imPROMPTu

The Lady in Red Shoes

A/N: This story is going to incorporate my current drama obsession - I think you can probably tell what it is from the title! 😆 It's going to be a crossover story, inspired from a comment which I made on DramaLindy 's IG account, that Daoming Si could have a cousin. In keeping with the prompts, this part is for the prompt "Rain". Hope you like it!
Photo above courtesy of Netflix.
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The Daoming mansion was in a flurried state. The lady of the house had ordered a complete top-to-bottom spring clean, because they were expecting a visitor. She had wanted everything spick and span, with no dust anywhere in sight.
Ah Si walked into the main living room, his nose wrinkled in amusement.

"Shancai, what's all this? Are we expecting royalty?"

"Ah Si! I wanted everything to look nice for Wen Ying's arrival! Do you think I'm going overboard?" She looked at him anxiously.

Ah Si stifled a chuckle and placed his hands gently on his little wife's shoulders.

"Firstly, don't call her Wen Ying. She hates her Chinese name, nobody knows why. Even her book publishers here in China don't call her that. The only person that was allowed to call her by her Chinese name was our maternal grandmother."

"Secondly, she's a spoilt brat who's not going to appreciate all this. I asked her to stay in a hotel while she's here in Shanghai for her book launch event but you insisted that she stay with us, so don't overwork yourself, okay?" he gazed into her eyes.

"Okay, I just thought it would be nice for her to be surrounded by family, since she doesn't have family back in Korea. You know," she sighed, "I feel sorry for her sometimes. Her father suffered from dementia and eventually passed away, and her mother mysteriously disappeared. She doesn't even have any siblings. It must have been hard for her, growing up," she shook her head sadly.

Ah Si tipped her face up and planted a kiss on her nose. "Don't fret too much my Shancai, she's a tough one. Or she wouldn't have achieved the success she has today. Anyway, I'll let you get back to what you were doing," he smiled at her.

"Okay Ah Si," she smiled back at him and hugged him tightly, nuzzling her face in his chest.

"What's this for?"

"I'm just grateful to have you. And our three little munchkins. I couldn't be happier than I am now."

Ah Si sighed contentedly, wrapping his arms tightly around her. They stood like that for a while before Shancai disentangled herself and gently pushed him out of the living room.

"Now, shoo! I have a lot of work to do!"

As she worked, she again mused about the much-anticipated visitor to their home. She had never met this relative of theirs, all she knew was that her mother and Daoming Feng were sisters. Her mother had married a Korean architect and moved to small town just out of Seoul. She rarely came back to China and as a result, her young daughter had only met her Chinese cousins once or twice. Ah Si had invited her for their wedding, but she had sent her apologies, saying that she would be engaged at a book signing event in London.

Shancai wondered what it would be like to meet a real-life author, a hugely popular and successful one too. She also wondered if she was as eccentric as people said she was. Thank goodness she was fluent in Mandarin or else she wouldn't know how to communicate with her.

She didn't have time to wonder much further as suddenly the sound of a car engine could be heard coming up the driveway. A dark grey Volvo SUV pulled up to the front door.