The two of them were nothing but lies

Before returning to Earth, Lin Fei first went to the other house he had bought in South City as a backup.

The house was currently empty, with no servants at all.

No one knew about it except Lin Fei.

He had bought the house as a backup landing point.

"I should hire a few servants and guards for this place. Leaving it empty all the time is bound to arouse suspicion. Some petty thieves might even set their sights on it."

Security in South City was poor. The troops patrolling the city couldn't be bothered to deal with petty thefts.

Large households all had their own guards, so petty thieves didn't dare come calling.

Only little houses like this one, with no one living in them, were easy pickings for thieves.

Of course, this house was empty, so there was nothing to steal.

But if thieves turned it into a hideout, it would inevitably become a liability.

"I'll go back to Earth first and get everything taken care of."

Lin Fei entered an inner room and locked the doors and windows. Then he opened the Space Gate and returned to Earth.

Whoosh!

Lin Fei appeared in the bedroom of his rental apartment. A dozen or so boxes sat inside, all filled with the gold, silver, and jewels from the secret chamber.

"I can't just keep all this gold, silver, and jewelry at home. I need to find somewhere safer to store it."

Lin Fei changed out of his clothes and put on something from Earth.

The moment he walked out of the bedroom, he heard the lock on the front door turn.

Lin Fei immediately grew wary. Was it a thief picking the lock?

He grabbed the vase from the table to use as a weapon.

Soon, the front door opened, and a woman walked in.

"Ma Weiwei?"

Lin Fei was surprised. He hadn't expected the visitor to be Ma Weiwei rather than a thief.

Ma Weiwei was taken aback too, and displeasure crossed her face.

"Lin Fei, you're home!"

"I called out for ages. Couldn't you hear me, or were you hiding because you didn't want to see me?"

"Good thing I had a key. Otherwise, I really wouldn't have been able to get in."

Lin Fei frowned. He'd forgotten about that.

He and Ma Weiwei had once been on the verge of getting married, so after renting the place, he had given her a key.

"What are you doing here? Did you come to return my bride price?"

Ma Weiwei suddenly put on a smile and walked toward him.

"Lin Fei, are you still angry? I came to apologize today."

"Apologize to me?"

"That's right. I thought about what happened yesterday, and my family was in the wrong too. No matter what, they shouldn't have pushed you out the door. You weren't hurt, were you?"

Ma Weiwei's insincere concern seemed utterly laughable to Lin Fei.

If she really cared about him, she wouldn't have coldly ignored him when he was hurt yesterday—not even sparing him a glance, let alone calling him.

She'd suddenly shown up today. She must have wanted something.

"We've broken up. We should keep our distance from now on. Please give me back the key."

Lin Fei didn't want to beat around the bush. Ma Weiwei had hurt him deeply, and he only wanted to cut ties with her and never see her again.

Ma Weiwei put on a pitiful expression and took Lin Fei's hand.

"Lin Fei, are you really going to be so heartless? You said I was your first love!"

"We've been together since college. Three years of feelings—can you really let them go?"

Ma Weiwei's words softened Lin Fei a little.

She really had been his first love, and over those three years, his feelings for her had been sincere.

"What exactly do you want?"

"When I said we were breaking up yesterday, I didn't mean it. My parents forced me to say it. My feelings for you have never changed. I've always loved you."

"I even had a huge fight with my parents because I wanted to be with you. I came here today just to see you."

Ma Weiwei's eyes glistened with tears, and she looked utterly sincere.

Lin Fei softened even more. He was most afraid of seeing a girl cry.

In the past, no matter who was right or wrong, whenever Ma Weiwei cried, Lin Fei couldn't stand his ground. He would admit fault and do whatever it took to cheer her up.

"Are you telling the truth?"

"Of course."

"But I can't come up with three hundred thousand in bride price. Would your parents agree to us being together?"

Ma Weiwei answered at once, "Don't lie to me. Yiming told me when he got home yesterday that he ran into you at the gold shop in Longhua Mall."

"Your family has inherited gold coins, and you sold them yesterday. You must have raised enough for the bride price, right?"

Lin Fei pulled his hand away and let out a cold laugh.

"So you're still after my money..."

"I'm not after your money. I can't bear to lose you or what we had. Didn't you sell those inherited gold coins so you could marry me?"

"You're imagining things. I didn't sell the coins to raise the bride price. I need the money to pay for my father's treatment."

Lin Fei looked straight at Ma Weiwei and asked firmly, "Since you say you still love me, let me ask you this: if I only had a bride price of one hundred and fifty thousand, would you marry me?"

"If you would, then let's go register our marriage today."

Ma Weiwei's eyes flickered, and hesitation showed on her face.

She had heard from Ma Yiming that Lin Fei had a lot of inherited gold coins worth a fortune, so she had come specifically to confirm it.

Who knew Lin Fei would say he hadn't sold them to raise the bride price? Was he testing whether she truly loved him?

"Lin Fei, of course I'm willing to marry you. Oh, Yiming also told me you know Wu Yuqing, the heiress of Longhua Group. How did you meet her?"

"When we have our wedding, could you invite her? The Wu Family is one of Yunzhou's four great lineages. If she came to our wedding, it would be a real spectacle."

First the gold coins, and now Wu Yuqing. Lin Fei realized Ma Weiwei's motives weren't pure.

"I don't know Wu Yuqing. You must have gotten it wrong."

"That can't be right. Yiming said he heard Wu Yuqing say with his own ears that you were friends."

"Wu Yuqing only said that in passing because she didn't want anyone causing trouble at Longhua Mall. Didn't your brother tell you that he wanted to call the police and have me arrested, claiming my gold coins had an improper origin? That's why Wu Yuqing stepped in."

Lin Fei made a point of distancing himself completely from Wu Yuqing. He wanted to see whether Ma Weiwei's feelings for him were real.

"Weiwei, since you're willing to marry me, then let's go register our marriage."

Lin Fei took Ma Weiwei's hand and started to lead her outside.

Ma Weiwei abruptly pulled free, her expression turning cold.

"What marriage certificate? You have no money, and you can't get Wu Yuqing to come. How am I supposed to marry you?"

"The company I work for is a real estate subsidiary of Longhua Group."

"I thought that if you could bring Wu Yuqing, our manager and colleagues would be astonished to see her."

"If Wu Yuqing put in a good word for me, I'd definitely get promoted and a raise. My future would be limitless. I didn't expect you not to know her at all. You got my hopes up for nothing."

Lin Fei gave a self-mocking laugh. He'd truly been blind to love a woman like this for three years.

"So when you said you loved me and were willing to marry me, it was all a lie!"

"Not all of it. My feelings are real, but if you want to marry me, you either need to come up with three hundred thousand in bride price or invite Wu Yuqing to the wedding. Either one will do."

Ma Weiwei had laid her cards on the table. That was why she had come today.

"Lin Fei, think it over."