Iris and Jin Liwei were both determined not to make the same mistake as Wei Lan and Long Tengfei. Given what happened to the original Long Xiulan with her personality, they already had a clue what to do in order to prevent Little Mochi from following in her footsteps.
They just had to do the opposite of what Wei Lan and Long Tengfei did when raising the original Long Xiulan. Well, what they did couldn’t really be called “raising”. But that was the point.
Iris and Jin Liwei would make sure to “raise” Little Mochi properly, and of course, all their other children as well (human, feline and canine) to the best of their abilities.
Thinking about their children was very effective in distracting Iris from worrying about Lu Zihao and Long Jinjing.
Jin Liwei was relieved to see his wife’s expression softening and even brightening when talking about their family. Deep inside, however, he was still extremely upset at Long Jinjing for blaming his wife.
###
It had already been a week since Lu Zihao fell into coma. Long Jinjing basically lived in the hospital wing. If not for remembering that she still had babies, she wouldn’t even leave her husband’s side for a second.
All this time, she and Iris never spoke with each other again. Even when Dom and their other friends tried to mediate between the two, nobody budged.
Iris acted as if Long Jinjing didn’t exist even when they happened to pass by each other in the hallway. As for Long Jinjing, she tried to avoid Iris as much as possible.
The atmosphere in the mansion was very awkward.
Long Jinjing wanted to leave this place but the doctor advised her that it was better for Lu Zihao to stay in the mansion’s hospital wing. The equipment and facilities here weren’t any inferior to the best hospitals in the country. Also, they could invite the best medical specialists using Jin Liwei and Grandpa Lu’s names anytime.
She knew this but it was still hard to feel comfortable staying here especially after she lashed out at her sister a week ago. After so many days, she had already reflected on her behaviour back then. She wanted to apologize to her sister but seeing how Iris ignored her like she didn’t exist always made Long Jinjing timid. Whenever this happened, she would back out from her initial intention of apologizing and end up avoiding Iris.
Even Ketchup and Bacon refused to interact with her. They wouldn’t show up no matter how many times she called for them. It was understandable because the two considered themselves as Iris’ children. They were only siding with their own parent.
Back in the hospital room, Long Jinjing held her husband’s big hand and rubbed it against her cheek. She could feel the rough ridges of his scars on her delicate skin and they gave her some comfort. His hand was heavy but she didn’t mind. As long as it was warm and still had throbbing pulse, her hope that he would wake up would remain alive.
”Please wake up soon,” Long Jinjing whispered.
Lu Zihao looked like he was only sleeping and would wake up at any moment. She had been waiting for a week but he still failed to wake up. Each passing day was like torture.
”Little Misha and Little Dima miss their daddy very much. I also miss you so much. Nikolai, please don’t let us wait too long. If you continue to be like this, our babies will eventually forget what you look like.”
Nothing.
He didn’t stir at all.
”You know…I quarreled with my sister after you fought with her. Now she’s…ignoring me. Bacon and Ketchup also won’t talk to me. I feel…horrible.”
Tears flowed down her face.
”Wake up soon, you jerk! How long will you continue to sleep? Hurry and wake up! Help me fix all this mess that you left me with Xiulan!”
She wiped her tears in an angry and clumsy way.
”Fine! I’ll apologize to Xiulan right now! So you…you better wake up, okay? Don’t go back on our deal or I’ll…I’ll bite you! Wake up after I apologize to my sister. Okay, Nikolai?”
Like before, there was no change in his state. He remained in coma.
Long Jinjing pouted. She pressed her trembling lips on her husband’s cheek before leaving the hospital wing.
She found her sister in the nursery room with the nannies.
The Jin twins were already rolling over on the carpet. Little Mochi’s excited laughter and energetic coos filled the room. He would always look at everyone after a successful roll-over, asking for lots of praises. On the other hand, Little Matcha was in his own little world and didn’t care much about all the noise that his eldest twin brother was causing. He looked like a little soldier training in a boot camp as he focused on rolling over again and again.
As for the Lu twins, they were currently drinking milk. A nanny was in charge of Little Misha while Iris was bottle-feeding Little Dima.
Long Jinjing paused at the doorway. Iris swept her a glance before ignoring her. Despite this, Long Jinjing felt choked up with emotion because her sister still continued to care for Little Misha and Little Dima without any prejudice.
One of the nannies couldn’t take it anymore and asked, “Mrs. Lu, would you like to come in?”
Long Jinjing caught herself and nodded. She entered the room and took over in bottle-feeding Little Misha from the other nanny. Her hand trembled a little when holding the bottle because she knew that it contained her sister’s breast milk.
After feeding the Lu twins, the two of them handed the babies to the nannies.
Iris played with her own twins next before moving to leave the nursery.
”Wait!” Long Jinjing called before she realized what she was doing.
Iris paused and looked at her but didn’t say anything.
”Uhm, Xiulan…can we…uh, speak for a moment…in private?” Long Jinjing stammered.
”Sure, why not?” Iris kissed Little Mochi and Little Matcha before leaving.
Long Jinjing followed her. They didn’t go far and stayed in a nearby sitting area where the kids were introduced to their puppies.
Iris sat down, leaned on the sofa and crossed her legs. There was no expression on her face except for regal calmness.
She looked like a queen.
Her aura wasn’t overbearing at all but it still caused Long Jinjing tremendous pressure. There had been several times before that Iris emanated this kind of majestic aura in the past but this was the first time Long Jinjing felt it so closely and so deeply.
Long Jinjing was unsure if it was because she didn’t notice it more carefully before or if Iris’ aura had become stronger.
”How’s Big Brother?” Iris asked after waiting for so long and yet Long Jinjing still didn’t speak.
”He’s…still not awake yet.” Long Jinjing’s eyes watered.
Iris cast her gaze down. There still wasn’t any change in her expression but Long Jinjing managed to catch her subtle action. She knew that her younger sister was also worried about Lu Zihao but just wasn’t expressing it like she did.
”Xiulan….”
Iris looked at her again.
”I’m sorry.” Long Jinjing bit her lower lip as she waited for a reply.
Iris didn’t answer for a full five seconds. Then she said, “Alright.”
That was it.
Long Jinjing waited for more but Iris didn’t saying anything else. “To be honest, I wasn’t really blaming you. I was just…upset. I’m sorry that I lashed out at you. That wasn’t my intention. I’m really sorry, Xiulan.”
This time, Iris’ lips finally curved up in a subtle smile. Long Jinjing found herself exhaling the breath she didn’t notice that she was holding.
”I accept your apology,” Iris told her.
”I wanted to apologize to you sooner but…I was…uhm, intimidated.”
”Intimidated? By who?” Iris raised an eyebrow.
”By you.”
Iris looked surprised.
Long Jinjing pouted. “You looked so….scary…and you were ignoring me. I didn’t have the courage to approach you.”
”Scary? I don’t think that I’m scary. I was just acting like my normal self.” Well, her normal self as Evelina—calm, quiet and a little cold. “Also, I wasn’t ignoring you. I was trying to give you space.”
”Oh.” Long Jinjing knew that she misunderstood her sister.
”Do you feel better now?” Iris asked.
”Yes, a bit. Well, a lot. Uhm, not really. I’m still so worried about Ni—Zihao.”
”I understand.” Iris sighed before her eyes flashed with certainty. “Big Brother will be fine. I’m sure of it. He’s not a quitter. He’ll definitely wake up soon. There’s no way that he’ll miss the growth of his sons. He adores Little Misha and Little Dima. And of course, you.”
Long Jinjing’s cheeks turned pink but she still nodded. Indeed, even when her husband kept on calling their twin sons “brats”, he did it with affection. And as a husband, he was very supportive of her especially during this trying time when her self-esteem and overall mental state weren’t the best.
Lu Zihao was definitely not the ideal husband or even father material unlike Jin Liwei, but he had already gone far beyond Long Jinjing’s initial expectations of him. He had been doing his best for their little family and that was more than enough for her.
