Chapter 130: Brother-in-law?

“Someone’s coming…”

Hearing movement not far away, Lin Xinyuan was startled. She hurriedly pushed against Qin Nanfeng’s chest, whispering for him to let her go.

Qin Nanfeng’s eyes flickered with displeasure. Although he felt it was a pity, he didn’t say much and nimbly complied with her request. After all, the veil between them had already begun to lift; that final step was only a matter of time, and he was in no rush for the moment.

“It’s my cousin and the others! Get in the car, quick! Don’t let them see you!”

Lin Xinyuan listened carefully and immediately realized who it was. She hurriedly pulled Qin Nanfeng to the car door, opening it and ushering him inside.

Even though she had accepted the fact that she liked this “stinky blondie,” the thought of being caught in such an intimate moment by her relatives filled her with intense shame. How could a big man end up like this? Leaning into another man’s arms… If her cousins found out, she couldn’t even imagine the scene!

Qin Nanfeng allowed the girl to push him along. Sitting in the driver’s seat and seeing her frantic, embarrassed state, he couldn’t resist teasing her: “Is this really necessary? Why don’t we just meet them now?”

Lin Xinyuan was in a desperate rush and had no mental energy to ponder the deeper meaning of his words. She tried to slam the car door shut, but Qin Nanfeng held it open with his hand. No matter how much strength she used, it wouldn’t budge an inch.

Seeing that she couldn’t close the door, Lin Xinyuan was on the verge of tears: “Please, just go…”

“Then you have to promise me one thing?”

Lin Xinyuan’s mind was a mess. She only cared about getting rid of him, so she agreed offhandedly: “Fine, fine, fine, okay? Just… please…”

“Then—”

Qin Nanfeng released his grip on the door, wanting to say one last thing, but Lin Xinyuan slammed the door shut in a panic. “You… you drive away quickly! We’ll talk on our phones…”

Inside the car, Qin Nanfeng took one last look at the frantic silhouette running away and let out a delighted smile. His goal had been achieved. He had to admit, coming to Lei City was definitely the best choice he had ever made.

With that thought, he turned the key and drove away.

On the other side, Lin Xinyuan ran over out of breath, intercepting the pair. Noticing their strange looks, she felt like she was being caught in an affair and couldn’t help but feel guilty. “Cousin… why are you guys here?”

As she spoke, she kept glancing toward the back out of the corner of her eye. It wasn’t until she saw the car drive off that she finally felt a sense of relief.

“Woof, woof, woof!”

Before Tang Chengmin could respond, Xiao Huang (the dog) suddenly lunged out from somewhere. It ran to her, sniffed around, and then barked incessantly in the direction the car had disappeared. Lin Xinyuan felt that this time, Xiao Huang’s bark sounded somewhat… displeased.

Before she could think further, Tang Chengmin spoke up: “Dinner is almost ready. Why didn’t you pick up the phone? Grandpa and Grandma were worried, so they sent us out to wait for you.”

“Mhm, mhm!” Tang Yayun nodded vigorously from the side, but her eyes were fixed intently on her cousin.

“Ah…” Lin Xinyuan pulled out her phone and realized she had forgotten to turn off ‘Do Not Disturb’ from the afternoon. There were several missed calls on her lock screen. She felt both embarrassed and annoyed. “Sorry, I had it on ‘Do Not Disturb’ and didn’t hear it.”

“Oh~”

As soon as she finished speaking, she noticed their gazes becoming increasingly suspicious. She shifted uncomfortably, her eyes darting around. “Why… why are you both looking at me like that?”

The siblings didn’t say a word. They both rested their chins on their hands, scanning her up and down. Lin Xinyuan felt her whole body go stiff. She slowly lowered her gaze, her small hands nervously fidgeting with each other.

Could they have found out? It’s all that stinky blondie’s fault… I told him to leave quickly, but he just had to linger…

Lin Xinyuan endured their stares for a long while until she was about to snap. Finally, Tang Yayun was the first to break the eerie silence.

The girl’s expression suddenly turned into a grin. she stepped forward and hooked her arm around Lin Xinyuan’s, her smile full of hidden meaning: “Sister Yuan~ was that ‘friend’ you mentioned earlier?”

Lin Xinyuan was cursing a certain guy a thousand times in her head, but on the surface, she had to stay calm: “Yes… what about it?”

“Heehee~ Are you sure you aren’t missing a word in front of ‘friend’?”

Tang Chengmin didn’t join the girls’ conversation, but he was listening intently. He had the same question as his sister. Although he had only seen a blurry side profile of the young man, he could tell he wasn’t bad-looking. Moreover, seeing the girl’s flushed face and her frantic behavior just now, she looked far too guilty.

A man and a woman alone… he wouldn’t believe it if they said there was nothing between them. Thinking of this, Tang Chengmin looked at Lin Xinyuan with a mix of curiosity and shock.

I heard my cousin was still a boy a few months ago? She got snatched away by someone that quickly?

“It’s just a normal friend, a classmate. He came to visit…” Lin Xinyuan denied it flatly, but her voice lacked conviction, and she was dying of embarrassment.

Seeing her cousin like this, Tang Yayun laughed inwardly. She was even more curious about the young man now. She didn’t care about the fact that Lin Xinyuan used to be a boy; in her eyes, her cousin was a genuine, beautiful girl. So, what kind of person could actually win over Sister Yuan? She was dying to know!

She couldn’t stop teasing: “Wow, such a good ‘friend’! You’ve been out with him for three days straight, leaving early and coming back late. Even I’m not that close with my girl friends~”

“…”

Lin Xinyuan didn’t know what to say. She stammered, wanting nothing more than to cover her face and find a hole to crawl into.

Fortunately, Tang Chengmin stepped in, interrupting his younger sister’s interrogation: “Alright, that’s enough. Let’s head back for dinner, or Grandpa will call again.”

“Oh, okay.” Tang Yayun nodded readily, even if she felt a bit regretful. It was getting dark, and it was indeed late.

Lin Xinyuan let out a sigh of relief. she was truly afraid her cousin would keep digging. Her cousin was great, but she was a bit too “passionate” for comfort sometimes…

Once they returned home, the family was finally all together, and dinner officially began.

Sitting at the table, Lin Xinyuan felt a bit apprehensive. Out of everyone present, only her grandparents were still in the dark. Luckily, Tang Chengmin and his sister weren’t big-mouthed and didn’t mention it. If they had brought it up to her grandparents while she was there, she probably would have dropped her chopsticks and bolted upstairs…

After dinner, during their free time at night, the three of them gathered to play games. They weren’t playing Honor of Kings, but rather PUBG Mobile. It was the only game on her phone, and she played it occasionally to kill time.

Lin Xinyuan was still using her old Xiaomi 6; its performance was still solid enough. As for the Huawei phone Qin Nanfeng had given her, although she no longer thought about selling it, she couldn’t bring herself to unseal it, so she just let it sit there to collect dust.

“Hey, Sister Yuan, come here! There’s a Level 3 helmet, pick it up!”

“The air drop fell on the school! Let’s go grab it!”

“Huh? How did I get headshot? I’m calling hacks! Yuan, come revive me, I need to stand up and fight him.”

“No way, we’re being flanked!”

“We’re dead!”

“It’s all up to you, Sister!”

In this round, Tang Chengmin and Tang Yayun had both died early because they were playing too aggressively. Their other teammate was unreliable and had disconnected. In the end, Lin Xinyuan was left to fight alone. Fortunately, her aim and situational awareness were decent. She managed to camp her way to the end and successfully carried the siblings to a “Chicken Dinner.”

“Woohoo! We finally won! The three of us are too strong, hahaha!”

Hearing her brother’s shameless bragging, Tang Yayun gave him a disdainful look: “Have some shame, Tang Chengmin. You, strong? We relied entirely on Sister Yuan!”

Ignoring Tang Chengmin’s rambling, she happily grabbed the girl’s hand: “Sister Yuan is amazing! Ignore that guy.”

“Mhm.” Lin Xinyuan felt a bit envious of the siblings’ relationship. They seemed to bicker, but it was all in good fun. She liked this kind of atmosphere.

“Hehehe, since the game is over, it’s time for some girl talk!”

Tang Yayun finally revealed her true intentions. Her curiosity hadn’t faded at all. She hadn’t given up on digging for gossip. She chuckled: “Why don’t you start, Sister Yuan? Tell us about you and our brother-in-law? How did he kidnap… I mean, how did you two get together?”

The moment Lin Xinyuan heard the word “brother-in-law,” her ears turned bright red. She immediately stood up, preparing to flee: “Uh… it’s past ten o’clock… I… I should go to sleep, otherwise my mom will scold me!”

“Eh? Sister Yuan, there’s still half an hour left!”

Tang Yayun tried to stop her, but this time the girl fled exceptionally fast. Without giving her a chance, she ran straight back to her room.

Tang Yayun was left sighing in disappointment, shaking her head. “Sigh… what kind of person could actually win over such an excellent girl like my cousin?”

“Excellent?” Tang Chengmin, standing nearby, coughed and said solemnly, “For example, someone as excellent as me~”

“Stop being a freak! Get out, go back to your room, I’m going to sleep too.”

“Aye, right away, my dear ‘stinky little sister’-san~”

“Psh, narcissist!”