213 Birthday party
“Wake up!”
“Can I sleep for a few more minutes? It’s Saturday, mom, ” An Xiulan groaned. She was sitting on her bed with her eyes closed. She fell asleep once again while sitting on the bed. Who wakes up at eight on weekends?
“It’s your little brother’s birthday, ” An Qinyan pointed out. “You promised your brother that you will be spending the entire day with him. Don’t break Lu Xun’s heart.”
An Xiulan hummed in reply but An Qinyan dragged her daughter to the washroom.
“Quickly take a bath while I chose clothes for you, ” An Qinyan said.
An Xiulan, who was about to hit her head against the wall, paused and opened her eyes. When she found out that she was walking the wrong way, she change her direction and entered the bathroom.
“Mom, there is no hot water, ” An Xiulan said from inside when she was standing under the showerhead. She shuddered when cold water fell on her skin.
“The geyser in your bathroom is not working. I forgot to inform you to take a bath in another bathroom, ” An Qinyan said. It was summer and the water coming out of the tap was warm enough but her daughter still had to bathe with hot water.
An Xiulan had an urge to cry. She turned the shower off and only washed her face. She would rather wear double deodorant than bathe again. Her body was shivering already. She wiped her body with a towel and came out wrapped in her bathrobe.
When they shifted to their new house, her room was decorated from the beginning. It was a huge room with a walk-in closet. It was far more luxurious than what a teenage girl like her needed. The colour theme was baby pink, grey and mint. She didn’t want to boast but her room was the best room in the entire house.
“You really did not bathe, did you?” An Qinyan narrowed her eyes.
“Mom—”
“Don’t you mom me!” An Qinyan adopted her ultimate mom move. “Go out and come after taking a bath. I don’t want a stinking girl hovering around me.”
Who could win against Mrs Gu? No one, right!
An Qinyan had chosen a buttoned denim short skirt with a pink top that had doodles of cats on it with a pair of white sneakers that had pinkish hues.
Instead of stealing *cough* borrowing her mom’s mini bags, she had a collection of her own. She had chosen a baby pink purse.
“Do not run around in the amusement park, ” An Qinyan made some points clear. “Your dad and stepmom shouldn’t complain about you sneaking away again to try dangerous rides like last time. Your brother is not coming with you but it doesn’t mean you will test your grandmother’s patience again. If she says something, you will ignore her.”
An Xiulan pursed her lips. She didn’t do anything last time. It was her grandmother that loved complaining about her all the time. She swore that she was not at fault last time. She just wore neon colours that her grandmother hated the most. And she might have applied a really bold neon lipstick that a teenage girl like her was not allowed according to her grandmother.
“Okay, ” An Xiulan agreed.
“Your dad’s family is waiting for you outside the gate. They just reached five minutes ago. Quickly go, ” An Qinyan said.
An Xiulan ran waving her mom goodbye holding her course that was falling from her shoulder. When she was at the door, she ran back to her mom again.
“What did you forget now?” An Qinyan said as she furrowed her brows.
“This, ” An Xiulan hugged her mother and then kissed her cheek. “Love you, mom! Don’t worry about me.”
An Qinyan sighed as her eyes softened. “Don’t get hurt. Rest is fine with me. If you decide to stay the night at your dad’s place, don’t forget to inform me.”
“Okay, ” An Xiulan said before leaving the door. Once again, she turned back and blew a kiss on her mother
When she reached the gate where the car was parked, she opened the car door and as she got in, she saw her father was driving the car, her stepmom was in the shotgun, Lu Xun was in the safety seat and her grandmother was in the back seat in the same car. What was going on? Didn’t her grandmother like to ride her in her own vintage car with her driver?
“Hello everyone, ” An Xiulam greeted them with a smile. She kissed Xiaobao’s cheeks. “Happy birthday, my favourite boy in the world.”
Lu Xun giggled. “Jiejie. Xun’s faborate…” His words were not clear but they sure were very cute. At least to An Xiulan.
“Xiabobao, should we take a picture with the birthday boy and share it with my ten million followers to get best wishes for you?” An Xiulan asked her baby brother. It wouldn’t be the first time she was posting her pictures with Lu Xun. She avoided posting her pictures with other people to avoid controversy but she always kept on posting pictures with Lu Xun, August and Betty on social media.
She heard a light snort coming out from her grandmother. Of course, she ignored it. Her grandmother and she tried their best to avoid each other.
“Why is Ah Xuan not coming with us?” Her father asked after a moment.
“He says he has something urgent today. He had a football match at noon and before that, he had an important piano lesson. He said he couldn’t miss it,” An Xiulan reported her brother’s matter. “But he will come to the party in the evening.”
“Why didn’t you bring Shangyan with you? He would have enjoyed it with you, ” Song Yifei said.
“Yan Gege is participating in competition again and for that, he needs to work on his drawings. Auntie, my Yan Gege won the first four stages of the competition and the last stage is very crucial for him, ” An Xiulan replied. “Mom asked both I and Lu Xuan to not disturb Yan Gege. It’s important for his career.”
“Shouldn’t your mom focus on her son more than other people’s?” Old Madam Lu couldn’t control herself from asking this question. She had heard through grapevine that An Qinyan was planning to train Gu Shangyan to join her in the business.
“Yan Gege is mom’s son too, ” An Xiulan retorted. She didn’t like when people try to teach her and Lu Xuan that Gu Shangyan was not their brother. They said that he was only Gu Yanxi’s nephew and he had no relationship with them. She didn’t like it. Gu Shangyan was her brother. End of story.
“This girl…it’s so difficult to make her understand something. These children will only listen to me when that boy will snatch everything that belongs to them, ” Old Madam Lu muttered to herself.
“Mom.”
She kept quiet when she heard a warning tone.
Song Yifei sighed. Why couldn’t her mother-in-law understand that her attitude would only push the children away from her? Why couldn’t she see what Gu Shangyan meant to the twins?
Soon, they reached the amusement park and the kids began their fun while the eldest generation was behind keeping an eye on them.
The Lu couple had invited Song Xueyun too but she refused because she had to attend extra classes on weekends but as usual An Xiulan left everything just to be with Lu Xun on his special day!
“Mom, wait!” Lu Zhaolin said when he saw his mother.
“What do you have to say? I know you are with your daughter today. How will you break the record of saying hurtful words to your mother for your daughter!” The old woman said in a voice full of sarcasm. She was mad at her entire family for being blind.
“Mom, you have to change your attitude while talking to Xiulan about Shangyan. He is a good boy. Do not create a rift between the three of them, ” Lu Zhaolin almost begged. He knew how good Gu Shangyan was to his children.
“He might be a good boy but don’t forget he is better than your children. One day, he will snatch everything from your children. An Xiulan and Lu Xuan won’t even get a dime from An Qinyan’s property, ” The Old lady said in anger.
“You shouldn’t worry about it, ” Lu Zhaolin said. “As long as I’m alive, my children won’t starve. If An Qinyan really ended up writing off everything to Gu Shangyan, I don’t mind. It’s her wealth that she earned through her hard work. It’s her right. It shouldn’t matter to us either.”
“She used your money to reach where she is today, ” The old lady retorted.
“Not my money but what she deserves, ” Lu Zhaolin retorted. “She used her alimony to found her empire. Do not eye her money for Lu Xuan or An Xiulan. They don’t care and neither should you.”
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A/N: Some people do not want to change.