An Exclusive love

Chapter 291 - An Ru's True Status!

Once again, the mood inside the booth took an awkward turn, so much so that even the passing service staff could sense that something was wrong; they all steered clear of the booth instead of lingering there. Some customers had recognized Tang Yue and Ah Sha, and were now busy snapping photos of the two of them.

“Aunt Qing, we have a friend waiting for us back at our table. We’ll head over first,” Wan Qingsi said before he led Ah Sha away.

Meanwhile, Ying Qingcang busied himself with piling more food onto Xin Qing’s plate. “Have some of this deer meat. It’s very delicious.”

Wen Pintang raised his wine glass again, completely ignoring Tang Yue, who was still standing beside their table.

Tang Yue, too, had sensed that her presence was unwelcome. But as she was preparing to leave, she noticed a few reporters skulking around from the corner of her eye. She gritted her teeth and sat down beside Wen Pintang.

“Why didn’t you let me know that you’re here in the city, big brother? Let’s have another meal together later!” Then, without waiting for Wen Pintang’s response, Tang Yue smiled at Xin Qing and said, “It’s been a few years since I last saw you, Mrs. Ying. You still look so young and beautiful!”

“Huh?” Xin Qing smiled instinctively at Tang Yue’s sudden greeting. “Oh, you’re too kind!”

Tang Yue stood up with as much grace and elegance she could muster. Then, she nodded at everyone and left the booth.

After Tang Yue’s departure, Xin Qing asked, “What’s up with the lady just now?”

“She’s Tang Yue,” Ying Qingcang said in a hushed tone.

“Seriously?” Xin Qing gasped lightly. “How come she looks so different than what we see on TV?”

“Make-up,” Ying Qingcang said, stealing a kiss from her. “Not everyone is a natural beauty like my wife!”

Ah Sha had left early, so she had no idea what happened at the restaurant after she left. That was until the next day when she saw a photo posted online featuring Tang Yue at the restaurant.

The photo showed four people sitting at the same table, sharing a meal. On the surface, all four of them seemed comfortable and familiar with each other, like they had been friends with each other for years. The article led with a huge title printed on top: “In-depth Analysis of Tang Yue’s Backstage Patron: Out Goes Wan Qingsi, In Come the Oldest Son of the Wen Family!” All of a sudden, the usual articles about Tang Yue’s relationship with Wan Qingsi were gone with the wind.

“That woman is truly shameless!” Xiao Hua said angrily. “The young master told me that the man had refused to even acknowledge her. She was the only one who kept the charade going!”

Ah Sha tapped Xiao Hua’s head with her knuckle. “That’s someone who truly knows her way around the showbiz for you.”

Then again, Tang Yue became exceptionally obedient ever since that article was published. Other than shooting her scenes, she never tried to linger around Ah Sha when they were on the movie set together. In the blink of an eye, they entered the third month of the movie’s filming. Now, the entire production team had to travel to New Zealand for their next filming.

“What’s the point of you tagging along?” Ah Sha glared at Wan Qingsi. “Seriously, that’s ridiculous. Have you ever seen actors or actresses bringing their families along to a movie set? Besides, I’m only going to be away for a week.”

“I’m worried about you,” Wan Qingsi said. He was currently helping Ah Sha with her luggage.

“I’m the one who’s worried about you!” Ah Sha shoved him away. “Everything might seem fine and dandy right now, but An Ru is still missing, and the Wen family is now rather chummy with Mo Nan. What if something happens to Stars Entertainment or my daddy’s company while you’re away?”

Wan Qingsi stood there with a deep frown. He was starting to regret letting Ah Sha be involved in this movie at all. He clearly hadn’t considered this point back then. Another thought occurred to him. Ah Sha would have to travel overseas often to shoot her future movies. What was he supposed to do then?

While Wan Qingsi was getting all bent out of shape over this, Ah Sha seemed completely unaffected. The next day, she hopped on a plane happily along with the rest of the production crew. At the airport, Depp deliberately tried to annoy Wan Qingsi.

“It’ll be just me and Ah Sha together for the next week!” The douche even tried to put his filthy arms around Ah Sha’s shoulders.

“Go ahead and touch her if you no longer want your arm,” Wan Qingsi threatened in an eerie voice.

Depp was so terrified that he was reduced to shudders.

After sending Ah Sha off, a glowering Wan Qingsi made his way towards the airport’s exit. That was when he sensed some kind of commotion behind him. He turned and saw a huge crowd walking out in some kind of bodyguard formation with a group of men surrounding a woman at the center. Wan Qingsi froze when his eyes landed upon the woman.

The woman had evidently spotted him too.

“Qingsi!” The woman smiled and waved at him.

Wan Qingsi frowned as he appraised the bodyguards who were now forming a circle around him. He noticed An Ru as well. An Ru, who now looked completely different.

“This is my friend, so stand down.” An Ru waved her hand haughtily; the bodyguards backed off immediately and went to stand behind her.

“Are you here to pick me up?” An Ru asked happily, reaching for his arm.

Wan Qingsi’s face transformed into a look of disgust. He stepped away from her grasp. Then, without sparing her another look, he turned around and walked away.

“Hold it right there!” An Ru yelled. Almost instantly, the bodyguards stepped forward to block Wan Qingsi’s path. While Wan Qingsi was mentally calculating the number of minutes it would require for him to take out the bodyguards, he heard An Ru’s gentle voice. “Please don’t leave? Listen to what I have to say? Please? Just a few words?”

Wan Qingsi had already spotted a few reporters nearby making their way here hastily. Wan Qingsi chuckled derisively. “If you want to humiliate yourself in front of the reporters, then fine, I won’t leave.”

There was a shift in An Ru’s expression. She glared at her bodyguards and gave Wan Qingsi a fawning smile. “I’m sorry. This is on me. I was too careless. But don’t worry, I’ll drop by the company tomorrow to see you!”

“You’re no longer one of Stars Entertainment’s celebrities. Stars Entertainment doesn’t welcome you.” After that parting shot, Wan Qingsi pushed the incoming reporters aside and left in a hurry.

Once he got into his car, Wan Qingsi pulled out his phone and made a call. “An Ru is back,” he said with a scowl. “Look into her recent activities. I suspect she has someone backing her.”

The next day, An Ru updated her Weibo with a post. It was a photo of her meeting with Wan Qingsi at the airport. As the photo’s caption, she added a shy emoticon as well as a line of words.

“Just came back from receiving my treatment overseas. Nothing could make me happier than seeing the person I loved the moment I got off the plane!”

Very soon, the Weibo post was reblogged and passed around by her followers. At the same time, Stars Entertainment had also made a post in their official Weibo account. The post was about Wan Qingsi sending off the production crew of “Apocalypse” at the airport. Attached to the post was a photo of Wan Qingsi and Mei Jing sharing a passionate embrace.

All of a sudden, nobody knew which post to believe. Then, amid the controversy, another piece of news popped up.

Someone had leaked out An Ru’s true status. It turned out that she was the daughter of the family which ran the Hong Kong Triad. Everyone knew just how powerful the Hong Kong Triad was. It was the largest and most powerful gang in Hong Kong. Its power and influence spread across the entire Southeast Asian region.

All of a sudden, the same people who claimed that An Ru’s affection for Wan Qingsi was merely a form of bootlicking were now saying the complete opposite: they were now saying that Wan Qingsi was the actual bootlicker.

Naturally, with the ongoing media storm, the reporters didn’t forget about Mei Jing, who was currently filming the movie overseas.

Zhou Na offered Ah Sha some words of comfort. “Don’t worry, Ah Sha. Just focus on the movie. The boss will handle everything.”

Ah Sha smiled at her agent. “I know. Thank you for that.”

If Zhou Na hadn’t been there to field the barrage of phone calls Ah Sha had received for the past few days, Ah Sha would’ve died out of sheer frustration alone.

“It’s my responsibility,” Zhou Na said, patting Ah Sha’s shoulder. Then, Zhou Na stepped away to argue with another bunch of persistent reporters.

Xiao Hua came over and handed Ah Sha her private phone. “It’s from the young master!”

Ah Sha took the phone and spoke into it, “Hi!”

“Miss me?” Wan Qingsi’s deep voice sounded from the speaker.

Ah Sha chuckled in amusement. “Oh, please. You just asked me that five hours ago!”

“You heartless little minx,” Wan Qingsi grumbled. Ah Sha frowned at the exhaustion that she had detected in his voice. “You haven’t been resting properly, have you?”

“Yeah…” Wan Qingsi answered frankly. Ah Sha was just about to ask him if it was because of An Ru when she heard his comment. “I can’t seem to fall asleep without you in my arms.”

“Then you should forget about sleeping…” Ah Sha thought, rolling her eyes. She didn’t have the guts to say it though. She changed the subject and asked him about An Ru.

“It’s true. She really is the daughter of the Hong Kong Triad’s Lin family,” Wan Qingsi said in a frustrated tone. “When she was three, she was abducted by the Triad’s enemy. The Lin family had been trying to track her down all these years. Some time in the recent past, a member of their family saw An Ru’s photo on the newspaper and realized that her appearance resembled the late mistress of the Lin family.”

Something clicked inside Ah Sha’s mind. “So it was the Lin family behind her disappearance from the hospital, wasn’t it?”

“The Lin family had already cured her. They also did a DNA test. Her status has been confirmed,” Wan Qingsi said. “In fact, her status had already been announced to the Hong Kong public.”

“Tsk, tsk. Then you’re finished!” Ah Sha said gloatingly. “You’ve caught the eye of a powerful woman. She might kidnapped you back to her home later.”

The cold aura from the other end of the line could be felt even on Ah Sha’s end. “Oh, so you’re happy about this, Ah Sha?” Wan Qingsi growled.

“Of course not!” Ah Sha backtracked quickly. “What I’m saying is that I’ll poison anyone who tries to snatch you away from me!”

Wan Qingsi sighed. How he wished he could pull her into his arms right now and then kiss her senseless.

Wan Qingsi heard Ah Sha yelling at someone at the background. “Okay! Okay! I’ll be ready in a minute!” After that, she was speaking to him again. “Listen, I have to get back to work now!” There was a brief pause, after which Ah Sha’s tone turned serious. “Don’t underestimate women, okay? I don’t want anyone to catch you off guard.”

“Don’t worry, I know that,” Wan Qingsi said. Then, he softened his tone. “You hang up first.”

Wan Qingsi pinched the bridge of his nose once the call ended. He didn’t tell Ah Sha that it was the Lin family who had sent Bai Qi to assassinate her. Bai Qi had already left S City for the time being to prevent drawing the Lin family’s attention.

At the moment, An Ru was actually the least of Wan Qingsi’s worries. His true concern was that the Lin family might start sniffing around Ah Sha’s identity once their suspicion was roused.

“Ken!” The door opened and Qi Xiu stepped in. “An Ru is here. Again…”

This was the fifth time already. Ever since the day of her return, she had been coming to Stars Entertainment every day, demanding to see Wan Qingsi. Wan Qingsi never agreed to see her though.

“I’m not seeing her,” Wan Qingsi snapped. He frowned. “Is something wrong with your head lately? Why are you still asking me what to do when the course of action is so obvious?”

Qi Xiu gaped at Wan Qingsi. “Hello? Boss? You might want to step outside and check out the freaking army that she’d brought with her this time,” Qi Xiu thought. Meanwhile, over 10 bodyguards— all dressed in black— were lined up at the door of Wan Qingsi’s office. They looked as if they were there to tear the whole place down.

Poor Qi Xiu was just about to complain to his boss when he was suddenly shoved aside forcefully. A few bodyguards stepped into the office, shielding An Ru at the center.

“Qingsi,” An Ru yelled in a wretched tone.

“Shut up!” Wan Qingsi leveled a cold and menacing stare at her. “Miss An, are you deaf? Or have you lost your mind? You and I aren’t close, and you’re no longer an employee in Stars Entertainment. And yet here you are, barging in with so many of your men. Are you trying to threaten me?”

An Ru instantly waved her hand. “No, no! It’s not like that! They’re just the people my father had sent to protect me.” An Ru turned around and gave her hand another quick flick; the bodyguards retreated from the room. On their way out, they even dragged Qi Xiu, who was on all fours on the floor, out of the office.

“Qingsi…” An Ru stared into his eyes. “It turns out that my biological father is the head of the Lin family in Hong Kong. Do you know the Lin family? They’re the head honcho of the Hong Kong Triad!” An Ru said excitedly. “I have no reason to fear the Ying family now, and you no longer have to bend to their will.”

Wan Qingsi smirked. “Oh? So what you’re saying is that I should lean on the Lin family and bend to their will instead?”

“No!” An Ru quickly shook her head. “I’m just saying you don’t have to marry that little girl from the Ying family. The Ying family won’t lay a finger on you as long as you’re married to me.”

“Married to you?” Wan Qingsi eyed her mockingly. “But what if I actually want to marry the little girl from the Ying family? What then?”

An Ru’s eyes went wide. “No. That can’t be the case. How could that little girl be better than me?” The gears in An Ru’s mind turned again. “Ah, if you marry me, I won’t try to control you. You can keep any woman you want, including Mei Jing. I won’t mind!”

Yeah, right. No woman would want to share her man with other women. This was especially true for a woman like An Ru who loved Wan Qingsi so deeply. Then again, she couldn’t afford to care about that right now. She would agree to any condition as long as she could marry Wan Qingsi.

As for his kept women… Haha. She would find ways to deal with them eventually.

A cold voice shattered her thoughts. “She’s better than you in all possible ways!”