To celebrate Xin Qing's birthday, Zhang Mi and Aunt Tian baked a cake. When it was done, Ah Sha waddled out of the kitchen with the cake to present it before Xin Qing.
"Happy birthday, mommy!"
"Thank you, Ah Sha!" Xin Qing took the cake from Ah Sha and then kissed her cheek. Everyone sat around the Christmas tree to enjoy the cake. Somehow, Xin Qing ended up having butter stains all over her body. That night, after a shower, Xin Qing lay on her bed with her phone in hand, staring relentlessly at the clock on the screen. At one minute before midnight, her phone suddenly rang. Xin Qing tapped the call accept icon almost instantly.
"Babe?" A deep voice sounded from the speaker. "Damn, that was fast!"
Tears slid down her cheeks. "I... I knew you would call. So I was holding my phone all this time."
"Hahaha!" Amidst the hush of the night, Ying Qingcang's laughter was like the melody of a cello, mesmerizing and enchanting. She could really lose herself in the sound of his laughter. There was a sigh, which was soft, as if the source of the sound was far away from the phone. "Happy birthday. I miss you so much!" Ying Qingcang said. Right now, he was sitting inside his car, which was parked at the roadside. Around him, there were couples everywhere.
Xin Qing sniffed. "I miss you too. Especially today."
"I know. I promise to spend your birthday with you next year. Not only next year, but every year in the future!" Ying Qingcang had conveyed his feelings earnestly. Deep down, he feared that his woman would be sad. What he feared even more was that she would be disheartened by the long wait.
Xin Qing let out a teasing chuckle. "Oh, you owe me so, so... much. You can slowly make it up to me in the future!"
"Mm! I'll spend the rest of my life making it up to you," Ying Qingcang said softly. "Young Master Shen will be there tomorrow. He has your birthday gift."
"What did you get me?" Xin Qing asked curiously.
"Just a little something!" In his mind, Ying Qingcang conjured the image of a cringing Boss Wan. "You'll know tomorrow," he said in a slightly gleeful tone.
To quote an unknown source: "The greater the physical distance separating two lovers, the closer their hearts are to one another." During nights like this, when there was literally an entire ocean separating the two of them, all they could do was seek comfort in each others' voices. The experience was both poignant and heart-warming at the same time. Xin Qing ended up hugging her phone as she lay in bed. Neither of them wanted to hang up, so they kept talking and talking until Ying Qingcang could no longer hear anything from Xin Qing's end other than her steady and regular breathing. That was when he pressed his lips to the phone's speaker, kissing it gently.
"Goodnight, babe!"
He hung up and then picked up another phone which had been blinking non-stop.
"Hello."
"Ah Cang! What have you been up to? Why didn't you pick up your phone? I've been calling you for nearly two hours." Tang Shuang's angry voice sounded from the speaker. Ying Qingcang answered with a bland voice. "I'm having drinks with Young Master Shen. The music is too loud. I didn't hear my phone."
Tang Shuang went silent for a while. "Where are you guys having fun at? I'm coming too. How could you leave me alone on Christmas day?!"
"I'll ask Ah Che to fetch you. Wait at home," Ying Qingcang said and then hung up. After that, he walked into the KTV behind him. Inside the booth, Young Master Shen was sipping alcohol while having an arm wrapped around the waist of a beautiful woman. When he saw Ying Qingcang, Young Master Shen smacked the beautiful woman on the butt. The woman made eyes at him before she left. Young Master Shen reached out his hand. "Where's my phone?"
Ying Qingcang tossed the phone back to him. Young Master Shen touched the phone. "Tsk, tsk. Damn thing is so warm that it might just blow up."
"Tang Shuang wants to come here," Ying Qingcang said, opening all the bottles there. He even poured a bit onto his hand.
Young Master Shen frowned. "And you're letting her come?"
"She kept calling and calling. She'll get suspicious if I don't let her come."
"Perfect!" Young Master Shen said, handing an invitation card to Ying Qingcang. "It's Ling Lang's movie premiere tomorrow. You should attend with Tang Shuang. And technically, Christmas is tomorrow. If you take her, she'll never doubt you again for sure."
Ying Qingcang took the proffered card and flipped it back forth. "You like this actress a lot, huh?"
Young Master Shen lips twisted downwards. "Uhuh, how do you figure?"
"It's been two years, and you're still in touch with her."
"That's because she's obedient!" Young Master Shen poured himself a drink with a satisfied look on his face. "She's not greedy, she's not noisy, and she doesn't throw tantrums. She obediently plays the role of my arm candy to perfection. Plus, she's not too shabby in bed. It's rare to find someone who plays along with me so well. I see no harm in pampering her a bit more!"
Ying Qingcang had kept quiet throughout Young Master Shen's explanation. What he did not tell Young Master Shen was that Shen Batian had already given Zhang Mi the Dragon King's Token when she visited New York during the Chinese New Year; the object was an emblem of the mistress of a mafia family. In other words, even if Young Master Shen were to marry another woman in the future, that woman would not have earned the reverence of all brothers in the mafia family. Every member of the mafia would only show their allegiance to the woman who carried the Dragon King's Token; only Zhang Mi alone would be acknowledged as their "big sister"...
Ying Qingcang had come upon that knowledge by chance; he once saw Zhang Mi showing the Dragon King's Token to Xin Qing. Shen Batian had obviously not told Zhang Mi the true meaning behind the object, probably to avoid scaring her. All Shen Batian told Zhang Mi was to never ever lose it. Zhang Mi, on the other hand, assumed that it was just some random toy given to her by an old man; she casually tossed the object into her handbag and kept it there.
Tang Shuang had spent the entire Christmas season so far in a foul mood. Last night, she went to look for Ying Qingcang at the KTV. In the end, she had only stayed for a few minutes before Ying Qingcang announced that he wished to go home. When they got home, he never even tried to touch her. His excuse was that he had had too much to drink. He went straight to bed. When she woke up the next morning, she wanted to ask him about their plans for tonight. But he was long gone by the time she opened her eyes. Then, she called Ying Qingcang's phone, which was picked up by Ah Nan, who told her that Ying Qingcang was in a meeting and that he was not free at the moment.
At dinner time, Ying Qingcang still had not returned. Tang Shuang was just about to call him when she received his call.
"Get changed after dinner and wait for me. I'm coming back to pick you up."
Just like that, all the negative emotions she had been feeling vanished right that instant. "Where are we going?" she asked, practically hopping around in joy.
"To attend a movie premiere." Before he hung up, Ying Qingcang added, "Make yourself look good. There'll be a lot of reporters there."
"He's trying to let everyone know that I'm Mrs. Ying," Tang Shuang thought. The happiness she was feeling right then had pushed her to the brink of insanity. She yanked her wardrobe open and began to pick out a dress. Meanwhile, Young Master Shen was drinking chicken soup at Xin Qing's house.
"Here. Your birthday present," Young Master Shen said. Then, he pouted. "You know, you two have caused me so much pain with your lies. You knew everything, and yet you pretended not to remember. I was so worried about you!"
Xin Qing took the gift. "I didn't tell anyone else either. Not even Zhang Mi knows."
"Seriously? You're comparing me to her?" Young Master Shen snorted. "You might as well be telling the whole world if you tell her."
"Hehe!" Xin Qing said, chuckling. "You know her quite well!"
Xin Qing opened the box and saw a silver-colored ring sitting inside. The ring's design was very simple with a black gemstone used as its head. The ring's shank had no motif at all. Feeling a bit surprised, Xin Qing picked it up and turned it around in her palm as she scrutinized it. "A ring?" she asked in disbelief. She was having trouble believing that Ying Qingcang would give her something like this; it did not match with her taste at all, plus Ying Qingcang knew how much she disliked the color black.
Young Master Shen drew closer to her. "Do you still have the GPS locator behind your neck?" he said secretively.
"I do!" Xin Qing reached around and touched the back of her neck. Now that she was reminded about this thing, she was hit by a sudden wave of amusement. Last time, when she was taken, it did not occur to anyone that she might have something like this on her. As a result, nobody tried to locate her using her GPS coordinates. After the incident, they realized in hindsight that they had made quite a lot of silly blunders back then.
"This ring and that thing on your neck work together in pairs," Young Master Shen said before he indicated her to put the ring on her finger. "Now, touch the GPS locator," he ordered. Xin Qing raised her hand and did as she was told. After that, she raised her hand to study the ring closer. Then, she noticed something on the black gemstone, like a flash of light. In the next instant, a blue, palm-sized screen appeared in the air in the form of a hologram. After a few more flashes and blinks, the hologram morphed into Boss Wan's face.
"Xin Qing, happy birthday." That eerie voice coupled with the icy expression on the hologram's face made Xin Qing feel as though those words were not meant as a birthday wish at all.
Xin Qing removed the ring from her finger, wanting to have a closer look at the thing to understand how it worked. Who knew that the hologram began to blur the moment she took the ring off her finger.
"It only works when you're wearing it," Young Master Shen reminded. Xin Qing put the ring back on. When the hologram came back into view, Xin Qing saw that Boss Wan still had the same expression on his face. He was not speaking either. "Is this a toy? Like a high-tech gadget that comes with a pre-recorded message? What else can he say?" Xin Qing asked in confusion.
"Pfft!" Young Master Shen burst into laughter. "Xiao Qingqing, if it were a pre-recorded message, don't you think we would've used Ying Qingcang's head instead of Boss Wan's?"
Xin Qing smacked her head. "Oh, right! Then, what is it?"
"This is a virtual satellite imaging device," said the eerie voice again. The holographic image of Boss Wan's head moved slightly.
Xin Qing poked at the blue screen with her finger. "This is real?"
"Yes. Whenever you're in danger, you can use this device to get in touch with me. I can see everything that's going on over there on your side," Boss Wan said, and then he paused. After a while, he added, "Just treat it as an early wedding gift."
Xin Qing was stumped by the final part of his statement. "What do you mean by that?"
"My son wants to marry your daughter," Boss Wan said, and from his tone, it was a statement, not a question. Finally, Xin Qing knew from whom Xunxun had gotten his personality...
The corners of Young Master Shen's lips twitched. "Alright, that's enough. End the call if there's nothing else. It's pretty expensive to use satellite signals."
"You don't have to pay for it. I've stolen the signal of a US satellite."
At that, both Xin Qing and Young Master Shen rolled their eyes. Young Master Shen pressed a button on the head of the ring. The screen vanished.
"Ah Cang has been parading Tang Shuang around in public lately. We think that the mastermind is about to make his move. But considering the mastermind's devious character, we're worried that you might still be in danger. You have to wear this ring at all times. Nothing can happen to you, you hear me? Ah Cang won't be able to live without you."
Xin Qing nodded. "I will. I won't become a burden and distraction for you guys."
"Also, don't go out with strangers. If you're going out, make sure you stick with Zhang Mi. That crappy combat skills of hers could at least allow you to make an escape if you run into any trouble." Young Master Shen paused suddenly as if something just came to his mind. "She isn't here?"
"She's out on a date."
Young Master Shen went into a momentary daze. Then he chuckled. "No shit? So there is a man who's willing to date her after all!"
"Hey, what's that look for?" Xin Qing glared at Young Master Shen. "Zhang Mi is worth more than all your women combined!"
Just then, they heard a sound at the doorway. In several quick strides, Young Master Shen was already at the door before Xin Qing could even stand up. He yanked it open and saw Zhang Mi standing at the doorway. Zhang Mi was all over Anthony and was drawing little circles on the guy's chest.
"Thank you," she said coyly. "We've had so much fun! We'll go again next time?"
Anthony had an arm wrapped around Zhang Mi's waist. He was about to agree to her request when he suddenly felt a pair of cold gaze on him. He raised his head and saw Young Master Shen standing there with a dark scowl.
Zhang Mi noticed Anthony's sudden quietness. She also noticed that his eyes were glued to the front door. Feeling curious, she turned around and was met with Young Master Shen's mocking smile.