Chapter 279 Licking Ying Qingcang’s BootBy the time Ah Sha was carried out of the bathroom, she was already asleep and her body was as limp as a noodle. Xunxun had spent a long time trying to wake her up to no avail before he left the house to get supper for them.
“The police hasn’t made contact with us again, right?” Ah Sha had finally woken up and was now eating fried noodles in the living room.
“Nope,” Xunxun said, passing her an egg-free cake. “If they examine the autopsy reports, they’d know that it wasn’t the work of an ordinary person. I’m guessing the case has already been handed over to Interpol.”
Xunxun frowned when he saw Ah Sha curling her lips at the normal—with eggs—cakes. “I suggest you stay away from those if you don’t want to be covered in rashes tomorrow.”
Ah Sha was allergic—probably ran in Xin Qing’s family—to eggs too. In fact, her reaction was even worse than Xin Qing’s.
Ah Sha pouted and then took a bite of the dessert that Xunxun had just given her. Then, her eyes widened as a thought came to her. “What about the Mo family? Are they making any moves?”
“Not bad at all,” Xunxun said, patting her head. “You managed to grasp the main issue. They already contacted me this afternoon to set up a meeting for tomorrow. You should come along too.”
Ah Sha nodded. The Mo family would definitely be interested to meet the last person whom Mo Xi had interacted with before his death.
“Tomorrow, we’ll just grab a bite somewhere close by,” Ah Sha said. She didn’t feel like moving at all whenever she had her period.
It turned out that Ah Sha wasn’t even able to step out of the door the following noon.
A video had suddenly popped up on the internet. In the video, a man and a woman were facing off each other. The two of them exchanged a few words before the woman touched the man’s waist. The man then tried to grab the woman, but he failed and stumbled to the floor instead.
Netizens soon figured out that the woman in the video was Mei Jing. After that, claims began to surface that the man in the video was the recently-deceased Mo Xi.
Today, a horde of reporters were blocking the entrance of Stars Entertainment’s main building. The same thing was happening at Ah Sha’s apartment, the one whose address Ah Sha had submitted to the company when she first got on board. Luckily, Xunxun had been very careful about keeping their cohabitation a secret. Nobody knew that Ah Sha was staying with Xunxun at the moment.
“Just stay at home today and don’t go anywhere,” Xunxun said, glaring at her.
Ah Sha knew that he was mad.
“Can’t you tell that I was trying to push him away?” Ah Sha pouted and gave him a hurt look. “What was I supposed to do, just let him pounce on me and hug me?”
Xunxun sighed. “You know that’s not what I’m mad about. I’m just angry at myself for not being there. Because of that, you ended up being bullied.”
“That’s why he’s dead, right!” Ah Sha said, raising her head and smiling back at him.
If Mo Xi hadn’t died that night, or if Xunxun showed up just a few moments later than he did, that unlucky b*stard would’ve been experiencing erectile dysfunction for at least six months; her needles weren’t just for show.
Xunxun frowned. “I’m heading to the company to deal with this. Don’t pick up any calls from any unknown caller. Call me right away if there’s a problem. And do not step out the door.”
After sending Xunxun off, Ah Sha began to stare at her phone; she was beyond certain that this was Bai Qi’s doing. Her altercation with Mo Xi had occurred in the surveillance camera’s dead zone.
“You’re just trying to bait me out, aren’t you? Let’s see what other tricks you have up your sleeves!”
Her phone rang. Ah Sha glanced at the screen and quickly picked up.
“Daddy!”
Back at Stars Entertainment, Wan Qingsi was sitting inside his office with a huge frown.
“The police told us they’ll release a statement to absolve Mei Jing of foul play,” Qi Xiu said, staring at his boss. “Do you think Mei Jing got on someone’s bad side? She was obviously the real target behind the release of that video.”
“You don’t have to concern yourself with this matter anymore,” Wan Qingsi said, rapping his knuckles on his desk. “What has Tang Yue been up to lately?”
Qi Xiu pondered the question for a moment. “Just normal stuff, I guess,” Qi Xiu said. “She’s already finished filming the commercials she had been assigned to. Yesterday, she received several invitations to Christmas parties to be held in different venues. Why, you think she’s behind this?”
“Nah. She doesn’t have the ability to pull this off,” Wan Qingsi said, waving off the suggestion.
All of a sudden, a gossipy look formed on Qi Xiu’s face. “Now, spill. Where exactly have you been hiding Mei Jing?”
“What, you’re a reporter now?” Wan Qingsi said, raising a brow. “Ask Tang Yue to come to see me.”
Tang Yue found out about Wan Qingsi’s wish to see her the moment she returned to the company.
When she opened the door to his office and stepped in, the look on her face was benign and warm as usual. “You wanted to see me, senior?” she asked.
“If this happens again, you can forget about having a career in showbiz,” Wan Qingsi said without even waiting for her to sit down.
Tang Yue’s face fell instantly. “Se-senior? I’m afraid I don’t understand.”
“You’re the one who leaked Mei Jing’s address out to the press,” Wan Qingsi said, looking at her accusatorily. “I really can’t decide whether you’re foolish or just plain idiotic. You actually think you can hide something this obvious from me?”
“I…” Tang Yue gritted her teeth. “On what grounds is your suspicion based on?”
Wan Qingsi laughed coldly. “I’m not suspecting you at all. I’m certain that it was you and I’m now giving you a strict warning.”
“Just because her name is Ah Sha?” Tang Yue went into panic mode. “If you keep this up, once Ying Xin comes back, she…”
“That’s my business and therefore, none of your concern,” Wan Qingsi said, cutting her off. Several seconds later, when Tang Yue was starting to feel weak at the knees, Wan Qingsi spoke again, “Do you actually have a brain inside your skull? Do you realize how much the company has to suffer because of your actions?”
“Do you know how much work and resources we now have to put in just to repair our public image? And what about Xin Enterprises? How are we supposed to answer them?”
Tang Yue felt a rush of gratification inside her heart. That had been her purpose all along. Surely Xin Enterprises wouldn’t be using Mei Jing as their endorser anymore once they found out that she had ties to a murder case. Besides, Tang Yue had done nothing at all to implicate Mei Jing of the murder. All she did was leak out Mei Jing’s address to the reporters, and that was it. Technically, she had nothing to do with damaging the company’s public image or whatever it was that she was currently being accused of.
That thought gave Tang Yue a boost of confidence. “Senior, I didn’t cause any of this! I’ve done nothing to damage the company’s reputation! Look, even if Xin Enterprises refuses to use her, that’s also because she’s a murderer…”
Bang! Wan Qingsi’s fist connected with the surface of his desk. “Watch your tongue. If you dare say that kind of thing to a reporter, you, be d*mn sure that I’ll end your career.”
“I’m sorry!” Tang Yue smiled apologetically. “It was just a slip of tongue. She was with you that night, so you must know what really happened. But still, there’s nothing we can do to stop the public from saying whatever they want!”
Wan Qingsi was not in the mood to carry on this pointless argument with her. He stood up, walked to the door and yanked the door open. “You’d better behave yourself,” he said.
Tang Yue clenched her teeth. “Humph. Let’s just see how long you can keep protecting her.”
The whole snafu lasted until the police finally made an official statement to exonerate Mei Jing. On the internet, the controversy had slowly died down, though there were still reporters looking for Mei Jing everywhere. When Mei Jing returned to the filming location the following day, she ran into a group of reporters at the entrance.
“Mei Jing, did you have some kind of transaction with Mo Xi?” A small-eyed reporter yelled at her.
Ah Sha froze and just stared at the reporter, wild panic filling her eyes. Xiao Hua stepped forward and shoved the reporter away. “Which newspaper are you from? What kind of nonsense is this?”
“How could you say that!” Ah Sha looked as if she was almost in tears. One of Ah Sha’s hand swung out in a wide circle before moving to cover her face. At the same time, the crowd heard a squeak from the small-eyed reporter and then a loud clack as the reporter’s camera smashed to the floor.
Suddenly, the crowd parted in two sides and Wan Qingsi strode over through the middle.
“Qi Xiu, find out which newspaper he’s from. And then send them a lawyer’s notice.” Wan Qingsi’s cold gaze swept across the sea of reporters. “Go watch the news if you have half a brain instead of becoming a tool for others.”
The small-eyed reporter was still agonizing over the demise of his camera when he suddenly saw Ah Sha crouching down before him.
“Are you alright?” Ah Sha asked loudly. Then, she lowered her voice so that they were the only ones who could hear what she was saying. “Serves you right for trying to smear my name.”
“You?” Zhao He stared at the woman before him in utter shock. The woman’s eyes were cold and icy. A mocking smile tugged subtly at the corners of her lips.
Ah Sha picked up his damaged camera and said, “If this happens again next time, your camera won’t be the only thing that’s going to end up broken.” Ah Sha stuffed the camera into the reporter’s hand before allowing herself to be led away by Wan Qingsi like a frightened child.
The crowd slowly dispersed, leaving Zhao He alone with his butt firmly planted on the ground. The reporter’s eyes were filled with terror.
“The reporter was hired by the Mo family,” Xunxun said when they were both seated inside the crew van. Xunxun had prepared the crew van especially for Ah Sha since the weather was starting to grow chilly.
Ah Sha froze. She had assumed that it was Bai Qi who hired the reporter.
Xunxun passed a cup of milk tea to Ah Sha. “There’s an internal power struggle within the Mo family right now. Mo Xi was actually an illegitimate child. He has an older brother above him.”
“So Mo Xi’s brother hired people to frame me?” Ah Sha failed to grasp the situation. “How does that benefit him?”
“Because he had actually sent someone to kill Mo Xi that night. If Mo Xi hadn’t died back at the restaurant, he would’ve died inside his hotel.” Xunxun sneered. “The weirdest part of all this is that the assassin the brother had sent is now missing.”
“And now he thought Mo Xi was killed by the assassin he had hired.” Understanding dawned on Ah Sha. “So if everyone thinks I’m the killer, then it would take the suspicion away from him.”
Xunxun frowned. “When I met with at noon, he tried to test me. Clearly, he wanted me to stay out of this matter.”
“Tsk tsk. Looks like I have it easy, huh?” Ah Sha said dryly. “First, they say I’m just a starlet who’s trying to use her boss’ influence to obtain fame. And now I even have to take the fall for another person’s crime.” Ah Sha blinked her eyes at Wan Qingsi smilingly. “Boss, you’d better not throw me under the bus, okay?”
A look of amusement formed on Xunxun’s face as he leaned in to steal a kiss from her. “I’ll consider it you if you behave yourself tonight.”
Ah Sha snorted and gave him a disapproving look. Then, she got out of the crew van to resume filming.
Soon, the Mo family released a statement to the press emphasizing their refusal to accept the results of the police’s investigation. They claimed that Mo Xi’s death was definitely related to Mei Jing. Shortly after that, Xin Enterprises released their own statement; Xin Enterprises had terminated all of their collaborative business dealings with the Mo family.
Tang Yue could only stare in disbelief when she saw that news. Forget about Wan Qingsi defending Mei Jing. Now even Xin Enterprises was taking Mei Jing’s side?
That same weekend, Ying Qingcang invited Ah Sha to join him for dinner.
“Your mommy doesn’t know anything about this yet. You’d better watch what you say when you come home tomorrow,” Ying Qingcang said, looking displeased.
Ah Sha laughed sheepishly. “Daddy, this has nothing to do with Xunxun, okay?”
“Stop siding with him. Whose daughter are you anyway?” Ying Qingcang glared at her. Then, his tone softened. “You don’t have to worry about anything. Let me deal with the Mo family.”
Just then, a service staff came into their booth to serve a new dish. At the door, a woman who just happened to pass by their booth sudden froze. After that, the woman retreated several steps. Neither Ying Qingcang nor Ah Sha had noticed the woman’s presence. Which was why Stars Entertainment’s building was once again surrounded by reporters the next day. This time, it wasn’t just Stars Entertainment which was affected; Xin Enterprises’ main building was teeming with reporters as well.
“The President of Xin Enterprises meets with young starlet in the middle of the night. Mei Jing tosses Wan Qingsi aside to jump into Ying Qingcang’s arms!” Ah Sha slammed the newspaper onto the floor. “There were even photos of us! We’ve totally been spied on last night.”
“Calm down. I’ve already sent someone to retrieve the surveillance footage,” Xunxun said comfortingly.
“We were inside a private booth. We shouldn’t have been discovered!” Ah Sha paced around in circles. “The thing I’m worried about the most right now is that someone will write an article about this just to make mommy’s life difficult.”
Xunxun pulled her to a chair and got her to sit down. “I’ll handle it before that can happen,” Xunxun said.
The door opened. “Ken!” Qi Xiu said, stepping in. “Guess who was there at the restaurant yesterday!”
“Who?” Ah Sha asked.
When Wan Qingsi said nothing, Qi Xiu glanced at Ah Sha and said, “Tang Yue!”