“Hurry now. I have to do your hair. Or did you already forget that other family heads are coming tonight to see us?” She turned her back to him.
Clarity sliced through the fog. He leapt to his feet, snatched the clothes from the bed, and immediately began to change.I probably won’t recognize any of them. I haven’t seen or talked to any of them since I was a child.He meticulously smoothed out the fabric of his shirt.
His stepmother turned back around. She placed both hands on his shoulders and pushed him to sit down on a chair. “Your hair is a mess. Could you not have set an alarm to wake up earlier? Must I take care of everything? You need to think of the family.”
You never told me when they were going to arrive.He sealed his mouth shut.
She pulled his hair one way, then the next, then forced her brush through tangles, pulled them up so hard that he swore she yanked them out of his scalp. He clenched his hands, gritted his teeth, and kept quiet.
In this situation, she was his only ally.
“Speak only in Chinese,” his stepmother instructed, clambering up the stairs. “Mr. Zhou will probably come first. He’s always early. Mr. Yang will come next. Always right on time. Mr. Chen is last, always a little late. You just need to remember them that way.” She stopped him in the pathway leading to the door and took her place beside him. Shoulders straight, chin up, and eyes staring at the front door. They both stood like statues with bated breaths.
A large shadow loomed through the glass of the front door. The doorbell echoed across the house. From the corner of his eye, Aiden spied He Bao peeking around the corner before a hand dragged his stepbrother away from sight.
His stepmother took a deep breath. She flew to the door and, with an elegant flourish of her hands, opened it. “Mr. Zhou —it is such a lovely night tonight! Thank you for coming today.”
Mr. Zhou walked in without acknowledging her. His eyes skimmed the doorway with a slight furrow of his brow. His arms remained stiffly by his side like someone nailed them to his body. With a grunt, he motioned to the guards dutifully waiting behind him and didn’t bother moving as they carefully navigated around his large body to stand by each side. His eyes turned toward the living room. “Where will we be having the meeting tonight?”
“In the dining room,” Aiden’s stepmother answered with a forced laugh. She closed the door and danced around Mr. Zhou to stand behind Aiden instead. “I am terribly sorry if this house isn’t up to standards yet. Many things have happened as of late.”
Only then did Mr. Zhou’s eyes swivel down toward Aiden. With every step forward, Aiden swallowed his spit and tried not to lean back. The man towered with broad shoulders and large hands. There was no question that Mr. Zhou hid a gun, perhaps even multiple, in the folds of his perfectly pressed pitch-black suit.I think this is the type of man that I’m not supposed to talk until spoken to.Aiden decided.
“Hui Lang?”
He swallowed. “Yes. Hello, Mr. Zhou.”
With a grunt, Mr. Zhou motioned to his bodyguards and moved past Aiden.
“Right over there. I already have tea prepared,” his stepmother continued to coo. Aiden held his breath, listening to her voice grow distant. He sighed, shoulders slumping the second he could no longer hear their voices.
That was only the first.
“Yin Mei! Let me in! It’s a lovely house you have, and I want to see the inside!”
Mr. Yang arrived with a persistent ignorance of the doorbell and a never-ending knock. His stepmother dashed down the hallway and opened the door with the same elegant flourish as she did earlier. “My goodness, must you knock like that? Our doorbell exists for a reason!”
“Woooow, this place is nice! I hope you cut a good deal. If not, I can always force my men out there to find you something.” Mr. Yang entered with a deep breath and a wide smile. He handed a basket of fruit to Aiden’s stepmother without glancing at her, kicked off his shoes, and wandered around the living room before turning on his heels to look at Aiden. “Is that who I think it is?”
“Hello, Mr. Yang!” Aiden emulated Mr. Yang’s spirit. “I’m sorry if I don’t remember you. I was very young back then.”
“Oh please, I don’t think we ever met. You’re different from Hui Ye, aren’t you?” Mr. Yang stopped in front of him, patting his head, feeling his shoulders, and grabbing his arms. “Skinnier. Shorter. Humongous eyes. Wow, you’re a beauty, aren’t you?” Without waiting for a response, Mr. Yang took two steps back to tip his head and looked Aiden up and down. “Yes, very beautiful and very different from Hui Ye.” He swiveled his head to Yin Mei. “Anyway, I hope you have snacks.”
“We do have snacks. I know you too well not to prepare snacks or tea. Mr. Zhou is already here.”
“Bah, that stiff man must always arrive before me, must he?” Mr. Yang clicked his tongue and wandered into the house without any guidance from Aiden’s stepmother.
Aiden didn’t have time to breathe before the doorbell chimed.
His stepmother hurried forward to the door again, ditching the hand flourishes. She opened the door.
Mr. Chen entered with a respectful nod. “Yin Mei, hello.”
“Hello, it’s good to see you again.”
Mr. Chen stepped out of his shoes, lining them at the entrance. “I apologize for the intrusion during these times.”
“No, it’s no problem. We are always honored to see you. I want you to meet someone.” She gestured Aiden to step forward.
