"By the way, I really enjoyed your mini-concert," said Cloe grinning from ear to ear. "I am already a huge fan of your voice. But it was my first time hearing it live. And perhaps, it was because you are sick but there was a raspiness in your vocal tone that really pierced through my heart."
"He just can't stay still," said Raelle.
Hyson gave her a look, "I can stay still. It was just that the little girl was crying so pitifully. I just wanted to make her smile. I tried telling her jokes but she didn't laugh. I also tried a lot of things but nothing worked. In the end, I found a guitar and she seemed to be interested in that. So, I just played a song for her."
"But the song you sang for her," started Cloe. "She is a little girl. Don't you think you should have sung her a kids song or maybe, a nursery rhyme?"
Hyson pouted at her, "But I don't know any nursery rhymes."
"Obviously, you won't know any nursery rhymes from now but you must have remembered some from your childhood?" questioned Cloe. "In my case, I still remember, 'Friends and neighbors, come along Friends and neighbors, singing a song Always be kind, right from the start Love one another deep in your heart Love one another deep in your heart.'"
Seeing her expectant eyes, Hyson shook his head, "I really don't know any nursery rhymes or kids songs."
Cloe frowned at that, "How is that possible? Your teacher must have sung it for you. Or your mom must have also sung it to you when you were young."
"Cloe!" Raelle's voice startled Cloe. Although there was no change in her voice from usual, Cloe still thought she could hear the anger in her voice. Strange!
Hyson shot Raelle a smile before answering Cloe, "My mum can't speak." Cloe was frozen when she heard that from Hyson. "So, she never sang any song to me. She didn't tell me any bedtime stories as well."
"I..." Cloe opened her mouth to say something but honestly, she had no idea what she was supposed to say at all. "I'm sorry."
"For what?" asked Hyson. "It's not like it's your fault that she can't speak." Usually, Hyson would not talk about his mother's disability because he didn't think it was a disability. But people around him from a young age tried to make him believe that it was a disability. He didn't like that. "Do you know why my best friend is so precious to me?"
Cloe shook her head.
"When she first learned that my mum can't speak, she didn't react like others," answered Hyson. "She didn't look at my mum differently. She didn't ask how it happened. On the other hand, she asked me, 'How did you learn sign language?'" Hyson chuckled to himself at the distant memory that he cherished so much.
Shui Xian was also gazing at Raelle when he heard that. He could already imagine Raelle reaction or the lack of reaction. In fact, without Hyson continuing, he could already guess that from that point on, Raelle must have learned the sign language with interest.
He placed his hand on Raelle's head. His wife really was special and that's why her way of looking at everything was also special. And that's what set her apart from the rest.
"Chief is chief," said Cloe.
Hyson laughed at her, "She isn't that great though. She is also really petty."
"Oh really?" This one came from Shui Xian who was also curious to know how his wife was petty.
"About two years ago, Ellie was hospitalized because she had fainted from overworking," began Hyson. "She was staying in the hospital and when I went to see her. I purposely bought a wide variety of food that I ate alone while sitting right in front of her. And just yesterday, she did the very same thing to me! She did it because of her petty revenge!"
Shui Xian was surprised to hear that. He had been curious about why Raelle had lunch in the room where Hyson was staying. They could have eaten the lunch out but she purposely chose to eat right before his eyes. But it never crossed his mind that she was just trying to get back at Hyson for something he did two years ago!
"What comes around, goes around," was the only response that Raelle gave him.
Hyson gnashed his teeth, "See? She is petty! Moreover, she never forgets anything! So you better think before you speak to her. This girl's brain can recall the smallest details. You wouldn't want your own words to come back to bite you in the arse!"
"Since you're so energetic, I believe you're recovering well," said Raelle. "Then I should be leaving now."
"Already?" asked Hyson.
"Why? Should I stay here to hear you whine even more?"
"I'm not whining," argued Hyson. He excitedly pulled out his phone and showed a photo to Cloe, "Cloe, look at my cotton and candy. Aren't they pretty?"
Cloe looked at the photo of two birds who were sitting comfortably on Hyson's head and then her eyes wandered off to Raelle thoughtfully, "Chief, you delayed your meeting last week because of these birds, right?"
Raelle shrugged her shoulders but didn't say anything in reply.
Cloe's eyes narrowed. She always thought Raelle was a calculative person who only cared about profits. But she actually delayed the meeting for a million-dollar project because she was discussing details of how to get those birds here from J Country.
Then her eyes moved to Hyson was excitedly telling her how cute those birds were. Seeing his bright smile, Cloe was stunned. It suddenly dawned on her that profits were still really precious to Raelle. But the scope of profits was wide. In this case, Hyson's happiness was a lot more profitable to her than anything else.
'It seems I have to learn about you all over again, Chief,' Cloe thought to herself.