Ah Che placed his hand on the door handle while Jiang Qianren gave Xin Qing an eye signal. Xin Qing took the cue and quickly hid herself behind the couch.
Jiang Qianren drew his gun from its holster and cocked it. Ah Che gave him a nod and yelled at the door. "Who's there?"
The knocking stopped. Two seconds later, a clear voice sounded. "It's me."
Jiang Qianren knitted his brows instantly and was just about to ask for the newcomer's name, but Ah Che was already yanking the door open. "Young Master?" Ah Che asked, wide-eyed.
Young Master? Ying Qingcang? At this point, not only Jiang Qianren, but even Xin Qing was shocked as well. The door was now fully open courtesy of Ah Che, and Ying Qingcang was standing at the doorway dressed in a black coat. When Ying Qingcang's eyes landed on Jiang Qianren, they darkened instantly.
"Young Miss?" Ah Che said in a hesitant tone. He was unable to come to a decision. "D*mn it! Should I let him in or not?"
Xin Qing walked towards the door slowly. "Um... what are you doing here?" She asked tentatively.
Ying Qingcang finally tore his gaze away from Jiang Qianren. "Is this how you greet your guests?" He asked, giving Xin Qing a mocking glance.
Irked by his attitude, Xin Qing decided to do away with decorum with a snarky retort, "But you're not my guest, President Ying!"
Then, she glared at Ah Che. "Shut the door. Don't just open the door for anyone!"
Jiang Qianren took several steps backwards and stopped when he reached Xin Qing's side, where he deliberately brushed his body against her arm. "See? You'd be in so much danger if I hadn't come here to protect you!"
His mind might have been playing tricks on him, but Ah Che suddenly felt as if the wind blowing in from outside felt even colder. He shuddered and turned to Ying Qingcang. "Young Master, you..." Ah Che said warily.
Ying Qingcang flicked a glance at Ah Che, who immediately lowered his head and kept quiet. "This place belongs to me," Ying Qingcang said.
Xin Qing chuckled. "How original! Haha. Yours? Why don't you call out to any object that's inside the house and I'll listen to its reply? We'll let you in if it answers your call."
Thwack! Ying Qingcang smacked a few sheets of paper against Ah Che's skull.
Ah Che quickly took the paper and glanced over them. He swallowed and held out the papers to Xin Qing. "It... It was Young Master who had purchased this place. He's the new owner."
Xin Qing snatched the papers and read the over quickly. Then, she glared daggers at Ying Qingcang. "What's the meaning of this?"
Ying Qingcang twisted his body aside to reveal the space behind him. Only then did the three of them see the huge wooden board set up outside. The board's surface was loaded with food. A long piece of rope was attached to one end of the board. The rope now lay on the snowy ground. From the looks of it, the board had been towed all the way up here using the rope.
"I came here two days ago and have been staying at the cottage on the north side of this area. I didn't expect to encounter a blizzard and end up stranded here." Ying Qingcang arched his brows. "I have food and water. But I don't have a generator."
"Uh-huh, and what is it exactly that you're suggesting?" Xin Qing stared at him. "Hoping to crash here for the night? Sorry, our doors aren't opened for you. Neither are our windows." Xin Qing felt a sudden urge to pounce on the guy and bite him until he was dead.
"I'm not here to seek your permission," Ying Qingcang said, acting all cool and suave like the badass he was. "The place that you're all staying in right now is owned by me. The fact that I've brought my food supply here to share it with you people is a gesture of courtesy on my part. If you don't grant me entrance, I'll sue you once we get off this mountain."
Xin Qing was grinding her teeth so hard that she could virtually hear her teeth clicking. Having noticed the escalating situation, Ah Che quickly stepped in, "Young Miss, Young Master is right. Also, outside... I mean, outside... The weather is..."
If they denied Ying Qingcang entrance now, he would no doubt freeze to death outside.
Jiang Qianren suddenly laughed. "Then why are you still standing around instead of bringing your stuff inside?" Xin Qing harrumphed and stomped upstairs.
Ying Qingcang turned his head and gave Ah Che a pointed look. Resigned to his fate, Ah Che walked out the door to start bringing Ying Qingcang's things indoors. As for Jiang Qianren... Yeah, right. Hell would freeze over first before the man would give him a hand.
Upstairs, Xin Qing saw the children trying to complete a jigsaw puzzle. More accurately speaking, Xunxun and Xiao Rui were watching as Ah Sha tried to complete the puzzle. "Ah Sha!" Xin Qing said.
When Xunxun saw Xin Qing, he said gloatingly, "He's here?"
"How did you know?"
Xiao Rui pointed at the window. "He was standing at the window just now. Saw the man walking up to the cottage to knock on the door."
"Who's here?" Ah Sha asked in confusion. "Is someone here to bring us home?"
Xin Qing pondered her options for a moment and then decided to just tell Ah Sha the truth; Ah Sha would have run into him eventually when she went downstairs to eat later. "Ah Sha, your... Ying Qingcang is here," Xin Qing said.
"My daddy?" Ah Sha's eyes glinted, and then they went dull again the next instant. "He no longer wants mommy and Ah Sha. He isn't my daddy."
Xunxun felt a sharp pang in his heart and picked up the little girl. "Good girl, Ah Sha," he said. "Just ignore him, okay? You still have Brother Xunxun!"
"He'll stay here with us until it stops snowing and we can leave again." Xin Qing stroked her daughter's head. "He'll freeze to death if we chase him out."
Ah Sha kept her head low, not making a sound. Then, Xiao Rui scooted over to Ah Sha's side and whispered something into her ear, causing her mood to improve slightly. "I understand," Ah Sha said, nodding her head.
Xunxun narrowed his eyes at Xiao Rui, who merely raised his brows at Xunxun.
When Xin Qing had gone back downstairs, Xunxun asked, "Tell Brother Xunxun what Xiao Rui had told you just now!"
"Oh, he didn't say much!" Ah Sha scratched her hair. She had not had a bath for two days in a row, and she felt terrible.
Xiao Rui smiled. "It's a secret between us!"
A dark scowl formed on Xunxun's face. "This d*mned brat," he thought.
"Ah Sha, tell me. If you do, I'll find a way to let you have a bath tonight!"
Ah Sha raised her head happily. "I can take a bath?"
"Mmhm!" Xunxun pinched Ah Sha's little face. "Go on, tell me!"
"Xiao Rui told me that since Uncle Jiang is here, we'll be able to piss daddy off and make him jealous!" Ah Sha paused for a moment. Then, in a slightly hesitant tone, she continued, "But why would daddy be pissed off just because Uncle Jiang is here?" Suddenly, Ah Sha began shaking her head forcefully. "No. I can't call him daddy. He's no longer my daddy!"
Seeing that Ah Sha's was starting to feel sad again, Xiao Rui got dressed quietly and said, "I'm going to start shoveling the snow outside. We'll boil some water tonight so that you can take a bath."
Xunxun gave Xiao Rui silent kudos.
Dinner was prepared by Xin Qing while Ah Che volunteered to be her kitchen assistant; he figured he could avoid getting caught up in the silent war between the two men in the living room as long as he remained in the kitchen. Ah Che believed that if this were a movie scene, you could toss a paper into the living room right now and it would burst into flame and be reduced to ashes. Heck, Ah Che could practically hear crackling and sizzling sounds due to the electricity surrounding those two men.
Jiang Qianren was accustomed to living in the wilderness. With minimal effort, he managed to chop down a tree outside the cottage whose wood he then used to contrive a makeshift stand in the living room. Then, he started a fire by tossing firewood under the stand. After that, he hung a large metal pot on top of the stand and used it to boil water. For one, the heat could help raise the temperature of the room. Two, everyone could use the water to wash up later.
In the meantime, Ying Qingcang just sat there on the couch with his legs crossed and watched Jiang Qianren work. Neither of the two men uttered a single word from the start till the end. Ah Che entered the living room warily while carrying a dish. Once he set the dish on the table, he hollered at the ceiling.
"Time to eat!" He thought that calling the kids down here might help lighten the mood.
But as soon as Ah Sha was downstairs, she literally pounced on Jiang Qianren and even called him "Uncle Jiang" in an affectionate tone. What on earth was going on here? Since when had those two become so close? They had only met each other twice so far, right?
Xin Qing walked out from the kitchen, carrying another plate with her. A wave of hurt tugged at her heart the moment she saw Ying Qingcang's sour face. "Let's eat," she said. "If you're not in the mood to eat, like a certain someone here, then you should just do all of us a favor and not eat. That way, we can use less food supply."
Jiang Qianren chuckled in amusement and moved in to take Ah Sha's hand; he wanted to lead Ah Sha to the dining table. Still, Xunxun was one step quicker when he pulled Ah Sha into his arms in one swift motion. After that, Xiao Rui explained to Jiang Qianren with a straight face, "He's got some kind of OCD. My sister is the only person he can touch, that's why he won't allow anyone else to touch her."
What kind of twisted logic was that? Whatever it was, Jiang Qianren failed to comprehend it. Ying Qingcang, on the other hand, stood up all of a sudden and strode towards the dining table where he picked up a bowl and started eating.
"Let's eat! Let's eat!" Ah Che quickly began handing out bowls of rice to everyone.
That was how a supposedly simple meal got turned into some kind of warzone with flashing knives and dancing blades. Whenever Ah Sha took a piece of food and placed it on Jiang Qianren's plate, Ying Qingcang would pick a piece from exact the same dish. Then, when Jiang Qianren himself was reaching for a particular dish, Ying Qingcang would deliberately fight him over the same piece of food. Thank goodness for Xunxun who immediately stepped in and told Ah Sha to finish her meal properly, which distracted Ah Sha enough to make her forget about trying to put more food on Jiang Qianren's plate. During the meal, Xin Qing gave Ying Qingcang a few furtive glances, though she had no way of telling whether Ying Qingcang had seen her looking at him. Either way, he had totally ignored her.
After the meal, Jiang Qianren stood up and followed Xin Qing to the kitchen. "I'll help you do the dishes!"
"You don't have to do that. Just sit!"
"Nope," Jiang Qianren said, snatching up the cutleries and dirty dishes before Xin Qing could reach them. "The water's too cold. You shouldn't touch anything. Just stand beside me and give me instructions!"
The two of them headed for the kitchen. Before entering the kitchen, Jiang Qianren even turned his head around and gave Ying Qingcang a look. To Ah Che, that look was an outright provocation, though Ying Qingcang barely reacted to it at all. Instead, Ying Qingcang brought his cup of tea to the window's ledge where he sat down to admire the view outside.
"Ah Sha, let's head upstairs. I'll boil some water for you to take a bath!" Xunxun pulled Ah Sha to her feet. Ah Sha's eyes, which were now red, remained glued to Ying Qingcang. Xiao Rui stepped in front of Ah Sha and blocked her view of Ying Qingcang. "Sis, you'll make mom sad if you act like this," Xiao Rui said.
Ah Sha sniffed when she heard the remark. "I'm sorry," Ah Sha said, "I'm going upstairs right now!" Then, a series of thuds sounded as Ah Sha ran upstairs on her own.
"You've made her sad," Xunxun said, glaring at Xiao Rui coldly. "Next time, try another approach."
Xiao Rui returned Xunxun's stare with a bland expression. "That was the most direct and effective approach," Xiao Rui said, brushing past Xunxun. "Also, let me give you a reminder. Don't raise my sister into some kind of porcelain doll. The daughter of Ying family is no damsel in distress."
Xunxun fisted his hands and kept quiet as he followed Xiao Rui upstairs.
That night, Xin Qing took the children to the second floor where they would spend the night. All three men would sleep downstairs. Some time in the middle of the night, Xin Qing experienced a sudden gastric discomfort. After spending a long time tossing and turning, she got out of bed, got dressed, and headed downstairs to get herself a glass of water.
The entire place was pitch-black dark; they did not turn on the generator since it was too loud. Xin Qing switched off the flashlight app of her phone when she arrived at a white patch on the floor courtesy of the light reflected from the snow outside. Using the white light, she poured herself a glass of water. After that, she walked closer to the window, wanting to see if had stopped snowing.
A human-shaped shadow shifted on the couch, startling her. The person spoke first before she could scream.
"Coming down here in the dead of the night? You're not trying to seduce me again, are you?" Ying Qingcang's voice echoed slightly in the empty room, and that sound— gosh darn it to heck— was music to her ears.
Xin Qing pressed a palm to her chest and took several steps backwards. "I was just trying to get a glass of water," she said, lifting the glass in her hand. "You, on the other hand, appeared to be in such a leisurely mood tonight, President Ying. Instead of sleeping, here you are, sitting in the dark, trying to scare people in the middle of the night."
"What do you think of this place?" Ying Qingcang asked out of the blue. It took her a brief moment, but Xin Qing quickly realized that he was referring to the investment. She glanced out the window and said, "Aren't you the one acclaimed as 'the man who never misjudges'? Since you've already sold this piece of land in secret, what's the point of asking me now?"
Ying Qingcang slowly stood up from the couch and began walking towards her; once again, Xin Qing's heart began to race. In that instant when Ying Qingcang was within arm's-length, Xin Qing turned around and ran. But in the next second, her arm was held in someone's grip. Xin Qing struggled to break free, though it turned out that Ying Qingcang had not used much strength in his grip at all. She, on the other hand, had used too much strength in her struggle and thus ended up falling straight into the man's arms.
"Hah!" A derisive laugh sounded from above her head. "Why? You're really resorting to sex again? Fine, then. If you please me well, I'll consider a partnership with you..."