Chapter 475 The Guest

Qiao Xing turned around and saw that it was Shi Yi.

She was accompanied by a man who looked to be in his thirties. Shi Yi was holding his arm, but when she saw Qiao Xing, she immediately let go of the man's hand and ran towards Qiao Xing.

"Sister-in-law, you actually came!" Shi Yi's excitement was palpable, as if she was very happy to see Qiao Xing, and she familiarly took Qiao Xing's arm. "When did you arrive?"

Qiao Xing smiled politely, "I came the day before yesterday."

"You came without telling me. I thought you were in Chongqing. I came here many times but didn't see you. I thought you weren't coming."

Qiao Xing's smile faltered for a moment. "Do you come here often?"

"Yes, I come to see Grandpa Qin every few days, but I had some things to do these past two days and missed seeing you."

"I see." Qiao Xing forced a smile. She remembered that Qin Ce had told her to stay away from Shi Yi before.

Shi Yi pulled her along and introduced her, "Sister-in-law, this is my brother, his name is Shi Cheng."

Qiao Xing glanced at Shi Cheng and said hello.

Shi Yi then introduced him, "Brother, this is Qiao Xing, whom I told you about before. She's Qin Ce's wife. Isn't she beautiful?"

Shi Cheng nodded slightly, smiled, and extended his hand to Qiao Xing, "Very beautiful, nice to meet you."

Qiao Xing shook hands with him, "You flatter me, it's a pleasure to meet Mr. Shi."

"Alright, enough with the formalities, sister-in-law, let's go inside and find Grandpa Qin. We haven't seen him for several days, I wonder if he's feeling any better."

Qiao Xing was pulled along by her and had no choice but to go inside.

The old man was already sitting in the living room, his face stern and he looked rather unhappy. He hadn't really wanted to celebrate his birthday in the first place.

Shi Yi pulled Qiao Xing over, sweetly calling out "Grandpa Qin" and then "Aunt Wang Yu."

Even if the old man was unhappy, he couldn't show it to his guests, so he gave a perfunctory smile and said, "You're here. Did you come alone?"

"No, I came with my brother. Here we are."

Shi Cheng, carrying a gift box, came forward to greet the old man and sat down to chat with him for a bit.

Not long after, he got up and took his leave.

Since this is the old man's birthday, it's at most a family dinner. He'll just represent the Shi family to give a gift, that's about it. It's impossible for him to stay for dinner.

The old man politely tried to persuade him to stay a couple of times, but in the end, he let him go.

Shi Yi made an excuse that she hadn't seen Qiao Xing for a long time and wanted to play with her, so she didn't leave. Wang Yu told her to stay a little longer, so she naturally stayed.

Many more people came after that, but most of them left after giving their gifts and exchanging a few words of greeting.

Around eleven o'clock, the Qin family's proper relatives finally arrived. The first to arrive was Third Master Qin, who brought four younger relatives. They went straight to the old man as soon as they came in.

Without being invited, he sat down next to the old man. "Brother, you've gotten another year older. Should I wish you a happy birthday or not?"

The old man glanced at him and said, "At your age, you're still so improper."

"Why be so serious at your age?"

While listening to the two chatting, Shi Yi whispered something in Qiao Xing's ear.

"Sister-in-law, I've heard that this Third Master was a very philanderer when he was young, always surrounded by women, but he was the last person to get married, almost thirty-five."

"And he was forced into marriage, otherwise he might never have gotten married in his life."

Qiao Xing glanced at the Third Master in surprise. The old man was old, but his eyes were always smiling, giving him a mischievous look. Even in his old age, you could tell from his features that he was quite handsome when he was young.

His daughter-in-law and most of his family members live far away in Beijing. He came with his grandson, granddaughter-in-law, and two granddaughters, all there to join in the fun.

The second one to arrive was Master Qin. This man had the complete opposite temperament to Master Qin. He looked quite robust, and although he had some white hair, it did not diminish his murderous aura at all.

He came alone, without anyone else, carrying a dark red box as he walked up to the old man.

"Brother, I heard you haven't been feeling well lately, and I haven't had time to come back and see you. But I asked someone to find this pure, century-old wild ginseng, hoping you'll recover soon."

The old man was a little surprised and pushed the box back, saying, "Oh, why are you giving me this? Take it back, take it back. I'm perfectly healthy and don't need it!"

The third brother said from the side, "Big brother, he's not an outsider. This thing might not be easy to find. You're just being kind, so please accept it. He's come all this way, and if he's unhappy, he won't come to see you again."

Master Qin said, "Brother, I have no use for this. If you don't accept it, it means you don't recognize me as your third brother. I'll take it back now, and pretend I was never here today."

"You really are..." The old man was both amused and exasperated. How could giving a gift have caused such an enmity?

He had no choice but to accept it; after all that, he couldn't just throw it away.

Qiao Xing didn't know how valuable this thing was. Maybe he had seen it on TV so much that he thought it was everywhere.

Shi Yi introduced Qin Erye to Qiao Xing from the side, "This second master was transferred to Lin'an a few years ago. He settled there because of his work. He rarely came back except for holidays."

"However, he is now retired, but he often lives in Beijing. He has two sons who live in Beijing."

Third Master has a son who is married into the Shen family. The Shen family has a good relationship with the Gu family, which is Qin Ce's maternal grandmother's family.

Anyway, in this circle, most people are related by blood or marriage.

This is also why Qin Yi can get along well with Shen Jilan and the others.

The old man also has a fourth brother and a sister. The sister is abroad and can't come back, but I called her last night. The fourth brother and his wife are on a round-the-world trip and can't come either.

However, his descendants are in China. Some of those aunts from yesterday were from his family, and they have already come over.

This is the direct line of kin, and naturally there are also cousins. Most of the elders have passed away, so the descendants don't visit each other very often. Those who are here today are relatives who are still in contact with each other.

Throughout the morning, Qiao Xing saw many people come and go, and some stayed.

After looking around, there were about twenty people left.

This is just a small birthday celebration; I wonder how lively it would be if it were a big one.

They were chatting, and since the women couldn't join in, they moved to the small hall next door.

Shi Yi pulled Qiao Xing to the living room next door. As soon as Qiao Xing entered, he saw the elegant and wealthy women inside and felt completely overwhelmed.

She felt that she was going to become the target of everyone's criticism again today.