Burning Passion

CHAPTER 195: STEVEN'S PLANS

* * * 

"Sister Nina, let's have ice cream in the park!" 

"Huh?" 

Nina was daydreaming, the reason she didn't hear when Korin talked to her. She blinks twice, but she couldn't follow what Korin is telling her about.

"Brother Steven is asking us where we want to go from here!" 

"Oh…" she now came back to her senses, and her head just started processing again. "That's a great idea! Let's have ice cream!" 

"And I want cotton candy!" said Korin. 

"Let's go, then!" said Steven.

Since the plaza was nearby, they just walked around it. Master Oliver Shang put up the Gardenia Restaurant in the Zen City downtown areas. From there, the plaza can walk in about fifteen minutes. 

This area is typically crowded. Luckily, they found a vacant bench. Nina and Korin seated on it while waiting for Steven and Harry to come back. The twin is buying them ice cream and cotton candy. Later, Korin asked Nina out of the blue.

"Sister Nikki, who do you think is more handsome? Brother Steven or brother Harry?" 

"Huh?" Nina dropped her jaw. Korin suddenly asks a tough question! How could she answer that? Even though it was Harry, she had a crush on. But both Steven and Harry are good-looking guys, tall, and every girl is turning their heads toward them. They dress up like the American actors they could see in theaters, and more handsome than their local actors.

"Do you have a crush on one of the twins, sister Nina?" Korin teases Nina. She has a big grin on her face. 

Nina's eyes widened, stunned by how silly Korin is. She pinched the girl and said, "Where that idea came from!?" 

"You are blushing!" 

"Hey, respect me. I am older than you!" Nina pouted. She acts like her feelings truly hurt. But later, "Why teasing me, you silly!" 

Both the girls giggled. After they settled down, Nina told Korin. "Steven and Harry are nice to me. I'm happy to have them both as my friends." 

"Hm. Sister Nina, I wish you had a twin sister, so that brother Harry and brother Steven can marry you both!" 

"What are you saying?" Nina blushed, astounded at what Korin was saying. But it wasn't a bad idea either. She purses a smile, she tells Korin, "I think whoever marries either Steven or Harry. She was the luckiest girl in the world." 

"And I prefer someone like you for them to marry, sister Nina! I will be there and cook for your wedding!" 

"Wait, a minute. I'm just going to celebrate my 18th birthday. I will marry no one yet!" 

"But it will be soon!" 

"And who that would be?" she marveled, and something she wished about...

But she could not share it with Korin that between Harry and Steven, it was Harry who she dreamed as her husband. 

"Hey, girls! Here are the ice cream and cotton candy!" Steven handed Nina and Korin the ice cream in his hand. 

"Thank you, brother Steven!" 

Harry held the cotton candy; he also handed them to the girls. 

"Thank you," said Nina to Harry.

She was blushing, and Korin noticed Nina's unusual expression she only shows for Harry. Now Korin has an idea of Nina's true feeling, and she kept it to herself.

~~~~~ 

LI MANOR

After they were strolling the plaza, Korin, Steven, and Harry send Nina home. 

"Good evening, Aunt Donna, Uncle Nelson." Steven and Harry greeted the couple.

"Harry, Steven! When did you arrive?" Dona asked the twin. "Oh. Please come in and have tea!" 

"Thank you, aunt Dona!" 

"I will prepare the tea, Mama!" Nina said. She rushed to the kitchen, and Korin followed her.

"I will help you, sister Nina!" 

Dona shook her head. Those two girls are surely inseparable. 

"Steven, Harry, please sit down." 

"Thank you, aunt Dona." Steven and Harry said at once. They took the sofa and sat quietly. 

"It's nice to see you both. Are you staying until Nina's birthday?" Nelson asked the twin. 

Harry and Steven looked at each other before one of them responded. "Yes, uncle Nelson. We will be here for a month." 

"That's good! Both of you should join me for fishing! Please pass my words to your father. The fishing boat I purchased is soon to arrive! I'm inviting him to try it out together!" 

"Oh, is that true, uncle Nelson?" 

"Yes. I heard your father owned one back in the US. So I want to ask him to teach me how to steer a boat!" 

"Well, we could also teach you, uncle! Harry and I learned how to steer one!" Steven boasted to Nina's father.

"Is that so? That's great then! How about this weekend?" 

Steven glanced at Harry before he continued. "That is a perfect day, Uncle Nelson. We will pass the word to our father!"

Steven looked forward to that day. It was a perfect chance for him to show off his skills. When he wins his uncle Nelson's favor, then it would be easy for him to pursue Nina soon.

"The tea is here!" Korin announced. "Brother Harry, brother Steven! You should try the best tea in the world! I am sure you have never tasted one before!" 

"Korin, I'm just beginning mastering it!" Nina whispered to Korin when the girl boasted about her tea.

"But it was truly the best, sister Nina!" 

She smiled timidly and continued making tea in front of everyone. It will be the first time Harry and Steven would try her tea, the reason she was nervous about it.

She studied how to make one kind of tea so that, when she becomes Harry's wife, he would be proud of her. 

~~~~~ 

SHANG MANSION 

Steven dropped his body to the bed after he took a shower and wore only loose pants. He picks up a pillow and throws it toward Harry. 

"Hey! I'm doing my homework!" Harry complains. 

The moment they arrived home, he immediately opened his textbooks and started writing a draft before he would type it to the computer. Shang bought three sets of it when someone successfully made the latest model of a computer before the 1970s ended. Shang has become a supporter of technology, and it was a success so far. 

"You are boring!" Steven commented to Harry. "We went home to have fun! But what are you doing?" 

"What are you saying? I want to help manage our family business, the reason I am taking advanced lessons." 

"The more reason to have fun! When we began our training, we couldn't do that anymore!" 

Harry stops writing on the paper and contemplates something. He surely wants to enjoy his life, but he could do that once he reaches his dream of managing one of their companies. He aims to take over the US branch and pursue his plans of how he could improve their business in the Western world. He is ambitious indeed. 

Harry resumes writing and ignores his twin brother. Suddenly, Steven began sharing of his plans.

"Harry, I'm going to ask Nina as my girlfriend." 

Harry remains silent, staring at the broken tip of his pencil.