June 16th, Thursday – 2nd Day
“President Zhuo.” Mu Qingling remained calm and composed and addressed Zhuo Jingren with a smile, “I have been waiting here for almost thirty minutes now. I certainly did not expect to be chased away before we could even discuss the final details for the fundraiser next month.”
Secretary Go was taken aback at how eloquent Mu Qingling was despite being treated harshly by President Zhuo. Having met Mu Qingling twice before today, Secretary Go was familiar with her mannerisms and could tell that she was a white lotus, one who would act weak and pitiful, with tears and whimpers to turn public opinion in her favor. In the past, Mu Qingling had been shy around the president. Hence her present confidence seemed rather out of character.
But Secretary Go didn’t want to dwell too much on this and swiftly acted upon President Zhuo’s order and called the security.
President Zhuo remained silent but that didn’t stop Mu Qingling from pressing on with her agenda. “President, I am here to finalize the performers for the fundraiser. As a popular artiste myself, I plan to perform. I will also invite my fellow artistes in the industry to lend their support for this charitable cause as well. I believe that our participation will help to raise more funds. I wanted to know your thoughts on this and to check if you have any other suggestions on the programme. That is my purpose for wanting to meet with you. I didn’t think that I would be disrespected like this.”
“I only have the children in mind. They are my motivation for organising this fundraiser. I’m not sure how I have offended you but I hope you can put aside your pettiness and think about the children in the orphanage. This is about them, not you.” Mu Qingling said self-righteously before walking out of Zhuo Jingren’s office on her own accord, a small smile on her lips. ‘Zhuo Jingren does not need a white lotus in his life. He needs someone who is smart and domineering who could stand shoulder to shoulder with. I need to let him see that I am that woman,’ Mu Qingling thought inwardly.
However, before she could reach the door, Zhuo Jingren coldly replied, “If you think that I need the Mu family to organise a fundraiser, then you are so wrong Miss Mu. If I’m not mistaken, I’m just a sponsor. I don’t know why you are here to talk about an event that you are in charge of. If you are not capable to make your own decisions, then you should just ask your father to take over and manage this event for you. Do not waste my time by coming here to talk about this again.”
Mu Qingling felt her courage leaving her, so she quickly left Zhuo Jingren’s office. She feared that if she stayed around any longer, she might not be able to keep up with the act. Then all her efforts of portraying herself as a strong woman earlier would have gone to waste. This was the third time that Zhuo Jingren had lost his temper on her. But Mu Qingling was not thinking of backing down. Mu Qingling knew that her parents had plans to offer Zhuo Jingren a marriage alliance and they would most likely offer her sister, Mu Lihua because she was the capable one in their eyes. However, she believed that she was the woman fit to stand next to Zhuo Jingren, not Mu Lihua.
Mu Qingling planned to win over Zhuo Jingren’s heart first. If Zhuo Jingren was to fall in love with her, then her parents would have no choice but to give their blessings. Mu Qingling’s first step in pursuing Zhuo Jingren was to stand up against the man and show him how capable she was.
A small smile escaped Mu Qingling’s lips as she thought about how Zhuo Jingren is probably be fuming right now and would ask his secretary to investigate her.
Of course, that was all Mu Qingling’s wishful thinking. In reality, the moment Mu Qingling left, Zhuo Jingren continued working at his desk as if nothing had happened.
“President, security is already escorting Miss Mu out,” Secretary Go said. “That woman was definitely acting weirdly. Shall I go ahead and ask someone to investigate her?”
“No need,” Zhuo Jingren said. “Why investigate someone insignificant? She can’t be related to what happened to my Lily. She’s dumb.”
Secretary Go could only nod at Zhuo Jingren’s words while keeping his thoughts to himself. He had found Mu Qingling’s behavior strange, especially that confidence she displayed earlier. He thought that Mu Qingling might have some hidden agenda. But the president had misunderstood his intentions and thought that he had suggested to investigate Mu Qingling in relation to the ongoing investigation into Lily’s past. He was not that stupid ah! In the end, Secretary Go could only shake his head as he then realize how Miss Qin had occupied so much of President’s Zhuo’s thoughts.
…
Meanwhile, Xuan Hui was frowning while talking to his secretary. “What do you mean she doesn’t exist?”
“I went to the British Consulate-General Hong Kong and gave them the name ‘Qin Jinghua’ and asked them to pull out public information about this person but they told me that there was no such person. As far as the consulate is concerned, they do not have someone by that named who is from China that is currently a citizen of Europe,” the secretary explained. “I tried to talk to Lawyer Yan but he refused to give me some information. He said that he values the privacy of his clients, even if they are already dead.”
“How about her address now… did you manage to find it? Where is she staying now?” he asked.
“Negative.” The secretary lowered her head in embarrassment. “Our people have searched the guests database of every hotel in Hong Kong and they couldn’t find a guest by the name of Qin Jinghua in any of the hotels here. I think she might be using a different name.”
“Did you check with the airports? If she has been in Europe all these while, then she would have flown here and the airports would have her flight records.”
“I already did. But there was no flight record from Europe to Hong Kong of someone by the name of ‘Qin Jinghua’, according to the airport staff,” his secretary replied.
“Then do something about it! Find that woman no matter what! Did you check her license plate? Just f*cking do your goddamn job and give me some results!” he fumed out of frustration. It had been days since he tasked his secretary to find Qin Jinghua but she couldn’t deliver results. Just how did that Qin Jinghua get into Hong Kong if not by air?
“What is going on here?” Qin Fei’s voice echoed as she walked into Xuan Hui’s office. She immediately noticed the tense atmosphere, and his secretary had her head lowered. Qin Fei immediately tried to ease her husband’s anger. “Hui,” she said while stroking her husband’s back.
Then she eyed the secretary and dismissed her. “What’s the matter? What made you so angry?” she asked Xuan Hui as she sat on his lap and curled her arms around his neck.
“I had some people to investigate Qin Jinghua for days now and my secretary who was leading the investigation told me that they failed to find her name registered in the British Consulate-General Hong Kong and among the passenger records in the airports. How is that possible?”
Qin Fei instantly frowned at her husbands words before she answered, “Well… either your secretary is slacking or… Qin Jinghua was never in Europe in the first place.”
…..
Editor: Swaning
