The holidays drew to a close when summer reached its end. Xin Qing had decided to personally drop by Boss Wan's base in order to pick up Xiao Rui and Wangwang. She figured she could take the opportunity to ask Chen Huan about Ying Qingcang as well.
Zhang Mi was kept between the sheets by Young Master Shen, so she could not accompany Xin Qing. At first, Xin Qing had wanted to bring Monica along with her, but Monica had told her in a series of stammers that she had something on so she could not leave the city. With that, Xin Qing had no choice but to travel alone.
When she saw Xiao Rui and Wangwang, Xin Qing immediately assumed that the two of them must have been to Africa.
"How did you two get so tanned?"
The two children, whose skins were now hideously dark, merely stared back at her with wide eyes.
"Mother!" Wangwang pounced on her first. "Look, I've developed muscles now!" Wangwang yanked up his sleeve to reveal his arm. Much to Xin Qing's surprise, there really was a tiny bulge of muscle on his arm.
Xiao Rui came over and tugged Xin Qing's arm. "Uncle Wan asked his subordinates to do combat drills with us in the forest every day."
"No wonder!" Xin Qing ran her fingers through Xiao Rui's hair. "Are you tired? I'm here to take you both home."
"If you have anything to ask Aunt Huan, then you shouldn't waste your time. She has nothing to say," Xiao Rui said.
Before Xin Qing could ask Xiao Rui whether he knew something, she saw Chen Huan running towards them from afar. Chen Huan also had Liuliu in her arms while she ran.
"Xin Qing!"
"Auntie!" Liuliu pounced on Xin Qing.
Xin Qing set Wangwang down on the ground and picked up Liuliu. "Oh, my, look at you, Liuliu! You've grown prettier again! I bet you'll become a gorgeous lady in the future!" At three years old, Liuliu had a face that was as round as a bun, which made her look like one of those dolls found on New Year paintings.
"Then can I become Brother Xiao Rui's mommy once I'm a gorgeous lady?" Liuliu had very huge eyes and she was now staring at Xin Qing, batting her long eye lashes. Oh, how adorable!
Chen Huan rolled her eyes. "Not mommy. It's wife!"
"Liuliu likes Brother Xiao Rui?" Xin Qing smiled and pinched the little girl's bun-like face.
"I like Brother Xiao Rui the most!" Then, Liuliu threw herself at Xiao Rui happily. Xiao Rui picked up the girl with his poker-face still intact.
Wangwang stared at Liuliu with a look of distaste on his face. "Brother Xiao Rui is mine. As if our family would want a chubby girl like you!"
"Wow!" Liuliu burst into tears. Her snot and tears were now dripping all over Xiao Rui, though it was like Xiao Rui never even realized it. He did not complain that Liuliu was making a mess of his clothes, nor did he recoil in disgust. He just ignored everything.
Xin Qing took Liuliu from Xiao Rui. Then, she began comforting and coaxing Liuliu as she gave Xiao Rui a worried look. "It'd be a miracle if this kid could find himself a wife in the future..."
They stayed on the island for two days. During her stay, Xin Qing had asked Chen Huan a lot of times about Ying Qingcang, though Chen Huan's answer was always the same: they were still working on it. All in all, Chen Huan kept trying to reassure her that they would definitely be able to remove the device from Ying Qingcang's body.
Then again, the more she put it that way, the more Xin Qing worried. Xin Qing kept feeling like everyone was hiding something from her, especially Xiao Rui, who always seemed like he wanted to tell her something but then changed his mind in the last minute. Whenever she asked him about it, the boy would just tell her that it was nothing.
Xin Qing told Boss Wan in private about Xiao Rui's past. She asked Boss Wan to look into the incident that year and at the same time verify that the Jiang family had indeed told her the truth. It was as if the incident was no secret to the upper ranks of the military; it did not take long at all for Boss Wan to come to her with the results of his findings.
"The Jiang family didn't lie. The incident that year happened exactly as they had told you," Boss Wan said, showing all the information he had gathered to Xin Qing. "Also, the perpetrator was never found. I'm guessing it was some kind of terror organization."
"In that case, Xiao Rui can't go back to the Jiang family."
Boss Wan nodded. "He'll be safer if he stays with you instead."
With the start of a school year around the corner, Xin Qing, Xiao Rui and Wangwang prepared to head back to S City. On the day of their departure, Liuliu clung on to Xiao Rui and began bawling her hearts out. A dark glower formed on Boss Wan's face when he saw the way his daughter was clinging to another man, refusing to let go. Scowling, Boss Wan picked up Liuliu and carried her away. Liuliu's heart-wrenching sobs were still audible even after they had all boarded the helicopter.
"Xiao Rui, Liuliu is very fond of you, huh!" Xin Qing felt rather delighted at how things had turned out. It seemed like her son was popular with the ladies even at such a young age. She had long since forgotten about that time when she had been worrying about the possibility of no women ever wanting her son as a husband.
Wangwang curled his lips. "What's so nice about being liked by a ball? Brother Xiao Rui, don't start liking that fat girl. Like Sister Ah Sha instead!"
"Fine. You go tell Xunxun that, I dare you." Xiao Rui gave Wangwang a sidelong glance. A look of terror washed over Wangwang's face and he shook his head. "I never said anything! I never said anything!"
At the end of that month, Xunxun and Ah Sha came home as well. On Xin Qing's special request, Ah Sha had abandoned Xunxun and decided to sleep in Xin Qing's room for a few nights. That d*mned brat had been monopolizing her daughter every day. Xin Qing could barely remember the last time she and Ah Sha had slept together.
As a result, Xunxun did not waste a single day when school reopened before dragging Ah Sha back to Caesar Academy. Xiao Rui brought Wangwang to the academy only on the second day. Since Wangwang would be in first grade this year, he had requested to stay at the dorms, but Xiao Rui then told him that Xin Qing would be left all alone at home and that she would be bored. Xiao Rui told Wangwang to stay home to keep Xin Qing company.
What Xin Qing found really weird was Monica's recent behavior.
"I asked you to give me the plans for the underground hot springs, but the heck is this? What did you just give me?" Xin Qing tossed the document onto her desk and stared at Monica who seemed to be miles away even if she was just standing across from her.
Monica blinked a few times. "Ah, I'll go get it immediately."
"Alright, that's enough," Xin Qing said, standing up and grabbing Monica's arm. "Sit down," Xin Qing ordered. Monica did as she was told. Then, Xin Qing said, "Now, talk. What's going on with you?"
"No... Nothing!" Monica's eyes darted around their sockets, looking at anywhere but Xin Qing.
Xin Qing chuckled. "You think I'm blind? I can tell that something's wrong with you just from the way you're acting."
Monica sneaked a glance at the doorway. Then, she spoke in a wary tone: "If I tell you, you have to promise me not to tell anyone else, okay?"
"I promise," Xin Qing said. "To tell everyone else..." Xin Qing added inwardly.
Monica swallowed. "It's about that dude, Ah Nan. He kept rejecting me. So I drugged him. And then I had sex with him."
"..." Xin Qing's eyes went wide. "You... You really... D*mn, you really have balls of steel!"
"What else was I supposed to do?" A dejected look formed on Monica face. "That blockhead is interested in me, and yet he kept holding me at arms' length. I'd probably be an old woman by the time he finally says something."
Xin Qing looked at Monica seriously. "Are you positive that Ah Nan likes you that way?"
"Of course!" Monica said without a hint of doubt. "I'm a woman, okay? My instincts are still on point when it comes to whether a man is interested in me."
"Okay, fine. Then what did Ah Nan have to say about all this?"
Monica's face fell instantly. "He didn't know it was me."
Xin Qing did a face palm with one hand and waved her other hand. She was rendered utterly speechless.
"Come on, I kept inviting him to bars during that time. One time, I got him drunk and forced myself on him. But I was too embarrassed during the morning after, so I left first. In the end he came to me the next day and started grilling me about it. He even blamed me for leaving him alone at the hotel."
Xin Qing stared at Monica in disbelief. "He doesn't remember?"
"Hey, I was still a virgin that time, okay? Couldn't he see the red stains on the sheets?"
"Then he..."
Monica gritted her teeth. "That idiot thought he had slept with a stranger. He didn't even remember that it was me!"
"And then?"
"Even more idiotic is that he's been avoiding me for the past few days."
Xin Qing found the whole thing too ridiculous to be true. "Why didn't you just tell him?" She asked.
"I did tell him!" Monica shouted emotionally. "But he kept insisting that I shouldn't bother with trying to make him feel better. He even told me that he was sorry to have wronged me or whatever."
"My, my. I didn't know Ah Nan has that low of an EQ," Xin Qing said, shaking her head in amusement. "Do you want me to talk to him?"
Monica waved a hand. "Nah, no need. I don't believe for a second that I'm not capable of handling him."
As she watched the woman swaggering out of her office, Xin Qing had already begun imagining the look of Zhang Mi and Ah Che's face when she told them about this.
All of a sudden, her communication device started beeping. Xin Qing accepted the video call and was greeted with the sight of Chen Huan and Liuliu.
"Hey, Xin Qing, I've decided to come visit you with Liuliu."
Xin Qing was taken aback. What did that mean? Had they not been separated from each other not too long ago?
"Did you and Boss Wan get into a fight again?"
"No," Chen Huan said, picking up Liuliu's hand and waved it at Xin Qing. "You've forgotten that Liuliu is already three. It's about time she attends kindergarten!"
Realization hit Xin Qing. "You want to send her to Caesar!"
"Yeah. I didn't think of it at first, though. After you left, Liuliu kept crying and making a fuss about wanting to go to the same school as her Brother Xiao Rui. Only then did it occur to me that she's already old enough to attend kindergarten."
"Let me check if the quota for this year has been met. I'll make some arrangements and pull some strings if there aren't any places left. I'll call you back later!" Xin Qing cut off the feed and personally put in a call to Caesar. Indeed, the entrance quota for this year had already been fulfilled, so Xin Qing ordered the academy to make the necessary arrangements. After receiving the confirmation from the academy, Xin Qing tried contacting Chen Huan again.
In the end, Chen Huan never picked up her calls. Xin Qing thought for a moment, and then she pressed the ring on her finger. Blue lights flashed on the ring twice. Boss Wan's head appeared and hovered in mid-air. His head was low, and he appeared to be working on something.
Xin Qing was just about to speak when she heard Boss Wan's voice, "If I'd known you would be so pesky, I wouldn't have given you the ring. Look, I told you I won't let Ying Qingcang die. Why are you still asking me about it every day? Do you have any idea how annoying it is?"
"Ah Cang will die?" Xin Qing finally spoke.
Boss Wan froze at the sound of her voice. A split second later, his head shot up. An instant change went across his face when he saw that it was indeed Xin Qing.
Xin Qing stared at Boss Want intently. "Are you guys hiding something from me? What on earth is going on with Ah Cang?"
"No, it's nothing..." Boss Wan frowned. Darn it! How could he be so careless! He had thought it was Young Master Shen who called him.
"You're lying!" Xin Qing shrieked. She stared at Boss Wan, wild panic filling her eyes. In an instant, her tears started trickling down her cheeks. "Please. I beg you, please! Tell me, please! You can't keep it from me! What's going on with Ah Cang? Tell me, d*mn it!"
Boss Wan remained tight-lipped, refusing to utter a single word, so Xin Qing kept screaming and yelling at him. Soon, both Ah Nan and Zhang Mi burst into the office.
"What's the matter? What's wrong?" Neither of them had been prepared to witness Xin Qing's manic behavior right then; they both jumped in fright at what they saw.
Chen Huan's face suddenly appeared in the hologram. She shot a vicious glare in Boss Wan's direction before she tried to calm Xin Qing down. "Please, calm down. It's not what you think, okay? I'll come see you tomorrow. I'll explain all the details to you then."
Chen Huan was still concerned by the time they reached the end of the call. Before hanging up, she gave Xin Qing another urging, "Xin Qing, no matter how much you want to know the truth, you should never try to reach out to Ying Qingcang, do you understand? Not right now, you hear me? You'll only end up killing him if you do."
Xin Qing nodded her head in haze. After the call ended, she just sat there limply without moving. When Zhang Mi tried to speak to her, she would not give a response no matter what Zhang Mi said.
Ah Nan quickly called Young Master Shen. The moment Young Master Shen arrived, Zhang Mi dove into his arms and started sobbing. "Oh, just look at Xin Qing. Look at the state that she's in."
Young Master Shen patted Zhang Mi's back. "It's okay. Everything's going to be okay. Leave it to me."
"Xiao Qingqing," Young Master Shen said, taking the seat across Xin Qing. "How do you expect me to tell you the truth if you're like this?"
Slowly, Xin Qing's eyes became focused again. Her lips began to move, though Young Master Shen had to strain to make out what she was saying.
"It's just a lie, right?"