The middle-aged woman gave a smile. "Is it that shocking, dear? "
Ye Hua looked away from the woman, his sister then coughing as if to interject, "Mother, Ye Hua is still recovering. It would be hard for him to take in information."
Ye Hua let out a sigh of relief; he then nodded, agreeing with his sister. He cleared his throat to break the silence. "So… I really have two siblings? "
"Yes, you have two siblings, Zhàn³ Huā and me."
"Zhan Hua? "
"He is your older brother, dear."
"Ah."
Hell no. Please wake me up from this damn dream already. Do I have to jump off a cliff or something? That works, right? Wait a minute, am I the youngest? Hell no.
"So…Am I not the older brother? Surely I must be older than you…miss? "
His sister frowned; however, she couldn't get mad at him since he lost his memories.
"Yo—Nevermind, I'm older than you. You're the youngest Ye Hua. I can't believe you forgot even that."
Ye Hua sighed, contemplating whether he should speak or not. After a few minutes of awkward silence, Ye Hua finally spoke.
"I have two siblings, and I am the youngest… May I ask if there is a father?"
Shit, I phrased that wrong. I mean, do I even have a father? Maybe he left to get milk like mine did.
Both his mother and sister looked at Ye Hua weirdly; his mother coughed and then answered, "Yes, you have a father, dear."
Ah. So I'm not fatherless here.
…
Ye Hua let his thoughts drift away, staring at his mother with a stoic expression that looked as if he were listening to her. After a few seconds, Ye Hua snapped out of his thoughts and listened to whatever that's left of his mother's explanation: "In any case, your father said he would be back by tomorrow."
"Ah… Why would he be back tomorrow? "
"Brother, Father is out on a trip. Did you not listen to our mother? "
"Ahem… I apologize. My head still hurts from all this."
In truth, Ye Hua suppressed a laugh as he thought of something funny, though it looked as if he had a pained expression.
Business trip? Really? I bet he's just sleeping around?
A sudden knock on the door could be heard; the sound made both women turn towards the door. None of them noticed Ye Hua's sudden urge to laugh. Ye Hua's sister spoke after a few seconds. "Come in. What is it? "
The person stepped inside Ye Hua's room, greeting everyone inside, "Ma'am, your husband has arrived just now."
Who is he? A servant perchance? Whatever, it isn't my business.
"He's here? Go prepare some tea."
The man bowed his head and went out.
Ye Hua's mother then looked at him softly. "Looks like your father arrived earlier than expected."
The fuck? I'm already overwhelmed by everything. Why does this old man have to add to my problems? Well, it doesn't matter; once I go to sleep, I'll just wake up from this weird dream.
"Ah… really? "
"You don't sound thrilled, brother? "
"Ahem… I just don't remember things; it's hard to keep up with the information."
At that moment the servant from before came, bringing the tea, and then left after giving the tea. He was followed by a man who looked intimidating; he looked older than Ye Hua's mother. He didn't care to announce himself nor did he need to. Ye Hua stared at him the moment the man got inside the room, his gaze almost emotionless.
This must be my father. Why am I even calling him father? Haa… I must be going crazy.
"I'm quite surprised you forgot about me, my son."
"I hit my head pretty hard, sir."
"Sir? Since when did you call me that? "
"Ah…then Father."
"Hmm… You must have hit your head pretty hard."
"It seems to be that way. Yes."
"..."
"Hah… To think my son would act so indifferent towards me."
"I apologize if my words came off that way."
"I see…"
Why the hell is it so awkward? Is it because I've never talked with my actual father? Is that it? It can't be… It must be because of this old man.
Ye Hua's sister spoke up; her expressions were not so great, though she tried to hide it.
"Father, I thought you were on a trip." Her tone was strangely condescending, almost sarcastic.
By the way she said those words, Ye Hua understood that both his sister and father did not get along well.
Hah, looks like they don't really like each other; something must've happened between them…though it might just be me thinking that.
Ye Hua's father looked at her for a few seconds; he looked like he was contemplating on what to say. "I came back early since I heard our youngest is awake. What's the problem with that? "
"That's surprising; you never seemed to care if he did wake up. When he got into an accident, you didn't even bother to check up on him! "
Ye Hua's mother tried to intervene, "Stop it, both of you. Ye Hua is still recovering. The two of you fighting will only make his recovery worse."
"I'm sorry, Mother."
"..."
A moment of silence came creeping in. After a few moments in silence, Ye Hua spoke to change the topic, since it was clear both of them would end up fighting if nobody interjected and changed whatever the topic was. He cleared his throat and joked,
"This is my father?" The tone wasn't quite disrespectful since the father had heard this more than 100 times from his daughter, but to hear it from Ye Hua was really quite shocking. His father's eyes widened, and silence fell even more than ever.
From the moment that his father had come to the room, Ye Hua wasn't at ease at all. He had a dark feeling about his father. It somewhat changed the way he talked; he had always talked to his mother in a calm, pleasing manner, yet it wasn't the same to his father. Why did he feel like this man was sleeping around and not on an actual trip?
Just as Ye Hua's father was about to speak up, his mother sighed and changed their topic and said,
"Ah! The tea is getting cold, everyone!"
Seeing the face of the father in shock, Ye Hua couldn't help but want to laugh.
Damnit. It's hard to keep a straight face. Why does this old man look so funny when he's shocked?
Ye Hua's mother cleared her throat as silence followed when she changed the topic.
"I told you he lost his memories; don't get mad at him."
"I know. I'm not unreasonable."
Ye Hua scanned the room, seeing his sister silently slip away from the scene.
Looks like she left. Good for her.
Wait. Doesn't that mean I'm stuck with these two? Ha… It's so awkward.