Xu Mey was planning on leaving for the office when He Jian"s mother came behind her. "Xiao Mey, you"re not going anywhere." She said in her sweet voice.
"Why not?" Xu Mey asked turning to look at her.
"Because I said so." The sweet voice held a tinge of danger this time making Xu Mey gulp. In all her best friends she believed that He Jian"s mother was the scariest one. Not because she was always angry but because of the mind games she liked to play.
He Family was an aristocratic family with a history of military generations. Even He Jian served in the military until a couple of years ago. His father was the current General in the military while his mother was a renowned researcher working with the government. Although He Jian"s family seemed strict to everyone for Xu Mey it was the warmest home.
"I have really important things to deal with." She tried to plead with Auntie.
"You can work from home and don"t even think about going out of the house." Xu Mey lowered her head obediently agreeing to her. It"s not like she had another choice.
Then Xu Mey was picked up by He Jian who brought her downstairs for breakfast. Even when she argued that she can walk that much, he didn"t listen to her.
When Xu Mey took a seat at the dining table, she greeted everyone. He Jian"s father, He Kun was sitting at the head seat in his uniform with a newspaper in his hands while Dr. Zhu Chen was sitting beside him in a formal suit, looking through some files in his hand. He Jian"s mother, Zhu Qinyang was serving the breakfast with the housemaid.
She placed a bowl of sliced meat porridge in front of Xu Mey and sat beside her. She filled a spoon with porridge and blew on it before bringing it near Xu Mey"s mouth. "I can eat myself, Auntie Qin-Qin." Xu Mey said.
"Aiya! Our Xiao Mey is such a bright young lady. Of course, she can do it herself. But right now, Auntie wants to do it for her daughter. Got a problem?" When Xu Mey heard the word daughter, she felt an indescribable feeling in her heart as her eyes stung with tears. She happily opened her mouth wide letting her Auntie feed her. "Auntie is really sorry for not attending your wedding but it"s your uncle"s fault." Mrs. He spoke while feeding Xu Mey tenderly and glaring at her husband at the side.
Xu Mey chuckled. "It"s alright, Auntie. But you let Uncle Kun off very easily." Xu Mey looked at her Uncle Kun who was focused on them now disregarding his newspaper. "Auntie Bingbing actually made Uncle Wong sleep on the couch for 2 weeks for the same mistake." She told her thinking about Wu w.a.n.g"s parents.
"Really?" Mrs. He was very delighted with this suggestion.
"Xiao Mey, don"t you love your Uncle anymore?" Xu Mey heard her Uncle Kun"s pitiful voice making her smile.
"Well, of course, I do. But you need to learn that I love Auntie Qin-Qin as well and I really didn"t like it that you didn"t bring her to the wedding." Xu Mey replied looking lovingly at her Auntie.
"Husband, be ready to sleep on the couch tonight." Mrs. He said with playfulness making Mr. He Kun sigh out loud.
"As my dear Xiao Mey wants that I"ll be glad to sleep on the couch." Xu Mey heard Uncle Kun"s reply making her grin widely.
The breakfast continued in silence. "Dr. Zhu!" Xu Mey called out.
"You can call me Uncle Chen since you"re so close to my sister anyway." Dr. Zhu replied.
"Okay. So, Uncle Chen, how old are you?" Her question was weird and out of the blue making, everyone give her a sideways glance.
"Mm... I"m turning 53 this year. Why?" Dr. Zhu replied.
Xu Mey nodded calculating in her mind. "When did you get married?" She asked not answering him at all.
Dr. Zhu rubbed the tip of his nose. "I got married at the age of 22."
"That"s early." Xu Mey commented.
"I was madly in love with my wife since elementary school. I couldn"t wait for long." Dr. Zhu replied with a radiant smile talking about his wife.
"What about children? Do you have a son... Daughter... Son." She said "son" twice to emphasize.
"No... Young lady... I have only a daughter... She"s younger than you." Xu Mey"s face dropped hearing this. If she calculated the time from the marriage to now, it was very possible for Ye Jie to be Dr. Zhu"s son but he said he has only a daughter and that too is younger than her own self much less Ye Jie. So, the idea of the baby swap was cut out completely. And there was nothing left in her mind yet there was a nagging voice in her mind.
"You"re really curious about my brother." Mrs. He commented.
"Nah... I was just making some small talk, Auntie Qin-Qin." Xu Mey replied dejectedly.
"If you"re curious, let me feed you with many details." Xu Mey"s ears perked up. "My brother is actually married to your Uncle Kun"s sister."
"Really?" Xu Mey asked while Mrs. He nodded. "That means Uncle Chen is married to Uncle Kun"s sister while Uncle Kun is married to Uncle Chen"s sister. Right?"
"Absolutely."
"How did that happen?" Xu Mey asked looking for inside details.
"Well, Both Zhu and He family were friends for generations and since both are aristocrat families, all of us used to study in military school together. When Chen fell in love with Qi-Qi, our families decided to make the bond stronger by marriage between children. I was betrothed to your Uncle Kun because of my brother"s love for your Uncle Kun"s sister." Mrs. He explained thinking about the old times.
"That was not fair with you." Xu Mey said.
Mrs. He smiled as she caressed Xu Mey"s cheek. "Xiao Mey, after the engagement, we both also fell in love with each other. So, in a way, our siblings love played as a matchmaking scheme for your Uncle Kun and me."
"You seem like a very romantic person Uncle Chen." Xu Mey conjectured.
Dr. Zhu Chen and He Kun both laughed at her words while Zhu Qinyang said, "You can"t even fathom how much of a romantic he was."
"I want to know." Xu Mey had never learned about love stories except for her best friends who had tragic love stories rather than sweet ones.
"Hmm..." Mrs. He fell into thought.
"Let me tell you." Mr. He Kun offered. "My brother-in-law here actually announced on the school speakers in the a.s.sembly that he was in love with my sister." Xu Mey"s eyes widened and she was gaping at Dr. Zhu. "Not only that he also made his friends throw roses from the top of the building on her in the a.s.sembly ground."
Mrs. He laughed thinking about it. "And Chen was punished to cleaning the bathrooms for a month for that and that too was because the principle was our father"s friend."
The three of the middle-aged people on breakfast were having a good laugh thinking about those times. It was a new feeling for Xu Mey but it was beautiful.