An Exclusive love

"Of course!" Tang Shuang said happily. "Do not you trust my medical skills? It's just been 20 days into my pregnancy."

Ah Hai stared at her deeply. It was a kind of look that Tang Shuang had never seen on him before. Deep down, she was a little intimidated by it.

"What's the matter with you?"

"Nothing..." Ah Hai trailed off. Then, he opened his mouth to speak again. Nothing came out. Tang Shuang grabbed his hand. "Don't leave," she said playfully, "stay and keep me company. You'll be the child's uncle once I deliver the child!"

Tang Shuang kept talking as if she were in a world of her own. It was like she could already imagine the happy life of her family of three. The conflicted look and panic in Ah Hai's eyes had completely escaped her notice.

Xin Qing had not been herself for the past few days after finding out about Tang Shuang's pregnancy. She dared not contact Ying Qingcang either, so she had no idea whether there was any truth to the news. That night, when she was in the middle of doing the dishes, the ring on her finger suddenly beeped. Light flashed on the ring a few times, and Boss Wan's face appeared in the water. Xin Qing felt really creeped out by the effect, so she quickly into the living room and sat down on the couch.

"Is it true that Tang Shuang's pregnant?"

Boss Wan nodded. "It isn't Ah Cang's."

Xin Qing's pressed her lips together. "Of course I know it isn't his. I just want to know if you guys have anything to do with it."

"No. But we're still looking into it." Then, Boss Wan started explaining about Xiao Qi again.

"So basically, you guys have no idea who the child belongs to?" Xin Qing asked. Xin Qing found everything to be rather bizarre to be honest. Tang Shuang got pregnant, yet she did not who was the father of her child?

"I'm afraid that even the child's father himself is unable to tell whether the child is his," Boss Wan said with a straight face.

In the meantime, those exact same words were being told to Ah Nan by Ying Qingcang. They were both having a meeting inside Ying Qingcang's office.

"Suppose that someone else entered the room after Xiao Qi left that night. If so, the newcomer must know that Xiao Qi was in the room before his arrival. Also, if the newcomer found out about Tang Shuang's pregnancy, he'll feel more stressed out than anyone else. Because he has no way to be sure whether the child is his."

Ah Nan nodded. "At least we can now confirm that the child belongs to that guy."

"Look into it again," Ying Qingcang said, "go through the hotel's surveillance footage one more time."

"Ah Che and I have gone through it many times already. There's really nothing there," Ah Nan said in a tone of resignation. "Who the hell is capable of entering the room without being detected by the surveillance cameras?"

Ying Qingcang's eyes flashed all of a sudden. "Go," he said. "Ask the staff whether there are cameras outside the hotel, especially ones that were pointed at the room that night. We need to see if it's possible for those cameras to capture anything outside the room's window."

"Young Master, are you... Are you suggesting that the person had gotten in through the window? But that's the 28th floor," Ah Nan said in disbelief.

"Ah. But you're forgetting something. There's someone we know of who's a skilled wall-climber." A smile formed on Ying Qingcang's lips suddenly. "I think I know who the child belongs to."

Tang Shuang was very unhappy with Ying Qingcang. How could he be so cold to her even when she was carrying the child of the Ying family? Even Ah Hai's attitude was getting stranger day after day once he found out about her pregnancy; he kept staring endlessly at her tummy for no apparent reason at all. It took her momentous effort just to be able to get him to accompany her in today's shopping trip.

"Ah Hai, what do you think about this cot? Doesn't it look nice?" Tang Shuang stood at the baby products' section excitedly, fully intending on buying anything she set eyes on. Ah Hai nodded wordlessly. Tang Shuang shot him a glare. "Okay. What's the matter with you? Not getting homesick, are you?"

Ah Hai shook his head. "What else do you want to buy? I'll keep you company."

Just like that, Tang Shuang's attention went back to shopping. Pulling Ah Hai along, she wandered around the mall. Due to the sheer number of items she had purchased, they had to arrange for the items to be delivered to the house before leaving the mall. Tang Shuang was so happy that there was nowhere else she wanted to be, so she went home straight away after they left the mall. Ah Hai left the house after dropping her off at home. Alone, Tang Shuang paced in front of the door. Finally, the doorbell rang. Tang Shuang answered the door and saw a person carrying a tall box standing at the door. Half of the person's face was obscured by the box.

"Hello. I'm here to deliver your purchases."

"Help me bring them inside!" Tang Shuang turned around and led the way into the house. "Put them here first."

A long moment passed, yet there was no movement. Tang Shuang turned around and saw the delivery man tossing the items haphazardly onto the couch. His head was lowered and he was doing something with his hands that was unknown to Tang Shuang.

"Didn't I ask you to put them here? You-" Tang Shuang suddenly covered her mouth. She dared not make a sound after that. The man had removed his cap. Even so, only his chin was visible to her. The rest of his face was obscured by a dark mask.

No matter how she looked at it, the man standing before her now did not seem like a delivery man at all. "Who... Who are you?" Tang Shuang stammered while taking several steps back.

"It does't matter who I am. You just have to know that I'm here to help you," said the man. He was a very tall man and when he sat down on the couch, he did so in an elegant manner. Sensing Tang Shuang's anxiety, he shook his head. "Tsk, tsk. Aren't you pregnant? Come here and sit down!"

The friendlier the man, the more frightened Tang Shuang was. She stood as far away from him as possible, keeping her distance. Pulling out her phone, she decided to secretly call Ying Qingcang.

"Go ahead and call him if you aren't interested in hearing Ying Qingcang and Xin Qing's story!" the man said in a relaxed tone. "I'm not the one who wants to become the mistress of the Ying family after all."

Tang Shuang hesitated briefly. "You're not going to hurt me, right?" she said, looking at the man doubtfully.

"I told you already, I'm here to help you." The man patted the sofa again. "Hurry up and get over here. I'm about to start the story."

After the chat with Boss Wan, Xin Qing could finally heave a sigh of relief. It no longer mattered to her who had gotten Tang Shuang pregnant. Xin Qing was fine with it as long as it was not Ying Qingcang. After that, Xin Qing buried herself in work once again. At the beginning of May, she and Randa both submitted their designs to CK. But the moment she saw Randa's designs, she knew she had lost.

Randa's design was called "Life" and it was his swan-song. It was the perfect ending of his career, one that he had composed based on the symphony of his own life. Even Xin Qing was reduced to tears when she saw it. Sadly, Randa did not have the opportunity to see his work acknowledged by the whole world. The hospital called Xin Qing at the end of May; she was told that Randa had just died, and that hers was the only number on his phone. The hospital asked Xin Qing if she was willing to handle Randa's funeral. Otherwise, they would let the charitable organizations handle it.

Xin Qing rushed to the hospital and saw Randa lying there all alone. She had obtained Randa's information from CK, and had since learnt that he did not have a next of kin. Even weirder was the fact that he did not leave a single cent behind.

Xin Qing bought a burial plot for Randa. It had already begun raining early in the morning on the day of the funeral. Xin Qing was the only one standing in front of the gravestone, staring at the smiling and frivolous face attached to the stone. Her face was wet, though it was uncertain whether the wetness was due to the rain or her tears. After standing there for God knows how long, a voice sounded behind her.

"Excuse me, are you Miss Xin Qing?"

Xin Qing turned around and saw a man she had never met before. Swiping her tears, she nodded. The man produced a thick folder and handed it to her. "This belonged to Mr. Randa. He asked me to give it to you during the last phone conversation we had together."

That night, after taking a bath, Xin Qing settled herself into the couch and opened the folder. As she pored over the contents, she felt the weight in her heart growing heavier and heavier. Inside the folder were documents of all of Randa's business transactions and asset transfers. It turned out that he had donated all his assets to a foster care center in a small town in the south of France. That was not all, either. Xin Qing even learnt that Randa had been continuously making donations to the same foster care center over the years. He had never stopped making donations, and each time, the donations came in larger and larger amounts, most likely a sign of the success he had in his career.

Then, Xin Qing noticed an old photo, which showed a lot of kids standing in a decrepit backyard. One of them was Randa. That foster care center was the place that Randa grew up in. This was his way of giving back to the only source of warmth and kindness during his childhood.

Xin Qing put the documents away. These were Randa's legacy, the proof of his existence in this world. It was beyond anything Xin Qing could imagine that not only did such a pure and untainted spot exist in the heart of someone like Randa, but also that he had been protecting that spot in his own way. She was beginning to understand the conversation she once had with Ying Qingcang about Boss Wan. According to Ying Qingcang at the time, Boss Wan was part of the list of the top 20 most dangerous people in the world. Also, there were at least 20 countries whose police force were hunting him down.

"How bad is he really?" Xin Qing had asked. He could be executed by a firing squad just for arms trafficking and the illegal testing of biological weapons on humans alone!

Ying Qingcang had gone quiet for a long while before he answered. "His casino accepts every ex-convict," he had told her. "They'll be able to stay and have a job there as long as they repent. He owns a village in Nepal, and the people in the village are women and children. The husbands of those women were all drug dealers in the Golden Triangle region in South East Asia. For most of them, there was no hope for their return. Boss Wan never had any dealings with drugs, though."

"But he deals with weapons," Xin Qing interjected. "Drugs can bring about death. Aren't weapons the same?"

Ying Qingcang patted her head and went on. "He bought his first batch of weapons from an Australian. And those weapons were originally meant to be sold to the Al-Qaeda. Throughout the years he had been in this line of business, nobody dared to cross him because he has the ability to take things by force. In fact, all of his weapons were obtained by force."

"So you're saying that he bought all the weapons that were originally meant to be sold to those terrorists?" Xin Qing asked, a little surprised. "This... This is a bit..."

"Haha. Well, he's just that weird, I suppose." Ying Qingcang paused in thought. "His existence is a headache for both the underworld and the law enforcers. The police won't touch him because nearly a third of the world's illegal munitions will fall into the hands of terrorists if he dies. The terrorists have even less reason to touch him. He has the information of all the munitions dealers in the business. If something happens to Boss Wan, his subordinates will be able to kill all these people within the next 24 hours following his death. And if that were to happen, there won't be anyone else around to supply the terrorists with weapons."

Ying Qingcang last statement from that day kept echoing in Xin Qing's mind:

"Good and evil, kindness and cruelty, none of them exist independently. They complement each other. Where there's good, there will be evil; and where there's kindness, there will be cruelty. We cannot judge a person's character based on a single event alone. The weighing balance of good an evil in everyone's heart is different. The weights on each side can only be spoken in relation to each other. Everything is relative. So... Ah Qing, if I end up performing cruel deeds one day because of you, the world can abandon me. But you... you can't!"

If I were to go to hell because of you, how could you not stay by my side when I watch red spider lilies wash over the horizon like blood?

The child in Tang Shuang's womb heralded a tragic destiny. Ying Qingcang would use this child to end this deal between light and darkness.

Xin Qing tried her best not to think about that child. Alas, a certain someone refused to let her do so.

"What do you want?" Xin Qing held the phone. On the other end of the line was none other than Tang Shuang.

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