Xin Qing and Ying Qingcang's names once again made the headlines, but not without dragging Rong Siman's name along, of course. Now, it seemed like everyone was even more enthusiastic about the love triangle between them. Heck, someone had even created an internet poll: if you're a man, will you pick Xin Qing or Rong Siman? After just a short amount of time, several thousand of netizens had participated in the poll. The strange thing, however, was that the webpage containing the poll ceased to function after a few hours.
"Are the things written in the newspapers true?" Jiang Qianren had called Xin Qing early in the morning. Moments ago, he had just ordered someone to shut down the internet poll. "F*ck! How dare they omit my name from the list."
Xin Qing was in the middle of reading Xin Enterprises' annual report when she got the call; there was a percentage increase of this year's revenue compared to the previous year, which put her in a fantastic mood. When she heard Jiang Qianren's question, she laughed and said, "You know as well that the press has a penchant for exaggerating the truth. Frankly, I didn't think you have time to go through the gossip columns!"
"Exaggerate?" Jiang Qianren's voice raised a few notches. "So there's some truth to it, then? So you and him, you really..."
Xin Qing frowned. "Qianren, I think I've already made things very clear with you..."
"That's only what you said!" The voice on the phone suddenly turned deep. "I never agreed to any of it." In Jiang Qianren's world, there was nothing in this world that he could not achieve as long as he set his mind to it. Even if Xin Qing felt nothing for him now, he would try to make her fall for him.
"If you insist on thinking that way, then I have nothing more to say to you." Before hanging up, Xin Qing gave him a final reminder, "Your mother will never allow this. Even if you don't care about yourself, you need to consider my position."
Xin Qing hung up and rubbed her forehead to soothe the headache that she knew was coming. If Jiang Qianren were just another scumbag, she would have given him a piece of her mind just now. But Jiang Qianren was not just anyone. She could not afford to get on his bad side.
After Christmas, Chinese New Year was around the corner. The company had begun making preparations for its Chinese New Year gathering. If this were last year, Xin Qing would have had some downtime she could take right now. But she had a lot of design work to do this year; a lot of consumers had made custom orders for the release of 'For You' products next season. She had to come up with the designs before March.
"Xin Qing, I think you have to consider hiring," Zhang Mi said, glancing at the piles of crumpled design sheets strewn all over the floor. "You're no longer working as a designer, you know. Don't tell me you're going to do all future designs on your own? Where can you even find the time?"
Xin Qing raised her head and thought over Zhang Mi's suggestion. "Wow, you're absolutely right. No wonder I've been having this feeling that something was off for the past few days!"
If things went on like this, she would not have any time left to deal with corporate matters. "That does it," Xin Qing thought. "Time to set up a design department."
"Hm, bedding products fall under the category of textiles," Xin Qing said. "Alright, then. Notify the HR department to put together a team of talented designers in the weaving profession." Xin Qing smiled at Zhang Mi. "I'll let you run the team for the time being."
"Me? Please. As if I could do it," Zhang Mi said, shaking her head, "what with my mediocre design skills and all."
"Come on, it's not like you're the one doing the designing. You have pretty good taste. Just bring me whichever design that had passed your inspection, and I'll make the final call!" Xin Qing paused in thought. "We can put more emphasis on hiring upcoming graduates. I think students nowadays are all very talented!"
Zhang Mi had always been efficient in her job; after half a month, the design department was up and running. At the moment, the department consisted of only three designers. Still, they were in no hurry. They could slowly get more members on board after Chinese New Year. The annual gathering of Ying Enterprises ended one week before Chinese New Year. On that same night, Boss Wan came by to pick up Chen Huan; Chen Huan would be going back with Boss Wan so they could spend Chinese New Year at his place.
"Your investigation has been going on for more than half a year. Have you made any progress yet?" Young Master Shen asked Boss Wan. Young Master Shen had planned to speak to Boss Wan in private, but Xin Qing had been watching his every move for the whole night, so he had no choice but to bring up the discussion at the dining table where everyone was present.
Boss Wan was hugging Liuliu and was now more convinced than ever that having a daughter was much better than having a son. Boss Wan glanced at Xin Qing. "All I can say is that there's definitely something fishy going on. But I still can't figure out Ah Cang's true reasons."
"What about the specifics of your investigation? What did you manage to find out?" Xin Qing asked, trying everything in her power to stay calm.
Boss Wan knitted his brows. "Three years ago, after Ah Cang went missing, Rong Siman showed herself in France. Three months after she appeared, several biologists and neurosurgeons, all of which are on the military's most wanted list, crossed the French borders at the same time. And guess what, all those people appeared in the same city where we ran into Ying Qingcang."
When Boss Wan stopped talking and did not show any indication to continue, Zhang Mi stared at him with wide eyes. "That's it? You've got nothing else?" Zhang Mi said. "This... You call this a lead?"
Xin Qing seemed a bit confused. "All those things, do they have anything to do with Ah Cang?"
"Those guys are known for their mercenary ways. They are a bunch of money-grubbing bastards who would do anything as long as they were offered money. They once conducted an experiment which involved combining the genetic materials of humans and animals. They ended up creating a few monsters which were then taken out by the military. If those guys all appeared in the same place? It could only mean one thing."
Xin Qing shuddered. "Someone paid them to be there."
"Indeed!" Boss Wan said decisively. "They usually just spend their time hiding in their rathole. They'll never come out unless there's something savory to be reaped."
Young Master Shen studied Boss Wan's face. "And you think that... it had something to do with Ah Cang?"
"There had to be!" Xin Qing stood up in alarm. "They must've done something to Ah Cang. That had to be it!"
Chen Huan calmly fed Liuliu a mouthful of congee and gave Xin Qing several comforting pats. "Calm down, alright? Let's just wait until after Chinese New Year and then we can ask that savage brute, Boss Wan, to see if he can track down those experts. Everything will be cleared up once we find those guys."
"Yeah, that's right!" Xin Qing glanced at Boss Wan. "We'll be able to figure out what's wrong with Ah Cang when we find those guys."
Boss Wan intended to bring his wife and kids back to spend the Chinese New Year with him. But then Xunxun had shamelessly insisted on staying back to keep Ah Sha company. Chen Huan would never entertain the thought of taking Ah Sha back with them; Xin Qing was already lonely enough. In the end, Chen Huan only took Liuliu when she left with Boss Wan.
Zhang Mi and Young Master Shen went back to New York one day before Chinese New Year's eve. Xin Qing brought her three children with her to spend the festive season at Shi Qianqian's place. The original plan was for them to visit Xin Yudie's home during the second day of Chinese New Year; however, someone from the stable had called them that day and told them that Xiaobai was about to give birth.
Caesar Academy had their own stable too. But Xiaobai was already in heat when the construction of Caesar Academy was completed. Plus, at the time, Xiaobai had taken a liking to one particular stallion which was kept in the stable up in the highlands. That was why they had decided to keep Xiaobai in the same stable for the time being instead of transferring it to the stable in Caesar Academy. Before this, they had already been notified of Xiaobai's pregnancy. They just never expected that it would go into labor during Chinese New Year of all times.
Like it or not, Ah Sha had to be there to witness the birth of Xiaobai's first baby. Thus, Ah Che drove the few of them to the highlands where Xiaobai was kept. Xiaobai had already given birth to a beautiful little pony by the time they arrived.
The stable manager prompted Ah Sha, "Go on, name it!"
"Little Xiaobai!" Ah Sha said happily.
... Xin Qing felt that her daughter was severely lacking in her aptitude for coming up with names. Xunxun patted Ah Sha's head and said, "That's wonderful! Now that we've seen everything, let's go!"
However, when they left the stables, they discovered that it was snowing very heavily outside.
"It's like a blizzard out there, and the sky is already dark. We better stay here tonight and make our way downhill tomorrow," Ah Che suggested.
Xin Qing considered her options and then said, "I think there's an area reserved for vacation rentals and holiday homes behind the stable. Let's go there, then."
"Young Miss, nobody works here during Chinese New Year. Currently, there's only one staff on duty in the main hall. We have to prepare our own meals," Ah Che said, carrying bags of meat and vegetables with him.
Xin Qing was cleaning their room when Ah Che told her that. The holiday homes turned out to be tiny wooden cottages scattered along the hillside which, given their locale, would provide their tenants with an impeccable vista of the hillside. Ah Che's words surprised her a little. "You mean there aren't any customers during Chinese New Year?" She asked.
"Not just for the Chinese New Year. I already asked just now. This place has been sold out. The new owner will only come for inspection after Chinese New Year, which means that nobody is running this place right now."
Xin Qing went into deep thought. A moment later, she asked, "Sold? Even the stable?"
"The stable, too. But I think the management of the stable has always been subcontracted out. So it shouldn't matter even if there's a change in owner." Ah Che paused when he noticed Xin Qing's frown. "What's wrong?"
"This isn't a bad place at all. It's got a lot of potential for development. How come we're not aware that it's been sold?" Xin Qing said. Xin Qing had always found the air here fresh and clean. It was definitely a good spot for R&R.
Ah Che shook his head. "We'll have to ask Ah Nan about this."
As the Chinese proverb went, the sky is riddled with unpredictable winds and human fortune could turn on a dime. In other words, sh*t happened, and sometimes, it did so in unpredictable ways. In previous years, S City had snowed about twice a year at most. Nobody had expected a blizzard to hit this year. The snowstorm assaulted the hills, destroying the telephone lines and cell phone towers. As a result, there was a blackout in the cottage the next afternoon. They were left with no means of communication.
Xin Qing and the others were now stranded in the hills. Worse, the food supply here would only last them for a day at most. She and Ah Che could cope with the hunger, but not the children!
Ah Che came to a decision. "I'll travel downhill on foot tomorrow," he said.
Xin Qing glared at him. "No. Forget about the raging snowstorm, even if it stops snowing, how are you going to make it with so much snow covering the paths?"
"I disagree as well," Xunxun said with a nod. "Aunt Shi knows we're here. I bet she has figured something out by now."
The conversation was interrupted by a series of beeps emitted from the ring on Xin Qing's finger. She accepted the call and saw Boss Wan and Chen Huan waving back at her.
"Hi! How's the view of the snow?"
"It's very nice! Do you want to come over?" Xin Qing said in annoyance.
"Hehe!" Chen Huan smiled and turned to Ah Sha. "Ah Sha, you should spend Chinese New Year with your parent-in-laws in the future!"
Ah Sha was already aware of what the term parent-in-law meant. Still, she did not appear to feel shy at all when she nodded and said, "Okay, I'll bring mommy with me."
"Do you two have that much free time on your hands?" Xunxun glared at his parents. Chen Huan curled her lips. "This boy really doesn't have a single cute bone in his body," she said. "We just want to confirm your GPS coordinates. Someone's on the way to rescue you as we speak."
"Who's coming?"
"You'll know when he arrives. Alright then, that's all. Bye!" Chen Huan ended the call. Ah Che took a glance outside the window. "Young Miss, the snow has slowed down quite a bit. It'll probably stop tomorrow."
When it was dark, Xin Qing heard the rumbling sound of a motor outside. When she ran out, she was surprised to see the man climbing down from the snowmobile. "Jiang... Jiang Qianren? What... What are you doing here?"
Jiang Qianren removed his cap and his sunglasses before he grinned at her. "Why can't I be here?" He waved at Ah Che. "Hey, come on. Time to unload the stuff."
When Shi Qianqian failed to get in touch with Xin Qing, she gave Chen Huan a call. After that, the two women put their heads together and tried to figure out a way to help Xin Qing. Young Master Shen was out of the country. Boss Wan was too far away as well. Considering the circumstances, their only option was to call one person: Jiang Qianren.
"And why on earth did you bring so much food? You even have a mini generator," Xin Qing said, pointing a finger at the huge pile of objects that Jiang Qianren had brought along. "Don't tell me you're planning for a long-term stay?"
Jiang Qianren answered her and packed away his things at the same time, "Oh, my dear lady! Just take a look outside. Look at all that snow."
Ah Che walked back to them from the window. "It's snowing heavily again. The wind had picked up speed as well," Ah Che said with a grave look on his face.
Xin Qing sighed and stared at Jiang Qianren. "Fine, just tell me when this blizzard will stop."
"When the storm let up, I used the opportunity to come up here. But according to the data we've obtained from the military satellites, the blizzard will last for at least three days. The military had already sent people out for search and rescue missions. A lot of roads were blocked. Some people were stranded on highways, even." Jiang Qianren pulled out a blanket. "So. Which room am I taking?"
All of a sudden, a series of knocking sounded. The sound came from the wooden front door. Ah Che and Jiang Qianren crept towards the door warily. How could anyone be out here in this place and in this kind of weather?