Chapter 205 - Your First Clue

After spending most of the day at Wang Yimin's house, Feng Xuan went to The Kingly to join Qing Chen for dinner. She didn't have enough time to cook for tonight.

"How did it go?" he asked her, cutting a side of the fish. 

Feng Xuan pouted with a mouthful of vegetables in her mouth. She swallowed and started to complain. "I don't think both of our brains are working today. Da Xia is opening on the 7th and we still have not come up with a way to make her blend in the background."

"Don't worry. You'll figure it out."

"Actually, we already have a solution but we don't know how to do it."

"Yeah? What is it?"

"We need a scandal. Or anything that would make the press come to us. Like stat." She sipped on some soup. "I thought about burning something and Wang Yimin was more than mortified when she heard the idea. She judged me for even thinking about it."

Qing Chen chuckled. "It was a wild idea. What are you going to burn anyway?"

"The store next to YANG?" she guessed with an embarrassed smile. "I honestly don't know what I am thinking."

"What about the scandal?"

"What?" she grinned. "Do you want to tape something steamy and leak it to the press?"

"A scandal is not always about s.e.x. It can be about something illegal or just morally wrong."

Feng Xuan bit her lips, thinking. "But Da Xia did everything cleanly. I don't think I'll find something to throw to her face or make her close because of something illegal. Tell me, what was she like when you were younger?"

"Uhm," Qing Chen looked uncomfortable. "To be honest, she was a little Ms. Prim and Proper. Her mother made sure of that. There's nothing in the past that you can use."

"Aside from when she threw you out and got together with an underwhelming model."

"And it's been years and it's irrelevant now." Qing Chen shook his head. He didn't want to turn the whole city to someone like Da Xia's mother—thinking that he was bitter that was why he doesn't want Da Xia to succeed. "It has to be current."

"Okay," she said, feeling a little deflated. 

She and Wang Yimin had thought about every possible idea. Sometimes, they even strayed to far from the topic and had to restart with the basics. With the stress getting to them, they actually had two drinks just to get their juices flowing. The whiteboard looked like a dozen chickens walked upon it. When they thought they figured something out, they couldn't trace it back from where the idea started.

They decided to give it another try tomorrow.

Qing Chen tried to distract her by talking about his work. He told her about Dai Fang and she felt wave of determination to make Da Xia fall immediately. 

"What did he do?" she asked.

"Well, he hasn't come to the board yet. I think he's still checking with the police."

"He's wasting time."

After dinner, Feng Xuan saw the logo of Rosa Chiaro at the side, endorsing that it would open soon. The mall was already closing and people were starting to thin out. 

Feng Xuan spoke to an imaginary microphone. "Mr. Qing, if you were in the position of your wife, what would you do?"

She placed the imaginary microphone in front of Qing Chen's mouth. "In these kind of situations, we would let celebrities have a free stay at the hotel so they would say something nice about us or put money into charities—but you've already done that."

Feng Xuan dropped her imaginary microphone. "What if… we have an hour of free shopping spree?"

"Can you handle that? Do you have the stock for it?"

Feng Xuan shook her head, her lips jutting out. She clutched on Qing Chen's arm and pressed her head on his shoulder. "I'm this close to killing the Dai family so I'd be rid of this competition."

"There's no space between us."

"Exactly."

Qing Chen chuckled and lifted his arm and put it around her, locking her to the side of his body and pressed a kiss on her forehead. "I know you can do it."

Feng Xuan punched his stomach. "You know how I can solve my problem, don't you?"

"Of course," he answered. "In a way I have an idea. But I'll let you think of something else first."

"You have to tell me now! I have to prepare for it."

"Trust me, it won't take that long to prepare for. It'll be the quickest, easiest, and least expensive way to do it."

"You ought to give me clues about it."

All the way home, Feng Xuan nagged Qing Chen what his idea was. While they were in bed with most of the lights off, Feng Xuan said, "I am really irresistible, husband. You're going to tell me that plan before the night is over."

She was already laying down, trying to give Qing Chen the stink eye. "Oh come on," he said. "I know you can think about it. You have a great mind. I'll give you one clue—"

Feng Xuan's phone chimed. "Hold a moment."

It was a message from Wang Yimin.

HAVE YOU SEEN THIS?!

Feng Xuan was frozen with fear as she opened the link, but relief washed over her when she realized it was pictures of her and Qing Chen from the hotel earlier.

It was captioned: HOW CAN YOU NOT SHIP THEM?

"Don't we look cute?" she smiled, scrolling through the four grainy pictures. It had been taken from a distance showing them walking together, first with her hands clutched on his arm, then it showed how Qing Chen hugged her to his side and kissed her.

Qing Chen peered over. "Well, that's your first clue."

"What do you mean?" she asked absently, still admiring the pictures.

"It's Valentine's, wife. People want to see love."

Then finally, the idea struck her.