Chapter 136: Trial by fire.

Two whole hours passed, and Liwu was still stuck at the party she had planned to leave after only an hour. Xifeng had performed, like she wished. Two singers had serenaded the guests with their voices. More cotton candy snacks had been eaten by this crowd alone compared to a class of children at an amusement park for a whole day.

Her failure to escape was mostly related to her many relatives. Everyone had something to talk to her about! She had received about sixty red envelopes so far and given out just as many.

In fact, she was just putting her phone back in her pocket after sending another red envelope to her four year old nephew.

Weijun was not having it easy either. He had been seized bu a tide of cousins, uncles and siblings from Liwu’s family. He was beginning to see why Old Tai wanted baby girls to be added to the mix. There were too many males in the Tai family!

Even more outrageous was the volume of those who had identical faces. If he had not known about Tai Alix’s lucky rabbit foot that guaranteed five babies in one pregnancy, he would have wanted to test their genes personally.

A towering older uncle clapped him on the back with a booming laugh. “Hey, cotton candy underpants, welcome to the family.”

Weijun staggered. Before he could reply, a cousin tugged him toward another group of twins who looked identical, each eager to shake his hand. “I am the eldest.” One said.

“No, I am the real eldest.” The other laughed. “We want to hear all about the lion mask. What was the inspiration behind it? And, did our great great grandfather really try to drown you in your house? Sometimes, our Liwu exaggerates things.”

Before he could respond, someone threw a hand over his shoulder. “I heard you are playing detective. If you need an assistant Mayor, I can fill in for you.”

Liwu was serene, watching it all with a faint smile. That pulling from place to place her husband was encountering, was the same family introduction all those who married into or from their family were exposed to.

Her eyes flickered with bewilderment as she watched the younger quintuplets Old Tai called hell’s escaped demons make the beeline for Weijun. They were the worst, barely teenagers but sneaky like foxes. One shook his hand with sticky fingers that made Weijun wince.

Another put a ’fart’ button in his pocket and activated it.

Weijun almost fainted.

The third took out the button and replaced it with a fake worm which made Weijun squeal.

He escaped immediately, trying his best to maintain his dignity. “Liwu…” he practically cried out his wife’s name before taking her arm. “Your family is too spirited for me.”

She chuckled. “That is why I am sitting all the way here, close to the door. I can make a quick exist if it gets too rowdy.”

Weijun rested his head on her shoulder, listening to the sound of champagne going down her throat. This was the first moment of peace he was getting since the launch of Kingdom cotton candy started. The party had gone from a launch to a party/family re-union.

Every business man or politician in the city seeking to make connections to the Tai’s or Zhang’s was in attendance.

“If you think hell’s demons are bad, wait until you meet the second set of quintuplets that are younger than me by a year. They are about make their entrance.” She chuckled.

Indeed, the second set of Tai quintuplets born to Tai Ho Sun arrived like a storm. All male, broad shouldered, competitive and proud. They wore expensive suits and watches, like typical CEO’s in a drama.

“We call them the dramatic male leads because they behave like that. They all pretend to be germaphobes, aloof, workaholics, geniuses. Well, only the germaphobe part is a lie.” Liwu told him. “They have egos bigger than their heads.”

They approached Liwu and Weijun first.

“Saying bad things about us Liwu?” The oldest asked.

She snorted.

One of them immediately challenged Weijun to an arm wrestling match. Then it was a chess game, a game of go, and then cards. They would have kept going if Liwu did not chase them away.

Weijun’s head relaxed on her shoulder, as if he was boneless. “I can’t handle it anymore. Let’s go.”

She laughed. “Not before you meet all my sisters. Entrance to this family is a trial by fire.”

Weijun groaned.

The sisters were gentler, though no less overwhelming. They fussed over his looks, his tie, complimented his hair and his speeches. They whispered secrets about Liwu’s childhood and gave him advice.

Weijun laughed politely, though his mind reeled. As a politician, he had to remember every name, every relation, every resource. Xifeng started another performance and everyone went to watch her.

This gave Weijun the break he longed for. He wondered how the rest of his family was fairing in Liwu’s pool of relatives.

“I think you have had enough.” Liwu declared.

Weijun exhaled in relief.

But he exhaled too early, because his mother-in-law and father-in-law joined them at the table. No words were spoke, but he was tense. Their presence was like a knife pointing at him. Whether it was sharp or dull was unknown.

“You are going to freak him out if you keep this up.” Liwu rolled her eyes.

“It serves him right for rejecting my call.” Alix replied. “Both of you forgot that Aang can teleport me to where you are in a heartbeat.”

“I thought all was forgiven and forgotten.” Liwu muttered, reaching for the champagne bottle.

Caishen removed it before she had a chance to get a refill. “This is your third glass Liwu. I think you have drunk enough alcohol for the day.” From the time she reached legal drinking age, he had banned her from alcohol. Her bad luck was unpredictable. If an incident happened while she was drunk, death was a possibility. “Wait until we are on the yacht to drink some more. The whole family is spending the night on it.” His eyes flicked to Weijun. “You as well. I hope you are ready to see what we are like when the cameras are not watching.”

Weijun shuddered. That sounded more like a threat than a invitation.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep