Xin Qing did not expect to run into Chen Ming at the mall.
"Yours?" Chen Ming wore a look of complete surprise when he saw Xin Qing pushing a stroller.
Xin Qing smiled. "No! My friend had an accident. Ying Qingcang and I have decided to adopt this baby."
"That surprised me. I thought you got married and didn't even tell me about it." Chen Ming glanced around the area and pointed at a coffee shop nearby. "Take a break. We can use the time to catch up."
Xin Qing thought for a moment before she nodded. "Sure. How've you been?"
"Same old, I guess. Company's not bad. Making steady progress." Chen Ming ordered a cup of coffee for her. "What about you? Didn't you go visit Ying Qingcang's parents last time? Have you guys set a date yet?"
Xin Qing looked at him. "I'm still studying! How am I supposed to get married?"
"Why not? A lot of university students are married nowadays. Besides, you guys could always get engaged first." Chen Ming stared at her for a while. "Is it because Ying Qingcang's parents don't approve?"
Xin Qing smiled. "You shouldn't worry about me. Instead, let's talk about you. Where did you go for your honeymoon?"
"We didn't go anywhere." Chen Ming was not in the mood at all to discuss his life.
"How come?" Xin Qing looked at him wide-eyed. "And she just agreed?!"
Chen Ming's lips pulled into a contemptuous smile. "So what if she doesn't agree. She knew all along who I truly love, yet she still decided to marry me. Now she can bear the consequences."
"This isn't fair to her." Xin Qing avoided Chen Ming's gaze and frowned. "Since you're married to each other, you should try to have a good life with each other."
Chen Ming reached out his hand before stilling it in mid-air. He put down his hand and looked at her a little helplessly. "You know very well that in my heart I..."
"Chen Ming," Xin Qing said, standing up. "You're a married man. Don't make me lose my respect for you."
Chen Ming chuckled. "But what about you? Ying Qingcang won't marry you. I'll keep waiting for you until the day you leave him, or until he abandons you."
Chen Ming stood up and approached her. Xin Qing pushed the stroller in front of her, keeping it between Chen Ming and herself. "I guess there's nothing else we can talk about. Goodbye." "He didn't even have the decency to wish me well." Xin Qing thought a little angrily.
Chen Ming watched Xin Qing's hurried departure. He stood there unmovingly, his eyes watching Xin Qing's figure as it drifted further and further away.
It did not take long for Xin Qing to completely forget about her coincidental meeting with Chen Ming. She did not even tell Ying Qingcang about the incident.
A week went by. One afternoon, a photo suddenly appeared in their university's bulletin board. It was a photo of Xin Qing carrying the baby while having a conversation with a man.
There was even a sentimental caption below the photo, which labelled Xin Qing as a mistress and a home wrecker. It went on to say that Xin Qing had seduced a married man, that she even had a child with said man. In an instant, everyone in the university began pointing fingers and whispering behind her back.
The university took immediate action and removed the photograph from the bulletin. Before Xin Qing could even pull herself together, the same photo popped up in an article published in the evening papers. The article had similar contents, just that it contained one extra section. The section claimed that Xin Qing was the sugarbaby of a wealthy man but had pretended to be a university student in order to seduce a married man.
When class ended, Xin Qing noticed that the university's entrance was already teeming with reporters. She had not been in this kind of situation before, so she was panicking a little. Then she saw Ah Che and Young Master Shen flocking Ying Qingcang on both sides, pushing the reporters aside. Ying Qingcang walked up to her and pulled her into the car.
When the reporters noticed Ying Qingcang, they immediately pointed their cameras at their car and began snapping pictures like there was no tomorrow. Ah Che started the car and drove off swiftly. Aggrieved, Xin Qing looked at Ying Qingcang. "What is it this time?"
"Who gave you the permission to meet that guy?" Ying Qingcang said harshly.
Tears flowed down Xin Qing's cheeks.
"I ran into him at the mall and chatted with him for five minutes. What did I do? You won't ever run into someone while you're out? You never had a coincidence before?" Xin Qing shouted at Ying Qingcang. She held nothing back. Others might not know. But how could he not know her?
Ying Qingcang felt a little jealous when Xin Qing had not told him about her meeting with Chen Ming. He did not expect her to have this big of a reaction so he was surprised at her outburst.
"That's right. Xiao Qingqing was right to scold you." Young Master Shen gloated. "She's already scared out of her wits and you think yelling at her is a good idea?"
Ying Qingcang gave him a kick. Then he reached out to hug Xin Qing only to have his hand forcefully shoved away. "Don't touch me!"
"I didn't mean it. You already know I'll be pissed whenever I hear his name. Also, you didn't tell me about meeting him. I only found out when I read the papers today."
Ying Qingcang tried desperately to soothe Xin Qing. His plans were about to be set in motion. He could not afford to get into a fight with Xin Qing right now.
Xin Qing gave him a sidelong glance. "How was I supposed to tell you when I didn't even remember?"
"Okay. Okay!" Ying Qingcang leaned towards her. "My attitude was terrible. Don't be mad."
Xin Qing's eyes had gone red. "I'm not angry at you... I just... I..."
"I know, I know!" Ying Qingcang hugged her. "We're working on it. We'll find out who's behind all this soon."
Young Master Shen looked at Xin Qing. "You never once suspected that this could be Chen Ming's doing?"
"It's not him." Xin Qing denied flatly. Ying Qingcang glanced at Young Master Shen and said, "I told you it won't be him."
"You two know him that well?" Young Master Shen asked, his lips down turned.
"He won't do anything to hurt Qingqing." Ying Qingcang said in a tone of annoyance. Despite feeling the strong urge to drag Chen Ming out and beat the guy to death, Ying Qingcang knew that this could not be Chen Ming's doing. Chen Ming was in love with Xin Qing. Sure, Chen Ming would try to come directly between him and Xin Qing, but he would never resort to anything that would taint Xin Qing's reputation.
"This person must know me, but we aren't close. Otherwise, it'd be impossible for him or her not to know whose child Ah Sha is." No one else other than Young Master Shen and Zhang Mi knew about Ah Sha's adoption. It was a way to protect the child. The less people who knew the truth, the better it would be for the child. Otherwise, it would be very likely with Ah Sa's past to be exposed when she grew up.
Ying Qingcang nodded in agreement. "So this person is trying to use the child to stir things up between us."
"This person is also familiar with Chen Ming. Wouldn't have known that Chen Ming's married otherwise." Xin Qing added.
All of a sudden, Ying Qingcang and Xin Qing looked at each other.
"Lu Manman!" They spoke in unison.
Young Master Shen's phone rang as if on cue. He picked up the phone and listened for a while. Brows raised, he hung up the phone. "You guys were dead on. It's Chen Ming's wife, Lu Manman."
Meanwhile, Chen Ming was staring at Lu Manman with a dark look on his face.
"Why'd you do it?"
Lu Manman stared back at him. "Why do you think I did it?"
"This is between you and me. Why drag Xin Qing into this? You even slandered her." Chen Ming wanted to slap the woman. She had followed him and had secretly taken pictures of him.
Lu Manman chuckled darkly. "Chen Ming, you were the one who'd agreed to marry me in the first place. If you're already in love in another person, why'd you agree to this marriage?"
Lu Manman touched the diamond ring on her finger. "If you had rejected me from the start, I wouldn't be caught up in this mess. I wouldn't have fallen in love with you, and I wouldn't have tried so hard to keep this farce of a marriage alive!"
On the night of their marriage, drunken Chen Ming had called out Xin Qing's name while holding Lu Manman in his arms. After Lu Manman had pushed him onto the bed, his mind cleared and he went into the guest room alone.
Lu Manman was still a virgin after three months of their marriage. That kind of insult had filled Lu Manman's heart with resentment, which grew stronger day after day. What right did Xin Qing have to be happy while Lu Manman was suffering in her own marriage?
"I'm sorry. I haven't been a good husband to you. Look, we can get a divorce. I'll leave the house and money to you." Chen Ming rubbed his forehead. "If you agree, we can start preparing the papers tomorrow."
Lu Manman swept the vase on the table to the ground. A loud crash sounded followed by her piercing scream. "Divorce? Do you even know what it means for both our families to be united by marriage? Do you know that my dad has recommended your father to Central? Do you know how much damage both our families would suffer if we get a divorce?"
Lu Manman looked at him coldly. "Chen Ming, you're not a man at all." The door slammed behind her as she left.
Chen Ming stared at the mess on the floor with a pained expression. His phone rang.
"Hi, Xin Qing."
"Yes. Yes, she's the one who did it."
"I'm sorry. This is my fault. I'll take full responsibility for the matter. If Ying Qingcang wants to settle scores, tell him that I'm the one he should come for."
...
Xin Qing hung up and relayed Chen Ming's words to Ying Qingcang. Young Master Shen clicked his tongue. "He's been treating his wife okay, hasn't he? Why would his wife do something like this?"
"Hah!" Ying Qingcang snorted. "Lu family's influence lies mostly in Central. Chen family is the one reaping all the benefits from the entire marriage. If he doesn't at least try to protect Lu Manman, what's he going to say to both families?"
Young Master Shen shrugged. "So, now what? I've dealt with the press. Nobody would dare publish anything after this. But how do we restore Xiao Qingqing's reputation." Young Master Shen paused, looking at Xin Qing. "And Chen Ming, should we go after him?"
Xin Qing stared at Ying Qingcang, saying nothing. Ying Qingcang sighed, "Fine, I understand. We won't pursue this."
"Thank you!" Xin Qing threw herself at him. She hugged him on her own volition. She knew that Ying Qingcang's personality would never allow him to turn a blind eye to something like this. But for her sake, he had endured. Even though Xin Qing felt disgusted at Lu Manman for instigating this whole mess, she could not bring herself to retaliate against Chen Ming. The only option was to let the whole thing go.
"Now, about your reputation. Don't worry. Your name will be cleared in no time." Ying Qingcang gave Young Master Shen a look and wiggled his eyebrows. From Ying Qingcang's smile, it was clear that he already had a plan.
Despite the circulating rumors, Xin Qing went to class as usual. When people stared at her and started whispering, she would just ignore them as if she had not noticed them at all. "Humans are like this," she thought. "It'll be fine again after a while."
Xin Qing and Zhang Mi had made time to bring Le Le to another matchmaking event for pets. This time, Le Le fell in love with a chihuahua. It was love at first sight.
The chihuahua turned out to be a male, which was a funny thing. The owner had been entertaining thoughts of abandoning it due to its peculiar habits. So Xin Qing decided to bring it home. After all, it could help keep Le Le company.
The two women got off the elevator, each carrying a dog in their arms. That was when Xin Qing heard Zhang Mi's scream. "Xin Qing! Look out!" Then she felt a sharp pain at the back of her head. Everything went black.
Ah Che was waiting at the entrance when Le Le came running at him, barking as if it had gone mad. "Oh, no. Something bad has happened!" He thought.
When Xin Qing came to, she found that her hands were tied behind her. Her legs, from top to bottom, were bound with rope too.
She felt a sharp, piercing pain at the back of her skull as she twisted her head to examine her surroundings. "This place looks like some kind of textile dye factory," she thought. Dirty fabrics, whose colors were beyond recognition, strewed the entire place.
Obviously, she had been abducted. Xin Qing closed her eyes. When she felt that her eyes had accustomed to the lighting, she reopened them and tried moving her hands. The bounds were too tight.
As for the people responsible for her abduction, Xin Qing had a few guesses of her own. She just did not see the point for them to take things this far. While she was caught up in her thoughts, the clicking of high heels sounded from outside the door. A woman opened the door and walked in.