Chapter 61 Otherwise, what a coincidence...

"But I'm not the same as I used to be."

“No matter what you are like, they will like you.” Fu Qingli’s tone was very confident.

Lin Xi looked up in surprise.

Fu Qingli stood against the light, but her dark eyes shone brightly, and deep within the clear lake water lay a genuine affirmation.

He didn't try to comfort her with deceptive words like "you haven't changed," but instead frankly acknowledged the marks that years of hardship had left on her, and affirmed that she would still be likable as she was now.

His sincere tone gave her the illusion that she was really likable.

This illusion, however, was not enough to make her lose herself in his affirmation.

Lin Xi admitted that she felt conflicted.

When Fu Qingli didn't say anything, she would overthink things, worrying that he might not want to take her back to meet her grandparents.

But when he actually said it, she became uneasy again, afraid that she wouldn't be able to win over the Shen family elders.

She hesitated for a moment, then tentatively asked, "What did you say to them?"

“I’ve declined for now.” Fu Qingli quickly explained, afraid that she might overthink things. “It’s not that I don’t want to take you back to see them, it’s just that I don’t know if you’re willing to come back with me. There were some minor misunderstandings between us before, so I thought we’d talk about it once you were willing. Besides, they’ve had occasional contact with Fu Wenxun over the past few years, and they’ve been advising me on the phone before not to make things too tense with him.”

As he spoke, he suddenly reached out and touched Lin Xi's soft earlobe with his slightly rough fingertips. "I'm afraid you're easily swayed and will give in at this crucial moment."

It's not that I'm afraid she'll compromise, it's that I'm afraid she'll be unhappy if she hears those words.

Fu Wenxun is, after all, his blood father. Given Lin Xi's kind nature, she might take the blame for his recent conflict with Fu Wenxun, and feel guilty about it.

Fortunately, Lin Xi hadn't thought that far ahead.

She simply realized that his decision was a good reason and excuse for her to run away for a while longer.

She tentatively suggested, "How about we wait until your project is almost finished before going back for dinner?"

Fu Qingli observed her for a while and realized that she was indeed not mentally prepared, so she went along with her and said, "Okay, I'll talk to them."

However, something unexpected happened the next day.

In the afternoon, Fu Qingli was having a meeting with senior executives in Qingyuan when she suddenly received a call from a real estate agent.

This intermediary has a special nature; if he calls at this time, it must be something important.

He immediately raised his hand to signal the meeting to pause, and only answered the phone after leaving the conference room.

The real estate agent on the other end of the line sounded anxious: "Mr. Fu, are you going to Xuefu Yayuan now? Are you going to pick up something from the house?"

"No." Fu Qingli felt puzzled, her heart immediately jumped, and she vaguely guessed what was going on.

“Here’s the thing, Ms. Lin just called me. She said the security guard in the lobby contacted her because the landlord wanted to go back to the apartment to get some books and is currently downstairs waiting for her at the security booth. She’s worried someone might be playing a prank, so she called to confirm.” He added, “I remember there were indeed many books in the study, and I thought it was you going back, so I kept checking. Since it’s not you, could it be one of your elders? How should I respond to Ms. Lin?”

The property certificate for the house is registered in the names of Shen Rongyang and Yuan Mei. These real estate agents are well aware that Fu Qingli obtained their power of attorney at the time.

Fu Qingli neither said yes nor no: "Tell him you will contact the landlord and that you will pick up the book later. She doesn't need to go back specifically. I will handle the rest."

"Miss Lin is already on her way back."

"..."

Fu Qingli hung up the phone, grabbed her suit jacket from the back of the chair, and strode out, calling Yuan Mei as she went.

Shen Rongyang has a heart condition and had previously undergone coronary artery bypass surgery. He was afraid that the past would overwhelm him with emotions, so he took a roundabout approach and started with his maternal grandmother.

As soon as the call connected, a noisy conversation came from the other end, interspersed with affectionate terms like "Old Shen," indicating that they were catching up with friends.

"Grandma, did you go to Xuefu Yayuan?"

Yuan Mei needs to speak loudly to communicate with him normally: "Yes, we are in this part of the community."

Before he could ask, she explained, "My husband needs some references for his report, but he's searched the house thoroughly and couldn't find them anywhere. He figured he'd left them here and forgotten to take them with him. We happened to have some free time today, so we came to check. We know your friend lives inside, so we didn't go in without permission. We asked security to contact her, and we'll go in when she gets back. Don't worry, we know what we're doing."

"..."

How can I be at ease?!

Fu Qingli was speechless. The two elders gave a very convincing and reasonable explanation. In the end, it was because he had refused to take Lin Xi back. They couldn't stand it anymore and guessed that the person living in that house might be Lin Xi, so they went directly to her door.

"Grandma, you should go back quickly." Fu Qingli tried to mislead the conversation. "If you go there on purpose like this, it will easily scare the tenants. It's very impolite."

“We spoke with the girl, and she was very kind and told us to wait a moment, and she would be back soon.”

"..." Fu Qingli knew that she couldn't just brush it off, so she could only start to scare her, "Since you know that Xiaoxi lives inside, and she's not mentally prepared, your going there will put a lot of psychological pressure on her."

"Who said we came here specifically to see her? We're just here to grab a few books, and we'll be leaving soon. We won't be staying long!"

Just then, someone on the phone called out to Yuan Mei: "Xiao Mei, come quick, what do you think of these clothes?"

"Coming." Yuan Mei responded, not giving Fu Qingli a chance to speak again. "Alright, that's all. I have something to do, so I'll hang up now."

Before the words were even finished, the other end of the line had already hung up, followed by a series of busy tones.

When they called again, Yuan Mei simply stopped answering the phone.

Fu Qingli was extremely anxious, fearing that Lin Xi would not be able to handle this sudden meeting, so she hurriedly drove back.

He only remembered that his meeting hadn't ended when he received a call from Zhao Mingyuan halfway through the journey.

"Boss, where are you? You disappeared after answering a phone call?"

I'm going out.

Zhao Mingyuan, who was only going out temporarily, asked, "When are you coming back? The department manager is waiting for you to start a meeting."

"Change to online..." Fu Qingli paused, not really in the mood to listen to their report, and changed her words, "You take charge of the rest, and give me the meeting minutes later."

"no……"

Before Zhao Mingyuan could finish speaking, Fu Qingli hung up the phone and focused on driving.

Even with his excellent driving skills, he couldn't stop Shen Rongyang and his group in time.

When he returned to Xuefu Yayuan, Lin Xi had already welcomed them into the apartment.

Yuan Mei had just stood up, preparing to wander around the room, when she asked, "Xiao Xi, is it alright if I look around?"

“Yes, Grandma.” Lin Xi quickly stood up, looking rather reserved.

Fu Qingli opened the door and came in at that moment: "Grandpa, Grandma."

After casually greeting them, he glanced at the two cups of tea on the coffee table and roughly estimated that they had entered the room not long ago.

She walked up to Lin Xi, gently supporting her spine to ease her tension, and softly asked, "Are you alright?"

His voice wasn't lowered too much; it was loud enough for everyone in the living room to hear clearly.

Shen Rongyang coughed twice awkwardly.

Perhaps it's because Shen Rongyang and Yuan Mei were teachers before, and although they are now retired, they still exude the aura of teachers.

Lin Xi felt a strange sense of nervousness, like when she was dating in front of her teacher during her school days. She silently tried to create some distance and answered Fu Qingli's question very softly: "It's nothing, I just didn't expect my landlords to be my grandparents."

But when Fu Qingli put her hand on his shoulder and tightened, the two of them ended up even closer than before.

Seeing Fu Qingli's nonchalant behavior, Shen Rongyang put on a stern face and scolded him for his actions. "That's enough! Whispering in front of us, are you taking advantage of our age and hearing problems?"

Startled, Lin Xi quickly stood at attention, looking like a well-behaved student.

Fu Qingli, on the other hand, seemed used to it. He casually pulled Lin Xi to sit on a single sofa, while he sat down beside her, his hand naturally resting on her shoulder: "Well, you came uninvited, catching us completely off guard."

"Hey, I'm here to get the books!" Shen Rongyang tapped his cane on the ground, emphasizing repeatedly, "Before I came here, I didn't know that Xiaoxi lived here."

"Get the books?" Fu Qingli asked in a drawn-out tone. "Tell me which ones you want, and I'll go to the study to find them for you now."

Shen Rongyang was speechless for a moment.

When moving, the books I didn't take were ones I rarely used. I made a mistake by forgetting to think of titles for them beforehand.

When asked this so suddenly, he was momentarily speechless.

"Alright, you two stop talking so much," Yuan Mei said, trying to smooth things over. "The old man is just anxious. He thinks that you two have finally gotten together, and he can't let Xiaoxi suffer any grievances by following you without any manners. She should follow you with the proper etiquette."

As she spoke, she stood up, took out a red envelope filled to the brim from her bag, and stuffed it into Lin Xi's hand: "Xiao Xi, Qing Li is ignorant and didn't know proper etiquette before taking you to get the marriage certificate. It's because we elders didn't teach her well. You can keep this."

It was originally a large red envelope, but because it was stuffed with too much, the edges burst open, revealing the red bills inside.

Holding it in my hand, it was a really heavy stack.

The amount was enormous, and Lin Xi couldn't possibly accept it. She immediately stood up and declined, saying, "Grandma, you don't need to give me money, this is too much! Please take it back!"

"Silly child, what are you saying! This is a gift for our first meeting, and there's no reason to take it back. This is my and your father's approval of your marriage, so please accept it!"

After she said that, Lin Xi stopped refusing.

But then she felt it wasn't right, and hesitated, looking at Fu Qingli, hoping he would step in and smooth things over.

To her surprise, he smiled, reached out and took the red envelope, stuffed it into her palm and held it tightly: "Keep it! Weren't you worried yesterday? Now you see, your grandparents really like you and accept you as Mrs. Fu."

He truly understood Lin Xi's heart, and his explanation made Lin Xi overjoyed.

"Thank you, Grandpa. Thank you, Grandma."

"No need to thank us, we're thanking you! You've been with Qingli since he was little, and now you're willing to marry him and spend your life with him." Yuan Mei held Lin Xi's hand and stroked it affectionately. "Our Qingli is quiet and reserved, and he keeps many things to himself. You've suffered a lot of grievances along the way. In the future, don't keep things to yourself. If he does anything wrong, tell me and your father, and we'll teach him a lesson!"

Lin Xi couldn't recall him ever treating her badly; in her memory, he had always pampered her day after day for ten years.

She couldn't stand hearing others speak ill of her, even her own maternal grandparents.

"Qingli is a very good person, and he's also very good to me."

"Of course he'll treat you well!" Yuan Mei lovingly touched Lin Xi's cheek. "You've suffered so much because of him, and you're still willing to stay with him. That's a blessing he earned in his past life. Speaking of marriage, I get so angry! Fu Qingli, what do you think? You didn't tell your family anything, didn't prepare anything, and just dragged Xiao Xi to get the marriage certificate! Xiao Xi is going to stay with you; this is a lifelong decision. How could you be so inconsiderate and let this young girl suffer so much? You're just being unreasonable!"

Seeing Fu Qingli with his head down, looking pitiful and resigned, Lin Xi couldn't help but defend him: "Grandma, actually, I was emotionally unstable at the time, so Qingli just..."

“Child, how can you be so naive?” Yuan Mei said with a look of sympathy, finally unable to help but point it out, “He had been planning this for a long time. Your emotional instability just gave him a chance to play the hero and bring the plan forward.”

"Otherwise, is it really possible for such a coincidence to happen that you just happened to rent our house?"

-----------------------

Author's Note: My left cheek is swollen from an allergic reaction; my double eyelids are completely gone. I'm so sleepy after taking allergy medication. I know this is poorly written, but I've already revised it.

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