Chapter 18

Inside the private room, a stylishly dressed middle-aged uncle with a slicked-back pompadour saw Lin Lin Mengye enter, immediately raised his wine cup and drained it in one gulp, then gave Lin Lin Mengye a provocative glance.

Lin Lin Mengye thought to herself that this Fifth Lord really was dissolute and uninhibited, a full-blown middle-aged rebellious phase, which contrasted sharply with his restrained and steady voice.

When Grandpa borrowed money from him back then, was this guy even of age??

"You came? Have whatever you want to drink."

Lin Lin Mengye shook her head: "I'll leave after I repay the money."

Qin Feng saw that Lin Lin Mengye was very cautious and couldn't help but glance at her a few more times.

Seeing that he was about to get drunk, Lin Lin Mengye quickly snatched the wine bottle and slapped it down on the table with both hands.

"Uncle, time isn't to be wasted like this; I'm busy—I came to repay you, not the other way around, bro."

It's the first time I've seen a creditor so careless; if you really don't care about money, then have the ability not to come collect the debt.

Not collecting for three years, can this money justifiably go unpaid?

Qin Feng couldn't help but slam the table and laugh loudly, pointing at Lin Lin Mengye's nose and praising her for having guts; even the lackey beside him couldn't stand it and couldn't help but speak up to remind.

"Fifth Lord, collecting payment is urgent."

Qin Feng restrained his uninhibited nature, and after completing a series of repayment procedures with Lin Lin Mengye, both sides were considered to have settled the accounts completely.

Seeing only a little over fifty thousand left in the balance, Lin Lin Mengye felt an unprecedented sense of reassurance.

With the debt completely cleared, the money in her card was now wholly her own.

"Fifth Lord, there's something I'd like to ask."

Now that we're no longer in a creditor-debtor relationship, we can talk as equals; Lin Lin Mengye didn't beat around the bush and directly asked Fifth Lord a question that had troubled her for a long time.

"When my grandfather borrowed that much money from you back then, weren't you afraid he wouldn't be able to repay it?"

The old man is a rural farmer; borrowing over five million, it's obvious he lacks repayment ability—who would lend to him?

The Fifth Lord doesn't look like a fool either; wouldn't he see through it?

Fifth Lord Qin stared fixedly at Lin Lin Mengye, then suddenly switched to another topic.

"Lin Lin Mengye, you're also in your twenties, right? When are you planning to get married?"

Lin Lin Mengye's expression stiffened at those words; she suddenly sensed something off—could he possibly also know about the childhood marriage arrangement?

But what does that have to do with borrowing money?

Could it be that the family she has a childhood marriage pact with is filthy rich?

Did Qin Feng lend money to the old man out of respect for that family's reputation?

And Fifth Lord Qin's following words completely confirmed Lin Lin Mengye's speculation.

"The Ye family hasn't contacted you all these years? That shouldn't be the case……"

"Never mind, anyway the debt's been repaid, this matter has nothing to do with me now, miss—you're quite bold, taking on this debt alone not long after graduating college and clearing it so quickly."

"No matter what, I'm optimistic about you."

Lin Lin Mengye's eyes flashed—turns out the family she has a childhood marriage arrangement with bears the surname Ye.

"Fifth Lord, do you know about the Ye family? Could you tell me about it?"

Upon hearing that, Qin Feng, holding his wine bottle, began to tease.

"Yo, you only know to address me respectfully when you need something from me? Miss, you're really pragmatic."

"But you've asked the wrong person; I only have some standing in this area, and in Jing Shi I'm just an ordinary merchant—the Ye family's undertakings are tremendous; I can't help you with that, but you could just look it up online, right?"

"The Ye family of Jing Shi are the nation's richest, regularly appearing on the global rich list—you'll find out with a quick search."

Leaving the club, Lin Lin Mengye remained dazed.

Her own grandfather—this childhood marriage pact is actually with the child of the nation's richest family; how did such a windfall land on the old Lin family?

Upon reflection, several generations of Lin Lin Mengye's ancestors were poor farmers—how could they possibly have become tied by marriage to a major conglomerate?

The business empire of the nation's richest family was surely built up over several generations of struggle.

No, this childhood marriage arrangement looks like it's going to fall through.

If she were the dominant party, she wouldn't readily agree to this marriage.

She never thought matching social status was a major mistake, but there are too many factors involved—mutual affection alone doesn't guarantee a happy ending.

Even if we concede ten thousand steps, even if they don't look down on her, it would still be a pit of fire.

Who says being a wealthy family's daughter-in-law is easy?

Rather than marrying a rich husband, Lin Lin Mengye would prefer to become wealthy herself.

Lin Lin Mengye shook her head and quickly pushed the childhood marriage matter to the back of her mind.

Such a pie-in-the-sky windfall—she dares not reach out to grab it.

When she has free time, she'll go visit the Ye family to ask about that bracelet.

If they refuse to give it, she'll have to save up even harder, striving to buy it herself.

Having arrived in Yun Cheng, Lin Lin Mengye certainly won't return empty-handed.

After leaving the club, she hailed a car and headed straight for the jewelry workshop.

After appraisal by the other party, the second batch of goods Ye Heng gave her were all genuine.

Although the quality was somewhat inferior to the previous batch, she sold over nine hundred thousand in total, putting her just a step away from one million in savings.

Before, Lin Lin Mengye never dared to hope for such a thing, nor could she have dreamed of making money this quickly.

Thinking that her debts were cleared and her wealth accumulation was going smoothly, Lin Lin Mengye couldn't help but feel grateful toward Ye Heng.

So she immediately went to a restaurant, ordered a table of local specialties, packed them up, and stored them in her space.

Ye Heng led his team to camp on the outskirts of Zone 13 for two days, and on the third day the trade fair attendance peaked.

They then took advantage of the low activity of mutant beasts and zombies during daytime to go together to the civilian organization's trade fair.

Such trade fairs are common, but for Ye Heng and his team, they've participated in only a few of them altogether.

Because their equipment was low-grade, and with few members, they could only search for supplies in a small area.

Being able to travel this far this time is entirely for the purpose of collecting gold, silver, and jewels for the goddess; otherwise they would never have come here.

And those dangerous zones where scarce resources appear frequently are places they cannot set foot in, so they have nothing worthwhile to trade.

Of course, prices at the trade fair are also high.

Normally a fixed-quantity spoiled bread that costs a hundred crystal cores, at the trade fair they charge at least twenty more crystal cores.

Of course, the mold spots on the bread will correspondingly be fewer.

"Team Captain, we few are preparing to go stroll around first, check the market situation; you and the Vice Captain have matters, contact us anytime."

The teammates scattered to browse the market, while Ye Heng and Sun Hao found an empty stall, preparing to sell some goods.

Sun Hao:

"You really plan to trade the things the goddess gave? Aren't you afraid the goddess will find out and blame you?"

"Besides, everything the goddess gave is high-grade; just putting it out like that, aren't you afraid of attracting attention?"

"Good things must be kept hidden; this is the iron law of survival in the Fe Tu Shi Jie, Ye Heng naturally knows."

But some things, if not obtained through trade, are hard to get.

For the team's future, and also to not hold Miss Lin back, he can only take risks.

Believing Miss Lin won't blame him for this, even if they attract attention, as long as he never reveals the secret of his space, he won't implicate the goddess.

From beginning to end, he will guard this secret even to the grave.