Mother Han tried to be as calm as possible; she busied herself with peeling the chestnuts.
Once in a while, her gaze wandered toward the staircase. She couldn't help but curse her husband in her heart.
Han Zihao glanced at his mother, who pretended to be calm on the surface, but she was just seconds away from exploding.
She couldn't maintain her expression, and her lips twitched once in a while.
'She's probably dying to knock on her son's door to see what's taking him so long?'
'It's better to busy himself as well while waiting for his brother.'
He glanced at the peeled chestnuts and reached out.
SLAP!!
"Ahhhh!!"
"Mom!!" He screamed.
"Why would you do that?" He questioned blowing on his red hand.
Mother Han rolled her eyes.
"Stop screaming; I'm right next to you," She politely chided.
'Oh, how badly she wanted to scold this stupid son of hers.'
But she was worried about raising her voice.
She too knew how moody she had been lately, and the number of tantrums had also increased in the past few years.
She didn't want her eldest son to see her like that. She tried to appear like a mother who wouldn't lose her composure even if she was in the middle of a storm.
Maintaining her image as a quiet and loving mother was more important.
She exhaled to calm herself before glancing at her good-for-nothing son.
Han Zihao saw how politely his mother behaved and then peeked at his father, who pretended not to see the things going around.
He rolled his eyes at them.
'What are these two up to now?'
"Mom, weren't you peeling those for me?" he complained.
Mother Han stared at this stupid son of hers and sighed.
"That's exactly the reason why you shouldn't eat anymore. You had too many. What if it upsets your stomach?" She blatantly lied.
Han Zihao was dumbfounded.
'How is this his mother?'
When he turned to his father, he saw him gloating at his misery.
He gasped.
'Demons!! I'm surrounded by Demons!!!'
---------------------------------------------------
Han Zhixin walked out of his room in his lounge clothes and had a bag in his hand.
As he reached downstairs, he called to the butler.
"Uncle Dai, please get this cleaned," he requested.
The butler was taken aback when he saw the bento bag in his hand.
He thought he was hallucinating.
He stared at Han Zhixin before nodding and walking away with the bag.
The parents, who pretended to be busy, had their ears perked up.
Han Zihao looked at the bag in astonishment.
"Mom," he whispered.
Mother Han was already annoyed.
"What?" She impatiently whispered back.
"Look!"
When her gaze followed her son's, she couldn't help but squint her eyes.
'Am I seeing things?'
She turned to her husband to ask if he was seeing the same thing. But who knew even her husband couldn't believe his eyes and was cleaning his glasses.
That bento bag didn't seem to belong to her son. Instead, it seemed like something a child would use.
Mother Han looked at her eldest and suddenly felt speechless.
How come she never knew her eldest son liked these kinds of things!!!???
Han Zihao glanced at his mother, and trying to take advantage of the distraction, he reached out to the chestnuts again.
SLAP!!
Han Zihao hissed in pain and squinted his eyes at his mother.
When he looked at how red his hands were, he felt aggrieved.
-----------------------------------------------------
Han Zhixin sat on the armchair and took up the teacup that his mother had handed him.
"Thanks, Mom!"
Mother Han fidgeted and glanced at her son once in a while but couldn't get the courage to ask anything.
She looked at her husband and gestured to him.
Father Han didn't have a clue about what his wife wanted him to do. He gave her a puzzled look.
'Oh, my god!! I'm surrounded by idiots.' She screamed in her heart.
'Talk to him,' She mouthed.
Han Zihao, who was also sipping on his tea to hide his gossipy heart, waited for his father to make a move.
"Ahem." Father Han cleared his throat and peered at his son sideways.
He tried to find a topic, but whenever he opened his mouth to speak, he couldn't bring himself to talk.
'Sigh!! I give up.'
He picked up the teacup and patiently sipped tea, ignoring his wife, who was digging holes in him with her glare.
"Useless," She muttered in annoyance.
"Pfft!" Han Zihao almost spat the tea when he heard his mother cursing his father. It took a lot of courage to stop himself from laughing and to swallow the tea.
He hid his mouth with a fist and snickered at his father.
Father Han glared at him. He knew his wife must have cursed him behind his back.
Han Zhixin looked at the three of them and thought they were being strange today.
'It's like a silent movie between those three.'
But he was tired from all the work today and didn't have any energy to ask them about it. So he ignored them.
Mother Han knew she couldn't count on her useless husband and sons to start any conversation.
"Zhi'er?" She called, testing the waters.
"Yes, Mom?" Han Zhixin responded while pouring more tea for his father.
"Umm, so what's been going on with you lately?" she asked politely, trying to keep her emotions at bay.
She sipped her tea to hide her nerves.
'Her youngest son was so easy to talk to, but this one, it's like sitting on pins and needles,' She screamed in her heart.
"Nothing, just busy with work," He replied nonchalantly.
Mother Han couldn't hold back anymore, but before she could take action, someone else who was also feeling very gossipy beat her to it.
"Big brother, what's with the bento bag?" He asked curiously.
Han Zhixin glanced at his brother and then at his parents, who suddenly avoided his gaze and pretended to be nonexistent.
"It's Xun'er's," He calmly answered.
Han Zihao's eyes widened when he heard this.
'How far did his brother progress to be given a bento?' He couldn't get his head around it.
'Then why is his relationship with Hong Xi still in a stalemate?' He started to question life.
"Who is this Xun'er?" Mother Han asked curiously, staring at him.
"An acquaintance's son." He replied, avoiding his mother's curious gaze.
'Acquaintance??? More like his future girlfriend,' Han Zihao snickered.
He felt depressed just hearing about how far his brother had progressed.
When Mother Han wanted to ask more about it, the butler came in.
"Madam, food has been served," He informed her politely. Before leaving, he glanced at Han Zhixin curiously and left.
-----------------------------------------------------------
The dining room was silent, with just an occasional cutlery sound.
Mother Han peeked at her eldest son from the corner of her eye.
She then turned to her husband, who was busy with his food, and glared.
Father Han, who suddenly felt a malicious gaze squirmed in his seat.
He shifted to his side and found his wife glaring at him.
He didn't want to get involved in this, so he ignored his wife and went back to eating.
Mother Han was furious.
She kicked him in the shin to appease her anger.
"Ahhh!" He yelped.
"Aiyaa!! Honey, are you alright?" Mother Han asked with a smirk on her face.
'Serves you right for ignoring me.'
"Dad?" Han Zhixin asked in concern.
Father Han's cheeks heated up from embarrassment.
"Yes, I'm fine; the soup was hot," He uttered in pain while glaring at his wife.
"Be careful," Han Zhixin said with concern.
Father Han has never felt this embarrassed in his entire life.
Mother Han picked up a piece of braised meat and placed it on his plate.
"Here, honey, have this; it's better to eat less oily food at your age." She smugly stared at him.
Father Han almost choked on his food again.
His wife was basically calling him an old man!!!!
------------------------------------
Mother Han stared at her eldest son and mustered up some courage.
"Zhi'er, what are your thoughts on marriage?" She asked nonchalantly.
"pfft!!!!" Han Zihao and his father choked on their food.
'This mother/wife of his either would completely keep silent or would be very direct.'
They eyed her before taking a drink.
Both Father and son had only one thought: 'She is dangerous.'
Han Zhixin kept his chopsticks to the side and gazed at his mother. He didn't know what she was thinking at all.
Mother Han looked at her son and fidgeted with her food.
"If Zhi'er has someone, then you can tell mom. Otherwise, Mom can arrange for a blind date." She spoke out.
She stared at him, but her son didn't utter a single word.
She sighed.
"I met Madam Sun a few days ago; she was talking about her son's marriage and in passing mentioned a niece of her friend's from the Bai family." She explained.
"I didn't give any answer since I didn't know your thoughts on marriage. If you had anyone you liked or-"
"Yes, you are right; there is someone I like." Han Zhixin announced