Chapter 146 (First Release)...

Zhou Yanyao said slowly, "Old Qi, what brings you here?"

His tone was surprised, and with a hint of...disdain.

Qi Lin paused for a moment, then replied calmly, without any apparent change in tone, "I needed to talk to you, so I came to check on you."

Zhou Yanyao: "Oh, is that so? What's the matter?"

Qi Lin suddenly fell silent: "..."

He initially came to Zhou Yanyao to discuss leaving the village.

But now, should we still say it?

Qi Lin turned his head slightly and glanced at Ning Wanwan.

Ning Wanwan was looking at him and Zhou Yanyao with some confusion when she met his gaze. She quickly lowered her eyes in surprise.

Qi Lin withdrew his gaze, pondered for a long time, and instead of saying why he had come to see Zhou Yanyao, asked about something else.

"What are you doing here? Everyone's saying you went out this morning and haven't come back."

The subtext is, what excuse are you using to stay here and not leave?

As good brothers, they had this much understanding. Zhou Yanyao understood the other party's subtext, his face stiffened slightly, and he chuckled awkwardly: "Just visiting here, isn't that normal?"

The reason I made up was something I couldn't say. I couldn't exactly say, "Hey bro, I've been badmouthing you to everyone, saying we're at odds and you've bullied me terribly."

When they were making this up, they acted pitiful to gain sympathy, but now it's hard to keep the lie going.

Zhou Yanyao stared intently at Qi Lin, afraid that his friend would expose his lie. Just as he was about to say something, he saw that Qi Lin seemed to have deduced something from his reaction and looked directly at the girl.

"Sorry, Zhou Yanyao is quite outgoing and tends to say random things."

Qi Lin's calm, dark eyes fixed on the girl as he politely inquired, "Can you tell me what brings him here?"

Ning Wanwan blinked, then realized Qi Lin was asking her. She hesitated for a moment, then said, "This..."

At some point, Ansel, who had also gone to the kitchen to clean up the things that had fallen on the floor, returned to the living room. He placed the rearranged furniture on the table, crossed his arms, and with an unfriendly expression, scoffed, "Oh, you didn't know."

Although it was their first meeting, it didn't stop Ansel from giving him a cold shoulder.

In Ansel's eyes, these outsiders invading the illusion were all hyenas coveting his treasures.

Ansel suppressed his killing intent and sneered coldly: "Lord Zhou Yanyao, you said that your roof was collapsed by the snow and you have nowhere to live, so you still want to come here to freeload?"

The most important thing is that the other party wants to squeeze into this family; otherwise, Ansel wouldn't care what Zhou Yanyao says.

Upon hearing this unfounded accusation, Qi Lin remained calm: "Oh, I see."

He glanced at Zhou Yanyao.

Ansel didn't say anything else, and Zhou Yanyao had just breathed a sigh of relief when the white-haired, gray-eyed little boy next to him suddenly raised his head and said in a calm tone, seemingly innocent, "I also heard that the relationship between you two adults is very bad, and you can't live under the same roof at all."

Zhou Yanyao: "..."

I couldn't help but rub my forehead and sigh inwardly, "It's over."

Given that Lao Qi already disapproved of his own infatuation with love, he was bound to say some unpleasant things upon hearing this.

However, to Zhou Yanyao's surprise, Qi Lin didn't say anything for quite a while.

She glanced at Xiao Zhou a few more times, seemingly scrutinizing him and pondering something, then turned to look at Zhou Yanyao with a half-smile and uttered four words: "I see."

Then he didn't say anything more, clearly not intending to delve deeper into the topic or expose the nonsense he had made up.

At least I don't intend to expose it now.

Zhou Yanyao: "..."

Zhou Yanyao felt a little helpless yet relieved, but he couldn't help but frown, a subtle doubt rising in his mind.

This isn't like Lao Qi's personality. Although Lao Qi is usually not very talkative, he wouldn't be this easy to talk to.

Just as Zhou Yanyao was confused, he suddenly heard Xiao Zhou speak again.

Xiao Zhou stared at Qi Lin for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Isn't there anything else?"

These words seemed to come out of nowhere, but Qi Lin understood them in an instant. He looked at the little boy who didn't seem like an ordinary person, smiled, and said in a calm voice, "Actually, he's right."

Xiao Zhou's gaze was fixed on him, and the expression on her indifferent face seemed even colder.

Qi Lin looked up, took a step closer to the still clueless girl, and continued to explain, "The roof of the house we're staying in is indeed broken."

Ning Wanwan stammered blankly, "...Huh?"

Qi Lin: "There's no way to shield us from the wind and snow anymore."

Ning Wanwan: "Ah..."

Qi Lin sighed slightly again and said casually, "I heard there will be a severe blizzard tonight, Miss Ning, have you heard about it?"

Ning Wanwan: "Yes, there should be..."

Qi Lin remained calm, as if it were absolutely true, showing no sign that he was making things up: "Our house is uninhabitable, so—"

He said, "Miss Ning, could you kindly take us in for a while?"

Very cunningly, they only said "take me in for a short time," which sounds like a very short period of time, but they didn't specify how long it would be.

Zhou Yanyao was completely bewildered by his friend's sudden actions.

Xiao Zhou's expression remained unchanged, though his brow furrowed slightly. He wasn't surprised; he simply thought to himself, "As expected."

Ning Wanwan was still confused: "But..."

Ansel chuckled coldly, completely unsurprised, just like Xiaozhou: "You think you can stay just because you want to?"

Ansel had made up his mind. Even if it meant paying a higher price, he would kick those two out of the illusion as soon as they left!

With that thought in mind, Anseil was no longer in such a hurry. Xiaozhou glanced at Anseil silently, seemingly lost in thought.

While Ning Wanwan was still confused, she heard Qi Lin calmly reply to Ansel: "That depends on what Miss Ning thinks."

As he spoke, his calm, dark eyes gazed intently at Ning Wanwan.

In just this short period of observation, he had already determined that the most crucial person present was Ning Wanwan. He didn't know how he had observed and judged it so quickly.

Ning Wanwan realized that Qi Lin had misunderstood.

Although she didn't know why Qi Lin considered her, an ordinary person who had only spoken a few words, to be someone who could make decisions, Ning Wanwan quickly explained, "I... I'm not the owner of this house..."

Qi Lin: "Is that so?"

Ansel narrowed his purple eyes and met Qi Lin's gaze.

There was a tense atmosphere, like predators facing off against each other.

As someone who was deliberately avoided and pressured, Ning Wanwan really couldn't understand why these men always created an atmosphere of impending conflict the moment they met.

I was too nervous.

Just as Ning Wanwan pursed her slightly dry lips, about to say something, Xiao Zhou touched her finger, bringing her back to her senses.

"Ning Wanwan, water." Xiao Zhou raised the cup in her hand.

It was so thoughtful that even Ning Wanwan herself didn't think to drink water.

Ning Wanwan: "Thank you..."

Her mind was a bit confused, but Xiao Zhou's actions calmed her down a bit.

She had just taken a sip of the water in her glass, which was at a comfortable temperature, when she heard Ansel suddenly chuckle.

"Wanwan." The handsome young man with blond hair and purple eyes turned his head and spoke to Ning Wanwan. His tone was gentle and his expression was rational. Surprisingly, he did not show the anger that Ning Wanwan had expected despite Qi Lin's provocative words.

Ansel is quite perceptive when it comes to things he values.

Ansel said to Ning Wanwan, "Don't listen to them. You decide what to do with the house. I have no objection."

"If Wanwan wants to keep them, I won't object."

Ning Wanwan was stunned for a moment.

For someone of Ansel's temperament, his words were quite a concession.

Ning Wanwan was afraid that Ansil was just saying it out of anger, so she carefully observed his expression and quickly waved her hand: "No, this is yours..."

Without even thinking, Ansel replied, "Why bother with such distinctions? I'm all yours now."

Ning Wanwan: "..."

She was drinking water and almost choked on it.

Please, don't say things that could be misunderstood!

"You, you..."

"What's wrong, Wanwan?"

Judging from Ansel's expression, he didn't think there was anything wrong with what he said; he just felt that he was stating an established fact.

The other people present, however, all turned pale.

Shameless! Zhou Yanyao cursed inwardly.

Besides wanting to get rid of that eyesore Ansel, there was also a hint of envy, jealousy, and hatred.

Actually, he really wanted to be shameless...

However, Zhou Yanyao was also well aware that he had only known the girl for a short time, and if he said the same things as Ansil, it would only make the girl feel awkward and uncomfortable, creating a distance between them.

Even if he didn't want to admit it, Zhou Yanyao could see that the girl and Ansel were the closest of friends.

Companions, companions, just because they've been through some things together, they can act like this...

Zhou Yanyao suppressed the bitterness welling up in his heart and glanced at his friend beside him.

His friend noticed his gaze and glanced at him indifferently, his dark eyes appearing even more profound than usual.

Zhou Yanyao narrowed his eyes, suppressing his premonition for the time being.

Why would Lao Qi agree with his own lies?

Normally, he wouldn't care about his "degenerate" behavior at all; it would only make him more aware of his situation.

Not to mention, she even took the opportunity to ask to stay as well.

Zhou Yanyao frowned, unable to discern anything from his friend's face, and could only slowly shift his gaze away.

Meanwhile, Ning Wanwan, at the center of the storm, said: "..."

She shrank her neck, somewhat puzzled.

Why does it feel like the atmosphere here has become even more terrifying after Ansel relented?

Help.

Ning Wanwan took a deep breath, stammering for a long time without knowing what to say to ease the tense atmosphere, and finally squeezed out a useless question: "Want to...have lunch together?"

As soon as she finished speaking, Ning Wanwan almost bit her tongue.

What's the point of having lunch? With this atmosphere, does it look like we can have a peaceful lunch together?

A faint look of annoyance appeared on the girl's face.

This slight change in expression was noticed by the men who were always watching her.

A tacit understanding seemed to have been reached—the atmosphere suddenly relaxed, and the tension seemed to have lessened.

Of course, it's also possible that it was intentional to prevent her from noticing something even more turbulent beneath the surface.

Ning Wanwan unexpectedly ate a peaceful lunch, and she was somewhat surprised by the calm at the table.

By the way, the meal was prepared by the group of them. Although they didn't know why, they insisted on not letting Ning Wanwan into the kitchen, telling her to just rest and wait for the meal.

Although Ning Wanwan was somewhat surprised that Zhou Yanyao and Qi Lin would actually condescend to help out, although Ning Wanwan was worried that the food made by Ansil would kill people, and although Ning Wanwan could occasionally hear a noisy sound from the kitchen that sounded like an explosion but wasn't quite while waiting for the food in the living room...

But all in all, the lunch was safe, peaceful, and perfect.

After finishing lunch, Ning Wanwan thought that since she hadn't helped with the cooking, she should wash the dishes. However, as soon as she got up, everyone pressed her back down.

"With so many people here, it would be too useless of you to wash the dishes, Wanwan," they said.

Ning Wanwan didn't quite understand what washing dishes had to do with whether it was useful or not, but she still didn't choose to forcefully "compete" with them for the task of washing dishes.

No matter how you look at it, it's just too strange.

Even with so many people around, washing the dishes still took quite a while. As Ansel walked out of the kitchen, he was still gritting his teeth at the cunning of these humans.

They actually used force to try and make the other party "accidentally" break a bowl!

Do you think this will eliminate him from the competition?

That's outrageous!

Of course, Ansel had no idea that he himself had tampered with things, intending to make those guys do bad things and disappoint the girl.

Ansel was not without anger and a sense of inexplicable anxiety as the treasures he wanted to hide were constantly coveted.

In the past, he would never have tolerated it.

But seeing the girl sitting obediently on the living room sofa, he felt a surge of joy, a wonderfully soft emotion spreading throughout his body, giving him even more patience.

No rush. He told himself that these annoying guys would all disappear soon.

Besides, right now, the girl is still closest to herself, isn't she?

Ning Wanwan naturally couldn't see what Ansel was thinking. She only felt a shadow fall on her and looked up to find the blond boy leaning down and smiling at her.

Ning Wanwan instinctively leaned back and called out, "Ansil."

"Yes, it's me." Ansel didn't back away; instead, he moved even closer. "What are you thinking about, Wanwan? I'm so curious. I want to know."

Ning Wanwan: "..."

Ansel's curiosity can be really strong at times.

Although Ning Wanwan didn't like being questioned and probed, she still answered Ansel's question honestly: "I'm thinking about what to do with those two adults next."

Should we agree to let them stay here temporarily?

"Does Wanwan want to keep them here?" Ansel reached out and gently tucked a stray strand of hair behind the girl's ear, asking casually.

Ning Wanwan hesitated for a moment, glanced at Ansel, and said nothing.

When it's a small favor that she can do to help someone, the girl is undoubtedly soft-hearted.

Of course, the main reason was the strange familiarity Ning Wanwan felt towards Zhou Yanyao and Qi Lin.

Ansel noticed the girl's hesitation and struggle, and he smiled.

Ning Wanwan: "Ansil... are you angry?"

"Are you angry? How could I possibly be angry with Wanwan over something like this?"

On the contrary, I am very happy now.

Because you care about my feelings, and I am the closest person to you, [companion].

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Author's Note: Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 18:41:06 on April 15, 2024 and 18:45:59 on April 17, 2024!

Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: I'm Not a Demon King (20 bottles); Yixuanmo (15 bottles);

Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!