Cixi took Joreen with her to a store where children wears was sold.
She wanted to buy her some clothes to wear for Sara and Muchen"s wedding.
As they were both looking for the perfect dress to buy, Cixi saw a familiar figure walk inside the shop with a little girl holding his hands. The girl was probably 8 or 9 years old, she wore a pink dress and coat with her hair tied in a ponytail. While the man was none other than Luo Jaime!
He was dressed for the weather with a long coat, pants, and scarf around his neck.
"Wait up!" Cixi heard a woman"s voice call behind Jaime and the girl. As the woman took hurried steps to catch up with them, Cixi quickly sized her up. The lady was probably in her early or mid thirties. Her blonde hair and white skin made her look more American than Asian.
Once the lady caught up with them, she took the little girl"s other hand and strolled in with them, a happy smile on her face.
"You know them?" Joreen asked curiously when she saw her mother paying attention to the family that had just walked in.
"No.. I don"t" Cixi quickly looked away and continued to scan for a dress to pick.
"He had a family yet he took me to his home and nursed me back to health?" She murmured unhappily.
Her mind was no longer in what she was doing. Once in a while, she looked towards their direction and whenever she did so, she saw him picking a dress for the little girl.
Watching them now, she realised just how lonely she was.
It seemed everyone around her was pairing up with someone else except for her.
She had even received a call this morning from a colleague who informed her she was getting married in two weeks.
"I like this one" Joreen showed her a red short gown studded with white beads.
"It looks good." Cixi quickly turned her head to face Joreen and agreed with her immediately she saw the gown.
She had seen the red dress a while back and thought it looked perfect for Joreen, but she had been trying to buy time. It was the reason she did not pick it earlier.
She knew if she picked it earlier, she would have to move over to the shoe section which was not very far from where Jaime"s family was.
Having no other choice, she held Joreen"s hand and both of them walked there.
Cixi tried her best to hide from him but it was too impossible since they were also there to buy a shoe for the little girl.
"Miss Doctor?" She heard the familiar voice call behind her.
She pursed her lips before turning to face him with a forced smile plastered on her face.
"You finally got it." He had always called her "Mrs Doctor" no matter the number of times she told him that she was not married.
It was nice to know he took her correction.
Joreen looked at her mother suspiciously. "Didn"t she just tell her that she did not know them?" Joreen wondered but said nothing as she continued to look at the handsome man that was speaking with her mother.
The little girl and lady beside Jaime also looked at Cixi curiously.
"Didn"t think I"d b.u.mp into you here. You look better" He commented.
"This is my daughter. w.a.n.g Joreen." Cixi introduced Joreen to them after saying h.e.l.lo to the lady who did not bother to return her greeting.
"Oh. She is a pretty girl. h.e.l.lo dear" He bent down to greet Joreen with a smile on his face.
"You can call me Mr Luo." He said to her.
"I like her hair. Can I make mine like that too?" The little girl asked Jaime.
She had been admiring Joreen"s black afro that was packed in two buns.
"This is my daughter. Luo Reen." He said with a smile while ignoring her question.
"And this is my—"
"Girlfriend." The lady interrupted while clinging unto his arm.
Cixi could only nod when she heard that.
She was already beginning to feel uncomfortable especially with the way the lady had been staring at her.
She forced out another smile and was about excusing herself when Jaime spoke.
"She is Chu Marian. My colleague" Jaime smiled awkwardly before politely pulling his hand away from Marian.
Cixi paused and looked at all of them again.
But Marian frowned when she heard him introduce her to Cixi that way.
When Cixi saw her frown, she could vaguely guess what was happening with her.
"Nice to meet you Mr Luo"s colleague." She said to Marian with a polite smile before turning to face Jaime again.
Making sure the two kids do not hear her, she said within Jaime and Marian"s earshot.
"Thanks for the other night. I"ll return your sweater soon."
When she saw Marian"s shocked look, she became contented.
"Nice to meet you all. But we have to hurry now." Cixi said with a genuine smile this time before picking a shoe to go make payment with Joreen following behind her.
As Jaime watched her leave, a tiny smile appeared on his face.
Since the area was undergoing redevelopment, the whole place was noisy and roudy.
Buildings were being raised and demolished, except the particular building which Jianjun had been staring at for close to an hour.
He had not bothered to come here years ago because he did not want to bring back old memories but now, he was finally here.
He could not go in since the place was being renovated and it was not safe to walk inside but merely looking at the outside, he began to remember the past.
His father, his mother.
He continued to remember everything to the very moment the place was taken away from them.
He felt his eyes begin to water and when he thought the tears was going to fall, he felt a hand on his shoulder.
Changyu had allowed him brood all he wanted.
She had been resting her body on her car while watching him the entire time. And she did not want him to remain like that.
Jianjun slowly turned to face her. To face the woman who made him speechless every time.
"We should return now. It"s late." She said in a gentle voice before taking his hand.
But he did not move.
"I cannot let you do this." He knew it was not the time to let his pride get in between, but he did not want her to just do everything.
It was not only her fault that his parents died. It was his also.
He knew it was dangerous to keep seeing her even after her parents warned him not to.
But he had continued going to her place.
"I want to do it." She refused to give up.
If she wanted to do something, nothing was ever going to stop her.
"It"s too much. I do not have the funds to handle this." He explained to her.
"It seems you are the only one who does not know about me and what I am capable of."
"It"s too expensive." He maintained.
"Brother Jun... This is your parents" restaurant. It"s yours!"
"You can just take it as a gift then. A gift for raising our daughter well." She added.
"I did not raise her because I wanted to be rewarded by you"
"Fine! The building is mine then. You can just become a shareholder or something. Deal? Deal!" She concluded without giving him any other option.
"You did not even give me a chance to accept or decline first" He grumbled.
"I don"t like to give people chances."
She quickly took his hand and forced him to follow her.
"Let"s go shop for items we would be starting our new restaurant with. You also have to buy us dresses to wear for Sara"s wedding."
As Jianjun followed her, he knew he was on his way to being broke, because there was no way he was ever going to buy her a dress what was less in quality to the ones she usually wore.
He only hoped that Sara would forgive him for spending so much on Changyu when he did not buy her any designer"s dress.