Sara was surprised to see Jianjun outside her room door. It was currently time for breakfast but she had refused to eat with them. She feared her father was still angry at her and may pull her by the ear again.
"Come have breakfast" He said to her before turning to walk back to the dining.
"Dad." She called him before he moved any further.
Jianjun stopped without turning back to look at her. He was still angry at her, no doubt.
How could she challenge Li Sun like that? He had always taught her and told her how to speak to her elders. She had even told him the issue with Muchen wasn"t serious. But then, look what happened.
"Dad...do you..hate me?" Sara asked in fear.
Her usual confident self was gone. She knew she was messing things up. But she could not control herself anymore. She only prayed her father didn"t hate her.
Jianjun sighed deeply then turned to face her. "I do not hate you. I will never do so. I just want you to be happy. And this.... is going to be temporary you know that. I don"t want any temporary happiness for you. And why did you have to sound that way to Madam Li?"
"I don"t know what came over me. I just told her what was on my mind. Besides, she didn"t have any right to tell me to stop seeing him when I haven"t even told him that I... I... " She stopped talking and looked down guiltily. She felt like she was letting her entire family down.
"Dad, I love you. And I always want to be a good girl to you. But this time, I...am not sure I can obey you. You will forgive me right?" She asked hopefully.
He looked at her attentively. Sara had not been one to always ask him for something while growing up. It was always rare for her to do so. Even now that she was an adult, she hadn"t asked for anything but had supported the family instead. But this period, she had been repeatedly begging for his permission. It was the first time she was earnestly asking him for something and he felt bad that he was denying her of it.
But one family just sent them packing. What was Muchen"s family going to do to them? Because he was pretty sure they were going to do something especially that grandmother of his that he had seen last night. She looked really determined to pull Sara out of Muchen"s grasps and he knew his stubborn daughter quite well. It was the first time he wished he had a son instead.
"You have to promise me.." He said.
Sara raised her head and looked at him with hopeful eyes to hear what he wanted to say.
"Promise me that you will hide this properly. I don"t know what his family might do to you if they find out you are dating him. And you have to always remember that this is temporary"
He said. It was the least he could do. He didn"t want his family to split apart just because he was trying to protect them from a future he wasn"t even sure of yet.
Sara smiled widely and hugged him "Thank you so so much dad."
Her excitement also made him smile a little and hugged her back.
"I can hide it every well. Trust me." She a.s.sured him.
Sara happily ate breakfast in the full table with Mr Chu, Bilike, Joreen, Jianjun, and Cixi who had slept in her hotel room but came over this morning, saying she wanted to make sure Jianjun wasn"t bullying Sara.
As Sara ate, she sent a text to Muchen.
"Are you free today Mr Li ?"
Immediately, she received a text notification from Muchen.
"Wow. The mighty Sara texted me first. Today is going to be a good day for me ?"
Sara giggled when she read it. Totally forgetting she was in the middle of having breakfast with everyone.
She raised her head to see curious eyes looking at her. She smiled at them sheepishly. "Sorry. It"s work" She said before facing her phone again.
Work? Seriously? Everyone ignored her and continued to eat. Cixi w.a.n.g held back a laugh and looked at Jianjun who was busy eating like nothing was his business.
Before they knew it, Sara began to laugh again. She dropped her chopstick and used her hand to tuck her loose strands of hair behind her ear.
Jianjun was fed up. He was sitting beside Sara so he easily s.n.a.t.c.hed the phone from her.
"Uhh.. Dad. What are you doing?" Sara asked in shock.
Jianjun could not help ask himself whether this was the very same Sara who just promised him she was going to hide it very well.
"When you"re done with your food. I"ll give it back to you" He said to her then started to eat.
"But I"m done eating" She grumbled.
He looked at her plate that was still full "No food wasting" He lectured.
The others held back their laughter and continued to eat. Totally minding their business.
Except Cixi who spoke "Brother Jun. Give her her phone. You can"t force a girl to keep eating. I"ll eat it for her. Darling..give me your food" She said to Sara who was in the middle of happily delivering it to her but was stopped by Jianjun.
"You haven"t eaten much. You have to eat since we"ll be going to clean the apartment today."
Sara pouted at him. Her mood even worsened when she received two more notification beeps.
She looked at her Aunt who gave her a signal to just eat.
Sara began to eat quickly. She needed that phone badly.
"Here. I"m done" She announced.
Joreen stylishly gave her a thumbs up.
"Cute banana. That was fast. You must really miss that boyfriend of yours." He teased.
Sara blushed but said nothing and just opened her palm for Jianjun to give her back her phone.
Cixi almost laughed. It was obvious Jianjun was jealous since Sara was suddenly giving her entire attention to someone else. The old man must be heartbroken.
"Just give her the phone already" Cixi urged him while he gave her a glare in return before reluctantly handed Sara her phone.
"Thank you dad" She leaned to kiss his cheek and stood up. She was about to take her plates to the kitchen when she heard a knock on the door.
She frowned. Who was coming now? She was going to be the one to open the door since she was done with eating. Why were they all disturbing her?
She placed her plate down and head for the door. When she opened it, she got the shock of her life when she saw the visitor was none other but Song Changyu on her door looking disheveled. She had panda eyes which were also swollen like she had cried the entire night. Her clothes were dirty and rumpled. Her hair was scattered. She wasn"t even wearing any footwear.
This was so unlike the elegant and sophisticated woman she knew. Why was she looking like that. And why was she here in the first place?
"Miss...miss Song?" Sara called in shock.
"What? Miss Song?" Sara heard Cixi"s voice ask before she rushed to the door with Jianjun behind her.
When the both saw her, they also looked at her in shock.
Changyu"s eyes met Jianjun"s. She looked at him for a bit before she spoke in a low raspy voice "Bro..ther...Jun"
He still looked at her in shock and said nothing. Why was she here? And why did she look so untidy?
The others inside had also come to see who it was. Joreen instantly recognised her and was surprised. She had no idea her father knew her at all. She was even further suprised that her mother knew her when she heard her mother angrily ask what Changyu was doing here.
Changyu didn"t answer Cixi and to all of their surprise, she collapsed.