When the Qin family heard that embarrassing inner thought, they couldn't help but feel awkward, but they were still very much looking forward to what would happen next.
Could it be that tonight...
"I was just taking a shower, so I was late opening the door."
"Oh, no problem." [Nice! Well done!]
Ji Fei maintained a calm demeanor, forcefully tearing her gaze away from the beautiful sight.
The corner of Qin Xian's mouth twitched. "Have you made up your mind?"
The Qin family listened intently, on edge.
"Yes, I have 10 million here. I want you to invest it for me."
The Qin family: ...
Qin Xian nodded.
"But I want to know, how can you be sure it's a guaranteed profit? All investments carry risks," Ji Fei said seriously.
Qin Xian replied, "If there's a loss, it's on me. I'll ensure your principal is completely safe."
"Huh?" Ji Fei was at a loss faced with such a windfall.
Qin Xian said directly, "Thank you for helping the family out again. Consider this my gesture of gratitude."
Ji Fei immediately accepted it well, feeling she had indeed been a big help, so there was no need for modesty.
"Then I'll transfer it to you later... Oh, wait, let's make it 9 million instead."
Qin Xian was just wondering about this when he heard Ji Fei's inner thought: [Keep 1 million on hand, just in case.]
"For the investment, can I choose the type that pays dividends monthly?" Ji Fei asked again.
[This way, I'll have a fixed income every month and can relax.]
Qin Xian frowned slightly, "If you need money, just use the card directly."
"I know, but can't I feel the joy of harvesting every month?" Ji Fei smiled.
[Yeah right, that card is under your name. The thing CEOs are best at is freezing cards to teach lessons. I don't want to offend you one day and have my card frozen, ending up penniless.]
Ji Fei's display of such insecurity made Qin Xian's eyes flash.
"Alright, I understand. I remember the final payment for your last job has been credited. It should be transferred to you tomorrow, probably around 1 million as well. So let's keep the investment at 10 million."
"What? Really? Aren't I just a small-time celebrity who can only get by with endorsements? How can the fee be so high?" Ji Fei was shocked, as she didn't remember it being that much. Could it be that her original self wasn't paying attention and remembered wrong?
"This time it's higher than usual," Qin Xian lied calmly, and Ji Fei completely believed him. Her mind was filled with the echoes of her happy laughter.
The eavesdropping trio looked at each other, feeling sorry for Ji Fei, thinking it was because Qin Xian hadn't given her a sense of security that she had so many concerns.
Never mind, they thought. In the future, they'd just have to give Ji Fei more red envelopes to make the child feel more secure.
Qin Xian suddenly felt a chill down his spine, sensing some hidden trouble. After some thought, he spoke up, "If you have any extra money in the future, you can continue to give it to me, and I'll help you invest it continuously."
[Qin Xian, you really... except for not being able to give me a married life, you're perfect!]
Qin Xian: ...
Unable to give a married life? The eavesdropping trio gossiped among themselves.
[If only I could sleep with him once.]
Qin Xian's ears started to burn, and his previously expressionless gaze could no longer focus on Ji Fei's face.
The eavesdropping trio secretly cheered her on. After all, Qin Xian could hear her, so maybe Ji Fei's direct approach could break the ice!
[Speaking of which, has such a perfect man ever been taken advantage of by a woman... At least I haven't!]
Qin Xian: Did you just reveal something again?!
The eavesdropping trio all had helpless looks on their faces. When the incident happened back then, they weren't sure either. It was just that so many people knew about it, they had no choice but to make Qin Xian take responsibility.
[Holy crap! Is it true?]
The eavesdropping trio: What's wrong? Why so surprised all of a sudden?
Qin Xian: Why do I have such an ominous feeling?
[Qin Xian is actually still a virgin, hahahahaha!]
Qin Xian: !!!!
The eavesdropping trio: What virgin? Our son (little brother) has had girlfriends, been married, mingled in high society, and is still a 28-year-old virgin after all that.
[Hehehehehe!]
Qin Xian's gaze wandered, his face starting to heat up uncontrollably. He could only glare at her.
What's so funny about this!
This is too much! Not only was Ji Fei laughing exaggeratedly in her mind, but her face was also about to contort from trying to hold back her laughter!
And... Qin Xian's sharp eyes suddenly swept towards the rooms far down the corridor. He seemed to hear a few muffled laughs?
The eavesdropping trio immediately moved away from the door crack.
It was their fault for eavesdropping. This was family privacy, and they didn't want to hear it. It was all accidental.
After looking up at the sky and down at the ground for a few seconds, the three still couldn't resist joining in the excitement. As soon as they looked over, they saw Qin Xian pulling Ji Fei into the room amidst a chorus of "hehehe" laughter.
The eavesdropping trio: ? Is something happening?
They quickly squeezed towards the door crack, but the door was closed, making it difficult to hear Ji Fei's inner thoughts.
At this moment, Ji Fei's inner monologue had paused, with only the sound of her startled heartbeat remaining.
She looked at Qin Xian in bewilderment as he suddenly pulled her into the room. "What are you doing?"
No longer hearing those annoying laughs, Qin Xian finally regained some composure. He shot Ji Fei a somewhat reproachful glance.
Quickly finding an excuse, he said, "Writing up an investment agreement for you."
Although Ji Fei found it somewhat puzzling, she was satisfied with Qin Xian's efficiency in quickly settling the investment matter.
But Qin Xian was not satisfied. Although he had prevented Ji Fei from exposing his secret, he couldn't stop someone from constantly muttering in his ear.
And he was powerless to stop it, only able to redden his ear tips as he hurried to draft the agreement.
[For someone with Qin Xian's background and social circle to still be a virgin at this age, it's really hard to believe.]
[Even if he's been very self-disciplined, was his first love this pure too?]
[Could it be... he's not able to...?]
[That doesn't make sense, he has an eight-pack!]
With a slap, the printed agreement hit the table, stopping Ji Fei from continuing her shameless thoughts.
Ji Fei stared at the completed agreement, not noticing Qin Xian's iron-grey face.
She happily took the agreement back to her room and slept until the sun was high in the sky, woken by the notification of the final payment being credited to her account.
Indeed, there was 1 million.
As soon as she went downstairs, she saw Qin's Mother and Qin Yan accompanying Qin Xi and talking. Hearing movement, they all looked up.
"Awake?" Qin's Mother smiled kindly.
Ji Fei felt a bit embarrassed, as her original self rarely slept in. "I was a bit tired yesterday, so I woke up late."
Qin's Mother and Qin Yan had complex expressions. Originally, when Ji Fei slept in, they could fantasize freely.
But at breakfast, when Qin's Mother carefully hinted about preparing some blood-nourishing food for Ji Fei, Qin Xian's face darkened as he said it wasn't necessary.
They then knew nothing had happened, so they were quite disappointed that Ji Fei sleeping in had nothing to do with Qin Xian.
Seeing everyone's expressions, Ji Fei thought to herself: [I guess sleeping in is really improper?]
Qin's Mother came back to her senses and smiled, "You can sleep as long as you want. If you're tired, just sleep more. You young people naturally have different schedules from us."
Qin Yan also smiled and said, "I used to wake up very late when I was at home too."
Qin Xi, who was sitting nearby, looked curiously at Qin Yan upon hearing this. After all, when he woke up this morning, he saw his mother already by his side, seemingly having been awake for a while.
Seeing her son looking at her, Qin Yan suddenly felt a bit embarrassed and said softly, "I don't do that anymore."
It was just a comforting remark for Ji Fei, who naturally could feel their good intentions.
After coming downstairs, Qin's Mother asked the housekeeper to prepare some light food for Ji Fei to tide her over, as they would be having lunch together soon.
"Today, the old man and Qin Xian won't be back for lunch, so it'll just be us accompanying little Xi," Qin's Mother said with a smile.
Qin Xian rarely came back for lunch anyway, especially since yesterday's incident with Secretary Jin still needed follow-up handling.
As for Qin's Father, it was rare for him to go out, so naturally, he wanted to personally handle the Li family's matters.
Ji Fei went directly to sit on the sofa.
"Hello, Aunt," Qin Xi greeted obediently, his eyes still showing some uneasiness.
It was evident that Qin Xi was still not used to his new family members. Although he wore a smile, it was hard to shake off the nervous feeling.
After all, these were relatives he hadn't seen for nine years, and it would take time to adjust.
Qin's Mother and Qin Yan also noticed Qin Xi's discomfort but couldn't think of a better approach. They could only carefully show their care and draw closer, while inevitably feeling resentment towards Li Zhi and Qiao Meng, as well as regret over various what-ifs from the past.
In this situation, the atmosphere easily became awkward.
Ji Fei's eyes rolled as she had an idea.
[I found out that Qin Xi likes to play with Rubik's cubes, Lego, and models, but except for Rubik's cubes, he has only tried the others in stores. Qiao Meng said they were expensive, so she didn't buy them for him. How could she really think they were expensive? She just didn't want to waste a single penny on Qin Xi.]
Qin's Mother and Qin Yan's expressions instantly froze. They had just asked Qin Xi what he liked, and he only mentioned Rubik's Cubes.
It was probably out of habitual obedience, avoiding mentioning anything 'expensive'.
This made the two women feel even more heartbroken.
Before Ji Fei could come up with an excuse, Qin's Mother and Qin Yan seamlessly brought up how Qin Xian and their third brother Qin Dynasty loved Lego and model kits, mentioning that they had a whole warehouse full of them at home.
"Would Xiao Xi like to play with them? Do you want..."
"I do, I like them," Qin Xi immediately responded.
It wasn't just because he genuinely liked them, but more so because it was a reason that made him seem more like the Qin family members, giving him more confidence in this place.
Of course, what Qin's Mother and Qin Yan said was true. There were indeed many in the warehouse, but they wanted to make up tenfold for the nine years of lost family bonds. So not only could Qin Xi choose from the warehouse, they also had new items continuously delivered.
When Qin's Father and Qin Xian returned in the evening, the butler led them to an empty room on the first floor with a smile. Inside was a massive Lego set covering a huge area. The three women and the boy were sitting on the floor, engrossed in play.
The scene warmed the hearts of the father and son who had been tired from a long day.
After dinner, Qin's Father and Qin Xian joined the game.
A week later, many things were settled.
Qin's Father took decisive action - divorce, police reports, lawsuits, everything was arranged.
The Li Family's private hospital went bankrupt, and Li Zhi was left with enormous debts, forcing him to declare bankruptcy.
The Li family ended up on the streets. Li's Mother had come to make a scene a few times, but as they were no longer in-laws, she couldn't even get past the gates of the property.
Qin's Father wouldn't give anyone from the Li Family a chance to see Qin Yan and Qin Xi again.
Li Zhi and Qiao Meng were to be imprisoned, but because Qiao Meng was pregnant, Li Zhi showed a rare moment of backbone and took all the blame, allowing Qiao Meng to be released without charges.
But Qiao Meng wasn't moved. Whether it was because she had no hope for the future or because she felt Li Zhi had deceived her initially, Li's Mother let her guard down for a moment, and Qiao Meng miscarried and then vanished without a trace.
In the end, when disaster strikes, it's every man for himself. Upon learning of the situation, Li Zhi went mad in prison, extending his sentence.
In ten days, the Li Family disappeared from the city.
Following this, arrangements were made for Qin Xi to transfer schools and start anew. But before that, the Qin family arranged a family recognition banquet for Qin Xi.
Looking at the guest list for the banquet, Ji Fei expressed her regret.
[I know the names but can't match them to faces. Otherwise, we could've checked in advance if there was any gossip. Usually, there's plenty of juicy gossip in these wealthy circles.]
The Qin family members discussing the list on the sofa immediately had their attention diverted. After all, who could resist listening to gossip?
They had been privy to quite a bit of gossip around Ji Fei recently. They even caught wind of the butler's secret crush on the housekeeper, and had been quietly shipping them every day.
"By the way, will that kid Qin Dynasty make it? Wasn't he said to be filming in some remote mountains with no signal?" Qin's Father asked.
The Qin family's third son, Qin Dynasty, was an actor and currently a top celebrity in the entertainment industry.
Qin Xian spoke up, "Third brother contacted me. He just got out and said he'd definitely come back. He also mentioned having something important to say."
At these words, the Qin family members fell silent, their expressions somewhat peculiar.
Ji Fei looked around curiously, unable to resist activating her gossip system.
[I see, Qin Dynasty wants to change his betrothal. I seem to have some impression of this.]
[Originally, he was engaged to the Chu Family Eldest Daughter, but Qin Dynasty has always liked the Chu Family Youngest Daughter.]
[It seems the eldest daughter has a bad reputation, while everyone praises the younger daughter.]
Hearing this, the Qin family members weren't surprised. Over the years, Qin Dynasty had made his feelings quite obvious. The family didn't oppose their children choosing to love freely, but they were worried that Qin Dynasty's impulsive temperament might make the situation awkward.
Since Ji Fei had confirmed that Qin Dynasty's return was indeed about changing his engagement, they decided to wait for his return to discuss an appropriate way to handle it together.
As everyone was pondering this, they heard Ji Fei sigh.
[Love is truly unpredictable. When Qin Dynasty was a child, he almost died. It was actually the Chu Family Eldest Daughter who saved his life, yet he fell in love with her younger sister instead of her.]
The Qin family members: ...
Wait, what did they just hear?
Wasn't it the Chu Family Youngest Daughter who saved Qin Dynasty when he was young?!!!!!!!