Chapter 411 - Are You Happy?
Outside the door, Jie was pacing back and forth restlessly. He was anxious to know what Ru was gonna say to Juan but when he placed the ear against the door to get even a hint of what's happening inside, his son gave him an accusatory look.
"Dad, you're old enough to know that eavesdropp-," Bao had yet to complete his sentence when Jie placed his hand over his mouth.
"Can you for once stop lecturing me?" Jie was feeling really frustrated now. One of his twins was busy lecturing him while the other didn't even want to see his face. And then there was his wife who didn't even bother coming after him. Hmph! He truly had one of a kind family!
So when Juan opened the door, the scene that she saw was Jie's hand on Bao's mouth. "Dad, what are you doing?"
Jie immediately turned to look at her and forgot all about Bao as he rushed to Juan's side and picked her up. "Babygirl, dad's really sorry. Can you forgive dad?"
"If I didn't I wouldn't have opened the door," she replied in a flat tone sounding uninterested but in fact, one could see the way her eyes were twinkling with happiness. She hugged his neck as she mumbled, "Juan is also sorry. Juan went overboard in anger. But Juan is a bit dumb so dad shouldn't hold it against Juan."
Jie's brows quirked up. Did she say she's dumb? Why don't you say you're making the whole world look dumb?!
But he wasn't gonna say it to her. He kissed her forehead and nodded, "Dad is not angry at all."
"Ruru, why do you look so tired?"
While Jie and his daughter were having their personal father-daughter moment, Bao's focus was on the image of his godmother.
"Me? Tired?" Ru repeated and shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not tired. I'm just hungry."
"When are you not?" Jie's sarcastic words earned him a dangerous glare from his best friend while he smiled back innocently.
"I really can't believe you, Jie bro. Of course, I lost my value again since your daughter reconciled with you," she said with a gloomy sigh. "Aiyo, I'm honored that you treat me like a god but please, it's really not necessary."
"I treat you like a god?" Jie repeated her words with a controlled smile.
"Yes, you do," Ru sounded slightly brittle as she added, "Since you only look for me when you need me."
Her challenging gaze made Jie purse his lips. He couldn't argue with that statement. Oddly, whenever he was in trouble he would look for her. It had become a habit now. He knew she'd never refuse him and he was actually really proud of this fact. But she had no idea how much comfort and strength her presence brought to his life.
"I can't help it though. I only have you," Jie spoke after a moment of reflection. Ru didn't reply again. She knew why he always turned to her. He had no one else in his life.
How close could you possibly be to the parents you have never met before the age of 28? That was his issue. Unlike Azalea, he didn't grow up with Zhu Chen and He Susu. No matter how he tried, he couldn't find that closeness with them. He never had many friends, to begin with. And as he could see Ye Jun struggling with his own responsibilities, he never dared to disturb him.
His own wife had no time to listen to him. And his kids were young.
So, the only person he could turn to was his best friend who had been with him since childhood. That one person who was brutally honest but he even loved her sharp tongue. Because it meant that she was honest and genuine with him. She never sugarcoated things but she always managed to help him.
"Both of you, get ready for bed," Jie instructed his kids who nodded obediently and ran off. "And you albino monkey, stay. I want to talk to you."
Ru's face twisted at the name he called her again.
"Dad, don't call my Ruru names!"
Jie glanced at his son. "This is between me and my best friend. Both of you kids, stay out of it." He shushed them away. Right now, she was gonna play the role of his best friend. Not the role of a godmother!
Ru waited in silence until Bao and Juan went out before saying, "You bloody bonker!" Jie laughed at her reaction. He was very amused to know that it was still easy to annoy her. At least, for him.
"Should you be calling yourself bonker? It suits you better in my opinion."
"You love to get on my nerve." Jie shrugged his shoulders showing that he indeed loved to do it. "So, what do you want to talk about?"
He contemplated a bit before saying, "Nothing. I just thought about having a serious discussion about life."
"Serious discussion? About life? Are you feeling sick somewhere?" Her false cheerfulness didn't amuse him at all. "Okay. So why do you want to talk about life?"
"Actually, I wanna talk about you. I wanna know what's going on in your life."
Her face twisted a bit. "Don't be ridiculous. Everything in my life is still the same! I'm still as busy as a bee. Also, what can possibly happen to this young master?"
Jie shook his head at her response. Why was it always the same words? She had so much to say but would always falter when it came to herself. She hated talking about herself. And it really annoyed him a lot!
"Right, you're as busy as a bee and as stubborn as a mule!" Jie plastered a smile on his face while Ru gave him a blank stare.
"Are you really that eager to die?"
"Let me rephrase my question then," he didn't want to sound pushy but he was really curious. "Are you happy?"
Her eyes widened slightly before she retorted, "Are you?"
"I'm very happy," answered Jie.
"Tut. Tut. Tut." Ru clicking her tongue made him want to punch her face. "Even your son can see you're not happy. And you think you can lie to me?" She rolled her eyes at him.
"Be careful, your eyeballs might hit your skull!"
"It's my eyes. I can roll my eyes as much as I want. You stop trying to find a distraction for me. You know me very well. I won't let this topic go until I'm satisfied with your answer. My question is still the same, are you really happy?"
Jie wanted to ask this question to himself again as well. Yes, he loved his kids. He loved his wife. But was he really happy?