The Hong Men Banquet (1)

The room was bare with beige-colored walls. The only pop of colour was the thick green curtains that hung beside the only window in the room.

The single bed, a few tables and a television made the already small room felt even more cramped. The only source of air circulation other than the open window was the ceiling fan that turned lazily. Thankfully, it was not the summer or the place would be as hot as the inside of an oven.

Yellowish tendrils snaked down from the corners of the ceiling, a sign of water leakage as well as the advanced years of the apartment.

The place was dilapidated but it was the only place an actor who was new to the scene, like Qing Qing could afford.

Everyone said home should be the place where you could relax and unwind after a long day but Qing Qing resented this hell hole. She wished more than anything to move out of the place but that was beyond her ability for now. She would have to wait for her plans to come into fruition first.

Qing Qing sat on the bed that acted as the chair as she wrote a letter on the small coffee table. When she finished the letter, she attached it with not a small amount of money she received as pay from the film, "Bringing the Nation's Husband Home" as well as clippings of news article that had her pictures or had featured her.

She sealed it up and pasted a stamp. The rather puffy envelope was addressed to a small village at the countryside and Qing Qing expected it would take days before it reached its destination.

Writing the letter renewed her sense of purpose, it reminded her to set her eyes on the goal. As she set the envelope aside, Qing Qing's eyes burned with a fire that swore to scorch anything and anyone that dared to stand behind herself and her goal.

Speaking of her goal, Qing Qing knew it was time to access the process of her plans. The scandalous picture proved less successful than she thought but that was fine because it was only phase one. She had more tricks up her sleeves and it was time to advance to phase two.

She picked up her phone from the table and fired the same message to three different people, "Sister Joann/ Brother Lee Mu/ Brother Xu Jing, do you mind coming out to meet me at Spring Leaf Cafe at 3 pm tomorrow?"

The first to reply was the easiest one to deal with for Qing Qing, Lee Mu. They shared an amiable working relationship so he was gentleman enough to accept her invitation. After all, an innocent meal between colleague could not have been more common. It was understandable that it did not cross Lee Mu's mind that this would be a Hong Men Banquet carefully oschetrated by Qing Qing.

After getting Lee Mu's confirmation and sending him the address to the cafe, Qing Qing's second reply came.

It was from Joann. They were close enough friends for Joann to ask about the sudden invitation. "Sure, Qing Qing but why so sudden? What is happening tomorrow? Is there anything you wish to talk about with me?"

Qing Qing smiled when she saw that reply, things were going as planned. She typed a hasty message and sent it back to Joann. It read, "I have already invited Brother Lee Mu. Sister Joann, I need you to be there so it won't be so awkward. Would you please do that for me?"

Qing Qing banked on Joann remembering her interaction with Lee Mu. The woman was still under the impression that she had a crush on Lee Mu and Qing Qing was going to make use of that.

Joann's reply came soon after, "Of course, I will be there for you, Qing Qing. You can always count on me!" She was all excited to be the matchmaker.

'Indeed, I can,' thought Qing Qing, 'Two down, one last one to go.'

This last one was going to be the most difficult because it needed more than a fair bit of coaxing and convincing. Then again, Qing Qing was nothing but a master at convincing others, especially men to do things out of their comfort zones.

Qing Qing picked up the glass of water and the metallic taste from the old water pipes of her building that had not been cleaned for years made her frown. 'Why is it me that have to suffer like this? Don't I deserve better?'

Qing Qing was about to slam the glass down on the water but she stopped herself at the last minute. If she did that, the glass was going to topple and she would only end up with nothing but a wet table and a whole lot of mess. Why would she give her more trouble to deal with?

Qing Qing was a calculative thinker who tried her best to not lose her cool under any situation and it showed. To come up with meticulous plan like hers required a steady and calm, if a little sadistic mind.

Qing Qing placed the glass down carefully and grabbed her phone to take a look. There was no reply from her last target, Xu Jing. She smiled wickedly because she had anticipated this.

Xu Jing did not have the heart to block her outright but at the same time, he did not know how to deal with her so he chose the most idiotic way of dealing with it, which was to ignore Qing Qing and pretended that she did not exist.

Unfortunately for him, the young woman was a force that could not be stopped, especially not after she already had her eyes set upon you. The Hong Men Banquet she designed needed all the main players to work and so she had to get Xu Jing to the venue and she knew just the trick to do that.