"When I enter, I hear someone say I am great at hanging out."
Her lips said while her feet were moving in, and her face showed her free spirit like usual.
"Is it right or wrong?" Lady Chen said. "Your brother is working, and you play around from morning to night."
"I'm not playing. I go to work."
"What is work?"
"I do research."
Lady Chen expressed "hss" from her throat as she felt nonsensical towards her daughter's indication.
"It's true. I go out to do research on how big the world is," Lantian said and shook her eyebrows at her mother.
"You still dare to say that! I've got an invoice; you spent almost two hundred."
Hearing that, the naughty daughter was muted.
Because things were just getting better, Lady Mei did not want her sister and her own daughter to have a dispute, so she tried to ease it. "Eldest sister, Lantian has just arrived. Don't blame her yet. Let her eat first."
Immediately, the words of the stepmother seemed to inspire the foxy daughter with an idea. She covered her belly with her hands and cried, "Ooh, my stomach is hurt."
"How are you?" Lady Chen jumped from her seat to hold the daughter's arm.
"Mother," Lantian said, showing an upset face, "my stomach is painful."
The face was suddenly changed to become pale like a boiled fish. Lady Chen gently cuddled her kid with soft and sweet words. "Sit down. I think it is because you did not have a meal. I will call the maid to bring you food."
Seeing the scene, Lady Mei and Longwei looked at each other with their lips trying to hide their smiles. It was obvious that Lantian was acting to escape from getting blame; however, Lady Chen did not even care whether her daughter lied to her or not; she could throw all her anger when she heard her daughter was not fine.
Following, the table, which was empty, turned out to be full of meals. The mothers didn't touch, but the two kids' hands and mouths were very busy until their stomachs said they were good. However, after finishing the rice, Lantian added a bowl of hot soup. The dish was very good because it was made with the love and warmth of the mother, so she did not leave even a drop. Longwei also had a bowl, and the same as Lantian, he emptied it. The actions of the two children made the mothers smile from the bottom of their hearts.
"Do you want more?" Lady Chen asked.
"No, I'm full," Lantian said.
Then Lady Chen turned to her stepson. "What about you?"
"No, thanks. I'm full," Longwei stated.
"Second brother," Lantian said to her brother, "tomorrow, will you go to the office?"
"No." Longwei shook his head. "Tomorrow, I am invited to have a meal at the houses of the millionaires."
Lantian giggled, "You are famous."
"Don't laugh at me." Longwei showed a sour face. "I don't want to go, but I cannot refuse their invitations."
"The meal on their table is their daughter."
"This is impolite. Don't say it," Lady Chen blamed.
"I speak the truth. It can be seen on the land. They invite Brother to their house in order to get him as their son-in-law."
"Though you should not speak ill words."
"Fine." Lantian nodded at her mother, then she returned to the brother. "How many houses are you going to tomorrow?"
"In the morning, I go to Master Ma's house. At noon, I go to Master Soun's house. In the mid-afternoon, I go to Master Li's house. And in the late afternoon, I go to Master Yang's house."
Lantian laughed. "You have a lot of meals. Can your stomach accept all of them?"
Longwei shook his head.
Still Lantian carried on her giggle, though her hand held the teapot to pour into the cup. At that time, her brother made a soft call, "Lantian!"
"Yes?"
"Tomorrow, you don't go anywhere, do you?"
"I don't have a plan yet. What's the matter?"
"If you are not busy, go with me."
"No way." Lantian shook her head. "I don't like joining meals with those rich people. It's boring."
The words made the bro let out a long breath.
"Well," Lantian raised the teacup to her lips, "will you go to their houses without coming home?"
"I will come back between times to change clothes," Longwei said.
Even though Lantian just wagged her head. When she finished her tea, she put the cup on the table, saying, "You are the heir of Wu. You have to fulfill your duty. I cannot help you." Then she gave a gentle tap on her brother's shoulder. "Good luck." Afterwards, she got up from the chair, kissed her mother, said goodnight to her third stepmother, and went to her bedroom.
"Ugh," Longwei exhaled very slowly. However, he tried to smile towards his two mothers, though his mind was not at ease at all, and Lady Chen and Lady Mei smiled at their son's back. Apparently the two mothers knew well that the young sister said she did not want to join her brother, but her mind thought of going with him. They just could not guess she would go to all the houses, or some. However, they didn't say it; they wanted their son to get a surprise from his sister himself.
Like predicted, the next day, when Longwei was reaching the entrance of the house on purpose to go to millionaire Yang's homestead, his eyes caught his sister and her maid standing on the stairs.
"Lantian!"
The girl didn't say a word yet. She approached her brother first before clarifying, "The previous houses have only one spider demon. But at millionaire Yang's house, there are many. Therefore, I go with you to protect you because you are so gentle."
Though she didn't confess, her action was enough to make his cheeks pop. So, with contentment, he walked down the stairs following his little sis.