Hello, Mr Li: The Christmas Trip

"Why is there an extra dining chair?" Someone asked. 

Muchen's mother didn't know who had asked, but she answered since it had been her idea to bring back the chair that had been taken away after Kyle's sudden 'disinterest' in eating together with their family.

"Oh! We invited someone to have dinner with the family." 

"Who is that?" Hoy's father asked. 

"His name is Wei Yong." Muchen's father, Li Fazhan answered. 

"Wei Yong? You mean the Nephew of Wei Corporation's chairman?" Heya's mother asked curiously.

"Yes. We bumped into him earlier. He said he admired our family and wanted to get closer to us." Muchen's mother answered. "Anyway, he is going to be here. So act nice." She said in general but was looking pointedly at Changyu. 

"Why do we have to invite a little boy to join our family dinner? If he admired you so much, you should have had a drink with him separately." Changyu said. She had wanted to ignore everything until the woman looked pointedly at her. 

"I didn't say 'me', I said 'us' because he wanted to meet everyone."

"And you didn't think of telling us first before bringing in a stranger into our midst?" 

"It's fine! It's okay." Wang Jianjun rasied a hand and stood between them. He didn't want any fight to break out soon. 

Changyu scoffed at him. "What a peacemaker you are." 

Maybe that was why they were perfect for each other? Had she married a man who had a personality like hers, half the population of their country would have gone missing by now. They had been a lot of people she would have loved to punish over the years of their marriage but her husband was keeping her at bay. She was also glad she was there for him because a lot of people would have seen him as a pushover and tried to take advantage of him. 

The doorbell rang, putting an end to any quarrel before it started in the first place. 

"That must be him. I will get the door." Muchen's mother announced. 

"She doesn't waste time to associate herself with the rich. Why does she act like that when our family is already the most envied family in our country? She's so embarrassing!" Changyu whispered to her husband. 

She remembered how flustered and excited the woman had been when she heard she was Sara's biological mother. Jiang Dana had been against her daughter marrying her only son until she knew who her mother was and instantly approved of Sara. 

"Just let it go. I don't want you quarreling with anyone." 

"Yes sir." 

"Good girl." He said, patting her on the head gently. 

She allowed him do so until the front door opened and she moved her head away from his reach. "You can stop now. I don't want to ruin my image." She said with a smile and when she looked ahead, she kept a straight face. 

A young man entered. She guessed he was probably in his mid or late thirties. He was dressed in a complete formal outfit with a suit and tie. He was tall and fit, and as well handsome. 

"You are welcome." Muchen's mother greeted with a smile. 

"Thank you so much. And I am glad you invited me over. The place smells lovely." He smiled and bowed politely before looking around casually. 

"He is definitely here for something." Changyu noted after his gaze met hers and he bowed slightly. 

"How do you know that? He looks normal to me." Her husband asked. 

"You should know by now that reading people is my forte. He is trying to act like he isn't here for something, but he is. I can sense it." 

"We'll just keep an eye on him then." Her husband said. 

"Where are the other members of the family?" Wei Yong asked Dana curiously. 

"We should have dinner. You will meet the others." She said before leading him towards the dining table..

"Everyone, let's have dinner." She called in a loud voice. Hoy's mother knew it was futile because if they didn't go knock on the door themselves, the young ones may never come out.

So she went to knock on each of the doors. While she did, Heya entered the house and looked at the stranger curiously but she said nothing and waited until the others came out. 

When the others began to file out to the dining table, each of them looked surprised as well as confused to see another face present there. 

An excited Joreen left her room with Reen. It wasn't everyday one got to have free money just from changing her outfit. She still remembered the adrenaline rush when she received the alert on her phone. Hoy wasn't bluffing after all. 

In fact, for dinner tonight, she wore a jean trousers and wine coloured turtleneck. Her hair was in a bun. She looked very decent.... and excited or course! Hehehe.

Joreen and Reen stopped for a second when they saw a new face sitting on the dining table. When Joreen locked eyes with him, he gave her a full blown smile.

"He is creepyyyy." Reen whispered to Joreen who nodded.

"Tell me about it." Joreen agreed before looking away from him. She looked at Hoy's direction he was staring at her so she moved her body from one side to the other, letting him see what she was wearing.

He gave her a tiny smile before turning his attention elsewhere. He was at least glad she was well dressed now that they had a visitor over. 

"Eveybody, take your seats. So tonight, Sara's father cooked again with the help of his sister and her husband. So be rest assured you'll be having a top notch dinner worthy to be served in a five star restaurant." Muchen's mother announced. 

"I also helped!' Queen raised a hand to get their attention. 

"If helping means tasting every single thing, then yes you did." Jaime said with short laugh that had the others laughing. 

Joreen stopped laughing instantly when she looked at the adjacent angle and noticed how the stranger was still smiling at her.

"Oh.. I'm sorry for not doing the introduction sooner. This is Mr Wei Yong. The only nephew of the Wei Corporation's chairman. He manages the oil and gas sector—" 

"I am also into real estate and a partner of a popular fashion and modeling agency abroad. You must have heard about B and Y agency." He added with a 'polite' smile. 

"This is my family. You probably know most of us so there is no need with too much introduction." Dana said before sitting down. 

Soon, they began to eat. The elders naturally had a thing or two to ask the stranger... oh, he has a name, Yong.

They asked him questions while he also asked back. Apparently, people no longer kept shut while having dinner. Joreen didn't mind since no one was bringing her to the centre of discussion tonight. 

She was busy enjoying the delicious home made meal with the combined efforts of her parents and uncle, when she heard something that caught her attention.

"Happy birthday in advance." 

She raised her head and noticed Yong was referring to her. 

She looked at him in confusion. It was only now that she began to notice some kind of familiarity. Had they met before? When? Where? She didn't think much of it and only concluded they had probably bumped into each other a couple of times during this trip.

And how did he know about her birthday? Was he probably a fan? 

"Uh... how.. did you know about that?" She asked carefully. 

He looked excited as he answered, "I am a fan." He announced, surprising almost everyone at the table. 

"And I am glad I'll get to celebrate your 18th birthday with you." He said with a grin. 

Joreen was flustered but she managed to leave a smile on her face, "That... sounds..."

"Fun?" He prompted. 

"Creepy." She said awkwardly before looking down on her plate. 

"Oh dear, I'm sorry but I didn't mean to creep you out. What I meant was, I am glad you are going to be celebrating your birthday here. I can always come over for dinner or whenever you are going to be celebrating. And I'll be sure to get you gifts." 

"Still sounds... creepy." She muttered but nodded and forced a smile at him which he happily returned. 

"Is that bastard hitting on Jo?" Cixi whispered to her husband beside her. 

"I... think he is." 

"Son of a—"

"Do not say or do anything, hmm?" Jaime told him wife.

"But..." She looked at Joreen and hee husband knew what she was thinking. 

"Trust me on this." He assured her. 

The entire table was quiet. Everyone was eating but they were paying attention to what was happening. 

"You are wearing a nice make up." Wei Yong said once again, referring to Joreen. 

Joreen looked up and realised he was still talking to her,

"I... am not wearing a make up." She answered. 

'Can he just stop talking to me!' 

"Oh! Really? So you mean this is your natural face?" 

They all heard a loud snort from the other end of the dining and turned to look at the direction. 

All eyes fell on Li Hoy who was gripping his fork quite tightly and looking straight at Yong's direction.

"Are you okay, Mr Hoy? By chance, you choked on your meal?" Yong asked out of concern.

Hoy's hold around the fork tightened more as he looked at the man who was obviously older than him.