"It's all my second master's fault, that wicked woman. She secretly spent all my savings on fancy clothes, and after I got off the bus, there was only ten cents left on my card."
Lin Xue almost laughed out loud. Could there really be a master who fleeced her own disciple like that?
Dishes were served shortly, and Ye Ning devoured them in a whirlwind finish.
Instead of going home, the two headed straight for the shopping mall.
"What are we here for?"
"To buy you clothes. You can throw away what you're wearing now."
Lin Xue glanced at Ye Ning. His washed-out shirt and trousers were clean enough, but just how long had it been since he wore new clothes?
Ye Ning asked with some anxiety, "Won't it be very expensive? Every time my second master bought me clothes, she deducted over a hundred thousand from my card."
"Your clothes cost that much?"
Lin Xue was surprised, then carefully inspected the brand of Ye Ning's clothes.
Well, it was domestic Qiaodan.
She looked at Ye Ning in astonishment. "How have you survived this long and still managed to have savings?"
Ye Ning said as a matter of course, "Every time I go to treat someone, my master gives me a one-percent commission. It's always a few hundred each time. I've been saving since I was a kid, and with my usual expenses, I've saved over seven hundred thousand."
"Actually, I'm very thrifty. A toothbrush costs three thousand a month, a tube of toothpaste ten thousand, laundry detergent seven thousand, plus daily expenses. I only spend a little over twenty thousand a month."
Holy crap.
That second master of Ye Ning's was utterly unhinged.
"Stay away from your second master in the future. Treasure your life," Lin Xue sighed.
Ye Ning looked bewildered.
Bringing Ye Ning into the mall, Lin Xue picked out a few sets of Dunhill menswear for him, which cost over a hundred thousand.
Ye Ning lamented, "You're so stingy. This brand is so cheap, it's worlds away from the Qiaodan I'm wearing. Each of my outfits costs around a hundred thousand."
The corner of Lin Xue's twitching mouth dropped as she looked at a Qiaodan specialty store not far away, where most items were priced around a hundred yuan.
"Ma'am, your boyfriend is so humorous," the cashier joked.
Lin Xue gave an awkward smile and prepared to leave with Ye Ning.
Just then, a woman blocked Lin Xue's path.
"Well, well, if it isn't our Lin Family's young miss? Tsk tsk, this little girl really has no eye for men, only knowing how to fancy pretty boys. Who knows if they're all show and no substance."
Ye Ning turned around to see a middle-aged woman accompanied by a heavily muscled man.
The woman was passable in appearance, but caked in heavy makeup and exuding a vulgar aura.
Upon seeing the woman, Lin Xue's expression shifted slightly.
This woman was none other than Zhang Juan, her second uncle's sister-in-law, notorious for her promiscuous nature.
Most importantly, this woman always loved bullying her, hurling sarcastic remarks every time they met.
Before Lin Xue could speak, Ye Ning chimed in.
"Wife, how do you know someone in this line of work?"
He looked utterly disgusted, even pulling Lin Xue away from Zhang Juan.
Lin Xue froze slightly, looking at Ye Ning in confusion.
"What line of work?!" Zhang Juan's expression darkened as she glared at Ye Ning.
"Selling flesh, obviously," Ye Ning said matter-of-factly.
Selling flesh?
Zhang Juan quickly caught on and cursed angrily, "You kept boy, how dare you spout nonsense! Someone slap him!"
Before Zhang Juan's voice even faded, the man behind her moved to attack Ye Ning.
"Wait, didn't I say the truth? Why are you getting mad?" Ye Ning asked, full of confusion.
"You still dare talk nonsense? Slap him!" Zhang Juan shouted furiously.
Ye Ning grew indignant as well, saying with utter displeasure, "Within the last twenty-four hours, you've been in contact with at least seven men, and you still carry their scent. If you're not selling flesh, what are you doing?"
Zhang Juan froze for a split second, gasping, "How do you know?!"
The surrounding onlookers immediately widened their eyes. This woman was wild.
Zhang Juan finally snapped back to her senses and hastily snapped, "You're talking nonsense! This lady is not selling flesh."
"In other words, you don't charge money, right?" Ye Ning nodded, looking suddenly enlightened. "Then you're just naturally cheap, even worse than someone who sells flesh. At least they earn their living through honest labor."
"Beat him to death!" Zhang Juan had lost her mind.
The burly man strode over and swung a palm toward Ye Ning's face.
"Thud."
Ye Ning lashed out with a kick, sending the hulking man flying over ten meters before he crashed to the ground unconscious.
"All show and no substance, just a paper tiger."
Throwing Zhang Juan's words right back at her, Ye Ning took Lin Xue's small hand and walked away.
Zhang Juan stood rooted to the spot, dumbfounded. She hadn't expected Ye Ning to be so fierce.
At that moment, a leering man stepped forward and handed her a business card.
"Big sister, you don't charge money? Actually, I'm available too. If you need anything, look me up. I can go all night."
"Get lost!"
Coming to her senses, Zhang Juan slapped the man and scurried away in shame and anger.
Yet she still clutched that business card tightly in her hand, refusing to let go.
All night—how thrilling.
Leaving the mall, Lin Xue thanked Ye Ning.
"Thank you for avenging me just now."
Ye Ning smiled. "You're my wife, so naturally I have to protect you. No one is allowed to bully you except me."
A trace of warmth stirred in Lin Xue's heart.
Although she hadn't known Ye Ning for long, he had already helped her immensely.
"By the way, wife, do you know Han Ziyan?" Ye Ning asked suddenly.
Han Ziyan?
How did Ye Ning know her?
Lin Xue nodded. "I know her. She's a famous female CEO in our Small City. How do you know her?"
Ye Ning said happily, "You know her? That's wonderful! She's my fiancée."
Lin Xue's smile instantly froze on her face. Ye Ning already had a fiancée? And it was Han Ziyan!
"Stop joking. Han Ziyan is a business prodigy. She took over her family's enterprise at eighteen, and in just three years, she multiplied the Han Family's business several times over."
"She's also an iceberg beauty. Nobody has ever heard of her having any fiancé, and she treats men with utter coldness."
Ye Ning's smile grew even brighter as he nodded excitedly. "So my fiancée is that amazing!"
"I don't believe for a second that she's your fiancée."
Lin Xue recovered her smile, assuming Ye Ning was just joking.
Ye Ning fished a marriage certificate from his pocket and handed it over.
Lin Xue opened it to find everything written in black and white, complete with a photo of Han Ziyan.
"This is real?"
"Yeah, my master gave it to me. It's definitely real."
A look of indignation crossed Lin Xue's face. "If you already have a fiancée, why did you ask me to marry you?"
The tiny shred of favorable impression she held for Ye Ning vanished into thin air.
"Is there a problem?" Ye Ning countered.
"Of course there is!" Lin Xue said angrily.
Ye Ning scratched his head, pulled out two more marriage certificates, and fell into deep thought.
Could he only choose one woman? But what should he do since he liked all of them?
Beauties shouldn't be let down, and plus he had three masters, he...
After a long while, Ye Ning finally looked up and asked, "Who made the rule that I can only have one wife? Tell me, and I'll go wipe him out."
Lin Xue: "..."
Looking thoroughly indignant, Ye Ning continued, "How can we just abandon the fine traditions of our ancestors? I won't stand for it. I don't care what other people do, I want them all."
Was he...
serious?
Looking at Ye Ning's solemn expression, Lin Xue was left speechless.
Even if she didn't mind, a proud daughter of heaven like Han Ziyan would never tolerate sharing a man with another woman.
"Wife, can you take me to see her?" Ye Ning asked again.
Lin Xue thought for a moment and said, "I'm not close with Han Ziyan. If you really want to see her, there's a calligraphy and painting exhibition hosted by Master Hidden Dragon tomorrow. I'll take you there. I hear Han Ziyan is Master Hidden Dragon's number one fan, so she might show up."
"That's great!" Ye Ning said happily.
Seeing how joyful Ye Ning looked, an uncomfortable feeling welled up in Lin Xue's heart.
Realizing this, she couldn't help but be shocked.
Could it be that she actually fell for Ye Ning? They had only just met!
Returning to the Lin Family, Lin Xue brought Ye Ning into her small villa.
"Pick whichever room you like and stay there."
Ye Ning looked around and pointed at a room. "I'll take this one."
Lin Xue immediately protested, "Not that one! That's my bedroom."
"I know, that's why I'm sleeping in it."
"Then where am I supposed to sleep?" Lin Xue was dumbfounded.
"Together, of course. You're my wife, so we naturally sleep together," Ye Ning said matter-of-factly.
The corners of Lin Xue's mouth twitched upward slightly. "Isn't Han Ziyan your wife too? Go find her to sleep with."
Ye Ning was momentarily stumped.
"Anyway, not now. We've only just met, we'll talk about it later. If you really have needs, see that koi fish in the big water tank? You can use it to take care of things."
"That damn thing is a snakehead fish."
Lin Xue blinked her innocent big eyes at Ye Ning and said, "Aren't they pretty much the same?"
Ye Ning: "..."
That thing was vastly different!
"Where am I sleeping then?"
Seeing that Lin Xue refused to budge, Ye Ning didn't press further.
He also felt things were moving a bit too fast, considering they had known each other for less than a day.
"The room right next to mine. It's my cousin's room, but she's away right now. You can sleep in her room for tonight, and tomorrow I'll have someone set up a room specifically for you."
With that, Lin Xue darted into her own bedroom.
As if afraid that if she was too slow, Ye Ning might do something to her.
Ye Ning pushed open the door and entered the room.
It was a delightfully decorated bedroom styled primarily in pink.
The bed was adorned with various cute plush toys.
A faint, pleasant fragrance drifted through the room, refreshing the mind.
The room came with an attached bathroom. Ye Ning took a shower and walked out wearing a pair of pink slippers.
Lights out, time for sleep.
In the next room, Lin Xue lay on her bed with wide-open eyes, wondering what was going on.
"Could this guy do something perverted to my cousin's intimate clothes?"
I was too rash. I should have prepared a room for Ye Ning first. My cousin is such a clean freak; if she comes back and finds out I let a man sleep in her room, she'll kill me.
Whatever, I'll set up a room for Ye Ning tomorrow and warn him never to tell my cousin.
Thinking this, Lin Xue drifted off to sleep.
Having experienced so much today, combined with the prolonged nervous tension that had suddenly been released, Lin Xue was utterly exhausted and fell into a deep slumber.
Close to midnight, a woman in professional attire walked in, exhaustion written across her face.
Turning on the living room light, the woman called out for Lin Xue a few times, but received no answer.
The woman went straight upstairs, pushed open her own bedroom door, and walked inside.
Without even taking a shower, she pulled back her cute little floral blanket and crawled right in.
The night passed in peace.
Early the next morning, Su Qingqing woke up and felt something was off.
The first thing that entered her field of vision was the face of a young, handsome man.
Su Qingqing instantly snapped awake.
She finally realized her situation: she was actually resting on a man's arm, held tightly in his embrace, having slept like that the entire night.
That was...
"Ah!"
A piercing shriek burst from Su Qingqing's lips.
Ye Ning opened his eyes, and upon seeing Su Qingqing, he was stunned as well.
Following that, a scream even louder than Su Qingqing's rang out.
Holy crap.
Su Qingqing glared at Ye Ning furiously. What the hell are you screaming for?
With that thought, she drove her knee straight up in a vicious thrust.
Ye Ning's eyes widened, his scream cutting off abruptly. He truly hadn't been on guard.
Taking advantage of Ye Ning's full-body spasms, Su Qingqing scrambled out from under the covers.
Lin Xue was startled awake and rushed out instantly.
"Ah!"
She screamed too. Why was her cousin back?!
Su Qingqing's face turned livid, her eyes practically shooting fire as she stared at Lin Xue. "Xiaoxue, you better tell me what's going on! Why is there a man in my room?"
By this time, Ye Ning looked thoroughly aggrieved as he said, "Wife, you have to seek justice for me! She slept with me—my pure innocence is gone."
Lin Xue dropped her jaw. Was this development really that explosive?!
Su Qingqing almost went crazy with rage. She had rushed back through the night, only to end up sleeping with a man the whole night.
Suddenly, she registered what Ye Ning had just called Lin Xue.
Wife?
This man was Lin Xue's husband?
"Who the hell is he?!" Su Qingqing demanded.
Lin Xue hurriedly explained, "Cousin, don't be angry. This is Ye Ning, we just met yesterday..."
"What? You dared bring home a man you met just yesterday? With Uncle's condition right now, is there seriously no one looking after you?!" Su Qingqing widened her eyes.
She had rushed back precisely upon hearing that Lin Muhua was failing, wanting to back up her cousin.
Lin Xue's behavior left her deeply disappointed.
"My dad is fine now, he's fully recovered." Lin Xue stuck out her tongue and added, "Ye Ning cured him."
"Him?"
Su Qingqing pointed at Ye Ning, looking completely incredulous.
Judging by Ye Ning's age, he couldn't be more than twenty.
Even if he knew medicine, he couldn't possibly be that skilled.
"Yeah, my dad stopped breathing yesterday, and then Ye Ning brought him back to life."
Thinking back to yesterday's scene, Lin Xue still couldn't shake her shock.
Could someone's medical skills really reach such a miraculous level?
Snatching people back from the gates of death, bringing the deceased back to life.
"Impossible! How can a dead person come back to life? It must have been just a fake death. You've all been scammed by him. How is Uncle right now? Is he any better?" Su Qingqing refused to believe it.
Lin Xue took out her phone and tapped on a video.
Inside, Lin Muhua was playing golf and laughing with people. This was a video Lin Muhua had just sent her.
"How is that possible?!" Su Qingqing gasped.
Someone on the verge of dying from illness couldn't possibly get out of bed to play golf the very next day, even if cured.
"Are you two done talking? There are still people here, you know." Ye Ning's voice chimed in.
Only then did the two women redirect their attention back to Ye Ning.
"She slept with me, so she has to give me some sort of explanation, right? I'm not that kind of casual guy," Ye Ning said with dissatisfaction.
"Do you really know medicine?" Su Qingqing ignored his nonsense and asked coldly instead.
Ye Ning glanced at her. "Of course. The Nine Yin Fiendish Veins. To think you've managed to live this long—it seems someone with decent medical skills must have extended your life. They probably paid a heavy price for it, too."
Su Qingqing trembled all over.
"What are the Nine Yin Fiendish Veins?" Lin Xue asked with curiosity.
"It's a fatal constitution. Generally, people with this physique don't live long. Your cousin here had her life extended by someone when she was young; otherwise, she wouldn't have survived past sixteen."
"However, that person's methods were limited, only extending her life by nine years. This must be the eighth year, right?"
Lin Xue asked anxiously, "Cousin, is what Ye Ning said true?"
Su Qingqing was inwardly shocked. To think someone could diagnose her physical condition the moment they met!
Not wanting Lin Xue to worry, she quickly denied it. "He's talking nonsense, and you believe him? You know how good my health is."
With that, she added, "Whatever, I'm going to go check on Uncle. When I get back, I expect to see him kicked out of my bedroom."
Su Qingqing turned on her heel in a huff, wanting to leave immediately.
Mainly, she didn't want to look at Ye Ning anymore, though she genuinely wanted to check on Lin Muhua's condition to see if it matched what Lin Xue had claimed.
"You don't have to deny it. I can cure your condition and guarantee a full recovery." Ye Ning's voice drifted over.
Su Qingqing jolted, freezing in her tracks. She paused to think for a moment, then walked away without looking back.
"Does my cousin really have a disease?" Lin Xue asked worriedly.
"A severe one. She only has about nine months left to live. Next birthday, when the Nine Yin Fiendish Veins erupt, she'll die for sure, beyond the help of even the greatest immortals." Ye Ning replied.
Lin Xue's eyes grew red. With her mother gone, the only people in the world who treated her well were her father and her cousin.
"Please save my cousin," Lin Xue pleaded, recalling Ye Ning's words from earlier.
"No." Ye Ning refused flat out.
"Why?"
"My lineage doesn't go begging to treat people; we aren't that cheap. If she wants to stay alive, she can come beg me, and I'll cure her right up." Ye Ning said proudly.
So that was how it was. Lin Xue let out a sigh of relief and said with confidence, "I'll convince my cousin."
Checking the time, Lin Xue let out a gasp. "Let's hurry, or we'll miss Master Hidden Dragon's artwork exhibition. Don't you want to see your fiancée?"
Ye Ning sprang out of bed immediately.
Once they were dressed and had grabbed a bite to eat, Lin Xue drove them off.
At the golf course, Su Qingqing stared at Lin Muhua with an expression of utter disbelief.
"Qingqing, I knew you'd come back. Have you seen Lin Xue?" Lin Muhua lowered his golf club and asked with a smile.
Su Qingqing looked at him in shock. "I've seen her. Uncle, you're not sick?"
"It wasn't an illness, I was poisoned and almost died. It was Ye Ning who saved me. Oh, right, he's also your cousin's husband now," Lin Muhua chuckled.
Hearing this, Su Qingqing finally lost her restraint and blurted out, "Uncle, how could you agree to let your daughter marry a guy like that?"
Lin Muhua looked somewhat surprised. Su Qingqing didn't seem to have a good impression of Ye Ning at all.
"Ye Ning is a man of great ability. I was practically dead yesterday, yet he brought me back to life. Your cousin isn't getting a raw deal by marrying him. Besides, once he's your cousin's husband, he'll definitely be willing to step in and extend your life."
Su Qingqing opened her mouth, but nothing came out.
This uncle of hers truly had nothing bad to say about her—he was simply too good to her.
"Your cousin is pure by nature. I won't be able to stay by her side forever. Only you, her cousin, can stay with her and take care of her."
"I'll take good care of my cousin and won't let anyone bully her."
Su Qingqing said earnestly.
Ye Ning and Lin Xue arrived at Master Hidden Dragon's artwork exhibition. A large crowd had gathered, consisting entirely of literary scholars and top-tier tycoons from the Small City.