The family group chat

At the dining table.

Xiao Yan noticed Zayne cast a couple of brief glances at the phones she and Xavier had set beside them.

The little star and doughnut straps belonged to the same series, in both style and material.

Zayne, however, showed no emotion.

She sat at the head of the table, a man on either side of her, and an eerie silence settled over them as the servants began serving the food at Uncle Sang's instructions.

With two gentlemen home, Uncle Sang had prepared a formal Western dinner.

Once the appetizers arrived, Xiao Yan poked at hers a couple of times and took a small bite. "Ahem, well, shall I introduce you two?"

Zayne smiled at Xiao Yan. "Sorry for the trouble, Little Jasmine."

Xavier also looked over with a smile. "Thanks for doing this, partner."

Zayne: "..." You have a special nickname too?

Xavier: "..." Heh.

Xiao Yan could distinctly smell gunpowder in the air. Playing dumb was her only option.

"Zayne, associate chief of cardiac surgery at Central Hospital."

"Xavier, a city SWAT officer."

At this point, Xiao Yan added, "One of you treats patients and saves lives, and the other protects the public. You're both amazing, hahaha."

Her laughter was painfully dry.

"Hello." Zayne nodded to Xavier first. "I didn't get to greet you properly when we met last time. That was rude of me."

Xavier said, "Not at all. You looked quite surprised that time too. Of course you couldn't spare the attention for greetings."

"I was indeed a little surprised." Zayne showed his goodwill with another gentle smile. "That was my first husband selection event. I hadn't expected a decision so soon."

"Mm." Seeing that Zayne had no intention of crossing swords with him, Xavier's attitude grew a little friendlier too. "I've attended quite a few husband selection events myself. I had to answer a lot of questions every time. At my partner's event... the choice was certainly made very quickly."

Seeing that both men intended to rein themselves in and were gradually getting along, Xiao Yan silently breathed a sigh of relief.

They began chatting as they ate.

But after a few exchanges, Xavier abruptly glanced at Xiao Yan.

Zayne had been rather curious about what people were usually asked at husband selection events, and Xavier had just told him a little.

Why was there a hint of unhappiness in his eyes again?

After thinking it over, Xiao Yan frowned. "You certainly have plenty of experience attending husband selection events!"

Xavier froze. "Well... not that much. I wasn't seriously participating, just going through the motions."

I thought what I said had gone in one ear and out the other, but it turns out she does mind. That's good, he thought.

Phew. Xiao Yan let out a small breath. Good thing she'd reacted quickly.

Otherwise, her magnanimous lack of jealousy would surely have put Xavier in a sulk.

Once that sulk took shape, coaxing him out of it wouldn't be so easy.

She kept up the effort, frowning as she pressed him. "Zayne's older than you, and he never went running off to other people's husband selection events before. But you? One a month. Quite the busy man."

Xavier blinked. "Partner..."

"Without prior experience, how could he judge that his wife was the best choice?" Zayne stepped in to smooth things over. "Don't give him too hard a time. He's a SWAT officer. When his workplace pressures him to marry, he's under far more pressure than I am."

"Oh, so I'm being petty?" Xiao Yan glared at Zayne next. "Then what about you? If the first event you happened to attend hadn't been my husband selection banquet, and someone else chose you, would you have obediently nodded and agreed too?"

Zayne opened his mouth, then pressed his lips together and lowered his head.

He hadn't considered that question carefully before. Thinking about it now... he probably wouldn't have agreed so readily.

He might have used the medical research awards he had won to offset the punishment he would face for refusing to marry.

But none of that had happened. Declaring his loyalty to Little Jasmine with nothing but words would only make him seem glib and smooth-talking.

"Partner, let Dr. Zayne off the hook." Xavier stepped in to smooth things over for Zayne too. "Didn't he say it already? You're the best choice for a wife."

"Is that so?" Xiao Yan pouted.

Zayne shook his head helplessly and sighed. "It seems I've unwittingly fallen into Little Jasmine's trap of having to prove myself."

He said this to Xavier.

Xavier laughed along. "If we keep discussing this, Dr. Zayne and I will both end up with indigestion."

Only then did Xiao Yan arch a brow and purse her lips. "Fine. I'll be magnanimous and let you both off."

Uncle Sang came over with a cheerful smile to refill his three employers' cups with hot pomelo tea.

Zayne and Xavier both politely thanked Uncle Sang.

Xiao Yan brought up Jiang Miao's husband selection banquet in mid-October.

Xavier had no objection to attending, and Zayne confirmed once again that he would accompany Xiao Yan.

"That's great. Rafayel said he'd go too, so that just leaves Sylus." Xiao Yan sounded troubled. "I don't know whether he'll agree."

"Call him after dinner and ask," Zayne said. "Caleb's patrol mission is a little longer this time. He probably won't make it."

Xavier looked at Xiao Yan, then at Zayne. "Looks like I've missed quite a bit of the plot. How do I catch up?"

Zayne smiled and took out his phone. "Why don't we make a family group chat? We can discuss things there and keep each other updated on what's happening."

The three of them created the group on the spot.

Xiao Yan also tried inviting Rafayel and Sylus.

Zayne invited Caleb too. "He should already be in low Earth orbit. Usually, while he's on a mission, he won't..."

All three joined the group in succession!

After a moment of silence, Zayne corrected himself. "All right. Apparently, he can still get online during his mission."

Xiao Yan already had four of the men on her friends list. Seeing Caleb's profile picture appear prominently in the group member list made her heart ache.

Caleb's profile picture was an ID photo of himself in his fleet commander's uniform.

His expression was stern, even faintly murderous. He looked fierce.

As soon as Rafayel joined, he typed, [Hm? What's this group? Who are all these people?]

Sylus: [A family group chat? Was that the great artist Rafayel speaking just now?]

Rafayel: [Boss Sylus, stop setting your sights on me. I'm not taking your commission. Who knows whether you're planning to use my paintings to launder money.]

Zayne: [Hello, everyone. I'm Zayne.]

Xavier: [Xavier.]

Sylus: [Oh, a cop. How scary.]

Xavier: [It's the weekend. I'm not responding to calls today.]

Rafayel: [I'm at a charity gala. Whatever it is, let's talk later.]

Sylus: [At an auction banquet. Not a convenient time to chat. We'll discuss it later.]

Zayne: [Go ahead with what you're doing. Xavier and I happen to be having dinner with our wife too. We can talk after dinner.]

Rafayel: [Huh? You're both home? What delicious food are you having? Take a picture and let me see?]

Xavier snapped a photo of the table and sent it to the group.

Rafayel: [Why isn't there any seafood? I'll come home for dinner tomorrow. Have the chef make me a few lavish seafood dishes.]

Zayne: [I'll arrange it. But aren't you at a charity gala?]

Rafayel: [Oh, right. Ugh, this gala is so boring... Fine, I'd better go deal with it. Bye~]

Caleb hadn't said a word the entire time.

There was no telling whether he was playing the silent observer.

Or whether he had no interest whatsoever in the people and conversations in this group and was ignoring it entirely.

Most likely the latter.

Once the group fell quiet, Xiao Yan glumly continued eating.