"Good morning?!" Xue Yao exclaimed. "Did she just say good morning?!"
Lin Shuying removed her hands from their ears. "Let's eat." She said walking to the dining room, pulling a chair out to sit on.
Her expression turned blank, and she began serving the food, as if that would wipe what she had heard from her memory.
Bai Xue Yao glanced at Bai Chen, and they both exchanged a knowing look before walking to the dining table.
"Dad, can you at least put on your pants?" Bai Ling Yue said with her brows pulled together.
"Sure, Dad will do just that." Zhen Guo said, leaving to get his trousers.
Bai Xue Yao stared at her mother. She could see the tiredness in her eyes, even wrinkle lines had started forming on the corners of her eyes, and her cheeks were sagging a little.
"Mom, the reason I screamed earlier wasn't that I fell asleep, it was because I saw how ugly I looked in the mirror." Xue Yao lowered her head. "I know how dangerous it is to fall asleep, so I don't want you to worry about losing me."
The dining room fell silent, even Zhen Guo who had returned with his trousers on had to stop in his tracks.
Tears brimmed in his eyes, it was the first time his daughter had said something sensible in her twenty years on earth.
Bai Chen who was about to dig into his food had to raise his head, his right eye twitching because he knew there was no way his twin sister could ever ever say something that sensible.
Bai Jun Yi sighed knowing what else would soon follow.
"You should worry more about Yueyue, she is only twelve and might fall asleep anytime. Even if I fall asleep, I know I have nine lives like the cats, nothing can ever happen to me.
And who knows I might be one of those who happen to survey the sleep curse, and raise our family to the highest rank." Bai Xue Yao said, hitting her chest proudly.
The proud smile that was forming on Lin Shuying's face faltered immediately. She inhaled sharply, telling herself her words before were just a glitch in her brain, and that was the reason she managed to make some sense.
Bai Ling Yue narrowed her eyes at Xue Yao. "Even though I'm younger, I know what to do and what not to do, unlike you who keeps worrying mom because you can't stop yourself from sleeping."
Bai Xue Yao glared at her while biting her lower lip. Ling Yue immediately lowered her head as she was well aware of what always came after that gesture.
"Everyone should eat." Zhen Guo said, dispersing the tension that was already rising in the room.
Xue Yao picked up her chopsticks and began devouring the sweet and sour pork, occasionally eating the rice on her plate. "Mom, we should make hot pot tonight." She said chewing the food in her mouth.
"This is all you know, eating and sleeping. I don't know where you came from, if I weren't awake when I gave birth to you, I would have said you are not mine." Lin Shuying said, rolling her eyes, while placing more meat on her plate.
Bai Chen raised his plate for Lin Shuying to put on it. She shot him a glare before angrily taking a piece of meat from the bowl, before placing it on top of his rice.
"Mom, you are the best!" He said before devouring his food.
Just then, Xue Yao's phone began ringing, disrupting the mood.
She glanced at it, only to toss the phone on the table, angrily putting rice in her mouth.
Bai Chen stretched his neck, reading the name appearing on the screen of her phone. "Sh-Shen Yan."
"Aren't you going to pick up your phone?" Jun Yi asked, briefly raising his head.
"No." Xue Yao replied angrily.
"Why? I thought you liked brother Shen Yan." Ling Yue asked with wide curious eyes.
"How did you know?" Xue Yao asked before narrowing her eyes at Bai Chen.
Bai Chen immediately waved his hands in denial. "I didn't tell her anything, you were the one who got drunk and kept on cursing him saying how much you loved him but he broke your heart just a day after becoming his girlfriend.
Yaoyao, you looked like a mess and we had to take turns making sure you didn't fall asleep. So everyone basically knows what happened."
"Poor Yaoyao," Ling Yue shook her head. "You had to lose him because you couldn't give him a threesome…"
Jun Yi, who was sitting by Ling Yue's side, quickly placed a piece of meat in her mouth. "That is not something a kid like you should say."
"Threesome?" Zhen Guo narrowed his eyes.
"With his mom and sister." Bai Chen chipped in. "What a happy family." He added only to receive a smack in his head.
"Watch your language young man!" Lin Shuying chided.
Her deepened frown eased when they moved to Xue Yao who was still eating as if they weren't talking about a sad part of her life.
"Yaoyao are you okay? Do you want more meat?" Lin Shuying asked.
Zhen Guo cleared his throat. "I'll get ice cream on our way back from the gym."
"Mom, I'm fine. He is a jerk, I mean his family is all jerks. Even though I caught them in the scene, I was only shocked. He is not worth my care or tears."
The room fell silent.
Deep down everyone knew she was lying considering how she was bawling her eyes out when she came back.
…
After breakfast, Xue Yao sprawled her limbs over the couch with her head hanging out of the couch.
"What are you doing, you should get ready, we need to go to the gym now!" Lin Shuying said with agitation in her voice.
Bai Xue Yao groaned in laziness. She was well aware it was a way to keep her mind sharp and avoid sleeping. But she was as lazy as a koala.
"Mom, my stomach hurts. I don't think I can join you guys today." She said, faking a grimace.