Chapter 25 - Sirens

"How is grandfather?" Feng Xuan asked Wang Yimin. They were both inside Feng Xuan's limousine.

"He seems well," Wang Yimin replied to her as she flipped another page of the fashion magazine. "That B-List actress sure is treating him well."

Feng Xuan suddenly remembered her divorced grandmother. She had been busy travelling the year following her divorce and only returned to Chengshi to see Feng Xuan. Her grandfather, who was not present during the party, was also out of the country celebrating his year-long honeymoon with his new young wife.

"How did they even meet?" Feng Xuan asked, laughing a little.

"A film company rented grandfather's resort and he popped in for a little while to watch the set. And then while the girl was waiting for people to call her, they got talking. The rest was history."

"Then he divorced grandmother?"

"I think everyone saw it coming," Wang Yimin shrugged. "They didn't get divorced earlier because they have no reason to separate. Then they did. So good bye it was."

Feng Xuan suddenly got sad and worried.

"Don't look like that!" laughed Wang Yimin. "I don't think that'll happen to you. It looks like your husband likes you just as much as you like him."

Feng Xuan blushed and tossed her the magazine she was reading and grabbed another one. "Don't say that," she said but she was trying to stop her lips from smiling. It was just a tease, but she couldn't help but feel flattered. "He was just putting on a show for everyone."

"Oh, please. I think the future is bright between the two of you."

"It's too early for that," she sighed. Feng Xuan did not even know Qing Chen that much. Sure, she liked him now but what if there were problems? What if there was something he did or he would do that would make her dislike him? But then again, did it really matter now that they were married to each other?

"Ah!" Wang Yimin moved closer to Feng Xuan. "Look at this. It says here that a girl gave a candy to a guy for forty days who was way out of her league and they do not really know each other. They just passed by the corridor and she would hand him one. On the forty-first day she stopped giving him candies and he talked to her. Now they are already together as a couple."

Feng Xuan and Wang Yimin shared a look.

"You want me to give Qing Chen candies for the next forty days?"

Wang Yimin made a face. "This was a high school girl. Maybe you could give him a kiss on the cheek every night before you both go to sleep. It might work."

Feng Xuan's hand flew to her lips. "Noooo."

"On the forty-first day, you two might share a kiss."

Feng Xuan's heart started to beat faster out of nervousness. She put her hand to her chest. "Should I?"

"It's up to you. But it's a way to somehow break a physical barrier between the two of you."

Feng Xuan bit her lips. She was feeling a little excitement on her toes. Was she finally going to get her first kiss on the forty-first day? Then she also remembered Qing Chen's grandmother who was going to send an old maid to their house to watch over them.

Yeah, she really needed to move. "I'll do it," she said. They had to appear like their relationship was moving faster than its real pace.

Wang Yimin squealed from beside her, "You go, cousin!"

Just then they entered the premises of Yang Wei, their grandfather. She was informed that it was a new house. It was grand, like a small museum. When they entered, the foyer was wide and the grand staircase had a slick black handrail embossed with silver leaves.

Wang Yimin had their grandfather called and he came out from a room wearing a deep blue silk robe, a fat cigar on his hand. "There are my girls!" he said, laughing.

Feng Xuan smiled and hugged her grandfather. "It's nice to see you, grandpa."

Wang Yimin also gave her greetings and they both stood there and he looked at them from head to toe. They had long gotten taller than their grandfather who was naturally on the shorter side of men. "When did you both stop growing?" he heartily laughed. "Come, come. We will have lunch."

They followed their grandfather through an archway and they were outside on the garden where a lavish lunch was prepared on the table. A few maids were waiting on the sides.

"Have a seat," their grandfather said, taking his own on the head of the table. "Call Kimmy," he said to one of the maids. He first asked how was Wang Yimin and updated her on the current news of her husband's business to which Wang Yimin replied with little knowledge. Then he turned to Feng Xuan. "Is your husband treating you well?"

She nodded. "Qing Chen is really great."

"He better make a new hotel soon. Tell him I am willing to invest. He is in business with your father now, too. Am I correct?"

Feng Xuan nodded. "I think they will have projects in the near future."

"Huh, then it will be just right if he would return the favor by letting our family have shares in their company just as his family would have in ours."

Feng Xuan's lips clamped shut. She did not want to say anything about the business. She majored in it but the economy in Chengshi was different from when she was overseas. Another thing, she had not the time to delve into the nitty-gritty of both families' businesses.

But thankfully she did not have to answer as she was interrupted by a voice coming from inside. "Honey?!"

"I am right here!" her grandfather shouted back.

Feng Xuan immediately turned to Wang Yimin with wide eyes. "Shhh," her cousin whispered at her.

A woman in a matching deep blue strapless cropped top and short shorts appeared on the archway, her hands caressing the border and she did not even hide the fact that she was posing to a non-existent camera from far away.

Yang Wei laughed. "Come here."

Feng Xuan expected her to seat down on the right side of her grandfather but her jaw almost dropped when she sat on his lap! "Ah! You must be Feng Xuan!" the woman reached from the head of the table to her and shook her hand, giving Feng Xuan a clear view of her cleavage and heavy b.r.e.a.s.ts.

"Hello, Kimmy...?"

"It's fine to call me Kimmy, everyone does!" she smiled and sat back down on her grandfather's thighs. "Please, let's start eating."

Feng Xuan could barely swallow from the events unfolding in front of her. If she had a hat, she would tip it off to Wang Yimin because she was able to hold conversation with her grandfather about such mundane things like his health. He had once been a muscular man, but with old age he grew thin and sickly.

After a little while, a new voice entered the room. "You didn't even wait for me to start lunch!" a man with a child said.

"Cousin!" Feng Xuan said just at the same time Wang Yimin said, "Brother!"

They had seen each other from the wedding party. His name was Wang Dong and he had been long married. He already had a son, Wang Dequan.

"Why must we wait for you? You're always late!" their grandfather barked.

"Hello, Wang Dong," Kimmy said. "How are you?"

"Thank you for asking, step-grandmother. I am doing fine. I assume my grandfather is treating you better than he does me."

"You're not a woman and we cannot use you to expand business ventures," their grandfather gruff. "That is why women are more favored in our family," then he smiled at Feng Xuan and Wang Yimin.

Feng Xuan forced a smile to her lips, feeling sorry for her older cousin. But it seemed like Wang Dong was used to their grandfather's treatment. Wang Dong covered the ears of Wang Dequan.

"Grandfather, you can't speak like that with Dequan around." His son was six-years-old. "Words leave marks, it might traumatize him."

"He couldn't even remember what was taught to him in school yesterday!"

"Even so," he answered and proceeded to eat like nothing happened. In his mind, Wang Dong was thinking. He smiled at his beautiful cousins. Their beauty would fade and their husbands would get tired of them and they would find new wives, younger and more beautiful than they had ever been. On the other hand, his cunningness and his will to succeed would never perish. The women may have the world now, but he would soon have it.

Whatever it would take.