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.
"If you have more time later, you can have a look around the other academies. Today, our main purpose is to check out Ah Sha's kindergarten," Melinda said cordially while keeping her eyes on Ah Sha. "Ah Sha looks even prettier in person than on TV."
Xin Qing was a little surprised by that comment. "You've seen our advertisement?"
"Of course. Your brand is the one we recommend to all children in our kindergarten. I believe you are using the same brand too, so we won't have to worry about allergies or anything."
The kindergarten in Caesar Academy was divided into three classes with 10 kids in each class. There were also three non-academic teachers as well as two caretakers. There were eight sets of school uniform for each season. Each set came with their own set of shoes, gloves and hats, much to Zhang Mi's delight. According to Zhang Mi, she would definitely go to school here if she were to be reborn. Then again, when it was time for them to settle the school fee, Zhang Mi was no longer smiling.
After bidding farewell to Melinda, they drove away from the academy. "I did a quick calculation. Guess what, it's nearly 100,000 Renminbi per month!" Zhang Mi said with a cringe. Raising her head, she sighed. "So this is what a nobility school is like. Fucking expensive!"
Xin Qing glared. "Hey, didn't I tell you not to swear in front of Ah Sha?"
Zhang Mi raised her palms in apology before sneaking a glance at Ah Sha. Ah Sha was seated in the backseat, playing with her doll.
"It is pretty expensive. But you've also seen what the school has to offer. It's superb! They treat the children as if they were royalty!" Xin Qing recalled the facilities she had seen back at the academy just now. "It's nice to be rich indeed," she thought. "At least we can give Ah Sha the best possible schooling environment."
Zhang Mi nodded. "You can afford it after all. I saw something in the brochure just now. Parents are allowed to join in the Christmas activities! I want to check out the university section that time."
"What do you have in mind? A meet cute?" Xin Qing teased.
Zhang Mi glared at her. "Don't you think that only Prince Charmings will appear in a place like that?" Zhang Mi's eyes gleamed brightly. "You should come with me. Who knows you'll meet a good man!"
Xin Qing shook her head and ignored Zhang Mi. Her good man was still waiting for her...
Meanwhile, the good man was speaking to someone else on the phone.
"Xin Qing went to Caesar Academy. She enrolled Ah Sha at there." Boss Wan had Xin Qing's GPS coordinates, so he was able to access Xin Qing's location anytime.
Ying Qingcang sighed in relief. "I'd been wanting her to enroll Ah Sha there, but I couldn't find a chance to tell her. Now everything's in place."
"My son can help you look after her," Boss Wan added.
Two words in that comment had caught Ying Qingcang's attention and had taken him longer than necessary to digest. The first was "son", and the second was "her". After a while, he understood. "Her" referred to Ah Sha. But "son"...
"Since when did you have a son?"
"Well, I've only found out recently as well," Boss Wan said blandly.
Ying Qingcang had no idea what to say to that. He thought for a moment, and then said, "Then you can make arrangements as you see fit!"
After hanging up, Ying Qingcang began to think back on Boss Wan's history. He was an orphan. One time, he was nearly beaten to death before he was tossed into an alley. He was rescued afterwards by a young girl.
The young girl had, in Boss Wan's own words, injected Agent Orange into his body, enhancing his five senses to a level beyond that of any normal human; his sensory faculties were several times sharper than even the most highly-trained members of the special forces.
During his adulthood, Boss Wan tracked down the girl to seek revenge. Somehow, they ended up sleeping together. After that, the girl ran off, trying everything in her power to avoid him. Still, Boss Wan never stopped chasing after her. That drama lasted for quite a few years.
Now, it seemed likely that it was that girl who had given birth to his son.
"Young master!" Ah Nan entered.
For a while, Ying Qingcang watched as Ah Nan stumbled over his words.
"Spit it out."
Ah Nan sighed. "Monica is coming back."
Only now was Ying Qingcang reminded of the fact that he had sent Monica over to East Europe for half a year. It was indeed time for her to return.
"She'll definitely try to force you to tell her about the young miss."
"That's why I'll leave her to you. Your job is to take her away when she kicks up a fuss," Ying Qingcang arched his brows. "If you don't do your job, you'll join her in East Europe next year."
Ah Nan left with a dejected look. Ying Qingcang smirked and opened the lowest drawer of his desk. From the drawer, he took out a photo. It was a photo of the three of them as a family taken at the stables. Xin Qing was leaning into his embrace whereas Ah Sha was sitting on top of a horse.
"Hey, come to think of it..." Ying Qingcang suddenly thought of something. Caesar Academy had its own race course set up for students. He could send their horse there. Ying Qingcang picked up the phone to call Young Master Shen; the man should take another trip, this time bringing the pony with him!
Ah Nan's voice was heard outside the door. "Miss Tang, President Ying is inside."