Chapter 44 : Mysterious Wife

Hongqi's attention was concentrated on the top up voted comments of the most trending article about his wife. Apparently, the military and president of the country has formally given Xiulan an honorary title and also an official announcement that she's now part of the country's national heroes.

The military's claims stirred a huge buzz to both entertainment news, political news and international news.

"Wait… what is this random news?" a netizen posted a comment on the most trending article about Xiulan as the 'modern day Mulan'.

"Now Xing Hongqi's pretty wife is legendary. Can any woman even top her as the best girl and wifey?" another one posted that garnered eighteen thousand up votes.

"Hold up! So Hongqi's wife is now considered a national hero? What an upgrade! She has the coveted position as Mrs. Xing and now an official modern heroine. How to be her?" another netizen commented that garnered thirty thousand up votes.

"Gosh, I feel bad for Hongqi's exes. They are now like turds compared to Mrs. Xing Xiulan. Now how can other thirsty women even steal him from her?" netizens are even comparing Xiulan's grace to Hongqi's celebrity exes.

"A CEO of an IT company and now a national hero because of her computer skills… I really can't fathom how godly her skills are that she even managed to help our country like this. Please can someone organize her fanmeet so we can shake her divine hands?" some were really amazed by Xiulan's skills.

"Once they divorce, I will immediately hunt Song Xiulan so I can marry her. An amazing woman indeed." One netizen commented that garnered five thousand up votes and a lot of commenters replied that he should fall in line. It seems that Xiulan has garnered a lot of fanboys.

"This bastard… what makes you think we will divorce?" Hongqi can't help but utter while he reads each of the comments. Just by reading the 'waiting for a divorce' comments infuriates him.

Hongqi angrily threw his iPad Pro on the coffee table in front of him. He turned off the TV and then massages his temples. He just got out of the hospital, did a lot of paperwork awhile ago and now his whole system can't seem to take such surprising news. He felt like he has an incoming headache.

How can that little wife of his managed to sneak away her secrets from him? He can't help but feel disappointed to himself. His wife who is always at home or at work managed to hide a huge secret about her. Gosh, this stresses him so much.

Hongqi knew this incoming headache will continue and will stress him the whole day.

To get this bothersome feeling go away, he must talk to that little wife of his as soon as possible.

"Secretary Yang Bo, please arrange a dinner with my heroic wife. Anywhere is fine as long as she can come." Hongqi immediately called Secretary Yang Bo and delivered his urgent orders. "Also make sure the place is somewhere secluded and not crowded." This time Hongqi doesn't want any attention from the public. He's kind of concerned that Xiulan might get stressed from too much public attention.

"Yes, young master." Secretary Yang Bo affirmed and started his new task.

----------

Xiulan plastered a generous and charming smile to everyone who greeted and congratulated her.

The council organized a small celebration for her and invited prominent people from the government. It's kind of awkward that the current General introduces her to these very important people like he's selling his daughter for an arrange marriage.

"Too bad that she's already married to Xing Hongqi. If she wasn't, I would have immediately married her off to my grandson." The Secretary of CPC (Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission) said and he can't help but shake his head in disappointment. Such a high quality daughter-in-law he could have to be part of his family.

"Not a chance. You have to go through me first." Song Yingpei arrogantly rebutted and laughed with the secretary of CPC. But also sharply gave a look at the new General.

"How dare this new general to sell off my daughter? Doesn't he have his own daughter? " Song Yingpei angrily thought.

Xiulan coldly sweated where these conversations are going. To get out from this devastating predicament, she excused herself to the toilet.

While she was inside one of the toilet cubicles, her phone suddenly rang and the caller was Secretary Yang Bo. At first it kind of lagged to her why he was calling. When she realized that there were a lot of media and reporters awhile ago, she knew her utmost secret is out in the open. She hopes that they didn't snoop too much and didn't reveal sensitive information. She silently pray that the information the media gathered were not that destructive to her work.

Her phone's still ringing frantically. She was hesitant to answer it but she must face whatever hurdles that are thrown in her life. That was her motto.

After a long and multiple rings, Xiulan finally answers Secretary Yang Bo's call. "Good afternoon, Secretary Yang Bo. May I ask why you are calling?"

"Good afternoon as well, young miss. First, I would like to thank you for an amazing contribution to our country and also congratulations for the new title. It really overwhelmed us earlier that your face were everywhere in the news. We thought something happened but to our surprise it was about an amazing heroism. All of us are really proud of you." Secretary Yang Bo started.

Xiulan gulped due to the over the top congratulatory. She sensed that something's brewing in Hongqi's side and she's not ready to face it yet.

"Thank you for the kind words, Secretary Yang Bo. I really appreciate it." Xiulan could only tell.

"To celebrate such an amazing feat, young master wanted to have a dinner with you tonight to congratulate you, young miss." Secretary Yang Bo announced.

Xiulan's throat suddenly feels dry and itchy. She wanted to cough but it'll be too obvious that she's suffering from anxiety.

"I see. Thank you, that would be wonderful but is Hongqi fine now? I mean he's on a strict diet. He just got discharged from the hospital." Xiulan questioned. She suddenly remembered that Hongqi might not be allowed to eat food from restaurants until the doctor says so.

"Yes, the young master is fine now. The doctor said he can eat anything as long as certain ingredients are not added in his food." Secretary Yang Bo explained.

Xiulan knew she can't refuse this dinner so she unwillingly agreed. "Okay, please send me a message of the name and address of the restaurant and also the time."

Xiulan doesn't have any clue how she'll answer Hongqi's questions later. She can be fully honest but she must not reveal the whole details. She must think of ways on how to slip away from this predicament.

Everyone might have an idea what she did for the country but not everyone knew the full details. She must control the flow of the information coming out about her.

Since Xiulan was busy entertaining the media, council and her father's entourage until everything was settled, she was running late for her dinner with Hongqi.

It was already 9:45 pm when she arrived at the designated place. It was a garden restaurant. The parking lot was full of luxury cars and the guests seem to be celebrities or important business people. She was kind of familiar with their faces.

When she went inside the building, everyone greeted her quite enthusiastically and congratulated her about the heroic thing she did. She could only plaster a smile and say her thanks. She can't believe that most of the people she encountered today were updated.

Hongqi was already there waiting for her. He was busy talking on the phone when Xiulan spotted him. He was wearing a simple red Lacoste polo tucked in black pants. His hair was down and he was wearing round black prescription glasses. He looks so fresh. Due to the red color, his pale complexion brightens and looked really healthy.

Xiulan quietly sat on the chair in front of Hongqi and gave him a brief smile when he noticed that someone sat on the opposite chair. Hongqi was still talking on the phone so to not disturb him, Xiulan made a hand sign that he should continue talking on the phone and then she put her attention in browsing the menu.

Hongqi nodded but didn't let go of his eyes on Xiulan. This woman in front of him is not just any woman he thought to be. She's now a heroine of the country that destroyed a notorious group. He has a lot of question but he must not lay all of those questions yet. He will observe her and study how she managed to hide such important facts about her.

"Tell them the album will come out on next year spring. We really can't release her album earlier than that since she'll sing three OSTs for her current drama and a Christmas song with another artist. Her album might not sell if we keep releasing singles and OSTs for her." Hongqi scolded the person in the other line.

Xiulan doesn't have any clue who that artist Hongqi was pertaining to. It might be one of his biggest cash cows since there's an album involved.

"Even without an album she can still garner attention and create buzz. Why do they even doubt her when she's the trendiest actress-singer right now?" Hongqi exasperated. A certain brand has been stressing him so much that he just wanted to void the contract with them. But his artist, Ricca Mo (Mo Ricca) has already completed her stills with that brand. He can only wish they would shut up soon and let him be.

"I'm having dinner with my wife right now. Call and report to me tomorrow morning." Hongqi stated and quickly ended the call. He drank some water first before putting his attention back on Xiulan.

"Another problem…" he can't help but secretly utter while his eyes sharply hover on Xiulan. He also admired how she looks so good tonight. She's wearing a simple fitted white yet so classy. Her hair was down in a simple waves and she was wearing light make-up. Her lips were flushed with baby pink gloss. Her healthy skin is illuminating and gave off an innocent, pure touch.

"Hongqi, you just got out of the hospital. Don't stress too much." Xiulan concerned.

"He should take care of his mental health as well. I don't want to baby him again. Gosh, what a hassle." Xiulan secretly scolded him and ranted.

Hongqi didn't reply to Xiulan's concerns. Heonly nodded and gave that ambiguous stare. Xiulan felt the heaviness of the meaning of his stare. She suddenly felt cold sweats forming in her body. She's getting anxiety from this.

Since she's suffering from anxiety, she reached for the wine on their table and poured a good amount on her glass. She's hungry and drinking alcohol with an empty stomach is dangerously not good. But she needs this drink right now. She felt that she might need some liquor to boost her self-confidence tonight. She must rebuke all Hongqi's questions and intimidation.

She wasn't able to eat during the party awhile ago since she felt full from the attention she was getting and her father kept bragging about her. She didn't had the chance to fuklly enjoy the scrumptious meal they served.

"Stress is an inevitable element in a human's daily life. It's always there." Hongqi finally said something and drank some water again. He was kind of frustrated where to start. He has a lot of questions but where to damn start?

Xiulan almost jolted when he suddenly talk. She almost spill the wine.

"… yeah you are right..." Xiulan can't help but to agree and finish filling their glasses with the wine. He has a point and she doesn't have any courage to add more topics to talk to. As possible she wants to limit what her mouth will spout tonight.

After a few minutes of quietness, fiery intense meaningful glances from Hongqi, and awkward drinking of water and wine, Hongqi decided to just directly ask her.

"Anyway… congratulations, my love. You seem to be the woman of the hour." Hongqi implied and his sharp fiert look gave off the message 'your secret is out'.

Xiulan slightly cleared her throat to ready herself from this battle. "Thank you, I didn't expect it to be like this, husband." she made an awkward smile.

"I'm quite curious how you slip away from my scrutiny so easily… May I ask how you did it?" Hongqi barged in his first question.

"Husband, as I listen to you, you are just not mindful of me. You know I work quite exclusively so only limited information comes out. If you have been using my secretary to get some information, she has zero knowledge about my personal transactions since she's only working for the company. And I purposely have to hide this side of mine since it's a secret, obviously." Xiulan explained and added a little bit of sarcastic remarks.

"Obviously it's a secret. Why would I tell you that? This fool." Xiulan secretly grumbled to herself while her eyes are on the wine glass.

Secretary Dandan only works under the company's compliance. Dandan never had any personal orders outside company relations except those times when Xiulan needed fashionable clothes and booking of restaurants. Overall, she was just a regular company secretary. Not a personal secretary or assistant.

"Your secretary didn't sell you out. She's a loyal one, congratulations." Hongqi muttered.

Xiulan automatically whispered "Thank heavens. Dandan is really an angel." She imaginary wiped a sweat on her forehead from relief.

"Right… how about that new bodyguard? Zhu? Why I don't see her anymore?" Hongqi didn't dilly dally on his next question anymore. He though that bodyguards knows a lot but his team can't seem to find her anymore. It was really shady how that woman disappeared. They can't trace her for some reason.

"I only hired her for this specific case." Xiulan didn't say much. Hongqi must not know that Zhu is working under Dejiang. Fortunately, Zhu is in Hawaii right now for a short vacation and also she has a new mission there that Dejiang required her to go.

"That woman's credentials and background were quite skeptic. Where did you get her? How long have you been doing stuff like these? Your father seems to be aware about this side of you and he didn't even tell me. I revealed all of my agendas and goals to you. I feel so betrayed knowing my wife has this kind of big secret." Hongqi fired questions one after the other. He was fuming inside. While he was waiting for her awhile ago, he started to connect the dots.

First, her bodyguard had a shady background and suddenly disappeared like she didn't existed in this world. Second, this little wifey was bloody good in hiding her job and works with the government. Hongqi didn't expect that she could hide such information from him. Third, she's frustratingly hella good in acting like she was a normal wife, IT CEO, a dutiful daughter and an innocent woman.

What if she already killed someone in one of her missions with the government before? How could he have a good night sleep from now on? Knowing that his wife was this mysterious!

Xiulan gulped from the terror in Hongqi's intimidation and rampant questions. His mouth was like a machine gun, firing too many questions that were hard to answer. Now, she must think and give proper answers!

"But wait.... Isn't this the right time to make myself in a very bad light in Hongqi's eyes so he could divorce me? Isn't that a good idea? Or I'm just very desperate and this is not actually a good idea?" Xiulan's brain suddenly made nonsense assumptions and it's now complicating her current situation.