Honeymoon

Chapter 7: Honeymoon.

Li Wei and Li Mei made their way to their car, finding a sleek new mountain car already waiting for them, with Li Wei's secretary standing by its side. Throughout the walk, neither of the siblings spoke, both of them busy dealing with their own thoughts and emotions.

"To the Li Mansion, and have someone take care of this car," Li Wei instructed, following Li Mei into the vehicle. Zhang Chen, Li Wei's secretary, took the driver's seat and steered the car down the mountains. As they descended, he couldn't help but notice the strange atmosphere surrounding the siblings. Had there been a fight between the boss and the young miss? Zhang Chen wondered why Li Mei, who was usually talkative, remained so quiet.

"Boss, Master and Madam are returning tomorrow. They were worried since they couldn't reach you or young miss on your phones," Zhang Chen voiced his concern. He had contemplated dispatching a search team when he couldn't contact his boss, but he received a call from an unknown number, only to discover it was his boss on the other end. Relieved, he was initially tempted to trace the call but was sternly warned by his boss not to do so and simply bring a car to their location.

"Hmm. I'll contact them later," Li Wei responded, gradually gathering his thoughts and emotions as the mountains receded into the distance while they neared the city. Soon, they arrived at Li Mansion, and the siblings entered their home. Li Wei instructed Zhang Chen to email him the pending work from the company before retiring to his room.

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After taking a hot shower, Li Mei emerged from her room to find her brother sitting in the living room, engrossed in his laptop. She approached him, gently setting aside the laptop before resting her head comfortably on his lap while he sat on the sofa. Li Wei glanced at his sister, raising an eyebrow inquisitively.

"Sigh... Gege, how are you feeling?" Li Mei asked, seemingly a random question, but Li Wei understood its significance. Ever since they left Ling Yue's villa, they both had a nagging feeling that something was forgotten. They couldn't pinpoint what it was, and even more strangely, Li Wei felt an inexplicable sense of guilt. Guilty about what? He couldn't quite grasp it.

"I don't know. Whatever it is, I am not able to point it out. What about you?"

"Same here. You know, I thought I would feel fine after we come back home. But now I am feeling even worse." Li Wei nodded. He too felt the same. He didn't understand what was happening. Except the fact that there was someone living in that place, nothing was weird.

He reflected on their behaviour while at Ling Yue's place. Ling Yue was a complete stranger, yet they found themselves nervous and stumbling over their words, wanting to make a good impression. Although they had always been polite, impressing others had never been their intention before. Their personalities seemed altered in Ling Yue's presence, and now, contemplating it, Li Wei felt a tinge of embarrassment. He sighed, gazing at his sister, who absentmindedly chewed on a pen cap, a telltale sign that she was deep in thought.

"Enough of this. Who knows, we might cross paths with her again. So let's stop dwelling on it. Mom and Dad are returning tomorrow. Let's go pick them up," Li Wei suggested, attempting to shift their focus to other matters. He knew that dwelling on Ling Yue would only exhaust their minds, leaving them drained by the time their parents arrived.

"Huh? Why bother picking them up? They're not kids, and it's not like they've been missing us. I'd rather avoid their dog food as much as possible. Sigh. Why did they suddenly cut short their vacation slash honeymoon? I'm sure it's not because they missed us," Li Mei retorted, skeptical of her parents' motives.

"You brat, don't speak like that. They're our parents," Li Wei chided, although deep down, he knew his sister's words held a grain of truth. Yet, he had to play the role of the righteous elder brother.

Li Mei sneered in response "I know you too think the same, so you can skip preaching things to me"

RING..RING..RING..

Li Wei was about to reprimand her when his phone started ringing. Seeing that it was from his mother he picked it up and turned on the speaker mode.

'Hello my dear babies. Where were you? Why was your phone unreachable?' A soft voice sounded as soon as they picked up the call. Before Li Mei could speak anything, Li Wei jumped in and answered.

"We went for a mountain ride. We didn't have signal there so we were unable to reach you."

'Hmm. Me and your Dad are returning back tomorrow. Come and pick ...'

"Why?" Li Mei butted in before Mother Li could tell them to pick them up at the airport. She couldn't help but recall that her father had booked a grand luxury honeymoon suite in Venice for their wedding anniversary next week. What could be so important that her parents agreed to cancel their romantic plans?

'Huh? What?' Mother Li didn't know what her daughter wanted to ask.

"Mom. Didn't you say you would spend your anniversary abroad. What happened?" She was curious. Li Wei looked at his sister whose head was still on his lap. He too was curious but before he could ask anything his sister started firing her questions. Sometimes it was an advantage to have this kind of sister. He smiled at the thought and looked at his phone again.

'Uhh..Well, we will tell you the reason tomorrow. I will message you the flight details, so pick us up on time. Don't forget to eat on time.' Mother Li responded, her voice tinged with a hint of mystery.

'They're no longer kids, honey. They know how to eat on time. But shouldn't you be more concerned about your husband's appetite? Hmm? I'm hungry, and ...' a deep voice chimed in from the other end of the call, followed by giggles before they finally hung up.

Li Mei: -_-

Li Wei: -_-

What the hell? Seems like their parents became more energetic since they went on their on their vacation. They had been away from home for nearly six months, and yet they didn't seem to miss their children at all.

"Get up. Let me go and cook something for lunch," Li Wei suggested, trying to divert their attention from Ling Yue once again.

"Huh? Do you still have room in your stomach to eat? Big sis fed us a lot," Li Mei quipped, the conversation circling back to Ling Yue. Li Wei couldn't help but recall the diverse array of dishes Ling Yue had prepared for breakfast, a lavish spread for someone living alone. He suspected she had cooked them in honor of her birthday.

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Ling Yue sat at the head of the dining table, her gaze fixed on the two empty chairs. She had been sitting there for nearly an hour, simply staring. Now that she reflected on her encounter with the siblings, she felt foolish.

Even if BaoBao brought them here, how could she have allowed strangers to freely wander through her house? What if they were a threat or spies? Her emotions were in disarray, and she struggled to gather herself. Suddenly, a throbbing pain gripped her head, and her face turned pale as beads of sweat formed on her forehead. She clenched her teeth, determined not to budge an inch.

BOW...

She looked down and found DouDou, her faithful companion, staring at her with a mixture of confusion and concern. Ling Yue released a heavy sigh, bending down to pick up the little pup and cradle him in her lap.

"Don't worry, I'm fine," she reassured DouDou, sitting there for a while longer before finally rising from her seat. She reached for a wooden box on one of the kitchen shelves, retrieving a small glass jar filled with green pills. Ling Yue contemplated the jar for a moment before taking one of the pills and washing it down with a glass of water. Standing there, she waited until color returned to her face, and her breathing normalized.

Looking around the kitchen, her gaze landed on the dishwasher.

Sigh...

She didn't want to dwell on anything anymore. Taking a deep breath, Ling Yue started making preparations for lunch. She just hoped that they would not cross paths again.