70 The Hong Men Banquet 1 (1/2)

The room was bare with beige-colored walls. The only pop of colour was the thick green curtains that hung beside the only window in the room.

The single bed, a few tables and a television made the already small room felt even more cramped. The only source of air circulation other than the open window was the ceiling fan that turned lazily. Thankfully, it was not the summer or the place would be as hot as the inside of an oven.

Yellowish tendrils snaked down from the corners of the ceiling, a sign of water leakage as well as the advanced years of the apartment.

The place was dilapidated but it was the only place an actor who was new to the scene, like Qing Qing could afford.

Everyone said home should be the place where you could relax and unwind after a long day but Qing Qing resented this hell hole. She wished more than anything to move out of the place but that was beyond her ability for now. She would have to wait for her plans to come into fruition first.

Qing Qing sat on the bed that acted as the chair as she wrote a letter on the small coffee table. When she finished the letter, she attached it with not a small amount of money she received as pay from the film, ”Bringing the Nation's Husband Home” as well as clippings of news article that had her pictures or had featured her.

She sealed it up and pasted a stamp. The rather puffy envelope was addressed to a small village at the countryside and Qing Qing expected it would take days before it reached its destination.

Writing the letter renewed her sense of purpose, it reminded her to set her eyes on the goal. As she set the envelope aside, Qing Qing's eyes burned with a fire that swore to scorch anything and anyone that dared to stand behind herself and her goal.

Speaking of her goal, Qing Qing knew it was time to access the process of her plans. The scandalous picture proved less successful than she thought but that was fine because it was only phase one. She had more tricks up her sleeves and it was time to advance to phase two.

She picked up her phone from the table and fired the same message to three different people, ”Sister Joann/ Brother Lee Mu/ Brother Xu Jing, do you mind coming out to meet me at Spring Leaf Cafe at 3 pm tomorrow?”

The first to reply was the easiest one to deal with for Qing Qing, Lee Mu. They shared an amiable working relationship so he was gentleman enough to accept her invitation. After all, an innocent meal between colleague could not have been more common. It was understandable that it did not cross Lee Mu's mind that this would be a Hong Men Banquet carefully oschetrated by Qing Qing.

After getting Lee Mu's confirmation and sending him the address to the cafe, Qing Qing's second reply came.