Ru who was entering the bookstore under the gazes of her subordinates but suddenly she stopped in her track and whipped her body around. "Oi! Adia!"
Adia was a bit startled for being pointed out like this again. "Yes, master!" She answered uncertainly.
Ru extended her hand saying, "Give me my coin back." Adia pursed her lips not knowing what to do with this master of hers. How can her master actually be so stingy to ask for the coin which hit her ankle earlier? "Throw it back. Fast!" Seeing her urging like that, Adia could only throw the coin towards Ru who caught it with ease and smiled in victory.
As Ru entered the bookstore, Adia turned to a dumbfounded Lilith and said, "Oh, and did we mention, he"s the most calculative person in this world. Also, the most stingy one!" Instead of finding it odd, Lilith found Ru even more interesting than before. How can a person like that give away "his" credit card with ease and yet ask for a single insignificant coin back?
Finding Ru"s antics amusing, Lilith"s lips curled upward slightly which was hardly noticeable and yet Jack managed to discern her smile. "Oh, our new member also know how to smile." Hearing his remark, everyone looked at Lilith with smiles.
"Kiddo! You"re too young for that broody face. Learn to smile often." Connor patted Lilith"s shoulder and for the first time in her life, Lilith felt the feeling of being a part of something. She had spent a week with these five members of Black Mist and all she learned was how much normal they were.
At first, she thought they"d be always planning or training since for the world, Black Mist squad was the other name of death. They always completed their missions meticulously without leaving any loose ends. But living with them, she found them more childish than fierce.
"Let"s go! Let"s buy you something to eat first..." Adia pulled Lilith along and the boys followed suit as they went to find a place to eat first.
What Lilith hadn"t figured out yet was that Ru was indeed imposing but only when it came to working. If her employees did what they were supposed to do, then the rest wasn"t her concern. Especially, their personal lives had nothing to do with her. And working under her, her subordinates also adapted themselves.
Back inside the bookstore, Ru saw Xiao Zhi Ren and Xiao Zhi Yuan collecting the shopping bags from the counter. "Oniisan, where did you go?" Xiao Zhi Yuan rushed up to her side to ask.
"I just saw someone I knew. So, I went to say h.e.l.lo." Her reply had nothing wrong with it and yet Xiao Zhi Ren found it hard to believe. He had come to understand a bit of her nature and from his understanding, he couldn"t believe that Ru went on her own to greet someone. But he decided not to think much about this matter.
"Stop chatting... Let"s get you something to eat," he said while he again pulled Ru but from her sleeve this time. Since the food was involved, Ru disregarded the fact that he was dragging her again like a sack. But anything for food! Thinking this, she happily let herself dragged away.
The three of them entered the food court in the mall and took a seat at an empty table. Xiao Zi Ren went to order at a fast food shop leaving Xiao Zhi Yuan and Ru to wait.
"How"s school, little squirrel?" Ru asked looking at the crowded food court. She wasn"t comfortable with all those people around her and to get over her uneasiness, she tried to make some small talk.
"As you have predicted," Xiao Zhi Yuan answered plainly. But seeing Ru"s inquiring gaze, he further explained, "You were right, Oniisan! My forgiveness won"t change anything, it"ll make things worse."
"What"s really going on?" This time she really was interested to know in detail.
"Since the day Ji Caihong stood up for me..." He hesitated a bit before saying, "All of my cla.s.s had been fleering that she"s my sugar mommy and stuff like that."
"Did you do something about it?"
"Yes... I tried to tell them off but it didn"t work. I mean they can say anything about me but Ji Caihong is a girl. They shouldn"t be so impudent with their words." Ru found his sulky look to be quite amusing. "The worst part is I can"t even fight with them. Otherwise, I"d love to break a few jaws."
Ru touched his head and said, "I didn"t know that you"re such a sensitive boy." Xiao Zhi Yuan didn"t understand her meaning at first but after she spoke again he understood it clearly. "Even when you don"t like Ji Caihong, you tried to stand up for her just because she"s a girl. That"s an admirable thing. As for that breaking jaws part, don"t tell your brother but I"ll help you with that."
"Really?" Xiao Zhi Yuan"s mood immediately lifted up as she nodded her head. "That"s good..."
"Why did you stand up for her though? Are you starting to-?" Her words were cut off by Xiao Zhi Yuan as he shook his head.
"I"m not going soft on her... It"s just that brother always taught me that we should always think before tainting a girl"s name. Eminence might not matter that much to boys but it"s the only thing that girls usually holds in high regard. That"s why I don"t want them to talk nonsense about her." Xiao Zhi Yuan"s reply touched the deepest part of Ru"s heart.
She stared at him in disbelief. How would one believe this sensible and sweet boy was only 18 years old? He learned something so early in life which most people don"t even understand in their whole life. She smiled proudly as she tousled his hair saying, "My little squirrel, you"re so adorable that I want to steal you from your brother."
"Mind saying that again?" Hearing Xiao Zhi Ren"s voice from behind, Ru"s smile faltered a bit.
She tilted her head to see Xiao Zhi Ren giving her a dangerous look. "It was a joke!" Ru tried to laugh it off even though she wasn"t kidding at all. She really wanted to steal Xiao Zhi Yuan. Xiao Zhi Ren glared at her and pushed the tray of food before her and Xiao Zhi Yuan.
After coming back with his own tray of food, he sat right opposite of Ru just to pa.s.s deadly glares to her. Ru wiggled her nose a bit and said, "Since you"re still mad, how about a joke?" She took his silence to be his agreement as she added, "What"s the difference between Cinderella and Snow White?"
"What is it?" Xiao Zhi Yuan asked with interest as he took a sip of his cold drink.
"One forgot to wear her shoes and the other forgot to take them off..." Ru laughed out at her own joke while both brothers stared at her not understanding her meaning at all. "Oh come on guys! Cinderella forgot her shoe at the ball while Snow White was even wearing her shoe while she was under the curse." Even after listening to her explanation, no one laughed at the table making her feel sour.
Shrugging her shoulders, Ru picked up the packet of sauce but feeling irked by having the worst sense of humor, she tore the packet with excessive force making the drop of sauce fly up to the tip of her nose. Now this time, she definitely heard bouts of laughter from Xiao Zhi Yuan while Xiao Zhi Ren was trying hard to stay composed.
"Ais.h.!.+ This really has something against me." There was sauce all over her fingers but instead of taking a napkin to clean up, she lifted her hand to wipe off the sauce. But her hand was held by a bigger one as Xiao Zhi Ren took a napkin and roughly wiped the tip of her nose making her wince, "Hei! Do it nicely!" Xiao Zhi Ren ignored her scowling and with another napkin wiped her hands.
"Day by day, I feel like asking, how did you manage to become such an extraordinary person for the world when you can"t even open a small packet of sauce." He shook his head while Ru lowered her head. "Also, I might not know the difference between Cinderella and Snow White but I do know the similarities between you and Cinderella." Ru looked at him with a crease between her brows. He knocked on her forehead saying, "You both love to forget your slippers."
This was a blunt insult to her. But Ru couldn"t even argue with him since it was her own fault for forgetting to wear her slippers when they were leaving the house. Not wanting to speak, Ru picked up fries from her tray and shoved them in her mouth.
"I thought you don"t like potatoes," Xiao Zhi Ren"s remark made Ru get back to reality as she looked at him. "The way you"re eating fries would make people think that you"re really fond of potatoes."
Ru looked at her tray which now only had two large-sized burgers and a cold drink in it while all the fires were gone. "I don"t like potatoes but I love fries."
"Oniisan, fries are made from potatoes," Xiao Zhi Yuan added but Ru"s look made him silent.
"I don"t think about logic when it comes to food." Her answer was straightforward and after that, she got herself busy with the large-sized burger. Somehow Xiao Zhi Ren knew about her appet.i.te that"s why he specifically got her two large-sized burgers instead of one.
Seeing her eating happily with content, Xiao Zhi Ren smiled to himself. After everything, only food could make her stop arguing. It was a good thing that at least logic wasn"t involved with food.