Wen Pinyu was incensed. He had gone to the panel before the ceremony began and threatened them to remove Mei Jing from the winners’ list. He hadn’t expected Wan Qingsi himself to be the presenter of the best supporting actress award. Needless to say, Wan Qingsi had completely ignored the actual name printed on the envelope and had given the award straight to Mei Jing.
What vexed Wen Pinyu even more was the fact that Wan Qingsi had changed Tang Yue’s name to another actress’. The nerve of the guy! This was a slap right to his face. He had to make Wan Qingsi pay no matter what! Wan Qingsi had to pay for his foolish actions done for the sake of a woman!
“Wan Qingsi, how dare you! How dare you change the names! Stars Entertainment’s reputation would be ruined if this ever gets out!” Wen Pinyu glared at him angrily. “Fine, let’s forget about that. But how dare you threaten the panel to give Yueyue’s award to someone else? Like it or not, she’s still your junior! How could you do that to her?”
Those who were present at the party were all in this line of business. Before this, they only knew vaguely that something had happened, but they didn’t know the details. Now, after listening to Wen Pinyu’s diatribe, they all began to cast looks of shock at Wan Qingsi. “Is he really planning to go head to head with the Wen family?”
“Senior… Is it true?” Tang Yue stared at Wan Qingsi tearily. “Did you really threaten the panel to remove my name? Did you just take away my chance to become the queen of acting because of Mei Jing’s dislike of me?”
Wan Qingsi laughed derisively. “Queen of acting? Don’t make me laugh. Do you even have what it takes?”
“You…” Tang Yue instantly went pale. She knew deep down how she even stood a chance to win the award. If Wen Pinyu hadn’t bribed the panel, she’d never be able to win. Even so, she wanted to destroy Mei Jing right here and now!
Wen Pinyu put his arm around Tang Yue’s shoulders and shot Mei Jing a menacing glare. “I’ve really underestimated you,” he said. “I can’t believe you’re capable of something this low. You’re jealous of her, so you resort to such underhanded means to get back at her. Wan Qingsi, are you blind? Do you actually want to be with a woman like that?”
Tang Yue kept her head low. Nobody noticed the tiny smirk on her lips.
A look of surprised formed on Ah Sha’s face. “Jealous of her?” Ah Sha yelled. “Why would I be jealous of her? She isn’t as pretty as me, and isn’t as good in acting as I am!” Ah Sha paused to give Wan Qingsi a glance. “But most importantly, I have better taste in men than she does! Right?”
“That’s right!” Wan Qingsi said, smiling back at her. Ah Sha’s face still had that dopey, innocent look when she glanced at Tang Yue. “Sister Tang Yue, I told you to be with a new man. See? He tried so hard to get you a nomination, but you never won.”
“And now, look at my Qingsi,” Ah Sha said. “Because of a certain shameless someone, my name had been taken off the winner’s list. But he snatched it back for me. This is what a good man is supposed to do!”
Ah Sha’s words stunned the crowd. It was only then that they glimpsed the true face of this so called “beautiful arm candy.” She’d been acting like a weak piglet all this while, hiding the fact that she was capable of swallowing a tiger!
Wen Pinyu lost it right then. “You despicable b*tch!”
Wan Qingsi stepped forward and yanked Wen Pinyu up by the collar. “Say that again, I dare you,” Wan Qingsi growled. “Senior, please! Please, don’t do this. Let him go!” Tang Yue pleaded between sobs.
“Wan Qingsi!” Wen Pinyu struggled to no avail. His face reddened in anger. “My big brother would kill you if you touch me.”
Wan Qingsi sneered and pushed him away. “Why don’t you ask you big brother yourself then? See if he’d actually kill me.”
Wen Pinyu froze. A moment later, he saw a familiar figure entering the room.
“Big… Big brother!” Wen Pinyu yelled. Then, he pointed a finger at Wan Qingsi. “Brother, you came just in time. Deal with him for me, please.”
The moment Wen Pintang stepped in, everyone in the room stood up straighter and squared their shoulders. Wen Pintang treaded slowly across the room. Not even Ah Sha could resist shooting a few furtive glances at him. She whispered to Wan Qingsi, “His presence is so imposing. Almost like daddy’s.”
“That’s because they’ve both grown old,” said Wan Qingsi with a straight face.
They both never noticed the smirk on Wen Pintang’s lips as he walked.
“Big Brother!” Tang Yue said piteously. “I’m sorry. This is all my fault. Pinyu did it for me. If I never got bullied, he wouldn’t even have-”
Wen Pintang cut her off by holding out his palm. “You don’t seem to have a good memory, Miss Tang,” Wen Pintang said. “Remember what I told you last time? I only have one brother. So who is it that you’re calling ‘Big Brother’?”
“Big Brother!” Wen Pinyu frowned. “Wan Qingsi threatened the panel to remove Tang Yue’s name. This is an obvious insult to the Wen family!”
Tang Yue nodded and gave Wen Pintang a crestfallen look. “I don’t care what happens to me. I’m just sorry that Pinyu had to go through all this!”
Wen Pintang’s eyes swept from Wan Qingsi to Ah Sha. Then, Wen Pintang’s eyes returned to Wen Pinyu. “I was the one who removed her name,” Wen Pintang said, crushing the feelings of smugness that Wen Pinyu was feeling.
“What?” Wen Pinyu was stunned. A dark look formed on Tang Yue’s face, evil and malice flashed inside her pupils.
“Didn’t you hear what I said? I said I was the one who asked the panel to change remove her name.”
Before the crowd could even react to the stunning revelation, Ah Sha began clapping her hands loudly. “Oh, my! Mr. Wen is such a good brother!”
“Oh?” Wen Pintang looked at Ah Sha curiously. “What makes you think that?”
Ah Sha pointed at Tang Yue. “Because you know that Sister Tang Yue has terrible acting skills. Even if she won the award, she’ll probably drown in spit when the public criticize her for using men to advance her career.”
“When the time comes,” Ah Sha went on, “it will affect the Wen family’s reputation!” Ah Sha raised her head to look at Wan Qingsi. “Am I right?”
Wan Qingsi suppressed the urge to smile and nodded. “So smart. You’re absolutely right!”
At that point, self-image was the last thing on Tang Yue’s mind. She cast a murderous look at Mei Jing. Meanwhile, Wen Pinyu was trembling in anger. He raised his hand and pointed his finger at Ah Sha.
“If you say another word about her again, I’ll beat you to death right in front of your brother,” Wan Qingsi threw out a cold warning.
Wen Pintang glanced at Ah Sha. For a moment there, Ah Sha thought that Wen Pintang was smiling at her, but she might have imagined it.
“Enough,” Wen Pintang said. “Things have been cleared up now. You can come back with me now.”
“Go back with you?” Wen Pinyu panicked. “No, I’m not coming with you.” At this point, Wen Pinyu didn’t even care about settling his score with Wan Qingsi, not when he was scared witless at the prospect of being sent away from the country again.
Wen Pintang arched his brow slightly. “I let you return so that you can make a clean break with Miss Tang and ask her not to bother you anymore. The Li family is still waiting for your return so that we can finally make your engagement official. What am I supposed to say to them if you don’t come back with me?”
“En-engagement?” Wen Pinyu was flummoxed. Tang Yue bit down on her lip and gave him a sorrowful look. “Pinyu, you… you should just leave.”
The pitiful sight of Tang Yue broke Wen Pinyu’s heart right then and there. Without ado, he put an arm around her and began whispering words of comfort. “Listen, I told you I’d marry you. Don’t worry. I won’t agree to the engagement”
Then, Wen Pinyu straightened himself and looked his big brother right in the eye. “Brother, you can’t sacrifice my happiness for the sake of this arranged marriage.” Then, in a display of bravado, Wen Pinyu took Tang Yue’s hand to leave. “I won’t return with you.”
Wen Pintang didn’t even bother to stop the pair from leaving. His impassive gaze scanned across the crowd of bystanders, causing them to scramble away like a bunch of startled birds. They had all just inadvertently witnessed one of those dramatic scenes that would happen only within wealthy families. “Looks like the grapevines are about to grow several inches tomorrow.”
Wan Qingsi led Ah Sha away from the scene as quickly as possible. He had other plans tonight, so he couldn’t afford to dally. When they reached the carpark, they saw another car parked beside Wan Qingsi’s. The window of the car lowered, and Wen Pintang poked his head out.
“Congratulations, Miss Mei Jing. Your acting skills are phenomenal!”
Ah Sha blinked at him in confusion. “What is this guy up to?”
Wan Qingsi glowered and pushed Ah Sha into the car. Then, he turned around to face Wen Pintang. “I’d forcefully drag Wen Pinyu back home if I were you. You’ll have a lot of headaches to deal with if that woman somehow finds a way to marry into the Wen family.”
“Haha!” Wen Pintang laughed. Inside the car, Ah Sha couldn’t help but crane forward to stare at this gorgeous man. Only when she noticed Wan Qingsi glaring at her did she stop looking.
“Hey, young people, right? You have to let them experience failure and suffering so that they’ll grow. That brother of mine has been living too comfortably. This time… I’ll let him do his own thing this time…”
The car window began to rise. Wen Pintang nodded at Wan Qingsi. “Whenever you’re free, don’t forget the thing that you promised me.”
“Since when were you and Wen Pintang in cahoots with each other!” Ah Sha asked when Wan Qingsi was starting the car.
“What do you mean ‘in cahoots’!” Wan Qingsi smacked Ah Sha’s head. Ah Sha pouted. “What did you promise him then?”
Wan Qingsi glanced at her briefly, but he remained tight-lipped. Ah Sha took that as a sign of him refusing to tell her. Angry, Ah Sha looked away and leaned herself against the car window, completely ignoring him.
“Damn it!” Wan Qingsi thought when he saw that he had made Ah Sha mad. Wan Qingsi went through his options in his mind and then decided to just tell her. “He wants to treat your entire family to a meal.”
Ah Sha turned away from the window immediately, her eyes round in surprise. “Why?” she asked. She didn’t expect Wen Pintang to be friendly enough to ally himself with the Ying family.
“He knows that you’re Ying Xin,” Wan Qingsi said, making Ah Sha jump. “Th-th-then… what about…” Ah Sha said, trailing off.
Wan Qingsi patted her hand. “Don’t worry. He doesn’t know about the poison queen.”
As it turned out, Wen Pintang met with Wan Qingsi the day before.
“I’ll help you deal with my brother,” Wen Pintang said, “on the condition that you must persuade Ying Qingcang and his wife to accept my meal invitation.” Wen Pintang stared Wan Qingsi down, indirectly exerting his dominance over the other man.
Due to his youth, Wan Qingsi didn’t appear as dominating and imposing as Wen Pintang. Even so, Wan Qingsi showed neither fear nor reverence for Wen Pintang. “You’ve most likely already found out my true identity. In that case, do you actually think your Wen family is enough to intimate me?”
“Now, now, the young master of the Wan family,” Wen Pintang said in a flat tone. “And your woman, Mei Jing, is actually the daughter of the Ying family, isn’t she?” Wen Pintang chuckled in amusement. “Well, if you young people like to run around playing spy, I have no problems with that. I’m interested to see where things lead to though. So it’d all be meaningless if I expose you now, isn’t it?”
Wan Qingsi narrowed his eyes. “Are you threatening me?”
Wen Pintang smirked, looking confident and elegant like some kind of royalty. “No,” he said. “This is a discussion.”
“What is he really up to?” Ah Sha asked worriedly when she finished hearing Wan Qingsi’s account.
“At first, I thought he’s coming after you.” Wan Qingsi cleared his throat twice.
Ah Sha rolled her eyes. “To you, any man is a love rival…”
Obviously, Wan Qingsi knew that she was making fun of him inwardly. He kissed her and said, “After that, I noticed the way he was looking at you, like he was an elder looking out for you. So I came to the conclusion that he’s looking to collaborate with the Ying family.”
“Why? Isn’t he all chummy with the Mo family?” Ah Sha asked strangely.
“The Mo family?” Wan Qingsi said, laughing. “Please. The Mo family is nothing compared to the Jiang family.”
The Jiang family and the Wen family had never been close. All these years, they had been staying out of each other way in the military. If Wen Pintang collaborated with the Ying family, it could only mean one thing: he was extending an olive branch to the Jiang family. Over the past few years, everyone had become aware of the extraordinary relationship between the Jiang and Ying families. There were many speculations and theories out there regarding the nature of this relationship, of course. But nobody knew the true details.
“I see. He wants to have a foot in both camps. He doesn’t want to piss off either side.” All of a sudden, Ah Sha realized just how dangerous Wen Pintang was, despite his elegant and refined appearance.
Wan Qingsi frowned. “Perhaps,” he said. “I’ll keep an eye on him.”
Somehow, Wan Qingsi doubted that Wen Pintang’s intention was like what Ah Sha said.
When they arrived at Ying’s residence, Ah Sha noticed all the lights in the house were off. The entire house was pitch-black dark.
“Aren’t they home yet?” Ying Qingcang had attended the award ceremony with his wife and kids, but he had left as soon as the ceremony ended.
Wan Qingsi put his car in park and said, “They should be home.” Then, he stepped out of the car and went to open Ah Sha’s door.
A loud pop sounded the moment Ah Sha stepped into the dark living room. She instinctively went into a defensive stance. Then, the lights came on and she saw Chengcheng standing before her in a party hat. In his hand, he was carrying a cup which contained an exquisite latte art.
“Happy birthday, sis!”