Chapter 28 – A Family Dinner

Dad was eating something at the table. It was hidden by his body, so it was hard to tell what food it was. I slipped behind Merry as he turned to us, using her to hide the small tent formed in my nether area.

"Where have you been, kids?" Dad asked, a genuine smile adorning his tired face at our sight. Thinking about it now, it was quite magical that he loved me and Merry the same way when his daughter was both gorgeous and a top grader while I was… well, neither. To be honest, he might even favor me over her.

"Hanging out, Merry might have found her career," I told him. Sure, I was so horny that I wanted to take Merry to some cheap motel, but I'd never reject my father's attempt to start a conversation. This man has given me and Merry our lives, he worked for hours every day, giving up his aspirations and dreams just to provide for us.

"Career? You shouldn't neglect your studies, your grades are the most important," Dad raised his worries. He paid for my tuition fees, which were about 5000 CD, the Chanya dollars, per semester. However, Merry enjoyed a full scholarship due to her excellence, and losing it would be a heavy burden on my father.

Dad earned about 11,000 CD per month after subtracting the costs of the gas and truck maintenance. Between the taxes, mortgage, allowance for me and Merry, food, health insurance, and endless other expenses, barely a few hundred were left for savings.

"Don't worry, Dad, I won't let my grades drop. I was scouted by a big studio, I will soon sign a contract with them as a singer. Hopefully I will make a lot of money and become famous," Merry gave him one of her cutest smiles, the ones that just melted human beings like penguins in the desert.

"Mm, you do have a pretty voice, I often hear you sing in your room. Your beauty will pull many fans as well, I'm sure you will be great. Dad will do his best to support you!" He smiled back. He already got up from his chair, and now he was coating Merry with a big hug. Thankfully, my raging little friend had calmed down by now, so I had nothing to worry about.

"Thank you, Dad!" Merry hugged him back warmly.

"Dad, did you finish work early today?" I asked, knowing he rarely made it home before late evening.

"You- you could say that. There wasn't much work today."

His smile seemed forced and unnatural, making me suspect something was wrong. It couldn't be kept a secret for a long time if it was a big thing, so there was no need to dig into it for now.

"Anyway, why don't you two come eat with me? I made some chicken stir-fry, there's enough for the three of us," Dad beckoned at the wok in the table's center, leading us to it with his arm still hugging Merry's shoulder. We stood before our chairs, waiting for him to sit first.

"Hmm, you used to be small enough to sit on my knees," Dad said, looking at us fondly, sitting down. He first searched for Merry's eyes, but he hesitated for a second and looked at me instead. I did sit on his knees when I was a child. Merry looked down on her empty bowl, choosing silence.

Lunch was not that long time ago, but luckily, the dishes weren't enough to satisfy me back then. Now, a few hours later, I was hungry again. Merry, on the other hand, ate a huge wrap-

"Mm, Dad, it's tasty," My sister grunted like a savage as she threw piece after piece into her mouth, vegetables and chicken alike. Endless appetite. Little glutton!

"Nikolas, why aren't you eating? Are you not hungry?" Dad noticed my bowl was still empty. He had arranged three of them in advance.

"I'm very hungry, I was just surprised by Merry's appetite," I chuckled, pouring some food onto my plate. Oh crap, I forgot the rule.

"Nikolas, you know we only use full names in this house. Mom chose your names because she loved them and she loved you. Shortening those names to something she didn't choose is disrespectful."

Yup, that's the rule. We must use the full names, I was just unlucky to forget it first this time. Merry stuck her little pinkish tongue at me. Little siblings just couldn't avoid gloating when the older ones were getting some scolding for small mishaps.

"I'm sorry. Merelene, since you are so hungry, there's some more left in the wok," I eyed her, trying to force her to eat even more as revenge.

"No, I'm full now, thanks," she shrugged. She was too spoiled to be coerced into anything.

"I will take it then," Dad laughed and took the leftovers from the wok. The meal was soon over, and the three of us cleared the table. I washed the dishes, knowing Dad would do it if I left them in the sink for more than an hour. The evidence, the dishes from the morning were already gone.

"Hmm, do you think something happened with Dad?" Merry found her way to behind me and whispered.

I placed the wok on a towel to dry off, moving to wash the bowls. "There's something weird going on, but we can just find out what it is in a few days. He can't hide it if it's something important," I answered.

"What if I told you he didn't touch the food before us? When I used the serving spoon, I could tell the food had not been touched since it was prepared. The leftovers he took after you was all he ate," Merry shared her insight.

Her alarming words prompted me to turn to her sharply, "Are you sure? There was only half a portion in there!"

Something was off. Dad was not the type to eat half meals or starve himself. Unless… unless what?

I looked at Merry, also known as Marlene when Dad was home, expecting some kind of explanation. "Do you know why?"

"What reason he got not to eat? Does he dislike chicken?" she pondered out loud.

"You have been living with him your whole life, you obviously know he likes chicken meat," I rolled my eyes, "Wait, meat. Meat is expensive. What if he wanted to save money?"

"Are you saying he isn't earning enough to buy food?" Marlene gaped, "I'm sure he earns enough with even some money to save at the end of the month." We both saw his paychecks while he was out, and we also knew the household expenses.

"Could it be…" Something came to my mind.

"Could it be that he has a mistress he hides from us, and he needs the money to fund her requests?" Merry said out loud, suggesting something ridiculous, "And that's why he returned home early from work!"

"Because he is with his mistress right now, an invisible woman was perhaps dining with us eating invisible food?" I mocked her conjectures.

"No, asshole, maybe she said she didn't want to meet today because she doesn't feel well or something like that, and it made him sad!"

The dishes were all done. "Yeah, that's not it. Let's wait for tomorrow, we will get a clearer image," I concluded. There was something I wanted to see for myself. Since the whole fun time with Merry was busted, the only other choice I had was training.

"Fine," she pouted, clearly dissatisfied by my unwillingness to discuss that nonsense. Just talking about it felt disrespectful.

"I'm going to cultivate in my room."

With this declaration, I headed to my room and closed the door behind me. It was time to practice the hurricane technique again. The way I used it was wrong; instead of absorbing that storm of Qi, I should have let it rage on while absorbing parts of it.

This way, it could keep spinning at a constant volume and velocity, allowing me to absorb less in the short term but much more in the long term.

I soon sat down on a pillow, closed my eyes, and relaxed my body. Toes first, legs next, stomach, and so on. The green bubbles welcomed me after a minute of relaxation, marking my entrance to the meditative mode.

"Come to Daddy," I whispered, making the Qi twirl around me. Carefully, I willed it to keep rotating, steadily creating a thick hurricane.

"Perfect."

It reached the size I envisioned, and now it was time for the absorption. The Qi streamed into my body, but never more than needed to keep the hurricane in that size. Overall, it allowed me to absorb at least five times more Qi than the normal procedure I reached on my own.

I don't know how long I have sat there, conversing with the green bubbles as I ensnared the energy, tempting it to do my bidding.

"I thought I felt an abundance of Qi here, you were making a mess!" The most melodious voice I know came to disturb me. A disturbance I always welcomed.