'Who could it be?' Feng Tianyi wondered.
He wasn't expecting any guests today, especially when these little buns decided to invade his home. Confused, he excused himself and went to answer the door.
However, as soon as he opened it, he was frozen in the spot. Standing right outside his door was a woman he'd never thought he would be able to meet face to face.
'What is she doing here?!'
This woman's beautiful face could be considered one of the finest ones in Shenzhen and her mere presence spoke volumes of elegance and coldness. Her pinkish lips were pressed in a thin line as she looked down at him and then shifted her gaze to look past him as if looking for someone.
Feng Tianyi then noticed that this woman's eyes were like Little Star's although it was as cold as he expected it to be, knowing who she was. Was she looking for his guests?
Just what could be the reason for his brother's ex-fiancée to show up on his doorsteps?
Tang Moyu, the fallen empress, was standing outside his door still in her business attire, as if she'd just dropped everything she was doing just to look for someone. This was the first time Feng Tianyi met his half-brother's ex-fiancée in the flesh.
For a moment, he wasn't sure how to react until Tang Moyu's gaze landed on him.
Did she recognize him? Feng Tianyi couldn't tell as there was no hint of recognition on her expression.
When he finally came back to his senses, he heard footsteps behind him, hearing Little Star's adorable voice even before he could say a word to Tang Moyu.
"Uncle Ji? Who is it?" She asked curiously but when she saw her mother standing outside the door, Little Star let out a high pitch scream and ran back to the kitchen.
"..."
Just what had happened? Feng Tianyi wondered.
Tang Moyu's right eye twitched at her daughter's reaction. What was that supposed to mean? She returned her attention back to the crippled man sitting in his wheelchair.
She regarded him for a moment, wondering if she'd somehow met him before, but couldn't recall anything. Her expectation of the nice uncle her babies were talking about was far from reality.
Tang Moyu thought that her twins took a liking to an old man and somehow pitied his condition. But as she looked at the man in front of her, she realized how wrong she was!
Although this man was indeed crippled, he had a handsome face that could easily topple some of the most famous male actors in the country including Jiang Yunan, if only he would pay attention to his appearance, which was a little shabby in her opinion. He had features that women couldn't help be attracted to, well, women other than Tang Moyu.
She'd seen enough handsome men to know how the gears in their mind work and would rather not get involved with any of them.
"Hello, I'm Tang Moyu, Xiao Bao and Little Star's mother. May I know if they are here with you?" Although she'd already seen her daughter earlier, she needed to be polite to this man who was kind enough to entertain her children for a few days now.
Although Feng Tianyi already knew who she was, he still found himself dumbfounded at the irony of the situation he was in. Tang Moyu was one of the reasons he failed to get Feng Conglomerate in his hands and she was his brother's woman before her exile.
In the past, he avoided having a confrontation with Feng Tianhua and Tang Moyu. However, he had no idea that his path would cross with hers now because of the two little buns that were currently in his kitchen, busy eating their meals.
Who knew that of all the people he could meet today, he met the fallen empress? And that she would be the one to personally come knocking on his door? He didn't even know that she was back after her long absence in Shenzhen.
Feng Tianyi snapped out of his thoughts as he could feel the lingering look he was receiving from Tang Moyu.
"Ah, forgive me. I was just surprised. Are you here to fetch the twins?"
"Yes," Tang Moyu nodded then glanced towards the direction her daughter disappeared to. "May I come in? It seems like they are not ready to go home yet."
"Of course," Feng Tianyi wheeled himself aside and let Tang Moyu step inside his home.
Tang Moyu entered his apartment and looked around. There was nothing suspicious inside this man's home and it looked normal in her opinion. It was almost 150 sq ft in size and was large enough for a man like him to move around without difficulties.
"Come, the children are in the dining area having dinner. Why don't you eat with us?" Feng Tianyi easily recovered from his shock. He supposed that Tang Moyu really didn't recognize him, which brought relief to him.
He was just being polite to her and had nothing to do with her.
"Thank you but there's no need. I'm just here to pick up my children." Tang Moyu slightly nodded and followed him to the dining area, which was one with the kitchen. However, once they arrived, her two little buns were nowhere in sight.
Feng Tianyi was beside her, looking clueless as to where the children went. They only found three sets of bowls and the dishes were still steaming hot.
"I'm sorry Mister, but do you have any idea where those two could be hiding? I'll have to bother you to check your house to find them. They are pretty good at hiding," Tang Moyu asked helplessly.
Feng Tianyi nodded and wheeled himself to the hallway that connected the kitchen to his bedroom and study. He opened the study first which was on his left and saw no one there.
"They aren't here," he told Tang Moyu. "Must be hiding inside my room."
"I'm sorry for troubling you, Mister. I have no idea what got my children to act this way."
"It's no trouble, Miss Tang. Your children were really well behaved earlier and haven't caused trouble for me before."
"Let me call them," Tang Moyu said dejectedly as she stood outside the room and knocked on the door. She turned the doorknob, but it was locked from the inside. "Xiao Bao? Little Star? Come out here this instant! Don't you think that's enough mischief for today? You also troubled this Mister here and invaded his house."
Feng Tianyi watched her from the corner and he had this urge to laugh at her scowling face, as she tried to convince her children to come out.
The children ignored her words and stayed inside the room. They both knew the reason why their mother came, but they weren't ready to leave their Uncle Ji yet.
Tang Moyu began to frown and her voice became colder than ice as she tried to call them out again.
"Tang Feiyu, Tang Feixiu. I'm only giving you ten seconds to come out on your own, otherwise, don't blame me for what I will do next."
She and Feng Tianyi heard murmuring words inside but couldn't make out the words spoken. Still, the two little buns refused to come out. Feng Tianyi wondered if it was also a usual thing for the trio and pitied Tang Moyu.
"Miss Tang, could you step aside? Let me give it a try. Who knows maybe they'll listen to me." He offered.
Tang Moyu's frown deepened. She was actually afraid that strangers would take advantage of her children. Although they were a pair of mischievous children who always found fun and interest in random things, they were her life. She appeared to hesitate for a moment but soon accepted Feng Tianyi's offer.
"Please do," she sighed and rubbed her temple. "This is the first time they did this, so I have no idea how to convince them."
"Really?" Feng Tianyi raised a brow in her direction. He assumed that these two had done this before as they knew very well how to play him with words.
Tang Moyu nodded and stared at the closed door, wondering what her children were doing inside. She was afraid that they might break something inside or ruin this man's belongings. What's more, she was afraid of them getting hurt unsupervised.
She stepped aside and let Feng Tianyi talk to her naughty children.
Feng Tianyi gently knocked on his door and called them.
"Xiao Bao, Little Star? Didn't you say you wanted to take care of me? Then why are you hiding now? Are Uncle Ji's dishes not to your liking? I'm really hungry and the food will start to get cold if we leave them for too long. I hope you aren't planning to turn back on your words now."
There was an unmistakable silence in the air and neither he nor Tang Moyu was sure if they'd come out from his bedroom.
However, the moment they heard the pattering steps of the twins, Tang Moyu's eyes dramatically widened. She was taken aback on this sudden turn of events.
Xiao Bao was the one who unlocked the door and looked worriedly at Feng Tianyi. Following closely behind him was his younger sister, Little Star who had her head low.
"Sorry, Uncle. We didn't mean to make you skip your meal." Xiao Bao apologized which left his mother more shocked. She stood there, frozen at the side.
Wait. Was she hearing things or did Xiao Bao just apologize to a stranger he barely knew?
Her children had only ever listened to her and ignored other people when they tried to discipline them. They wouldn't even budge no matter how hard others try to convince them to calm down, especially whenever they were throwing a tantrum at the same time.
And for Feng Tianyi to be able to convince them with a few simple words?
Tang Moyu couldn't help but pay attention to how this man interacted with her children. She didn't understand how he was able to do it.
"I know both of you are good children. Why don't we go back to the dining room and eat with your mother?" Feng Tianyi praised the two and patted both of the twins' cheeks.
The three went back to the dining area leaving her who was still standing there in shock. Her twins didn't even spare her a look and apologized to the man instead of her. Just who was this person? She wondered.
It took her a few seconds before she followed behind them and saw her son helping his sister take a seat next to him and resumed their meal.
Seeing Tang Moyu still standing a couple of feet away from them, Feng Tianyi called her name.
"Miss Tang, why don't you join us? I've cooked enough dishes for us to eat together." Again, he was just being polite to her as his guest but he didn't expect that the fallen empress would accept his invitation to dine with them.
"I'll then trouble you again, Mister…" She took a seat next to Feng Tianyi and watched her children eat. The dishes looked delicious and the scent alone was enough to make her mouth water.
In her anxiety to see both of her children safe, Tang Moyu realized that she hadn't even bothered to ask his name after introducing herself.
"Mommy, he's Uncle Ji," Little Star lifted her head to face her mother with some grains of rice stuck on her cheeks as she ate heartily.
"No, that's not his name, Little Star," Xiao Bao corrected his sister, "Have you forgotten his name is Qin Jiran?"
"Qin Jiran?" Tang Moyu turned her head to her right to look at Feng Tianyi. "You mean that famous author?"
Of course, she had heard that name before. Jiang Yunan and Li Meili had been raving about the author's books but neither of them nor his readers knew what he looked like.
Feng Tianyi scratched the side of his face awkwardly. If he admitted to Tang Moyu that he was indeed Qin Jiran, would she think he was lying if he hid the truth about him being her ex-fiance's older brother?
He sighed and smiled awkwardly at Tang Moyu.
"Yes, I'm that person. I'm sorry for ruining your good impression of Qin Jiran. You might probably not expect that I'm bound to a wheelchair."
There. He said it. He wasn't really lying to her, right? Not unless she asked him herself if his real name was Feng Tianyi, he would admit his real identity outside his writing profession.
Tang Moyu and gave him a nod. "No worries. I've heard your name, but I haven't actually read your works yet due to my busy schedule."
Feng Tianyi then left the dining table to retrieve a new set of bowl and chopsticks for Tang Moyu.
"Tell me if you don't like the taste, I might still be able to order dinner at this time," he glanced at the wall clock in his kitchen and saw that it was already past seven in the evening.
"It's alright, Mr. Qin. Since my children practically wolfed down the dishes you made tonight, I trust their taste buds. You might not know, but they are very picky eaters. It's rare to see them eat willingly." Tang Moyu calmly said before picking up some pork stir fry before giving it a taste.
"It's delicious!" She commented before following her children's lead and eating to her heart's content. She'd been working hard these days and barely had a decent and delicious meal to eat because of her busy schedule.
'They really are mother and children,' Feng Tianyi thought before he started eating his share.
The dinner had been a little awkward in his opinion, as neither he nor Tang Moyu dared to break the silence around them. He glanced at Tong Moyu, watching as she took some vegetables and placed them in Little Star's bowl to eat, convincing her in a low voice that she needed to get healthy for Tang Moyu's sake.
After they were done with dinner, Tang Moyu helped Feng Tianyi clean the table, leaving the twins at the living room to play for a while. Once they were done, she thanked Feng Tianyi for saving Little Star earlier at the cafe and promised to help him with the bills for his treatment, but the latter had declined her offer.
"There's no need for that Miss Tang. I enjoyed your children's company and I would hate it if I allow them to get hurt while they are with me." Feng Tianyi said as they walked back to the living room only to see Little Star already sleeping on his couch while Xiao Bao dozed off as he sat next to his sister.
"Thank you for dinner, Mr. Qin. The twins and I absolutely enjoyed your cooking. It's getting late so we better get going." Tang Moyu politely said before picking up her sleeping daughter from the couch while the bodyguard took Xiao Bao with him.
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