst into tears and threw themselves on Lin Xiaoyu's body. She was their good friend when they were young. Even though that friendship had been destroyed by Lin Xiaoyu's actions, they still could not bear the sight of her dying before their very eyes.
The hospital would take care of everything after that. Ying Qingcang ordered Ah Che to notify Lin Xiaoyu's next of kin just in case he could give them full custody of the child. After all, this child was unrelated to him and Xin Qing.
When Ah Che returned, he told them that Lin Xiaoyu's mother had remarried after Chinese New Year. Now, she refused to acknowledge Lin Xiaoyu as her daughter.
After hearing Ah Che's report, Xin Qing decided to bring the child back with her. She would not let the child stay in the hospital as an orphan no matter what.
Ying Qingcang could not think of any other solutions, so he agreed. Neither of them had any experience with kids, which was why they did not have a clue what to do with the baby. Good thing Aunt Tian was there. Since Aunt Tian had experience with babies, Ying Qingcang decided to leave the baby in her care.
Xin Qing tried to call Xin Pengfei the following day, though none of her calls got through. What she did not know was that at the time, Xin Pengfei was bedridden.
With a grouchy look on her face, Zhao Jiali looked at the man lying on the bed. "You knew how things are at home, yet you still went out drinking. Great. Now I've got another extra burden to carry. Where do I even find the money to send you to a hospital?"
If Xin Pengfei were awake, those words would have angered him to death. Their family still owned two estates. Plus, they had a monthly minimum income of ten thousand. How could they not have the money to go to a hospital?
The thing was, he could no longer hear those words. A while back, he had fallen down the from the top of the staircase during one of his drunken fits. The fall had given him a stroke. At the time, Zhao Jiali had gone to Xin Yudie to ask medical fee. Too bad Xin Yudie had steeled her heart against them and had outright refused to care for them.
"Good thing we are rid of Lin Xiaoyu and the girl in her stomach." Zhao Jiali nagged. "What do you say we do now? Haoyu's still sick. Now that you're ill, I'm the only one left in this family."
In his haze, Xin Pengfei could not make out what Zhao Jiali was saying to him. His mind was filled with images of Ying Qingcang taking everything away from him. He remembered the deal Ying Qingcang had offered him, that all of Xin family's money would be returned to him as long as he turned himself in. At that memory, Xin Pengfei screamed like a madman, as if Ying Qingcang and Xin Qing were standing right before him right now.
"What did you say? I didn't quite hear you." Zhao Jiali said after noticing his screams.
"I'll never turn myself in. Don't think you can threaten me with that. If I go to jail, the money would be pointless even if you return it to me..."
Zhao Jiali's eyes widened instantly. Soon, her eyes shone with an evil glint as a scheme formed in her head.
That night, Ying Qingcang returned home with some news for Xin Qing.
"What? Zhao Jiali had sent Xin Pengfei to prison?" Xin Qing was still holding the baby as she stared at Ying Qingcang in disbelief.
Ying Qingcang frowned and order Aunt Tian to take the baby. "Don't hold her every day. It'll be too exhausting for you."
"I've only been holding her for a while. Aunt Tian took care of her most of the time." Xin Qing had grown to like the baby over the past few days. Every day, Xin Qing would help Aunt Tian with the feeding and the changing of diapers. She had even given the baby a moniker. Ah Sha, which meant "hope" in Sanskrit. Xin Qing hoped that Ah Sha would grow up happily.
Ying Qingcang pulled Xin Qing into his arms. "Somehow, Zhao Jiali knew about what you said before."
"As long as Xin Pengfei turn himself in, the money would be returned to him." Xin Qing paused in thought. "That's why she went to the cops?"
Lu Boyan hummed in agreement. "She even owned a copy of your mother's real autopsy report. She also had a voice recording of Xin Pengfei telling her about his plans to kill your mother."
Xin Qing sighed. "So she had made preparations long ago. Otherwise, she wouldn't have recorded the conversation."
"Xin Pengfei had it coming. Zhao Jiali was worried that his sentence would be too light, so she gave the police evidence of Xin Enterprises' false accounts in the past and also records of Xin Pengfei's money laundering activities." Ying Qingcang said. "He'd spend the rest of his days in jail."
Xin Qing felt a little shaken up. "Did you give her the money?"
"She came to see me during the day. I've already wired her the money." Ying Qingcang laughed darkly. "She'll end up much worse by taking the money. Let's just wait and see."
Xin Qing nodded. On that she absolutely agreed. If it were up to Xin Qing, she would have given Zhao Jiali the money too. Someone like Zhao Jiali would end up spending any amount she was provided. Plus, she still had another good-for-nothing son. Now that she had abandoned her husband, only time would tell if she would abandon her own son too.
When Ah Sha turned one month old, Ying Qingcang and Xin Qing went through the adoption process. From here on out, Ah Sha was a child of the Ying family. Xin Qing had let Ying Qingcang decide on the child's legal name. After giving it some thought, Ying Qingcang decided to name her Ying Xin.
At the same time, Ying Qingcang had noticed just how much Xin Qing liked kids, which had him wondering if they should start having a child of their own. Then he remembered that Xin Qing had not even graduated, so he had to put the thought on hold for now. There was, however, something that he had to do right this instant.