Mei Lijuan's sister?

"Have you seen a rich boyfriend yet?"

Was the first message Lijuan received that morning from her 'love at first click' account. It was from Yanju.

"Not yet." She sent to him as she brushed her teeth.

"Perfect! Be my girlfriend then?"

Lijuan's eyes bulged out when she saw the message. He wanted her to be his girlfriend? Just like that?

"Why?" She asked.

"What do you mean by 'why?' I thought you said you wanted a rich boyfriend? Well, I am here!"

Lijuan looked at her reflection in the mirror carefully as she asked herself whether this was real or he was probably messing with her.

She was about to send another message when she heard the knock on her bedroom's door inviting her for breakfast. This time, she didn't dilly-dally. Since she had promised her mother she would always hurry, she went downstairs while still wearing her pajamas, making everyone at the table frown at her.

"Good Morning" She gave a general greeting before taking her usual seat.

Breakfast went as usual. Her father discussed business with Rong while Jiaying raised unnecessary topics.

But Lijuan noticed something strange with Rong. A smile had been plastered on her face from the beginning of breakfast to when she left the house for work. Even when the ever curious Jiaying had asked if something was up with her, she had simply shrugged her shoulders and said it was nothing.

As the car drove Rong to the company, her mind was filled with thoughts about how the date was going to be like.

Madam Wang had assured her that Wany Yun was going to attend. Now, she just had to make sure she played her part well so he would like her. She couldn't wait to see the look on Lijuan's face when she realised Wang Yun was her man. She was dating him? Well, they would see.

***************

Wang Yun looked at his schedule and sighed deeply. His day was fully packed. He regretted agreeing to his mother's blind date plan.

He had meetings to attend, files to look through, he had to supervise the arrangement of his new house and also remembered he was supposed to call Mei Lijuan for his pen. He thought about inviting her to the office to bring it for him but he shook that thought out of his head. That would be a bad idea because people would naturally think something was going on between them while his mother was going to blow up again and he didn't want that.

After much thought, he decided to trust his younger brother, Wang Jinhai with the house arrangement. Even though his brother acted recklessly most times, he was sure he would be able to successfully supervise the relocation.

When he noticed it was almost time for the blind date, he wrapped up his business for the afternoon and left the office.

************

"Hello?"

"Are you there?"

"Why aren't you answering?"

Lijuan watched as the messages from Yanjun kept popping up on her screen and sighed. She still hadn't replied to the first message he had sent her that morning.

He was creepy. She would have blocked him already but she just left him there. Maybe she would consider him later if she didn't find anyone to use as a substitute later.

"Lijuan?"

She heard a light knock on her door followed by her mother's voice.

"The door is open." She said as she sat up on her bed and placed her drawing materials aside.

Mother Mei entered inside the room with something that looked like a card in one hand and sat on her bed.

"I'm going out to the mall. I wanted to ask if you needed anything?" Mother Mei asked.

"You're still drawing?" She asked when she saw the sketch pads and pencils scattered all over the bed.

"Yes. I still draw.... everyday" Lijuan answered with an indifferent tone.

"Your father is going to be mad if he sees this."

"Is there a time when he's never mad at me?" Lijuan asked sarcastically before answering her mother's first question. "I'm not sure I need anything from.the mall"

"Alright then. Do not leave the house without Jackie." She said before standing up.

"I wasn't planning to leave the house today anyway."

When mother Mei got to the door, Lijuan noticed she left the card on the bed and called her attention to it.

"You left your card." Lijuan said before standing up to hand it over to her.

"Oh.. thanks" Mother Mei took it from her and was about to turn when Lijuan asked curiously..

"What's that?"

"It's an invitation. For an auction event."

"An auction event? You are going?"

Mother Mei sighed regrettably. "I really would have loved to go there. There's a jade bracelet I would have loved to buy but I can't go there."

"Why can't you?" Lijuan asked curiously.

"Because it's clashing with Yang Corporation's 40th anniversary party. And I have to be there."

It hurt Lijuan a lot to see her mother looking so sad. She suddenly thought of a brilliant idea, "Can I keep the invite?" She asked her mother.

Mother Mei could roughly guess why Lijuan wanted it. "Lijuan.. your father.."

"What? I'm only asking for the invite, that's all. I never said I was going there did I?" She asked her mother with a blank face.

Mother Mei was quiet as she contemplated it. "You're really not going to try to go there, right?" She asked reluctantly.

"You worry too much, just hand it over already." Lijuan said ignoring the question while snatching the card from her mother.

She knew where her mother usually kept all her bank cards, since they had decided she shouldn't go with them to the anniversary party, she would just make good use of her time by being useful to her mother.

Ning Shan should be back by tomorrow. She could just sneak out with Shan. That should be a fun day for them girls. Lijuan thought with a smile.

**********

Rong was already seated at the restaurant few minutes before Yun arrived.

Yun frowned when he saw the young lady sitting at the table he was directed to. He had always been of the opinion that ladies were always late to their dates, it didn't sit well with him that he had kept her waiting.

When he got closer he couldn't shake off the feeling that he knew her or must have seen her somewhere before. She looked very familiar.

"I'm sorry I kept you waiting, I had a lot to do." Yun said politely before taking his seat opposite her.

"It's fine. I understand." Rong said with a smile. She was glad that he had at least showed up for the date.

"Have we met before? You look awfully familiar." He said after settling down. His mother had only given him the address of the place and the table she had reserved, nothing more. He didn't even know her name or the family she was from. He wondered what his mother was thinking playing games like this..

"I'm Mei Rong." She told him with a shy smile.

Yun narrowed his eyes suspiciously, wasn't she the Pen thief's sister? Why was she here? Was it possible that the pen thief's lies had been discovered?

"Mei Lijuan's sister?" He asked looking at her curiously.

"Yes." She said without blinking.

"What are you doing here?" He didn't know what else to say to her.

"I'm here to have lunch with you. What else?" She asked laughing nervously.

"You know I have something with you sister..." He said trying to understand the intent behind their date.... even though he knew his mother would kill him if she heard what he had just said.

"You do? I thought you were just friends. It doesn't matter... Your mother arranged this meeting and I couldn't bear to turn down the sweet lady's invite." Rong said with a sweet smile.

"I see. So how is Lijuan?" Yun asked. He really wanted to understand the relationship between both sisters before getting involved in their mess.

"She is fine.. I suppose." Rong said shifting in her seat uncomfortably. She wasn't there to talk about Lijuan, she was there to get to know him.

"Why suppose?" He pressed.

"She's at home, you know she can't go out much because of her condition." Rong hinted, wanting to know if Yun was fully aware of Lijuan's habit.

"Really? What condition?" He asked feigning surprise.

"How can you not know? I'm surprised she hasn't taken anything from you yet. Lijuan picks things. I mean she steals" Rong said bringing her voice down to a whisper.

Yun frowned when he heard her. He wondered why someone would openly say something like that about her own sister to a total stranger.

"Oh, That? I'm aware." Yun said with a bored expression, making Rong frown.