Imperfect Desires

When everyone gathered around for lunch, Zhao Wei couldn't keep her face straight. Her cheeks were hurting from smiling so much but how could she contain her happiness? It's been a long while since she was having lunch with so many people. 

As they say, with age people become sensitive to loneliness. Although Zhao Wei had maids running around the house, they weren't her real family. And since she broke all relationships with her paternal family, she couldn't even go to see anyone. Her friends' list was very limited.

Darren was the only person who'd come to spend time with her whenever he had some spare time. Dylan would only come when she calls him over. Xin Xiaosi wasn't even in the country for four years. But Xin Xiaoli always came whenever he visited An City. As for her own granddaughter, it was also rare to see her. Because of Qiu Meihui's conflicts with her parents, she scarcely let Asteria meet anyone.

Today, she really felt blessed but it ached her to see that not even one of those boys was married at this age. She truly felt bad for Xin Xiaoli since she knew why he wasn't moving on. She always wanted him to become her son-in-law but Qiu Meihui decided to go against her parents and married the so-called 'love of her life'. Well, that didn't last long anyway.

But it was all in the past now. For now, Dylan was strongly against marriage and so was Xin Xiaoli. But she was also glad that at least, Darren had a girlfriend now. And from the looks of things, she knew there was a wedding in the near future.

"Ah-Si," Asteria called Xin Xiaosi.

"Yes, my little princess," replied Xin Xiaosi in a dramatic way.

"Mom said you have a little doll for me to play with. Where is my doll? I want to play," hearing her request, Xin Xiaosi almost choked on his food as he looked at his brother and then at Darren.

"What is Asteria talking about, Ah-Si?" asked Zhao Wei making Xin Xiaosi curse under his breath.

"Grandmother, the doll can talk and it has a name as well," Asteria was happily telling her grandmother making Xin Xiaosi feel stressed now. 

Seeing the inquiring gaze of Zhao Wei, Xin Xiaosi wanted to say something but nothing came out. Thankfully, his brother was there to have his back as always as he said, "Auntie, I heard Uncle is coming back next month."

As always, mentioning the name of her husband was a powerful distraction for Zhao Wei as she completely forgot about what Asteria said but Dylan didn't as he curiously looked at Xin Xiaosi and Darren who leaned over to say something to him.

"You didn't tell Beauty Wei yet?" Darren asked Xin Xiaosi in a low voice.

"My dad also doesn't know yet," replied Xin Xiaosi making Darren's eyes widen in surprise. "Don't give me the look. I told you, I need to settle some stuff before bringing my baby girl back."

"Oh, hell yeah! You have more than just some stuff to settle," said Darren as he was surprised how this huge news was still a secret from everyone. It's been three years and no one had a clue that Xin Xiaosi had a three-year-old daughter.

However, one thing he knew for certain was that everyone was gonna be over the moon after learning about that baby girl's existence. After all, a family that only had males always loved new female addition. But the problem was the absence of the mother in this whole scenario. That was gonna be hard to explain.

But on the other hand, Darren really admired how Xin Xiaosi managed as a single father. And also, all on his own. He dropped his passion and dream just because he wanted to be there for his baby girl at every single step.

"What are you both whispering again?" Dylan pointed out without even trying to hide his jealousy. Darren wanted to laugh now because it reminded him how his girlfriend wasn't even the jealous type but his best friend sure was.

"Oh, I was asking Si what your girlfriend looked like," replied Darren making a homerun as Dylan started choking. "Why do you look so surprised? Didn't you meet Si last night with your girlfriend?"

"Qiu Hedi, you have a girlfriend?" came Zhao Wei's voice making Dylan close his eyes in exasperation. He really wanted to ask Darren why he was so hell-bent on doing this with him today but it didn't take him long to realize what Darren was doing. 

Even though he apologized for not taking care of Xiu during their visit to the Xia Capital, Darren was still holding that grudge. Poor Dylan felt like he wasn't even wrong in the first place.

Dylan looked at Darren and then looked at Xin Xiaosi. Finally, he decided to say, "It's a misunderstanding. She isn't my girlfriend."

"You clearly said she is," Xin Xiaosi chimed in since he was irked by how nonchalantly Dylan denied it. Even though he knew he couldn't have Nora that didn't mean he was willing to let Dylan hurt her at all.

"Ah-Si, that was a joke," said Dylan.

"Her feelings for you are also a joke?" Xin Xiaosi took a deep breath and added, "Excuse me, I need a moment."

Dylan was frowning at his words as he murmured, "I want to ask the same question. Are her feelings for you a joke to you as well?"

"What are you muttering to yourself? Come clean right now!" Hearing his mother's voice Dylan was startled.

"Mom, my dearest mom, I told you she's not my girlfriend. Just an old friend. That's it!" 

"You better be telling me the truth," warned Zhao Wei dangerously.

"Mom, you can ask Darren as well. She and I are just old friends," Dylan dropped the matter to Darren's side who was dumbfounded for a moment.

"How would I know her?"

"Dazi, I was with Nora last night. You left me with her. Remember? Oh, no how would you remember? You were clearly too engrossed in kissing your girlfriend."

Darren smiled sheepishly but his smile stiffened as Dylan's words registered in his mind. 'Dylan was with Nora. Dylan introduced Nora as his girlfriend. Then... The girl Si was talking about...' His eyes grew large at the sudden realization.