On a fairly wide cement road, guided by the girl’s memory, Qin Nanfeng drove for a while and finally saw their destination.
The two got out of the car in an open space and took out the things they had bought along the way from the trunk, including several bottles of sauce-flavor liquor that Qin Nanfeng had picked up.
Normally, no one gave such expensive gifts; for the annual feast, people usually just brought a box of drinks or fruit.
Lin Xinyuan had been quite resistant at first, but since it was for Aunt Yi and Huangmao had already bought it, she went along with it.
It was just past 9:30 in the morning, and while the feast wouldn’t start for about three more hours, quite a few cars were already parked besides theirs.
Looking into the courtyard with its wide-open gate, people were coming and going.
Lin Xinyuan even spotted a few vaguely familiar faces among them—all relatives from her grandfather’s side.
Seeing so many acquaintances, she couldn’t help regretting it and thought about leaving.
But she hadn’t seen her brother in a long time, so she couldn’t bring herself to refuse, and under Aunt Yi’s persuasion, she finally agreed.
Since she was already here, there was no way out—she had to tough it out.
The girl stood outside the courtyard gate, looking embarrassed. She was so nervous that her long, thick eyelashes trembled slightly.
Qin Nanfeng said nothing, just used his free hand to tightly hold hers, sending warmth and courage through his grip.
It was the young man’s most common way of comforting the girl, but also the most effective.
A warmth spread through Lin Xinyuan’s heart.
She took a deep breath, and under the gaze of the many people who had already noticed them, she was about to call Lin Xinyu—after all, she felt awkward just walking in when no one recognized her.
But just then, Aunt Yi came out of the courtyard carrying a plate of white-cut chicken that would be used to welcome the ancestor deity.
Their looks were too striking; just standing there, they immediately caught the woman’s attention.
“Ah! Xiaoyuan, you’re here!”
As soon as she saw Lin Xinyuan, Aunt Yi’s face lit up with joy.
She quickly set the plate on the table already set up at the gate as an offering, then called inside with a note of complaint: “Lin Xinyu, your sister is here! Why aren’t you out yet?”
After saying that, Aunt Yi hurried over happily.
When she reached the two of them, she glanced at their joined hands without surprise—she had already heard the news.
She felt very gratified that the girl had managed to come out of her shell and found someone she liked, especially since she had watched Lin Xinyuan grow up.
“Aunt Yi… I forgot to tell you… It’s not my brother’s fault,” Lin Xinyuan quickly explained, not wanting Lin Xinyu to be misunderstood.
Aunt Yi just smiled and nodded, saying nothing more. Then she looked at the young man beside her.
This was her first time seeing Qin Nanfeng. She sized him up, her eyes lighting up as she felt they made a perfect match.
She couldn’t help praising him: “You must be Xiaoyuan’s boyfriend, right? Handsome young man, you really look the part.”
“Hello, Aunt Yi. Just call me Xiaofeng. You flatter me,” Qin Nanfeng said politely and modestly, his demeanor just right.
As he spoke, he lifted the gift box he was holding. “Aunt Yi, this is a small token. Please accept it.”
Aunt Yi took the gift box, knew at a glance it wasn’t cheap, and raised her head with a displeased expression: “This isn’t cheap, is it? Why did you bring something like this? Take it back! Give it to Xiaoyuan’s grandfather to drink! Money isn’t easy to come by! We don’t have this custom here. Hurry up and take it back!”
With that, she tried to push the box back, but Qin Nanfeng gently avoided her hand and said with a smile: “Aunt Yi, it’s not worth much. Just take it—it’s all for the New Year celebration.”
“It’s okay, Aunt Yi…” Lin Xinyuan also chimed in, feeling a bit helpless inside but putting on a serious tone.
“Oh, how can that be!”
Just as the three of them were going back and forth, Lin Xinyu, who had been play fighting with his cousin, heard his mother’s call and finally came hurrying out.
“Sis, you’re here?”
“Brother!” Lin Xinyuan called out and quickly pulled Qin Nanfeng over.
Aunt Yi shook her head, no choice but to accept the gift for now, planning to return it when Lin Xinyuan and the others left, since it was pointless to keep fussing like this.
“Honestly…” she muttered, then because the ancestor deity was about to arrive—she could already hear the sound of gongs—she needed to prepare the required items.
So she instructed Lin Xinyu: “Lin Xinyu, take your sister and them around! You can go explore!”
With that, the woman hurried back to prepare red candles and incense.
“Oh, got it!” Lin Xinyu replied casually. When the two reached him, he couldn’t help complaining: “Sis, why didn’t you call ahead?”
“I forgot,” Lin Xinyuan said awkwardly.
“I see.” Lin Xinyu nodded without overthinking, then turned his gaze to the young man, his eyes tinged with displeasure.
But Qin Nanfeng just grinned and greeted him: “Brother Yu, nice to finally meet you in person.”
However, to Lin Xinyu, Qin Nanfeng’s words and smiling face looked exactly like a smug wolf who had gotten his prize—getting what he wanted and then acting all innocent.
His mouth twitched involuntarily. He looked at his sister, who was being led by the hand by Qin Nanfeng, looking utterly dependent, and his heart suddenly clenched.
‘Fallen already? Sis! You only became a woman not long ago! How could you fall so quickly?’
What made it worse was that Lin Xinyu had only found out about this recently—from his mom and Aunt Yi’s phone calls.
In other words, those warnings about “beware of men” he had sent her on Green Bubble were all just empty words?
His beloved sister… his role as her onii-chan… he hadn’t even had it for long!
Thinking about it, Lin Xinyu felt powerless. His cute little sister—was she already completely won over by this guy?
Looking at the other man, his eyes were conflicted—both the outrage of having his sister stolen and a grudging acknowledgment.
But when he thought about Qin Nanfeng’s actions and the look in his eyes when he stared at the girl… he understood that maybe this young man was Lin Xinyuan’s best choice.
Even though he was basically resigned to the match, he couldn’t show it on his face.
He stared at the guy who was only slightly less good-looking than himself, looked him up and down, but no matter how he looked, he didn’t find him pleasing at all. He almost bored holes into him with his glare.
“Classmate Qin… what a coincidence,” he said through gritted teeth, with an almost imperceptible hint of sarcasm.
“Well, what can I say? We went to Quancheng to spend the New Year with the family,” Qin Nanfeng replied with a fake smile.
“Xiaoyuan and I just came back to Zhannan. Besides visiting my grandfather, I thought I’d drop by and share in Brother Yu’s good fortune.”
He held up the box of Wanglaoji herbal tea he was carrying, then took the tangerines from the girl’s hands and handed them over, raising an eyebrow: “From now on, I’ll need you to look out for me, Brother Yu. First time being a brother-in-law.”
“You…”
Lin Xinyu was a bit pissed off. He was about to say something, but noticed the girl looking confused and her cheeks flushing red at what Qin Nanfeng had said.
In the end, he snatched the items from the guy’s hands angrily: “Fine!”
‘This punk… seriously asking for a beating!’
‘I can’t take it anymore!’
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