All Fake

Before returning to Earth, Lin Fei first went to another spare residence he had purchased in South City.

This residence was currently vacant, without any servants.

Aside from Lin Fei, no one else knew of its existence.

He had purchased this property specifically to serve as a backup landing point.

"I should still hire a few servants and guards for this place; leaving it empty all the time will inevitably invite suspicion, and it might even be targeted by petty thieves."

The security situation in South City was relatively poor, and the city patrols couldn't be bothered with petty theft.

Wealthy households all had their own guards, so petty thieves wouldn't dare approach them easily.

Only small, unoccupied residences like this one were easy targets for thieves.

Of course, since it was just an empty house, he wasn't worried about anything being stolen.

However, if thieves decided to use it as a hideout, it would inevitably become a hidden danger.

"I'll return to Earth first and get things settled."

Lin Fei entered an inner room, locked the doors and windows, then opened a spatial gate and returned to Earth.

Swish!

Lin Fei appeared in the bedroom of his rented apartment, where over a dozen boxes filled with gold and jewelry from the secret chamber were stored.

"Leaving all this gold and jewelry at home isn't a long-term solution; I need to find a safer place to store it."

Lin Fei first changed out of his clothes and put on his Earth attire.

Just as he walked out of the bedroom, he heard the sound of the front door lock turning.

Lin Fei immediately became alert; could it be a burglar picking the lock?

He picked up a vase from the table to use as a defensive weapon.

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

"Ma Weiwei?"

Lin Fei was somewhat surprised; he hadn't expected a thief, but Ma Weiwei instead.

Ma Weiwei was also taken aback, her expression turning slightly displeased.

"Lin Fei, you're home!"

"I've been calling out for so long; were you unable to hear me, or were you intentionally hiding and avoiding me?"

"It's a good thing I have a key, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to get in."

Lin Fei frowned; he had completely forgotten about that.

Back when he and Ma Weiwei were at the stage of discussing marriage, he had given her a key after renting this apartment.

"What are you here for? Are you here to return my betrothal gift?"

Ma Weiwei suddenly put on a smiling face and walked forward.

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

"Apologize to me?"

"That's right. I've been thinking about what happened yesterday, and my family was in the wrong too. Regardless of anything, they shouldn't have pushed you out the door. You weren't hurt, were you?"

Ma Weiwei's hypocritical concern seemed utterly ridiculous to Lin Fei.

If she had truly cared about him, she wouldn't have been so cold as to not even glance at his injured self yesterday, nor would she have failed to even make a phone call.

Showing up today so suddenly, she was likely after something else.

"We've already broken up. Let's have less contact in the future. Please return the key to me."

Lin Fei couldn't be bothered to beat around the bush with Ma Weiwei. His heart had been completely broken by her, and he only wanted to sever ties and never see her again.

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

"Lin Fei, are you really going to be this heartless? You said it yourself, I'm your first love!"

"We've been in love since college; can you really just let go of three years of feelings?"

Lin Fei felt his resolve waver slightly at Ma Weiwei's words.

She was indeed his first love, and the feelings he had poured into Ma Weiwei over those three years were sincere.

"What exactly do you want?"

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

"To be with you, I even had a huge fight with my parents. I came here today specifically to find you."

Ma Weiwei's eyes grew moist and shimmered with tears, looking deeply sincere.

Lin Fei felt his heart soften even further; he was most afraid of seeing girls cry.

In the past, regardless of who was right or wrong, as long as Ma Weiwei cried, Lin Fei would be helpless and could only admit his own faults to coax her back into a good mood.

"Are you speaking the truth?"

"Of course it's the truth."

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

Ma Weiwei immediately said, "Don't lie to me. Yiming came home yesterday and told me he ran into you at the jewelry store in Longhua Mall."

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

Lin Fei shook off Ma Weiwei's hand and couldn't help but sneer.

"So, you were still just after the money..."

"I'm not after the money; I just can't bear to lose you, to lose our relationship. Didn't you sell those heirloom gold coins to marry me?"

"You're overthinking it. I didn't sell the gold coins to scrape together a bride price; I sold them to pay for my father's medical treatment."

Lin Fei looked Ma Weiwei straight in the eyes and asked with a firm tone, "Since you say you still love me, let me ask you: if there were only one hundred and fifty thousand for the bride price, would you still marry me?"

"If you are willing to marry me, we can go register our marriage today."

Ma Weiwei's eyes flickered, and her expression turned hesitant.

She had heard from Ma Yiming that Lin Fei possessed many heirloom gold coins worth a fortune, so she had come specifically to confirm it.

Who would have thought Lin Fei would say it wasn't for the bride price? Could this be a test to see if her feelings were genuine?

"Lin Fei, of course I'm willing to marry you. By the way, I also heard from Yiming that you know Wu Yuqing, the eldest daughter of Longhua Group. How do you know her?"

"When we hold our wedding, can we invite her to attend? The Wu family is one of the four great families in Yunzhou. If she could attend our wedding, it would certainly be prestigious."

First the gold coins, and now she was bringing up Wu Yuqing. Lin Fei realized that Ma Weiwei's motives were not pure.

"I don't know Wu Yuqing; you must have made a mistake."

"That's impossible. Yiming said he heard with his own ears that Wu Yuqing claimed to be your friend."

"Wu Yuqing was just saying that off the cuff because she didn't want anyone causing trouble in Longhua Mall. Didn't your brother tell you that he wanted to call the police to arrest me, claiming my gold coins were of suspicious origin, and that was the only reason Wu Yuqing stepped in?"

Lin Fei distanced himself completely from his relationship with Wu Yuqing; he wanted to see clearly whether Ma Weiwei's feelings for him were real.

"Weiwei, since you are willing to marry me, let's go register our marriage, shall we?"

Lin Fei took Ma Weiwei's hand and prepared to walk out.

Ma Weiwei violently pulled her hand away, her expression turning cold.

"Register what? You have no money, and you can't invite Wu Yuqing. How do you expect me to marry you?"

"The company I work for is a real estate firm under Longhua Group."

"I had hoped that if you could invite Wu Yuqing, my managers and colleagues at the company would be shocked when they saw her."

"As long as Wu Yuqing put in a good word for me, I would definitely get a promotion and a raise, with a limitless future. I didn't expect that you don't even know her. You've made me happy for nothing."

Lin Fei gave a self-deprecating laugh. He had truly been blind; the woman he had loved for three years was actually such a snob.

"So, everything you just said about loving me and being willing to marry me was a lie!"

"It wasn't all a lie. The feelings are real, but if you want to get married, you either come up with the three hundred thousand in bride price or invite Wu Yuqing to the wedding. Whichever one you can manage will do."

Ma Weiwei laid her cards completely on the table; this was her purpose for coming today.

"Lin Fei, you should think it over carefully."