Chapter 128

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Protagonist:

Lin Xiyu

"Slap."

Chen Xiulan slapped her son on the back of the head, forcibly silencing him.

Xu Yi pouted his lips, wronged to the point of nearly bursting into tears.

"Eating properly, why hit him?"

Grandmother was displeased, reaching out to pull her grandson to her side.

"This child is too much."

Chen Xiulan had argued with Xu Weiguo again while packing things at home and was in a bad mood, finding her son displeasing to the eye.

"Isn't it because you spoiled him?"

Grandmother favored her grandson and scolded her daughter: "If it weren't for you marrying Xu Weiguo to have a son, would there be so many troubles?"

"I've already decided."

Chen Xiulan swallowed a breath of anger, unable to feel comfortable without venting: "Divorce, I won't endure that tightfistedness anymore."

"It's fine as long as you can let it go."

Grandmother smiled with relief, then stuffed a cicada exuvia into her grandson's mouth.

Xu Yi was no longer wronged, baring his little tiger teeth and grinning happily at Grandmother.

"Mom, Second Sister divorcing at this critical moment is a bit troublesome......."

Uncle suddenly spoke, eyes showing concern: "Our family is about to move soon; once the house is demolished, the current address will no longer exist. The three of them will be removed from the original household registration. Without a house, they can't register their household. Second Sister is fine, but Xiao Yi and Xiyu need to go to school—they can't do without household registration."

"I've considered this issue too."

Aunt Da frowned tightly: "If there's really no other way, they can stay at my place temporarily, making do."

"A younger sister-in-law's household registration at her brother-in-law's house definitely won't work."

Uncle shook his head: "Besides, it's not a matter of a day or two. Relocation will take at least two years, and Xiyu and Xiao Yi's schooling will be delayed."

"Won't it work?"

Aunt Da looked worried: "What can we do? Buying Huang Daye's house has already emptied our family savings. Wanting to buy another house, we don't even have a bed to sell."

"Wanting to adopt a child at a time like this is simply adding chaos."

Female Cousin was still dissatisfied, muttering in a low voice.

Her muttering was a bit loud, and Uncle heard it.

Uncle embarrassedly lowered his head and stopped speaking.

The atmosphere at the dining table instantly froze, oppressive enough to make one breathless.

"Sigh."

Grandmother sighed, breaking the silence: "This matter is my lack of consideration. Don't rush for now. Xiu Lian, go ask Director Zhang again—what is the final deadline for relocation? Can we, during this period, move the household registration out as soon as possible and register it at Donghua Street No. 9 Courtyard?"

"I'll go now."

Aunt Da was a fiery person; before Grandmother finished speaking, she put down her bowl and chopsticks and left.

"Sister."

Chen Xiulan grabbed her: "If you go now, Director Zhang also needs to eat."

"Never mind."

Aunt Da shook off her hand: "If I don't get it figured out, I won't feel at ease eating."

"Let her go."

Grandmother rubbed her brow with a headache: "She's just like this; no one can stop her."

——

Aunt Da came and went like a gust of wind; when she returned, her expression was very unpleasant.

"Eldest Sister? What did Director Zhang say?"

Chen Xiulan's heart skipped a beat, and a bad premonition surged up.

"Director Zhang said no."

Facing her sister's expectant gaze, Aunt Da spoke with difficulty: "She said that current household registrations involve relocation, and those who have already registered their numbers at the Demolition Office cannot be changed."

"The house we bought ourselves."

Female Cousin looked dissatisfied: "The area doesn't change; what difference does it make if there are a few more people?"

"I said the same thing......."

Aunt Da sighed mournfully: "But Director Zhang refused to budge, saying that if the number of people on the household register increases, the relocation compensation will also increase. To prevent people from exploiting loopholes, they issued a hard regulation forbidding arbitrary changes to the number of people."

"This matter has become......"

Uncle was extremely annoyed: "If I had known, I wouldn't have gone to register at the Demolition Office in the first place."

"Not registering wouldn't work either."

Aunt Da was willing but powerless: "Yan Hao brings people to make a scene at our house every day; who could stand it?"

"Or, just endure it a bit more......."

Chen Xiulan pursed her lips and smiled bitterly: "For the sake of the two children, let's not divorce for now."

"Divorce, we must divorce."

Female Cousin couldn't stand it anymore; she slapped the table, shifting everyone's attention to herself: "It's just a house, isn't it? I'll figure something out."

"You say it so lightly."

Aunt Da was startled by the sudden noise and scolded in dissatisfaction: "A commercial apartment costs at least sixty or seventy thousand; who can afford that?"

"Even if we can't afford it, we have to buy it."

The female cousin said with great spirit: "We've been pushed to this point, what is there to endure? You don't need to worry about the house; I guarantee it will be solved."

"Leilei, tell Grandma the truth..."

Grandma was uneasy about this maternal grandchild; hearing her mention raising money gave her a headache: "Where do you want to get money from again? You're not thinking of borrowing from your boss again, are you? You already wrote an IOU for the shop, and now adding buying a house—when will this ever be paid off, in the Year of the Monkey and Month of the Horse? Grandma doesn't worry about anything else, I'm just afraid you can't pay it back and ruin yourself."

"No, Liu Ye is such a coward; he doesn't dare provoke me..."

The female cousin didn't care at all, not saying it outright, but the house they rented was registered under the boss's name.

But this boss was not that boss.

Just because of Wang Fan's inexplicable feelings for his own younger sister, letting him give up the house and let them register their household there, he would surely be willing.

"Sister, I'll go to the company with you tomorrow."

Lin Xiyu said it was her duty: "You go out and handle business with peace of mind; I'll answer phone calls in the office and help you bring in business."

"Deal."

The female cousin beamed: "Sister has been waiting for these words; with you here, business will surely flourish."

"Are you two still selling clothes at the Night Market?"

Uncle suddenly spoke up, interjecting: "Yesterday I went to the Night Market to sell cigarettes and ran into the barbecue stall owner's wife; she asked why she hadn't seen you two sisters setting up stalls lately, and many people have been asking about you..."

"The Night Market is a must..."

The female cousin's mental calculator clattered: "As long as we're not busy during the day, we can set up stalls in the evening."

Grandma couldn't bear it: "You two work during the day and set up stalls at night; isn't that too tiring?"

"Not tired."

The female cousin was excited: "As long as we make money, it's not tiring."

"This child..."

Aunt Da helplessly rubbed her forehead: "You've gone money-crazy."

Grandma ached for her maternal grandchild, full of kindness: "You've been busy outside all day, you're both tired; rest early."

"Fine, we're leaving too."

Aunt Da sensed Grandma meant to chase them out, gave Chen Xiulan a look, and the two sisters rose to take their leave.

"Mom, wait..."

Lin Xiyu had something on her mind, lifted the curtain, and went out after them: "I have something I want to tell you."

"What else is there?"

Chen Xiulan frowned, her mood slightly irritable.

"Mom, it's like this..."

Thinking of Guben's request, Lin Xiyu's eyes flashed with a hint of shyness: "Guben said to ask when you have time; he wants to come to the house to formally pay his respects and discuss the matter of engagement with you."

"Engagement?"

Chen Xiulan was stunned, a bit surprised: "You really want to get engaged to him?"

"Mm."

Lin Xiyu's eyes showed longing.

"You child, how did Mom tell you before, have you forgotten?"

Chen Xiulan's own love life had been rocky, and she wasn't optimistic about her daughter: "Guben's family background is too different from ours; just dating is fine, but engagement and dating are completely different. Once engaged, you must face his family, serve your parents-in-law, respect your elders. If his mother doesn't like you, one word of unfilial piety can crush you with filial piety, ruin your reputation, and all your efforts will come to nothing."

"Guben said that as long as I don't want to, I don't have to see his mother."

Lin Xiyu feared her mother wouldn't agree and argued hard: "He said the engagement is his business; he can decide for himself and doesn't need to look at his mother's face."

"He said, he said, everything is what he says..."

Chen Xiulan's eyes showed mockery: "Can you believe what he says? A man's mouth is a deceitful ghost; blindly believing a man and having no mind of your own, only you will suffer."

"Guben wouldn't deceive me."

Lin Xiyu's eyes showed determination: "I believe him."

"You believe him, what good does that do?"

Chen Xiulan sneered: "You're young and pretty now; he finds you novel and is willing to coax you. Once he coaxes you into his hands and gets bored, he won't be like this anymore. Girls should be reserved; don't do whatever a man says, don't make yourself look cheap, and don't let a man feel he doesn't need to put in much effort to marry you."

"Mom, can you believe me just once?"

Lin Xiyu felt wronged in her heart, tears instantly blurred her eyes: "Give me one chance to prove myself; your daughter isn't stupid, not as cheap as you say."

"Xiyu, stop talking."

Aunt Da didn't want the mother and daughter to quarrel and hurt their feelings: "Your mom is in a bad mood; just give Aunt Da some face and talk about the engagement later. Don't make her angry at this critical moment."

"No matter what she says, I won't agree."

Chen Xiulan's expression was still unpleasant; she flicked her hand and walked away: "So shameless, wanting to get engaged at 18, can't live without a man?"

"Ay ay, what are you saying?"

Aunt Da couldn't bear to listen; she wanted to persuade but didn't know how to start, so she could only resentfully go after them.

"Xiyu, don't listen to your mom."

The female cousin heard the commotion outside from inside the house, lifted the curtain, and came out: "She's in a bad mood and taking it out on you; you don't need to care so much. At worst, be like Guben—ignore both mothers and you two decide for yourselves."

"Sigh."

Lin Xiyu felt stifled and aggrieved in her heart; hearing this, she sighed deeply.

—

No matter how many troublesome things there are, life must go on.

Early the next morning, Lin Xiyu and her female cousin arrived at the company on time.

Liu Ye, just as his female cousin had expected, was especially delighted by her arrival, giving her the same treatment as his female cousin's salary.

His female cousin was in a hurry to solicit clients; after briefly explaining a few things, she rode her bicycle to a nearby real estate development.

Lin Xiyu took over her work in the office and received customers who came for consultations.

Liu Ye was cunning; while there was a money tree available, he spent the whole morning busy making phone calls, notifying everyone who had even the slightest connection with him one by one.

Those who wanted to admire the beauty had their thoughts become lively.

People came one after another, using home renovation consultations as a pretext to get close to the beauty.

Especially those friends of his who had mines at home, self-styled second-generation rich, came in full force.

Motorcycles and cars showing off wealth lined up in a long row at the company doorway, drawing many onlookers.

"You lot, not renovating, not placing orders, don't even think about getting close to the beauty."

Liu Ye bossed around a group of friends, arrogantly to the extreme.

"Tsk, it's just renovation?"

Among the second-generation rich there was also a domineering type who made a decision on the spot: "Did you see that Small Commodity Wholesale Market across the way? I bought over a dozen shops inside; as long as Younger Sister Lin agrees to have a meal with us brothers, I can sign the renovation order right now."

"Sign, let him sign."

Liu Ye grinned so widely his mouth nearly twisted: "One meal to make him spend a lot, it's totally worth it."

"Still have to eat?"

Lin Xiyu wanted to decline: "I don't want to drink alcohol."

"You don't need to drink; I'll drink for you."

Liu Ye winked at her: "Once you go, you don't have to do anything; just eat and drink well."

"Is that so?"

Lin Xiyu didn't believe him: "You'd better not take advantage of my ignorance and deliberately fool me."

"If you don't believe me, can you not believe Guben?"

Liu Ye used Guben as an excuse: "He's my partner, doing business together; how could I screw over my own brother? If I really dared to make you drink with me and get you drunk, and something happened, he'd beat me to death; I still want to live a few more years, so I dare not offend him."

"Then, fine."

Lin Xiyu, constrained by the fact that he was the Boss, found it hard to decline further: "As long as there's no drinking, I'll go."

"Younger sister is straightforward."

Liu Ye was delighted: "Did you brothers all hear that? The beauty agreed; hurry up and sign."

—

With Liu Ye helping to stir things up, Lin Xiyu's performance skyrocketed; she signed over a dozen orders in one day, earning over a thousand yuan in commissions alone.

For the sake of the commission, she felt she had given him enough face, and on the spot announced that she would treat everyone to dinner that evening, inviting a group of second-generation rich.

Liu Ye was overjoyed and volunteered to pay the bill since the beauty was treating.

Seeing that this person was decent enough, the small resentment in Lin Xiyu's heart more or less truly dissipated.

—

"This Liu Ye fellow..."

Just before getting off work, when Guben came to the company to pick someone up, he heard about Liu Ye's underhanded tricks and couldn't help but laugh in anger: "Why doesn't he push his own girlfriend out to bring in business for him?"

"Perhaps..."

Lin Xiyu smiled self-mockingly: "His girlfriend isn't as short of money as I am?"

"What's wrong with your family?"

Guben frowned: "Haven't seen you for one night, and something happened again? You've made yourself look worried and bitter again."

"Uncle said that without a house, we can't register our household."

Lin Xiyu smiled bitterly: "I don't know why either; lately our family seems to have offended the Grand Duke Jupiter, with everything going wrong."

"Registering the household, huh."

Guben didn't take it to heart: "Just buy a house."

"You say it so lightly."

Lin Xiyu smiled and scolded him: "A house costs at least sixty or seventy thousand; where would we get that much money? We can't rely on you for everything..."

"Little fool."

Guben affectionately pinched her nose: "A fiancé is meant to be relied upon."

"You haven't been made permanent yet."

Lin Xiyu helplessly rubbed her forehead: "Mom was in a bad mood yesterday and rejected it with one sentence; she doesn't agree to our engagement."

"Hiss."

Guben took a sharp breath: "This mother-in-law hurdle really isn't easy to get past."