"It's been half a month since Smith's came to the country. At first, he got in touch with me, saying that he's never been to China, so he'll come to see you once he's done touring the country. But even now, there's no news from him. How can this be?" Young Master Shen glanced at Ying Qingcang, but he found that the other man was not even listening to him. Instead, Ying Qingcang was staring something on the screen of his computer.
"What are you looking at?" Young Master Shen said, approaching Ying Qingcang. "Wedding dresses?"
Ying Qingcang shut off the screen. "Go away. You're not allowed to look."
"Hah! As if you even know what you're doing!" Young Master Shen teased. "Anyway, don't bother. I'll have a designer make one for Xiao Qingqing."
"Oh. Is this so-called designer reliable?" Ying Qingcang asked doubtfully.
Young Master Shen glared at him. "Do you even know how many Hollywood stars are trying to acquire this designer's service? If you line them up, the queue would reach all the way to the Pacific ocean."
"I'm planning to hold the wedding during the National Day. Think you can make it by then?"
"Don't worry. We'll skip the queue," Young Master Shen said, smiling smugly. "Dude owes me a favor."
Ying Qingcang nodded. Then, as if a thought came to him, he added, "It can't be too revealing. Anything below the neck shouldn't be exposed."
Young Master Shen did a face palm. "Then you might as well put Xiao Qingqing in a burlap sack!"
"My woman looks good even in a burlap sack," Ying Qingcang retorted.
Meanwhile, Xin Qing was not wearing a burlap sack, but the lower half of her body was hidden inside a burlap sack as she and Ah Sha did frog leaps together. They were in the middle of the parent-children workshop, and today's course involved sensory processing training. The activities were designed to train a child's sense of balance as well as help them develop their leg strength. Xin Yudie was unable to make it for quite some time now; she was pregnant again. In Xin Yudie's own words, she and her husband had "taken things too far" during their lovemaking due to their being unaware of her pregnancy, causing her to exhibit signs of miscarriage. Huang Jianbin was so startled that he was now staying home everyday to take care of Xin Yudie and the baby.
At the thought of Huang Jianbin, Xin Qing felt a wave of emotion. No one would have a good impression of someone who had once attempted to bring dishonor upon oneself. Although she had been brought away by Ying Qingcang back then, it did not change the fact that Huang Jianbin had once traumatized Xin Qing. After that, Ying Qingcang did not take any action against Huang Jianbin, but only because Huang Jianbin was smart and observant; Huang Jianbin had offered his help to taunt Xin Pengfei to death. That was why Ying Qingcang let him off the hook.
As for why he was treating Xin Yudie so well right now? Well, that was because his doctor had once told him that his chances of having kids were slim due to an injury he had sustained in his younger days.
When Xin Yudie first got pregnant, he was neither cold nor affectionate in his treatment of Xin Yudie, though he did take very good care of her. After the baby was born, he secretly did a DNA test and confirmed that the baby was indeed his. That led to his immediate marriage to Xin Yudie. Among all that, there was another reason: he went to a fortune teller.
According to the fortune teller, Wang Jianbin was meant to be sterile due to karma; he had done too many bad things in the past. But now that someone had given birth to his child, thus breaking his preordained fate, this person would become the most valuable person in his life.
The fortune teller had even predicted that he and his valuable person were destined to have more than one child together. Xin Yudie's current pregnancy had fully convinced Huang Jianbin of the truth of the fortune teller's words. Right now, he just wanted to keep Xin Yudie all to himself. As for his other women, he had already put them all behind him.
When Xin Qing told all this to Ying Qingcang, Ying Qingcang's reaction was not what she had expected.
"You thought the fortune telling's real?"
"But it's so accurate!' Xin Qing wondered if she should pay the fortune teller a visit too.
Ying Qingcang smacked her ass. "Don't be silly. It was all staged by Xin Yudie."
"Huh?" Xin Qing said in surprise, "You mean that fortune teller? Xin Yudie hired the fortune teller?"
"Of course. Why else would Huang Jianbin believe in any of that crap? The fortune teller had spoken of many details about Huang Jianbin's life and had been accurate right down to the exact details. But that's only because Xin Yudie had told the fortune teller everything beforehand."
Xin Qing gaped. For a long while, she could not bring herself to accept that reality. When she met up with Xin Yudie again after that, Xin Qing could not help but think of Xin Yudie's maneuver as being exceptionally brilliant. Using her own skills and cleverness, Xin Yudie had managed to secure her current life. Again, in Xin Yudie's own words: "Covert scheme or overt scheme, it doesn't matter what you call them. As long as it ends up serving a good purpose, it's called a good strategy rather than a scheme."
Feeling emotional, Xin Qing sighed. At the same time, she thought she would never be able to come up with any schemes no matter how hard she tried, at least not in this lifetime...
When she left the parent-children workshop, Xin Qing stuck to her usual routine: be at the coffee shop downstairs and wait for Ah Che to pick her up.
"What a pretty little Chinese doll!" A foreign man with blonde hair stood before her. Then, he threw a remark at Ah Sha, who was sitting inside her stroller. "She's even more adorable than what's shown in the advertisement!"
At his comment, it immediately hit her who it was that was standing before her.
"Mr. Smith?" she called out in an attempt to test out her earlier guess.
The blonde man pumped his fits dramatically. "Oh! I can't believe Miss Xin even knows my name."
Xin Qing had no idea how to respond to that. She never expected to run into the man under such circumstances. After that, she frowned. "You followed me, didn't you?"
"Pfft!" Smith chuckled. "Relax. I was just passing by."
Xin Qing did not buy a single word of it.
Smith saw the look in her eyes, which confirmed what he already knew. He knew that she would not have believed him. Still, he sat down, not minding her doubts at all.
"I'll be dining with Mr. Ying tomorrow. Why don't you join us, Miss Xin!" said Smith, whose eyes were now fixed upon Xin Qing. The slightly sunny and cheerful disposition which had been there just moments ago had vanished without a trace. Right now, his face held nothing but arrogance and unruliness.
Xin Qing had always tried to stay away from a person like that. She would revere them and give them proper respect, but at the same time, she would keep them at arms' length. People who wore masks were the scariest of all. William was the perfect example of that.
"Young miss!" Ah Che appeared just in time. Recognizing Smith, Ah Che immediately stepped forth to shield Xin Qing behind his own body. After that, Ah Che stared down the blonde man in front of him.
Smith stood up and gave Xin Qing a courteous bow like a gentleman. "I look forward to seeing you tomorrow!" Then, Smith left without sparing a glance at Ah Che.
"I think this guy is even more dangerous than William," Xin Qing said with a shake of her head. "That family is truly full of psychopaths."
At night, after they had both taken their baths, Ying Qingcang held her in his arms and leaned back against the headboard. His hand went to Xin Qing's tummy, where it lingered. "You're not allowed to eat cold food from now on. Your stomach hurts everytime."
Xin Qing's face was currently scrunched up in discomfort. She had no idea why, but she would always experience terrible pain two days before her period. The pain began from her waist and extended all the way down to her thighs. She felt pain and soreness in the area, especially in her thighs, which felt very heavy, as if someone had filled her legs with lead. A mere nudge of her leg sufficed to have her body aching all over.
"Xin Yudie introduced me to a doctor. I'll get myself checked out in a few days." Xin Qing closed her eyes, feeling the warmth emanating from Ying Qingcang's palm. The sensation soothed her discomfort significantly. "Are we meeting Smith tomorrow?"
Ying Qingcang knew about her encounter with Smith this afternoon. The guy himself had called Ying Qingcang just now, asking him repeatedly to bring Xin Qing along to their meeting. In a blatant display of showiness, Smith had decided to hold a party for their meeting. He even went as far as inviting all the big names in S City.
"Nah. We don't have to go tomorrow. But he does have a party this weekend. We'll both go then!"
"Wait. Isn't it just a simple meal? Since when did it become a party?" Xin Qing asked strangely.
"Looks like he has plans to gain a foothold in the Chinese market. It's very normal to try to set up headquarters in S City."
S City was one of the best international metropolitans in the world. Although it was not the capital of China, it still surpassed the capital in all other aspects except for politics. Whatever plans they had in mind, foreign investors and business owners would always look to S City first.
The mother-baby brand that Xin Qing had once represented was Smith's first project. Before this, Ying Qingcang could not be sure whether Smith was planning to handle the project himself or whether he was looking for an agent. Now knowing that Smith was launching a party, it was likely that Smith was looking for an agent.
"Let's sleep!" Ying Qingcang lay down properly and then pulled Xin Qing closer to him once again. He settled his hand on her tummy and said, "You won't feel any pain once you're asleep!"
After giving him a goodnight kiss, Xin Qing nestled in his arms and then closed her eyes.
Her period had forced Xin Qing to remain indoors for three days straight. During those three days, she played with Ah Sha. Ah Sha had already gotten used to sleeping in the baby room, though she was still very attached to Xin Qing and Ying Qingcang; she was always full of joy whenever both of them were physically present beside her.
Ying Qingcang did try to do something about Ah Sha's neediness. Xin Qing, on the other hand, saw Ah Sha's neediness as a good thing.
Xin Qing was constantly worried that Ah Sha would grow apart from them once Ah Sha learned the truth about her origins: that neither Xin Qing nor Ying Qingcang was her biological parent. That was why Xin Qing wanted the child to forge a deeper bond with them. The deeper the bond shared between them, the less the truth would matter in the future.
It was the afternoon in the weekend, and a stylist dropped by the house to prepare Xin Qing for the party. She was still having her period, so she decided to go with pants.
Below, she wore a pair of red trousers, which accentuated the best features of her long, slender legs. The pants made her look capable, experienced, and strong. Above, she chose a white chiffon singlet, which looked really simple, except that there were gemstones of all sizes attached all over it. The largest ruby in the middle of the singlet was worth up to ten thousand.
Her hair was not arranged into a complicated updo either. Instead, it was pulled into a high ponytail.
When Ying Qingcang came home to pick her up, he was struck dumb by how stunning she looked. This was the first time Xin Qing had dressed up this way. She was striking and eye-catching; she looked sexy as hell, but at the same time, she looked as regal as a queen. The stylist had even put on some makeup on the scar behind her ear, drawing a beautiful rose around the scar.
"Wow, this is new." The rose was the center of Ying Qingcang's attention. "We might as well just go have our wedding photos taken!"
Xin Qing held out her hand to him. "That'll be too troublesome. Let's wait till the scar disappears!"
They arrived at the party in good time; they were neither too early nor too late. Smith came out to greet them personally. When Smith saw Xin Qing, he lavished her with praises, which earned him a few glares from Ying Qingcang. Young Master Shen had arrived early with his date. Xin Qing had seen his date before on TV; she was a celebrity who had gotten popular recently, also known as Ling Lang.
Xin Qing found that Ling Lang did not have the typical "celeb" vibe at all. Instead, she seemed more like a lady who came from a family of scholars. From head to toe, she looked like a goddess. Her appearance was made even more refined by the white evening dress she wore. At the moment, Ling Lang was standing beside Young Master Shen with a small smile on her lips.
"Xiao Qingqing!" Young Master Shen held out his arms wide open in preparation to hug Xin Qing. Ying Qingcang shoved him away. "I see you no longer want your hands?"
Young Master Shen ignored him. Instead, he turned to give Xin Qing endless appreciative nods. "Dress up like this from now on, and you'll be able to crush Ying Qingcang to dust with the vibes you're giving out!"
Young Master Shen did not introduce Ling Lang to Xin Qing, though Ling Lang did not seem to mind the lack of introduction at all. She stayed beside Young Master Shen quietly, all the while smiling demurely. For a moment, Xin Qing thought she must have been wrong in her assessment of Ling Lang. "Surely, a woman who's able to establish herself in showbiz can't be that simple," she thought.
The woman in question knew what it meant when Young Master Shen did not bother to introduce her to his friends. It meant that to him, she was nothing more than an ornamentation; easy on the eyes, but completely without use. She had no right to even make Xin Qing and Ying Qingcang's acquaintance.
It was impossible to tell whether Ling Lang was insulted or angry by that. Outwardly, she looked completely fine.
"Why are you staring so hard at a woman?" Ying Qingcang asked, noticing Xin Qing's furtive glances towards Young Master Shen's date. "You know her?"
"She's a celebrity," Xin Qing whispered into his ear.
"Oh. So? What's so nice to look at?" In Ying Qingcang's eyes, any woman other than Xin Qing was worth even less than dog shit; at least a pile of dog shit could be turned into fertilizers.