Ying Qingcang was not someone who cared whether another person lived or died. Xin Qing did not think he would be kind enough to give Li Guihai a friendly warning.
Ying Qingcang's response was beyond any of her expectations, though. "Yes!" Ying Qingcang said, nodding.
Xin Qing stared at him as if she were looking at a ghost.
"If I didn't tell him, the Li family will collaborate with Fang Lu. Since the execution of the investment plans will begin during the end of this year, I don't have time to play their game over and over again. My only option is to stop them from collaborating," Ying Qingcang slowly explained his reasons to Xin Qing. "Zhao Jiali isn't someone who knows her place at all. I don't feel like giving her any more chances."
Xin Qing looked at him blankly. "So you told Li Guihai everything about her past?"
"As if I have that kind of patience," Ying Qingcang said, pressing his lips into a line. "I just gave him a reminder, that's all. If he isn't a fool, he will start digging into it on his own."
Zhao Jiali was still clueless about the fact that she had become just a piece of meat on a cutting board, waiting for the knife to fall. Instead, she was still her pretentious self, trying everything in her power to fish for compliments from Li Xiaoru. Recently, Zhao Jiali often found Li Xiaoru alone on her own, blushing and staring off into space. There was also an occasion when Zhao Jiali mentioned Chen Ming's name, and Li Xiaoru reacted by acting nervous and jittery. Zhao Jiali was an experienced woman. She knew exactly what that kind of behavior entailed; Li Xiaoru had fallen for Chen Ming.
"You should just forget about it!" Fang Lu tossed a folder at Zhao Jiali. "Chen Ming isn't someone we can afford to piss off. He isn't someone we are capable of controlling, and he sure as hell won't give a shit about that meagre inheritance of the Li family."
Zhao Jiali flipped through a few pages. Her face morphed into a look of displeasure and jealousy. "Such impressive stature. How can I just sit by and let that little bitch monopolize all of it?"
"She's the one having feelings for Chen Ming right now. We don't even know what Chen Ming's thoughts are! What are you acting so psychotic for?" Fang Lu said, looking at Zhao Jiali contemptuously. Having interacted with Zhao Jiali for a while, Fang Lu realized that not only was Zhao Jiali foolish but that she also had balls of steel.
"Why don't I give it a try?" Zhao Jiali touched her own face.
Inwardly, Fang Lu gave a mocking laugh. "Time to wake up, Aunty..." Fang Lu thought. She did not voice out the thought. Instead, she plastered a grin on her face and said, "Sure! I think it might work. Just try it and see how it goes."
Zhao Jiali walked away gleefully. Fang Lu's smile gradually widened as she watched Zhao Jiali leave. "Zhao Jiali, you really don't know your place at all. Forget the fact that you're already an old cougar, but right now you're also Li Guihai's wife. The circle is so huge. Do you really think other people are blind? Haha... Go ahead. The moment you humiliate yourself will be my moment to shine."
The renovation works of the house were finally completed three days before the wedding. The workers, as well as the designers, were nearly in tears at that point; they had completed a supposedly two-month project in just half a month. Right now, all of them were so exhausted that they were literally trudging around like dogs. If Ying Qingcang had not tripled their salary, everyone would have abandoned the project a long time ago.
The original style of Ying's residence interior design had a simple theme of black, white and grey. Right now, the entire design of the house had been altered into a European style design, which mostly consisted of white and golden colors. The new design gave the lounge a luxurious but unpretentious look. In the past, the third floor was unused; this time, the entire third floor was turned into the master bedroom, plus another two rooms to be used as Xin Qing's study and walk-in closet. The guest room and nurseries were on the second floor. Ying Qingcang had deliberately instructed the designers to prepare two nurseries on the second floor; the extra room could be used straightaway by the time his son was born.
Xin Qing could not help but take several steps back when she saw the massive bathtub.
"What are you doing?" Ying Qingcang grabbed her and pulled her back in. "I've specially requested for a massive bathroom. Not bad, right?! The bathtub can even change colors. Do you want to try it now?" Ying Qingcang's lips held a cryptic smile as he stared at the woman in his arms.
"N-no th-thanks," Xin Qing stammered.
"Come on. Just try it, hmm?" Ying Qingcang picked her up and then placed her on the bathroom counter. Then he stood right between her legs.
"You're not allowed to seduce me!" Xin Qing covered her eyes. Whenever this man looked at her with that smile, her pulse would race.
Ying Qingcang bit her ear as he pointed to the mirror. "Look! Baby, you look so alluring right now."
Xin Qing angled her head sideways to look at her own reflection in the mirror. Her face looked like an apple due to her shyness, and her eyes were large and bright.
"Oh, stop it!" She buried her face into the man's chest, not daring to look at herself anymore.
"The new bedroom can only be used for our wedding night. Let's head back to the hotel right now," Ying Qingcang said without shame.
"Mm!" Xin Qing nodded stupidly, and then she immediately realized what she had just agreed to. She shoved him away. "Don't, don't talk nonsense," she stammered, though her voice had betrayed her hunger and thirst for him.
Ying Qingcang stared at her red face and wide eyes. Then without further ado, Ying Qingcang picked her up and carried her outside.
That was how Xin Qing ended up being brought back to the hotel and thoroughly ravished before she could even finish her tour of the renovated house. When she opened her eyes the next day, she was instantly greeted with the enlarged view of a face, which was staring right at her.
"Ah!" Xin Qing shrieked, startling Zhang Mi enough to make her take a step back. Only then did Xin Qing realize Zhang Mi's presence.
"Mimi? What are you doing here?" Xin Qing rubbed her eyes. She was fully awake now.
"F*ck. You scared the bejesus out of me!" Zhang Mi patted her chest and went on, "Your man was just leaving when I got here. He told me not to wake you up."
Xin Qing felt sore all over, especially the back and waist area. She propped herself up against the headboard, too lazy to move. "Why did you come here?"
"Hehe! Haven't you been doing beauty treatments for the past few days? I'll tag along today!"
Since a month ago, Xin Qing had started to join various beauty treatment programs. Xin Qing wanted to avoid looking mediocre and average for this once in a lifetime event. That, plus the fact that she already saw herself as an average person in the first place compelled her to doll herself up beautifully in order to give herself the perfect wedding!
"Okay. Let's grab a bite first at the hotel's restaurant, and then we'll go for aromatherapy today!"
The two women lay in their booth and allowed the beauticians to work wonders on their bodies. Zhang Mi appraised Xin Qing for a while, and then she remarked, "Tsk, tsk. Say, your man is really like a beast! Just look at those love bites on your body. Isn't he worried that they might show when you put on the wedding dress?"
Ying Qingcang never even considered such a thing; he had already instructed the designer to make a dress that was completely unrevealing. Basically, this meant that other than her face, the rest of Xin Qing's body would be fully covered during the wedding day. That much was obvious through the options Xin Qing had been given when Ying Qingcang asked her to pick out her summer attire. All of the clothes were half-sleeved. Things like spaghetti straps would only appear in bras since that was a piece of clothing that only Ying Qingcang had the privilege to see.
The massage therapist cut in before Xin Qing could speak. "Don't worry, Mrs. Ying. The essential oil you're currently using is capable of removing those marks in just two massage sessions. I guarantee you that your skin will be white and silky on your wedding day!"
"Hahaha!" Zhang Mi burst out laughing. Xin Qing glared at her. "Keep laughing and I won't bring you here again."
Zhang Mi glanced at Xin Qing. "Your face really had gotten thicker. Before, your face would've been red by now."
Xin Qing ignored her. In truth, she herself thought that her face had gotten thicker as well; she would never show her shy side to anyone other than Ying Qingcang these days.
Under normal circumstances, Xin Qing was supposed to spend the night with her best friend one night before the wedding while Ying Qingcang and Young Master Shen would go out to have their bachelor party. But what ended up happening was that Ying Qingcang had refused to let her out of his sight. Somebody, it seemed, was going through a bout of prenuptial anxiety.
"Why are you so unwilling to let me get pregnant?" The first thing Xin Qing had done when she had woken up that morning was to throw out that question.
Ying Qingcang was caught off guard by that question. After a brief pause, he replied, "You're still too young. We'll wait for two more years!"
"Really?" Xin Qing asked, staring back at him.
"What do you mean, 'really'?" Ying Qingcang returned her stare.
At that comment, Xin Qing pouted and headed straight to the bathroom. Ying Qingcang did not pay her behavior any mind at all. That afternoon, Ah Che ended up barging into the boardroom while Ying Qingcang was in the middle of a meeting. Ying Qingcang's heart stopped the moment he saw Ah Che; he thought that something must have happened to Xin Qing. When he rushed out of the boardroom, Ah Che told him that Xin Qing was making rounds in the company for no reason at all.
Ying Qingcang quickly went looking for her. Tracking her down had been a difficult task, but he managed. When he found her, Xin Qing was standing outside the main office of the PR department, shooting glances inside. Her lips were also moving; she was mumbling something to herself, though he had no clue what she was mumbling about.
"What's going on?" Ying Qingcang headed over and pulled her into his arms.
Xin Qing glanced at him. "All your employees look so pretty," Xin Qing said in a strange tone.
At this point, Ying Qingcang would be a fool if he still failed to notice that something was up. He stared at Xin Qing for a long while. Then, dragging her along, he returned to his office. Once inside, he sat down while keeping her in his arms. "What happened?" he asked carefully.
"Nothing!" Xin Qing shook her head, her eyes glancing around the space of the office.
Ying Qingcang held her chin and turned her head so that she was looking at him. "How can it be nothing when you're acting like this?" Ying Qingcang paused and thought for a moment. "You don't like the bridal dress?"
Xin Qing's bridal dress had been delivered to the house a few days ago. There were six of them, all of which were beautiful. She had tried them all in front of Ying Qingcang. As far as he could remember, the little lady liked the dresses very much.
"No." Xin Qing shook her head again.
Ying Qingcang spent another brief moment in deep contemplation. "Is the venue not to your liking? Or the food?" He could only think along the lines of the wedding. He thought that other than the wedding, Xin Qing would not be having any other kind of problems.
"No." Xin Qing shook her head, but she refused to say anything more.
"Don't tell me you're ill?" Ying Qingcang jumped in fright and then he touched her forehead. Xin Qing slapped his hand away. "No!"
Ying Qingcang sighed. "Say, babe, what's the matter with you? Won't you tell me? Are you trying to worry me to death?"
"You're raising your voice at me!" Xin Qing's lips curled downwards, and her tears started to flow.
Ying Qingcang felt a pang of hurt in his heart. In full panic mode, he quickly wiped her tears. "I wasn't raising my voice at you. Why would I do that? Oh, come on, Xin Qing! What's going on? Just hurry up and tell me already!"
Xin Qing sobbed even louder and buried her face into his chest. "Will you divorce me when, when I turn into a yellow-faced old lady? You don't... You're not allowing me to carry your child. Are you implying that you'll divorce me in the future!"
This time around, Ying Qingcang was really stunned into a stupor. His mind raced as he tried to process Xin Qing's words. It took him a long while, but when he fully comprehended what Xin Qing had just told him, his face became dark. He lifted her head off his chest. "What did you just say? What's that supposed to mean?"
"There you go again! Raising your voice at me!" Xin Qing pointed an accusatory finger at him, her eyes welling up with tears. Ying Qingcang's heart was burning with anxiety. Just when he was about to start explaining himself, his phone rang. He had wanted to ignore the call, but when he saw that it was Shi Qianqian, he picked up the call.
Ying Qingcang nodded as he listened to Shi Qianqian on the phone, all the while keeping his eyes on Xin Qing. After he hung up, he spent a brief moment in deep thought. Then he stood up and walked towards the exit with the crying woman in his arms. Ah Che and Ah Nan, who had been eavesdropping at the door, took the cue and sprang into action by pressing the elevator button for them.