That night, Qiu Wen returned home to a sumptuous dinner prepared by Joy and Matthew. Xue Ting stepped in much later when Qiu Wen was seated in the dining hall. Xue Ting was frustrated with the nagging call from her mother who was still on the line about the twins' identity news.

Qiu Wen noted how intense the situation was head over to intercept the call from Xue Ting. He held Xue Ting in his arm as she was caught by surprise while holding on to her head.

"Mother, is that you? How are you? I am Qiu Wen." Qiu Wen greeted Mrs. Liew over the phone.

"Oh, Qiu Wen! You're there? What's going on? Why are the reporters saying my grandchildren are now my children? Are they slandering my Xue Ting? You must do something to protect her please!" Mrs. Liew questioned as Xue Ting once again rolled her eyes at how absurd her mother could change her tone and way of questioning to become gentler when speaking to Qiu Wen. Whereas with her, all she got was scoldings from her mother.

"Don't worry mother. It's just to control the public from harassing the twins in school. It's also to protect them from being in the limelight of the news too much. We have everything under control. Xue Ting is fine too. We are still trying to make time to come and visit you cause I have just started to take over a jewelry branch from my brother's company. Hope you would not mind the wait, mother." Qiu Wen said as Xue Ting squinted her eyes at how nonchalantly Qiu Wen could explain to her mother.

"Oh, oh I see. Don't worry about it. Since everything is fine at your end that's all that matters. I am so glad you're by my daughter's and grandchildren's side. Thank you, Qiu Wen. Hope to see all of you soon!" Mrs. Liew said as the voice of Wen Kang yelling at her to hang up and have dinner was heard in the background.

"Mother, go ahead and have your dinner first. We can talk later." Qiu Wen urged as Mrs. Liew obediently bid her farewell and hang up. Xue Ting finally sighed in relief as the twins watched Qiu Wen comfort their tensed-up mother by gently holding her and patting her shoulder.

"All done. You should have your dinner too." Qiu Wen said as Xue Ting nodded.

"Thanks and sorry." She said as she trailed him from behind to the dining hall.

Joy put both thumbs up at him while Matthew couldn't help but smile a little at how great Qiu Wen could handle their overly worried grandmother.

"Good job daddy!" Joy said which caught Xue Ting and Matthew by surprise.

"Qiu Qiu!' Xue Ting scolded.

"It's alright. They are free to call me that, privately. Technically, I am." Qiu Wen explained as he started to sip on his bowl of soup.

"Are you sure? Wouldn't it make you uncomfortable?" Xue Ting asked as Qiu Wen shrugged.

"On the contrary. I love it." He smiled and winked at her sending Xue Ting blushing unexpectedly. Matthew upon noticing the situation wondered if he should finally let Qiu Wen off the hook a little since he wasn't all as bad as he thought initially.

As it was a Wednesday and Matthew was feeling better, he decided to head out to the usual bar for his performance which was much closer now compared to from where they used to live. Joy had always helped covered him with the excuse of buying her materials and having Matthew accompany her. Since Xue Ting was busy with her art in her room, Qiu Wen didn't think much about it and decided to head out to have a drink at the nearby bar too.

While he was enjoying the ambiance, he noticed a familiar figure on stage, Matthew with his acoustic guitar. Matthew didn't notice Qiu Wen sitting by a corner as it was dim in the bar. As Qiu Wen sat quietly watching and guarding the surrounding, it seemed the crowd was anticipating his performance and he seemed to be a regular performer.

At the first strum of his guitar, it was a note that hit right at Qiu Wen's heart. The only person who could do that was Qiu Yeh. Every strum was gentle yet strong as Matthew played a self-composed song.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Qiu Wen was beginning to relax but the thought of his sister heading out earlier with him was worrying him as he scanned around the room but there weren't any signs of Joy. The moment Matthew's voice resonated with the entire bar, it was captivating and flawless. Qiu Wen began to sit back on the bar as he enjoyed Matthew's mesmerising performance of a light ballad.

"It's no wonder he has so many girls drooling after him." Qiu Wen thought to himself. After a few songs, Matthew finally handed the stage back to the next performer. That's when his eyes met with Qiu Wen's. He was startled at Qiu Wen's existence by the bar top as the light in the bar began to brighten back. Matthew knew he was caught red-handed as Qiu Wen smiled and signaled him over.

Qiu Wen ordered juice for Matthew who sat down next to him obediently as anxiety caught up with Matthew. Moments later, Joy stepped inside the bar knowing Matthew was done for the night in an hour to head home.

"Daddy…" Joy greeted as she was a little frightened seeing him sitting with Matthew.

Qiu Wen ordered another juice for Joy as he pulled her to sit next to Matthew, half guarding her against preying eyes around. He stood in front of them with his arms folded.

Joy cleared her throat first. "Err... Daddy, listen, we can explain." Joy wanted to explain when Matthew stopped her as he shook his head.

"It's my fault for wanting to come here and earn extra pocket money to help mummy. So, please don't let her know about this?" Matthew said solemnly as Qiu Wen was beginning to understand the purpose.

"Yes, and I only use the excuse to buy my materials for my creation. We would head home really early too." Joy explained as Qiu Wen raised an eyebrow.

"Did I say anything? I don't recall asking. But since we are at it, do you know how dangerous this is?" Qiu Wen said as the twins were putting their heads down. The bar owner came thereafter with Matthew's pay cheque.

"Here, boy. Your pay for the week. Good job as always! See you next week as usual!" The bar owner who looked around his mid fifty said as he ignored Qiu Wen but Qiu Wen took the envelope from him instead.

"Let me handle this with my kids." Qiu Wen told the bar owner. It took a while for the bar owner to figure out who Qiu Wen was before he laughed.

"Your father? What are you doing with your old folk in the bar? You're all adults." The bar owner chuckled as he wanted to step away when Qiu Wen hold on to him and threw a cold stare at him.

"If you want my son to return next week to perform, I need you to assure me that he and even my daughter if she is here, are always protected. Or…" Qiu Wen stepped closer to his ear.

"... I will report you to the authority for hiring underage high school kids to work for you." Qiu Wen raised an eyebrow as the bar owner was weary but didn't want to lose Matthew who was really boosting his business on Wednesdays.

"Alright. I will ensure their safety when he is on my premise. You're all welcome to drink for free whenever you're in my bar." The bar owner offered as Qiu Wen nodded in agreement before he let the bar owner walk away.

"Uncle Ryan… Could you please don't let my mother know or else it will be very difficult…" Matthew pleaded as Qiu Wen sat down in between the twins.

"Was your mother always working late and letting the both of you do whatever you wanted?" He asked.

"No, no don't get her wrong. She had no idea what we both are up to every Wednesday. So please, it's our little secret for now…" Joy explained.

"You're not afraid I will tell her?" Qiu Wen tried to test Matthew as he threw the question at him.

Feeling a little infuriated, Matthew retaliated. "You're not afraid I will tell her you're here with someone else?"

Joy was scanning the room to find most ladies in the room were all eyeing him. Joy then realise what an honor to stand right beside a charming man. She secretly wondered if it was her by Keith's side, would it feel the same?

Qiu Wen chuckled as he took a sip of his whiskey. "Only I wasn't."

"I'm her son for sixteen years versus someone she had just met; who did you think she will believe?" Matthew didn't give up as he needed the job to keep the burden off his mother.

"I knew your mother longer boy…" Qiu Wen said in his mind. He could feel the desperation out of Matthew as though trying to safeguard the job for money.

"Fine. I wouldn't want to create a misunderstanding. I will keep it a secret. But then are you both in financial difficulty? Is she not giving enough pocket money?" Qiu Wen further questioned.

"She is giving more lately but it's just our hobbies. And besides, it's an expensive hobby that we do not want to burden her. Hence, I decided to just continue on. Even if we have enough now, after six months, who knows what would happen." Matthew explained as Qiu Wen realised it was the first time ever they both had so much to talk about.

"Before this, was it for the money?" Qiu Wen asked with a much gentler tone.

"Yes." Matthew looked down at the ground as he answered the question a little disappointed with himself.

"It was tough back then I see…" Qiu Wen took another sip of his whiskey.

"It was. Very. But she is a strong woman. She got through well and I felt useless sometimes." Matthew admitted which took Joy and Qiu Wen off guard. Joy's eyes reddened a little listening to how desperate his brother was to hold on to the job as she herself knew how tough it was for herself too.

She stood to reach out to Qiu Wen. "Daddy… Could you please just don't tell mummy about this? It would really worry her. We promise we are only here one hour and it's only him. I was here to pick him…" Qiu Wen held his hand up to stop her.

"I have spoken to the bar owner earlier to keep the security safeguarded on you both when you're here. You, Joy, should avoid coming in if possible. If there are any issues, call me immediately. I will only allow you, Matthew to perform here if you follow my rules. Got it?" Qiu Wen warned as the twins were finally relieved instantly. Joy hugged him subconsciously as Matthew was invited into Qiu Wen's hug.

"Thank you…" Matthew said as Qiu Wen smiled. "... daddy." Matthew's last word caught Qiu Wen by surprise as he patted his head.

"I will make time every Wednesday to come and watch over. If I can't, then be very careful." Qiu Wen said as both twins nodded.

He realised Joy was taking after himself while Matthew reminded him of Xue Ting. His determination to secretly support Xue Ting was the same as he felt when Xue Ting was rescuing himself and Qiu Yeh from the kidnappers in the jungle when they were young.

As he slowly let himself feel the warmness of the family which resembled himself and Xue Ting a lot, he constantly reminded himself that they were James. He secretly thanked James each time for the chance to have such a wonderful experience he had never expected before.