End of Salvation

016: Lunar Crown Hotel (III)

A/N: Waee~ Took longer than expected. ( x ^ x ). Thank you for reading, voting, and commenting. See you on Monday or Tuesday for another update on EoS.

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Entering through the tall mahogany doors, a large spacious room came into view. With many large ceiling to floor windows lining up on either side of the ballroom, the enormous room looks even more big and spacious than it already is. The vaulted ceiling had a golden net like designs running across it, and the large crystalline chandelier in the middle of the room bedazzled the entire place. It coruscating the warm yellow colour across the space with ease. Strings of glass strung from the main chandelier webs out to the walls of the place, and with it, they carried the same soft fairy-like glow.

On walls between the translucid glasses that was abnormally clear, as if it wasn't even there, held half moon wall lamps. The light washed champagne walls perfectly matched the subtle colour of beige on the flooring. Neither one was too strong or too soft that it took away from the entire design.

When the doors had open, all eyes were drawn to their location. Yunsheng and Yijun were calm and collected, this was not their first time and they had gotten used to the feeling of being watched. Their backs were straight, without any slack in their forms, both oozing with elegance. Qiuyue was nervous, she can be still be considered green at these kinds of events, even if it wasn't her first time. Although she had prepared herself, she still felt anxious. She was like a cat that had its fur bristled as it mingled with the snakes. Shunyu has similar emotions as Qiuyue, but he was much calmer. After all, he was the big brother and a boy. He needed to protect his younger brother and his only sister, and the only way would be to have a clear mind.

As for Shinyi, the lad was in a happy-go-lucky mood. His clear blue eyes gleamed like that of a diamond's brilliance. He was holding Shunyu's hands, swinging it back and forth as they walk. By their side, Ying Zhuqing was like a fearsome hawk with its wings spread out to shelter its young. His eyes were like needles, pricking all that it passed.

Their gifts had been handed over to the staff before they had gone inside. With everyone's hands free, they only had clenched fists.

At the center of the event, Qiu Hua stands with her arm linking with Xiu Tianyu. Her smile was amiable and complemented her features very well. She did not look overly soft and sweet, nor did she look vixen; there was a perfect balance to the way she conducts her actions and expressions.

She wore a cream coloured off shoulder modified A-line dress. There was a sheer overlayer on the dress that has inlaid diamonds on it, making the dress stand out amongst the others even for its modest design. Xiu Tianyu has on a monotone black and white suit that fits his frame to the T; not a single place looked too tight or too lose. His hair was slicked back to show off his ugly two-sided face.

By their side was Xiu Liling and Xiu Wencheng. Both donned in the best high brand clothing, everything perfectly altered to their size. Wencheng adorns a light blue suit, and Liling has on a pastel pink tea length dress. Her hair was in a loose curl style, framing her face with the same coloured bow pinned to her locks.

Shinyi sneers at them as he descries their ludicrous figures. Why doesn't Qiu Hua just dress up as a diamond? Though Halloween had passed by already, she wasn't too far from looking like one. No one would blame her for dressing up as one either, after all, they're already kissing her ass to the moon. Only when Qiu Hua is able to cover her stench by these gems, could she really sparkle as she wishes to. It's a shame that she's just a counterfeit and as much as she wants to be the real thing, she'll always be inferior.

As for the hideous rag doll beside her, she has her nose was pointed so high, it even surpasses the realm of Heaven. Shinyi has already envisioned her to be a lost relative of Pinocchio, it was only that she was made out of plastic and not wood like the original was. As for the copy-and-pasted Wencheng who resembles their mother so much, Shinyi wonders if their face has developed abs yet for smiling so much. Perhaps that's why even if they receive a slap, the thickness of their face absorbs the shock as if it was nothing.

When the group of six reaches the host, Qiu Hua puts on a surprise expression. She looks at them tenderly, "Oh my, and I was wondering if something happened to you on the way. Thankfully nothing happened. Next time, just let mama send a car to pick you up. You were all so willful so I allowed it, but look at what happened. We can't trust people these days to do their work well."

Her voice was exceptionally gentle, oozing with concern and worry. It made Shinyi feel nauseous hearing the tone in her voice. How he wishes he could stuff cotton in his ears so that he could block out her loathsome voice, or better yet, gag her so that his siblings could be spared as well.

Yunsheng thanks her with a lukewarm tone, "We appreciate muqin's concern, but there's no need to trouble you."

Changing the subject, he turns to Liling, "Congratulations on your birthday, meimei."

Liling imperiously harrumphs, "Did you even remember to bring Liling a present?"

Yunsheng nods, the corner of his lips twitches, "Of course I remembered to. Today is your birthday after all."

Scoffing in contempt, she rolls her eyes, "Better."

Qiu Hua understands her daughter's attitude very well and knows that if she lets this continue, she will only make them lose face. Clearing her throat, she welcomes Ying Zhuqing, "If it isn't Ying daren. I want to thank you for coming to celebrate my daughter's birthday with us today."

He dismissively stares at Qiu Hua, not hiding the clear disdain in his eyes. "Your daughter's birthday?"

Glancing at Liling, he snorts, "I only came to accompany my grandchildren to the event."

Her smile struggles to not falter, as her nails digs into the palms of her hands. Shinyi could almost guess her thoughts right now. She was probably cursing Ying Zhuqing from the ground up into the space, wishing for his early death.

Even if she has such sinister thoughts, Qiu Hua's attitude remains personable. She merely nods her head at his derisive response, "Of course. Ah Yun, they're such lovable children, who would not want to come and accompany them?"

Taking another strike, Ying Zhuqing lightly chuckles, "Clearly, someone who chooses to pick up a rock only to throw away a diamond²."

His words displayed that it is daunting to deal with an old ginger, as aged ginger is more pungent³. Somehow feeling a harsh phantom slap, Xiu Tianyu touches the side of his face that feels raw and sore. He rubs Qiu Hua's hands to show his support and faces Ying Zhuqing. Sticking out his chest, he eyes him, "I want to thank you for accompanying Ah Yun and them, but I hope that yuefu¹ will be amiable enough to forgive Ah Hua for somehow angering you."

Ying Zhuqing sneers inwardly. He knows what kind of stupid trick Xiu Tianyu was trying to pull. If he chooses not to forgive Qiu Hua, it would make him seem like an ill-tempered man who chooses to bully the fairer sex for no reason, garnering people's ignominy. But if he chooses to concede and forgive her, he will be known as someone who has no backbone and is easily defeated by someone who is younger than he is. As at the moment, both of their family's standing was on the same level; no one needed to bend over for the other. Both options held no gains for Ying Zhuqing and only seeks to humiliate him in one way or another.

Shinyi rolls his eyes mentally. Trying to bully his laoye?! Dream on. They're a million years too early to try and bully this laozi's people! Stepping up, Shinyi greets them, "Greetings to fuqin, jimu⁴, xiao jie⁵, and xiao ge⁶."

Not waiting for them to open their mouths, he tosses unto them what they had to Ying Zhuqing. "Yi'er wishes xiao jie well and hopes that jimu won't hold it against Yi'er for missing twelve of xiao jie's birthdays. Yi'er was in the hospital and hasn't been able to see either fuqin, jimu, xiao ge, or xiao jie this entire time."

Qiu Hua's lips press into a thin line. Whenever she encountered this brat, she always felt like she was eating losses only. Pinching Xiu Tianyu's waist, she stops him from firing any words at Shinyi. If other members in their circle investigated, they would find out the truth easily. She can only blame his good fortune that he didn't die and woke up.

Reaching out to touch him, her lips quivers to form a genial smile, "How could we ever blame you, Yi'er? You being here is good enough."

He covers his face and turns away as if shy, avoiding her poisonous claws. His muffled voice comes from behind his hands, "Then... Then Yi'er is relieved that jimu isn't so narrow-minded to think so."

Opening them back up, he strides over to Liling and glances up at her with bright eyes. On the side Yunsheng they're all baffled at his actions and stare onward with blank faces.

Shinyi reaches into his pocket and pulls out a palm-sized box. "Your birthday present, xiao jie."

Liling's eyes sparkle as she scrutinized the small object in his hands. It wasn't wrapped up but the quality of the box itself was clearly worth hundreds of thousands of yuan. Yunsheng's pupil shrinks as he recognizes what it is. He glances at Shinyi, his hands gradually balls up into fists. But he wasn't the only one who reacted to the appearance of the box: Ying Zhuqing, Xiu Tianyu, and Qiu Hua all held the similar reactions when the box was pulled out.

Qiu Hua wants to stop Liling from accepting it but she was too late, the impatient child quickly snatches it from his hand and opens it without a shred of gratitude for being given it. Inside was a gorgeous pendant consisting of two cats, a black and white one. The two of them were following each other with their paws touching, and a small bat could be seen on the back of the white cat. The combination of two different colored nephrites shows off the meticulous skill of the jade worker. On the white nephrite, there was a small batch of brown in which was used to form the bat, adding to the auspicious value of the object.

She frowns instantly and raises the box into the air, "It's so ugly! Why did you give LiLi something so ugly?"

Shinyi jumps at her sudden actions and backs up. His eyes instantly waters at her insulting words. "It was the only precious item that Yi'er had lef-"

Shouting, she interrupts him, "Who cares?!"

"If LiLi doesn't like it, LiLi doesn't like it!"

Attempting to throw it, Liling swings down her arm. Qiu Hua gnashes her teeth at her stupid daughter and takes the box from her before she could toss it. "LiLi, you mustn't act so rash. Your didi was only being thoughtful and gave you a very unique gift."

Liling stomps her feet, no longer caring about how she looks like. "But LiLi doesn't like it. Make him give me another gift!"

Mentally smacking her forehead, Qiu Hua cautions in a voice that is a decibel lower than normal to warn her daughter, "LiLi, you can't be so unreasonable. Your didi put a lot of thought into giving you this."

She closes it and hands it back to Shinyi, as she apologetically smiles, "Yi'er, unfortunately, we can't accept your valuable gift but muqin is sure that LiLi appreciates your effort."

Can't accept? Valuable gift? Liling was flabbergasted at why her mother would return it. Wasn't it now hers? What was so special about it? It just looks like a deformed lump.

Her face visibly blackens looking at Qiu Hua reaching out to hand it back. Wanting to stop her mother, she stretches her hands out, but before she could get to the destination, a large hand grabs onto her wrist and stops her movement. Her eyes follow up the masculine arm, and her eyes meet with Xiu Tianyu's dagger-like hazel coloured eyes.

Remembering the last time, Liling drew back her outstretched hand. Feeling very wronged, her anger surges forth as she thinks back to the reason for that day. Never had her father treated her like that before, it was all due to this useless boy! Her eyes filled with hostility as she narrows them at Shinyi.

Shinyi acts ignorant to her menacing gaze and purses his lips. "W-Why? Does jimu not like my gift for xiao jie? Is it no good?"

His round sapphire eyes lowers down pitifully as big droplets of tears hung on his long lashes, refusing to fall down. His sibling's heart all squeezes at seeing him like this. All of them itches to run over and pull him into his arms, but before they could even act out their thoughts, a figure dutifully rushes over and picks him up.

Ying Zhuqing brushes his thumb over his (XSY's) wet lashes, "Don't cry, Yi'er."

His heart aches to see Shinyi's face full of sadness. He had always exhibited a bright and lovable smile on his face, and the despondent look did not match his appearance. Ying Zhuqing unexpectedly did something that he rarely do, explain. "Yi'er, that is a treasured gift that was given to your mother by your lao lao."

Shinyi wasn't surprised by Ying Zhuqing's words; he knew exactly what it was. After all, he especially prepared the presents for them.

Given the name 'Yongjie Siluo⁷' for what it represented; marital fidelity, it was a piece of jewelry from the 1900s during the Qing Dynasty. When it was uncovered, Ying Zhuqing came across it at an auction and bought it for Ying Yunyan. Their marriage had only started back then but Ying Yunyan had difficulties bearing a child, even losing the fetus in the process before.

Once he saw the design, he knew that it would cheer up his beloved as she adored cats and was a little superstitious about these kinds of things. It was only that she had the misfortune of being allergic to them, that stopped her from adopting any cats into their home.

Ying Zhuqing taps on Shinyi's reddened nose, "You mustn't give it to just anyone in the future, okay, Yi'er?"

Shinyi nods, "Okay."

'Forced' to take back the box, Shinyi shows a face full of guilt but he was in an incredibly good mood. He fiddles with the box for a bit before placing it back into his pockets.

Qiu Hua and Xiu Tianyu finds it hard to swallow with their presence there, and so they were dismissed. That pendant was a bane to their existence, as it reminds them of that woman. For Xiu Tianyu, his promises and the feeling of contrite when he slept with another woman. He had indeed truly loved 'her' in the past at one time, but 'her' path had not been in line with his and she met an unfortunate end. For Qiu Hua, it will always remind her of her inferiority as well as her crude past. Her mood had soured upon the emergence of yongjie siluo.

Ying Zhuqing meets some old acquaintances on the way and leaves them briefly to recollect with them about their past. Shinyi waves goodbye to him and follows after Yunsheng, who is leading his siblings away from the prying eyes.

Once they were in an inconspicuous spot, Yunsheng separates from the group with Shinyi.

He holds his hand and asks in a quiet voice, "Yi'er, did you know?"

Shinyi bites his lower lips guiltily and answers, "Yes..."

His face lowers down and he doesn't dare to look up. He was honestly afraid of losing favor of his brother or better yet being rejected by him. Yunsheng sighs as he sees the fear in Shinyi's body language. Tousling his hair, he lightly chastises him, "You mustn't act like this again, you understand?"

Peeking up, Shinyi tilts his head to the side a little, "Is... Is dage not upset with Yi'er?"

His voice was brimming with hope as his round azure eyes glimmers with an innocent look. Yunsheng pinches his cheeks with a bit of strength, leaving behind a faint red mark. He purses his lips, "Dage is upset, but dage is more worried about you. You can't go and provoke them as you had just done. Although muqin-"

Shinyi, "Jimu."

Yunsheng looks at him with bewildered to why they spoke suddenly. "..."

He opens his mouth once again, "She's not our muqin."

Understanding what Shinyi was correcting him on, Yunsheng didn't know whether he should laugh or cry. In the car, Qiuyue had been spewing out fire about Qiu Hua. Perhaps it led his view on Qiu Hua to become skewed. He coughs and continues with his sentence, "Jimu may look like a nice person, but there's something else lurking underneath that facade."

Shinyi makes a small sound of acknowledgment and giggles, "Un. Yi'er will be more careful in the future of baba yaga~"

Before Yunsheng could reply, the little rascal had run off already. Ruffling his hair in frustration, he looks at the small back that is getting farther away. He hadn't noticed when it happened, but his baby brother had become a mischievous little devil. Although they had initially played meager tricks on them, he was alright with it as he found him to be cute. All of his other younger siblings had gone through an impish phase, so he knew that it was a matter of time before that damnable phase showed up, but little did Yunsheng think that it would show up right now and he (XSY) would do it on that witch.

He didn't know whether to be thankful that Shinyi had only taunted them, at least they didn't have their hair straightened until it burnt into crisps, or find themselves duct taped to the ceiling when they woke up, or find a field of legos waiting for them on the floor with no shoes and the legos had been super glued onto the flooring. Back when Shinyi was crying, they had made eye contact briefly, and he (XSY) has winked at him adorably. This mini interaction almost made him cough up blood, but he calmed his emotions and continued to let the show go on. It would only be more troublesome if Shinyi's act was to be seen through.

Setting the blame on his best friend for influencing his younger brother, Yunsheng notes down to discipline Shinyi once they return home and to toss six, no maybe nine of Feiyi's cell phones into oblivion. He mustn't let his baby brother walk towards the dark side.

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¹Yuefu: '岳父' means wife's father.

²Pick up a rock just only to throw away a diamond: an idiom meaning to picking up rubbish or something worthless while throwing away something of value.

³Aged ginger is more pungent: Elderly people are more experienced.

⁴Jimu: '继母' means stepmother.

⁵Xiao jie: '小姐' in this aspect Shinyi is referring to 'little big sister'. It usually means young lady or young miss. It is also a derogatory slang for prostitutes in some parts in China.

Shinyi: ( ๑ ・◡・) hehe... Obviously, I mean that she's a--

Yunsheng: Yi'er ( ಠ - ಠ )

Shinyi: ( ・౪・ ) *whispers* I meant the las-

Yunsheng: *grabs Shinyi and spanks him*

Shinyi: Wuuu~! Gege, he bullied me~

Yijun: ♡ฅ(ᐤˊ꒳ฅˋᐤ♪) It's okay. Come here, Yi'er~

Yunsheng: \( • - • ;) Ah, wait... I- Yi'er, don't be mad at dage!

⁶Xiao ge: '小哥' usually refers to a man that is younger or is a junior to you. There's also a phrase in which it is used with: 二屄小哥 means dumb c*nt little brother.

⁷Yongjie siluo: '永结丝萝' means seal an everlasting bond of marriage. [Lit. bond of marriage.]