As the banquet came to an end, Liu Hai searched for Ai everywhere, but she was nowhere to be seen.
"Aiyooo where is my granddaughter-in-law that I chose for Jin? I wanted to introduce her to everyone!" He lamented.
Nana beamed. "The one who danced with Jin, right? Jinhai and I met her already. She is such a sweet girl. I really liked her!"
Jinhai kept his silence.
"I know, right!? She is so cute and just perfect for Jin!"
Shui lowered her gaze.
Chen Serena, Yunru's mother, sighed. "Ah, I really wanted to meet her too. I was so shocked to see Jin dance with a woman. I thought that he had a girlfriend and didn't even tell us? That's not fair!"
Liang Huian, Nana's sister-in-law, chimed in too. "I missed the chance too!"
Liu Hai glared at them. "You two! Shoo! I found her for Jin! Don't even think about poaching her for Zixin or Bao!"
Their mouths twitched. Their husbands Jianyu and Liang didn't bother to intervene lest they suffered their wife's wrath.
Jian wiped his forehead. He looked for his twin brother and was frustrated to not find him anywhere.
Idiot! Where are you? We are in deep trouble!
And you old man! Out of the whole wide world, you only found Zhou Ai to be Jin's wife!?
He was shocked out of his wits seeing Ai on the dance floor with Jin. He had rubbed his eyes several times to check if he was hallucinating or not.
Leina smiled. "Why do I see you sweating, Jian?"
"O-of course not haha…"
"For your information, I remembered that woman with whom you were so passionately flirting in the library that day."
Jian sheepishly grinned. "I thought we were past that. Leina, you are not mad at me anymore, right? Right? Right?"
He widened his watery eyes and stared at her pitifully. She sighed and smacked him. "You better not give me any chance to complain or…"
"Never!" He straightened up.
Siying and Nuo stood on Jin's side and curiously asked, "So Jin. What do you think about your bride?" Nuo giggled.
Jin smiled. "Don't take Grandpa seriously."
"Whaaaaaat. But I kinda liked her. She seemed so honest and kind. I really wanted to meet her," Nuo lamented. "You looked good together."
He shook his head. "It won't happen."
From the other side, Jun finally appeared. His gaze fell on Jin, and he emanated a chilly aura.
Nana brightened and pulled him among everyone. "Jun! How do I look? See, I wore the earrings you gifted me. And Jinhai is wearing the cuff links too."
Jun had already noticed the jewellery upon them and faintly smiled. "As always, you look beautiful, Mom."
"Haha. It's because your gift is so beautiful. But you are so silly! You forgot the gift at the library. If not for that woman who regularly visits the library, who knows when we would have got it?" She harrumphed.
Jun stared at her, his heart shaken to know about Ai. "She…gave it to you?"
She furiously nodded. "She was so nice. She understood that your gift was so important to us. Wait, that reminds me. I didn't catch her name."
Liu Hai was struck with lightning. Liu Chunhua helplessly sighed. "You got so excited that you didn't ask for her name either, did you?"
He coughed in embarrassment. "I…I was about to ask her right now!"
It was Leina who answered. "Zhou Ai is her name."
Nana was surprised. "Ah? How do you know?"
She smiled and shared a look with her boyfriend. "Do you want to step in, Jian?"
Jian cleared his throat. "Sh-she is the s-same woman from that library…"
Nana blinked for a few seconds and gasped in realization. "The one with whom you and Nian acted as hooligans!? No wonder I felt that I had seen her before!"
"We-we were not hooligans!" He defended himself.
Liu Hai roared. "What is this I am hearing!? You two brats dare bully my granddaughter-in-law!? Ah…now I understood why Nian ran away like a scaredy cat," he sneered. "I was right! That brat doesn't deserve her!
I was right when I chose Jin for her."
"No!" This update is available on noⅴelfire.net
The deadly aura around Jun only intensified.
Granddaughter-in-law…For Jin…
He knew he shouldn't take Liu Hai seriously. But he couldn't stop the burning volcano from enveloping his heart.
Jin again…It's always Jin again and again…
His menacing gaze fell upon Liu Hai as silence reigned after he exclaimed. Everybody was taken aback by Jun's sudden interruption.
Liu Hai whined. "What do you mean by no!? And why are you glaring at me like-"
"Ai is not single," he sharply said.
He gasped. "T-that's impossible! I asked her if she was single!"
He sneered. "Did you bother to listen to her answer?"
"I-I-I-" Liu Hai honestly hadn't.
Jun coldly towered his tall and broad body over his grandfather and looked at him as if he would chew him alive. "Those sweets you secretly munch on are destroying the remaining amount of brain cells that you have, Grandpa."
He lowered his voice to a dangerous level. "Don't be shameless and poach on committed women. Ai is not available for any other man. Neither bro Nian nor…Jin. No.bo.dy," he broke down the last words into three crisp syllables.
Liu Chunhua glared at her husband. "This is why I tell you not to get so hyper all the time! But you don't listen to me! You forced the poor girl to dance with Jin for no reason!"
"And what is this about you secretly munching on sweets?" She narrowed her eyes.
Liu Hai broke into a cold sweat. "There is no truth to that! Jun is framing me!"
The iciness around Jun dissipated giving Liu Hai his piece of mind.
With their bickering, the others got busy chatting among themselves when Jinhai approached him. They were at some distance away from each other.
Before Jinhai could speak, Jun himself apologized first, "I wasn't going to come here tonight. I really wasn't. I am sorry."
Jinhai quietly stared at him for several long seconds. "You came here for Zhou Ai."
"She had your gift with you. She came this far to give it to Nana and me. Then she scolded me too. I wonder about your relationship with her," his dark eyes carefully studying Jun's reaction.
Jun rapidly blinked. "...Scolded you?"
"Out of the four sentences I just said, that was the thing which caught your interest?" He narrowed his eyes.
"Anybody else but Mom scolding you is a big deal."
"Indeed," Then he slowly continued, "She is quite like Nana."
Jun widened his eyes. For Jinhai to compare somebody to Nana was another big deal.
"She was quite upset that I didn't like receiving your gift. She pointed out a lot of flaws of mine, and how I have no right to cut you off from the family. Nana would have said the same."
"There are very, very few people who can talk to me in that tone," Jinhai tilted his head. "Whatever relationship you have with her, make sure not to repeat past life this time."
Jinhai turned to leave when he stopped as Jun spoke, "I…I need to confess something to you Dad."