It took some time but Jin Liwei finally managed to control his laughter. Once he regained his composure, he cleared his throat and drank the rest of his coconut water. His mouth, however, continued to twitch upon remembering what just happened.
He faced his brother-in-law who looked murderous. This time, he could feel the hostility directed towards him. He wasn’t intimidated though. There was no bloodthirst emanating from Lu Zihao, just angry embarrassment.
Fine, since his fifth brother’s remnant was the one who made the suggestion, Jin Liwei would do his best to help his brother-in-law.
“Are you going to help me or not?” Lu Zihao asked, still glaring. “If not, I’m leaving.”
Jin Liwei wanted to laugh again but restrained himself. It wasn’t good to provoke the man any further. His wife might be upset if he and her older brother quarreled. She wanted the two of them to get along because they were both very important to her.
“You want to know how to be romantic to Long Jinjing?” he asked.
“Is there anyone else other than her?” Lu Zihao grumbled, annoyed.
Jin Liwei could sense that the man was still embarrassed. Although Lu Zihao was threatening to leave just now, he still hadn’t left. It was clear to Jin Liwei that his brother-in-law really intended to learn a thing or two about romance even though he didn’t want to admit it out loud. Lu Zihao pushed all the blame on the remnant, claiming that it was because of the remnant’s suggestion that he sought Jin Liwei for some romance advice.
“Alright, I’ll give you a few suggestions based on my own experiences with Evelina,” Jin Liwei said.
Lu Zihao pretended to be uninterested by looking everywhere else except at Jin Liwei, but Jin Liwei knew that his brother-in-law was paying attention to what he was saying.
###
The call with her mother made Long Jinjing feel many times better. She was able to keep her pregnancy a secret from her mother for now and only told Sun Jingfei about her issues with Lu Zihao. However, she knew that she couldn’t keep her pregnancy a secret forever and she didn’t want to do that either. Her baby was a blessing and despite the current uncertainty of her relationship with Lu Zihao, the father, she was still happy to be pregnant.
During her phone conversation with her mother, she cried her heart out, releasing her negative feelings. She cried for longer than she talked but her mother didn’t mind and listened to her patiently while murmuring words of comfort.
This was the power of a supportive and loving mother. The pain in her heart felt soothed by a refreshing balm that was her mother’s love.
It had been more than ten minutes now since the call ended but Long Jinjing was still staring at her phone with a soft and grateful smile on her face.
She rubbed her belly. “Don’t worry, baby. I won’t keep you a secret for too long. I’ll make sure to introduce you to your Grandma Jingfei. She’ll definitely love you and dote on you more than she does to me.”
Then her phone screen suddenly flickered and a white cat appeared.
“Excuse me, Auntie Jinjing. Meow~”
“Oh! Ketchup!” Long Jinjing was startled but recovered fast. She was still in the process of getting used to her AI niece and nephew popping up in nearby electronic devices now and then. “Yes? Do you need something?”
“My mommy is asking if it’s okay to come see Auntie Jinjing and talk to you right now. Meow~”
She hesitated but only for a moment. “Of course.”
“Yay yay! The cute and mighty Ketchup will now tell my mommy. Meow~”
Ketchup stayed on her phone screen but was now playing with a virtual ball of yarn. Bacon then appeared next to his older sister and just stared at Long Jinjing, his golden eyes glowing.
Long Jinjing smiled at him. She already had an idea why her younger sister wanted to talk to her. “Bacon, did you tell your mom about what happened to your Uncle Zihao and me?”
“Yes, Aunt Jinjing. Mother is my mother. Bacon doesn’t keep secrets from her.”
She sighed but wasn’t too surprised by it. Lu Zihao already told her repeatedly before that Bacon was a total mama’s boy. He said, quote, “The little devil will betray anyone, including his father, for the sake of his beloved mother.”
Moments later, there was a knock on the door. It was Iris.
“Come in,” Long Jinjing welcomed her.
“Big Sister,” Iris greeted.
The sisters sat opposite each other. Then Iris placed a basket filled with snacks, most of them sweets but there were also some peeled and chopped fruits, and two cans of coconut water on the coffee table between them.
“Help yourself,” Iris said, gesturing at what she brought. “My sudden cravings have worsened lately and I can’t control my temper when I’m hungry.”
“I hear that’s normal with pregnant women,” Long Jinjing commented.
Iris nodded. “You’ll probably be like this soon, too.”
Long Jinjing blushed and subconsciously rubbed her belly again. Iris caught her action and smiled.
“It’s good to see that you’re eating well again, little sister.”
“Me, too. It’s all thanks to Theresa’s health plan.”
The conversation stopped at this moment as the two women enjoyed the various snacks on the table. The silence wasn’t awkward but was actually quite comfortable.
“Are you still upset?” Iris eventually asked.
“A little,” Long Jinjing admitted.
“But you still love Big Brother?”
“Yes. I already love him before but I love him even more now that I’m pregnant with his baby. It’s amazing, really. But…I don’t know if I can continue like this forever. I hate to be a martyr and keep on waiting for him to love me back. He…told me to marry him. TOLD me. He didn’t even give me a proper proposal, the jerk.”
Iris offered her an unwrapped bar of chocolate.
Long Jinjing took it and bit into it angrily. “I’m not asking for anything fancy. Even if there are no flowers or a candlelit dinner, heck, even if there’s no ring, at least he should’ve ASKED me. Is that so hard to do? Little sister, am I being too demanding for wanting a proper proposal?”
“Not at all. That’s basic courtesy if a man wants to marry a woman.”
