Imperfect Desires

"Hey, we made her laugh!" Nora pointed out. "It seems we are still quite useful." She patted her own shoulder as she went on, "Haven't lost the charms yet."

Han Bohai smiled seeing how Ashley was enjoying herself and said, "Didn't I tell you it'd be entertaining?"

"The conclusion of this family's situation is," began Ying as she talked to Ashley. "We are all fancy people with not-so-fancy personalities."

"Pfft!" 

There was a burst of laughter around her as everyone began to laugh because of the way Ying chose to describe them. Ying's lips tugged up slightly before she went on, "Although we are really older than you, we can surpass you when it comes to pettiness. Each one in this room has an agenda with another. But we are still a harmonious family."

"Harmonious?" repeated Dylan. "Have you started daydreaming Ying Jie?"

Ying shot Dylan a dirty look, then turned back to Ashley, "In the future, you can ignore him altogether. In fact, you can ignore all of these here."

"Ying Jie, are you trying to cozy up to Ashley because she is Xiao Bobo's cousin?" questioned Xiu with a knowing and teasing look in her eyes.

Ying cleared her throat, "Don't talk nonsense."

"I'm a no-nonsense person, how can you accuse me of talking nonsense," argued Xiu with an innocent look.

"Ying, you better watch what you say about my sister," warned Xiao Li.

"Exactly, Ying Jie!" Ah-Si also chimed in. "Sister Xiu's nonsense talk always makes sense!"

Seeing these brothers standing up for their sister, Ying almost rolled her eyes at them, "And this was a trailer for you, dear Ashley. I just wanted to let you know that you can ignore anyone but Xiu. You see, she is like the mascot of our family. We get quite possessive when people talk about her."

"It includes you as well?" questioned Ashley.

Ying sighed out, "Sadly, it includes me as well. I have no idea which spells she used on me but I'm spellbound now."

Xiu shook her head at them saying, "Ashley, don't take them seriously. Oftentimes, they don't even take themselves seriously."

"Although I love to argue with you Xiu, even I have to agree she is right this time," said Dylan.

And no one dared to refute Xiu's words at all. After all, they were true as she said. More often than not, she really didn't take themselves seriously.

"Aren't you about sixteen?" asked Nora. "In the near future, if you need a relationship guru, look for my Xiu darling. She is the best at that. Almost all of the people around you have their other halves thanks to her."

Ashley giggled, "Okay. I'll look for her."

"No way," said Xiu. "You're too young to fall in love. Don't get hurt by the sharp edges of love. Enjoy life first. You have your whole life to fall in love." She took a pause and said, "I should serve the lunch now. It's time." Saying that she went back inside the house.

While the others were talking to each other, Ashley tugged at Han Bohai's sleeve to get his attention. "Ge, you were right. They all are really good people."

Han Bohai smiled at her, "Yes, they are. You'll fall in love with them eventually." He pinched her nose saying, "And they'll never make you feel out of place. Although Ah-Ying said that Sister Xiu casts spells, I believe that all of them are spell casters. They can enchant you even before you'd know it and make you one of their own in no time." He gave her a reassuring smile, "You're not just gonna get a mother. They are gonna offer you a big family."

Ashley's eyes sparkled when she heard that. She had always been alone with her father. And because Han Bohai was busy usually, she didn't even get to see him often. So, the concept of a big family was quite unknown to her. Especially a family which was as lively as this one. 

Although they all argued like teenagers, even she could see how much they loved and cared about each other. It was rare for her to see. The stories she heard from her friends didn't describe any family like this one. And something told her, it'd be an adventure to become a part of this family. Somehow, she was looking forward to it now.

Soon, the food was served and everyone forgot to even talk. Now, it was a fight of chopsticks. 

Xiu picked up her son who was laying a cot beside them. And this young master was still sleeping like a log. Even though all of them made a scene beside him, he still slept through it all peacefully. Xiu considered it a talent of her son. Whenever he slept at this time of the day, he'd sleep so deeply that even if you played drums beside him, he wouldn't wake up.

But now that it was his time to wake up, she picked him in her arms. After all, he always started crying if she wasn't the first person he saw after waking up. 

"Ashley, Xiao Bobo told me you like Korean food a lot. So, I prepared Bulgogi (marinated beef barbeque) for you. Eat it with ssamjang, you'll like it better," said Xiu and as she finished talking, the juicy meat wrapped in lettuce leaves appeared before her mouth. She didn't blink and naturally opened her mouth to eat. And after swallowing did she continue, "There is also kimchi and Bibimbap (mixed rice). Hope you enjoy it!"

"Xiu, how mean of you," complained Dylan. "I've been asking you to bake a cupcake for me and you didn't pay any attention to me. And now, you even tried new dishes for Ashley. I'm jealous."

"Oh, you've always been a jealous person, there is nothing I can do about it," said Xiu.

Dylan tsked at her, "Hope my nephew doesn't learn all of this from you. I'd be sad otherwise."

"Don't worry, I'll teach him well even if it's to just make you mad!"