Monica felt guilt-free for all this. At first, she only called Ying Qingcang to request a job position at Ying Enterprises. It was the perfect excuse for her to leave England. But much to her surprise, the man granted her wish before she even started begging for it. He straight out offered her a manager's position.
Reporters swarmed her the moment she deplaned. The reporters asked the first time she met Ying Qingcang, how they ended up dating each other, and whether she would remain in the country after their engagement. Through it all, she acted like an idiot struck by lightning. An idiot, who did nothing else but allow Ying Qingcang to shove her into the car. Until now...
"How am I supposed to face Xin Qing in the future?" Monica bit her hankerchief. "I still have plans to be Ah Sha's godmother!"
Ying Qingcang shot her a quick glance. "I disapprove. You don't have what it takes to be anyone's godmother."
"No. I mean..." Monica trailed off, rolling her eyes at him. "Can't you at least tell me what this is all about?" Monica was not so idiotic as to think Ying Qingcang suddenly had an epiphany and learned that he was in love with Monica all along. He was up to something.
Ying Qingcang calmed her back down into her chair. "That's not important. There's something else I want to ask you about."
Monica felt the urge to toss the folders on Ying Qingcang's desk in his face. Not important? To her, that was supposed to be most important. She dare not say those words though. "What thing?" she asked through clenched teeth.
"Was my father awake when you left England?"
"Are you even his son? You don't know if he's awake?" Monica said in annoyance. Ying Qingcang shot her another glance. "You no longer want this job?"
"That's not it!" Monica quickly added, "The doctor found a blood clot in his brain. It's pressing on his nerve. It's uncertain when he'll walk again."
Ying Qingcang retreated into his thoughts, and then asked, "And that woman?"
"Stay with him, I guess. She went to the hospital pretty much every day." Monica laugh mockingly. "She's probably thinking that the old man would be reading his will once he wakes up!"
Ying Qingcang nodded. "Alright. That's all. You're free to go. I've asked Ah Nan to find an apartment for you near the company. He'll take you there to have a look later."
"What? Just like that?" Monica asked in dissatisfaction. "You haven't given me any kind of explanation!"
"What else is there to explain? You've told me all you know, haven't you?" Ying Qingcang said, waving his hand. "Hurry up and get out of here."
Fuming, Monica yanked the door open, and was met with Ah Nan's grinning face. "I'll take you to the apartment," he said.
"Like hell you are!" Monica turned around and stomped back into the office. She slammed her palm on Ying Qingcang's desk. "If you don't give me some kind of explanation now, then you can kiss our engagement goodbye!"
"Oh," Ying Qingcang said. "But the word is already out, so it doesn't really matter what you think. Plus, none of this concerns you. Everyone's focus would mainly be on me."
All of a sudden, Monica went quiet. Her hands rested on her hips. "Haha. I bet Xin Qing left you because of that despicable attitude of yours!"
Ying Qingcang was a little taken back at Monica's display of boldness. "Since when have you found the courage to speak to me in such a way?"
Monica's lips curled downward in a frown. "I was too young and innocent back then. I thought I liked you, that was why I listened to you all the time. Who's scared of you now?"
"Oh. Okay!" Ying Qingcang pressed a button under his desk. A bell rang, and Ah Nan, who eavesdropped in the doorway, ran inside.
Monica rolled her eyes at him. Ying Qingcang said in a flat tone, "Bring me her file. And assign the position of Marketing Manager to someone else."
"No! Don't!" Monica grabbed Ah Nan. "How dare you!"
Ah Nan gave Ying Qingcang a helpless look. "Young Master..."
"Will you obey me now?" Ying Qingcang asked Monica.
Monica released a violent shriek and clenched her teeth. "Fine!"
"See? That wasn't so hard, was it? Should've done so from the start and saved us the trouble. Now you've just wasted my time. Get out!" Ying Qingcang said and waved his hand as if he swatted away a couple of flies.
Monica could not afford to piss Ying Qingcang off, so she took it all out on Ah Nan. After the visit to the apartment, she forced Ah Nan to take her shopping. They went as many as five rounds!
"Why didn't you buy the table cloth just now when we bought the curtains?"
"Because the table cloth there doesn't look nice," Monica answered confidently.
Ah Nan nearly ripped the steering wheel off the dashboard. "But they look exactly the same..." he thought.
The sky darkened by the time Ah Nan left Monica's house. From there, he returned to the company to see Ying Qingcang. Ever since Ah Sha traveled to France with Xin Qing, Ying Qingcang practically lived at the company and barely went home.
Ah Nan even bought dinner on the way to the company. Ying Qingcang was in the middle of a conversation with Young Master Shen when Ah Nan came in. "I thought you left already? Why did you come back?" Ying Qingcang asked, looking at Ah Nan strangely.
Ah Nan was just about to answer when his phone suddenly rang. He felt a headache coming on the moment he saw the caller ID. When Ah Nan picked up, he immediately heard the ear-shattering music from the other end of the line, punctuated with Monica's screams.
"Ah Nan, quick, come save me! Someone's bullying me! The Inferno Bar!"
The line went dead before Ah Nan could get a single word out. Only the dial tone could be heard. "Hello? Hello?" Ah Nan said.
Young Master Shen noticed the strange way Ah Nan acted, which made him curious. "Hey, what's the matter with you?" he asked. "I've never seen a look like that on your face before!"
"That was Miss Monica. She said she's at The Inferno Bar and someone's bullying her."
"Ha!" Young Master Shen perked up suddenly. "Impossible. That's my turf."
Ying Qingcang gave Young Master Shen a sideways look. "And your people recognize her?"
"Er... Nope, they don't." Young Master Shen stood up. "Come on. I'll go there with you."
At The Inferno Bar, two women, each with a bottle of alcohol in their hand, stood on stage, engaged in a game of morra. They paraded around the stage in their minidresses, exposing four milky thighs, which were literally aphrosidiacs in the eyes of the surrounding men. A group of men flocked and surrounded the area below stage, cheering and jeering.
"Whoever loses has to walk out of here naked!" said a beautiful woman with dark hair as she grabbed a fresh bottle. Opposite her was a foreign chick with blonde hair and green eyes. The foreign chick burst out laughing. "Deal! The loser who refuses to strip is a whore!"
When Young Master Shen and Ah Nan walked in, the two women guzzled their beers straight out of the bottle. One of Young Master Shen's henchmen hurried over when he saw them enter. "Young Master! We were watching. We won't let anything happen to Miss Zhang."
"See that woman who's trying to drink Zhang Mi under the table? From today onwards, include her under our protection." Young Master Shen rubbed his forehead. "I swear, when those two hang out together, it's going to drive everyone here out of their minds."
The henchman could not believe his eyes. "Young Master, that foreign chick is your woman as well?"
"B*llsh*t!" Young Master Shen smacked the henchman. "What do you mean, 'also'? Do you think a crazy b*tch like that could catch my eye?"
Ah Nan tugged on Young Master Shen, whose meaning was clear: Don't drag this out. Get them both down before they start stripping.
Young Master Shen hurriedly gave out the order, and before long, a few of his men went over and carried Zhang Mi and Monica off the stage. The two women yelled at each other, claiming they would keep drinking to their deaths. Young Master Shen left Monica to Ah Nan while he shoved Zhang Mi into his car.
"Stop moving! Otherwise I'll toss you out," Young Master Shen said, finally snapping. "And pull down your skirt!" Zhang Mi's skirt had been hiked all the way up to her groin. At those words, Zhang Mi snickered at Young Master Shen. "They look nice, right? It's not like you haven't seen them before."
"I should just strangle her to death," Young Master Shen growled, gritting his teeth as he tried to focus on both driving and trapping Zhang Mi's flailing hands. Zhang Mi suddenly thought of Monica, so she asked him, "So that's the woman who's engaged to Ying Qingcang, huh? Yeah, right, as if she can hold a candle to Xin Qing."
Noticing that her clear speech, Young Master Shen realized Zhang Mi was not entirely out of it. "Why? You're just jealous that you lost the drinking game to her!"
"Me? Jealous of her?" Zhang Mi sat up and propped up her breasts. "Surely my cup size isn't smaller than hers." Then she lifted a leg. "And my legs aren't shorter than hers."
Young Master Shen's face darkened instantly. "Put it down. I can even see the color from here."
"And my face won't lose to hers either!" Zhang Mi brought her face up close to him, which caused her soft breasts to press against Young Master Shen's arm.
Young Master Shen eyes darted to Zhang Mi, whose face flushed completely. Her lips parted slightly, and she squinted as she looked at him. Young Master Shen felt a sudden tightening in his crotch. "Goddamned woman!" he cursed inwardly and then shoved Zhang Mi away from him.
"Sit still. Or else I'll toss you out!"
Zhang Mi snorted and threw a mocking glance at him. "You have shitty taste just like Ying Qingcang," she said. After that, she leaned her head to one side and went to sleep. Young Master Shen heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that she finally conked out. But when Young Master Shen noticed Zhang Mi's legs, a crease formed on his brows once again. He then removed his jacket and draped it over her legs to cover them. But upon raising his head, he was granted a full view of her snowy white cleavage. He swallowed. In a fit of frustration, he reached behind him, yanked the covering off the backseat and then threw the whole thing over Zhang Mi's form until even her head was covered.
When Ying Qingcang saw Ah Nan the next day, he looked at the other man for a very long time. "You... Did Monica have her way with you?"
"Young Master!" Ah Nan said, practically pouncing on Ying Qingcang. "Please let me swap with Ah Che. I'll go protect young miss and Ah Sha. Let Ah Che come back and stay with you!"
At Ah Nan's behavior, a look of utter surprise formed on Ying Qingcang's usually aloof face. "What on earth did Monica do to you?"
"Nothing. Just that she had gotten herself drunk. After I got her home, she started hitting and strangling me. She didn't even allow me to leave. She slept through the whole night hugging my leg and she didn't even allow me to get on the bed. I had to spend the entire night on the floor."
The look on Ah Nan's face right then was full of agony. He even rolled up his sleeves and showed Ying Qingcang the patch of greenish purple bruises on his arm.
Ying Qingcang tried not to smile. "Man, when did that dude become so feisty?"
"She has always been feisty. She just didn't dare act feisty in front of you." Ah Nan massaged his arm. "Anyway, I don't want to have anything to do with her after this no matter what. That kind of woman only looks like a woman on the surface, but is actually even more savage than a man."
"She'll start working at the marketing department in a few days. You won't be seeing her." Ying Qingcang patted Ah Nan's shoulder in consolation. "I'll give you a day off. Go home and have a good rest."
Zhang Mi had already gotten on a call with Xin Qing. The moment she woke up and remembered everything from the previous night, she hurriedly reported her findings to Xin Qing.
"Hey, I got to say, that Monica isn't one to be trifled with!"
It was noon over at Xin Qing's place and she was in the middle of feeding Ah Sha lunch when she heard Zhang Mi throw out that statement.
"You met her?" Xin Qing asked, feeling strange. "How do you know each other?"
Zhang Mi told Xin Qing everything that happened at the bar, including the drinking contest she had with Monica.
"That lady has balls! I like her!"
Xin Qing hung up with her corners of her lips twitching. "If Monica found out that another person had praised her that way, she would have hated that person..." she thought.
Ah Che came in from outside with a conflicted look on his face. "Young Miss, there's a man at the door wanting to see you."
Xin Qing did not notice the look on his face though. She stood up and glanced out the window. "Who is it? Why didn't he just come in?"
"It's that William," Ah Che said in a tone of annoyance. At the same time, Xin Qing noticed the man waving at him outside...