"I won't do it if she's not as good as you!" Fang Qingping said, pinching a spot on Fang Lu's body. Once again, his mind went to Zhao Jiali, the woman he met on his flight earlier. He reached out, snatched Fang Lu's cigarette away from her and rolled over.
During the weekend, Xin Qing and Ah Sha went to the parent-children workshop after meeting up with Xin Yudie. Xin Yudie's stomach was not showing yet, though Xin Qing thought she looked even more beautiful while pregnant. Huang Jianbin was present during the meeting too; he was there as a caring husband, fussing over Xin Yudie. He looked rather sheepish and embarrassed when he saw Xin Qing, though Xin Qing herself did not mind; whatever that happened between them was already in the past. Then Xin Qing wondered if Ying Qingcang would be as anxious too if she were to get pregnant. She actually laughed out loud at the thought; Ying Qingcang would probably be even more anxious than she was!
A voice interrupted her reverie.
"Miss! Can you do me a favor?"
Raising her head, Xin Qing saw a man smiling at her politely. He had a dark complexion and a southern look; his features were distinct and sharp.
"Can I help you?" Xin Qing asked politely.
"Oh, it's like this," the man said hurriedly, "my sister and her baby will be coming back from overseas next week. She wants me to enroll her to a parent-children workshop ahead of time. But I'm a man and totally clueless about these things. Do you mind giving me some recommendations?"
Xin Qing knew that a lot of people who came here were willing to consult with other parents on such matters instead of the instructors; they were unwilling to take the instructors' word regarding such matters. That was why Xin Qing did not mind helping the man out. She briefed him on all available choices, after which the man thanked her politely, "Thank you. I'm Fang Qingping. Why don't I treat you to a cup of coffee as a show of gratitude?"
"You're welcome. But no, thank you. We're heading back!" Xin Qing picked up Ah Sha and gave Fang Qingping a nod.
Fang Qingping quickly held the door open for her. "Alright then! Goodbye."
Xin Qing did not give the interlude any further thought. Soon, she became very busy; Shi Qianqian and Ding Lei were getting married. The ceremony was set to be held on the 20th of August, which also happened to be Shi Qianqian's birthday.
"It's half a month away. That's quite a rush!" Xin Qing spoke into the phone. "Who picked the date?"
Shi Qianqian answered Xin Qing calmly, "Ding Lei's stepfather doesn't have much longer to live. If he passes, there'll mourning period, which will last for a year. Ding Lei wants the wedding done as soon as possible."
"Haha!" The corner of Xin Qing's lips pulled into a smile. "Alright! I'll be there on time tomorrow!"
Xin Qing and Zhang Mi were asked to help Shi Qianqian pick out a wedding dress. Ding Lei had brought in a designer from overseas. The designer brought a lot of end products for Shi Qianqian to pick out from since they did not have enough time to make the dress from scratch.
"Our wedding is at the end of October. I've already sent your measurements to the designer. Most likely he'll want to drop by to meet you later on. Just let him know if there's any particular type of wedding dress you prefer," Ying Qingcang said. Ding Lei and Shi Qianqian's wedding had probably inspired Ying Qingcang; after hearing about it, he immediately leaped into action and began making their own wedding preparations. By "wedding preparations", it meant listening to reports from Ah Nan and Young Master Shen, the ones who did the actual legwork.
Grinning, Xin Qing hugged him. "Then I'll deal with the scar behind my ear in a few days!"
Ying Qingcang pressed his lips together. In truth, he did not mind the scar at all. Still, he knew that Xin Qing would mind it very much; no woman would want a scar on her body.
"If it requires a transplant, then I'll go with you." Ying Qingcang did not have the heart to let Xin Qing go through it alone. Xin Qing kissed him before nodding obediently.
On the way to the company, Ying Qingcang dropped Xin Qing off at Shi Qianqian's place. When they arrived, Ying Qingcang kept her in his arms, unwilling to let her get out of the car. Xin Qing patted his head the same way she would pat Le Le's head. "Let's swim together tonight!" she said. After that, she even made eyes at him.
"This little woman had matured," Ying Qingcang thought as he ogled Xin Qing's face stupidly. Her features, which had always been beautiful, now held an additional womanly appeal. Her every movement had the ability to draw Ying Qingcang's attention like no other. Most importantly, she had become braver now; she would tease and seduce him occasionally.
"I'll pick you up in the afternoon. We won't be going home today!" Ying Qingcang kissed her on the lips. Amidst their hot make-out session, someone rapped the window of their car. Outside the car, Zhang Mi yelled at them, "Say, are you guys planning to go for a round before coming out? Ah Che will see everything, you know!"
From the driver's seat, Ah Che said hurriedly, "There's a separator. I can't see anything!"
Blushing, Xin Qing opened the door and got out. Zhang Mi chuckled. "I've interrupted you, haven't I?"
No woman could stare at a wedding dress without feeling all emotional and sappy. A wedding dress had the ability to evoke in a woman positive feelings about romance; it made them believe that some time in the future, a man would come along and lavish them with all the happiness in the world. To a woman, owning that man was akin to owning the world.
The designer was a foreign woman in her fifties. She had brought along more than twenty of her latest designs for Shi Qianqian to try on. Seeing the array of dresses on display, Zhang Mi felt the itch to try on a few, which she did. But after that, Zhang Mi suddenly burst into tears.
"You're all getting married. Now I'm all alone. You're all just twenty, for god's sake. Why are you all getting married so early! Wuwuwu..."
The sight of Zhang Mi sobbing nearly had Xin Qing and Shi Qianqian jumping out of their skin. As far as they both could remember, Zhang Mi had only bawled like this once: when her childhood pet cat died of old-age.
Xin Qing hugged Zhang Mi and consoled, "Our circumstances are special. It's just like you said, normal women don't usually get married at 20!" Facing the mirror, Shi Qianqian adjusted her wedding dress and said, "For my case, we're childhood friends. Xiao Qing's case is even weirder though. That's definitely not something you normally see."
"Mmhm. Besides, it's actually a good thing that both of us marry first! That way when it's your turn, we'll be like your security screening staff or something! Guys will have to get past us first before marrying you!"
Zhang Mi's lips twisted downwards. "You know what, just forget it. Where am I going to find someone like those two men like yours?"
"There're tons of them!" Shi Qianqian said, patting Zhang Mi's shoulder. "Things like fate are hard to anticipate. I mean, who knows, right? Maybe your other half has already appeared." Shi Qianqian paused. "Like... Young Master Shen?"
Zhang Mi leaped into the air. "F*ck! I don't want him even if he's the only man alive in this world. Scum like him is nothing but trash!"
Apparently, Zhang Mi's poignant feelings vanished entirely at the mere mention of Young Master Shen's name. After that, they went back to helping Shi Qianqian pick out her wedding dress. In the end, they ordered 4 dresses. About the same time, the doorbell rang. Standing in the doorway, Ying Qingcang saw Zhang Mi, who was currently dressed in a red evening gown. What he saw caused his face to change.
"You didn't try anything, right?" he asked.
Despite being utterly confused at his strange question, Xin Qing shook her head. "Nope!"
Ying Qingcang took Xin Qing's hand and they left. Ah Che was nowhere to be seen, so Ying Qingcang must have driven here on his own. After that, he drove them to the same hot spring resort that they visited two years ago. That night, as the pair sat in the small cottage to have dinner, Xin Qing recalled his strange behavior this afternoon.
"This afternoon, why did you ask me whether I tried any of the dresses?"
Ying Qingcang was in the middle of peeling shrimps for her. At her question, his hands stilled for a brief moment. Then, he said, "I have to be the first one to see you in a wedding dress!"
"Haha!" Xin Qing fed him a piece of pork rib. "I had the same thing in mind. That's why I didn't try them!"
Ying Qingcang raised his brows and smirked. "Since when did you become so obedient?"
"I bet you like it!" Apparently, Xin Qing was getting more and more thick-faced too.
Of course, Ying Qingcang would not let her off the hook. "Mm. How nice it'll be if you're this obedient later when we're in the hot spring!"
"Humph!" Xin Qing glared at him. "Pervert."
Ying Qingcang ignored her. Instead, he picked up the pace in the task of feeding her; the sooner they were done with dinner, the sooner they could be doing more important things. In the end, Xin Qing insisted that they take a walk in the area, claiming that it would be a waste if they did not breathe more of the countryside's fresh air since it was rare for them to be here.
"From now on, I'll bring you here every weekend," Ying Qingcang said as they strolled around the resort hand in hand. The place was not crowded at this hour, so Xin Qing was about to ask Ying Qingcang to secretly pick a flower from the paddy field. That was when she noticed a woman walking towards them. The woman looked a bit familiar.
Fang Lu barely spared Xin Qing a glance before she greeted Ying Qingcang sultrily. "President Ying! What a coincidence! You're here for the hot springs as well?"
Xin Qing was starting to understand the reason behind Monica's pained expression whenever she spoke of Fang Lu. "This woman is a real piece of work," Xin Qing thought. "Who would dress in a split skirt, low neckline gown to visit a frigging paddy field?"
"You want that flower?" Ying Qingcang lowered his head and asked Xin Qing. Xin Qing gave him a smile. "Yup. The purple one!"
"Miss Xin!" Fang Lu shouted, her face appalled. "You can buy it at the florist! Why bother picking it? Didn't you see the signs over there? It's prohibited to step or pick the flowers."
Ying Qingcang did not wait for Xin Qing to speak. "The whole resort is mine. I can pick whichever flower I want and it's still none of your business."
"Ah!" Fang Lu's expression changed. Then she laughed. "So President Ying owned this place! How awesome!"
Ignoring the other woman's flattering, Ying Qingcang placed the flower on top of Xin Qing's head. Then he wrapped his arm around Xin Qing's waist and together, they turned around. "Still up for the stroll?"
"Nah. The mood's ruined."
At the sight of the pouting woman in his arms, Ying Qingcang pulled out his phone and dialed a number. "There's a woman called Fang Lu staying here. Chase her out. Do not admit her next time. From now on, she's persona non grata."
"President Ying!" Behind them, Fang Lu's wretched voice rang out. Fang Lu did not anticipate Ying Qingcang to be so indecorous as to chase her out like this.
Xin Qing turned her head around. "Miss Fang, is it? If you're here to talk shop, then by all means, go ahead. But if your intention is to make moves on Ying Qingcang, then sorry. He's out of your league. So I hope you stop harassing my man again. If you no longer value your self-respect, that's fine with us. But we still value ours!"
"Well said, Ah Qing!" Ying Qingcang said, secretly pleased as he led Xin Qing away. "Hah. Seems like those foolish women do have some use after all," Ying Qingcang thought. "At least they're able to provoke Xin Qing's possessiveness!"
Fuming, Fang Lu returned to her room. A service staff was already there waiting for her when she arrived. Fang Lu packed her things and, when the service staff was not looking, she slipped into another floor. Fang Qingping stayed on that floor. The plan was for her to seduce Ying Qingcang. Even if she could not get him into bed, at least she could get him to leave Xin Qing's side long enough for Fang Qingping to approach Xin Qing. Fang Qingping could then fool Xin Qing into his own room. After that, Fang Lu would bring Ying Qingcang to Fang Qingping's room to catch them in the act of cheating.
"You should just forget it!" Fang Qingping got dressed, and then he escorted the woman he had just met to his door. Turning around, he looked at Fang Lu. "You don't have what it takes to handle Ying Qingcang. He has no eyes for you at all."
Fang Lu tossed the couch's throw pillow onto the floor. "What does that b*tch have that I don't?" she yelled angrily.
"Pfft!" The corner of Fang Qingping's lips twisted into a frown. "She's better than you in every aspect."
"You..." Fang Lu sneered. "Why? Don't tell me you've fallen for her too?"