Chapter 1: The Ancient Well of the Old House
"Ye Xing, your looks and education are excellent. But since this is a blind date, I’ll just ask you directly: do you have a car?" The scrutinizing question instantly made the atmosphere in the private room freeze over.
In a restaurant in Bilin Village, a slender, fashionably dressed girl was sizing up the young man across the table with a critical eye.
"I don’t," Ye Xing replied honestly, a smile on his face.
The smile on the girl’s face quickly froze. She asked coolly, "How much do you have in savings?"
"Three hundred thousand."
The girl’s eyes lit up, her frozen smile instantly blossoming like a flower. But then Ye Xing added, "That’s what I owe the bank, though."
WHOOSH. The smile vanished completely. Forcing herself to be patient, the girl asked, "What about a house? Do you have one?"
"Of course. It’s on a three-hundred-square-meter plot of land, complete with a flower garden. It’s east-facing, gets plenty of sunlight, the air is fresh... eight bedrooms, one living room, classical-style decor. High-end, grand, and classy!" Ye Xing rattled off in one breath.
The girl was completely captivated. A smile returned to her face, and she said in a sweet voice, "Where is it? A place that big must be a villa, right? Brother Xing, can you take me to see it?"
"Sure, no problem. It’s really close, right here in the village. Just make two turns and you’re there. House number 103. See? It’s right over there. You can even see it from here." Ye Xing snapped his fingers and pointed in a direction outside the restaurant.
The girl looked where Ye Xing was pointing, and the smile on her face instantly froze. Over there was a block of old residences—red walls, green tiles, and moss everywhere. They were all large, dilapidated, tile-roofed houses.
"Ye Xing, are you messing with me?" The girl shot up from her seat, her Hermès bag swinging in an angry arc. "With that broken-down shack of yours, you think you can marry me?" she sneered. "In your dreams!"
"I’m not wasting another second talking to you. We’re done!" The girl’s expression was one of pure contempt as she turned to leave.
"Wait, wait, Little Qian." Nearby, Ye Xing’s second aunt, Ye Xiuying, hurriedly grabbed the girl’s arm. "Little Qian, don’t be in such a rush to leave," she pleaded. "Ye Xing was just joking! He was describing his ancestral home. His family actually just bought a brand-new apartment in the county seat, and it’s already renovated. Besides, Ye Xing is a good kid. He graduated from a prestigious university, he’s been clever since he was young. He’s bound to have a bright future."
But the girl wasn’t buying it. With a disdainful look, she scoffed, "Heh, a university graduate? They’re a dime a dozen these days. At our Jinsheng Restaurant, even the servers and dishwashers are university grads."
"Exactly. University grads are everywhere now. Sister Ye, you can stop trying." Ye Xiuying wanted to say more, but the woman beside the girl cut her off. The woman looked haughty and displeased. "I mean, really, Sister Ye. I only brought my Little Qian here today out of respect for you. But how could you introduce us to just anyone simply because he’s your relative? With my Qianqian’s looks and everything, you have no idea how many men around here are after her. Take Li Datian, the guy she met the other day. Sure, he’s uneducated and a bit on the older side, but he makes almost ten thousand yuan a month working construction, owns an apartment in the county, and it’s already paid off!"
"Exactly. My mom’s right. Your nephew still owes three hundred thousand on his mortgage, doesn’t he? I’m sure as hell not about to spend my life helping some guy pay off his housing loan," the young woman, He Qianqian, scoffed.
The mother and daughter left the restaurant and swept out haughtily.
Ye Xiuying sighed. Seeing Ye Xing calmly eating his meal at the table as if nothing had happened, she couldn’t help but feel a surge of anger. "Axing, honestly!" she chided. "Why did you have to go and tell her about that old wreck of a house? You didn’t even mention the new apartment, you just had to bring up the old place and scare her off."
Seeing his aunt fuming, Ye Xing gave a wry smile. "Second Aunt, didn’t you see it? She’s looking to marry a rich man. Nothing we said would have mattered. An ordinary family like ours can’t meet her standards, so there’s no way she’d be interested. There was no point in dragging it out." ’From the very beginning, from He Qianqian’s questions and her expression, I could tell she was obsessed with material things. All she talked about was money and property. Since I knew the date was doomed to end badly, I didn’t see the point in wasting any more time.’
"Sigh... you have a point. That Qianqian girl really is a bit materialistic. Don’t worry, I’ll find someone else for you next time—"
"Please don’t, Second Aunt. I’m still young. I want to focus on building my career first. It won’t be too late to think about dating in two or three years."
......
The sky was overcast, with dark clouds gathering overhead. Faint flashes of lightning hinted at the torrential downpour that was brewing.
It was growing dark. After leaving the restaurant, Ye Xing headed straight for his ancestral home.
Since the family had only recently moved to the county seat, the old house was still relatively clean, with not much dust. Ye Xing gave the room a quick cleaning, and it was ready for him to stay in.
Ye Xing was twenty-three and had graduated from university over six months ago. He worked for a company in Luoxian County, earning a little over three thousand a month. The moment the National Day holiday began, his second aunt had called, insisting on finding him a match. Under his parents’ constant pressure, Ye Xing had no choice but to come and see what it was about. After all, his parents had spent their life savings on the new apartment in Luoxian County specifically for his future wedding; they were anxious to have a grandchild.
’But I’m not in a hurry. I just started working and haven’t even found my footing yet; I don’t want to get married this soon. If anything, this failed blind date is a bit of a relief. I’m not even that angry about He Qianqian’s insults or her leaving. I don’t feel much of anything, really. To each their own. If she’s all about money, that’s her business. We had no feelings for each other—we’d only just met. So she left. Big deal.’
However, this incident served as a wake-up call for Ye Xing.
’My salary is just too low,’ Ye Xing thought. ’I have to find a way to make more money. Otherwise, what if I meet a great girl someday? Even if she doesn’t demand anything, could I really stand to watch her struggle along with me?’
RUMBLE!
A sudden clap of thunder echoed through the sky, and the storm that had been brewing for so long finally broke. Fat drops of rain hammered against the roof tiles, splashing and drumming in a relentless pitter-patter.
RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!
The thunder grew louder, and flashes of lightning seemed to tear right through the house.
"What’s going on? Why is the thunder so loud?" Ye Xing’s ears were ringing. He looked around, alarmed and uncertain. ’This thunder feels different from usual,’ he thought, ’There’s something unnatural about it.’
Ye Xing walked out of the room. The next moment, he froze, completely stunned. His eyes were glued to the ancient well in his backyard—
*(Xiaofeng’s new book is hot off the presses! Please click, add to your library, and recommend! O(∩_∩)O~)*