At everyone's look ranging from surprise to dismay to embarrassment, he gave a short bark of laugh, "relax guys, I was just kidding. Why do you all look so serious? And what is this plan that you are cooking? Don't think of bailing out on me. It is my wedding…"
Chu squeezed his arm lovingly and said, "brother Tang, you are well aware of my love for mum's idea of socialising. Today we have the folk singers entertaining the crowd and all our elderly relatives would want to join in and add to the err… festivities. I would much rather avoid it. Ethan was asking for a tour around the city and I think it's a great idea. Even I haven't visited our local haunts in the recent past. I promise we shall be back by the evening."
Tang bristled at the notion of Jia Li spending so much time in close proximity with the foreigner. She was usually not the kind to get friendly with someone so quickly but he had noticed that she had really taken a shine to this guy for some reason.
"In that case, I think Mei Zhen's friends and young cousins from abroad would also like the idea. Let me ask her and we could turn this into a picnic", he said with a cheer.
"What are you trying to do? I told you to not try and do any match making till I spoke with Chung," whispered Li Jie furiously to Ethan.
"My objective was just to elicit a reaction out of Tang who had been pretending to be immersed in his conversations halfway across the room. Never did I imagine that he would erupt so strongly. For a second I thought he would actually hit me for asking Jia Li out on a date," said Ethan with a naughty grin.
"Guys, why do I have feeling that something is brewing here? You three have been whispering like schoolgirls for the past half hour now," remarked Chung.
Chu put a finger to her lips and motioned towards Jia Li.
"Jia Li, why don't you go change into something more suitable for roaming around the city? In the meanwhile, we shall get to know if we have to trudge along brother Tang's guests as well," she rolled her eyes.
Jia Li smiled at her theatrics and told her that she would change and be back in the next few minutes. Li Jie seized the opportunity and narrated everything to Chung starting from Jia Li's marital truth to Ethan's matchmaking stunt. To say that Chung was hurt was an understatement.
"How could she not tell me? And how did you manage to keep something so crucial from me? I feel as if I barely know you both", hurt rang loud in his words.
Not waiting for Li Jie to reply, Ethan grabbed Chung by his shoulders and looked him in the eye, "I know you are feeling betrayed and upset. But right now, you need to understand two things – Jia Li hid this from you probably because she thought you wouldn't be able to keep it from Tang. Secondly, Li Jie was stuck between a rock and a hard place, whether to betray one friend's confidence or to keep the truth from another. I am not offering any justification for either of their behaviours but just asking you to be the bigger man here and forgive them as friends do."