Chapter 245 My Reaction to You Is Purely Physical (1/2)
Xin Qing visibly shuddered when she saw the person in the photo. Zhang Mi, on the other hand, released a guttural roar.
”F*ck! This son of a b*tch?”
The photo showed Rong Siman having dinner with Elder Li and it was taken by someone whom Ying Qingcang had sent in the past to surveil them.
Xin Qing tried her best to tamp down the memories of her being tortured and humiliated by Elder Li. She laid the photo face down on her desk. ”Rong Siman did interact with him before. But he's already dead,” Xin Qing said to Ah Nan.
A hush descended upon the office. Xin Qing glanced at Zhang Mi, and then at Monica. All of a sudden, all three women covered their mouths with their hands. With a sombre look on his face, Ah Nan said, ”Perhaps he is the father of her son?”
All three women were evidently appalled by that thought and the look on Monica's face was as if she had just seen a ghost. ”But... isn't he gay?” Monica asked.
”Also, the guy was willing to sacrifice his life just to avenge William. It goes to show that he loved the man deeply. Is it even possible that he would end up with a woman and have a child with her?” Zhang Mi said. With a look of disbelief on her face, Zhang Mi picked up the photo from the table and studied it carefully. After a moment, she said, ”The way they look at each other in this photo lacks emotion. They can't possibly be lovers.”
”If it's got nothing to do with love, then could there be another purpose?” Ah Nan said. ”Like... to get their hands on the Ying family's inheritance, for instance.”
Monica's slapped her hands together. ”Oh, that's right! If anything were to happen to Ah Cang, Rong Siman's son would be the only successor of Ying family!”
There was a weak glint in Xin Qing's eyes. ”If that's the case, then Elder Li might be the one who tampered with the Ancestral Behest,” she said.
”That's right!” Ah Nan nodded. ”He must have seduced Rong Siman and gotten her pregnant. Then, he made Rong Siman give birth to his child. With Rong Siman's help, he could've easily sneaked into the place where the Ancestral Behest was kept. Besides, he himself was a frequent visitor of Ying's residence since he was the old man's most trusted person.”
Xin Qing picked up the photo again. ”Looks like he really loved William deeply,” Xin Qing remarked with a frown.
Elder Li must have planned everything out before he made his move on Ying Qingcang. If things were to go south, there was still Rong Siman. He must have left all his assets and manpower to that woman. He understood Rong Siman's obsession with Ying Qingcang. He knew that a woman who was driven by love would do anything to get what she wanted.
”William was at the helm of his family for so many years, so he must have accumulated a considerable amount of wealth in secret. It's likely that he had given it all to Elder Li for safekeeping and to keep it out of public eyes.” Xin Qing glanced at Ah Nan. ”Look into Elder Li's finances. If I'm correct, the assets should all be in France.”
”Okay. I'll get on with it right away.” Ah Nan was very excited about this new development. If they could get to the bottom of this, they might be able to have some leads as to what had truly happened to Young Master!
Monica waited until Ah Nan had left before she handed the document in her hand to Xin Qing. ”This is the information about that piece land. Have a look.”
”You mean the one with the mountain where she was stranded in?” Zhang Mi asked as she grabbed a copy of the document. ”This is obviously a trap. What the hell is Ying Qingcang up to?”
”A few years ago, before the forest area were developed, Ying Enterprises had sent over a team of surveyors to check out the place. After that, Ah Cang mentioned that its geographic condition isn't ideal. Even if the roads were repaired, they would still cave in due to various weather factors. In other words, the place is prone to accidents. Besides, there weren't a lot open projects that require the use of land at that time. So he scrapped the whole development plan. But two years ago, there was an investor who had developed that place. And the result is...” Monica shrugged. Everyone had already seen the result.
Xin Qing set down the documents and said, ”Seems like everyone's already aware about the underground cave near that mountain. Ying Qingcang was just one step ahead of everyone else. He bought the land before the official announcement was made.”
”Then why is he seeking us out?” Zhang Mi tossed the document onto the desk. ”Something like that isn't necessarily true. The government doesn't give a sh*t about the investors. I'm telling you, there's something wrong with that piece of land.”
Monica stared at Xin Qing. ”What are you planning to do?”
”I don't know,” Xin Qing said, massaging her temples. ”Ah Cang wants to invest in that piece of land out of the blue, and he's even planning to drag Xin Enterprises into it. He must have his reasons for doing that. Still, I don't know whether I should trust him. Even if everything he had done so far indicates that he's facing some kind of dilemma, I'm not willing to risk Xin Enterprises.”
Monica sighed. ”Actually I think you trust him. Otherwise, you would have died of excessive crying ages ago.”
”Go to hell!” Xin Qing glared at Monica. ”I'll need to think about this again. After all, nobody else knows that Ying Qingcang was the one who had bought that land. Let's just wait and see how things play out.”
What she did not expect was that a few days later, Ying Qingcang told a reporter during a dinner party that he had purchased that land and was looking to invest in a bunch of holiday homes in that area. Xin Qing was in the middle of telling Wangwang a story when she saw everything on TV. On screen, Ying Qingcang was smiling directly at the camera.
”I've asked President Xin before about a potential partnership between us. But she has yet to give me an answer!”
That one line had caused a media storm the next day with all kinds of nonsense published in the newspaper.
”Hey, look at this!” Excited, Zhang Mi toss the newspaper down in front of Xin Qing. ”'President Xin Using Her Feminine Wiles Once Again. Ying Qingcang Falls to His Knees, Begging for a Reconciliation.'”
Xin Qing shoved the newspaper aside. ”Are you that free?”
”As if! I'm swamped with work!” Zhang Mi said with an eye-roll. Then, she leaned her head closer to Xin Qing and asked, ”Now you be honest with me, alright? How did he know that you and the kids were there in the mountain? Did any sparks fly that night?”
Xin Qing nudged Zhang Mi's head away. ”First of all, I have no idea why he showed up on that mountain. Second, there were many people present at the time. So, no. There wasn't a single opportunity for sparks to fly,” Xin Qing said in a tone of annoyance.
”And I bet you'd jump at it if there was!” Apparently, Zhang Mi still refused to give up. Xin Qing just stood up, grabbed her handbag, and walked away from there.
For the next few days, a lot of reporters were desperately trying to get an interview with Xin Qing. Xin Qing was beyond frustrated and had had just about enough of all the nonsense, so she announced to the public that she was open to the idea of accepting Ying Qingcang's offer, just that she had to inspect the land first. One day following her announcement, Ah Nan came up to her while sporting the expression of a man struggling with chronic constipation. He told her that the people from Ying Qingcang's company had called to invite her to a joint inspection of that land.