Chapter 35: "Sister, Are You My Cousin's Girlfriend?

Out of her long-standing trust, Su Siyun chose to believe Jiang Xin's explanation. As long as it wasn't Chen Ye, everything was fine!

"I'm done eating. When you finish, just clear the table and put everything in the dishwasher."

Su Siyun wiped her mouth, gave a quick wave, and carried her plate into the kitchen. Her swimming lesson was scheduled for one-thirty in the afternoon, so it was time for her to go warm up.

Jiang Xin kept her head down, silently piercing pieces of beef tenderloin with her fork and chewing slowly. In truth, she simply didn't dare to look up, afraid that Su Siyun would notice the unnatural expression on her face.

Just moments ago, she had lied for a boy—and lied to her own family, no less. It was her very first time lying! This wasn't just staying silent; it was an outright lie! A wave of guilt instantly washed over her, making her feel too ashamed to face anyone.

It was all Chen Ye's fault!

Biting her lip, Jiang Xin stabbed her porcelain plate a few times in frustration. However, before she could fully process this guilt, her phone buzzed beside her. She hurriedly picked it up, and her expression instantly changed.

"I'm doomed!" she thought to herself.

[Okay.]

[Great, I'll head over past one this afternoon. Thanks for the trouble.]

Those two brief messages left Jiang Xin wanting to cry but lacking the tears. When did she ever send that reply? She had clearly only typed it into the input box! What a piece of junk this phone was! She had only bought it a few days ago, and it was already sending texts on its own! What would happen after she had it for a while?!

The young girl continuously made excuses for her slip-up, simply unwilling to admit her true feelings. Deep down, she really was harboring a tiny bit of... anticipation for Chen Ye's arrival. But Jiang Xin had no idea where this feeling came from. She only knew that when she was with Chen Ye, she didn't have to be overly sensitive or worry too much about his feelings. Chen Ye didn't treat her like she was different. Or perhaps... she just really wanted some company.

Rubbing her face, Jiang Xin let out a soft sigh and went back to finishing her lunch.

Meanwhile, Su Siyun gathered her things and left the apartment.

At the same time, Chen Ye had also just finished eating. He had originally thought Jiang Xin would refuse such a slightly outrageous request, but to his surprise, she had actually agreed. She had agreed to let a boy bring his younger cousin to her home while she was completely alone. It was quite astonishing.

"Chen Ye, should I bring a gift for Jiang Xin?" Xu Wanwan ran into the kitchen and asked happily while he washed the dishes. As long as she could go out and play, she was willing to do anything!

"No need, I've got the gift covered," Chen Ye replied. After a moment of thought, he instructed, "Let's bring some snacks later. Just pick out some things you girls like to eat."

He remembered that there weren't any such snacks in Jiang Xin's house. He didn't know if she disliked them or if she simply never thought to buy them. No matter how well Su Hongshan treated his daughter, he wouldn't pay attention to details like that. Besides, in the eyes of middle-aged people, those things were basically junk food—nowhere near as good as fresh meals.

"I'll go buy some right now!" Xu Wanwan immediately turned to fetch money from her little piggy bank, but Chen Ye stopped her.

He pulled out a crisp red hundred-yuan bill and handed it to her. "Here, take this. Just remember to give me the change."

"Okay!" The little girl didn't know how to refuse. She snatched the hundred-yuan bill and happily skipped out the door. Chen Ye had told her to give him the change, but he hadn't specified how much change there had to be. She could buy plenty of delicious treats for Jiang Xin and herself!

Before long, Chen Ye finished washing the dishes, took out the trash, and grabbed the items he had brought from his hometown. Just then, Xu Wanwan returned carrying a massive bag of snacks. Chen Ye took one glance and saw that it was entirely filled with potato chips, shrimp crackers, and various sweet and sour drinks—the epitome of "junk food."

"Chen Ye, here's the change!" she chuckled, handing a few spare coins and smaller bills back to him.

"At least you have a little bit of a conscience," Chen Ye said with a wry smile as he looked at the sparse change. At the very least, it was enough to cover their round-trip taxi fare.

Carrying the gift from his hometown in one hand and the young girl's bag of snacks in the other, he hailed a cab and took Xu Wanwan over to Jiang Xin's place.

Soon, he spotted the same middle-aged security guard from the other day. The guard didn't seem to have forgotten him either, opening the gate to let the two of them into the residential complex. In return, Chen Ye politely handed him a twenty-yuan pack of Yuxi cigarettes. After all, he would be relying on this man quite a bit in the future.

Xu Wanwan followed closely behind him, looking around at their surroundings. Her uncle's neighborhood was quite old—to put it bluntly, it was just standard employee housing—and couldn't possibly compare to the property Su Hongshan had bought. This was the little girl's first time entering such a high-end community.

"Chen Ye, is Jiang Xin's family really this rich?" she couldn't help but ask in a hushed voice as she jogged up beside him.

"They are pretty wealthy," Chen Ye nodded.

According to what Su Siyun had told him, Su Hongshan already had tens of millions—nearly a hundred million—in assets by this point, and his net worth would later expand to several hundred million. If only he hadn't stubbornly insisted on diving into the domestic stock market... He supposed the man had just grown old and foolish, his mind no longer as sharp as it was in his youth.

Arriving at the ground floor of Jiang Xin's building, Chen Ye sent her a text message and pressed the elevator button.

"The building has an elevator?!" Xu Wanwan stared, her eyes full of wonder, much like Granny Liu visiting the Grand View Garden. In 2008, outside of a few highly exclusive communities, the vast majority of residential buildings didn't have elevators. In her entire life, Xu Wanwan had only ever ridden one a few times at the shopping mall.

"Don't make such a fuss over nothing," Chen Ye said, lightly rapping her on the head. He reminded her, "Jiang Xin can't speak, so be mindful of your words."

"Hehe, don't worry!" The little girl clutched her head and grinned. "You've already reminded me three or four times." Naturally, she had come prepared.

With a soft DING, the elevator doors slowly opened. Stepping out, Chen Ye immediately noticed that the front door was already open about a third of the way.

Jiang Xin stood behind it with a conflicted expression. One hand gripped the doorknob, her teeth lightly grazing her bottom lip, and her lovely brows were slightly furrowed. It was hard to tell what was going on in her mind.

"Ah, sorry for making you wait with the door open!" Chen Ye stepped forward and helped pull the door open the rest of the way.

Instinctively, Jiang Xin let go and took a step back to avoid being pulled forward. But by the time she realized what was happening, Chen Ye had already squeezed his way inside, standing merely twenty centimeters away from her. In that split second, Jiang Xin could almost feel a wave of heat wash over her, making her dizzy.

"Give me a hand, otherwise I won't be able to put my shoe covers on." Not giving Jiang Xin a moment to catch her breath, Chen Ye smiled and held the gift and snacks out to her.

A flash of panic crossed Jiang Xin's eyes, but she involuntarily reached out and took the two bags.

Right at that moment, Xu Wanwan poked her head out from behind Chen Ye. Her large eyes blinked behind her round glasses, brimming with curiosity toward Jiang Xin.

"Hello! I'm Chen Ye's cousin, Xu Wanwan," she greeted sweetly. As she spoke, she demonstrated the simplest sign language phrase she had just looked up on the computer at home. She first placed her middle finger against her lips, then lightly pinched her earlobe, before giving Jiang Xin a thumbs-up with her other hand.

[Hello.]

The panic in Jiang Xin's eyes instantly melted into surprise. Her gaze softened considerably as she looked at Xu Wanwan, as if she were letting her guard down. Chen Ye's cousin seemed incredibly sweet and sensible.

However, completely catching her off guard, Xu Wanwan's very next sentence made her face turn beet red.

"Are you my cousin's girlfriend?"