章 23: Happy Birthday!
It was barely six in the morning but Yun was already up and going through some files he had taken home with him from the office the previous day.
He picked up his pen to jot down something and suddenly thought of the pen thief. He had noticed she had not been very active on the dating site as before, was it possible she already found someone she liked? Was that why she had told him it was over two days ago? He chuckled when he remembered the way she had said it. Nothing was over until he retrieved his pen from her.
He logged into the dating site and received a birthday notification... Today was the pen thief's birthday, he thought with a small smile.
As her supposed boyfriend, he definitely had to show up and wish her a happy birthday even though she claimed it was over between them. Besides, he knew how much time she had spent searching for the pen. She needed a break and he was in the best position to give it to her.
He smiled at the thought of it as he wondered what her reaction would be if he suddenly showed up at her house with flowers wishing her a happy birthday.
He quickly called his personal assistant to deliver flowers to his house immediately even though he knew it was too early in the day for that.
**********
Lijuan groaned in protest when she heard the sound of her ring tone, she had been unable to sleep and had spent half the night drawing different designs that kept popping into her head. And just when she had succeeded in drifting off to sleep in the early hours of the morning she had been haunted by different nightmares of Wang Yun chasing her for his pen.
Without taking off her sleeping mask she blindly reached out for her phone which she kept by the bedside drawer.
"Haaaappppy birthday babbbby!" Shan screamed happily making Lijuan take the phone away from her ear before taking off her sleeping mask.
"Tell me I'm the first person to wish you." Shan said with feigned curiosity making Lijuan giggle.
"We both know you're the only one who does this yearly. Aside from you and my mother I don't expect a birthday wish from anyone else." Lijuan said with a shrug. She had since accepted her fate that she was a disapointment and an embarrassment to her father and sisters so she didn't even deserve to have them remember her birthday.
"It doesn't matter. My baby girl is 26! We need to have fun today. How about we go clubbing tonight?" Shan asked excitedly.
"I'm not sure I can go out... Jackie lost his mother and travelled yesterday... I won't be allowed to go out without a guard." Lijuan said wistfully.
"You're not going out on your own, I'll be with you all the way, so you have nothing to worry about. Just seek your father's permission and let me know what he says." Shan suggested.
"And if he says no?"
"I'll have no choice than to smuggle you out. It's your day and you deserve to have fun. Make sure you let me know whatever he says, alright?"
"Fine. I'll do that, I have to go down for breakfast... let's talk later." Lijuan said before disconnecting the call.
She was about to drop her phone when she saw a text message from 'Chairman Mei' pop in. She opened the message which read...
"Happy 26th Birthday to my Wonderful princess... I pray this new year brings you a lot of good things—"
Lijuan read the message with an amused look on her face. She suppressed a laugh and quickly dialled her mother's number.
"You really don't have to do this every year you know?" Lijuan said immediately her mother took the call.
"Do what?" Mother Mei asked with false innocence.
"Really? You're going to pretend like we both don't know you send me happy birthday wishes with father's phone yearly?" Lijuan asked while rolling her eyes.
"I don't know what you're talking about. Come down for breakfast now." Mother Mei said with a smile before ending the call.
**********
Few minutes later Lijuan joined them at the dining table wearing just her bathrobe and fluffy slippers.
"Why are you dressed this way?" Chairman Mei asked giving her a disapproving frown.
"I'm not going to work or anything like that so I don't see any reason I have to dress up to the breakfast table." Lijuan said with a shrug earning her a glare from Chairman Mei who said nothing.
Lijuan's eye lit up the moment she saw that all her favorite dishes were on the table, she glanced at her mother in appreciation.
"Eat up Lijuan, I prepared it just the way you like it. Happy birthday." Mother Mei said with a smile.
"Today is her birthday?" Chairman Mei asked looking at his wife with a confused frown while Lijuan gave her mother a knowing look.
"I just said so." Mother Mei said giving her husband a disapproving look. After that they all ate in silence.
Lijuan remembered she needed to ask something so she broke the silence,
"I'm searching for a pen I dropped in my room... did anyone see it?" She asked and glared at both Rong and Jiaying when they giggled quietly.
"What's so funny about her question?" Mother Mei asked the sisters.
"She is the only person who picks things, why should we know where her pen is?" Jiaying asked.
"She probably stole the pen." Rong added as she and Jiaying giggled again. Lijuan said nothing as her mother scolded her sisters. Rong and Jiaying were the least of her problems and she didn't have any energy to spend in bantering with them.
She suddenly remembered Shan's request and cleared her throat to speak again.
"You sure have a lot to say this morning." Chairman Mei observed.
"Can I go out with Shan tonight? She wants to take me out for a little birthday celebration." Lijuan asked looking directly at her mother with pleading eyes even though the question was directed at her father.
"You can't go out without Jackie, and he's not around." Chairman Mei said with a tone of finality.
"Sure, she can go out. Shan will be there to make sure she doesn't do anything inappropriate." Mother Mei said imploring her husband to agree.
"Fine. Just make sure you don't do anything stupid." He warned and stood up to leave but paused when they heard the sound of the doorbell and one of the maids announced they had a guest.
Who could be visiting so early in the morning? they all wondered as Chairman Mei asked the maid to let the guest in.
"Good morning." Yun greeted bowing his head politely but with his hand behind his back.
Lijuan almost choked on her meal when she heard his voice... Was her nightmare coming to reality? Was he here to embarrass her before everyone and tell them she stole his pen? She wondered with wide eyes and quickly stood up.
After the other day she told him she couldn't find his pen, he hadn't bothered her anymore. So was he here for it now?
She sat right back when she noticed he was staring at her with an amused expression on his face. She cursed herself silently as she wondered what had possessed her to wear her bathing robe to the breakfast table today of all days.
"I'm sorry to barge in on you so early in the morning." Yun apologized politely without taking his eyes off Lijuan.
"Is everything okay? Is there a problem?" Chairman Mei asked with a concerned frown.
"No. Not at all. I'm just here to wish Lijuan a happy birthday and to seek your permission to take her out for lunch." Yun said revealing the bouquet of flowers he was hiding behind him... He smiled when he saw the shock on Lijuan's face.
Jiaying glanced at Rong and noticed she was gripping her spoon a little too tightly.
Mother Mei smiled at Lijuan happily... she hadn't been wrong, Yun did care about her even though they were not really seeing each other.
"That's fine... But.." Chairman Mei said glancing at Rong.
"And I don't mind her coming along with her bodyguard." Yun added wanting to let Chairman Mei know that he knew about Lijuan's condition and still wasn't interested in Rong.
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