Chapter 2 A Mismatched Couple
As the sound rang out, a man walked out of the bathroom.
The man was very handsome, with well-defined features. He was over 1.8 meters tall, wearing a black shirt with the cuffs rolled up, and long, slender fingers with water stains on them.
His face was clearly expressionless, but his eyes revealed indifference, and the aura he exuded was oppressive, making it impossible to associate him with a poor boy.
Qiao Xing was stunned by his beauty the moment she saw him, but she also felt that he looked somewhat familiar.
As soon as he spoke, the woman's face turned bright red. It seemed that no one had ever looked down on her like this before. She glared at the man angrily, "Who wants to marry you? You're thirty years old and still penniless. What good is it if you're good-looking? It's such a waste."
Qin Ce glanced at her indifferently, showing no emotional reaction to the woman's words. "Then please do as you please."
The woman choked, then glared at Qin Ce fiercely, "What a waste of my time, you idiot!"
Even after saying this, Qin Ce was still not angered. The woman could no longer contain herself, grabbed her bag and left, her high heels clicking angrily on the ground.
The atmosphere in the room became somewhat awkward after the woman left.
“Xingxing, don’t stand there, come and sit down. Please don’t laugh at me, this is my eldest grandson. He just got back a couple of days ago, and I was thinking of inviting my friend’s daughter over to meet him, but I didn’t expect this…”
Grandpa Qin quickly changed the subject, "Xingxing, this is Qin Ce. You two played together when you were little, do you remember?"
Hearing Grandpa Qin say that, she looked Qin Ce up and down again. Suddenly she remembered why he looked familiar. She had indeed played with him when she was very young, but Qin Ce left when she was five years old and never came back.
It's possible she came back, but she just didn't know.
She gave a dry laugh and said, "I have a vague recollection of it."
Grandpa Qin then looked at Qin Ce, "Kid, do you remember the stars?"
Qin Ce glanced at her as well, his gaze lingering on her face for two seconds before he looked away. "No."
After saying that, he walked towards the bathroom. "Grandpa, please don't invite any more of those shady people into our house."
It was unclear whether he was referring to Qiao Xing or the Miss Wu from earlier, but Qiao Xing felt too embarrassed to stay any longer.
Qiao Xing placed the fruit on the coffee table and said to Grandpa Qin with an awkward smile, "Grandpa Qin, since someone has fixed your water pipes, I'll be going now."
"Don't rush, why did you just arrive? Come and sit down, Grandpa has something to ask you."
Unable to refuse Grandpa Qin's hospitality, Qiao Xing had no choice but to sit down on the sofa and say, "Grandpa Qin, please ask."
"Xingxing, didn't you go to your boyfriend's house today to discuss marriage? How did it go?"
Qiao Xing was slightly taken aback. She thought of what Lin Yu's parents had said earlier, and a dull pain shot through her heart again. "No, we've already broken up."
"Huh? Why?" Grandpa Qin looked surprised, but after the surprise, a hint of joy appeared in his eyes.
Qiao Xing didn't know what to say, so she just made up a flimsy excuse, "We just didn't agree on some things, so we broke up."
Is it about the bride price?
“…I guess so.” Qiao Xing didn’t want to discuss the topic anymore. “Grandpa Qin, now that your grandson is back, I won’t disturb your reunion. I’ll come to see you another day.”
"Wait a minute!" Grandpa Qin grabbed her arm and pulled her back to sit on the sofa. "Xingxing, did you really break up?"
Qiao Xing frowned. This old man usually didn't care much about her boyfriend, so why was he asking so many questions today?
Out of politeness, Qiao Xing nodded and replied, "Yes."
"Will you never make up again?"
"...Um, Grandpa Qin, why are you asking this?" She had already seen through Lin Yu's character, and there was no possibility of reconciliation in the future.
Grandpa Qin smiled mysteriously, then turned and called out towards the bathroom, "Xiao Ce, come out quickly!"
Qiao Xing was completely confused, not knowing what Grandpa Qin was up to.
Two minutes passed, and he still hadn't come out.
Grandpa Qin was furious, and instantly roared at the top of his lungs, "Qin Ce!"
The deafening sound even stunned Qiao Xing. After a while, Qin Ce leisurely walked out of the bathroom.
He sat down on the sofa as if nothing had happened, and subconsciously reached for the cigarettes in his pocket, but then remembered that the old man couldn't stand the smell of smoke, so he put his hand down.
Grandpa Qin ignored him and instead said to Qiao Xing, "Xingxing, what do you think of my grandson?"
"ah?"
Qiao Xing glanced at Qin Ce subconsciously. She looked completely bewildered, while Qin Ce's reaction was quite normal. A hint of helplessness finally appeared on his indifferent face.
Grandpa Qin said, "Xingxing, actually, I've always hoped you would become my granddaughter-in-law, but that brat hasn't come back, and you've got a boyfriend, so I don't really know what to say."
What a coincidence! Look, Xiao Ce is back too, and you've broken up again. What does this mean? It means your destiny has arrived. You two should get married.
The last sentence struck Qiao Xing like a thunderbolt.
"..."
Qiao Xing didn't know if he was joking or serious, so she didn't dare to speak.
Qin Ce said, "Grandpa, that's enough."
The old man glared at him. "Shut up. Don't you know how old you are? Other girls are one thing, but Xingxing is a good girl. Anyway, I want her to be my granddaughter-in-law."
“Xingxing, my grandson is good in every way, except he’s a bit dull and has low emotional intelligence. Otherwise, he’s quite good. Grandpa wouldn’t want to harm you, right? As long as you agree, just name your dowry. As for the boy’s opinion, you don’t need to worry about it.”
The old man talked on and on about his grandson's merits as if he were selling a product, completely ignoring Qin Ce's life or death beside him.
"Let me tell you, Xiao Ce is now..."
"Grandpa!" Qin Ce suddenly interrupted him. His voice was a bit loud, startling the old man who was talking non-stop. Seeing this, he softened his voice again, "Let's talk about this ourselves."
He could tell that the old man really liked Qiao Xing, and if he didn't speak up to stop him, the old man would spill all his secrets.
The old man gave him a suspicious look. "Can you have a proper conversation?"
"No matter how we talk, let's stick to the facts."
His words seemed to have a hidden meaning, which Qiao Xing didn't quite understand, but the old man could tell that he had confidence in Qiao Xing and believed that she wasn't the kind of girl who was vain.
Even if Qin Ce rambled on about being penniless, she wouldn't look down on him.
The old man thought about it and agreed, "Alright then, you two can talk about it privately, I won't interfere."
Qin Ce nodded, then said to Qiao Xing, "Let's add each other on WeChat. I have something to do today, but we can talk in detail tomorrow."
Qiao Xing also realized what was happening. She quickly took out her phone and added Qin Ce on WeChat.
Once she added him on WeChat, she instantly felt there was no need for her to stay any longer.
"Then I'll be going now, Grandpa Qin."
"Go ahead, go ahead."
Qiao Xing breathed a sigh of relief. She really didn't know how to refuse the old man's kindness, but marriage was a serious matter and Qin Ce had helped her out of a predicament.
She opened the door and darted into the room opposite, which was her own home.
Some rejections are difficult to say to someone's face.
They added each other on WeChat, and if Grandpa Qin asked about it again, she could just say they couldn't get along.
There's an extra buffer in the middle.
After Qiao Xing left, the old man's face immediately darkened. "Why didn't you let me speak just now?"
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