"Shui!"
The two girls had their own twirl of happiness as if they had met after a long time. Behind Shui, Siying also followed giving Ai his wishes.
"Happy Birthday, Ai," he grinned and gave her her birthday gift on behalf of the two siblings.
"Thank you, Shui, Siying," Ai replied with sincerity.
Liu Hai squeezed his way in and chirped. "So, so when am I getting the cake?"
Liu Chunhua smacked him on his head. "The day has just started and you are already hogging for the cake! Cake is for the evening!"
Nian sneered. "And don't worry Grandpa. I have taken special arrangements to protect the cake from you. You won't get even a single bite until I bring it out hahahahaha!"
Siying laughed. "Don't be like this, Grandpa. We should all enjoy the cake together in the evening. Unless…Bro Jun will snatch the birthday girl from us~"
Ai coughed. "Why will he snatch me away?"
"Heh. Jun must have definitely planned some amazing surprise for you. I can bet on it," Shui nodded seriously. "He is the most creative of all with surprises."
The twins's faces immediately blackened. "What do you mean, Shui? Are we less creative than Jun?"
Shui stared at them for a moment and focused back on Ai. "So, how many gifts have you got until now, Ai?"
"Heyyyyyy! This is outright cruelty!" The twins sobbed. "Mom! Say something!"
"Stop crying you two!" They got scolded instead.
From the back, a figure stepped down as he asked, "Mom, have you seen my new jacket-"
Jin abruptly stopped in his tracks upon seeing the Han siblings, specifically Shui.
*Meow*
Jun-cute and Ai-chan who were following after him, casually climbed on his back and then on his shoulder.
Jing rolled in laughter. "Haha, Jini-boy. The cats really treat you as some circus tool, don't they?"
Shui's gaze naturally fell upon Jin too, who looked to return from a fresh shower. His hair was still damp and shiny. But suddenly her sight was blocked as Ai-chan leapt from Jin's shoulder onto Shui's head.
"..."
*Meow*
Nuo cried with joy. "That was so cute. Hey, hey, can you jump on my head too?"
Jian said with disdain, "You have some weird fetishes, little sister."
"Shut up."
Though it was seemingly a jolly atmosphere, Ai, Nana and the siblings clearly felt the tension in the air. Jin had suddenly gotten silent. Clearly, he hadn't expected Shui's arrival to be so soon.
Jin smiled and greeted Siying. As for Shui, he threw a quick one second glance at her with a polite smile and looked back at Nana. "Mom, where is my new jacket?"
Nana cleared her throat. "You boys really don't know how to search for your own things. Look in your cupboard again. It's on the left side, second compartment."
He nodded. "Thanks, Mom."
He turned to leave while all this time Ai was churning her brain to do something for Jin and Shui to be together.
Nuo came to her rescue and grabbed Jin's elbow, making him almost stumble. "Hey!"
She grinned. "Jin, won't you be our chauffeur for the day?"
"Huh?"
"So, we all girls are gonna hang out for lots of shopping, especially to make my sweet sister-in-law ready for her birthday celebration!"
"Really?" The birthday girl who was unaware herself blinked in confusion.
"Of course! We will be having a super blast today! We will doll you up so beautifully that Bro Jun will faint with pure joy~ Leina, Xing Bi, Shui and I - we are all gonna be there," she chirped.
"Leina!"
"Xing Bi!"
The twins brightened at the same time and declared. "We will come too!"
"No."
Nuo ruthlessly rejected their enthusiasm.
"Little sisterrrrrrrrr!!!" They cried.
Jin shrugged. "Cool. Enjoy yourselves."
He turned to leave again only to be harshly pulled back once again. "I wasn't done yet!" Nuo flared her nostrils. "We need a strong man to carry all our bags and drive us around."
"..."
"You cannot be serious about this."
"You don't have any work today anyway."
"I have office, Sis."
"One word from me to Dad and you won't have any office today, little brother," she innocently blinked.
"..."
At that moment, Ai felt like she saw a reflection of the mischievous twins in Nuo.
Jin tried to be polite. "Sis, the twins are more than happy to become your chauffeurs."
The twins furiously nodded their heads.
"But I don't want them. They are troublemakers. They will only do the work of inviting trouble instead of actually helping us."
With that sharp jab, the twins lost all their HP, and they lay dead.
Nuo clapped twice. "Good! Now go back and get ready. We are waiting here for you."
"Sis-"
One cold squint from Nuo, and Jin promptly took a step back. Jun-cute yawned.
It was a lost war anyway.
Nana nodded. "Good, good. That's a good way to bond with your sister-in-law too, now isn't it?"
"I don't want to bond with this woman!" Jin exclaimed.
Ai harrumphed. "I will change that today at any cost."
And change your stunted dynamic with Shui too, she added.
—
"So, so! Where do we head first?" Xing Bi asked with anticipation. "I cannot wait to try all the amazing dresses on my Ai! So which one first? Clothes, shoes or jewelry?"
Leina proudly grinned. "Ai is in good hands. I am a platinum star member of a super awesome brand that will make you drool at their collection. We will have just the perfect dress for Ai~"
"Great!"
Nuo said, "But it will take a lot of time if we go shopping for all the things one by one. We then have to take sister-in-law to the salon too. We cannot get late for the birthday celebration and then she has to go with Bro Jun too. We have very little time."
Ai gravely chimed in. "Yes, yes, I cannot be late. So how about we divide the shopping?"
Leina's eyes gleamed. "Cool! We will go in couples then~ Ai and I will be at the clothing brand shop I am a member of. Nuo and Xing Bi can look for sandals and join us while Jin and Shui will shop for jewelry! Isn't that awesome?"
Jin choked hard.
What!?
Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om