Chapter 64: Breakfast

Qiao An opened her eyes and saw that the outside was bright. She checked her phone – it was seven in the morning.

And no good-morning-text from Shen Jun Shan.

Qiao An snuggled on her blanket and contemplated whether she should be sending a text first. It could be that Shen Jun Shan was still sleeping.

"Good morning. Are you awake?" Qiao An spoke and typed on her phone. She reread her message a few times before deleting it. "I sound like I am trying to hard." Qiao An sighed.

"Good morning. Do you want to eat breakfast together later?" Qiao An typed another message, but when she heard footsteps from the hallway, she deleted her message again.

Jin would want to eat breakfast together with her. Qiao An put her phone on her stomach. She closed her eyes, trying to think of a suitable message that will not make her look as if she was trying too hard.

Her thinking was interrupted by the vibration of her phone. She opened the message quickly and became disappointed as the message was not from Shen Jun Shan but Shirley. Shirley asked her out to eat breakfast together and with Jin, if possible.

Qiao An stood up and went to the door. She opened the door to see Jin with the kittens in the hallway.

"Shirley wants to eat breakfast together. Do you want to go?" Qiao An asked.

Jin frowned. "Do you want to go?" He asked back.

"I am going to say yes. You better settle the rest yourself. I refuse to play Cupid."

Qiao An waited for Jin's response, and when she saw Jin nodded his head, she typed 'okay' to Shirley Wang and headed to the shower to freshen herself.

The breakfast place that Shirley suggested was the restaurant of Wu Hotel since she was staying there for the rest of her stay in City L. Since Shirley Wang did not drive to City L, she felt that it would make Jin annoyed if she asked him to pick her up during their first formal meeting.

Shirley Wang had no other intention when she invited Qiao An for breakfast. She was genuine to get to know Qiao An. It was not as if Shirley was trying to use Qiao An to meet Jin. After all, she also had Jin's phone number with her.

While driving to the Wu Hotel, Jin had another thought regarding the way Shirley Wang invited him to breakfast via Qiao An. He did not know whether to describe Shirley as a smart or manipulative woman.

Jin asked Qiao An about how Shirley Wang managed to get in contact with Qiao An. Perhaps since it was the second time Jin asked her about it, Qiao An pitied him and told him the truth.

"If you are not interested in her, you should make it clear earlier on. Just don't drag her around." Qiao An spoke her mind out.

"Yeah, right. If you like someone, you should act fast, right? Should I ask for advice from Shen Jun Shan regarding this? He sure acts fast on you." Jin threw a disapproving look at Qiao An.

She had not received any text from Shen Jun Shan, and Qiao An missed him so much. Now, her brother dragged her boyfriend into a conversation unrelated to him. Qiao An got vexed.

"Leave me alone. Just take care of your love life first." Qiao An rolled her eyes.

"Hah! Since you get close to him, you are rebelling like this. I am only looking out for you." Jin argued back.

"You are controlling my life. Even uncle is not like you." Qiao An took a deep breath. "I bet you did things behind my back before this."

"Hah! Do you think you are so smart in love? That ex-boyfriend of yours is not a good guy. You don't even know that. Thank goodness I investigated…"

Qiao An went silent and stared at Jin. She never heard about this before. Jin stopped talking when he realized he said something he should not have.

"What are you talking about? I never told you about any boyfriend before. Shen Jun Shan is the first one. What do you mean, my ex-boyfriend? What did you do?" There was a trace of accusation in Qiao An's voice.

Jin said nothing. He ignored Qiao An's furious look and focused on driving. Qiao An was fuming mad and refused to talk to Jin.

That was the condition of the step-siblings when Shirley Wang came to their table. Both Jin and Qiao An did not talk to each other.

If people did not know about the family matter of Jin and Qiao An, they would surely think that both of them were related by blood. They even fought like real siblings.

Shirley Wang saw the tension between the siblings and tried to play peacemaker. "I am so honored to get both of you to join me for breakfast."

"Thank you for inviting both of us." Jin threw a polite smile to Shirley Wang.

Having a long time crush on Jin, Shirley Wang felt that the smile on Jin's face was too sweet for her to handle. She could not control her excitement, and it showed on her face.

Qiao An saw what her brother did to Shirley Wang and snorted. She turned to Shirley Wang. "Don't trust his words; he is a sweet talker. People who talk sweetly to everyone could not be trusted. By the way, thank you for inviting me, Miss Shirley."

The rest of the words from Qiao An did not register in Shirley Wang's mind. She could only hear the 'sweet talker' part, and she ultimately agreed with that.

The breakfast went rather cold with Qiao An and Jin having a cold war, and Shirley Wang was clueless on how to deal with both of them.

However, from breakfast, Qiao An could see a few things. Number one, Shirley Wang had a crush on her brother and number two, Shirley Wang is very easy to get along with.

But an occasional crush might not be love, and feeling can get confused.

Qiao An thought that the outstanding third daughter of the Mayor of City T would be someone snobbish. It turned out that she was pretty cool and chill. Shirley Wang gave her the same vibe as Amy Shen.

She was not sure if Jin was feeling it too. But if he did, things would be very confusing.