She sensed an aura of melancholy around Jia Li despite her amusing words but decided that this moment wasn't appropriate to push her on the same.
"You are coming down for breakfast in a bit, right? I will bring Ethan to you then. You need to spend some time with him and tell me if he is the one. Do you remember Zheng Shuang, my first crush? I had come and told you about him and the next day you had decided to test him during lunch break. Poor thing was rejected within the first few minutes and he never even realised it," she reminisced with a laugh.
"You are giving undeserved credence to my people judging abilities. We were kids then and he was way too dumb to know any better. I would love to meet Ethan but not to screen or quiz him. I have full faith in what your heart and mind are telling you", she said, hugging Chu.
With moist eyes, Chu went out of Jia Li's room. Finally letting her shoulders slump, she slid down on the sofa allowing the guilt of lying to Chu wash over her. In another lifetime, they could have been co sisters.
Tang's paces made angry dents in the thick beige carpet in his room. Ever since storming out of Jia Li's room, he had been feeling an acute sense of restlessness, an angst, which couldn't be explained and didn't seem to be going away any time soon.
"How dare she take the high moral ground with me? Am I not human? Is my heart…" a knock at his door interrupted his angry musings.
"Have I not made myself clear that I shouldn't be disturbed for the next hour? Has an apocalypse already occurred?" he shouted as he strode to open the door.
His mother's worried face greeted him, "what is wrong, Tang? Why are you yelling and why are you still in last night's clothes? This behaviour is so unlike you. Most of the guests have come to the breakfast table. Mei Zhen and her family will also be joining us soon."
She took his face in her hands and looked straight in his eyes, "what is wrong? And don't even think about lying to me."
Tang looked away and sighed before facing her resolutely, "Mom, no one in this family can handle the truth and that is a time proven fact. We all function better when we handle our problems in our own ways. I don't see why today should be any different."
Her son's words and demeanour took Mrs. Xie aback. Tang had been a shy but sweet child and she could hardly recall his rebellious streak, if any. Even in the last few years, he had cut himself off from his father a bit but not with her and never like this. This man in front of her seemed full of anguish and bitterness, hardly the ideal groom.
"Are you feeling unsettled because of Jia Li's arrival? I thought you both had moved past each other," she mirrored her son's blunt approach.
He felt as if he had been punched in the gut with his mother's words.
"Does one get over the loss of a limb?" he shot back.
"There is no point of this conversation. Please ignore my outburst, put it down to my pre-wedding jitters," he backtracked the next minute, looking at his mother's perplexed expressions.
Mrs. Xie didn't know whether to feel relieved or more worried by the minute. She started to say something but thought better of it and asked him to come down as soon as he got ready. He picked a cushion from the sofa and threw it down violently at the now closed door. Not feeling any better, he decided to go to the only place, which gave him peace.