A perfect combination of exquisite craftsmanship and the use of natural materials as well as the embroidery designs created by one of the top international designers in the world rendered all three styles of 'For You' products well-received by the consumers. As soon as the products were displayed, the event reached its culmination: the 100 sets on display for each style were sold out completely.
Other consumers who wished to make further purchases would have to either pre-order their products or have their products custom-made according to their own tastes. Xin Qing's plan was to turn 'For You' into a high-end brand from the get-go.
"I didn't think many people would buy them considering how pricey they are," Zhang Mi commented as she watched Monica and Ah Nan being swarmed by the crowd. "Say, how could there be so many wealthy people in this world? Seriously? A few hundred thousand bucks just for bedsheets?"
"Right now you're rich as well!" Xin Qing reminded her. "Young Master Shen already had the Chinese Red set up back at your house. You guys can enjoy a good tumble on it tonight."
Zhang Mi shot her a disapproving glare, but then all of a sudden, her face changed; now she looked as if she was about to march into a war zone. "Rong Siman is coming over," Zhang Mi said.
"Congratulations, the event is very successful," Rong Siman said, raising her wine glass at Xin Qing.
A crease formed in Xin Qing's forehead as her brows knitted together. She did not want to be anywhere near this woman. The fact that they both hated each other's guts had been established a long time ago. "Whose benefit is all her acting for, anyway?" Xin Qing thought as she turned away to leave.
Rong Siman clutched Xin Qing's forearm. "Are you that afraid of me?" Rong Siman asked. Xin Qing moved her arm but found that Rong Siman's grip was too strong, so she had no choice but to turn back around to face Rong Siman. Not wanting to startle the other attendees, Zhang Mi took a step forward and grabbed Rong Siman's other arm. "What do you think you're doing? Let her go, now," Zhang Mi growled.
Then, a devious glint formed in Rong Siman's eyes. Suddenly, she released Xin Qing's arm and placed her palms over her heart. "President Xin!" Rong Siman yelled. "How could you do this?"
There was a split second where Xin Qing panicked. But after that, she recovered and slowly calmed herself down. A smile tugged at the corner of Xin Qing's lips. "Oh? What is it that I've done?" She said flatly.
"How could you threaten me with something like that?" Rong Siman said. "You keep smiling, then. I'll have you running away with your tail between your legs soon," Rong Siman thought maliciously.
The people around them had already noticed the disturbance and were now looking at them. Having noticed Ying Qingcang's approach, Young Master Shen was also making his way over in hurried steps.
"President Xin, you seduced Ah Cang in order to get him to sleep with you. And then you used that to threaten us to give up the dealership of 'For You'. And now you're even mocking me? You... Don't you think you've taken things too far?"
In an instant, dead silence descended upon the crowd. Evidently, everyone present was shocked by that revelation. The reporters were the first ones to recover their wits; they quickly raised their cameras excitedly and began to snap photos.
At the same time, Ying Qingcang had reached them. "Rong Siman!" He roared.
Rong Siman visibly trembled and slowly turned around to face him. "Ah Cang, I... I just didn't want you to suffer like this," she said with teary eyes. Her piteous look right then was fully capable of arousing anyone's protective instincts.
The looks that Xin Qing was receiving from the crowd now were filled with contempt. Even those who had pre-ordered the products were starting to reconsider their earlier decision to purchase.
All of a sudden, Xin Qing burst into a fit of laughter and reached out her hand to hold back Zhang Mi, who was about to throw a punch at Rong Siman. "You actually think that being seduced by me would put him at a disadvantage?"
Everyone present was stunned by that comment. Even Rong Siman, who had been busy drying her tears, was now staring stupidly at her.
Zhang Yafei was still wearing the jewelry she had been modeling for just now when she walked over. "Seriously, this is the first time I've heard about a man being blackmailed with something like sex! I mean, come on!" Zhang Yafei said in a tone of surprise. "For a woman of President Xin's status, it should be the other way round! Any man who sleeps with her could very well use that to leverage her and extort a considerable amount of money just to keep his mouth shut!"
"I know, right? How could a man be disadvantaged by something like that?"
"If I were Ying Qingcang, I'll definitely pick President Xin!"
"The likes of you? Yeah, forget it."
The voices of the crowd grew louder just as Rong Siman's face turned sour. Rong Siman looked like she still wanted to say something, though Xin Qing did not give her the chance.
"I think you've been fooled by the man," Xin Qing said, pointing a finger at Ying Qingcang, who had yet to utter a word. "This man did sleep with me. But he was the one who had threatened me after the act. He said, and I quote, 'If you don't give up the dealership of For You, I'll leak this out to the reporters.'"
Xin Qing saw the way in which Rong Siman's face had gone pale. She let out a mocking laugh and went on, "Then again, we're both adults. Something like sex involves two consenting parties. So, naturally, I refused to yield to his threat!"
Ying Qingcang's gaze remained fixed upon Xin Qing throughout her speech. He remained tight-lipped despite having heard every single word Xin Qing had uttered. Because of that, the crowd fully believed in Xin Qing's story. Rong Siman panicked. "You despicable woman!" She yelled fiercely and raised her hand in preparation to slap Xin Qing.
"Smack!" However, Zhang Mi was one step quicker and had slapped Rong Siman first. "You're the despicable one. You're not even above doing something as revolting as falling in love with your own son. I'm surprised that you even have the guts to show your face in public after doing something like that. If you think nobody would ever find about all your depraved thoughts, then you've got another thing coming!"
Rong Siman held her cheek; there was a lot of strength behind Zhang Mi's slap, so much so that half of Rong Siman's face was now swollen up.
A lot of citizens in S City knew nothing about the actual relationship between Rong Siman and Ying Qingcang. Now that the cat was out of the bag, everyone's attention was suddenly turned towards her. The entire place instantly went into a state of chaos.
"No... It's not like that!" Rong Siman explained tearily. "I'm just his stepmother. We aren't related by blood."
That explanation did nothing but intensify the crowd's reaction.
"What the f*ck? Don't tell me you had a threesome where you serviced the father and son at the same time!"
"Disgusting. I can't believe a woman like that has the brass face to pick on someone else."
Ying Qingcang finally reacted by walking straight past Rong Siman. Then, he gave her an icy stare. "Imbecile," he said before leaving the scene in hurried steps.
"Ah Cang..." Flustered, Rong Siman hurried after him, stumbling in her steps. Still, she did not forget to turn her head around to give Xin Qing a final glare.
Xin Qing smiled after they had both left. Then, she clapped her hands twice and said, "Alright, then. Please do not let this incident ruin your day. Let's proceed with the event!"
After the launch event was wrapped up, the few of them returned to Xin Enterprises. Xin Qing flopped down into the couch the moment she entered her office.
"Cry if you feel like crying!" Zhang Mi stared at her. "Hey, I know. Why don't we ask Young Master Shen to order a couple of his guys to give those two adulterers some good beating?"
Monica shot a glare at Zhang Mi. "That isn't the main issue here!" Turning to Xin Qing, she asked, "When you met Ah Cang in England, did you two really..."
"He forced me," Xin Qing said, gritting her teeth.
Zhang Mi charged at the door, her arms swinging wildly in the air. At the same time, Young Master Shen and Ah Nan walked in through the door.
"Whoa, whoa, what on earth is the matter?" Young Master Shen hugged his woman. "You look like you're about to chop someone to pieces."
"I'm going to cut off that son of a bitch, Ying Qingcang's balls. He raped Xin Qing!"
Taken aback, Young Master Shen held Zhang Mi against his body with ease. "Hey, calm down first, okay? Let's hear what Xiao Qingqing has to say."
"You must have given him your consent," Monica remarked. For a moment, nobody spoke and Monica just stared at Xin Qing. After a long while, Monica spoke again. "'Something like sex involves two consenting parties'," Monica said, repeated Xin Qing's words from earlier.
Xin Qing glared daggers at Monica. "It's fine that you know. But do you really have to announce it to everyone?" Xin Qing thought.
Monica touched the tip of her nose awkwardly. She dared not say anything else after that.
"So, what you said before about Ah Cang threatening you with sex. Is it true?" Young Master Shen asked. Young Master Shen thought Xin Qing had handled Rong Siman's confrontation during the event superbly. Of course, he had knowingly assumed that Xin Qing had made all that stuff up about Ying Qingcang threatening her after sleeping with her. He thought that Xin Qing had said it just to provoke Rong Siman.
Xin Qing clawed her hair in frustration. "He didn't threaten me," Xin Qing said. "He just shamelessly lied to me, that's all." She kept that thought to herself, of course. She would not have any dignity left if everyone found out.
"So after he had se..." Young Master Shen was stopped mid-sentence by Xin Qing's cold glare. "So he did that with you, and then he just, what, told Rong Siman all about it?"
Zhang Mi kicked Young Master Shen. "What's so strange about that? Now they're nothing but a bunch of adulterers."
"No! That can't be right!" Ah Nan said in protest. "From the few interactions we've had with Young Master, we know that he still has the same personality as before. He'll never tell another soul about something like this."
Young Master Shen nodded. "Any man wouldn't have spoken about something like this, let alone him. I mean, isn't that just looking for trouble?"
Xin Qing spent a while in silent contemplation. Then, suddenly, her eyes shone brightly. "Then does this mean that all this while Rong Siman had him under surveillance?"
Several moments passed with nobody saying anything. Young Master Shen was the first one to break the silence. "That's very likely," he said.
"So, that must be why Ah Cang had treated Xin Qing with that kind of attitude," Monica said, leaping to her feet happily. "It means that Ah Cang must have been forced to do what he did. He didn't betray Xin Qing!"
Zhang Mi curled her lips. "Hah. That's just conjecture. You guys can't even be sure if that's really the case."
"Regardless, our stance will not change. We'll battle it out with Ying Enterprises by whatever means necessary! Not only that, but we must come out on top!" Young Master Shen fixed his eyes on Xin Qing. "We can guess all we want, but it doesn't really matter whether or not our guesses are true. Ah Cang has already made it clear what his stance is going to be. Obviously, he's forcing us to fight this war with him."
"I understand!" Xin Qing said, her eyes glinting brightly. That was indeed the message that Ying Qingcang had given out during all their interactions so far. He must be up to something, just that he needed more time. The competition between Xin Enterprises and Ying Enterprises was exactly what he needed to buy him more time!
Just like that, Xin Qing's spirits returned to her. She stood up, walked back towards her desk and sat down behind it. "How many orders did we receive in total?"
Ah Nan and Monica shared a look with each other. Then, they smiled and began their report.
Rong Siman stared at the closed door of the room. After a while, she finally found the courage to push the door open. Ying Qingcang had shut himself in the room ever since their return from the product launch event. She knew that she had acted rashly again today. The room was pitch-black dark when she entered. Rong Siman switched on a lamp and saw Ying Qingcang leaning against the window sill.
"Ah Cang..." She said tentatively, though she dared not approach.
Ying Qingcang slowly turned around and stared at her, his face devoid of emotion. "Do you know what's going to be written all over the newspapers tomorrow?"
Rong Siman drew her bottom lip between her teeth and nodded. "I'm sorry. I was wrong. I promise I'll never act impulsively again! I won't ever try to pick on Xin Qing again."
Ying Qingcang turned his head and stared out the window. A cold glint formed in his eyes before it quickly vanished. "Go back to France tomorrow," he said.
"No!" Rong Siman rushed over and clutched his arm as she begged. "I don't want to go back alone. I want to be with you!"
Ying Qingcang pushed her aside. "I don't want things to take a worse turn because of your foolishness. Ying Enterprises had only just regained its footing in China. We're about to start everything all over again, and yet you keep causing me trouble." Ying Qingcang's arms swung out in frustration. "It'll be Chinese New Year soon, so I want you to return first. I'll go back as well and spend the Chinese New Year with you after I've dealt with everything here."
Rong Siman stared at him. The expression on her face was now a blend of surprise and joy. "Ah Cang! Okay, I... I'll leave tomorrow," she said. "You... Will you really spend Chinese New Year with me?"
Ying Qingcang smiled at her. "Of course. Where else can I go?"