Imperfect Desires

"Yo, my brother, I brought you some candy!"

Xiao Li looked up from the documents he was reading to see his sister skipping inside the house. Yes, Xiu was literally jumping around inside the house. And yes, she had a son who was four years old. Just who would believe this woman had a son when she still acted like a kid herself?

However, Xiao Li had a smile on his face as he watched her running over to him. Sitting beside him, she offered him the colorful candies in her hands. "Look, I made so many. There are all the flavors. Take whichever one you like."

"I heard people give wedding candies, when did the tradition of divorce candy come to be?"

Xiu was stunned to hear his words, she asked cautiously, "Li bro, did your divorce finalize today?"

Xiao Li nodded his head in response.

Xiu hid the candies behind her and smiled apologetically, "Sorry, I didn't know that. I just made extra candies and I wanted to share them with you. It really doesn't mean that I'm happy about your divorce. Please, don't think like that."

Xiao Li raised his hand and rubbed her head lovingly, "My sweet, sweet sister, when did I blame you? In fact, there should be a tradition of having divorce candies as well. Divorce is bitter after all, one should eat sweet candy to feel better." Saying that, he snatched the candies from her hand and put the lime-flavored one in his mouth, "This is good."

Xiu looked at his expressions carefully before she asked, "Bro, are you okay?"

"I'm perfectly fine," he answered. "Silly, didn't you know that this was gonna happen eventually? From the very beginning, she and I were not meant to be. We just dragged out entanglement for way too long and got so many people implicated."

Xiu hugged him tightly, "Bro, you don't worry about it. We are here for you."

Xiao Li chuckled softly and patted her back, "I know. I know you're here for me."

"Xiu, what are you doing here?" came Asteria's voice.

"We were just going over for the piano lesson," added Ava from her side.

"Today's piano class is canceled," announced Xiu. "Here, have some candies and enjoy it."

Ava ran over to take the candies and brought them back to share it all with her elder sister, Asteria. The elder one looked at Xiu and then at her father before asking, "Is something wrong? Why are we canceling the piano class?"

"Because today I want to spend time with my brother," answered Xiu matter-of-factly. "Today, this piano teacher of yours is gonna play hooky. I heard it's fun, hehehe."

Xiao Li shook his head at his sister, "Don't teach them bad things."

"When did I?" argued Xiu. "I have never even played hooky in my entire life." She stood up and held Xiao Li's hand, "Anyway, today I'm taking you out. Get up, we are going out!"

Xiao Li let her drag him around as he asked, "But where are we going?"

"Anywhere," she answered. "Well, I don't care where we go. We can just drive around as well aimlessly. Sometimes it's okay to not have a destination in mind. Because when there is no destination in mind only then we can see how many roads are opened in front of us."

Xiao Li accepted her philosophy without any further argument.

"Girls, you can go over to spend time with Rowan."

"Okay!" Both the girls jumped and forgot everything else as they ran to find their favorite little brother. 

Xiu tsked at their behavior. "Just look at them. They weren't even this excited when I brought candies for them. Such biasedness!"

"It's okay," said Xiao Li. "Let them be biased towards Rowans. I'm always here for my sister. And I'll always be biased towards you as well."

Xiu grinned when she got that reply from him. 

Taking him to the car, she drove out of there. As she said, she really drove around aimlessly with no clear destination. With the passing buildings, Xiao Li's brain was also drifting away.

"Bro, what are your plans for the future?" asked Xiu. "I mean you aren't thinking about spending the rest of your life alone, are you?" 

"How am I alone?" he retorted. "Don't I have you? I also have my Ria. There is dad and Ah-Si as well. In fact, there are a lot of people."

"Don't play this word game with me," she said. "I don't want to hear about it. I'm serious right now."

Xiao Li sighed out, "I haven't thought that far yet." He took a pause and added, "Do you want to introduce someone to me?"

Xiu pressed her lips together and said, "I don't have anyone in mind. But I thought you're interested in Dr. Ling."

Xiao Li almost jumped on his seat when he heard that, "Please, spare me. That lunatic doctor is really not my cup of tea."

"She is not that bad," said Xiu. "In fact, isn't it good? She knows you since you guys were kids."

"Even more reason that I don't want to be with her," answered Xiao Li. "Xiu, my darling sister, the relationship between Wanwan and I had always been of enemies."

"Aiyo! Enemies to friends is the favorite genre with netizens," said Xiu righteously.

Xiao Li pinched her arm, "Don't even think about it. Wanwan might look frivolous at times but she is dedicated to her work. She can only be with someone from her own career who shares the same passion as her."

"Oh..." Xiu didn't continue this topic anymore. In fact, she had already heard from Ying Jie that Dr. Ling and Li bro were no good match because these two were at two extremes. They could never be together. But she still wanted to probe around with Xiao Li to figure out his mind. Now, it was more than clear to her.

It seemed the only candidate in her mind was crossed out. Now, she didn't even know where to look or who to look for.