An Exclusive love

Xunxun leveled a serious stare at Ah Sha. "We can't take part in this commercial! Don't you already have another you're doing, the one involving the playground? Let's finish that one first, okay?"

"That one will be done next week," Ah Sha said as she did a finger-count. Then, her lips curled as she suddenly remembered something. Tears spilled from her eyes immediately after that.

Xunxun and Monica were both frightened out of their wits. She was fine just moments ago. Why did she start crying all of a sudden?

"Ah Sha, just ignore Xunxun, okay? If you'd like to do the commercial, Aunty will take the deal for you," Monica said, shooting a death glare at Xunxun.

"No..." Ah Sha dove into Monica's arms. "It's just that Mommy and Daddy had left for a few days already. Ah Sha misses them, that's all." Ah Sha kept sobbing after that.

Before this, although she had to spend most of her time during the day outdoors with Xunxun, she could still play with her mommy before bed. Daddy would raise her high in the air, too. Ah Sha gave Monica a piteous look. "Aunty, is it because Ah Sha isn't obedient enough? Is that why daddy and mommy don't want me anymore?"

"Who told you that!" Xunxun could not take it anymore. With one quick pull of his arms, he embraced Ah Sha. "Ah Sha is the most obedient kid in the world. Have you forgotten what your daddy had told you before he left?"

Ah Sha whimpered. "N- No, I didn't forget. Daddy said that mommy is ill, that he has to bring mommy somewhere to treat her illness."

"That's right! That's why Ah Sha needs to be a little bit more patient, okay? Mommy will come home after she's better."

"Then when will mommy get better?"

Xunxun and Monica shared a look with each other. Still, Xunxun was the one with a quicker reaction. "Very soon," Xunxun said. "They'll be back by the time Ah Sha is allowed to eat ice-creams."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah! They'll be back during summer," Monica piped up.

It was currently May, and summer would arrive in two months. Surely, they would be back by then! Plus, Xin Qing would enter the sixth month of her pregnancy by that time. Even if her condition was not cured, they must return since it would be too inconvenient for Xin Qing to continue traveling in the mountains during that stage of her pregnancy.

Children emotions were fickle things, indeed. The moment Ah Sha received an answer, she instantly went back to fretting over the new commercial she had been offered. Ah Sha raised the dress in her hand. "Brother Xunxun, do you not like it?"

Xunxun's answer came almost instantly. "No," he said, looking at the dress with distaste.

Just like that, Ah Sha's tears rolled down her cheeks again. "Brother Xunxun is a bad person! Ah Sha doesn't want to talk to Brother Xunxun anymore!" With that, Ah Sha threw the dress at Xunxun and fled upstairs. Xunxun hurried after her, though there was nothing he could do since Ah Sha had locked the door of her room by the time he got there. Xunxun just stood outside her door, groveling and coaxing to no avail. After a while, he gave up and went back downstairs to look for Monica.

"She says she wants to sleep with you tonight," Xunxun grumbled. "Remember to bathe her later," Xunxun said. "And change her into her pink pyjamas."

Monica curled her lips and began to climb up the stairs. She paused at the middle of the staircase and turned back around. "Why won't you let her be involved in the commercial?"

For a long time, Xunxun just stood there with a stiff look on his face, refusing to answer the question. Monica gave an evil laugh. "I won't put in a good word for you with Ah Sha later if you refuse to tell me!"

"Because it involves swimwear..." Xunxun threw out those words before lowering his head and scurrying away. Stunned by his answer, Monica stood rooted in her spot for a brief moment. A few seconds later, she burst into peals of laughter.

The next day, Ah Sha gave Xunxun the cold-shoulder while they were on set during the filming of the commercial. Ah Che found Ah Sha's behavior to be strange, so he asked Xunxun if the latter had gotten into a fight with Ah Sha. Not only had Ah Che's question failed to amend the situation, but Ah Che himself had ended up being given the cold-shoulder by Xunxun. For the whole morning, Xunxun was overwhelmed with feelings of frustration. He kept cursing Monica inwardly; he was pretty sure that the woman had not even tried to put in a good word for him with Ah Sha. In the end, due to the fact none of them were paying enough attention to Ah Sha's whereabouts, they discovered that Ah Sha had gone missing by lunchtime.

"The security guard at the door said he never saw Ah Sha leaving the premises," Ah Che said with a frown. "Have you searched everywhere on set?"

Xunxun's face was loaded with panic. "Yeah. Didn't find her anywhere. Not even the playground area that she likes to hang out at."

Ah Che thought for a moment. "Let's head to the security booth to check the surveillance footages."

From the surveillance footages, they saw that Ah Sha had slipped out on her own. She had crept along the wall as she moved, that was how she had managed to avoid the eyes of the security guard. She had even made a face at the surveillance camera before walking out of the entrance.

"The little miss left on her own..." Ah Che held his forehead. Xunxun was filled with regret. The girl was sulking because she was mad at him!

Ah Che immediately contacted Young Master Shen's men and briefed them on the situation. He had asked Young Master Shen's men to search the vicinity of the filming set. Surely, Ah Sha could not have gone far on her own. In the end, they did not manage to find Ah Sha even until late afternoon. Everyone was in full-blown panic mode by then.

"I've got something!" Ah Nan ran over. "Young Master Shen's men said that the little miss had bought a popsicle at the mall near the junction. They checked the surveillance camera at the traffic light and saw that she had followed along the street. She took a turn into the next street when she reached the end. But the cameras installed in the next street didn't show any footages of her."

"This means that Ah Sha is still on the previous street," Monica said worriedly. "But... But what could she be doing there?"

"There's another possibility," Ah Che said with a dark look in his eyes. "The little miss might have been taken by someone."

Zhang Mi's life in the United States was, in her own words, porcine; everyday consisted of eating, drinking, and playing. If she did not have to roll between the sheets with that brute, Young Master Shen, everday, she figured her life would be perfect!

Each and every one of the brothers of Shen family, whose lives revolved around knives and guns, had treated and pampered her as if she was their queen. Even a sigh from her would scare their pants off. If Shen Batian ever heard a sigh from her, it would be like a frigging cyclone blowing past the entire house. Such a day would be a bad luck for everyone in the house.

"Hey, little girl, have some pineapple. These are all imported from Taiwan!" Shen Batian was like a mother hen, following Zhang Mi around for the whole day. Heck, she would probably be sent to a hospital if she so much as coughed...

Zhang Mi forked a piece of pineapple and brought it to her mouth. "So sweet! You have some too, father." Zhang Mi forked another piece and fed it to Shen Batian. Shen Batian bit into the fruit, drying his tears as he chewed.

"Oh, little girl. How filial of you. Why can't you be my blood daughter, damn it!"

Young Master Shen rolled his eyes the moment he walked in, though he was not at all surprised at his father's theatrics. Young Master Shen plopped down haphazardly on the couch and placed his head in Zhang Mi's lap. "Feed a piece to your man!" he said, his mouth hanging open.

Shen Batian's walking stick swung down before Zhang Mi could even move. "Don't you have your own hands, you good-for-nothing lazy ass? What if you wear the girl out?"

"Hahahaha!" Young Master Shen released a series of fake laughs. "She's my woman. Let me worry about her!"

Clearly, another argument was about to break out between the father and son. Zhang Mi was just about to step in to be the peacemaker when Young Master Shen's phone rang. He shot a glare at Shen Batian and picked up the phone. Then his face changed. Having noticed Young Master Shen's strange demeanor, both Zhang Mi and Shen Batian stared back at him with grave looks on their faces.

"Something's wrong," Zhang Mi said, feeling a loud thump in her chest. "Is it Xin Qing?"

Young Master Shen shook his head. "It's Ah Sha. Ah Sha has gone missing..."

The chopper hovered in the airspace above Ying's residence. Young Master Shen climbed down using the chopper's rope ladder. Ah Che led Young Master Shen into the house the moment the latter's feet touched the ground. Inside the house, Xunxun was sitting there, staring off into space. Young Master Shen glanced at the boy. This time around, Xunxun really did look like a kid.

"Give me a sitrep," Young Master Shen sat down. Ah Nan retrieved his laptop and, after several clicks, pulled up a few photos. "We found the little miss' personal belongings scattered on the street where she had been taken," Ah Nan reported. The photo on the laptop screen showed the hair clip that Ah Sha had been wearing. Her necklace and brooch were there as well.

"My mother designed those items for Ah Sha," Xunxun said, looking back at Young Master Shen. "Now Ah Sha is left without the gadgets to defend her. The brooch is a GPS device. Right now, I can't even track her location."

Young Master Shen frowned. "How did Ah Sha's kidnappers know that they need to get rid of those items?"

"It has to be an inside job. It was done by someone who knows us," Xunxun said, clenching his fits. "Otherwise, they wouldn't have known."

"I think it's the old master," Ah Che said all of a sudden.

"If it's Uncle Ying, then we can relax for the time being. I'm positive that he won't hurt Ah Sha," Young Master Shen said, nodding his head.

Xunxun glowered. "Why abduct her if he isn't looking to hurt her?"

"It technically wouldn't be counted as an abduction if uncle really was the one who took her," Monica said softly. "I think we should give uncle a call to verify things. That way we can reassure ourselves."

Young Master Shen took out his phone. "I'm making the call!"

Everyone watched silently as Young Master Shen conversed with Ying Hao over the phone. Xunxun released a cold sneer the moment the call ended. "Let me guess, Ah Sha is in England?"

"Yeah. She's been brought to England by Uncle Ying," Young Master Shen said, sighing in relief. "Good thing she isn't missing. How are we supposed to face Ah Cang if it is."

The gears in Ah Che's mind turned. "But right now, the situation isn't ideal as well," Ah Che said. "The old master is trying to threaten the young miss using Ah Sha."

Xunxun stood up and headed straight for the exit. Young Master Shen held him back. "Hey, where are you going?"

"I'm going to England to bring Ah Sha back."

Young Master Shen gave him a look of disapproval. "And whom are you bringing with you?"

Xunxun flicked a glance at Young Master Shen. "My father's men, of course," he said with a look on his face that said he was completely serious about this.

"That's Ah Sha's grandfather we're talking here," Young Master Shen reminded. "You can't just barge in with a bunch of soldiers."

Xunxun broke free from Young Master Shen's hold. "That does not concern me at all. I just want my bride back."

"Hold it!" Young Master Shen stood up. "I'm coming with you."

Fortunately, Xin Qing and the rest had no means of communicating with the outside world at the moment. Otherwise, she would have tried to call Ah Sha every day, and would have found out about what happened by then. At the moment, she had no idea what was going on outside the village. After a week, Chieftain Mo Lin finally caught a break in his research.

"Here are three bags of herbs. Consume once every morning and night. We'll reassess her condition after she finishes the herbs," Chieftain Mo Lin said, placing the herbs in Chen Huan's hands. His other hand carried a bowl containing the medicine that had already been brewed.

Xin Qing took the bowl, pinched her nose, and gulped down the medicine. A red fruit materialized before her eyes when she was done.

"Oh, thank you Xiao Rui!" Xin Qing said, taking the proffered fruit and then placing it in her mouth. "Wow, it's very sweet!"

Xiao Rui, aka Xiao Ji, finally averted his gaze from Xin Qing. Then, the boy sat down unmovingly beside Xin Qing. The name Xiao Rui had been given to him by Xin Qing. Other than the chieftain, nobody had any problems with the name. That was why everyone in the village had started calling him Xiao Rui.

It seemed like Xiao Rui had taken a deep liking to Xin Qing; he liked to stay by her side, a fact that induced several bouts of jealousy in the chieftain. Everyone ignored the chieftain's jealous fits, though. After Xin Qing had consumed the herbs for three days in a row, the chieftain once again gave Xin Qing a pulse reading.

Ying Qingcang was holding on to Xin Qing's other hand. From the surface, Ying Qingcang's face seemed calm and expressionless. The tautness of his body, however, had betrayed his emotional turmoil. Then, Chen Huan, the most vocal person among the group, spoke out directly, "How does it look?"

Chieftain Mo Lin frowned. "If we stick with this formula, I'm afraid she won't be entirely cured even if she takes the medicine for the rest of her life."

Ying Qingcang was just about to say that they could live with a partial solution as long as Xin Qing kept taking the medication, but then he heard the Chieftain's next words: "This prescription has a powerful side effect. Prolonged consumption will turn a person into a retard."

"So what you're saying is that all the time you've spent in your research is for nothing?" Ying Qingcang asked, glowering at him.

The Chieftain returned his glare. "What, you think it's easy to find a solution in just a single try? I have to slowly test things out!"

"Can you guarantee that no harm will come to Ah Qing and the child after your tests?"

"Of course!" the chieftain said in an offended tone. "Don't you dare insult my medical skills!"

Ying Qingcang gave a cold sneer. "Want me to stop insulting your medical skills? Fine. Show me some actual results, then."

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