Novels2Search
The warmth of autumn (TWA)
Chapter 11: I could have made you Ryan’s sister-in-law

Chapter 11: I could have made you Ryan’s sister-in-law

"It's good to see you back… and with my brother…" Qiu Yeh said as he munched on some fish cake which he offered Xue Ting a stick.

"Good to see you so successful these days." Xue Ting smiled as she accepted the fish cake from him and took a bite.

"I have heard you had a twin?" Qiu Yeh asked noticing the change in her facial expression.

"News travels fast doesn't it…" Xue Ting tried to escape the question as she knew he was trying to find out more.

"It's a habit to keep updated with the latest news in my industry. Else, how would I know Liew Xin Qiu is a top-notch niche online entrepreneur coupled with Liew Qiu Xin who has really good music talent and is really outstanding in school's academics." Qiu Yeh teased as Xue Ting couldn't help but smile at the praise of her twins. Despite trying to stay low profile, her twins' talents and achievements were not helping at all to stay away from the limelight especially since they had already hit their final year in high school.

"Yes, they are my twins. How long have you known about my existence here?" Xue Ting questioned curiously.

"Definitely earlier than my brother. Else, who would have made a branch out here knowing how small the town is and created an opportunity for him?" Qiu Yeh teased as Xue Ting finally laughed.

"Got you laughing finally…" Qiu Yeh smiled as Xue Ting took another stick of fish cake from him.

"Thank you… Well, the twins are James' but he never knew..." Xue Ting lied nonchalantly.

"That's what I heard too. But… is it really the truth?" Qiu Yeh teased again as he raised an eyebrow while Xue Ting raised an eyebrow in return too. Qiu Yeh knew he shouldn't go too far so he chuckled.

"Just kidding… You know, if you weren't this popular among the boys back then, I would have made you Ryan's sister-in-law instead." Qiu Yeh nonchalantly confessed his long-suppressed feelings for her. She blushed a little from his blatant confession.

"But, knowing you, you had already set your heart for him since the day you laid eyes on him." Qiu Yeh blatantly pointed out which made Xue Ting caught in surprise at how much Qiu Yeh knew.

"My brother had always been very fond of you. Even when you were dating someone else and even… Now. So, I am very glad this is the result of all his years of effort in searching for you." Qiu Yeh smiled as he patted Xue Ting's shoulder.

Xue Ting was a little dumbfounded as she never knew Qiu Wen's feelings for her were this serious till today. Neither did she ever expect Qiu Yeh to confess to her as she had always thought of him as a very respected brother.

"Don't worry about anything else. Just focus on taking care of my brother. The coming days may be tough but I know while my brother strives for the best for me in my career to gain my mother's recognition, I would be glad to have you to take care of his welfare then." Qiu Yeh explained as Xue Ting nodded.

"I promise." She smiled as she never expected to learn so much about the brothers that night. Somehow, she felt obliged to keep her promise.

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Although the argument earlier in the Tang's house looks like it left Mrs. Tang and Francesca agitated, in actual fact, they did their research on Xue Ting and her entire family only to learn that she had such outstanding twins. They knew about Joy, earlier in the day that she was quite a profound designer making a lot selling authentic accessories online. She could design not just jewelry but also clothing. Despite so much news on Joy since it was the same industry, Francesca couldn't get much information about Matthew in such a short period of time. The only reason was that Matthew was smart to use pseudonyms when he was doing gigs.

So, they had planted a bait for Joy alone where Francesca secretly left a flyer for a competition held by Qiu Yeh's designing company with a distorted deadline which was changed to a day later, hoping Xue Ting would get Joy to sign up and have Joy disqualified. Francesca will then amplify the news that such a profound designer had missed the deadline and then expose her as Xue Ting's twin to create conflict between Xue Ting and Qiu Wen.

When Xue Ting reached home with her huge bouquet of assorted flowers, her twins were gathered at the dining hall as Matthew was composing a new song while Joy was working on an order for a small pouch for a young adult.

"Mummy!" They both greeted as Xue Ting walked in.

"Hello, darlings!" Xue Ting laid down the bouquet and kissed both of them.

"Not going to bed yet?" Xue Ting asked noticing they were settling in very well. They both began to crowd her as they noticed the huge bouquet.

"Going to, soon.." Matthew answered. "Settling well? Looks fine to me?" Xue Ting questioned as they both nodded.

"Yes! Uncle Ryan has been very welcoming! Speaking of which, where is he? Is that from him?" Joy asked as Xue Ting waved them both away to head for a shower and to avoid their questions.

"He had other events to attend first. Sleep early! I will go shower first… Goodnight babies!" Xue Ting called out.

"Uncle Ryan must really dote on mummy. Just look at how huge this bouquet is. If only Keith would surprise me this way…" Joy commented as Matthew lightly knock on her head.

"You better not let mummy hear you say this. Haven't you forgotten you're not allowed to date him till you're done with high school?" Matthew nagged as he began to keep his stuff.

"But we are already going to graduate high school. Plus, Keith is just the son of the owner of the place mummy works. Well, he grew up with us too. So, I really don't see what's wrong…" Joy whined as she too kept her stuff.

"The problem is you're too clingy and you won't be able to focus. So you better do well if you want that as a reward." Matthew nagged again as Joy pouted.

Keith Jang Li Jian, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Jang who took Xue Ting in as a helper in their humble restaurant till today, had practically grown up with Xue Ting's twins. He was six years older than the twins and was no doubt the first love of Joy since they were young. Xue Ting had always known about it and felt embarrassed for such a great boy to be stuck with her daughter. That was also part of the reason she had to forbid them both from dating each other. Even then, she was aware they had always been closely contacting each other daily since Keith was overseas furthering his studies.

After Xue Ting got dressed for bed, she quickly went to check on the twins who were soundly asleep. She felt a little disappointed as the twins could get used to not sleeping next to her like they used to in the old house. Feeling exhausted she too, was fast asleep.

Little did she expect that in the middle of the night, she was shaken up in bed thinking it was the twins but when she really noticed it, it was her drunk husband hugging her asleep in bed. She was a little thrown off guard as she quickly shifted him to the side and got a wet towel to freshen him up first before slipping downstairs to sleep on the couch.

As she was looking at the shelf in front of her from the couch, she noticed an old picture of herself, James, and Qiu Wen. She reached out to it and recalled the moment James confessed as Qiu Yeh's confession earlier crossed her mind.

The park in the picture was where he first confessed to her unexpectedly and on the same day, she saw Qiu Wen with a bouquet, hiding by a corner, patiently waiting for her to approach. Unfortunately, she was stopped by James first.

She had always wondered if Qiu Wen caught up quicker that time than James, wouldn't life be much better? Her mind wandered to James if he was doing well as she noticed Qiu Wen had not spoken about him before this nor had she seen James before this. As she let her mind bugged her with thousands of questions, she fell asleep with the picture on the couch.

Qiu Wen became sober in the middle of the night when he woke to find himself in Xue Ting's room. He had gotten used to bunking in the guest room when he was drunk but had forgotten he now had guests. He quickly went to freshen up before heading downstairs only to find her asleep on the couch.

He wanted to carry her to his room and tucked her as he reminded himself to change her bedsheets the next day, but he noticed a scratch on her right arm. He took away the picture frame she was holding onto and noticed it was a picture of the three of them.

He wondered why didn't she find James all this year when they were both clearly still in love with each other. He wondered if he should tell Xue Ting about what happened to James.

Upon looking back at the scar on her wrist, he quickly went to find an ailment to spread over the wound gently to not wake her up as he slowly recalled it must be him who had injured her. He scolded himself for not being more gentle with her and constantly reminded himself he had more people to care for now and not just Xue Ting alone.