The months that passed like a flip of a page in a book only continued to solidify Hai and Chunhua's relationship. Despite the initial inhibitions, Chunhua's parents were quick to accept Hai. As long as Chunhua got to enter the Liu family, the topic didn't need much contemplation from their side. But it was a different matter altogether on Hai's side.
"Hai, I am tired of asking you, but when will you start meeting the nice women I send you pictures of!" Hai's mother glared.
What a start to the day, Hai thought.
"I am tired of telling you - NO. I have already decided whom I have to marry."
"Huang Chunhua cannot become my daughter-in-law."
"She doesn't have to. It's fine as long as she becomes my wife," he shrugged.
A vein popped on her temple. "That's not how this works!"
"It will work exactly as I want it to work."
"I had never liked her even for Jin-"
A steep silence fell and she retracted her words with just a single glance from Hai's side. Neither cold nor piercing, yet it carried a silent weight of its own.
"Jinhai…"
Hai's father, though, lived and breathed in a separate tandem. It was only his body that was physically present at the breakfast table. His mind and soul still mourned his elder son's death. The food on his plate remained untouched.
Hai slid his plate towards him. "If you won't eat, then I will. Food wastage hurts me~"
He stirred and looked at Hai. "How could you eat when your brother has died?"
"Like how he could eat when I almost died," he chirped. "What do you want? Should we all die now that he is dead?"
His mother trembled, a shudder passing through. Liling didn't dare raise her head amidst this confrontation. She only did so when a loud crash jerked her in her chair and before she could see what was happening, a glass had already crashed against Hai's temple.
"H-Hai!"
"Bro!"
They stood up at once, but Hai remained seated, unfazed even in the wake of the blood trickling down his brow and past his cheek.
"He was your elder brother! Have some damn respect…!" He trembled, eyes reddened with blatant fury. "Just because you are forced to carry the family business doesn't give the right to trash on him! You are nothing but a useless delinquent, hanging around all miserable people. When you were going around ruining my reputation by getting involved in the underworld, it was only Jinhai who had the sense to step up!"
Hai slightly tilted his head, pressing his index finger upon the drop of blood trickling past him. He stared at the stain being gradually lodged in the crevices of his fingerprint. Dark and crimson. Bright and red. The tip of his finger seemed to be drowned in red ink.
"It's okay…" Hai's mother tried to calm him down as she patted his arm. "Look, Hai is managing the business so well! It has only grown so much! Hai has such great business acumen," she nodded.
Irked, he only clicked his tongue at that. Pushing his chair back, he left the dining area, throwing the coldest shoulder possible.
Liling, who had rushed to bring the medicine box, returned at once. Sniffling with a mistiness in her eyes, she took out a cotton swab, dipping it into an antiseptic fluid.
"Bro…Does it hurt? No! I am so stupid! Of course it hurts…Th-Thank God no glass shard pierced you, or what if you would have required surgery!"
Hai's mother finally took a moment to steady herself as well and then rushed to Hai's side. A scar had cracked through his temple which brought a tremor to her lips. Her chest heaved in faint breathlessness and she supported herself against the table.
"Are you getting a heart attack, Ma? Should I call the ambulance?"
"Sh-Shut up, Hai."
"Then why do you look like you saw a ghost?"
She inhaled and exhaled a few breaths, trying to calm her trembling heartbeats ringing in her chest like a vicious knot.
"Hai…Don't take your father's words to heart, o-okay? He…Give him some time…" Hai's unblinking stare made her lower her gaze inadvertently.
He smiled. "Of course I will."
Hearing Liling's sniffling noises made him turn to her. "You are looking ugly, little sister. Guiren won't marry a snotty bride."
"Shut up!" Her heels kicked him with a vicious grit, the kind of injury which threatened him to faint rather than being hit by a glass.
"So violent…" he coughed.
"Guiren? Your friend Chen Guiren?" His mother furrowed her brow. "How is he the right husband for my daughter? He is just a simple assistant professor!"
Liling glared. "I don't care!"
"Idiot! How will he be able to take care of you with his humble life? Just look at the life you've lived so far!"
"I will be fine!"
"You…Hai! As her elder brother, tell her something."
"What should I tell her?" He pouted. "You are opposing my lovey-dovey relationship with Chunhua too, you know?"
"Idiot!"
"How come both brother and sister are idiots for you? Where is the unconditional love for your children?"
She gritted her teeth and dropped a smack on his head. Then she huffed away, but returned soon enough with a ton of envelopes.
"I want you to go through each of the pictures here and decide on some few women you would meet! Or else I will go on a hunger strike!"
Hai paused and looked up with an arched brow. "Hunger strike is not a fair threat, you know."
"I don't care. Chunhua won't become my daughter-in-law at any cost!"
—
"How should I make Chunhua my wife at any cost?"
Guiren glanced at him, lying lazy on the couch. Then he went back to his own work.
"This concerns you too, you know? Your love story with my sister is also at the risk of drowning."
"...There is no love story with your sister."
"Aww, you are so cute when you try to hide your feelings~"
"I have work to do. Get out," he ruthlessly kicked him.
"Hey! I came here to discuss my great idea with you!"
"Great idea?"
"About how to make Chunhua my wife."
"And what is that?"
He sheepishly grinned. "They just need to hear their grandchild's cry, that's all~"
Guiren paused, then looked up. "This is a reckless idea."
He smiled. "Reckless is only what works in my family, Guiren~"
