Doctor Lou moved his eyes from Bi Lu to Lei Xing and glared at her. He then turned and walked to the table, put his stool down and sat down with a huge disgruntled frown on his face, facing away from his guests.

Tung Mei rolled her eyes and then smiled at Lei Xing and excitedly bounced towards her, "Xing jie...Welcome, come sit. I did not expect to see you here..." She said as she hooked Lei Xing's arm and pulled her over to the table. Lei Xing knit her brows as her eyes darted from Tung Mei to Doctor Lou as she walked over and sat down.

{...I'm the one who couldn't fathom your existence being here -_-)'...}

Bi Lu remained standing in front of the storage room door, with his eyes trained on Lei Xing. His eyes met Doctor Lou's giving a deadly side glare. Bi Lu bowed his head in greeting, but Doctor Lou's glare only seemed to intensify. When Lei Xing had mentioned the old man not liking strangers, he had thought she was just saying that so she could go alone. But now faced with the old man's unnerving glare of disapproval, he could tell he was definitely unwelcome here.

Bi Lu cleared his throat and glanced away but then quickly faced forward again. Even it was uncomfortable, he had to do his job and so he steeled his gaze. Doctor Lou raised an eyebrow at Bi Lu, seemingly amused at his renewed confidence. Doctor Lou then squinted at him as if acknowledging and accepting the challenge that Bi Lu definitely did not issue.

Doctor Lou then saw Tung Mei reaching for the wine jar from the corner of his eye and his eyes immediately ripped from Bi Lu's form as he immediately snatched the jar off the table and glared at Tung Mei, "You still dare to drink?!"

Tung Mei frowned and barked back, "I came all this way to visit you and you won't even share a little wine?!"

Doctor Lou scoffed, "Don't pretend! You only came here because you FINISHED MY wine!" Doctor Lou then sniffed and stroked the jar, "To think I even brought out my precious -"

"At least you know you're no fun." Tung Mei mumbled under her breath as she reached for her cup, which still had some wine but Doctor Lou quickly snatched that up as well and defended with a pout, "That's a lie! You know I'm the most fun, would you prefer I were lik-"

"Hey!" Lei Xing snapped, stopping the two before they could go into a full-blown bickering session. The two people turned to her then Lei Xing narrowed her eyes at them and calmly said, "Someone answer the question."

"Tch." Doctor Lou pouted and then turned his body to the side, ignoring them again. He drank the wine in the cup and went about pouring himself another. Tung Mei pursed her lips and glared at his back, then out of the corner of her eye, she saw Lei Xing looking at her with an irritated frown, impatiently waiting for a response.

Tung Mei immediately turned her attention to Lei Xing with a short nervous laugh and answered, "Yes...we know each other."

"How?" Lei Xing flatly asked, completely unamused.

Tung Mei blinked, glanced at Doctor Lou's back and then back at Lei Xing with a smile, "...He's a friend of the family."

Lei Xing knit her brows.

{..."Friend of the family"...That would explain him knowing about the bracelet but still...What are the odds?...}

Doctor Lou then grumpily mumbled in-between refilling his cup, "I wish I wasn't "in the family" at the moment."

This naturally got Tung Mei riled up again,?"Are you seriously going to be like this over wine, even after I graciously forgave you for duping me?" Tung Mei said with a frown as she jabbed Doctor Lou's side hard with her elbow.

"Hmph!" Was all she got in response as Doctor Lou continued to ignore them. Tung Mei pouted and then changed her tone and poked his back with her finger, "I already said I will replace them...I was even going to give you my snow-tipped wine too..."

Doctor Lou immediately turned his head her way, "Really?"

Tung Mei eagerly nodded and reassured him, "Truly." Doctor Lou suspiciously looked her over and then raised his eyebrows, "Where is it?"

Tung Mei lips twitched, "I don't have it...yet."? She cast a quick glance at Lei Xing, who was busy thinking and then smiled back at him, "I would get it now, but as you know..."

Doctor Lou cast a quick glance at Lei Xing and then squinted at Tung Mei, Tung Mei gave him a brilliant smile and added, "I'll even bring two..."

"Five." Doctor Lou countered haughtily raising his eyebrows, signaling it was five or no deal.

"Five." Tung Mei acknowledged with a fake smile as her face twitched in annoyance.

Doctor Lou chuckled and then put the wine jar back on the table, now appeased and in great spirit. He looked at Lei Xing's frowning face and grabbed a free cup and filled it as he said, "Xing Xing, you shouldn't be frowning at a time like this."

Lei Xing, who had not been paying attention blinked up at him when she heard her name, and then she knit her brows.

{...Now you want to talk?... And this "Xing Xing" thing. Honestly, do I look like a 2-year-old to you? -_-)'...}

Doctor Lou placed the cup of wine in front of Lei Xing with a grin, "Here, have some wine~ It is a time for celebration! How about a toast? I would have had a meal ready for you but...I got distracted." He added squinting at Tung Mei, obviously pointing her out as the distraction. Then he perked up and smiled at her as he excitedly asked, "Ah, have you heard?... Xing Xing and Xiao Kai are getting married~" He finished with an amused chuckle.

Tung Mei apparently did not share in his amus.e.m.e.nt and simply flashed him a half-smile as she just reached for the jar of wine in his hand, muttering, "You must be ecstatic..."

Doctor Lou happily released the jar and turned back to Lei Xing,?"I knew from the first day I set eyes on you that you were destined for greatness, Empress hehehehe~ You're in love with him now, aren't you? She's definitely not going to leave him now, you'll see~" Doctor Lou said snickering to Tung Mei, who gave another half-smile, obviously just humoring him as she refilled her cup.

Lei Xing blinked and then knit her brows, "Did I ever tell you I wanted to leave?"

Doctor Lou froze for a moment, then grabbed the jar from Tung Mei and topped up his cup, "You...mentioned...Ah, remember you asked me if it was possible for you to go back...That time. Going back means you wanted to return. Returning means you wanted to leave him...Easy connection to make and I am quite so brilliant so...Naturally."

Doctor Lou flashed Lei Xing a grin and then picked up his cup, sipped his wine and resumed glaring at Bi Lu. Bi Lu blinked in apprehension at the return of Doctor Lou's glare, but he did not break the eye contact this time and simply straightened up even more.

Doctor Lou smiled in amus.e.m.e.nt and squinted even more at Bi Lu, obviously taking pleasure in the other's discomfort.

Meanwhile, Lei Xing sat there scrutinizing him, her gaze then moved over to Tung Mei, who was resting her head on her hand as she leisurely sipped her wine.?She really seemed too comfortable with Doctor Lou and Lei Xing was not sure what to make of this whole situation. She had her answers before she could even begin her planned interrogation. But she was not convinced, there was something else but her mind was reacting more slowly than she would like at the moment and it was irritating her.

As she stared at Tung Mei, Lei Xing suddenly raised her eyebrows as something, the thing finally clicked in her mind.

{...Oh!...Makes sense...Definitely does make sense...But...}

Lei Xing narrowed her eyes at Doctor Lou and began humming in her mind as she picked up the cup. But Doctor Lou continued fixating on Bi Lu behind her, she sipped the wine and then smiled, "Great wine. The best I've ever had~"

The compliment immediately arrested Doctor Lou's attention, he chuckled and smugly explained, "Naturally, this is my personal brew, carefully manufactured over many, many years. Immaculate taste and impossibly IRREPLACEABLE..." He stressed the last word as he squinted at Tung Mei, then happily picked up the jar and refilled Lei Xing's cup, "Drink more, you can have as much as want hehe~"

Lei Xing smiled and nodded in appreciation. Then as she picked up her cup, she casually commented, "You two seem quite close..."

Doctor Lou grinned and smugly continued, "Naturally, she's my precious - Ow! Why did you kick me?!" He exclaimed as he glared at Tung Mei.

"My leg slipped...And it didn't hurt." Tung Mei said narrowing her eyes at him, then she turned to Lei Xing and smiled, "He's my godfather."

"Godfather?" Lei Xing?asked with raised?eyebrows, then she glanced at Doctor Lou for confirmation.

Doctor Lou glanced at Lei Xing then flatly repeated, "Godfather" to confirm it. His discontent was quite clear in his voice and on his pouting face. He turned to the side again, ignoring the two girls and went back to Bi Lu, this time glaring darts his way.