7:
THE TAIWAN TIMES
THE HUAZHE BUSINESS IS SLOWLY FAILING, AND NOW IT SEEMS THAT IT WILL NOT RECOVER THE GLORY IT HAS SEEN IN PREVIOUS YEARS. HUAZHE LEI, THE SUCCESSOR OF THE BUSINESS IS REPORTEDLY SUFFERING FROM AMNESIA, AND WAS NOT AVAILABLE FOR COMMENT WHEN REPORTERS LOOKED FOR HIM AT HIS HOME.
ON THE CONTRARY, THE QIAN BUSINESS HAS NEVER DONE SO SPLENDIDLY. NOW IT HAS DIRECTLY BECOME THE HUAZHE BUSINESS'S ARCH ENEMY, AS CUSTOMERS NOW CHOOSE TO DEAL WITH THE
QIAN BUSINESS, NOW THAT THE HUAZHE BUSINESS IS FACING SUCH WORRIES.
THE TENGTANG BUSINESS, WHO LAST ANNOUNCED THAT THEY HAD SIGNED A 30 MILLION DOLLAR DEAL WITH THE HUAZHE BUSINESS, WAS ALSO NOT AVAILABLE FOR COMMENT. WHILE THERE IS
NEWS THAT HUAZHE LEI AND TENGTANG JING WILL BE GETTING MARRIED TO SECURE THIS DEAL, OUR BET IS THAT THE WEDDING, AND PERHAPS THE BUSINESS WILL FALL THROUGH.
***
"ShanCai! ShanCai!" QingHe calls breathlessly, running behind ShanCai.
ShanCai turns her head; her hair is tied into two pigtails.
"Look!" He points to a newspaper article, "It says that the HuaZhe business is failing!"
ShanCai eagerly takes the newspaper in her hands, her face a picture of endless worrying.
"Lei," she murmurs to no one in particular, "What are you going to do?"
8:
"So... Do you really think that this is a good idea?" DaoMing Si asks the other F2.
XiMen nods, "I think it's the best plan."
"Okay!" Bubbly MeiZuo jumps up from his seat, and leads the way to the door, "Let's go and save Lei!"
*** Lei sits in his father's office, located in a tall sleek building of glass. He has been sitting there for hours since the early morning, pressing keys and writing in an official-looking black file next to the computer. His tender eyes peer through his fringe, which are staring at a computer screen. In his mind, the options of what to do next are scattered all over.
After a few troubled moments, he briefly gives a smile of amusement as his hands presses a few keys on the keyboard.
"Done," he says simply.
He gets up to leave, and the secretary eyes him again. As he walks, all the female workers turn their heads and give deep, crimson blushes.
But he sees none of these.
*** F3 arrives at the HuaZhe building, and walks in without a question from the security guards- they are so well known, there is no question as to whom they are.
Their pace is slow, and for a single moment they resemble some kind of rare angels, shining brightly, who would disappear with all their perfection and beauty if you dared to blink.
Then MeiZuo fumbles.
"Whoops!" He leans on DaoMing Si. DaoMing Si falls due to the sudden unexpected weight of MeiZuo. DaoMing Si tries to steady himself and grabs XiMen's hand.
With yelps, all three collapses to the floor.
"MeiZuo!" DaoMing Si and XiMen start to complain.
"Oops," MeiZuo apologises with a smile.
"A lot of babes were staring at us!" XiMen complains, "Now I can't go home today with more then one babe!" XiMen fakes a pout.
Then DaoMing Si throws him a weird look. "True love is the best, XiMen," DaoMing Si begins, "and-"
"Wait!" XiMen gives a horrified look, "Your true love is a figure-less person. I don't want to follow your philosophy."
"What?" DaoMing Si becomes agitated, "ShanCai might not have a figure, but she's-she's-she's... Arrgh, I'm not speaking to you!"
"Oh, stop it, both of you!" MeiZuo shakes his head disapprovingly, "Isn't F4's friendship stronger then anything? And besides, now is the time to save Lei, and not talk about your love lives!"
"MeiZuo," XiMen gives a smile, "You're right. I won't fight with petty people!"
"Hey! I- not you- won't fight with petty people," DaoMing Si adds.
They quarrel all the way to the office.
*** "What? What's this?" ShanCai glares at a yellow piece of paper sticking out from her locker, "A yellow strip of warning paper? Who is this person kidding?"
"You."
QianHui and BaiHe appear.
BaiHe points her nose in the air, "We've bribed enough people to respect this yellow warning paper. And we've decided to put our power to the test. And our first victim..."
"Is you," QianHui finishes off the sentence.
All ShanCai can do is to burst out laughing. "You two designed this yourself?"
She points to the two female figures on the paper. Then squashing it, she throws it at their faces. The paper misses their faces and falls to their feet.
"Don't even bother to try victimising me," ShanCai says with confidence, "or you will lose your chances with F4. Don't start crying and say I didn't warn you."
"No," BaiHe speaks.
"Don't start crying," QianHui continues.
"And say we didn't warn you," BaiHe ends.
They give smug grins and cackle as they walk off.
"That fool," QianHui mutters.
9: AT THE OFFICE:
"Lei!" XiMen begins calling, "Lei!"
MeiZuo goes to the secretary's table to ask for help. Instead of a capable secretary, he sees instead a blushing female helpless to his charm.
DaoMing Si is at Lei's computer.
"We're a step too late. Lei has salvaged the company," he informs.
MeiZuo laughs.
"That's the Lei I know," MeiZuo says with an encouraging nod.
*****
THE NEXT DAY:
"I'm tired," BaiHe half-whispers lazily from her seat in the canteen.
"Don't be," QianHui shakes her, "We are going to get what we want- relying on ourselves and not emotional manipulation!"
"Wow," BaiHe looks up, half-amazed, "QianHui, you've changed. You're more... domineering."
"I know," QianHui gives a smile, "and I like it!"
"So you are sure that forcing them will work?" BaiHe questions the plan they had made painstakingly over the weekend.
"Definitely. We will force F2 into our hands! Unless we do so, we will never get what we deserve! Sitting around all day is useless. This is the perfect plan to grab our dream prince charming and-" QianHui pauses, thinking for awhile.
"And marry them!" BaiHe suggests.
QianHui laughs and nods.
*****
"What?" DaoMing Si shouts at his housekeeper, "You haven't found the mastermind?"
"Things..." The housekeeper trembles, "things are complicated."
The housekeeper looks at the poolside, his eyes anxious- would the master throw him there? Or worse- his eyes travel back to DaoMing Si- would he beat him up?
But then DaoMing Si had changed after ShanCai.
"Never mind," DaoMing Si says, his tone heavy, "Try again."
Then with eyes glimmering with a kind of fiery determination, DaoMing Si adds, "We'll never rest until we find out who did this to Lei."
*****
"F2! F2!" QingHe calls out to them in school, "What happened to HuaZhe Lei and DaoMing Si?"
Both MeiZuo and XiMen sigh almost at the same time.
"One is sick up here," XiMen points to his head, "While the other is sick here," he points to his heart.
"Huh?" Innocent QingHe blurts.
MeiZuo laughs, "I can't believe," he says to XiMen, "that Ah Si can be so upset that ShanCai is concerned about Lei- until he is determined to help Lei."
"Yes, Lei will turn out fine, he knows how to take care of himself. That kind of fiery determination in his eyes in back! This time it's not for beating people up- it's for love- we should be glad. What I can't believe is how ShanCai can still openly show her care for Lei in front of Ah Si- doesn't she know how jealous Ah Si can get?" XiMen replies. "Both of them are so fitting for each other," XiMen adds as an afterthought, chuckling.
MeiZuo nods.
As they speak they walk to their lockers, and QingHe walks off.
The instant their locker doors fling open, they cannot believe their eyes. There, stuck firmly with pride on the roof of their lockers is a piece of yellow warning strip.
The shock wears off and only hysteria and puzzlement takes over.
They tear out the paper and look to each other with mocking eyes.
"Such ugly drawing," MeiZuo comments and crushes the paper.
"My exact sentiment!" XiMen replies, doing the same thing.
"Wait right there!" A female voice commands from somewhere.
Both men lift their heads to find the source of the voice- QianHui.
They roll their eyeballs and ignore her, walking off.
"Hey! F2! F2! I said wait! Wait!" QianHui shouts desperately.
Furious, she rushes to block the path of the two men.
"What is it this time?" XiMen asks, moving QianHui's hand aside.
She looks as if she would have melted from his touch. Instead she shakes her head violently and continues blocking their path.
"In this school," BaiHe appears and takes over, "F4 no longer has power. If you want to survive, you two gentlemen, you better treat us well."
"What a joke!" MeiZuo shouts, flipping his fringe back.
"As if this is a joke!" BaiHe replies.
"Here," she passes him a phone, "call your fathers. They'll tell you what's going on."
"MeiZuo, sorry," MeiZuo's father begins apologetically, "The Qian Company has suddenly become very powerful overnight. There's nothing I can do. I need you to please QianHui and BaiHe- at least for the moment."
"What a fake sounding voice!" MeiZuo gives a look of disgust, "But I must add that both of your computer skills are excellent."
"QianHui, what were you saying about calling our fathers?" XiMen mocks QianHui.
"It's no use," QianHui says, "No matter how you mock us F4 will be the one that's going to suffer."
"Because," BaiHe says, "In about three hours the Qian business will be buying over the DaoMing business. Your leader will be in such a desperate situation. Come beg us to save you, gentlemen."
They flick their black hair, cascading and glimmering like the black eyes of a monster over their necks.
THE TAIWAN TIMES
THE HUAZHE BUSINESS IS SLOWLY FAILING, AND NOW IT SEEMS THAT IT WILL NOT RECOVER THE GLORY IT HAS SEEN IN PREVIOUS YEARS. HUAZHE LEI, THE SUCCESSOR OF THE BUSINESS IS REPORTEDLY SUFFERING FROM AMNESIA, AND WAS NOT AVAILABLE FOR COMMENT WHEN REPORTERS LOOKED FOR HIM AT HIS HOME.
ON THE CONTRARY, THE QIAN BUSINESS HAS NEVER DONE SO SPLENDIDLY. NOW IT HAS DIRECTLY BECOME THE HUAZHE BUSINESS'S ARCH ENEMY, AS CUSTOMERS NOW CHOOSE TO DEAL WITH THE
QIAN BUSINESS, NOW THAT THE HUAZHE BUSINESS IS FACING SUCH WORRIES.
THE TENGTANG BUSINESS, WHO LAST ANNOUNCED THAT THEY HAD SIGNED A 30 MILLION DOLLAR DEAL WITH THE HUAZHE BUSINESS, WAS ALSO NOT AVAILABLE FOR COMMENT. WHILE THERE IS
NEWS THAT HUAZHE LEI AND TENGTANG JING WILL BE GETTING MARRIED TO SECURE THIS DEAL, OUR BET IS THAT THE WEDDING, AND PERHAPS THE BUSINESS WILL FALL THROUGH.
***
"ShanCai! ShanCai!" QingHe calls breathlessly, running behind ShanCai.
ShanCai turns her head; her hair is tied into two pigtails.
"Look!" He points to a newspaper article, "It says that the HuaZhe business is failing!"
ShanCai eagerly takes the newspaper in her hands, her face a picture of endless worrying.
"Lei," she murmurs to no one in particular, "What are you going to do?"
8:
"So... Do you really think that this is a good idea?" DaoMing Si asks the other F2.
XiMen nods, "I think it's the best plan."
"Okay!" Bubbly MeiZuo jumps up from his seat, and leads the way to the door, "Let's go and save Lei!"
*** Lei sits in his father's office, located in a tall sleek building of glass. He has been sitting there for hours since the early morning, pressing keys and writing in an official-looking black file next to the computer. His tender eyes peer through his fringe, which are staring at a computer screen. In his mind, the options of what to do next are scattered all over.
After a few troubled moments, he briefly gives a smile of amusement as his hands presses a few keys on the keyboard.
"Done," he says simply.
He gets up to leave, and the secretary eyes him again. As he walks, all the female workers turn their heads and give deep, crimson blushes.
But he sees none of these.
*** F3 arrives at the HuaZhe building, and walks in without a question from the security guards- they are so well known, there is no question as to whom they are.
Their pace is slow, and for a single moment they resemble some kind of rare angels, shining brightly, who would disappear with all their perfection and beauty if you dared to blink.
Then MeiZuo fumbles.
"Whoops!" He leans on DaoMing Si. DaoMing Si falls due to the sudden unexpected weight of MeiZuo. DaoMing Si tries to steady himself and grabs XiMen's hand.
With yelps, all three collapses to the floor.
"MeiZuo!" DaoMing Si and XiMen start to complain.
"Oops," MeiZuo apologises with a smile.
"A lot of babes were staring at us!" XiMen complains, "Now I can't go home today with more then one babe!" XiMen fakes a pout.
Then DaoMing Si throws him a weird look. "True love is the best, XiMen," DaoMing Si begins, "and-"
"Wait!" XiMen gives a horrified look, "Your true love is a figure-less person. I don't want to follow your philosophy."
"What?" DaoMing Si becomes agitated, "ShanCai might not have a figure, but she's-she's-she's... Arrgh, I'm not speaking to you!"
"Oh, stop it, both of you!" MeiZuo shakes his head disapprovingly, "Isn't F4's friendship stronger then anything? And besides, now is the time to save Lei, and not talk about your love lives!"
"MeiZuo," XiMen gives a smile, "You're right. I won't fight with petty people!"
"Hey! I- not you- won't fight with petty people," DaoMing Si adds.
They quarrel all the way to the office.
*** "What? What's this?" ShanCai glares at a yellow piece of paper sticking out from her locker, "A yellow strip of warning paper? Who is this person kidding?"
"You."
QianHui and BaiHe appear.
BaiHe points her nose in the air, "We've bribed enough people to respect this yellow warning paper. And we've decided to put our power to the test. And our first victim..."
"Is you," QianHui finishes off the sentence.
All ShanCai can do is to burst out laughing. "You two designed this yourself?"
She points to the two female figures on the paper. Then squashing it, she throws it at their faces. The paper misses their faces and falls to their feet.
"Don't even bother to try victimising me," ShanCai says with confidence, "or you will lose your chances with F4. Don't start crying and say I didn't warn you."
"No," BaiHe speaks.
"Don't start crying," QianHui continues.
"And say we didn't warn you," BaiHe ends.
They give smug grins and cackle as they walk off.
"That fool," QianHui mutters.
9: AT THE OFFICE:
"Lei!" XiMen begins calling, "Lei!"
MeiZuo goes to the secretary's table to ask for help. Instead of a capable secretary, he sees instead a blushing female helpless to his charm.
DaoMing Si is at Lei's computer.
"We're a step too late. Lei has salvaged the company," he informs.
MeiZuo laughs.
"That's the Lei I know," MeiZuo says with an encouraging nod.
*****
THE NEXT DAY:
"I'm tired," BaiHe half-whispers lazily from her seat in the canteen.
"Don't be," QianHui shakes her, "We are going to get what we want- relying on ourselves and not emotional manipulation!"
"Wow," BaiHe looks up, half-amazed, "QianHui, you've changed. You're more... domineering."
"I know," QianHui gives a smile, "and I like it!"
"So you are sure that forcing them will work?" BaiHe questions the plan they had made painstakingly over the weekend.
"Definitely. We will force F2 into our hands! Unless we do so, we will never get what we deserve! Sitting around all day is useless. This is the perfect plan to grab our dream prince charming and-" QianHui pauses, thinking for awhile.
"And marry them!" BaiHe suggests.
QianHui laughs and nods.
*****
"What?" DaoMing Si shouts at his housekeeper, "You haven't found the mastermind?"
"Things..." The housekeeper trembles, "things are complicated."
The housekeeper looks at the poolside, his eyes anxious- would the master throw him there? Or worse- his eyes travel back to DaoMing Si- would he beat him up?
But then DaoMing Si had changed after ShanCai.
"Never mind," DaoMing Si says, his tone heavy, "Try again."
Then with eyes glimmering with a kind of fiery determination, DaoMing Si adds, "We'll never rest until we find out who did this to Lei."
*****
"F2! F2!" QingHe calls out to them in school, "What happened to HuaZhe Lei and DaoMing Si?"
Both MeiZuo and XiMen sigh almost at the same time.
"One is sick up here," XiMen points to his head, "While the other is sick here," he points to his heart.
"Huh?" Innocent QingHe blurts.
MeiZuo laughs, "I can't believe," he says to XiMen, "that Ah Si can be so upset that ShanCai is concerned about Lei- until he is determined to help Lei."
"Yes, Lei will turn out fine, he knows how to take care of himself. That kind of fiery determination in his eyes in back! This time it's not for beating people up- it's for love- we should be glad. What I can't believe is how ShanCai can still openly show her care for Lei in front of Ah Si- doesn't she know how jealous Ah Si can get?" XiMen replies. "Both of them are so fitting for each other," XiMen adds as an afterthought, chuckling.
MeiZuo nods.
As they speak they walk to their lockers, and QingHe walks off.
The instant their locker doors fling open, they cannot believe their eyes. There, stuck firmly with pride on the roof of their lockers is a piece of yellow warning strip.
The shock wears off and only hysteria and puzzlement takes over.
They tear out the paper and look to each other with mocking eyes.
"Such ugly drawing," MeiZuo comments and crushes the paper.
"My exact sentiment!" XiMen replies, doing the same thing.
"Wait right there!" A female voice commands from somewhere.
Both men lift their heads to find the source of the voice- QianHui.
They roll their eyeballs and ignore her, walking off.
"Hey! F2! F2! I said wait! Wait!" QianHui shouts desperately.
Furious, she rushes to block the path of the two men.
"What is it this time?" XiMen asks, moving QianHui's hand aside.
She looks as if she would have melted from his touch. Instead she shakes her head violently and continues blocking their path.
"In this school," BaiHe appears and takes over, "F4 no longer has power. If you want to survive, you two gentlemen, you better treat us well."
"What a joke!" MeiZuo shouts, flipping his fringe back.
"As if this is a joke!" BaiHe replies.
"Here," she passes him a phone, "call your fathers. They'll tell you what's going on."
"MeiZuo, sorry," MeiZuo's father begins apologetically, "The Qian Company has suddenly become very powerful overnight. There's nothing I can do. I need you to please QianHui and BaiHe- at least for the moment."
"What a fake sounding voice!" MeiZuo gives a look of disgust, "But I must add that both of your computer skills are excellent."
"QianHui, what were you saying about calling our fathers?" XiMen mocks QianHui.
"It's no use," QianHui says, "No matter how you mock us F4 will be the one that's going to suffer."
"Because," BaiHe says, "In about three hours the Qian business will be buying over the DaoMing business. Your leader will be in such a desperate situation. Come beg us to save you, gentlemen."
They flick their black hair, cascading and glimmering like the black eyes of a monster over their necks.