Sara woke up feeling refreshed and nervous at the same time.
She hadn"t been able to hear from Muchen since the previous day so she had no idea what he was up to or whether he was on his way. Hoy knew nothing either.
It was finally the day they had all been waiting for. The day things would change for the Li family.
She was really eager to see Li Sun"s reaction when she joins them. According to what she heard from Hoy, the others thought it was probably a bad idea since she might not like it but she didn"t actually think so.
She strolled inside the kitchen to see Jianjun in the middle of preparing breakfast.
"Good morning Papa" She greeted before giving him a quick back hug.
"Good morning. Slept fine?"
She nodded. "What are you making? It smells nice" She commented.
"Wait for it. It"s something new I"m trying out. It"s going to be my own special delicacy" He said with a wink.
"Oh.... When do I start making my own special delicacies?" She asked eagerly like a child wanting to know when she"ll be given her favourite snack.
Sara watched him chuckle before turning to stir whatever was inside the pan on the fire.
"You can"t make simple meals yet you"re talking about special delicacies?" He mocked.
"I told you not to look down on me. Tell me.. What do you want me to help you do?" She rolled up her s.h.i.+rt"s sleeves and looked at the table that was full of different ingredients.
He used his chin to point at the door "You should go prepare yourself mentally for tonight." He advised.
Sara wondered what her Aunt was up to when she suddenly came to pull her out from the kitchen and led her outside the house.
"Did something happen?" She couldn"t help but ask curiously.
"I just received a call now. They"ve been able to crack the codes in Joreen"s princ.i.p.al"s system. So I"ll be going to get it tonight." Cixi said to her in a whisper.
"Wow. Finally! What about the IP address? Were they able to track it?" Sara asked.
Cixi shook her head. "They haven"t been able to. But I believe we might be able to find a couple of things that may link us to the person."
"Wait... What? You"re going there this night? Weren"t you supposed to go with me to the birthday party?"
An invitation card had been given to her family to be there. But Jianjun had refused to go, claiming it would be uncomfortable and besides, he had to open the restaurant.
She had pleaded with Cixi to go with her and now, this?
Cixi looked at her apologetically. "They"ll be going home for Christmas this evening. I was the one who kept them busy until now. I have to go get it this night else I won"t be able to for the next few weeks. You know it"s in another town and I cannot promise to make it to the hotel for her birthday party on time"
"Why do I feel that is just an excuse?" Sara gave her a questioning look.
Cixi sighed before patting Sara"s head gently.
"I"m sorry Sara. But I really don"t wish to embarra.s.s you with my presence there" She sincerely apologized.
"What? Embarra.s.s me? Why would you say or think that?"
"Look Sara. I"m not a good Aunt. It"s bad enough that they do not consider you good enough for their son and my presence there would only worsen things for you. I am a woman who never got married and even had a child outside of wedlock. Do you—"
"Please stop it Aunt." Sara cut her off in displeasure.
"Do I look like I care about any of that? You are my family. You are all important. Who cares about what anyone says about you?" She said angrily.
"Sara...." Cixi called sadly.
"Aunt.... Please..." Sara took her hands in hers "If you are not coming because of the laptop issue then I"ll perfectly understand. But I won"t accept it if you look down on yourself because of me. You"ll make me sad" Sara pouted unhappily.
Cixi blinked back tears before pulling her into a gentle hug. "I am very sorry Sara. I"m so sorry" She apologised while blinking back tears.
Sun c.o.c.ked her head to the side as she watched Hoy stutter.
She kept wondering what this young man was suddenly up to. None of them actually came to see her on their own except she called for a family meeting so why was he here saying something about a hang out?
"The thing is.... You are not always available and since I"m very sure you"ll be traveling back soon, I just wanted to hang out with you before Christmas" He managed to say.
Sun looked at him in obvious surprise. This was the first time a member of the family was asking her to go out together. Was she beginning to hear things? Was this one of the symptoms of her illness?
She looked at her maid beside her and saw the woman also looked surprised. The surprised look on her face was soon replaced with a grin.
"You....want me to go out with you?" Sun asked skeptically. "That sounds weird" She added.
"Yes." He answered her first question politely. He must confess, this seemed pretty awkward for him but he had to manage. Everyone was counting on him.
"I got you this. I thought it might look good on you so I bought it. Tell me what you think" He handed her maid a box which she carefully placed beside Sun and opened it.
Sun saw an Indigo flower-patterened suede Cheongsam.
Her eyes lit up as she carefully lifted it to see it was long and would probably end at her ankles. Also inside the box, was an elegant, silver mid heel shoe.
"It is pretty." She said with a tiny smile.
It was also the first time she was receiving a gift like this before Christmas. And today just happened to be her birthday even though none of them actually knew about it.
Hoy looked at his watch and noted it was just a few minutes to four. It meant it was almost time to start leaving with her.
"Can you change into it so we can leave now?"
He asked carefully.
"What"s the other box beside you for?" Sun asked curiously.
"Oh.. This is for you Aunt" He handed the box over to the maid. "You should also come out with her"
If she had been smiling before, her smile got bigger this time. She was really happy that someone was finally caring about Li Sun.