Chapter 11 (1/2)

Chapter Ten (The Fight At The End)

Qin Song was a naughty kid. He loved to play pranks and wasn’t scared of heaven or earth. Fighting was one of his favourite pastimes.

Chen Yi Feng was from a military family. Fighting was his forte. Each of his punches and kicks were precise and deadly.

Qin Song and Chen Yi Feng fought each other like how King Arthur would fight Lancelot over Guinevere, gloves were all off. Whatever wasn’t nailed in the room Qin Song and Chen Yi Feng used it as weapons to take out their enemy. By the time Han Ting Ting came back to the room with Commander Zhang’s guards to stop the fight, it was too late… the room was demolished.

Qin Song grabbed a chair and aimed it at Chen Yi Feng. Chen Yi Feng used his wrists to deflect the chair. Qin Song grabbed another chair, Chen Yi Feng moved closer to the door and Qin Song threw the chair at the door. At that moment Han Ting Ting stood at the door and the chair would have hit her face if Li Wei Ran didn’t pull her out of the way in time. The chair flew out the room, downstairs and got caught on a hanging chandelier.

Unfortunately for Commander Zhang’s guests that were minding their own business having breakfast at the dining table had to give their vocal chords a workout. The chandelier that made contact with the chair was hung directly above the dining table and dozens of the chandelier’s crystal gla.s.ses fell onto the heads of Commander Zhang’s guests. The guests shrieked and ran for their lives.

Li Wei Ran attempted to enter the war zone but the rivals inside wouldn’t let him in. In the end a troop of Commander Zhang’s soldiers were called in to pull Qin Song and Chen Yi Feng apart.

The room took the biggest hit like a freak tornado came for a visit. Windows and mirrors were smashed, walls were dented and wardrobes collapsed. Nothing was left standing. The demolished room would have broken the hearts of the room’s architect and interior designer.

Chen Yi Feng was breathing heavily. He pulled down his s.h.i.+rt sleeves that were folded up before the fight broke out. Apart from the two surprise punches to his face, he didn’t have another injury on his body.

Qin Song’s handsome face took a beating too. His left wrist was swollen. Mrs Zhang senior was startled and worried for her youngest grandson and didn’t stop directing her other grandson Li Wei Ran who was supporting Qin Song’s arm to be gentle.

‘Wei Ran, be gentle! Be careful you don’t hurt Song Song’s wrist,’ Mrs Zhang senior advised.

Commander Zhang strode into the room with his hands folded behind his back. He wasn’t happy his guests were attacked by crystal gla.s.ses under his watch. ‘Who made the first move?’

Qin Song used the towel handed to him to wipe the blood off the corner of his mouth. Adrenaline was still pumped through his hot blood. ‘Granddad, it was me.’

Chen Yi Feng stared at Qin Song and laughed coldly. Chen Yi Feng opened his mouth but Han Ting Ting ran to Chen Yi Feng and pulled his arm.

‘It wasn’t what you…’ Han Ting Ting said.

‘Ah!’ Qin Song cried out.

Qin Song grabbed his left arm that was injured not long ago and slid to the floor. It scared everyone in the room. Ting Ting rushed to Qin Song’s side. He used the opportunity to bite her earlobe and to whisper into her ear. ‘Honey, don’t say anything. Go escort Chen Yi Feng to the door and let him leave.’

Song Song was his family’s darling. It wasn’t convenient for his family to scold Song Song for giving them a scare in front of the guests. But Han Ting Ting knew that his family were heartbroken seeing him injured right under their noses. If Song Song and Chen Yi Feng were fighting over business then it wasn’t an issue. But if everyone knew that they were fighting over a misunderstanding about her bruised cheek then her parents would find out… her dad would go ballistic and a scarier fight would break loose.

Chen Yi Feng saw through Qin Song’s att.i.tude and understood what happened. Chen Yi Feng made eye contact with Commander Zhang and apologised. ‘Today I was out of line. I’ll come back another time to accept my punishment.’

Commander Zhang figured out why Song Song and Chen Yi Feng couldn’t get along. Commander Zhang pitied Chen Yi Feng. Commander Zhang patted Chen Yi Feng but didn’t say a word.

Zhang Pu and Zhang Yu escorted a doctor to examine Song Song who was still pretending his left arm was in pain. In the mist of the chaos Han Ting Ting pushed Chen Yi Feng out the door like Song Song asked her to do. Yesterday everyone found out their Ting Ting were neighbouring friends with Chen Yi Feng so no one found it strange that she escorted him outside. Especially Song Song’s parents who thought their daughter-in-law excelled at her duties as a hostess.

At the allocated parking area, Han Ting Ting jumped into Song Song’s car and turned on the ignition. She drove alongside Chen Yi Feng whose strides were as fast as her driving. She wound down the window and waved Chen Yi Feng to the car. ‘Get in, I’ll take you where you want to go.’

Chen Yi Feng’s right fingers were swollen and wrapped in a towel. He couldn’t drive so he used his left hand to open the car and accepted a lift from Han Ting Ting. He couldn’t help but smile in disbelief at the sight of her in the driver’s seat.

‘What’s wrong? Why are you staring at me?’ Han Ting Ting asked.

‘When did you become a steady driver?’ Chen Yi Feng asked.

Chen Yi Feng couldn’t believe the Han Ting Ting that was manoeuvring the steering wheel well was the same Han Ting Ting that used to clutch the steering wheel and was scared to make turns. He thought it was true that no one could predict the future.

‘Ah… because Song Song’s left arm was injured recently. I was forced to learn how to drive properly,’ Han Ting Ting said and smiled. ‘It took after cras.h.i.+ng a few of Song Song’s cars for me to get the hang of driving.’

Chen Yi Feng brooded and his eyes looked like it was taken back to the distant past. ‘If I knew back then, I wouldn’t have bothered trying to teach you to drive.’

Chen Yi Feng felt regretful. He regretted he didn’t acknowledge his heart until it was too late.

Han Ting Ting was reflecting on her heart. She felt the biggest difference between Chen Yi Feng and Song Song was how the time she knew each of them was spent. During the shorter time she’d known Song Song, they’ve leaned on one another for support, teased and fought with each other, they made up after fighting and loved each other. Whereas the years alongside Chen Yi Feng she spent it looking at him at a distance.

It didn’t matter how Chen Yi Feng taught her how to drive, she couldn’t get over her own fears. But Song Song gave her all his car keys. Each time she crashed, he’d give her a new car key and waited patiently for her to get over the fear of cras.h.i.+ng.

Han Ting Ting knew it was selfish of her to be grateful nothing happened between her and Chen Yi Feng. She was happy with Song Song and also had Chen Yi Feng as an older brother figure in her life, watching over her.

‘Concentrate on driving!’ Chen Yi Feng said and his body broke out in a cold sweat.

Chen Yi Feng’s heart calmed a little and he looked over at Han Ting Ting. ‘Are you worrying about Qin Song?’

‘The cast on Song Song’s left arm was removed just last week,’ Han Ting Ting said.

‘Is that so?’ Chen Yi Feng asked. He rubbed his swollen face. ‘I couldn’t tell.’

Chen Yi Feng removed the towel wrapped around his right hand, it was so swollen that he couldn’t close his right hand.

‘Do you want me to take you to the hospital to check out your hand injury?’ Han Ting Ting asked.

‘It’s nothing. You…’ Chen Yi Feng said and pointed at her cheek. ‘If your vision is blurry you need to tell me straight away. My life is in your hands.’

Han Ting Ting explained to Chen Yi Feng what happened last night to cause her cheek to bruise. But she left out the reason why Song Song wanted to take a picture of them in bed together.

It didn’t take long for Chen Yi Feng to guessed why. ‘Little Qin Song is more childish than I imagined.’

‘Song Song is a good person!’ Han Ting Ting said. ‘You… you didn’t wait for me to finish my explanation and jumped to conclusions.’

Han Ting Ting thought that Chen Yi Feng was more hot blooded than Song Song. Who would pick a fight on behalf of someone else before understanding what happened?

Chen Yi Feng closed his eyes, draped an arm over his forehead and sighed. ‘Girls… what’s the point of raising girls when they’ll desert you the moment they’re married? I’m worried in the future Dong Dong will love someone the way you love Song Song, I’ll die of frustration that I sacrificed everything to raise my daughter for someone else to receive the benefits of my labour.’

‘Hey, it was your fault for misunderstanding Song Song. Song Song didn’t start the fight,’ Han Ting Ting said.

Chen Yi Feng closed his eyes to rest. ‘It doesn’t matter. It was an excuse I was waiting for. I wanted to beat him up long ago.’

‘Because of me?’ Han Ting Ting asked softly.

Chen Yi Feng opened his eyes and stared at Han Ting Ting who wasn’t his timid little Ting Ting anymore. He closed his eyes. ‘Concentrate on driving!’

End of Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

On the first day back at work after the Christmas break, Li Wei Ran re-enacted the fighting sequence between their sixth brother and Chen Yi Feng at Liang’s company during a morning meeting.

Ji Nan was the most enthusiastic of the Liang’s sworn brothers. ‘Sixth brother you pretend your Chen Yi Feng and attack me. I’ll pretend to be you and defend.’

Rong Yan rubbed his tears of laughter from his eyes. ‘Forth brother if you pretend to be sixth brother then you’ll be beaten pitifully.’

‘Rong Yan, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d! It was a tie!’ Qin Song denied.

Apart from Qin Song, everyone was suspicious whether the fight was a draw. Big boss was the only one out of those who were suspicious that have fought one on one with Qin Song. They all turned to silently ask big boss if he reckon Qin Song was telling the truth.

Big boss put the newspaper in his hands down. He lifted Qin Song’s left arm. ‘Um, it was kind of Chen Yi Feng to go easy on sixth brother to keep sixth brother’s reputation intact.’

Qin Song quietly fumed.

‘Is Chen Yi Feng going to sign with sixth brother’s uncles?’ Chen Yu Bai asked.

Li Wei Ran nodded his head and looked at big boss. ‘First brother, isn’t this the time for you to show your cards? The investment amount to sixth brother’s uncles is a substantial amount but for Chen Yi Feng it’s petty cash. Why is he making life hard for sixth brother?’

Big boss was about to reply when Qin Song jumped up. ‘No one gets to interfere. This is between me and him.’

‘You reckon you can beat him on a one on one fight?’ Rong Yan asked.

‘He’s messing with me. Why can’t I find someone to mess with him?’ Qin Song said. ‘You guys stand back and wait to see my victory. I’ll make mincemeat out of him. He won’t be able to chew and swallow for a long time.’

‘What about your little wife? Do you need me to teach you some new tricks?’ Rong Yan asked.

Qin Song was insulted and kept silent. His sworn brothers all gave him the same concerned look.

Chen Yu Bai had a knife in his hand and sliced a little egg in half. ‘Sixth brother, I’ll teach you the only trick you need.’

Chen Yu Bai popped half of the hot little egg in his mouth. ‘What you can eat, hurry up and eat it up to satisfy your stomach. The earlier you eat it up the earlier you’ll be at peace.’

Chen Yu Bai pushed the bridge of his gla.s.ses up and gave sixth brother a sly smile. Qin Song was in a daze for a while before there was a bright gleam in his eyes.

Whilst driving home, dirty thoughts consumed Qin Song’s head.

‘What would the white ‘little country bun’ taste like?’ Qin Song’s animal drive asked.

‘Where’s the best place to start eating? How many times can the bun be eaten? Should he ask for leave tomorrow? Mmm, at least he should ask her preschool to let her take leave tomorrow…’ Qin Song’s asked his animal drive.

Qin Song’s dirty thoughts didn’t hinder him from returning home in one piece. He opened the door and heard his ‘little country bun’ sobbing.

Qin Song was startled and didn’t take his shoes off before running to Ting Ting. ‘Did the hospital called? What’s wrong with my dad?’

Han Ting Ting was shaken by Song Song back and forth until she became dizzy. ‘No one called… did something happened to dad?’

Qin Song’s heart that jumped up to his throat slowly jumped down to its resting place. His dad had a second surgery two days ago. The results of the second surgery were still unknown but he couldn’t shake off the bad feeling in his heart and it scared him.

Qin Song went to the shoe rack to change out of his shoes. Whilst he was changing he poked his head into the living room. ‘Honey, what happened? Why are you crying?’

Han Ting Ting sobbed louder. ‘Song Song… I’m in big trouble.’

Qin Song changed into his slippers and went to hug Ting Ting on the sofa. ‘How big? Tell me about it, if it can make me cry I’ll give you a reward.’

‘Song Song, look,’ Han Ting Ting said.

Han Ting Ting opened the red fabric she held in her hand. On top of the fabric were broken pieces of a jade bracelet.

‘Qin Sang hand delivered it to me. She said she found it broken at granddad’s mansion. She didn’t tell anyone and came today to give it to me,’ Han Ting Ting explained.

Qin Song thought the jade pieces looked familiar. ‘Is it the green jade bracelet my mum gave you?’

Han Ting Ting wiped her tears and nodded her head. Zhang Yu had handed the green jade bracelet down to her on her wedding day. Usually she kept it safe in a draw at home. She only took it out to wear at important functions. On Christmas Day she wore it to Song Song’s granddad’s mansion. That day because Song Song and Chen Yi Feng’s fight she didn’t know the bracelet was lost.

‘Is it that easy to break?’ Qin Song asked. He took a piece and knocked it against the table. He saw Ting Ting wiping her eyes and gave her a sly smile. He pointed at his lips. ‘Give me a kiss and I’ll buy you a replacement.’

Han Ting Ting was in no mood for Song Song’s teasing. She pushed his face that was leaning into her away.

‘You’re not going to listen to me?’ Qin Song said teasingly. ‘I’m going to tell mum. I’ll tell her that you broke the family’s precious jade that was handed down from mother to daughter-in-law for centuries.’

Han Ting Ting couldn’t believe Song Song would tell his mum. She covered her face and sobbed. He tried to pull her hands away but she grabbed a cus.h.i.+on to hug and sob louder.

‘Hey, I was teasing. Honey, don’t cry anymore,’ Qin Song consoled.

Qin Song lifted Ting Ting onto his lap. ‘Ting Bao, be good. Don’t cry. I was teasing. I’ll think of a way to hide it. No one will find out. Don’t cry anymore.’

Han Ting Ting grabbed Song Song’s s.h.i.+rt and stared at him suspiciously. ‘You’re not lying to me?’

Qin Song put his hand over his heart. ‘I promise!’

‘Um,’ Han Ting Ting said.

‘Now are you going to kiss me?’ Qin Song asked.

‘Stay away, you trickster!’ Han Ting Ting said.

A few days later the trickster became Han Ting Ting’s hero. Song Song came home with a pair replica vintage clear green jade bracelet to the one that was given to her on her wedding day. She inspected the new bracelets all night. ‘Song Song, was it expensive?’

Qin Song was playing on the wii and didn’t bother to turn around to face Ting Ting. ‘It was one hundred for the pair.’

Han Ting Ting’s eyes widened. ‘They’re fake?’

‘Um,’ Qin Song said. He turned around briefly to rea.s.sure Ting Ting. ‘Honey, you can wear them comfortably. Except for jade specialists, no one else will know if they’re real or not.’

Han Ting Ting didn’t hesitate to accept the bracelets. Since they were fakes she wore them on her wrist every day.

New Year’s Eve arrived and Han Ting Ting and Song Song were going to her parents’ home to celebrate.

In the kitchen of the Han household Ting’s mum praised that her daughter’s bracelets were beautiful.

Han Ting Ting took one bracelet off and gave it to her mum.

‘No need,’ Ting’s mum declined and waved her hands. ‘I don’t even want to dream about wearing something that expensive. Ting Bao, it looks pretty on you. Make sure you take care of it.’

‘Mum, it’s not expensive,’ Han Ting Ting happily explained. ‘It looks like real jade but it’s a fake.’

Ting’s mum heard that it was a fake and happily accepted it from Han Ting Ting. The mother and daughter pair gossiped and laughed animatedly together. After Ting’s dad listened to Song Song’s words of encouragement the Han household lived a more peaceful life. Ting’s dad still worked hard but his duties were lighter, he received bonuses that were rightfully his and before New Year’s Eve he was also honoured with a medal for bravery. Song Song secretly told her that her dad was going to have another promotion at the beginning of the New Year.

Ting’s mum and Han Ting Ting didn’t need Ting’s dad to be rich and successful. They were happy to know that his achievements were acknowledged and his abilities were used to the fullest.

‘Song Song is a good man. He treats your father and me like he does his own parents. We’re lucky to have him as a son-in-law,’ Ting’s mum praised. ‘There are plenty of rich playboys out there but it’s rare to find a man who’s rich like Song Song who doesn’t play around behind his wife’s back.’

Han Ting Ting was arranging the buns. ‘Mum, how do you know he’s a good man and isn’t a player? In front of you he pretends to be obedient. But at home in front of me he’s childish and likes to hide Putt Putt.’

Ting’s mum gave her daughter a dirty look. She knew who gave Putt Putt to her daughter. ‘The right thing to do is to get rid of it.’

‘Mum…’ Han Ting Ting sulked.

‘Ahem… Ting Bao… are you and Song Song… ahem… purposely avoiding having kids? It’s near your six month anniversary but you’re not pregnant. If the two of you aren’t using protection then both of you should have a health check. There is good medicine these days to help… ahem… do you get what I’m saying?’ Ting’s mum said.