“The head of ALMUS agreed to me. All the models for the debut show of their upcoming women’s line ‘ELEVEN’ will be from our company.”
“This is ALMUS! A top domestic fashion brand. If we do this job well, GEMINI will definitely break into the domestic market completely.”
Xuan Zhi was swaying on her feet. Shen Qing led Xiaoyu out of the house, and before she even reached her, she could faintly smell alcohol. As she got closer, the smell shot straight to the top of her head.
Shen Qing frowned, scooped Xiaoyu up in one motion, pressed the girl’s head against her chest so she wouldn’t see her mother like this, and in a few quick moves tucked Xiaoyu into the car. She stroked her head soothingly and instructed, “Go to sleep if you’re tired.”
Fortunately, Xuan Xiaoyu was well-behaved and didn’t fuss. When Shen Qing told her to sleep, she obediently closed her eyes.
Shen Qing closed the car door, shutting out Xuan Zhi’s voice.
Back when they were abroad, this situation had been common. The company was small, so they had to go out and negotiate business themselves, and drinking was a regular occurrence. Unless a partner specifically asked for Xuan Zhi’s company, Shen Qing was usually the one who went.
If Xuan Zhi went and came back drunk, Xiaoyu would occasionally see her. Though young, the girl knew how hard her mother worked to earn money, so she became even more obedient, whatever the adults said, she would do.
“I traded my looks for this deal! It wasn’t easy!”
Xuan Zhi had always been dramatic when she spoke, so Shen Qing didn’t take it seriously. She sidestepped Xuan Zhi’s excited lunge and said with disdain, “How much did you drink? You didn’t drive yourself, did you?”
Thankfully, Xuan Zhi still cared about her image and wasn’t speaking loudly, just slurring with drunken weariness.
“Nope, your big sister here follows the law. I called a designated driver… There, sitting in the driver’s seat.”
At that, Shen Qing looked toward the driver’s seat. She hadn’t noticed anyone sitting there earlier, but with just one glance, she keenly sensed hostility.
That was not the look a proper designated driver should have.
Shen Qing took Xuan Zhi by the arm and walked a few steps away from the car, lowering her voice. “How about I drive you home? It’s late at night, it’s not safe for you to have Xiaoyu with you.”
But Xuan Zhi didn’t care at all. “No need, I already paid. This driver’s skills are great. If you drove… I’m afraid I’d throw up everything I just drank.”
She shouldn’t have asked.
Shen Qing gave her a flat glance. “Called through a proper app?”
“Hm?” It took Xuan Zhi a good while to realize Shen Qing was talking about the driver. “Of course. President Qin’s assistant at ALMUS called them, how could it not be proper?”
Shen Qing thought that made sense. She had heard of this President Qin’s reputation even when they were abroad vast family, vast business; they wouldn’t put a business partner in danger. “Fine. Xiaoyu’s probably sleepy too. Head home early, and remember to text me that you got back safe.”
Xuan Zhi said goodbye to Shen Qing and staggered toward the parked car. Suddenly the car door opened and the designated driver stepped out. Blocked by the shrubs beside the flower bed, Shen Qing could only see their hazy, overlapping silhouettes.
Hiss!
By the light spilling from the garden, Shen Qing studied the driver carefully for a few moments.
It was a woman.
About the same height as Xuan Zhi, in a gray suit, with long straight black hair and she seemed to be wearing glasses.
She couldn’t see the face clearly, but with her wealth of experience reading people, she could tell from the woman’s back alone that she carried an extraordinary air.
Would someone like that work as a designated driver?
Perhaps she could sign her to the company.
Also, she hadn’t been back in the country for years. Were designated drivers this devoted to their clients nowadays?!
Shen Qing was shocked, as if she’d never seen the world.
By the time she walked back to the Shen residence, Jiang Wangshu was no longer in the living room, and Shen Qing hurried joyfully toward Jiang Wangshu’s room.
She thought: This time her sister had finally listened to her. She had to explain things properly.
She pushed open the door and barged into her sister’s room. Shen Qing heard a tiny startled gasp. Padding in on her slippers, she quietly closed the door behind her and heard her sister’s complaint.
“A-Qing, next time, remember to knock. You startled me.”
Dim yellow light enveloped the whole room. A white lace robe wrapped around Jiang Wangshu’s body, the skin exposed to the air pale and firm. Her half-dry long hair was twisted up at the back of her head with a claw clip. Jiang Wangshu sat before the mirror, applying essential oil to her slender calves.
The heater was on in the room. Perhaps because Shen Qing was dressed more warmly, she felt a surge of heat rise in her chest, and she unconsciously tugged down the collar of her shirt, two buttons at her chest instantly came undone.
Shen Qing approached Jiang Wangshu’s vanity. Caught off guard by such a sight, her heart pounded wildly, and she didn’t know where to put her hands and feet yet she still had to put on a show of bravado: “Sis, you said before that I had the right to come and go in your room freely. You’re going back on your word.”
Jiang Wangshu frowned, too lazy to bother with her. She reached up and removed the claw clip, her hair cascading down like a waterfall over her smooth, fair back. Toweling her hair, she turned and asked, “Is there something you want to tell me, A-Qing?”
Shen Qing was dumbstruck. No matter how close they had been before, she had never seen this side of Jiang Wangshu. Who would have thought that after marrying Shen Dai, such an alluring side of her could still be uncovered?
Damn.
One second Shen Qing had been nervous; the next, a sudden dull ache gripped her chest.
She had just, shamelessly, resented a dead person.
“A-Qing?”
Jiang Wangshu smoothed her robe, rose, and sat at the head of the bed, calling her name again. Her voice was impossibly soft Shen Qing reasonably suspected she’d been drinking honey before bed. Why else would it be so sweet?
“Would you like some honey water? We don’t seem to have any at home. If you want it, I’ll ask the housekeeper to buy some tomorrow.”
Shen Qing hadn’t expected to actually say what was on her mind. Caught red-handed, her cheeks instantly flushed red, and she answered with a wandering gaze: “Sure, whatever you arrange, sis.”
She had forgotten, she didn’t like sweet things at all.
Finally remembering that she needed to explain, Shen Qing’s expression turned serious. She crouched in front of Jiang Wangshu’s knees and looked up at her: “Sis, don’t arrange that family dinner for the two families to meet. I never had a partner abroad at all. Xuan Zhi and I are just friends and ordinary business partners, it’s nothing like what you think.”
“The only reason we even met was that when I couldn’t afford to eat abroad, she pulled me up and gave me the chance to work part-time as a model. Without her, I would have starved on the streets long ago. That’s why we’re so close.”
Jiang Wangshu had always anticipated that going abroad would involve some hardship for her, but she hadn’t imagined it would be this hard. At the words “starved on the streets,” her heart trembled. She became even more certain that Shen Xiaqing held not the slightest shred of feeling for Shen Qing.
“I only said I had a partner to make you jealous, to make you see me, instead of us not even being able to exchange a single word.”
Once she started talking, the rest came easier, and Shen Qing felt as if a weight had been lifted.
“I wanted to explain several times after that, but I kept getting interrupted, which is how it dragged on until Shen Xiaqing found out.”
“Are you done?” There was no joy in Jiang Wangshu’s eyes at learning the truth, as Shen Qing had imagined, only an indifferent detachment, as if it were none of her concern. That made Shen Qing even more panicked.
“I’ll explain everything to her clearly…”
“Explaining clearly just means laying everything out, telling Mom you don’t have a partner, that you lied to her. And then what? Do you believe she won’t even get angry, she’ll just keep looking for a suitable marriage alliance for the Shen Corporation?”
Shen Qing had never been close to Shen Xiaqing growing up; she hadn’t spent nearly as many years with her as Jiang Wangshu had. Shen Qing couldn’t see through it, but Jiang Wangshu could see it plainly.
Shen Xiaqing’s attitude toward Shen Qing was obvious, she valued her only because she was useful and her own biological child. If it weren’t Xuan Zhi, it would be someone else. She would never allow Shen Qing to refuse.
“I won’t let her control my life. I only want you.”
“Impossible, you fool. Even if you refuse her and go abroad again, I could never belong to you. You can only hold on to what you can get.”
Jiang Wangshu’s eyes were full of weariness. Whether what Shen Qing said was true or false, she didn’t want to pursue it at all. She chose to believe her but so what?
She only wanted to please Shen Xiaqing as much as possible, to keep her from stopping her help for the Jiang family, so that her grandmother could receive treatment at Ren’ai Hospital with peace of mind.
She didn’t want to follow Jiang Shan’s advice and scheme against Shen Qing. She had always known what she was in Shen Qing’s heart, so she couldn’t let her love for her be tainted by calculation.
She wanted too much. Keeping her distance as much as possible was already the safest strategy she could think of.
“But some things were never what I wanted.” Shen Qing completely broke down, gripping Jiang Wangshu’s shoulders, her eyes reddening as she bit her lower lip hard to keep the sob from escaping.
“I’ll only say this once today. You’d better take it to heart.”
Harsh. Cold. Final.
Shen Qing felt as if she were meeting Jiang Wangshu for the first time.
“Get out.”
Jiang Wangshu issued the order to leave, and Shen Qing had no grounds to defy it. All that awaited her was obedience.
Annoyed. Utterly fed up.
She had foolishly believed that after explaining, she could return to Jiang Wangshu’s embrace, only to be met with the most resolute rejection and warning.
After being driven out of the room by Jiang Wangshu, Shen Qing suddenly felt that the vast Shen residence was like a man-eating tomb, gloomy and cold. She didn’t return to her room; instead, she fled in agony.
Driving aimlessly around the city, she once again reached toward her trench coat pocket, only to remember it had long been empty of cigarettes.
She pulled over and, braving the cold evening wind, walked into a convenience store.
She glanced at the counter and asked in a hoarse voice, “Do you have cigarettes?”
“We do, miss. Which brand would you like?”
“Just grab any pack. Any price is fine.”
“Any” was the most troublesome word there was. Shen Qing suddenly realized this, and just as she was about to apologize, the clerk handed her a pack of Nanjing cigarettes.
After scanning the payment code, Shen Qing was about to take her things when she noticed a grape-flavored lollipop lying beside them.
“I didn’t order any candy.”
The clerk smiled at her. “It’s a gift. Something sweet will cheer you up.”
Shen Qing didn’t refuse the clerk’s kindness. She tucked the lollipop into her pocket, said her thanks, and walked out of the convenience store.
The cold wind stirred the ends of her hair, and a drizzle of rain landed on the tip of her nose. Only then did Shen Qing realize it had started raining in Haicheng at night cold, icy rain that draped a layer of loneliness over this coastal city.
Back in her car, Shen Qing didn’t roll up the windows, letting the rain drift inside. She took a lighter out of the armrest compartment and lit a cigarette.
She put it to her lips and took a drag. The sharp, minty taste instantly flooded her throat, and an itch began to rise within it.
She coughed for a long while. When she tried to breathe, she found she couldn’t catch her breath. The autumn night rain drifting into her body seemed to have grown moss all over her lungs, even breathing had become painful.
She didn’t smoke the rest of the cigarette. She simply watched quietly as the smoke rose and swirled inside the car until it went out.
Gradually, extreme pain and despair surged wildly through her blood. An ache welled up unbidden in her heart, and tears slid down her cheeks. She stubbornly wiped them away, but as the tears kept coming, she could no longer wipe them all away.
She just wanted to sob, to let it all out. She lay slumped over the steering wheel, not wanting passersby to see her wretched state, so she desperately suppressed her sobs.
“What happened?”
Just then, a startled voice suddenly sounded from outside the car window.