After dinner, everyone chatted for a few minutes until they all noticed that Iris had fallen asleep on Jin Liwei’s lap. He wanted to carry her himself to their bedroom but the others stopped him because of his injuries. Jiang Ying Yue stepped forward with the intention of carrying Iris herself but Dom blocked her way.
“Let me do it,” Dom said while tapping his chest with his hand. “Big Sis Yue, I know that you’re physically the strongest among us friends but as the only one who has a penis in our girl squad, I won’t have any face left if I let a woman and a mother like you carry boss by yourself. I may be gorgeous and fabulous but I’m still a MAN!”
“Go, twin bro!” Meimei cheered.
Chen Fei scoffed. “Gorgeous and fabulous, says who?”
Dom flipped his nonexistent long hair over his shoulder. “Says the universe! It has been ordained since the beginning of time that I, Dominic Chua, shall be born GOR-GE-OUS and FAB-U-LOUS!”
“Be quiet,” Long Jinjing whisper-shouted and pressed her index finger over her lips to shush them all up. “You’ll wake up Little Sister Xiulan.” Then she sent an apologetic look at Jin Liwei who had turned cold when it got noisy. Fortunately, she noticed his dangerous aura just in time and managed to warn her friends or else they would probably be kicked out of the place in an unsightly manner.
The others stopped clowning around when they finally noticed Jin Liwei’s scary expression. Dom didn’t waste any more time and carefully lifted Iris in a princess-style carry. To his credit, he made it look easy as if she only weighed a feather.
Nobody was surprised that he was actually deceptively strong because they all knew that he trained in Systema with Iris on a regular basis. Although he wasn’t as skilled in the martial arts compared to a natural like Iris, he had trained his body enough to be physically stronger than most average people. It wasn’t only Systema. From yoga to pilates, Zumba and latin ballroom—whatever work-out Iris decided to do, Dom was sure to join her as well. He might look skinny on the outside but there were well-defined lean muscles underneath his clothes that others would envy.
After depositing Iris on the huge bed, Dom and the others bid good night to Jin Liwei. Meimei, Long Jinjing and Chen Fei didn’t go home right away, though. Instead, they hung out with Dom and Jiang Ying Yue in the indoor forest while enjoying a bottle of expensive champagne from Jin Liwei’s incredible wine cellar. [This novel is a contracted work with W e b n o v e l . c o m (remove spaces). If you’re not reading this chapter on W e b n o v e l, it has been stolen. It’s very discouraging to see thieves profitting from my hard work. Please read this novel on W e b n o v e l. Thank you! -Arria Cross]
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Jin Liwei was having a leisurely walk in the hallways after breakfast which was his way of keeping active without aggravating his injuries. He was already looking and feeling better compared to the previous days. His bruises had darkened and took on an uglier appearance, but they were healing properly. The pain had also become more manageable, either because his injuries were hurting less or maybe because he already got used to this level of pain so he didn’t feel it as much. In short, he was optimistic that he would heal in time for their wedding day and honeymoon at this rate of recovery.
On the other hand, the groggy Iris felt like she wanted to strangle the sun for rising up too early for her liking. Her entire body seemed to be glued on the soft and comfy bed. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t get up.
“Ketchup, time,” she croaked in a sleepy voice under the thick duvet.
“Good morning, Mommy! Meow~”
Iris grunted.
“Current time is 10:47 AM—”
Iris’ eyes flashed open. “What time?!”
“Meow? Oops. Time changed. It’s 10:48 AM now, Mommy. Is there something wrong?”
“Yes! Didn’t I ask you to set an alarm for 5:30 AM because I have work that starts at 7 AM today? Why didn’t you wake me up?” Iris threw the duvet aside and tried to get up but failed. Annoyed at her lethargic body, she decided to roll off the bed instead.
“No, Mommy. Ketchup’s system is running smoothly! No errors at all, thanks to Mommy’s regular and thorough scans! Meow~”
“Then why?”
“Daddy told Ketchup to cancel the 5:30 AM alarm and let Mommy sleep longer today. Meow~”
“He did WHAT?!!!” Iris’ body finally shot up into a sitting position on the bed. Her face twisted with fury.
Ketchup released a whimpering mewl. “Mo-mommy?”
“Where’s your dad?! How dare he cancel my alarm?! He knows that I have an important work commitment today! And you know about it too, Ketchup! Are you a daddy’s girl now? Is that it?! You no longer need me, that’s why you’re defying your mom now and obeying only what your dad tells you?!”
Silence.
Iris’ rage intensified. “Ketchup? Where are you? Ketchup! You little kitten! How dare you run away from your mother?! Come back here!! NOW!!!”
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“Wuwuwu! Please hurry up, Daddy! Mommy is so scary! The area holding the complex emotional algorithms which makes up Ketchup’s personality and allows it to evolve is shaking in terror right now! Mommy is Ketchup’s creator and has the most direct effect on how my personality evolves. If Mommy continues scolding Ketchup in such a scary manner, Ketchup might evolve into a real scaredy-cat! Wuwuwu! I, the cute and mighty Ketchup, don’t want to become a weak scaredy-cat! Never! Please do something, Daddy!! Meeeeeooooow!!!”
