“Hi, Ah Sha! Happy Chinese New Year!”
Lin Musheng grinned at Ah Sha and tried to kiss her cheek, but he was shoved away by Wan Qingsi.
Ah Sha stared at him warily. “What are you doing here?”
“Tsk, tsk. It’s only been months since we last saw each other, yet your attitude towards me has changed so much,” Lin Musheng said dejectedly. “Like it or not, we had a fateful encounter with each other when we were young. Even if we can’t be lovers, we should at least be friends!”
“So, you know our Ah Sha?” Chen Huan asked excitedly.
“Are you Wan Qingsi’s sister? Damn, you’re much easy on the eyes than he is!”
“Oh, wow!” Chen Huan grinned widely and patted Lin Musheng’s shoulder. “Ah, young people today are so nice! You’re so much better than my son!”
Lin Musheng’s jaw went slack and he pointed at Wan Qingsi. “You’re his mother?! But you’re so young!”
“Young? Please. I’m nearly forty!” Chen Huan chuckled and pulled Lin Musheng towards the base. “The head of the Triad, I see. You look so much younger than I imagined. I thought you’d be an old geezer like Boss Wan!”
“What’s he doing here?” Ah Sha whispered to Wan Qingsi as they both followed behind Chen Huan and Lin Musheng.
“To buy guns,” Wan Qingsi said with a dark scowl. “I’ll ask my dad to raise the price later.”
“Pfft!” The corners of Ah Sha’s lips twitched as she fought back a smile. In the end, she decided not to comment.
When the deal was done, and Lin Musheng was leaving, his face was so dark that it might start dripping black ink anytime. Boss Wan and Wan Qingsi must’ve found a way to rip him off real bad to put that kind of look on his face.
“Are you guys leaving?” Lin Musheng asked.
Ah Sha actually felt bad for the guy, so she nodded at him. “Yup!”
Lin Musheng climbed into their chopper without even asking for permission. “I’m catching a ride with you guys then. We’re heading in the same direction anyway.”
“Same direction? We’re heading in opposite directions! You should catch your ride, Boss Lin,” said Wan Qingsi, who was approaching the chopper.
Ah Sha poked Wan Qingsi a few times. “His plane just took off,” she said.
“That’s because he did it on purpose, you idiot!” Wan Qingsi glared at Ah Sha.
Lin Musheng nodded and said, “That’s right! My plane just took off. It’s the least you people can do after you totally ripped me off!”
Wan Qingsi ignored him and carried Ah Sha onto the chopper instead. He then glared at Lin Musheng and said, “Sit at the back.”
“I like sitting in front!” Lin Musheng looked at Wan Qingsi provocatively. Wan Qingsi answered with a mocking laugh. “I’ll f*cking toss your ass out. Go ahead and try me if you don’t believe me. Didn’t you say you’re curious about our facility’s security systems? Guess today’s your chance to see for yourself.”
Wan Yi and Wan Er suddenly appeared behind Wan Qingsi, fully prepared to remove Lin Musheng from the chopper the moment Wan Qingsi gave the order. Lin Musheng smiled. “Nah, I still have to be back to celebrate Chinese New Year. How about next time!” he said, then climbed to the back of the chopper, winking at Ah Sha while doing so.
The chopper took a detour and landed in Hong Kong, where they dropped off Lin Musheng. Before Lin Musheng got out, he took out a small box and tossed it to Ah Sha. Then, he was out of the chopper before anyone could say anything. While running off, Lin Musheng turned around and yelled: “Happy Belated Birthday!”
“Throw it out!” Wan Qingsi scowled. Ah Sha chuckled and slowly opened the box. All of a sudden, she froze.
“What the hell’s that?” Wan Qingsi said, snatching the box from Ah Sha.
Ah Sha pointed at the thin piece of paper in the box. “It- it’s the formula!” Ah Sha said in a trembling voice.
“Only half of it,” Wan Qingsi said, glancing over the piece of paper. A moment later, he confirmed that it was indeed the right prescription formula capable of healing Xin Qing’s leg.
“It’s the formula. It’s there, it’s there,” Ah Sha mumbled, her eyes red with unshed tears.
“But this is only half of it,” Wan Qingsi said with a frown. “He gave you half of it and then hid the other half. Clearly, this is a negotiation.”
“I’ll agree to whatever he wants!” Ah Sha yelled. Wan Qingsi leveled a deep stare at her. “What if it’s you he wants?”
That made Ah Sha shut up. She sat there quietly for a moment until her phone rang. She glanced at the screen and answered the phone.
Lin Musheng voice came blaring from the receiver. “Hello, my dear! How do you like your birthday present?” Ah Sha mumbled a thank you.
Lin Musheng laughed. “Too bad, I only have half of it.”
“What? This is all you have?” Ah Sha asked anxiously.
“Yeah,” Lin Musheng said. “I took the formula from the hands of a couple of terrorists a few years back. Those terrorists were half-dead at the time. Even so, they were still trying to protect the box. When I looked at it, I could pretty much guess that it was some kind of prescription formula. But I didn’t know what it was for.”
Lin Musheng paused briefly, then went on, “I didn’t investigate you on purpose. I was trying to figure out why you became a bounty hunter.”
Ah Sha’s tone softened when she spoke next. “It was Johns, wasn’t it? It was Johns who told you.” She felt guilty for jumping to conclusions and misjudging Lin Musheng just now.
“I went to him myself because I suspected that the formula was what you were looking for. Johns merely confirmed my suspicions,” Lin Musheng said smugly. “I wonder if I can have a meal with you in exchange for the gift…”
Ah Sha nodded immediately. “Yes. I’d say yes even if you want ten meals,” Ah Sha said. “When you’re in S City, just let me know. My treat!”
“After the Chinese New Year. I’ll be in S City after Chinese New Year.” Lin Musheng paused for a moment. “I’ll help you find the other half of the formula. I believe I can find it, and I sure as hell won’t stop until I do.”
Ah Sha smiled despite the fierce look that Wan Qingsi was giving her. “God, I really don’t know how to thank you. I…”
“I didn’t ask for your gratitude,” Lin Musheng said. “I already asked you for a meal, right?”
“Yes, alright. We’ll have a meal. That’s a promise,” Ah Sha said. Wan Qingsi was still sporting a scowl when Ah Sha hung up.
“We were wrong about him,” Ah Sha said.
“I know. I heard,” Wan Qingsi said, his lips forming a tight line. “I’ll join you when you go out with him.”
Ah Sha pecked him on the lips. “Mm! We’ll go together!”
No matter how much Wan Qingsi hated the idea, he couldn’t refuse Lin Musheng’s offer. Having half of the formula had given them hope; it proved that the formula indeed existed!
“Let’s head back to the base,” Wan Qingsi said. “We’ll ask my mother to have a look at this and see if she could work out the rest of the formula.”
By the time they got back to S City, it was already midnight. Ah Sha, who had naively thought that she could get some actual sleep once she got home, was subjected to another one of Wan Qingsi’s ravishing sessions before she fell into a hazy sleep. The following day, the couple went to the supermarket to get groceries; they were planning to have some home cooking today.
“I took lessons from a great chef for two months,” Ah Sha said with pride on the way to the supermarket. Then, her tone became sullen. “If Tang Yue didn’t mess up the show, who knows I might even get first place!”
Wan Qingsi felt even more revolted by Tang Yue now. Before, Ah Sha had wanted to give him a surprise, so she hadn’t let him taste her cooking, saving it for the day of the competition itself. But Tang Yue had come along and messed things up, so Wan Qingsi had never actually tried Ah Sha’s cooking until now.
“Why don’t you prepare my meals these few days,” Wan Qingsi growled. “Think you can do that?”
“Mm!” Ah Sha nodded subserviently.
“Don’t overwork yourself,” Wan Qingsi added. He’d seen Chen Huan cook before. And she managed to turn the whole activity into some battle. Worse, the stuff she made wasn’t even edible in the end.
The supermarket was still packed despite the fact that it was the Chinese New Year. Ah Sha put on her disguise in the form of a mask and a pair of sunglasses; Wan Qingsi wore a cap. The pair got themselves a trolley and began their shopping.
They were interrupted by a voice when they were at the steak’s section. “President Wan?”
Wan Qingsi looked to the side. “Screenwriter Liu,” he greeted.
The screenwriter smiled in greeting and stole a glance at Ah Sha. “What a coincidence. So you know how to cook, President Wan!”
“My wife likes to cook,” Wan Qingsi said, putting his arm around Ah Sha’s shoulders. “Is the script ready?”
Liu Hai’s face changed instantly. All of a sudden, he began fumbling with his words awkwardly.
Ah Sha read the situation and knew instantly that something was up. She shared a glance with Wan Qingsi, then returned her attention to the steaks.
“Boss Wan… The script… Someone bought the script,” Liu Hai said, stealing a glance at Wan Qingsi, who hadn’t said a word since he asked about the script.
Liu Hai decided just to come clean. “I had no choice, Boss Wan. They are powerful people. Any of them could destroy me and my career. I have a wife and kids. I can’t sacrifice my family for the script.”
Wan Qingsi frowned. “Let me guess. Sky Entertainment bought it?”
“Yes,” Liu Hai said, nodding. “President Mo and Young Master Wen, the younger one I mean, came to see me.”
“I understand,” Wan Qingsi said with a nod. “We’ll collaborate again next time.” Wan Qingsi led Ah Sha away. Liu Hai went into a daze; he didn’t expect Wan Qingsi to let him off the hook that easily.
When Wan Qingsi and Ah Sha had already walked quite some distance away, Liu Hai snapped out of his daze and ran towards the pair. “President Wan, I’ll write a better script! Once give it to Stars Entertainment the moment I complete it!”
“Will do,” Wan Qingsi said, glancing at Liu Hai briefly. “This… This isn’t your fault.”
Liu Hai heaved a sigh of relief and watched the couple walk away.
From afar, Ah Sha observed the look on Liu Hai’s face. “Let me guess, the script is gone, isn’t it?”
“Wen Pinyu bought it,” Wan Qingsi said. “We didn’t sign a contract back then because some parts needed revision. I didn’t expect that Sky Entertainment would beat us to it.”
“The poor screenwriter must have been scared out of his wits.”
“Liu Hai is a good man,” Wan Qingsi said with a nod. “Wen Pinyu must’ve threatened him pretty badly. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have sold the script without even letting me know.”
All of a sudden, Ah Sha brought her face closer to Wan Qingsi. “Then will President Wan please get another script for me? Otherwise, I won’t have any more movies to film next year.”
“Well, it depends on how you perform tonight!” Wan Qingsi kissed her. “If you perform well, then there’ll be a movie role for you next year!”
When she was preparing dinner, Ah Sha scrolled through her Weibo feeds and realized that Tang Yue had already made a post stating that she’d landed a huge role in a movie next year. The film would be based on the script that Sky Entertainment had just stolen from them. In the post, Tang Yue had mentioned that the movie was initially meant for Mei Jing, but due to some “issues,” Tang Yue was assigned to the film instead of Mei Jing. She even added an apology to Mei Jing, saying that she didn’t mean to steal Mei Jing’s movie role.
A lot of Tang Yue’s fans had already made comments on the post: oh, what an angel you are; serves Mei Jing right for always bullying you; you’re so lovely and forgiving! Surprisingly, Ah Sha didn’t see any angry posts on her Weibo page to scold or curse her; Ah Sha knew that her Mei Jing persona had a lot of publicity recently. But of course, it wasn’t always positive.
A lot of people questioned the morality and virtue of Mei Jing as a person and criticized her for having a sugar daddy. There would always be one or two Weibo posts everyday lambasting her for being a wicked, despicable, or foolish woman.
“That’s not surprising at all. What do you think Zhou Na do for a living?” Wan Qingsi said. “She deals with your Weibo account every day.”
“No wonder!”
“Babe, if you don’t want these people to spread that kind of nonsense around, then we should just reveal Tang Yue’s true face and be done with it.” Sometimes, Wan Qingsi regretted announcing his relationship with Ah Sha to the public. Then again, Ah Sha might’ve been bullied even worse if he didn’t make their relationship public.
“No. We don’t have to do that,” Ah Sha answered with a grin. “The one who has the last laugh is the winner. Let her have her fun for now.”
Ah Sha had a lot of free time after Chinese New Year since their script had been stolen. Wan Qingsi decided to bring forward the drafting process for Stars Entertainment’s next batch of rookies which was supposed to be held during the second half of the year.