Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
After an almost six-hour car ride, it was already nine at night when Ning Qing arrived at her destination. Xiao Cui’s house was in another old village in another city. She pushed open the door and walked into Xiao Cui’s house.
Xiao Cui’s parents had been taken to the city by their son. It had been a while since someone visited. The brightly colored wall was covered with moss, and the wooden door was teetering.
Ning Qing entered the house and she touched the wall to reach for the switch. Pak! A light in the house lit up.
There’s some light at least.
Ning Qing looked around the house and opened the door to enter the room on the west side of the house.
Ning Qing could recognize that it was where Xiao Cui used to live. She looked around and opened the drawer.
There were a few letters in the drawer. Ning Qing read them. Xiao Cui was a filial daughter. She mailed back every check from her job at the Ning family home to her parents to support them. She also exhorted them to take care of their health.
It wasn’t difficult for Ning Qing to make a guess that Xiao Cui must have realized that she was in the last stage of cancer. Hence, before she passed away, she had accepted a huge sum of money from Li Meiling and framed Ning Qing’s Mom.
Ning Qing saw Xiao Cui’s handwriting which was neat and elegant. She was an educated person. She took one of the letters, folded it, and put it in her pocket.
Nothing else of interest could be found in the house, and Ning Qing prepared to leave.
Just as she was walking out the front door, she noticed a group of four or five men dressed in black. With one look, she could tell that the men were gangsters. All of them put their hands on their waist as they eyed Ning Qing up to down indecently.
“Hehe, which city is this girl from? Looks so pretty and delicate. I have never seen anyone so pretty. Girl, aren’t you lonely being here alone? Why not let us keep you company? Haha,” the crew of gangsters said as they approached Ning Qing.
Ning Qing retreated in fear. She tried her best to stay calm. She looked at them with high alert. “Who are you? Who sent you here?”
“Haha, no one sent us here. We saw a beautiful girl and we were tempted. We wanted to come to have some fun. Baby, come on.” The ring leader charged forward in a hurry.
“Humph.” Ning Qing didn’t dodge but humphed indignantly. In a bright and loud voice, she said, “Do you know who my husband is? My husband is President Lu from Lu Group. He has power and authority. If you dare lay a hand on just a strand of my hair, he will make sure you suffer more than you can imagine! I don’t know who sent you over but the person is definitely harming you. Who knows, he might move to kill you if you touch me.”
Everyone was threatened by Ning Qing confidence. They had never seen any girl so calm and composed. One of them went forward and commented, “Boss, is what she said true? Is Li Meiling reliable? There are so many cases of murder to keep one’s mouth shut.”
“What bullshit are you talking about?” The boss quickly gave his underling a tight slap the moment he let the name Li Meiling slip.
“Li Meiling sent you? How much is she paying you? Let me go and I’ll pay you in double,” Ning Qing said.
The ring leader rubbed his chin as he smiled maliciously. “Money, we have. However, such a beautiful girl… It’s our first time seeing one. What are you waiting for, boys? If I were to die beneath a great beauty, at least I’ll die happy. Go!”
Ning Qing couldn’t dodge in time. The ring leader charged forward and forced her down onto the table. The ring leader covered her mouth and pulled clothes with his other hand.
Ning Qing opened her mouth and bit the ring leader’s hand. The ring leader then let go due to the pain. Ning Qing kicked the ring leader’s bottom swiftly and accurately.
The ring leader had never once come across such a ferocious woman. He held his bottom as he groaned in pain.
The other four men charged forward. Someone lifted his hand to slap Ning Qing it made her light-headed.
As her body was against the wall, she grabbed a rusty scissor and stabbed the shoulder of the person closest to her. His blood spattered on her face.
“Go away. Otherwise, I’ll kill all of you!”
The four men saw the woman had a weapon in her hand and they were stunned. Ning Qing seized the chance and swung the scissor before them. Everyone moved to dodge while Ning Qing ran out the door.
“Hurry up. Do not let the woman escape!” the ring leader ordered.
Ning Qing ran with all her strength. The village road was full of muddy holes and there weren’t any street lamps. Her crystal clear eyes were like a black cat during the night, shimmering with a stubborn and strong will to live.
She wouldn’t die there; her life had just begun.
After running quite some distance, she suddenly heard a car driving over. Headlights shone towards her and Ning Qing quickly blocked her eyes. There’s a car coming.
Ning Qing looked at the logo of the Bentley and she shouted in surprise, “Shaoming!”
The gang of crooks felt that they were unlucky. The cat was too wild and they let her run away as they had let their guard down. Who would have guessed that the woman could run so fast, they couldn’t even catch up with her.
“Oh sh*t, someone’s here. Hurry up and leave!” The ring leader waved and quickly retreated.
The car door opened and Ning Qing let out a breath of relief when she saw the familiar handsome figure. She collapsed on the ground, Lucky, lucky. I was this close to getting in trouble.
“Ning Qing, are you crazy? Don’t you know how dangerous it is to come here alone?” Lu Shaoming squatted down. He held her cheeks with one hand and stared at her coldly.
“Hehe,” Ning Qing blinked her eyes playfully as she pouted and acted spoilt. “Shaoming, I was frightened earlier. Don’t scold me!”
Lu Shaoming had nowhere to vent his anger. The girl was still panting. The breeze of the autumn night blew against her beautiful hair and her nose was red from the cold but she was looking up with a smiling face trying to ingratiate herself with him.
She was trying to ingratiate herself with him.
Lu Shaoming suppressed the raging anger in him. He suddenly felt moisture on his fingertip and his pupil contracted. He pulled her into his arms and said, “Ning Qing, where did you hurt yourself? Why are you bleeding?”
Ning Qing extended her arms to hug his neck. “Shaoming, the blood is a gangster’s. I stabbed him with a pair of scissors. Shaoming, carry me to the car. I’m so cold. Someone slapped me earlier, my face hurts.”
…
Lu Shaoming carried Ning Qing to the car. Her cheek was swollen. Lu Shaoming opened the mini first aid kit and put on some medicine for her to alleviate the swelling.
The man made an effort to be gentle, as he was afraid that he might hurt her. However, his face was tense in distress. Ning Qing immediately hugged his arms and said bashfully, “Shaoming, don’t be angry. It doesn’t hurt anymore. Those gangsters didn’t get to take advantage of me.”
Lu Shaoming closed the first aid kit and look sideways at the face on his arm. He responded by sharply asking, “What if you’re taken advantage of? What if you have an accident?”
“It won’t happen. I learned self-defense in school long ago, especially to fight off those gangsters. Plus, there were many men who have tried to use me over the past three years, and I’ve found the tactics to deal with them. Let me tell you a secret about your wife; not only am I an academic overachiever, but I am also a champion long-distance runner. No one can beat me.”
The girl spoke innocently but Lu Shaoming only felt heartache when he heard it all. The silly girl wasn’t even upset about the suffering that she had been through. He was in distress on her behalf.
He drove for over five hours. On the way there, his hands were covered in cold sweat. For thirty years of his life, he had never been this afraid. The moment he thought of her taking the risk alone, he would break out in a cold sweat.
He was so afraid of losing her.
“Ning Qing, if you were to take such a huge risk in the future… I can only get involved in your life and send two bodyguards to look after you and monitor your whereabouts.”
“No! You promise to let me grow up on my own. I don’t want to be a caged canary. I’ll let you know before I do anything else in the future.”
Lu Shaoming didn’t speak, but his fingers pinched her smooth cheeks hard. It felt refined. Her cheeks were so soft and smooth.
“Ouch!” Ning Qing slapped his hand away and let out a satisfying groan. “Shaoming, why are you here today?”
“Huh? I called you in the morning but you didn’t answer so I went to pick you up at the filming studio after work. Your assistant Xiao Zhou told me you’d taken a long-distance bus so I took a wild guess that you’d definitely be here.” Lu Shaoming then raised his blade-like eyebrows and looked at her in disdain with a smile. “Why? What do you get from coming here alone?”
Look at his expression, he was obviously belittling me!
Men who are dealing with all of the turbulence of the business circle, like him, naturally wouldn’t bother about the battle among the wealthy families. A man had their career and wouldn’t get involved in a woman’s personal matters.
Just like the humiliation that he inflicted upon Ning Yao, it was so sharp and merciless. However, he wouldn’t expose Ning Yao at the banquet hall. It was the way of a man from an influential family.
He disdained to do so and he wasn’t used to it.
“Of course. When the gangsters wanted to take advantage of me, I made an audio recording.” Ning Qing took out her phone from her jeans pocket then she slid the screen. There was a recording of the gangster’s voice:
“Boss, is what she said real? Is Li Meiling reliable? There are so many cases of murder to keep one’s mouth shut…”
Lu Shaoming’s slender eyes twinkled and turned around to look into the girl’s eyes. In her eyes, there was the light of wisdom shimmering. Heh, he did belittle her.
The corner of his lips lifted into a loving arc as he asked gently, “How do you know that Li Meiling would send someone over?”
He instantly knew her plan the moment she played the recording. Exactly, she knew long ago that Li Meiling would send someone over. Hence, she recorded in silence when the gangsters appeared.
“I thought about it carefully in the afternoon. Both trails of clue from Xiao Cui and Grandma were cut off. Li Meiling could sit back and relax. Why did Li Meiling call to look for Xiao Cui in the morning? She definitely guessed that I’ve been monitoring her, and she wanted to mislead me to Xiao Cui’s house!”
“If so, I might as well jump into the trap that she has prepared. You won’t get a tiger if you don’t enter the tiger’s den. I want to know what trick she was playing. There’s a flaw in every lie. I’m waiting for her to take action. I had just never guessed that her tricks are forever so low. She had no better ideas than to hire gangsters!”
“Mm.” Lu Shaoming kissed her forehead and pulled her into his embrace. “But the recording wouldn’t be sufficient to charge Li Meiling for her wrongdoings. What is your plan?”
Ning Qing nestled in his arms and smiled the refreshing scent on him. She thought and said, “I’ve yet to decide. I won’t take action recklessly this time. I will knock her down once I take action.”
“Hehe,” Lu Shaoming lifted her chin with two fingers and kissed her, “My wife, why do I find you smarter and more lovable?”
She had always been like that. She could come back from death’s door and beat someone at their own game. Plus, when she was dealing with the gangsters, she was calm and composed. Even when she stabbed the gangster and the blood spattered on her face, she didn’t panic. How many girls in the world would be as determined and brave as she was?
Even if she were homeless, she could still live an amazing life!
Ning Qing’s cheeks grew rosy. Actually, her little tricks couldn’t be compared to his. He was experienced and mature. She was innocent in comparison.
But he was so happy and treated her as his precious treasure.
Ning Qing hugged his head and responded to him bashfully yet passionately.
That’s great. He drove all this way to pick her up!
…
After a deep kiss, Ning Qing lay on the passenger seat. Lu Shaoming took out his jacket and covered her. “Ning Qing, let’s have dinner. What do you want to eat?”
“Mm, we’ll just eat somewhere in town. Don’t have to take a detour.” Ning Qing felt heartache for him because he had to drive for so long. Even a man of steel couldn’t stand this.
“Okay.”
In twenty minutes’ time, Lu Shaoming arrived at the nearest town. Ning Qing saw a hotpot joint that was quite clean and she suggested, “Shaoming, let’s have hotpot. It’s best to have hotpot in autumn.”
“Mm,” Lu Shaoming parked the car.
The two of them entered the hotpot shop. There were a few other tables of guests and she picked the seat by the window while Lu Shaoming sat opposite her.
The waiter passed them a menu. Ning Qing first picked a few dishes and she passed the menu to Lu Shaoming. The man looked down at the menu and read carefully.
The more time she spent with him, the more she noticed his precious qualities. He used to go to and come from high-class venues, eat and wear the best products, but he still never minds coming to small restaurants. There was an unrestrained manner in his character.
He took off his suit jacket and put it on the chair next to him. The handsome body of the man in the white shirt was like a statue when he wasn’t moving. He was elegant and charming.
He looked superior to simple men.
Lu Shaoming picked a few dishes and passed the menu back to the waitress. He then said in a deep voice, “And two glasses of water.”
“Okay,” the waitress didn’t know who the man was but she found him even more attractive than those men on TV. The waitress replied excitedly as she blushed in titillation.
After the waitress left, Ning Qing lifted her eyes to see the few tables of guests eyeing Lu Shaoming. The girls in small towns never see any man who is as elegant and poised as Lu Shaoming. It was quite a shock to the patrons, especially since all the guests were girls in their twenties. The way they covered their mouths and giggled looked just like cats in heat.
Ning Qing felt uneasy.
They cast greedy eyes over my man; Do they think I don’t exist?
The waiter brought two glasses of water over and Lu Shaoming raised a glass of water to his lips. Then, Ning Qing said, “Shaoming, I want to drink water.”
Lu Shaoming looked up at her in shock and glanced at the glass of water by the side of her hand. He was trying to tell her that she has her own.
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