As soon as Xia Qingqing entered the classroom, she saw her three roommates waving at her.

She immediately ran happily to the empty seat next to them and sat down: "Sister Qiu, Huimin, Xiuxiu, I haven't seen you all for a whole summer vacation, I missed you so much."

"Qingqing, I've missed you so much too," Liu Huimin hugged Xia Qingqing's arm and rested her head on her shoulder.

Xiang Qiu patted Xia Qingqing across Liu Huimin and said, "Qingqing, don't leave after the class meeting, there's something I need to tell you."

"What's wrong?" Xia Qingqing's curiosity was immediately piqued by this question.

Xiang Qiu smiled and shook her head: "The class meeting is about to start, let's talk about it slowly when we get back to the dorm."

"Fine," Xia Qingqing could only forcefully suppress her curiosity.

After finally getting through the class meeting, the four of them went back to their dorm together.

As soon as she entered the dormitory, Xia Qingqing looked at Xiang Qiu impatiently and asked, "Sister Qiu, what do you want to tell me? Tell me quickly, I'm so curious!"

"Qingqing, I guarantee you'll never guess. Xiuxiu and I were both stunned when we found out," Liu Huimin said mysteriously.

Xia Qingqing frowned and thought for a moment, then casually guessed, "Ah, could it be that Sister Qiu got married?"

Liu Huimin stared wide-eyed at Xia Qingqing: "Wow, you're amazing! Although you didn't guess everything correctly, you're pretty close. Sister Qiu, please tell Qingqing!"

"Um... Zhihong and I got engaged during the summer vacation," Xiang Qiu said somewhat shyly.

"Really?! When did this happen during summer vacation? Sister Qiu, why didn't you tell me sooner?" Xia Qingqing said excitedly.

Xiang Qiu pushed her face away, saying, "Oh dear, the engagement was just a meal between the two families, so we didn't invite you."

"We're having a weekend off, so I'd like to invite the three of you to dinner at our newly bought house. Qingqing, do you have time?"

“That takes time,” Xia Qingqing paused, then looked at Xiang Qiu with surprise and asked, “You bought a new house?”

Xiang Qiu smiled faintly: "Yes, it was about a while ago."

One of the reasons she and Wang Zhihong got engaged ahead of schedule was because of this house.

During the summer vacation, Wang Zhihong suddenly contacted her, saying that he had found a house he liked and wanted to take her to see it. If she was also satisfied, he planned to buy it.

He planned to use this house as their marital home after they got married. Although they weren't married yet, asking Xiang Qiu's opinion first showed how much he valued her.

The house belonged to a distant relative of Wang Zhihong's classmate. It was confiscated for some reason years ago, but was later returned.

Although the house was returned, the tenants refused to move out.

The rent for that house is only 2 yuan a month, and the landlord is also responsible for repairs. No one would want to move out. Where would they live after they moved out?

But the landlord was unhappy. His house was being occupied by others, and not only did he not make any money, he sometimes even had to put money out of his own pocket. Wasn't that a complete rip-off?

The landlord couldn't be driven away, and he couldn't make money by leaving the house unoccupied. Fortunately, the landlord had already settled in another place a few years ago, so after careful consideration, he decided to sell the house.

Wang Zhihong couldn't afford the entire courtyard, but fortunately, the landlord didn't say he had to sell the house to the same person.

At this time, there are still few people who can come up with so much money at once. Besides, even if someone can come up with so much money, they may not necessarily buy his messy tenement.

The entire courtyard has more than a dozen rooms, and Wang Zhihong has his eye on the east wing, which, together with the side wing on the south side, makes a total of four rooms.

Because of his classmate's connection, the landlord didn't charge him a high price; the four rooms cost a total of 1500 yuan.

Although Wang Zhihong had saved some money over the years, it was still a bit difficult for him to come up with 1,500 yuan all at once. He could barely scrape together the dowry money his parents had prepared.

But if he uses that money to buy a house, he won't be able to raise the bride price in a short time.

After some internal struggle, Wang Zhihong decided not to hide anything and directly told Xiang Qiu about his difficulties.

Given their ages, neither of them can afford to wait a few more years.

Xiang Qiu expressed her understanding, and after discussing it, Xiang Qiu suggested that they get engaged first, so that the betrothal gifts could be given in advance.

Xiang Qiu's parents had promised her that they would return all the dowry money she received when she got married, so after the engagement, they used the dowry money to buy a house together.

Xiang Qiu didn't feel that she was at a disadvantage. After all, the house would be for the two of them to live in, and there was no need to make things difficult for Wang Zhihong because of this. Having their own little home after marriage was better than anything else.

Even if she and Wang Zhihong don't end up together, she won't suffer any loss, since Wang Zhihong is the one who paid for the bride price.

Because of this incident, Wang Zhihong's affection for Xiang Qiu increased even more. Xiang Qiu was clearly more understanding than he had imagined, and he felt that he could never find a better girl than Xiang Qiu.

Neither of them had any objections, and the house was bought quickly.

Neither set of parents knew about the house purchase, and they didn't intend to let either set of parents know.

In short, he should keep it a secret for as long as possible, otherwise Wang Zhihong really doesn't know if his biased parents will covet the house.

"That's roughly what happened. It's not that I didn't tell you on purpose, it just happened so fast that I didn't even have time to react," Xiang Qiu said, still feeling a little embarrassed.

Actually, Xiang Qiu was still a little confused after the engagement, and she didn't know if she had made the decision too hastily.

Xia Qingqing frowned and looked at Xiang Qiu, asking, "Sister Qiu, you two haven't gotten your marriage certificate yet, have you?"

Xiang Qiu shook her head: "Not yet. Zhihong originally wanted to get the marriage certificate right after the engagement, but I think it would be better to wait until we have our formal wedding before getting the certificate."

She was already hasty enough in getting engaged because of the house purchase, and she wanted to think carefully before deciding on getting the marriage certificate and getting married.

After all, there's always a chance to back out of an engagement, but once you get the marriage certificate, there's really no turning back.

"That's good. I was worried that you would get married in such a muddle-headed way," Xia Qingqing breathed a sigh of relief.

Liu Huimin had a different idea. She felt that Xiang Qiu and Wang Zhihong had known each other for so long that there was no problem with them getting married directly.

Xiang Qiu chuckled and said, "We were in a rush to buy the house, so there wasn't enough time for a wedding. We got engaged first."

“That’s true. But when are you two planning to get married, Qiu-jie? Remember to invite us to your wedding banquet!” Liu Huimin looked at Xiang Qiu with a gossipy gaze.

Xiang Qiu pursed her lips and said with a smile, "The plan is to hold the wedding during the winter vacation. I don't know if you will have time then, but I will leave you wedding candy no matter whether you come or not."