"Qiao Ge, where is Yu Kim? You didn't invite her?" Xu Mey's question made Li Qiao lose his composure for a moment.
"She's busy." Li Qiao's answer confused Xu Mey.
"What is she so busy with?" She asked again.
"Something important obviously." Li Qiao retorted.
"Oh, come on! Qiao Ge, at least I should know what's keeping her busy." Xu Mey wasn't planning on dropping this topic since the way Li Qiao's face blanched, made her feel weird.
Before Li Qiao could open his mouth to make another excuse, He Jian came beside Xu Mey to give her an answer, "Why don't you just tell Xiao Mey that Kim is busy with her fiance?"
Li Qiao clenched his fists but after a brief moment of deep breaths, he unclenched his fists and the lost color of his face returned.
"Huh? Fiance?" Xu Mey stared at both He Jian and Li Qiao. "You mean, Qiao Ge's cousin is back?"
"Yup! That's the one. Xin Xiamu is back!" He Jian answered excitedly and his excitement gave Li Qiao the urge to punch him in the face. But he couldn't do it. First, they were best brothers and second, He Jian's fighting skills were superior to his own.
"Aiyo! How come you didn't tell me?" Xu Mey was questioning Li Qiao.
"Xiamu didn't inform anyone about his arrival. The first person he called was Yu Kim and that was today during lunchtime. When I went to invite her to the dinner party, she informed me that she's running late. Her Xiamu is here and she's very excited to see him after a long time." Li Qiao spoke bitterly. But He Jian was having fun seeing Li Qiao's jealous state.
"So, are you upset that she didn't listen to your invitation or that she ran away to Xiamu leaving you alone?" He Jian was trying hard to stifle his laughter but was failing. It was a good thing that Li Qiao was quite distracted.
"Both!" In distraction, Li Qiao spoke the truth but when he heard the bouts of laughter from Xu Mey and He Jian, he immediately changed his demeanor saying, "I mean, I'm not upset. Not at all! Why would I be? She went to meet her childhood friend and fiance who also happens to be my cousin. How can I be upset about it? I have no right to be upset." He spoke the last words softly.
"Are you trying to convince us or yourself?" Wu Wang joined the conversation with a bottle of baijiu in his hand.
"Correct! Qiao, all of us can see that you're drinking vinegar here. How pitiful!" He Jian remarked making Wu Wang smirk while Li Qiao didn't say anything. What could he possibly say? He was drinking vinegar. And the worst part was that he couldn't even complain about it. One was the love of his life, other was his brother.
"You seem very happy, Jian." Wu Wang's comment made He Jian narrow his eyes at him in question.
"Just because you're drinking your sorrows doesn't mean I should as well." He Jian retorted.
"Aww... You're so cute sometimes, Jian!" Wu Wang pinched He Jian's cheek making him swat his hand away. "But you're wrong. I'm not drinking my sorrows. I'm celebrating!"
"What are you celebrating, Wang Ge?" Xu Mey asked curiously. Wu Wang smiled at her and tousled her hair lovingly.
"Little Mey, you go over there to your husband." Wu Wang pointed towards Ye Jie's side but Xu Mey definitely wasn't willing at the moment. But before she could argue, Wu Wang added, "Ye Jie's missing you a lot. See, he's been constantly looking over here. Go to him!" Xu Mey turned to see and realized that Ye Jie really had been looking her way for a while now.
Seeing the smile on his face when their eyes met, Xu Mey forgot all about the people around her. "I'll be back." She ran away leaving the three of her knights behind.
Watching her excitedly running towards Ye Jie, the three knights behind had the same reaction. "Haiz! God, protect this love from evil eyes." As they wished inwardly, they shared a look with each other.
"Now, enlighten us with your reason for celebration," Li Qiao was trying to stare Wu Wang down but the latter was a bit drunk. So, he didn't even notice the chill in Li Qiao's eyes.
"I'm celebrating the misery of both of you." Wu Wang laughed out loud but seeing both of them wearing the same look of confusion, he decided to enlighten them. "So, my brothers, you both are quite pitiful. I'm mean I don't even know why both of you are not drinking away your sorrows?"
"Get to the point," He Jian warned him sternly.
"Okay... Okay, boss!" Wu Wang staggered a bit and shook his head. "One of you is drinking vinegar already what would you do when I tell you, Qiao, that Xiamu had taken Kim to her favorite French restaurant for a date night. By now, he'd have opened the bottle of her favorite wine. What was the name?" Wu Wang tapped his chin thoughtfully.
"Château Mouton Rothschild Pauillac." Li Qiao spoke the name of Yu Kim's favorite wine, making Wu Wang smirk to himself. By now, Li Qiao had a rage brewing inside him. He felt like someone was crawling up his heart and squeezing it mercilessly.
"Hey, Qiao! Calm down." He Jian patted Li Qiao's shoulder.
"Tsk..." Wu Wang clicked his tongue making both of them look at his again. "Jian, you shouldn't be comforting him. Comfort yourself!" Before He Jian could even comprehend his words, Wu Wang explained himself. "My mom's favorite son, she had brought a perfect wife for you from Imperial. After two days, she's planned a marriage meeting for you both. Also, she has planned to get you both married alongside Lin Shen and Sun Ju. Congratulations!" Not just He Jian was stunned to his spot even Li Qiao looked at He Jian with pity.
He Jian had heard about Fan Bingbing looking for his prospective life partner but he didn't think that everything would be happening so fast. Just two days for marriage meeting and if he wasn't wrong there was only a month left in Lin Shen's wedding.
"You're cruel!" Both He Jian and Li Qiao spoke simultaneously as they fell back on the chair. Did he have to spoil their happiness like this?
Wu Wang scoffed. "Qiao, the same thing that Xiamu was gonna tell you after the date, I told you before him. And Jian, mom was gonna tell you the same news after the party, so I did it before her. It's easier to digest it when I say it, at least it wouldn't hurt this much later on." He patted both of their shoulders and passed the bottles of baijiu to them saying, "Now, let's drink our sorrows together."
Both Li Qiao and He Jian turned to glance at Wu Wang's smiling face and felt even bitter knowing that he wasn't any better then they were.