A Return to the Village Drew a Crowd

After they agreed on paying the balance and transferring ownership the next day, Zhang Tong generously gave Chi Qing the house keys ahead of time. As soon as he had seen Chi Qing and Zhang Tong off, Xiao Zhou, the agent, was surrounded by his coworkers and began recounting his extraordinary experience that day, gesturing excitedly.

By the time she got home, it was already dark. Even though things had moved quickly, all the paperwork still took time. Chi Qing washed up briefly and went to bed early.

The next day, Chi Qing slept until she woke naturally, and the first thing she did was check her phone again. Oh, good, good. Yesterday's rating was still 1.0, and the balance on my phone is 2.46 million × 1.0 × 2 = 4.92 million. Chi Qing relaxed.

After transferring the remaining 2.04 million to the agency, Chi Qing left messages for Zhang Tong and Xiao Zhou separately.

Looking at the 2.88 million remaining in her bank account, Chi Qing felt utterly secure. Human adaptability really was remarkable. Just days ago, she had only a few dozen yuan in her account, yet now that she had millions, she was actually getting used to it.

Unable to wait, Chi Qing immediately called her parents and said she was coming back to pick them up to take care of something. She told them to wait for her under the old tree at the village entrance at ten.

After washing up, Chi Qing timed her departure. She had to admit that you got what you paid for. Driving a car that cost over two million-the comfort, the sound system, and the speed... All right, Chi Qing had nearly exceeded the speed limit several times.

Chi Qing arrived at the village entrance more than ten minutes early. The sunshine was lovely that day, and the village elders had gathered there to bask in it. Of course, more importantly, they were there to exchange gossip about everyone's families. Yue Meifen and Chi Yongliang were sitting among them, waiting for Chi Qing.

Seeing Chi Qing's car pull up from a distance, the elders could tell it was expensive even though they did not recognize the brand. They all shuffled aside to make room for her to park. Of course, they had no idea who was inside. After all, the Porsche's tinted windows offered top-notch privacy.

Yue Meifen and Chi Yongliang shifted aside too. Third Uncle, who was beside Chi Yongliang, even remarked, "Oh my, you can tell that car's expensive just by looking at it. It's so big." Chi Yongliang said, "Yes, Third Brother, you can tell it's a nice car." Hearing them, everyone involuntarily turned their attention toward it, waiting to see who would get out. After all, the village was only so big, and only so many people came each day.

Inside the car, Chi Qing felt her scalp prickle at the sight of the crowd of elderly men and women at the village entrance. She had never expected so many people to be there today. There was nothing for it; she still had to get out.

Chi Qing took a deep breath, turned off the engine, and got out.

"Mom, Dad." Chi Qing walked toward the crowd. It was not that she was being rude by failing to greet everyone else; she only had vague impressions of them and had no idea what to call them.

"Oh my, it's Qingqing!" Yue Meifen abruptly came to her senses and immediately stood up.

Chi Yongliang reacted too and quickly got up with his cane. Seeing this, Chi Qing hurried over to support him.

Once the elderly men and women around them saw it was Chi Qing, the crowd erupted into a buzz.

"Oh, it's Qingqing! How many years has it been?"

"Oh, Yongliang's daughter! She's grown into such a lovely young woman."

"Exactly. This is the first time I've seen her since she left the village at seven."

Surrounded by enthusiastic uncles and aunties, Chi Qing could only smile and respond. Just then, Yue Meifen hurried over to rescue her.

"This is your Third Aunt, Eldest Aunt, Eldest Uncle, Third Uncle, Second Grandpa, Second Grandma..." As Yue Meifen introduced them, Chi Qing parroted every greeting. Of course, she still failed to remember a single one.

"Qingqing, you've got a new car? I was just telling your dad you could tell it was a good one at a glance," said Third Uncle, who had been sitting beside Chi Yongliang. Everyone else chimed in.

Chi Qing could only offer perfunctory responses.

After a while of this awkward conversation, Chi Qing urged Yue Meifen with her eyes. She really could not take any more; she had nothing to talk about. Yue Meifen understood instantly and said, "Qingqing, it's getting late. Let's get going. Don't we still have something to do in the city?"

"Right, we'll be off, then. Goodbye, Third Aunt, Eldest Aunt, Third Uncle, Eldest Uncle, Second Grandpa, Second Grandma..." Chi Qing was honestly impressed with herself. Apparently, she had not missed anyone, though of course she could not match the names to the faces!

The three got into the car. Chi Qing lowered the window and said goodbye once more to the uncles and aunties at the village entrance before driving off. Of course, Chi Qing believed she was bound to feature prominently in the village gossip that day.

Just after Chi Qing started the car, her maternal cousin, who lived in the same village, reached the village entrance and happened to catch sight of her car driving away. "Whoa, a Porsche! Which family in our village struck it rich enough to drive one of those?" her cousin Yue Changqing asked in surprise.

"Haha, you're too late. It wasn't anyone else-it was your Fifth Aunt's daughter, Qingqing," Third Uncle answered.

"Oh, Changqing, how much does this Por-something cost? Is it very expensive?" Seeing that he recognized it, the other aunties quickly gathered around to ask.

"It must cost over a million, at least." Hearing that it belonged to Chi Qing, Yue Changqing was stunned. He had known his younger cousin had done reasonably well for herself, but he had never imagined she had done this well.

With that thought, Yue Changqing hurried home. As for the matters between Chi Qing's family and her maternal uncle's family, those were a story for later.

Meanwhile, when the gossip groups at the village entrance heard that, they thought, My goodness, over a million! Just how much money was that? This girl really was something! But it was a shame that she was still unmarried at her age. No matter how rich she was, her life was not complete. And so, another round of embellished gossip began.