Chapter 55: Villa Six at Ming Lake Fragrant Residences

The living room was shrouded in silence.

Lin Qingqian broke the stillness, looking at her mother with a provocative gaze. “Mom, is this the so-called promising young man you kept praising?”

“Armed with counterfeit goods worth a few dozen yuan and fake diamonds that shatter at a touch, he fooled you into laughing and smiling.”

Zheng Mei’s face alternated between pale and livid. She impatiently slapped the table. “What are you gloating about?”

“Even if this Zhao Hui is a fraud and I let him trick me, it doesn’t mean Ye Tianci is any better!”

“No matter how highly you speak of him, I will never agree to your engagement with Ye Tianci!”

Old Master Lin suddenly emerged from his room, his face stern. “I’ve been listening for a long time, and I can’t take it anymore!”

“Zheng Mei, the engagement between Qingqian and Tianci was arranged by me. Whether you agree or not, it will stand!”

Zheng Mei crossed her arms and sneered sarcastically. “Dad, you’ve already been kicked out by my eldest brother and are living in our house—what are you pretending to be tough for?”

“Qingqian is my daughter. Who she marries is up to me!”

“If you really have backbone, don’t stay at our house!”

Lin Daonan’s beard trembled with anger. He turned to leave, but Lin Qingqian grabbed his arm. “Grandpa!”

Lin Qingqian looked at her mother dispassionately. “Mom, if you drive Grandpa away, I won’t live here anymore either.”

“Go! If you have the guts, get out!” Zheng Mei’s eyes widened, her expression fierce.

“Once you walk out that door, never come back!”

Without another word, Lin Qingqian took Ye Tianci in one hand and Lin Daonan in the other. “Let’s go!”

Lin Changli stepped forward, lips quivering.

Zheng Mei glared at him. “You spineless coward! What are you about to say now? Do you want to leave too?”

Lin Changli swallowed his anger. “Wife, how can you drive Dad away? That’s just too unfilial…”

Smack!

Zheng Mei slapped Lin Changli across the face.

“Are you looking for trouble? How dare you shout at me? Marrying you was the worst mistake I ever made! Useless, the only thing you know how to do is yell at your own wife!”

Spittle sprayed across Lin Changli’s face.

He gritted his teeth, eyes reddening.

“You dare glare at me? Get out if you have the guts!”

Zheng Mei wouldn’t let up, acting like a madwoman.

Lin Changli stomped his foot in anger and followed Lin Qingqian out.

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With a loud crash, Zheng Mei flipped the table and stomped, shouting curses. “Get out! All of you! Don’t ever come back if you dare leave!”

The clattering of smashed objects echoed behind them—who knew how many things she destroyed.

The four of them reached downstairs, only to find Zhao Hui sprawled on the ground, face covered in blood. His legs appeared broken, and he couldn’t move.

“Brother-in-law, please stop beating me—I... I know I was wrong,” Zhao Hui pleaded from the floor.

Ye Tianci’s lips curled into a faint smile. “A warning would’ve been enough. Why beat him so badly?”

Lei Hong responded respectfully, “Master Ye, this fool was audacious beyond belief. I wanted to teach him a lesson.”

He glanced at Lin Qingqian and the others, curiosity in his eyes. “Master Ye, weren’t you visiting? What happened?”

“My mother-in-law is too domineering—she threw us all out,” Ye Tianci replied with a playful smile.

Lei Hong’s eyes flashed. He quickly produced a set of keys from his pocket. “Master Ye, these are for my villa at Minghu Mansion. If you don’t mind, you and Miss Lin’s family can stay there for now.”

“No need,” Ye Tianci replied.

He intended to take Lin Qingqian and her family to the sanatorium, where the conditions and environment were superior.

“Master Ye, please accept them. My whole family depends on you!” Lei Hong insisted earnestly.

Seeing his sincerity, Ye Tianci finally accepted the keys.

Lei Hong drew him aside and whispered, “Master Ye, your mother-in-law is so overbearing she dared throw you out. Should I send someone?”

He made a covert gesture.

“She enjoys playing cards and mahjong,” Ye Tianci said, then turned and got into the car, driving with Lin Qingqian’s family toward Minghu Mansion.

Watching Ye Tianci depart, Lei Hong grinned, muttering to himself, “Master Ye, I understand your meaning. Just wait for good news.”

He immediately pulled out his phone. “Ah Hai, your third uncle runs a card club, right? Tell him to come see me—I have something for him to do!”

Half an hour later, Lin Qingqian’s car stopped in front of a grand villa.

“Minghu Mansion, Number Six? My goodness!”

Standing before the three-story villa, Lin Qingqian couldn’t help but exclaim.

She’d thought Lei Hong’s property would be an ordinary villa, but it turned out to be Number Six at Minghu Mansion!

“Is this villa expensive?” Ye Tianci asked indifferently.

“Not just expensive—extremely expensive! And even with money, you might not be able to buy it!”

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“Minghu Mansion villas are ranked. Numbers one through eight are exclusive, detached villas—the elite version. The rest are standard ones.”

“Standard villas are priced below five million, but the elite villas start at twenty million! The lower the number, the higher the price!”

“This Number Six villa costs at least thirty million! If it were Number One, the price could be over a hundred million!”

“Is Lei Hong very close to you? Why would he let you stay in such an expensive villa?” Lin Qingqian asked in surprise.

Ye Tianci smiled. “He didn’t give it—he said we could stay here temporarily.”

“Even letting us stay here is a huge favor. How could we ever repay it?” Lin Qingqian felt troubled.

“You and Uncle Lin, Grandpa Lin, just stay here in peace. I’ll handle the favor,” Ye Tianci reassured her with a smile.

They entered the villa and each chose a room.

Lin Qingqian soon came downstairs with her phone. “Tianci, my eldest uncle just called—he offered a condition.”

“What condition?” Ye Tianci asked calmly.

“He said he allocated fifty million from Dongliang Group to invest in the Lin family, and the hot spring project at Xishan Resort is underway. The Lin family signed several contracts thanks to Dongliang Group, but now they’re short-staffed. He proposed that if I recover the funds lost on two previous projects, he’ll let me and my parents back onto the family register.”

“Do you want to return?” Ye Tianci asked.

Lin Qingqian pressed her lips. “For anyone, being expelled from the family genealogy is a disgrace, so I...”

She hesitated.

Ye Tianci smiled. “If you want to go back, I’ll help you.”

“Tianci, my mother is so harsh and mean to you, and my uncle and the others aren’t kind either. Why don’t you get angry? Why are you always patient and helping me, standing by my side?” Lin Qingqian asked softly.

Ye Tianci gave her a warm smile. “It’s an engagement between you and me, not between me and them.”

“Besides, when I, Ye Tianci, choose a woman, I’ll protect her with all my heart.”

“To have one true partner, and grow old together without parting—this is my only hope for our engagement.”

Looking at Ye Tianci, Lin Qingqian’s beautiful eyes shone with new light.

As their gazes met, they slowly drew closer.

Lin Qingqian closed her eyes, and Ye Tianci’s lips gently moved toward her alluring red lips.

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