Chapter 28 - Determination

Wade and Patrick hurriedly moved away and rubbed their ears.

'Is she trying to make me deaf?' Wade glared at her and Lina glared back.

"What 370, Young Miss?" Came a familiar voice from behind.

Mechanically turning her head to look at the person who spoke, Lina cursed herself for yelling just now.

"Ha-ha, Nothing at all. What's for breakfast Mrs. Ping?" Lina tried to divert the topic to something else.

"Should I take it as the number of days that Miss wants to eat oatmeal for breakfast?" Mrs. Ping spoke with an evil smile on her gentle face.

She might look like a loving and sweet grandma but her tactics to get people in line was one of the best.

"No…!! I was talking about the number of chapters I read last night. Please don't give me oatmeal." Looking at the bowl that she was carrying, Lina cried out.

'Works every time!' Chuckled Mrs. Ping and placed the bowl in front of Lina.

She opened the bowl and placed inside were pancakes drowning in maple syrup.

'Who plates pancakes in a bowl! She fooled me once again.' Lina then shot a glare to Wade who laughed at her plight.

As a child, Lina had always hated oatmeal for no apparent reason. 

When her father had enquired the reason for her absolute hatred for the healthy breakfast, she just told him, 'I feel like I'm eating wet, milky goop.' 

After laughing for a very long time, her father eventually let her get away with not eating it if she promised to eat other healthy food. 

Lina happily agreed and has never eaten a bowl of oats since then.

---

She was so engrossed in her oatmeal hating nostalgia that she forgot about the female devil standing next to her.

Hearing the *Ahem ahem*, she looked up and before Mrs. Ping could say anything, she stuffed pancakes into her mouth.

'Can't talk while eating. Your rules.' She pointed at her mouth.

Feeling like she had defeated Mrs. Ping in her own game, she smiled and ate again.

"I'll wait till after breakfast, but we are having this talk today." Finishing what she had to say, Mrs. Ping walked away.

The big piece of pancake that she had just stuffed in her mouth, fell back into the bowl because of her wide open mouth.

"Gross!" Wade moved his plate away from the syrup that had splashed onto the table.

Ignoring him, Lina looked at Uncle Pat with puppy dog eyes. 

"You brought this on yourself kiddo. Own up to your actions." Wiping his mouth with the napkin, he got up from the table.

Taking the jacket that Butler Ping had given, he started walking to the door.

"Coward!" Yelled Lina from behind.

"Rather be a coward than face her, baby girl!" He yelled back, before leaving the house.

'One out, one to go.' She then turned her head to Wade.

Feeling the eagar gaze on him, Wade kept his head low and finished the sandwiches that were on his plate.

"Brother Wade.." 

"Don't even think about it." Before she could say anything, Wade interrupted her.

"What was it this time? Evil stepmother? Bestfriend stole the fiance? or some other cliche?" Taunted Wade.

"No. This time it wasn't like that. It was a novel with a historical setting. The heroine fights off bad guys thanks to her skills and pets." She explained the plot with excitement.

What she actually wanted to say was,' It was xian xia and the MC destroys villains thanks to her OP and her beasts.' but had to dumb it down for Wade, to help him understand better.

"Hope it was worth getting caught by Mrs. Ping." Saying so, he booped her nose.

The pancakes had become hard to swallow,  thinking of the lecture that she would receive soon after her breakfast.

"At least stay to give me moral support?" She pleaded.

"Have a meeting with a new mall that has become popular recently. They want Obsidia in their mall. Still want me to stay?" He raised his eyebrow.

"Work's more important." She told while shaking her head.

'I knew that would work. She would never let anything hinder the progress of her company.' Wade smiled and accompanied her till she finished her pancakes.

After she finished eating, she walked Wade to the front door where his driver was waiting for him.

"I would like to see the final drafts of your new collection. People are waiting for something new in the market." He spoke about the hype that he created by the rumor.

"I plan on doing something new with this collection. I want to discuss the details when I meet you in the office."  Lina said as she opened the car's door for him and gestured for him to take a seat.

"I'll be joining work from Monday officially, I've mailed you the job description. Just get me in that position." After she finished speaking, she closed the door and took a step back. 

Wade nodded at her then asked the driver to start the car.

She watched as the car drove out of the Yang estate and slowly made her way back to hall.

She silently sat on the couch waiting for Mrs. Ping to finish her work in the kitchen.

----

She was playing with her phone when the smell of coffee distracted her. She looked up and saw a cup of hot coffee placed in front of her. 

She looked around but found no one else in the hall.

'Is there a ghost in this house? A coffee serving ghost?" She chuckled, looking at the table.

"Looks like you still haven't pondered on what you did wrong." Lina heard Mrs. Ping's voice.

She was scared by the sudden voice that she jerked up and sat straight.

'Thank God, I wasn't holding that cup, or else I would've been scalded by the hot coffee' 

Patting her chest to calm her pounding heart, she looked up and saw the old lady giving her a serious look.

Mrs. Ping sat across her and touched Lina's dark circles.

"How many times have I told you not to read that stuff for so long?" She asked with a gentle yet demanding voice.

"It's called novels, granny Ping. It's something to pass time with." Lina justified herself.

Lina only called her granny Ping when they were alone. Since Lina had never seen her real grandmothers, she treated Mrs. Ping as her grandmother. 

"Child, Those are just something to read for a few minutes and not for hours, like you." she gently knocked on her head.

Though it did not hurt, Lina exaggerated and rubbed her head.

"Now you know why I always say that you run the kitchen with iron fists. Because you really do have iron fists." Lina pointed at Mrs. Ping's hands.

Butler Ping who had just entered the house, covered his mouth to stop his laughter.

"Seems like you also want to taste my iron fists?" Mrs. Ping gestured with her fists in the air.

"Alway, Mrs." Said Butler Ping, winking at her and then he walked to their room.

"Shameless!" Mrs. Ping who wanted to scare her husband was left red faced with embarrassment. She looked at Lina to see her reaction.

"I'm used to it. I'm surrounded by people who love to shove dog food down my throat." She waved her hands at Mrs. Ping.

"Oh yes. I remember.  I think there is something wrong with all the men in this house. They can't seem to control themselves in front of their wives." She recalled the two generations of Yang men that she worked for. Both were wife slaves.

"When will I have my own slave?" Lina mummered, but was heard by Mrs. Ping.

"I can ask Master to find eligible bachelors for you. Though I can't think of anyone worthy of being your partner." She said with her arms folded on her chest.

"Thank you for that much needed confidence boost. But I'm too young to even think about dating seriously, much less to get married." She put her arms in a X in front of her.

"Hmm.. Let me know when you change your mind." She patted Lina's head lovingly.

'She just returned, I don't want some guys' dirty paws trying to snatch her away so soon!' Mrs. Ping thought.

"All that is fine, but I want you to cut down on your reading time. Do you still remember what happened that summer you spent the entire time in your room reading?" Mrs. Ping spoke in a strong voice and reminded her of an awkward time.

"I gained 12 kilos." Lina spoke in a soft voice with her head bowed.

"But that was because of your delicious food!" Lina tried to fight back.

"Nice try." Mrs. Ping gave her a scary smile.

"But continue this habit of not sleeping on time and you won't get to eat those delicious foods when you put on weight again." She tried to convince her.

'I need to start exercising if I don't want my abs to disappear.'

Lina touched her tummy and tried to feel the imaginary abs that she claimed to have.

"I understand Mrs. Ping." She then got up with determination and walked up the stairs after saying bye to Mrs. Ping.

Sitting on the couch, Mrs. Ping just shook her head.

She thought back at the problems that Lina's novels had caused.