Chapter 141 The Truth, One That She Felt Compelled to Divulge to the Stepmother (1/2)
That night, when Ying Qingcang and Young Master Shen returned for dinner, Xin Qing recapped what happened during the day, though not without feeling a sense of lingering fear. Ying Qingcang glanced at Shen Batian, who was now sitting on the couch engaging Ying Hao in a game of Morra. ”That year, Grandpa Shen got into a fight with someone. He suffered over twenty stab wounds and was shot five times in his shoulder and thigh during that fight. Not only did he survive, but he also killed his enemy. After that, he got to the hospital all on his own. The doctor in charge was so startled by the state of his injuries that he passed out.”
”Uncle Shen is a hero!” Xin Qing nodded. ”Too bad Young Master Shen is nothing like him.”
Ying Qingcang smirked. ”You'll know in the future!”
Xin Qing stared at him. ”What does he mean by that?” she wondered.
”Alright! Let's eat!” Ying Qingcang kissed her and then led her into the dining hall.
Noticing that Ying Qingcang's approach, Ying Hao slapped the table in order to get his attention. ”We've talked things over and decided that we'll celebrate Ah Sha's birthday again.”
Ying Qingcang pulled out a chair for Xin Qing. When Xin Qing was seated, he sat down in the chair beside hers. After that, he gave Ying Hao a cold stare. ”Yeah? Who are 'we'? How come I don't know anything about this?”
Shen Batian waved his hand at Ying Hao. ”Ying brat, you're getting married soon. The media will dig out the old stuff about Ah Sha. So why not just have a grand birthday party? That way you can make a statement and let everyone know that Ah Sha is the daughter between you and Xin Qing.”
”I think that'll work,” Young Master Shen said, nodding as well, ”Otherwise someone will ask you that question to your face during the wedding day. It'll be such a mood killer.”
Ying Qingcang thought for a moment, and then he turned towards Xin Qing. ”What do you think?”
”That sound's fine. Besides, this weekend will be her birthday based on the solar calendar. So let's celebrate it again.” Xin Qing had no intention of letting anyone dig up Ah Sha's past on her wedding day; she did not want such an important day to be tainted by those unhappy memories.
The following day, the members of S City's media as well as the people of status received invitations. The President of Ying Enterprises was holding a birthday party for his daughter! A lot of people who had just entered society were dying to get their hands such an invitation just so they could attend the party. However, one day before the party, another unwelcome guest appeared at Ying's residence.
”What are you doing here?” Shocked, Ying Hao glanced at the person who had just entered the house. Xin Qing, too, was gawking at the newcomer.
Rong Siman, whom they had not seen for a long time, remained as beautiful as ever as she stood under the light. A seductive smile adorned her lips. Beside her stood her son, Ying Muhai.
”I want to see Ah Sha, too!” she said smilingly, though her eyes were fixed upon Ying Qingcang. ”Ah Cang, long time no see!”
Xin Qing sneered inwardly. ”Does this woman think of everyone else as idiots?” she thought. ”Seriously? Making eyes at her own stepson, right in front her own husband no less? Oh, and while her stepson's wife was standing there as well?”
”Daddy. Big brother!” Ying Muhai greeted. Frowning, Ying Hao answered the greeting with an ”mm”. Ying Qingcang, on the other hand, ignored them completely. Instead, he shot a glance at Ying Hao and said, ”You guys can stay at a hotel.”
Rong Siman stared at Ying Qingcang and said, ”I can't even be here to see your daughter?” As she spoke, Rong Siman's eyes became misty. With a scoff, Xin Qing turned around and stomped upstairs. Ying Qingcang's cold gaze swept from Rong Siman to her son. After that, he trailed after Xin Qing. Ying Hao sighed.
”Ah Fu, prepare the bedroom.”
When Ying Qingcang returned to the master bedroom, Xin Qing was glaring at him angrily.
”Haha. What's wrong? Who has made my wife Her Excellency so mad?”
”If you don't explain this clearly today, then you should forget about coming to bed tonight!” Xin Qing said, her lips downturned. She did not even feel as bad just now when she noticed Rong Siman making eyes at Ying Qingcang. Right now, she felt disgusted down to the core.
Ying Qingcang entered the bathroom. ”I'll explain everything after I take a bath!”
Xin Qing prepared some potato chips and a glass of fruit juice. When Ying Qingcang emerged and saw what she had done, he chuckled. ”Preparing yourself for a good story, I guess?”
”Yep! I'm all prepped to hear cliched love story about wealthy families!”
Ying Qingcang lay down on the bed and pulled her into his arms. ”I guess I'll have to start by telling you about the old man's lover. When the old man was forced into an arranged marriage with that woman, he already had another woman whom he was deeply in love with. But he gave up a life with her for the sake of the family.”
Not everyone could do what Ying Hao had done.
”But that woman, the one he was arranged to be wed with, couldn't accept it. She was upset that she couldn't stay with her own lover, so she took out her frustration on others. She ended up hiring a bunch of people to gang-rape the old man's lover. The old man's lover was then thrown into a red-light district somewhere overseas. By the time the old man tracked her down, she had already been tortured beyond saving. And she even had a three-year-old girl at the time.”
”Whose child is she?” Xin Qing felt an ache in her heart at what she just heard. ”One of the guys who gang-raped her?”
”Yeah,” Ying Qingcang said, patting her hand. ”Before she died, the old man's lover begged him to take care of her daughter. After that the old man took the girl to some unknown place and hid her there. Then when I was about six or seven years old, he brought the girl back. Well, Monica has told you the rest!”
”You grew up together, and she liked you. But how did she end up marrying your father all of a sudden?”
A cold and bone-chilling aura exuded from Ying Qingcang right then and there, causing Xin Qing to raise her head from his chest. ”What's wrong?”
”That's the most disgusting memory of my life,” Ying Qingcang said, clenching his fist, ”When I was seventeen, she drugged both of us, me and herself. By the time I woke up, she and I were naked on the bed.”
Xin Qing sat up all of a sudden. ”You lied to me. You told me I was your first. You, you slept with her!”