The sudden sting from her wound made Xue Ting stir in her sleep. She sat up on the couch, startled as Qiu Wen continued to take care of her wound.

"You're home…" Xue Ting said as she grimaced from the pain.

"I'm sorry. I was absurd earlier and also the sudden barge into your room must have scared you earlier." Qiu Wen apologised as Xue Ting shook her head while straightening her hair with her free hand.

"It's fine. Are you alright? Do you need something to sober up?" Xue Ting asked as Qiu Wen shook his head.

"Thank you. You don't have to. Just lock the door next time." Qiu Wen said as Xue Ting nodded awkwardly.

"How did you get back earlier? And the bouquet?" Qiu Wen questioned as Xue Ting's eyes darted to where the bouquet was. She gently breathes in the fragrance from afar.

"Qiu Yeh." Xue Ting said as she beamed at the thought of revisiting the uncle again if they had to visit the family house to tip him even more.

Qiu Wen felt bad and a little jealous as he wrapped up cleaning her wound but the urge to vomit from his reflux came at the wrong time. Xue Ting quickly rushed him to the washroom. She then quickly get him a glass of warm water from the kitchen before joining him back on the couch after he washed up.

"Feeling better?" She asked as she passed him the glass of water. He took it to drink trying to nod to her question but he could feel the beginning of the pangs of his gastric as he grimace.

"Did you eat after dinner?" Xue Ting could sense his discomfort as he shook his head. "Is it your gastric again?" She asked worriedly this time knowing he always had issues with gastric due to his absent-minded self always forgetting meals since young.

He nodded as she put him in a lying position on the couch before checking the time. "Rest awhile. It's almost time for me to prepare breakfast for the kids. I will prepare for you too." She assured him as he held onto her hand.

"You don't have to prepare for me…" He mumbled as Xue Ting took her hand away.

"That's not a negotiation Mr. Tang. It's a notification. You're a patient so rest well." She instructed sternly before rushing to the kitchen. He opened his eyes in surprise only to chuckle to himself at her order as he watched her from afar being busy in the kitchen. He felt a little warm in his heart knowing he had a little borrowed family now; at least he didn't feel lonely.

When Qiu Wen nearly fall asleep, the pangs of his gastric kicked in again. Feeling agitated he sat up on the couch when the twins rushed down the stairs.

"Mummy, good morning!" Joy greeted as she walked into the kitchen and saw Qiu Wen seated on the couch watching them.

"Good morning!" Qiu Wen greeted as he walked over to the dining hall. Joy happily sat next to him and didn't realise he was enduring the pain of his gastric pangs. Matthew had observed every single detail of Qiu Wen's discomfort and endurance as he sat quietly opposite his sister and Qiu Wen.

"Morning, darlings!" Xue Ting said as she set the eggs and ham on each of their plates which had a slice of toast.

Matthew smiled and closed both his eyes momentarily at Xue Ting when their eyes met. Xue Ting knew it was his way of quietly greeting her good morning as he was still awkward with Qiu Wen around. Matthew only nodded at Qiu Wen when their eyes finally met.

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Xue Ting patted his head as she went to prepare two sunny sides for Joy who likes it that way and Xue Ting knew Qiu Wen too. She had prepared two poached eggs earlier for herself and Matthew as they liked it that way.

"Uncle Ryan, thank you for doting on mummy so much with such a huge bouquet but you know she doesn't fancy them laying around like that. Plus, it's a waste of money just like she always said." Joy explained in the midst of munching her toast as Xue Ting rolled her eyes.

"Qiu Qiu, hurry up with your toast!" Xue Ting nagged as she slide one sunny side up into her plate and another for Qiu Wen.

"But he will need to know this since he will be living with us from now on…" Joy whined as Xue Ting sighed. She really wanted to explain herself but it would be difficult as more questions would come from Joy. She decided to just shut her mouth and hurried with their breakfast preparation.

"Oh, you love sunny side up too?" Joy asked as Qiu Wen nodded. "Me too! With some soy sauce and not on the toast…" Joy said as she demonstrated in front of Qiu Wen.

He smiled and chuckled to himself as he did the same. "Me too." He said as Joy gave him a high five.

Xue Ting couldn't help but worry it was only a matter of time before Qiu Wen would have known the truth about their true identity and relationship. Matthew knew the bothered look on his mother's face as he quickly hurried with his breakfast to signal Joy to hurry too.

Qiu Wen had already noticed the similarities between himself to Joy, leaving him realise James likes the omelet better back then but none of them resembled that. He once again pondered whether should he tell Xue Ting about James yet.

Noting the awkwardness, Matthew nudged Joy to hurry with her breakfast as he stood to indicate he was done with breakfast. "Hurry up Joy! We will miss the bus and get to school late!" Matthew nagged as Joy stood stuffing all of her sunny sides into her mouth and nodded.

"Let me send you both. I… It's on the way to where I need to go." Qiu Wen offered with an excuse as Xue Ting shook her head. "No, it's fine. We don't want to trouble you. Besides, your gastric must be still around. You should rest."

"It's not an issue." He showed her his empty plate."Thanks for breakfast! Give me a while. I need to change." Qiu Wen rushed upstairs.

While waiting, Joy glanced through a leaflet inside Xue Ting's open bag at the kitchen counter. She took it out and ran to Xue Ting excitedly.

"Mummy, where did get this from? I want to join!" Joy delightedly squealed as Xue Ting nodded with a smile, already knowing Joy would be this excited.

"The due date is soon. So if you really want to participate, do hurry but don't neglect your studies please." Xue Ting said as she patted Joy's head.

"Don't worry mummy! I know what to do!" Joy said as she hugged Xue Ting before heading for the door. Matthew who had just worn his shoes went to hug Xue Ting too.

"Take care of your sister and study well alright? Don't worry about mummy." Xue Ting said to Matthew as he studied his mother's face wearily but forced himself to nod before leaving. "Love you, mummy," Matthew said as Xue Ting kissed his forehead before he left.

Qiu Wen rushed down as Xue Ting smiled. "Thank you. Sorry, for the trouble." Qiu Wen smiled as he took the chance to ask in the midst of wearing his shoes. "Why did he give that bouquet?"

"Oh, it was… Well, he ordered extra for his office and didn't need it." Xue Ting said wearily as Qiu Wen squinted his eyes. "I still really don't understand why give you that when you never liked flowers since young. Was it like a confession?" Qiu Wen mumbled to himself.

Xue Ting's eyes widened as she shook her head. "No, no…" Before she could explain, he had already stormed off. Qiu Wen was agitated and jealous but he didn't realise it was showing till he entered the car. He shook his head away to clear his mind and reminded himself to apologise to her later.

In the car, Joy was really curious to know more about Qiu Wen as she couldn't stop herself from asking him alot of questions.

"How did you meet my mummy?" Joy asked as Qiu Wen recalled his first moment seeing Xue Ting again after a long time moving to Wait Tao. She was standing under a maple tree overseeing a beautiful sunset one autumn. Looking back he felt fate was bringing them together each time they drew apart.

"Since young… We grew up in the same village where your grandma is staying. I shifted to Wai Tao for school thereafter and lost contact with your mum. She is younger than me by six years. But luckily later in secondary school, she transferred to Wai Tao and attended the same school as me and your daddy, James."

Joy and Matthew were eyeing each other from the rear mirror. He was signaling her to not pester on the topic of their father although he could see Joy was very tempted in doing so.

"Why is your family pestering you to get married to someone you don't like?" Qiu Wen was chuckling at the boldness of Joy's question as he noticed Matthew's facial expression relaxed a little.

"How did you know I didn't like that girl?" Qiu Wen randomly asked as Joy quickly sat upright.

"Cause you made a contract with my mummy to save you in a rush." Joy innocently answered as Matthew rolled his eyes while Qiu Wen laughed.

"Mummy had always been a very loving person. She would take really good care of us and always ensure we had enough even though we knew she was struggling financially. You know, I quite pity you for the lack of such an understanding mother despite having all the money in the world. Must be tough for you?" Joy's honesty took Qiu Wen by surprise as he was lost for words for a moment.

"Well… I am glad to have met your family and I hope we can get along well from now on. I will ensure I take good care of all of you too. With that, let me drive you all to school daily then?" Qiu Wen offered as Joy was overdelighted by it while Matthew nodded uncomfortably.

He had always been a reserved person, especially with strangers as he was observing and questioning every deed of Qiu Wen. He was still very weary with the sudden arrangements from the very beginning. It was difficult for Qiu Wen to get a smooth sailing conversation with him too.