When Shen Lingqing entered their home at Imperial Residences, she was immediately greeted by Jiao Jiao at the front door. The woman had a wide smile on her face as she greeted their young mistress.
“Miss Qing, your cousins arrived today,” Jiao Jiao informed her at once.
“My cousins?” Shen Lingqing frowned at that. Even before she could ask Jiao Jiao which cousins this auntie was talking about, she heard her younger brother yelling inside the house.
“Shen Liyue! Shen Liyuan! Qing Jie hasn’t arrived yet, but you are already eating the food! You two come back here! I’ll give you both a good beating!” Shen Lingtian exclaimed, chastising their younger cousins.
Shen Liyue and Shen Liyuan were a pair of male twins. They were born to Shen Xue, their father’s younger brother, and Lu Xiulan, their mother’s cousin on the paternal side. The two were almost the same age as Shen Lingtian, but unlike his Qing Jie and Qiao Lian, the two had always annoyed the h.e.l.l out of him.
Shen Lingqing went inside with Jiao Jiao and saw the twins arguing once again with her younger brother. She also spotted Ye Jiewen and Ye Xingchen, her other cousins and the children of her Aunt Feiyan.
“What? No way! Stop whining, Brother Lingtian! We also see you took a share of the cake when Auntie Xinxin wasn’t looking!” Shen Liyue retorted in defense.
“En!” Shen Liyuan agreed with his twin brother. “Why should we listen to you?! It was Auntie Xinxin who invited us here anyway! You are being ridiculous, Brother Lingtian!”
Anyway, who else couldn’t be tempted to eat the delicious meals and desserts their Auntie Xinxin made today? The Shen brothers refused to believe that anyone would be able to stop themselves from eating those delicious delicacies!
Her Aunt Xinxin was known as the Food G.o.ddess of her generation so how could they waste this rare chance to eat the dishes she made for them today? Hmph! If anything, Shen Lingtian might just want to eat everything on his own and not share with them.
“I knew it. I knew that we’ll be witnessing a fight between monkeys again.” Ye Jiewen yawned lazily as she lounged on the couch next to her elder brother, Ye Xingchen.
“We should have brought an airbed and a bunch of bananas to feed these monkeys,” Ye Xingchen agreed with her.
“Hey! Who are you calling monkeys here?!” Both Shen Lingtian and the Shen twins glared at the Ye siblings.
“Ah, look. There’s a mirror over there. The monkeys probably don’t know what they look like.” Ye Xingchen pointed at the other side of the room where they could see a huge mirror hanging on the wall. It had an intricate frame that spoke its value to those who would see it.
His sister burst into a peal of laughter next to him while the Shens glared furiously at the Ye siblings. These pair of siblings had never failed to make fun of them whenever they were around.
Shen Lingqing could already feel a headache coming her way and sighed to herself. It was only then Ye Jiewen noticed her presence. She immediately ran towards her cousin and linked an arm with Shen Lingqing’s.
“Ah, she’s finally here! What took you so long, Qing Jie?” She grinned at the Shen princess who was visibly not in the good mood, seeing everyone was here waiting for her. Shen Lingqing had just come back to the country yesterday and wasn’t expecting that her mother would throw a welcome party solely for her.
She allowed Ye Jiewen to drag her and joined them at the lounge area. The moment she sat down, Xiao Bai immediately came out from where he was hiding and settled next to her feet.
Shen Lingtian furrowed his brows when he saw the white tiger going to his elder sister.
“Xiao Bai, that’s unfair! You never bother to greet me whenever I come home, but you’ll immediately go to Qing Jie when she’s here?!” He complained at the white tiger, but Xiao Bai only cracked an eye open to look at him before ignoring his head in the opposite direction, ignoring him.
“Ha! Even Xiao Bai knew who the boss here is.” Ye Jiewen chuckled. “By the way, since you are back, does this mean you’re going to join SY Holdings now?”
“Yes, I joined the company as a finance director,” Shen Lingqing informed them.
Aside from looking after the restaurant her father a.s.signed to her, Shen Lingqing would need to report to the company and study the cash flow of SY Holdings. This should give her an idea of how the company works and a chance to get familiar with how things go within SY Holdings.
“That’s better than what Dad a.s.signed to Brother Chen.” Ye Jiewen patted her older brother’s shoulder. “Dad a.s.signed him first as a regular employee, and he has to take an a.s.sessment every three months to see if he could be promoted.”
Ye Xingchen scowled at that. “Do you really have to remind me that, Jiewen?”
Just like what his sister said, Ye Xingchen had really been a.s.signed to start at the lowest part of the ladder by their father two years ago when he joined the Ye Corporation. At least Shen Lingqing was given a position as a director.
“I don’t see why he shouldn’t. Uncle must have planned something for Xingchen,” Shen Lingqing commented.
“Just like how Uncle Yi has plans for you?” Shen Liyue asked before turning to his elder twin brother. “Yuan, you don’t think Dad will give us a hard time when it’s our turn, right?”
Shen Liyuan only shrugged. Unlike their Uncle Yi and the Ye siblings’ father, their father wasn’t as serious as them. In fact, if one looked at Shen Xue now, they wouldn’t think that he was the CEO of Shen Group.
“Nah, we’re good for now.” The eighteen-year-old crossed his arms as he gave it a good thought. He and Shen Liyue still had two remaining years before they could enter Shen Group to work, and their father never gave an impression that they were already needed.
“Hehe, Lingtian, you’ll be next.” Shen Liyue gave his cousin a mocking smile, waggling his eyebrows knowingly. “Don’t forget to treat us on your first pay.”
Shen Lingtian glared at him in return. This cousin of his surely did know how to annoy him to death!
“Isn’t it enough that you always raid our fridge whenever the two of you are here? Perhaps, it’s time for me to tell Mom to put a lock on it, so we can keep the huge ants away from our desserts.”
Shen Liyue snorted back. It was really amusing seeing Shen Lingtian annoyed like this. It would never get old.
“Well, it isn’t like you can finish everything on your own. Now that your Qing Jie is back, Lingtian should also cut back on calories.”
Shen Lingtian was taken aback. While it’s true that he’d been pampered to no end by his mother when his elder sister wasn’t around, that didn’t mean that he wanted to monopolize his mother’s cooking. They would never understand his struggle as he always needed to fight for his share especially on dinners that were spent with his father.
“Stop it. What are you? Four-year-olds?” Shen Lingqing had enough of their bantering and chastised the three of them.