Chapter 198 - COLLIDING GAZES
AFTER waking up and doing his usual routine, Luo Yan finally went out of the room given to him. Taking in his current constitution, the room given to him was in the first floor. So, it didn't take long for him to reach the dining area.
He was quite surprise to see that the Bai couple was already up and sitting on the table. As well as his father and older brother. The rest was probably still asleep. And here he thought he woke up the earliest.
"Good morning!" he greeted.
The others immediately greeted him back.
"Xiao Yan, come sit here beside me," his father called, gesturing the chair beside him.
The seat was between his father and his older brother. As if they were reserving the seat for him. Which, considering the two, would probably indeed be the case. He smiled helplessly and sat on the chair.
He looked at the table and saw the varieties of Western breakfast food like pancakes, waffles, omelets, salad, and some clubhouse sandwiches. He preferred traditional breakfast but it's also not bad to try a different menu from time to time.
"How come Xiao Yan woke up so early?" Sun Xiulan asked. "You should have slept more. Even Ah Ye is still not awake."
"It's okay, Aunt. I'm used to waking up around this time," Luo Yan answered, smiling.
"It's good to have a fixed routine while you're still young. It would make you more disciplined," Bai Chen said.
"Bai Chen, what are you saying? What if Xiao Yan's beautiful skin became rough because of lack of sleep?" Sun Xiulan said, seemingly affronted by her husband's suggestion.
"Aunt, don't worry. I'll make sure Yan Yan's skin will remain smooth and beautiful," Luo Ren said, as if he was indeed planning to be in charged of his brother's skin care.
Sun Xiulan gave him a thumbs-up. "I expect no less from Ah Ren."
Luo Yan almost laughed seeing the interaction between the two.
"Xiao Yan, what do you want to eat?" his father asked him instead, ignoring the two.
Luo Yan looked around the table, then he turned to his father and smiled. "Pancakes!"
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Luo Jin caught the ball flying to his direction. Then he threw it back to the kid a few distance away from him. He threw it as gently and as weakly as he could. It wouldn't be good if he accidentally hurt Bai Ye because he threw the ball a bit too hard.
"Brother Jin, can you throw the ball with more energy?" Bai Ye called when he caught the ball.
Luo Jin felt that a vein on his forehead almost popped when he heard that. "Hey, brat, do you think I want to play this stupid game with you?"
He thought this brat was scared of him. But just after a day, he was already acting so cheeky.
Luo Jin was actually not wrong. Bai Ye was indeed scared of him. But after a day, he noticed that the scary atmosphere that was surrounding him when he visited last year was completely gone. That's why Bai Ye was more confident now in talking to him.
"I wanted to play with Yan Yan. But Brother Jin said that you're going to play with me instead. So, Brother Jin has no right to be angry with me," Bai Ye said pouting, both his cheeks bulging.
This brat. Luo Jin almost wanted to close the distance between them just so he could hit the head of this cheeky kid. But he held it in because Bai Ye did say the truth.
When the brat asked Luo Yan to play catch with him on the garden, Luo Jin immediately interfered. How could he let his second brother play under the sun? Although it's already Autumn, it's still not good to stay under the sun for too long.
So, at the end, he could only bear with his irritation and continued playing with the brat.
Luo Yan was watching the two from inside the pavilion not too far from them. there were snacks and drinks on the table. He picked up a cup and drank the tea inside.
They were the only one in the villa's garden right now. The adults were talking about some business matters while waiting for lunch to come. His grandfather was still resting. Yesterday's events took a little bit of a toll on him so he needed to rest more. While his cousin Bai Ze was probably still sleeping.
He just thought of Bai Ze and he suddenly saw him walking towards the pavilion where he was in. He let out a huge yawn before sitting down carelessly on the seat in front of Luo Yan.
"Did Brother Ze not sleep well?" he asked.
"I played Arcadia last night," Bai Ze answered.
It was actually him and Shen Ji Yun. They went dungeon raiding until three o'clock in the morning. He accompanied him because he knew that during this time of the year, his friend often needed to release some steam. And he often did that by killing a lot of monsters in Arcadia.
He couldn't really blame him. If he had to interact with those jerk cousins of Shen Ji Yun, he might also end up wanting to beat someone up.
That's why Bai Ze was glad that during Mid-Autumn Festival, their family only spent it with other family members that they were really closed to. Unlike the Shen family who spent it with almost all the members of the main and branch family.
Luo Yan was a bit surprised when he heard that. He didn't expect that Bai Ze would play that late. He pushed the plate of snacks to him. "Then Brother Ze should eat some snack since you already missed breakfast."
Bai Ze looked at his cousin and was moved. Ah, how could Luo Yan be such an angel? He's so lucky that he was his cousin. He picked up a snack and ate it.
Then he suddenly remembered something. "Ah, that's right, I almost forgot. Ji Yun would be dropping by today."
Luo Yan had no time to react on what Bai Ze said because as if on cue, a maid suddenly informed them that Shen Ji Yun was here.
"Just bring him here," Bai Ze said to the maid who quickly went back inside the villa.
For some reason, Luo Yan suddenly felt like his heart started beating wildly. As if he was nervous of something. Which was totally unscientific.
"Bai Ze," called a very familiar cold voice.
Luo Yan turned towards the direction of the voice. And his gaze collided with blue eyes as cold as the winter sea.