"We don't want your money," Tai Xuan immediately replied with a frown. "Who knows what your father will do to us after we accept it!"
"Ge! Then take my money!" Xue Ning said. Her bank account had seen a huge deposit just this morning. It did not take a genius to figure out who the money came from.
Her brother narrowed her eyes suspiciously at Xue Ning.
He wasn't a genius.
"What money? Your bank balance is sadder than mine," Tai Xuan declared. "Did you suddenly strike the lottery in Shanghai?"
"Technically yes? I met Jingwei after all."
Xue Ning couldn't help her eyes from meeting Jingwei's own, and Jingwei smiled adoringly at her, looking at her with a soft look in his eyes. Xue Ning wasn't the one that struck the lottery; it was him - which was why he had to do everything he could to solve this problem!
"Hah, good for you then," Tai Xuan threw his arms in the air, upset at the situation and at the way Sun Jingwei seemed to be mooning over his sister. He'd better not be thinking what Tai Xuan was thinking.
"You meeting him led to this mess! On second thought, Sun Jingwei, you better pay up. And then get lost."
"Don't be so rude!" Xue Ning scolded irritably, raising her voice to match her brother's. "It's not like he wanted this to happen!"
"But guess what? It still happened anyway!" Tai Xuan yelled louder.
"Children, quiet!" Their mother demanded. "Your father is still sleeping!"
"Not anymore he's not," a wry voice thick with sleep chimed in from the other end of the house. Everyone's head swivelled to the source of the voice. Jingwei saw a middle-aged man wearing a singlet and boxer shorts wander into view.
Li Tai Cheng yawned widely, stretching one of his arms over his head, because the other was still injured. Then he realised there was one extra person in his living room, one that was a stranger!
He paused and hurriedly put down his arm, coughing awkwardly. Oh this was embarrassing, to be dressed in his worst outfit when a guest came over!
Then he actually managed to take a closer look at the stranger and had to stop his mouth from falling open in shock.
"Hi Uncle," Jingwei said, hurriedly getting up to introduce himself, going for a handshake. "I'm Jingwei, nice to meet you."
"Ah… nice to meet you too. Sorry that I'm dressed so shabbily, I wasn't expecting any visitors at all." Li Tai Cheng replied as he stared back at Sun Jingwei's handsome face in confusion. This was a really strange dream.
"No no Uncle, it's my fault for coming unannounced." Jingwei replied, bowing low as he continued to shake his hand. Li Tai Cheng could only blink and ask him to sit back down, wondering if the doctor fed him some strange medication that caused him to hallucinate Sun Haowei's youngest son in his living room.
Was his mind too full of thoughts of Xue Ning's potential relationship with him that he dreamt him into life? That was…frighteningly possible. He turned to look at the other three members of his family for an explanation.
"Hey, can all of you see Sun Jingwei too?" He asked, pointing at Jingwei. "I'm not delusional, am I? Told you I shouldn't have gone to see the doctor! Now I've been fed funny pills to make me hallucinate!"
Jingwei let out a surprised gasp. Now he was called a hallucination?
"Dad!" Xue Ning called out in a panic, hurriedly getting up to look over him. "How's your arm?"
"I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm as healthy as a horse!" Tai Cheng declared delightedly as he embraced his daughter. Xue Ning had finally come home! "But Xue Ning! When did you come back? Why didn't any of you wake me up?"
"You were supposed to be resting," his wife replied dryly.
"Sorry that we woke you," his son added.
"Nevermind nevermind, as long as you are back now," Tai Cheng beamed. Since no one was making a fuss about Jingwei's presence, Sun Jingwei must have been a hallucination. Now that his daughter was back, everything was good!
"How did you get here so quickly? We just told you about the incident yesterday."
"Oh, that's because Jingwei helped me," Xue Ning said, pointing to Tai Cheng's hallucination. "Dad, I actually got to sit in a private jet!"
"Oh god," Tai Cheng muttered, but it wasn't in response to Xue Ning's words. Instead, Tai Cheng could only look at the sheepish figure of Sun Jingwei.
"So you weren't a hallucination after all," he said faintly. "God, I need to sit down."
"Sit down, sit down." Everyone gestured to the sofa, and Li Tai Cheng sank into the firm seats.
"Dad! Jingwei isn't a hallucination! He's really here!" Xue Ning said, grabbing Jingwei's arm to pull him closer. Tai Cheng raised his eyebrows at the physical contact.
His daughter, who hated physical contact with strangers, had kept her hand on Sun Jingwei's arm. Hmmmm.
"Yeah, he tried to convince us his father wasn't responsible, but honestly, it's rubbish! It's definitely his father's fault that you're injured!" Tai Xuan interrupted.
"Dad, how badly are you injured? What did the doctor say?" Xue Ning asked, ignoring her brother's words.
"One at a time," he sighed. "And don't worry, I'm fine! It's only a few cuts and the knife wasn't even poisoned! So I'll heal in a few days."
"A few cuts?" Xue Ning exclaimed, upset and angry. "You said there was only one cut!" She wasn't even going to think about possible poison on the blade. Why was that in her father's thoughts?
"Hahahaha.." He could only laugh awkwardly when faced with the upset look on his daughter's face, half-afraid she would burst into tears. "Technically, Dad didn't lie to you! There's only one main cut, the rest are just small scrapes! See!"
Xue Ning saw. There was one large shallow cut that ran along the length of her father's left arm, but then his right arm had a bunch of other smaller cuts, as though he got cut by a bunch of glass shards instead of a knife.
"Dad! You're lucky he didn't cut your wrist!" Xue Ning cried out. "If this was on the other side of your arm, you'll bleed out!"
"I'm a lucky man blessed by Heaven, so don't worry about me," Li Tai Cheng said reassuringly, while meeting his wife's knowing gaze over his daughter's head.
The both of them knew it wasn't as much as luck, as it was reflexes honed from a much more dangerous life! But he had no intention of letting his children know.
"More importantly, why is Sun Jingwei here in our humble house?" He turned to look at Jingwei. "I want to be a good host, but if you're trying to help your father finish what he started, I must ask you to leave."
"I - " Before Jingwei could defend himself, Xue Ning replied.
"Dad! He's here to help with the restaurant, not destroy it! And we're not sure that Sun Haowei was even responsible."
"Oh, he definitely was," Tai Xuan muttered bitterly.
"I'll gladly pay for the repairs for the restaurant and your medical fees!" Jingwei said, bowing deeply. "I can also cook or do deliveries for the restaurant!"
There was a stunned silence in the house. It was then broken by Tai Xuan's mocking laughter.
"You cook? A pampered rich boy like you? Don't talk nonsense - we're not giving our customers garbage to eat!"
"I assure you, I can cook." Jingwei said. He was starting to get pissed off with Tai Xuan's rudeness. He understood that Tai Xuan was rightly upset at his father's possible actions, but there was no need to direct that rage towards him!
"His cooking is good!" Xue Ning protested hotly. "He cooked for me before!"
"What?!" Tai Xuan exclaimed, his eyes nearly bulging out at this new information. He wasn't the only one that was surprised, Xue Ning's parents were nearly beside themselves in shock.
Sun Jingwei cooked for their daughter? That was very suspicious! No man would step into the kitchen to cook a meal for a woman for no good reason, especially if said man was as wealthy as Sun Jingwei, with an entire mansion full of staff at his beck and call.
"When did this happen, my dear daughter?" Yue Niang asked sweetly. "I had no idea you and Jingwei were such good friends."
"Yes, do tell," Tai Cheng added. "Because that information certainly did not come out in our phone calls. Weren't you only supposed to be working for him? Since when did you become such a valued employee?"
"Er - " Xue Ning felt sweat form on her temples. Crap! What could she say now? She gave Jingwei a look, but he seemed equally at a loss.
"I like cooking!" Jingwei blurted out. "And it was late at night and Xue Ning and I were hungry. I didn't want to wake the cook, so I cooked instead."
"LATE AT NIGHT?!" Three members of the family screamed in unison.
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