"Meow!" An orange blur rocketed towards Long Jinjing but her slow reflexes didn't allow her to react in time.
Lu Zihao immediately abandoned his stare-down with the Spaniard to catch the orange cat just in time before it could crash into his woman.
"You brat," he snarled at Popcorn who curled in fright in his arms.
"Zihao, don't be too fierce on Popcorn." Long Jinjing took the trembling cat from him and comforted her poor feline nephew.
Lu Zihao snorted, his eyes sweeping from her head to toe and back up again to make sure that she was fine. He glanced at her stomach for a few seconds longer but his expression didn't expose anything to others.
She hugged the affectionate Popcorn who acted like a baby and focused most of her attention on the cat while hiding behind Lu Zihao to avoid the Spaniard's gaze. In the end, Iris stepped forward and pulled her away from the testosterone-filled clash of dominant domains between the two men. Long Jinjing glanced at Lu Zihao who gave her a nod, letting her go with his sister.
Iris gave him and René Alejandro a look but didn't show much of her thoughts on her expression. She pulled Long Jinjing and returned to her husband's side where it was safe and comfortable. The husband and wife didn't miss the big sigh of relief from Long Jinjing.
Fortunately, not everyone was focusing on what happened between Lu Zihao and René Alejandro. Dom and Clover quickly distracted the guests after a meaningful look from Jin Liwei. Yu Mo and Jin Chonglin also stepped in to separate the two men.
The party continued without any issues after this. It was obvious that Lu Zihao and René Alejandro disliked each other for some reason. Even others could feel their hostility towards each other. Thankfully, the two men didn't repeat their tense stare-down from earlier and just settled on ignoring each other.
Lu Zihao stuck to Long Jinjing's side while René Alejandro returned to his charismatic self, chatting with the other guests.
The sleepy children were ushered out for bedtime by their parents. Ice Cream and Popcorn followed them. After their departure, the adults let themselves loose a bit more. The chatter and laughter became a little more boisterous and the wine flowed a little more freely.
As time ticked by, Iris became increasingly annoyed at her husband and older brother's constant hovering over her and Long Jinjing. It was fine during the first half of the party but the two men just wouldn't leave them alone even for a second. She finally snapped at them and told them to go chat with the other guests. Jin Liwei and Lu Zihao wouldn't listen to her at first but eventually relented when she looked like she was going to explode on them.
She and Long Jinjing sighed when the two men left and joined the others. Still, Jin Liwei and Lu Zihao kept their eyes on them despite the distance.
Chen Fei approached and sat beside her best friend, rolling her eyes at Lu Zihao who wasn't taking his eyes off Long Jingjing.
"Finally, he's away from you! I wanted to talk to you as soon as you arrived but Dom and Clover kept me away for fear that I'll scratch that asshole's face as soon as I go near him. Hmph! Do those siblings think so low of me? Well, it's true that I want to scratch that asshole's face for all the things he did to you but it's not like I'm going to make a scene in front of everyone and ruin this Christmas party."
"Xiao Fei," Long Jinjing sighed. "Please don't call Zihao like that."
"Like what?" Chen Fei raised an eyebrow.
"Like…you know what I'm talking about."
Chen Fei harrumphed and crossed her arms over her chest. "An asshole is an asshole. To me, the moment he did all those things to you, that jerk has automatically become an asshole."
"Sssh! What if somebody hears you?" Long Jinjing looked around, making sure that nobody was eavesdropping on their conversation. "What if somebody hears you? I don't want people to say that my best friend and my…my b-boyfriend are at odds with each other."
"Don't care too much about what others say or think, Big Sister," Iris interjected in friends' conversation. "Your life is for you to live, not theirs."
"Facts." Chen Fei nodded.
"But I agree that you shouldn't call Big Brother Zihao an asshole. He is, after all, the father of Big Sister Jinjing's baby. And as you can see, he's not running away from his responsibility."
"Hmph!"
Long Jinjing smiled and subconsciously rubbed her belly while looking at the bored Lu Zihao. The two of them locked eyes with each other. He was about to head back towards her but Jin Liwei caught and stopped him.
Iris chuckled and sent her husband an approving smile. Then she turned to Long Jinjing and asked her, "By the way, why did you arrive so late?"
Chen Fei also stopped talking and waited for her answer.
Long Jinjing blushed. "Zihao and Grandpa Lu came with me to meet my mom."
Chen Fei's eyes widened. "You're already at that stage?"
"They should already be at this stage," Iris said. "They're going to have a baby, remember?"
"I know but…shit! This is all just happening so fast!" Chen Fei looked emotional. "I mean the two of us only graduated this year and began working at Orchidia Beauty. I thought that the two of us will be focusing on our careers first and yet…look at where you are right now! You hooked up with that asshole and even got yourself pregnant."
Iris rested her head on her hand. "And what's wrong with that? I'm younger than Big Sister but I'm already married and pregnant."
"I'm not saying that it's wrong, just…unexpected."
"That's life."
Chen Fei sighed, feeling defeated. She looked at her best friend and sighed again but there was now a small smile on her face.. "I know I may not look like it but I'm happy for you especially since I can feel that this is what you want, Jing."
