The afternoon slipped by in a flash.
When it was about time, Chen Lin brought Li Jiaojiao back to the Osmanthus Jiangnan Guesthouse to meet up with his aunt and her family for dinner.
Chen Lin had only just led Li Jiaojiao, whose excitement still hadn't faded, into the Guesthouse lobby.
His hearing, far sharper than an ordinary person's, easily penetrated the thick walls and picked up the hushed argument coming from Ning Xiao Yu's room on the second floor.
"Xiao Yu, the way you looked at that Chen guy this afternoon wasn't right!" His cousin Li Sikong's voice was thick with jealousy and unease. "And you said it was that time of the month. I don't remember it being around now..."
Then came Ning Xiao Yu's slightly impatient explanation. "Oh, my stomach just felt a little off. Would you stop overthinking everything? You're suspicious all day long!"
"How am I supposed to stop overthinking?" Li Sikong raised his voice, then deflated like a punctured balloon. Lowering his voice, he said with a self-important air, "Xiao Yu, I asked around the village just now. That Chen guy is living off a woman! What money does he have? It's all because he has a rich father-in-law. I heard his rich girlfriend's family gave him a four-million-yuan Bentley. Even this Resort of his was probably funded by her family!"
The room fell silent for a moment before Ning Xiao Yu spoke in a tone of feigned innocence. "What does that have to do with me? Seriously, stop overthinking it. Do you really think I'm the kind of woman who'd drop you the moment someone better came along?"
"I was wrong, Xiao Yu. I'm just too sensitive. Please don't be angry..." Li Sikong immediately backed down and apologized, his tone abject.
Standing in