Chapter 18: Is that so?

"You win." Lin Yu gritted his teeth, glared at the two of them, and turned to run away.

Qin Ce wouldn't let him run away like that. He grabbed Lin Yu's wrist and pulled him back.

"Let me go!" Lin Yu struggled desperately, trying to break free, but Qin Ce's hand was like a vise.

Lin Yu pushed off the ground with his feet and pulled back with all his might, but Qin Ce suddenly let go. Due to the inertia, Lin Yu stumbled back several steps and fell heavily to the ground, looking both pathetic and comical.

Lin Yu's face turned bright red instantly, whether from anger or embarrassment, he didn't know. He had never been so embarrassed in his life, especially since he was a person who cared a lot about his reputation.

Right now, he felt like killing that despicable couple.

But now that the police were almost here, he couldn't care less about his disheveled appearance. He could only swallow his anger, turn around, and run away.

Qiao Xing stared blankly at his back. Had he really lost face this time?

She turned to look at Qin Ce, her expression somewhat complicated, "Thank you."

"If it happens again, remember to call the police."

Qin Ce left after saying that. Qiao Xing was stunned for a moment. She quickly picked up the bank card on the ground and looked back. There were no police officers there.

Qiao Xing followed after them.

The two went back inside, and Qiao Xing saw him take out his laptop and work in the living room.

He hasn't come back for the past few days, and I don't know what he's been up to.

Qiao Xing tentatively asked, "Have you found a job yet?"

Qin Ce paused, then looked up at Qiao Xing. "Found it."

"What kind of work?" Qiao Xing asked, glancing unconsciously at the documents on his desk, where the S&C logo was prominently displayed.

Just as Qin Ce was about to speak, the doorbell rang.

Qiao Xing had no choice but to put the matter out of his mind and hurry to open the door.

When the door was opened, four people were standing outside: a middle-aged couple and two young people, a man and a woman.

Qiao Xing's eyes lit up when she saw them. "Uncle and Aunt? Cousin, why are you back so soon!"

Her cousin, Wang Ye, was the first to squeeze through the door and gave her a big hug. "Cousin! I've missed you so much!"

Qiao Xing was being squeezed so tightly she could barely breathe. She patted Wang Ye's arm and said, "That's enough, that's enough!"

"Alright, hurry up and go inside," my aunt urged.

Wang Ye chuckled, released Qiao Xing, and carried their luggage into the house.

Qiao Xing's gaze fell on another girl's face. This girl was fair-skinned and beautiful, and quite tall, about 1.67 meters tall, almost as tall as Wang Ye.

No wonder his uncle's family couldn't wait to come back for the wedding. With Wang Ye's elementary school education and a salary of five thousand yuan, finding such an excellent girlfriend is simply incredibly lucky.

Auntie didn't really like Qiao Xing before, but after hearing that she had money to buy a house, she became particularly enthusiastic and took the woman's hand to introduce her to Qiao Xing.

“Xingxing, this is your cousin-in-law, her name is Lili.”

Qiao Xing smiled and nodded at the other person, "Hello, cousin-in-law."

Lily's gaze swept over Qiao Xing from head to toe, and then she gave him a fake smile. "Hello."

After saying that, he picked up his bag and went inside.

When everyone entered the room and saw Qin Ce on the sofa, they were all stunned.

"What is this...?" the uncle asked.

Qiao Xing hurriedly ran over to introduce, "Uncle, this is, this is..."

She glanced at Qin Ce, whose expression remained unchanged, and said somewhat embarrassedly, "He is my husband."

"What?"

Wang Ye and Wang Yue were both dumbfounded. Wang Ye pulled Qiao Xing aside and whispered, "The photos you sent me don't look like this. Did you get plastic surgery?"

Qiao Xing pinched him. "No, he's Qin Ce, have you forgotten?"

Wang Ye's mind went blank for a while. He thought for a long time but still couldn't remember. Qiao Xing reminded him again, "Grandpa Qin's grandson next door."

Wang Ye suddenly realized, slapping his thigh, "Oh, it was him? I didn't even remember!"

As if he had discovered a new continent, Wang Ye abandoned Qiao Xing and ran to sit down next to Qin Ce. "Qin Ce, do you still remember me? I'm Wang Ye. We went to the same elementary school when we were kids."

Qin Ce frowned. Wang Ye's constant chatter made him lose his motivation to work. He closed his laptop and glanced at Wang Ye.

Wang Ye has dark skin, but his teeth are quite white when he smiles, and his eyebrows and eyes bear a resemblance to Qiao Xing.

“I remember when we were kids, you and your gang cornered me in an alley and forced me to do your homework.”

Wang Ye: "..."

Qiao Xing: "??" Is that so?

Wang Ye cleared his throat and chuckled sheepishly, "Oh, I was just a kid when I was young and didn't know any better. But you were really wicked. You pretended to agree to write it for me, but then you took my homework and handed it to my dad, which got you a beating."

Auntie remembered too, and she smiled and chimed in, "I've always thought this child was destined for greatness. Over the years, he's grown even more handsome. Xiao Ce, what kind of work do you do now?"

"Finance." Qin Ce tidied up the documents on the table, stood up and said, "Since you're back, I won't disturb your reminiscing."

Just as he was about to leave, Wang Ye pulled him back down to sit. "Where are you going? Didn't you marry my cousin? We're family now."

“Yes, yes, it’s so late, let’s have dinner together,” my aunt said.

Qin Ce was about to refuse, but when he looked up and saw Qiao Xing staring straight at him, he hesitated for a moment before saying, "I'm not leaving, I'm going back to my room."

Wang Ye then let him go, saying, "You little rascal, I thought you were going somewhere else."

Everyone was busy catching up and didn't notice that Lily's gaze was fixed on Qin Ce.

Qiao Xing turned her head and saw Lily's gaze. She frowned but didn't say anything.

Aunt insisted on cooking and went out to buy groceries, while Qiao Xing went to the room with her uncle and talked to him about buying a house.

"Are you really going to buy it?" Uncle was somewhat disapproving. "Look, you're married now. Why don't you buy a house in the city with this money? Young people all want to move to the city these days, but you're here to buy an old house."

Qiao Xing smiled and said, "I think it's fine here, and I'm used to living here. I don't want to go to the city. If I have the means in the future, I'll go to the city to buy a house."

"Grandma often said that even leaves have roots, and people should never forget their roots."

This used to be a rural area. Later, the area was developed, and the developer compensated the grandmother with the house. The Wang family had lived here for generations, and it's such a pity to sell it like this.

The uncle sighed, "You can decide for yourself, but what about Xiao Ce? Does he also agree to buy this old house? You two need to discuss it carefully, so you don't have any conflicts over this."

“I’ve already talked to him.” Qiao Xing thought he was good in this respect, unlike Lin Yu who wanted her money and also pointed fingers at her.

"Then it's fine as long as you've reached an agreement."

Qiao Xing transferred the 200,000 yuan directly to her uncle. As for the money in the card, it belonged to Lin Yu, so she couldn't touch it. She had to let Lin Yu transfer the money himself, so there would be proof. Otherwise, if she took the money from his card, who knows what kind of trouble he might cause later.

The door to the room was open, and Lily overheard the entire conversation from outside.

As soon as Lily turned her head, she saw Qin Ce coming out of the house. Their eyes met, and Qin Ce caught her red-handed eavesdropping.