Chapter 138: Chapter 132 Zhao Kunning I Chapter 138: Chapter 132 Zhao Kunning I Aunt Lin Fei’s family has always been by the intersection on Dongyuan Street, within a small residential complex there. Since Aunt worked at the electric power bureau, her family lived in a housing unit assigned by the bureau. The environment was quite nice, although the space was a bit small, only 85 square meters.

The red-roofed, white-walled apartment buildings were neatly arranged in rows, with a green belt planted in the middle, flanked by spacious sidewalks. A driveway lay in the center. Just upon entering the complex, one could see a basketball court on each side, where some young people were playing games, creating quite a ruckus around them.

Lin Fei and Lin You had just gotten out of the taxi, and Lin Fei paid the fare.

The driver smiled and said something in the local dialect, but Lin Fei and Lin You still understood. It roughly meant thanks for the custom.

The complex was bustling with activity, with people playing and watching basketball on both courts, and cheers erupting from time to time. Occasionally, children could be seen running around, setting off small poppers. The atmosphere was quite harmonious.

Aunt Lin Zhining lived on the “Fifth Layer” of the third building inside.

“It’s right there,” Lin You pointed towards the fifth floor on the left side of the building.

“Got it,” Lin Fei turned and walked towards the exit of the complex.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Lin You followed, puzzled.

“Buying something, it’s rude to show up empty-handed,” Lin Fei explained, standing in front of a fruit stall, scanning the fruits on offer. Suddenly, she noticed some yellow, bead-like longans placed to the side.

“Boss, how much per pound for these?”

Carrying several pounds of longan, Lin Fei and Lin You rang the doorbell of their aunt’s home. The door here had two layers: an inner iron door and an outer iron grille gate. To ring the doorbell, one had to reach through the gaps in the iron grille.

The surroundings were very quiet, with only the faint sound of shouting from the basketball court outside. After the doorbell rang twice, rapid footsteps approached the door from inside, getting louder as they neared.

“Who is it?” The Coastal dialect sounded a bit tricky.

“It’s us, Lin Fei and Lin You,” Lin Fei called out loudly.

With a click, the inner door was opened. A plump middle-aged woman stood at the door, looking puzzled. She squinted at Lin Fei and Lin You standing outside.

“Ah, it’s you guys. Didn’t I ask Lin Yang to come pick you up? You should have come together. Hurry, come in,” she said warmly, opening the outer iron grille gate.

A middle-aged man also emerged from the kitchen inside. Seeing Lin Fei and Lin You, he approached with a smile too.

“It’s Lin Fei and Lin You, isn’t it? How’s Jianguo doing? Haven’t seen him in many years.” This was their uncle, Wang Xian, who also worked at the power bureau.

“My dad’s doing well. Hello, Uncle,” Lin Fei replied politely. Lin You followed with a greeting of her own.

Lin Yang then came out of what seemed to be the study room, and seeing Lin Fei and Lin You, he naturally smiled. The earlier scene had dissipated any sense of superiority he might have felt, leaving behind only a faint sense of inferiority. After all, in terms of demeanor, appearance, or insight, he was no match for the two of them. But this feeling of inferiority was fleeting, and he quickly adjusted himself.

“No matter how excellent they are, they’re still my siblings,” he thought, and suddenly a sense of pride filled his heart.

“Oh, you shouldn’t have brought things, really!” the aunt said, half-heartedly refusing, while deftly taking the bag of longan and two boxes of red wine Lin Fei brought and carrying them into the room.

“It’s just a little something. Don’t be so formal, Aunt,” Lin Fei said with a smile. Aunt Lin Zhining’s fondness for a small advantage hadn’t changed over the years.

Uncle Wang Xian sat down on the sofa and pointed to the spot next to him.

“Sit down here, come.”

Lin Fei and Lin You both took their seats as instructed.

“I heard from your brother Yangzi that you aren’t planning to stay with us? You have friends to help you out in Coastal City?” Uncle immediately asked.

“The main thing is, we came here specifically to meet with friends. We originally didn’t plan to trouble you and Aunt,” Lin You said politely.

“What trouble? We’re your real relatives. We couldn’t be happier to have you,” the uncle said with a laugh. “But since you’re just stopping by to see us, then that’s fine. Our place is indeed small; it wouldn’t be very convenient for you to stay—that’s true.” Uncle spoke candidly, quite straightforwardly.

“It’s not considered small. Housing prices in Coastal City are so high that a house this big must be at least close to a million, right? If you were in the inland areas, you could buy several large houses with that. Uncle, I think you’re just too big-hearted,” Lin Fei said with a smile.

These words struck a chord with Wang Xian; he had always struggled with housing issues and felt somewhat embarrassed among his parents and siblings. Now, hearing Lin Fei’s words, he suddenly had a much better impression of her.

Wang Xian sat and chatted a bit more with the two about Lin Jianguo and Jiang Feng’s situation before standing up to leave for some business.

Before he left, he specifically instructed Lin Yang to take Lin Fei and Lin You out for a good time.

Lin Yang sat cautiously to the side, listening to his father and Lin Fei’s conversation all along. Watching Lin Fei remain calm and composed with natural poise, he unconsciously compared her to other people of his age that he had met and found that no one could match up to Lin Fei. His gaze couldn’t help but drift towards Lin You, who was staggeringly beautiful. The thought that these two were his cousins made all the resentment he usually felt suddenly vanish.

Hearing his father tell him to take Lin Fei and Lin You out, he immediately grew eager to show his friends that Lin Yang wasn’t from the low-class circles they thought he was by taking the two out for a stroll around the neighborhood.

Lin Fei glanced at Lin Yang with a smile in her eyes, sensing the subtle changes in his thoughts without much effort, though she chose not to point them out. After all, she had nothing against taking a walk around the area. For her, it was all the same wherever she went. As long as it didn’t get too late, it was fine. Besides, leaving so soon after arriving would seem rather rude.

“Lin Yang, then please show us around,” Lin You said.

“No problem, leave it to me,” Lin Yang responded with a smile. The sunny-faced boy had indeed harbored a great deal of silent frustration due to his family’s situation and his appearance, but it was understandable. After all, this was Coastal City, one of the major cities, where children matured early on, a completely natural occurrence.

Lin Yang told his aunt that they were heading out and then left directly with the two.

No sooner had they descended the stairs, they encountered three people around their age, two boys and one girl, entering the building. One of the boys had a handsome face that, even with the same hairstyle as Lin Yang, outshone him completely. He wore white Jordan sneakers and was oddly dressed in a short-sleeved shirt and shorts despite the winter cold, with a jacket thrown over his shoulders. He had a cell phone in hand, flipping through it while chatting with the two by his side.

“Yang Hao! Wu Ruida and Zhao Yuxin, you finished playing basketball?” Lin Yang called out cheerfully.

“Yangzi, weren’t you called home by your mom?” the boy named Yang Hao replied upon seeing Lin Yang coming down with a boy and a girl. “We just finished playing basketball, and Xinxin said she wanted to go out. We were about to go back and change clothes.”

“That’s perfect, we can go together; these are my cousins,” Lin Yang introduced Lin Fei and Lin You.

Yang Hao smiled warmly at them. “I’ve heard Yangzi mention how pretty his cousin was, but you’re even more charming than I imagined.”

“Thanks for the compliment, Yang Hao. But I still prefer the style of the sister here,” Lin You said with a smile. “My name is Lin You, You as in ‘matter of life and death.’ This is Lin Fei, my brother.” But as soon as the words left her mouth, Lin Fei was taken aback. When had it become so natural for her to introduce Lin Fei as her brother?

The girl next to them, who wore her hair in a boyish cut, was not exactly beautiful but still rather delicate-looking, giving off a tomboyish vibe.

“Oh, why bring me up? Let me introduce myself; I’m Zhao Yuxin, he’s Yang Hao, and that’s Wu Ruida. We often play basketball with Yangzi. Since you’re Yangzi’s cousins, you’re our younger siblings too. Let’s all go out and have some fun,” the girl spoke with a strong masculine tone that belied her youthful figure, which was curvy in all the right places. Had she not been so distinctly feminine in her physique, no one would likely mistake her for a girl.

Wu Ruida, the only one who seemed to be more of a background character in the group, stood to the side, smiling quietly, not speaking up.

Since they had run into friends, Lin Yang didn’t mind waiting with his two cousins for the three to be ready.

In a little while, the three of them came back out from the stairwell.

Yang Hao had changed into a black casual down jacket, which made him look much more mature. If he had been in a crowd of office workers on the street, it would have been hard for anyone to tell him apart. Zhao Yuxin, though, had transformed completely, wearing a knitted dress with thick flesh-colored stockings and black knee-high boots, appearing quite mature and sexy. Wu Ruida was still in the same sporty outfit as before.

Seeing Zhao Yuxin’s outfit, Lin You secretly re-evaluated her own clothing, feeling that her cute style was not inferior to the other’s, which made her breath a sigh of relief.

“Should we go to the Green Illusion?” Zhao Yuxin suggested, her unchanged nature still evident in her straightforward manner, emanating an extremely hearty vibe. “I’ve got it covered today!”

“Forget it, Xinxin, you’ve treated us many times already. We’ll sort it out ourselves this time,” Lin Yang interrupted, “Even if your family owns the place, it still wouldn’t be right after so many times.”

“Yo, Yangzi~~~ that’s quite the spirit you’ve got today,” Yang Hao said with a teasing smirk.

“Hehe,” Lin Yang laughed sheepishly, fumbling in his pocket for the money his dad had given him as a budget for the outing. Without it, he wouldn’t have dared to offer so boldly. “Actually, I meant that a little discount from you, Xinxin, would be nice.”

“No worries, keep your money for when we hit other spots later. Enough said, I’ve decided to take care of it today,” Zhao Yuxin answered without hesitation, definitely decided.

Lin Fei and Lin You stood aside watching the exchange between the group. They had never been to a bar before—Lin Fei didn’t like those noisy environments, and Lin You had always been concerned about maintaining her perfect image, even declining invitations from classmates, not allowing life to tarnish her persona a bit. An academically and aesthetically accomplished supergirl, Lin You thought it was indeed a bit early for places like bars.