Chapter 84 - Staying Together.

"How did it go with him?" Joreen asked immediately she and Reen entered inside their room. She had wanted to ask the entire time, but after Reen got back from meeting Zichu, they had gone to straight to meet Changyu and spent over an hour inside her room. 

"With who?" Reen threw a question of her own and didn't stop walking until she got to the bed and sat down.

"You know what I am talking about. Do you think I am stupid enough not to know you went to see him?" She asked and used her chin to point at the gift box Reen had dropped beside her their bed. "You aren't going to eat that?" 

"Mind your business." 

"But you are always most about my affairs." Joreen whined. 

"That's what big sisters do. Now let's check around to make sure we aren't leaving anything behind." Reen said and stood up to look around. Joreen relunctantly joined her and after a few minutes, they finished looking around and gathered the remaining items inside a bag. 

"I have always been curious..." Reen started as she returned to the bed to sit.

"Why does Changyu like you a lot? That woman can do literally anything for you." Reen asked Joreen who was already changing her dress to wear a more simple gown. 

"Like me? I think she likes every member of this family." 

"No." Reen shook her head. "Well... I mean... you are also correct. But I just feel there is more to it. Those who do not know would probably think she is your mother." 

Joreen giggled and went to sit on the bed. They had just returned from aunt Changyu's room where they went to thank her and her husband for their Christmas gifts. When they got there, she ushered them inside and blew off their gratitude as if the gift wasn't a big deal. 

"You two are still very young. You need all the love you can get from your family. So in case there is anything you want, do not hesitate to let me know. I have a lot of money to spare...." 

"And a lot of punishment for anyone she doesn't like." Her husband added as he came out of the bathroom with a towel around his neck while wearing a short and teeshirt. 

Changyu snapped her fingers together. "You see why I love him? He completely knows me." Changyu said with a grin before turning to the two girls again with a serious expression.

"Look, I do not want you two to be uncomfortable. I know I may overdo things sometimes, but I am apologizing in advance. This is my nature. I don't know how to be nice or let bad people go without paying them back. Also, I didn't watch my only child grow up. Seeing you girls in your teenage years makes me so happy." She said with a little smile. The smile was in between happy and sad so they didn't know what she was thinking. 

"I really don't mind at all!" Reen was the first to assure her. "We do not mind. We love you." 

Joreen agreed with Reen. She didn't mind at all. 

"Aunt, look at Jo's bracelet." Reen said, changung the topic and completely entering into gossip mode. 

"Uncle Hoy gifted it to her." 

"Oh... my!" Changyu exclaimed as she looked at it in surprise. "So it was Hoy? That cheeky bastard." 

"Stop swearing. You are teaching the kids bad things." Jianjun said from where he was seated. 

"I am? Have you seen your sister talk? Their mother is worse than me!" Changyu said in a defensive tone. 

"What... do you mean aunt? Have you seen this bracelet before?" Joreen asked in confusion, cutting into the banter of the older couple. 

"This is from O-Z collection. There is only one of this in the whole world. And that's what you have around your ankle." 

"Really?" Reen's eyes shone "I heard it costs over four hundred thousand." 

"You think that's the actual amount he got it?" Changyu asked in amusement before shocking them,

"It got lost during an auction." She informed them. "Disappeared into thin air. Puff!" 

"Lost? You... mean?" Joreen asked in shock. Was she trying to say Li Hoy probably stole it? 

"A number of people planned to bid for it during a grand auction two months ago, but all of a sudden, we got the news that someone already paid for it. You cannot imagine how much he must have paid for it to be taken out of the bid before it was even displayed. I only got to see it on the pamphlet." 

"You... are saying...?" 

"Personally, I was ready to keep bidding even if it costs 10 million. When I heard it had been bought, I thought it was bought by a woman crazy about jewelries and got mad but then I heard it was a man. Realising he was probably getting it for his loved one or daughter or whatever, I had to let it go. I am a sucker for sweet love, after all." She said with a grin before looking at Joreen's feet again. "Now I see where it landed." 

"Oh my God! That is so romantic!" Reen squealed. "He so passes the test for being my brother in-law." She said passionately. 

Meanwhile, Joreen was gobsmacked. She had been frowning about four hundred thousand, what was she going to do now? 

She looked at Reen who was busy gushing about what a great brother in-law Hoy was. She didn't know whether the girl actually meant it, or she was reacting like that because Hoy had gifted her a really expensive first class ball with the autograph of the world's best basketball player.

"Do not think too much about it Jo. It's his gift to you. You can see the time, effort and money he spent just to get you this. I really hope you love it... because I don't mind borrowing it from you if you don't." She said with twinkling eyes. 

"What does an old woman want to do with leg bracelets? And Jo... do not lend it to her. You know how crazy she gets for jewelries. She won't give it back, I'm yelling you." Jianjun said, making his wife frown. 

"Hey... can you stop interrupting when ladies are talking?! Jo.. do not listen to him. I promise to give it back."

"Sorry aunt but I'll keep it." Joreen said with a sheepish smile. 

Changyu feigned a frown but shrugged and said,"Good!" 

"Now listen to me..." She signaled for Joreen and Reen to move closer to her so they did so. 

"This is supposed to come as a surprise to you young kids, but I'm letting you two know. We're going to leave here soon for our personal beach-side house located behind this building. And each family is going to be staying together inside a house." 

"What?" Reen and Joreen exclaimed at the same time. 

They were all staying together?

"It's big enough so you do not have to worry." 

"I'm especially letting you know this Jo because now, you are going to have enough time to get Hoy's attention. If you want to flirt with him or whatever, I really do not care about it, but you have to be careful and discreet especially around his mother. Because the next time she says one bitchy thing about you, it's going to be more than a verbal fight happening." 

It was all too much for Joreen to process at the same time. First of all, her bracelet probably costs a fortune. Now, she just found out they were all going to he staying together. She didn't want to think about how to face him after kissing him just a while ago. And did Changyu just admit she didn't mind her being firty with Hoy? And the last one... DISCREET.

After the fight the other night, Hoy's mother would probably still be mad at her. She made a mental note to go see her later with some gifts and bond with her again.

Back to Reen's question, why does Changyu like her a lot? 

"I guess it's because I liked her from the moment I saw her. You know, there was this lady... she was a teacher in the school I attended back then. Did I ever mention her to you? She used to like uncle." 

"I think you did." Reen said as she tried to remember. 

"Sis Sara and I didn't like her very much because she always tried to act like our mother so when Changyu showed up and we noticed she liked uncle, we began to root for them. I mean.. she is pretty and rich and was also really nice. Who wouldn't want her?" 

"So I was with aunt with all her plans to seduce uncle. I definitely remembered telling you about this." 

"I remember." Reen nodded. 

"So I guess considering how much she loves uncle, and of course, I helped a lot in the wooing process. We bonded and I think that's why she likes me a lot. Plus you heard what she said earlier. She didn't get to watch sis Sara grow up." Joreen shrugged.

"I would really love to be exactly like her when I grow older. She is super cool!" Reen drawled.

"If you succeed in being like her and eventually get married to Ning Zichu, I think you are both going to be like aunt and uncle." 

"I know right? They are super cute— Hey! Did you just say I'll get married to Zichu?" Reen asked when her brain registered what Joreen had just said.