Hello, Mr Li: The Christmas Trip

Zhu Liang finally stopped to visit his parents in the house Liang was supposed to be staying with them. He had been avoiding contact with them for the past few days because he guessed Suyin would tell her parents about the break up who would in turn talk to his parents about it. Surprsingly, a few days passed without his parents making mention of it. Until yesterday. His mother had called to ask when they could come see him but he promised he was going to stop by tonight. 

Now, he was standing outside the house, trying to prepare himself for the heated conversation the would be having inside.

He wanted to knock on the door when the door opened. 

"Come in before you freeze to death outside!" His doting mother said as she pulled him by the hand inside. He followed her inside until they stopped at the dining table which was filled with different kinds of dishes. Half of which were his favourite.

He looked at his mother in confusion, this wasn't what he had been expecting. "What is the occasion?" He asked curiously. 

She smiled in return and pulled out a chair for him. 

"I realised you have been going through a lot lately and wanted to make you something you would like. I am glad you agreed to come here instead. Saves me a lot of trouble taking it there for you."

"You didn't have to... really." He turned his head to look at his mother who was already filling up his plate. He hated it whenever he made her worried or trouble herself because of him. 

"You didn't have to do all this." He said, looking at the table. 

"I wanted to." She smiled warmly at him and forced him to sit before dropping a kiss on the top of his head. 

"You are my baby. This is nothing." She insisted. It made him laugh. "You realise I am a grown man and already in my thirties? Calling me baby is...." 

"And I watched you grow remember? I have been there all your life so it doesn't matter. As you age, I also age. I still see you as that little boy who likes to cuddle me before he can fall asleep." 

He laughed again. "Where is dad?" He looked around. His father wasn't in the living room, dining or kitchen so his best bet was the bedroom. 

"He helped me cook so he went to shower." 

"Dad?" He asked in surprise. "He helped you cook?" His voice was filled with disbelief and now, he was even more suspicious about their intention. 

She giggled. "Of course. You can go ahead and eat first. I'll go change out of these and join you in a second." 

She left the table and hurried towards the bedroom she was sharing with her husband. He could not seem to understand what they were up to. Weren't they supposed to be mad at him? Especially his father who had warned him not to end things with Suyin until they were back from the vacation? 

Instead of eating, he waited for them to return and join him.

He stood up when his father entered and the elder quickly asked him to sit. 

"You should have been eating already." He said after looking at his plate which was still full, then he took the seat at the head of the table. 

His mother joined only a minute after and they all sat down to eat like one small happy family. 

He patiently waited for them to tell him about Suyin but they didn't raise the topic. They kept talking about other things and even about work. When he couldn't handle it anymore, he raised the issue himself. 

"I can guess the Yans must have paid you a visit lately?" He asked. 

His parents looked at each other and then looked down at their plates as they continued to eat slowly. 

"Suyin and her parents were here five days ago to talk about having the engagement party as soon as possible." His mother informed him. She kept her focus on her food and chewed slowly. 

"They weren't pleased when we told them it was on hold." 

Liang sighed. He hadn't expected this to go smoothly in the first place. 

"I'm sorry." He apologized.

The woman shook her head and finally looked at her only child, "You don't have to apologize. We realised we have been too hard on you. You always act reasonably so seeing how you could not wait any longer before breaking up with Suyin, we guessed it was too hard on you to handle." She said while looking at him with a soft gaze. "Her family came here two days ago to complain about it but it's your decision so we didn't promise them anything." 

He felt guilty for making a fool out of his parents. He can't tell how much he must have embarrassed them. Good thing the official engagement didn't happen earlier. It would have been more embarrassing for all of them. 

"Dad, I am sor—"

"You shouldn't apologize. It's your life. And your future. As your family, we can only support you and your decisions." His father cut him off and spoke for the first time since the topic was raised. 

"But you shouldn't do anything else until after this trip." 

"I know." Liang nodded. He haven't called Heya or made any effort to see her. They hadn't bumped into each other either which was a good thing. As much as he wanted to see her, he had to act reasonably. He had met with Li Muchen three days ago and he had been able to find out Heya was already speaking to someone virtually and even before Muchen advised that they stayed away from each other for now, he had already made up his mind to do just that. 

"It's Li Heya right?" His father asked as they resumed eating. 

Liang gave a noncommittal grunt in response. There was no point in denying it when it was as clear as day. 

"And you are sure there is nothing going on between her and Yan Shen? They seemed really close the last time I saw them. It was annoying!" His mother grumbled. 

Liang believed Heya didn't have any special feeling for him, but he could not say the same about Shen. He had seen how Shen looked at her and held her, and the way he smiled at her. There was definitely something there. 

"Shen probably likes her." He informed them. This was a very important piece of information he could not keep away from them. They may witness more scenes of Shen trying to get closer to Heya so they had to know it was one sided. 

"What about Heya?" His mother asked.

"Heya... likes me." He answered slowly. 

"And you are sure that is not just your imagination? We are talking about the same Heya who broke up with you and cut off all contact—"

"You don't have to remind him about all that!" Madam Liang frowned at her husband who was reminding their son of his painful days. 

"I had a talk with Heya a few days ago so I know." He answered confidently. "I will be careful." 

"I still don't like her." His mother mumbled more to herself, with a frown on her face as she continued to eat. 

Liang said nothing else and just continued eating in silence with his parents. 

******

Everyone was surprised to see Hoy return to the house that evening before dinner. The others normally didn't mind but Jaime and Cixi exchanged a look with meant a lot. 

Joreen had returned to the house in a happy mood earlier and all of a sudden, Hoy was back and he had agreed for his plate to be added in the dining table. That wasn't just a coincidence! 

Mr Ping naturally followed Hoy inside his room to welcome him. "You changed your mind so soon about staying at the resort? By chance... you were already missing someone?" Mr Ping teased. 

Hoy ignored him. He had something else in his mind. He would have honestly loved to stay in the resort if Joreen hadn't asked him to return here because she didn't like to stay far away from him. He bet she didn't know the implication of all she was telling him? And that hug earlier...

He shook the memory out of his head and took out his laptop. 

Mr Ping sniggered when he peeped at what Hoy was doing and saw what he was searching for on google. "'Best apology gift to give to a girl'? I knew you must have offended that little angel for her to look that sad. But you know you do not need to try too hard right?" He looked at his wristwarch which he hadn't taken off yet, "In about 27 hours from now, she is going to turn 18. Knowing you, you must have already bought her a birthday gift as well as New year's gift. There is really no need adding an apology gift to the list."