16 Silence Doesn't Always Imply Tolerance

"What do you want to eat? I'll buy the snacks," as soon as they entered the Spotanium, Hou Jun Shen immediately asked for this since Fang Tao was left outside. Hou Wei Yan did not want her siblings to feel awkward around him which she already considers a big possibility considering how the young man rarely speaks.

But of course, he wasn't actually an obliging assistant but rather a loyal soldier to his boss. He had easily disguised himself and wasn't far from his Lady Boss. All his men were on standby as well, always changing positions as Hou Wei Yan's group moved through and fro.

Hou Wei Yan looked at her brother curiously. "Why don't we go together?"

She looked at the line and noticed that it was quite long, if he waited and lines by himself he would only find himself bored. But Hou Jun Shen didn't like her suggestion and furiously shook his head.

"Sis, the line here is quite troublesome. I'd like to avoid any of you getting hurt," he said with no hint of shyness at all. Awe escaped Hou Wei Yan's lips as she stared lovingly at her brave little brother.

"Woah Woah, my baby brother is so protective now," she said in between her amazement and hardly suppressed giggles.

Hou Jun Shen sighed at his sister's silly happiness. He must admit that his change is quite big. In the past, he was his sister's spoiled baby and he liked to indulge in her protection more than minding others' welfare. Yes indeed, those times are his silly days; his selfish days, perhaps his worse even.

"I'll let you calling me baby brother slip past this time,"

The twins find this side of their brother which they haven't seen in a while very very precious. For him to be called with such endearment without losing his temper is already a big feat to behold. Hou Jun Shen likes his image to be seen as a tough man who can uphold the name of the Hous and thus find those who dare call him in such a way insulting in any way possible.

Wanting to know more about her brother, Hou Wei Yan giggled once again. "Come on, tell big sister your secret. Do you have a girlfriend?"

Without hesitation Hou Jun Shen immediately replied. "No,"

"Pursuing someone perhaps?" she asked once more with no plans of dropping the subject.

He looked at his sister and noticed she was itching for news. But Nah, there's no news on such a subject for her to indulge. "Not interested."

Hou Wei Yan halted on her track as Hou Jun Shen said such an answer. [ Unbelievable. With such good looks, he was bound to attract pretty good ladies! ]

"Not interested? Are you kidding me? I bet Lipin Academy has a lot of pretty girls."

Hou Jei Li looked at her big brother who had no plan of answering and slowly turned to her big sister. "Big sister is right. They do have a lot of pretty girls,"

Hou Wuxi nodded his head, fully agreeing to his twins' declaration. "I've met some too,"

"Oho, then why isn't Big Brother interested?" she asked the twins but her eyes were surveying Hou Jun Shen.

[ Is he perhaps...gay? ]

[ Ah no. That can't be possible. He has sent me countless emails in the past, all involving his British-American idol Keira. ]

Noticing her fixated gaze, Hou Jun Shen already knew she was thinking of something spectacular. He flicked her forehead and gave her a look to clarify his gender from his sister's silly mind. "I don't fancy pretty girls. I want substance."

He looked away afterward and began thinking at those women who were in silly pursuit of him. He can't deny there are some quite pretty in his eyes but it's not like pretty ladies can ensure him a good married life.

After witnessing his parent's marriage he wanted nothing to do with just loving someone's outer appearance because it's such an easy thing to break. "And so far, I haven't met anyone who is worthy enough for a gamble,"

Hou Wei Yan clicked her tongue at him. "Tch, so cold you are. How would you know they're not worth it if you don't try?"

Hou Jun Shen merely smiled and walked away. "Whatever you say, sis. I'm going now."

Once he had gone too far and was now in queue for their snack, Hou Wei Yan instantly turned towards her little twins with a huge and expectant smile. "So what is Xiao Shen like at school?"

The twins looked at each other and shrugged together. "We don't know. We haven't visited him at his school yet."

Hou Wuxi took a glance at his big brother and remembered how he revealed the reason for his sudden change of speech. He smiled and nonchalantly said. "We only met some bold girls visiting our house."

Hou Wei Yan wasn't that much surprised any longer given the fact that women from Hou Jei Li's school even flatter him without restraint. "Oh, and did he entertain them?"

"Not much. He just acknowledged their presence, that's all," Hou Wuxi immediately replied. This sort of thing is something he finds agreeable with his brother. Even he, a mere 12 years old, finds it hard to accept such behavior and he finds their face undesirable the more they display such attitudes.

"And his friends?" she asked as they took a seat on a bench in front of the merry-go-round.

As the horses passed by them and came back again, Hou Wei Yan's thoughts drifted back to her brother's cold attitude towards romance. She must admit that she too is very adamant with men but that was because she was already promised. Her brother however isn't betrothed to anyone. [ As a normal teenage boy, isn't finding a girlfriend one of their top priority? ]

[ Or did I just get it mixed up given my long stay in America? ]

Upon the mention of her big brother's friends, Hou Jei Li suddenly spoke up. "He only brought them on special occasions,"

"For those times, I can pretty much say they are weird and wild but I can't judge brother's behavior in school based on their actions," she said.

She remembered how he brought them on his birthday. They were so rowdy that it gave Fe Rou Chao a near heart attack. Not only that, but she also heard stories from her brother about how throwing boogers is considered a formality for some of them. Because of that, they were somehow dubbed by Fe Rou Chao as people who lack manners but she much prefers calling them people unconstrained by propriety or commonality.

Because of what Hou Jei Li said, Hou Wei Yan was intrigued by these weird friends. "Next time, let's visit his school for some fun."

She then turned towards her twins and gave a cheeky smile. "And you two will be joining me on this spy mission,"

Without hesitation, the twins replied in a whisper. "Okay!"

They soon found themselves giving a high five while giggling in excitement for their future endeavors. As soon as Hou Jun Shen arrived with plenty of snacks in his hands, she immediately pulled her siblings closer to her and captured their moment.

The whole duration of their fun escapade, Hou Wei Yan kept taking pictures of them and immediately uploaded them to her Weboo and Ingram account, @reign_yan, with a hearty caption of how much she missed them.

Because she hadn't posted in a long time, many of her followers immediately felt ecstatic about her update. Her picture garnered plenty of likes and numerous comments were left wishing the four of them happiness.

And one of those people is a certain someone with the username @excellency0925 who recently joined the social media platform and liked all of Hou Wei Yan's posts.

…..

During the dead silent night in the Hou Household, the siblings' footsteps were the only thing making heavy noises. It had been a long tiring day as they lost track of the time during their stay in Spotanium. Hou Wei Yan was carrying the sleepy Hou Jei Li in her arms whereas Hou Wuxi lay weak in Hou Jun Shen's embrace. "We're home~"

Ran Ai was the only one who hurriedly ran outside to greet them at such an hour and their sight gave her a fright. "Are they okay?"

"Yes, they played pretty much everything in the Spotanium." Hou Wei Yan answered as she planted a kiss on her cheeks. Ran kissed back and hurriedly helped them inside.

"Ah, let me carry them for you," she offered upon noticing Hou Wei Yan's tired eyes.

Hou Wei Yan immediately shook her head as they began walking upstairs. "No, it's okay. Xiao Shen and I will bring them to their room. You should go back and sleep, Auntie."

As Ran met Hou Wei Yan's warm gaze, she lost the ability to refute. She found herself unable to do more because she knew she would be breaking the siblings' warm moment. She can't possibly do that.

"If you need anything, call me okay?" but she still has a job to do and that is taking care of them to the best of her abilities. "Oh, are you going to sleep in your room? I will bring you milk."

"Ah no, I'll sleep with them," she answered with a smile as she gave a thoughtful look at her sleepy siblings.

It's been a long time since she last showed her deep affection towards them and it might actually take a while for them to meet again considering her sudden change of civil status. For this day, she will give her all for them.

Hou Wuxi looked at his sister and sluggishly said. "She still owes us a song,"

"Yes, a song~" Hou Jei Li instantly replied now in her half-asleep state. The three adults who still had their full consciousness intact found themselves giggling at their adorable side. Hou Wei Yan then planted each of them a kiss on the forehead before starting to adjust Hou Jei Li in her grip.

Hou Jun Shen was the first to walk up while coaxing the two slugs. "Okay okay, let's get you two to bed."

"You can bring the milk to their room and Jun Shen's," Hou Wei Yan said as she too went up the stairs just trailing behind her tall brother.

"Okay, I will," she replied and walked away almost immediately to prepare the milk that they needed. Ran had a big smile on her face as she saw the warmth entering the house once more.

It's been horrendous with Fe Rou Chao and Hou Chungsa littering around. They hated how the place had been under Xing Mei Yi's rule and so they changed everything; from the decorations to the system and the servants' living.

As she stirred the milk, she began reminiscing about the glorious time of Xing Mei Yi's rule. It's true she was a terrifying woman for Hou Guanyu feared no one but her, however, she was a caring mother and a great boss. No servant can call her an evil witch as she displayed she was only terrifying when it comes to her work and husband because she greatly thinks he deserved her beatings. Such a regret she was forced to leave because Hou Guanyu showed what a great jerk he is.

Meanwhile, Hou Jun Shen pouted as he now walked with his sister upstairs. "Ah, sis! I don't need milk."

Hou Wei Yan raised her brows at his tantrum and clicked her tongue in dismiss of his protest. "Nonsense, even I need it at this age."

Hou Jun Shen looked at his sister and noticed the seriousness of her words. She wasn't kidding and it was obvious she was taking no for an answer. Ever since he was young, he hated drinking milk. He only drinks milk when forced and there are but two people who can do that. His sister and his mom.

"Fine," he replied as they entered the twins' bedroom.

Upon opening the door, Hou Wei Yan was frozen outside as she saw the decorations of the room. It was still the same. Nothing much has changed when she left. The wall was painted in Air Force Blue just like how she always wanted it—she wanted their room to be neutral because she knew they wouldn't want to separate rooms until they were teenagers. To cater to the maturing tastes of the kids she went toning things down with a blue-and-white color scheme.

As she entered the room, she was mesmerized as the sea of memories came flooding in. She remembered decorating the room herself with Hou Jun Shen because, by that time, their mother had already left.

The room had silver accents like the aluminum task light which make a beautiful contrast with all-blue hues. The crib was replaced with a king-sized bed. Their king-sized bed was placed in front of the fireplace where a television sat on top of it. A white wooden bed frame breaks up the color and a floral bedspread in matching hues finishes this fresh look of the room. She remembered giving them the quilt in their bed which was an Anthropologie Cassie Brynes Melbourne she asked to be specially made. To add to the warmth, they had white faux-fur throws and plenty of cushions —heaven for curling up on a cold night.

A blue area rug was placed on the right side of the room where a large desk also sat in place in the middle with room on either side for chairs. It also has the big two-floor-to-ceiling bookcases she arranged back then to provide plenty of storage space to house books, school supplies, and prized sports trophies. It made her happy to see how they had almost filled it with their achievements.

As she looked up, she began smiling like a child once again. There it was. The white molded ceiling she spent a lot of time fixing—has the twins' initials which Hou Wei Yan made into a big crest that occupies all of the ceilings. The white ceiling keeps things bright but still lets the architectural molding stand out. Spotlights provide lighting without protruding from the ceiling.

She was brought back to reality with Hou Jei Li and Hou Wuxi's loud yawn. A silly smile overtook her as she finally decided to place them in their bed.

"Sing us...now," both of them said after feeling their warm bed.

"You should drink milk first," Hou Wei Yan insisted. She stood up after placing a kiss on their forehead. "You wait here, I'll go down."

As she walked out of their room and began walking downstairs, she felt something odd. It felt like someone was lurking in the shadows and she knew who it was.

"You're home?" a voice asked out of nowhere.

She looked at the room opposite the twins and saw her stepmother standing there with her arms crossed and eyebrows arched high. She was asking such a question with a sweet disgusting tone she obviously knew was fake. Fe Rou Chao was being cautious, after all, she had just been scolded and threatened.

Hou Wei Yan shook her head at her because she knew her father wasn't around. "Stop faking the act, Ms. Fe."

Fe Rou Chao instantly erased her smile and replaced it with her smirk of evil. "I think you're the one faking the act,"

Not interested, Hou Wei Yan started walking away because she didn't want to be around her any longer. It suffocates her being around such a leech. But she was stopped by another set of provocations.

"Why are you so caring towards them? I don't know if you're doing that because you're guilty of having what they can't have or you're just showing off you have everything. Is it satisfying to have all of Hou Guanyu's love while they only receive the scraps he cannot give you? Tell me, how does it feel to be the most favored one? To be the one born as the eldest and most beloved child of the family?"

"My relationship with my siblings has nothing to with you and please stop acting like you know everything because with that little brain of yours what can you actually comprehend?" she said without looking at her.

She always hated those who targeted her siblings and questioned her kindness. Just because the world is cruel doesn't mean there's no more kindness in a person.

[ Well, a creature like Fe Rou Chao is surely an exception. ]

"You whore!" she fumed in anger. It angered her how this bitch keeps on talking back at her. [ Where the hell did she get such guts? ]

Hou Wei Yan snickered at her obviously suppressed shout. It wasn't her normal shout and she knew why. So she looked back at her and gave a very threatening look that rarely comes out of her. "Go on, shout. If you think I was just lucky that I got away with what I did earlier, I can prove to you how wrong you are right here, right now."

After that, she decided to walk away, but what a nuisance her stepmother was.

"You think I'm oblivious to everything? Don't forget your father never keeps secrets from me," she proudly said with a victorious smile on her face.

She wanted this bitch to know that she was the wife and her father's beloved first love that he will never ever throw away. She was the woman who made her father divorce and neglected the Xing family's wonderful heiress—Xing Mei Yi.

It felt so glorifying to boast of how loved she was, but Hou Wei Yan didn't care. It was her father's choice and she's even more glad he did such a thing. Her mother is too great to be shackled and to be kept together with a lowly mistress. She didn't deserve such dishonor. So it was better that she was free and was back as the Xing Family heiress, a title Fe Rou Chao can never ever steal or have even if she dies a thousand times.

"Well, congratulations. At least your brain got fed with something," she said as she walked away.

"Don't provoke me, Ms. Fe. My silence doesn't always imply tolerance," she added with a seriously dangerous tone. She's a great person when it comes to such things, but she's even better at planning than just tolerating.