Xue Ning then turned around and 'discreetly' stomped on Jingwei's foot. Jingwei got the hint and hastily agreed to her words.
"Yes! What she said!" Jingwei declared, nodding frantically. "She's my best friend! A completely normal human friend that I love platonically! No ulterior motives whatsoever!"
"Exactly! See Ge, you're thinking too much!" Xue Ning followed up quickly, not giving a chance for her brother to interrupt. She knew that her older brother was just dying to cut in, a look of angry disbelief was still plastered on his face.
"Tai Xuan ah, who's at the door?" A woman's voice echoed from inside the house. "Is it that persistent salesperson again? Do I need to chase them off with a broom?"
"No Mom! It's Xue Ning! She's back!" Her brother hollered back. "With guests!"
"Well then let her come in! Are you planning to leave your sister locked outside the door like when the both of you were kids? Can't believe you hadn't grown up by then - I didn't raise you to be so rude - "
"Mom! She has guests!" Tai Xuan yelled back, pointing a finger at Sun Jingwei, before realising that his mom couldn't see it anyway, since she was most likely in Xue Ning's old bedroom, preparing for her daughter's arrival. "It's Sun -"
"Mom! Ge is bullying me!" Xue Ning yelled even louder, purposely drowning out his voice. "I came all the way here and he's not letting me enter the house!"
Behind her, Jingwei, Wei Yan and Ming Guang hurriedly stifled their laughs, especially at the affronted look on Tai Xuan's face as he glared at his sister.
"No I'm not! MOM! Xue Ning is maligning me!" Tai Xuan whined.
"Do not make me smack the both of you with my slipper," the voice threatened, sounding much more closer than before.
They heard loud footsteps, and a head popped out from around the corner wall. It was an older woman with her long hair pinned back and tied into a neat bun, dressed in a T-shirt and long baggy pants. "Xue Ning! Oh! My daughter has finally returned!"
"Hi Mum," Xue Ning waved as her mother all but bowled her brother over to look at her. "Can I come in?"
"Of course you can!" Her mother beamed and embraced her. "Have you gotten thinner? I told you city food is terrible!" She then turned to her oldest son, "What are you standing here for? Help your sister with her bags!"
"Mom!" Tai Xuan complained, even as he quickly took her suitcase from his sister, but made no move to pull it into her room. "Look at who came with her!"
Xue Ning's mom raised an eyebrow and finally decided to tear her eyes away from her precious little daughter to rest on the three men that were waiting patiently behind her. The further two were clearly bodyguards - she could tell from their body language and their cautious eyes as they watched the surrounding area for any threats.
They might look casually relaxed to untrained eyes, but Yue Niang knew that this was a deliberate pretence. If she had moved to strike their client, they would be ready to retaliate in an instance.
One had to wonder why her daughter was accompanied by such trained guards, but then her eyes registered who was the last man standing behind her daughter, waving with a sheepish expression on his face, and then everything made sense.
Sun Jingwei was standing in front of her doorstep, blinking his puppyish eyes at her hopefully.
"Mom? Can we come in?" Her daughter asked.
"What on earth?" Yue Niang exclaimed. She blinked rapidly and smacked her son's arm.
"Ouch! Mom! What did you do that for?" Tai Xuan complained.
"Just needed to check if I was dreaming or not," she replied. Her son sulked.
"Then why didn't you just smack yourself then? Why smack me?"
"Huh? Are you telling your mom to smack herself? So unfilial!" Yue Niang scolded. "Now shoo, don't just stand here and complain; go bring your sister's suitcase into her room."
"Fine," Tai Xuan grumbled, giving Jingwei one final stink-eye before he stomped away, dragging Xue Ning's suitcase.
"Now that I know I'm not dreaming or hallucinating, may I know what brings you to my doorstep?" Yue Niang asked Jingwei with a gentle smile.
He looked quite like Haowei in his youth, but he had inherited Bi Yu's softer features, which was good, because if he was a carbon copy of Sun Haowei, she would have left him right outside her doorstep for good, hospitality be damned.
Alarm bells began ringing in Xue Ning's head.
"Mom, he's my friend. Don't be embarrassing." She hissed. "He's here to check on Dad and the restaurant."
"Right," Yue Niang drawled out, looking at Xue Ning. She sensed that her daughter wasn't telling the whole truth.
"Hi Auntie! Nice to meet you," Jingwei said politely, actually bowing low to greet her. He also offered a hand for her to shake, and Yue Niang took it reluctantly, making sure to squeeze his hand like a stress ball.
Jingwei, to his credit, didn't let out a scream. He only gave a pained smile in return.
"Oh? How nice of him to come all this way for us." Her mother smiled sweetly, patting his hand after she had wringed all the life from it, a small comfort. "But why didn't you tell him there was no need? This man is a tycoon's son Xue Ning, I'm sure he has more important things to do than to follow you all the way here."
Well. That was an implicit dismissal if he'd ever heard one. Good thing multiple scandals have given Jingwei a skin as thick as a rhinoceros, so he could ignore all her hints.
"It's no trouble Auntie!" Jingwei smiled, saying reassuringly. "Xue Ning is a good friend of mine, so I should help her get back home more quickly and safely. I wasn't going to come, but then I heard about my father causing the attack on your restaurant! After knowing that, I had to visit you to clear the air, and to check up on you both."
"Yeah! What he said!" Xue Ning said. "Besides Mom, do you think I'll give up a one-in-a-lifetime chance to fly in a private jet? I didn't even have to wait for customs or check-in!"
"I see," Yue Niang said with a raised eyebrow. She wasn't completely buying all of Sun Jingwei's reasons, but the faster she heard him out, the faster he would leave their family alone.
"In that case, come on in - but your bodyguards must be left outside."
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