Chapter 165 Ah Shas Food Poisoning (1/2)

Young Master Shen flew to France the following day and left immediately after delivering the pill to Xin Qing. When Zhang Mi came home that night and found out that Young Master Shen had been here, she began scolding him again, calling him a ”cold-hearted wolf”. Xin Qing responded to Zhang Mi's whining with a mocking remark.

”You complain about him when he's here, and complain about him too when he leaves. You're so hard to please.”

Zhang Mi stared at her for a moment. The look gave Xin Qing's goosebumps. ”What?” she asked.

”I've been meaning to ask for quite some time now, but in the end, I always held myself back,” said Zhang Mi. ”When we first arrived in France, you were moody and quiet. But that lasted only for the first few days, and now you're acting as if everything's fine. Is it really that easy for you? To let go, I mean.”

The smile on Xin Qing's lips faded. Leaning back on the couch, Xin Qing stared at the plants on the windowsill; it was a vine whose shoots were spreading and climbing to greater heights. Basking in the sunlight, its lush green leaves glittered, filling it with hope.

Xin Qing had grown the vine after she got here. In fact, it was not the only potted plant she had. The outside of the house was adorned with bonsai. She had even dug out a small pond in the backyard and had gotten several water lilies from Chinatown for a high price. She had also made daily orders of flowers from the florist at the end of their street; every morning, someone from the florist would deliver fresh Calla lilies to the house. In the language of flowers, Calla lilies meant hope.

”Oh, so you wish that I'm crying and moping around every day?” Xin Qing glared at Zhang Mi. ”Life goes on, believe it or not. The Earth won't stop revolving Just because a man dumped me. Plus, I still have Ah Sha to care for. I won't allow her to see me as just another pathetic mother. Romance isn't the only thing in this world.”

”Besides, my romance is waiting for me at the same place from the start. Ying Qingcang will worry about me even more if I'm living unhappily. That's why I'll live my life well. That way, he can let go of his burden of worrying about me and focus on dealing with all his problems,” Xin Qing thought.

She never voiced out that thought, of course. If Ying Qingcang had kept even Young Master Shen out of the loop, telling Zhang Mi about it was definitely not an option.

”Easy for you to say. It's like you've suddenly become so strong, and I'm seriously having trouble getting used to seeing it. You used to cry all the time. But it seems you don't even do that anymore these days,” Zhang Mi said, pouting. ”It's like you've grown up all of a sudden.”

Xin Qing poked Zhang Mi's head. ”Why do I feel like you're just jealous of the fact that I'm more mature than you?”

”As if!” Zhang Mi shoved Xin Qing aside. ”I've always been mature.”

While the two women were laughing and giggling, Ah Sha had run into trouble at the kindergarten. When Xin Qing and Zhang Mi got to the hospital, every kid at the kindergarten was there; some of them were crying, while others were fast asleep. Ah Sha was already exhausted from crying, and could now only manage weak sobs. Her tiny face was as white as a sheet and her breaths came in quick pants.

Xin Qing picked up Ah Sha carefully. With red-rimmed eyes, Xin Qing asked the teacher, ”What on earth is going on?”

As it turned out, the kindergarten had served the children expired meatballs during lunchbreak; all of the children were now suffering from food poisoning. Good thing the children had small appetites, so they did not eat a huge portion of the meatballs. They had all been administered vomit-inducing drugs. Now, the situation was under control.

Xin Qing wanted to take Ah Sha home instead of having her stay at the hospital. Xin Qing voiced out her wish to the doctor, who approved. They went home after taking Ah Sha's medicine from the dispensary. On the way home, Xin Qing turned to Zhang Mi with a frown. ”What's the name of that nobility school you mentioned before?” she asked.

”The Caesar Academy. Why, are you going to enrol Ah Sha?” Zhang Mi suddenly became excited. ”See? I told you to pick that school ages ago, but you didn't listen.”

Xin Qing stroke Ah Sha's tiny face. ”How was I supposed to know that these kindergartens are so unreliable,” she said worriedly. ”So what about this Caesar Academy? Is it any good?”

”Just look it up on the Internet when you get back!” Zhang Mi paused in thought. ”Apparently, normal people can't even enter. You need a referral or something. Well, just call them later to ask for more details!”

That night, Xin Qing and Zhang Mi read about Caesar Academy's history and details from the Internet; it was indeed an excellent school. The children would be segregated based on age categories. In fact, its kindergarten had the best environment in the entire academy. There were even daily shuttle services to send children back home after class.

Of course, these shuttle services were not free; you still have to pay quite a sum as service fare. There was an E-enrolment form on the academy's website, which Xin Qing filled up and sent to the specified email address. After that, she anxiously waited for a reply.

There was a section in the form which had asked for the name of a public figure or a member of nobility as their referral. They did not someone like that as an acquaintance, so Xin Qing had left it blank. In other words, they had no idea whether or not Ah Sha would even be accepted. Surprisingly, Caesar Academy had gotten back to them quickly. Three days after the submission of the enrolment form, Xin Qing received a phone call from a woman.

”Hello, we're calling from Caesar Academy. Am I speaking to Miss Xin Qing?”

Xin Qing and Zhang Mi were playing lego blocks with Ah Sha when the call came in. At the mention of Caesar, Xin Qing stood up anxiously. ”Yes. This is Xin Qing speaking!”

”It's like this. We're calling to ask when is a good time for you to visit the academy? And then we wish to discuss with you about the time of your daughter's admittance to the academy.”

Apparently, Xin Qing's mind had failed to keep up. ”Ah! But I thought I left the referral section blank!” she said stupidly.

”Miss Xin, you don't require a referral at all since you're a top designer at CK. It's an honor to have you pick our academy as the kindergarten of choice for your daughter.”

Zhang Mi waved at her and then gave her a huge thumbs up.

Ignoring Zhang Mi, Xin Qing spoke into the phone, ”Then can we visit the academy tomorrow?”

”Of course. How about tomorrow morning at 10? We'll receive you at the academy's main entrance!”

The woman hung up politely. Xin Qing patted Ah Sha's head. ”Huh. So Mommy is already a public figure!”

”I'll definitely become your assistant next year!” Zhang Mi clenched her hands into fists. ”That way, I'll be considered as the close associate of a celebrity.”

Xin Qing wore a traditional Chinese costume when they visited the Caesar Academy the next day. She had dressed Ah Sha in a small dress of similar style. She had brought the clothes from China. In fact, she had done the peony embroidery herself.

Zhang Mi had classes that day, but for the sake of visiting Caesar Academy, she had shamelessly called in sick. The three of them departed at 9AM. To get to the academy, they first took the highway, and then they drove along a stretch of mountain road. Even from afar, they could already make out a large complex: it was the Caesar Academy!

A middle-aged lady, who was dressed in Caesar's standard employee uniform, received them at the gates. ”Hi, Miss Xin Qing. I'm the person who called you yesterday. You can call me Melinda,” said the woman. After that, they were led straight towards the kindergarten area for their visit.