How come you're also my ex-girlfriend?

Xu Yan looked over and greeted him with a smile, "Cousin, it's been a long time! I heard you've started working. How have you been?"

Xu Yan's words left Wang Xinhai somewhat bewildered.

In my memory, Xu Yan was always like a quail during Chinese New Year or family gatherings. He didn't like to talk and often stayed away from the crowd. When eating together, he was always the first one to leave the table.

At his age, he's hardly capable of polite conversation, but now... he speaks with such ease and naturalness that I almost thought he was my age.

Has the change been that significant in just over a year?

"It's alright. I work in Suzhou and Hangzhou, so you can come and visit when you're on vacation... By the way, it's fine if you bring your friends along."

While saying this, Wang Xinhai, who considered himself to be very generous and proper, also glanced at Jiang Yiyao next to Xu Yan.

Unfortunately, the girl was looking at her phone and didn't seem to care at all what they were talking about.

Xu Yan smiled and nodded, "Thank you for the arrangements, cousin. I'll definitely do it when I have the chance."

Why are you speaking so formally? What's going on... Kids should just be kids, stop pretending to be adults!

For some reason, Wang Xinhai felt a little dissatisfied with Xu Yan's natural and appropriate way of speaking.

They seemed to be even more looking forward to seeing him at a loss, unable to utter a single word when asked a few questions.

So he couldn't help but gesture towards Jiang Yiyao's direction with his lip, "What's going on... could they be dating?"

If it were in a more private setting, such jokes would be fine among family members, but with the individuals involved present, it seems somewhat abrupt and inappropriate.

However, Jiang Yiyao still did not react.

Xu Yan's smile faded a bit. "How could that be? He's still in his senior year of high school. This is my classmate and my neighbor since childhood."

"Oh, I see. You're a nice girl, but you're a senior in high school now, so you really need to focus on your studies. I faced a lot of similar temptations when I was a senior, but luckily I was determined and stuck to my studies."

At this point, it seemed as if they had entered Wang Xinhai's comfort zone. No one asked any more questions. He simply leaned back on the sofa, slightly spread his arms, and crossed his legs.

"That's how you get into your dream university, work even harder in college, and then you'll have a good job with decent pay... Haha, you should keep it up, cousin."

Xu Yan: ?

Who asked you?

Jiang Yiyao, who was looking at her phone, finally looked up at Wang Xinhai, who was speaking.

……

Chapter 77 War Machine Jiang Yiyao! (Second update, please vote and subscribe~)

When Jiang Yiyao finally looked at him, Wang Xinhai felt that he had achieved his goal.

What's so special about a handsome but naive young man like Xu Yan? Girls admire strength and should naturally prefer successful men. Even though I'm far from being as good as those so-called big bosses, I have a bright future ahead of me.

Besides, I'm not bad looking, am I?

Wang Xinhai believes that given time, with his potential and abilities, a girl like Jiang Yiyao is definitely not a pipe dream.

Of course, this doesn't mean he has any special desire for this girl right now.

It was important for him to attract this girl's attention in front of Xu Yan, as if it would show that he still suppressed this naive little cousin and that he had the upper hand in the battle of male charm.

This is probably what is meant by fierce competition.

Perhaps the "Heroic Competition" skill isn't something that's actively activated, but rather a passive skill that can be triggered simply by having a suitable member of the opposite sex in the right situation.

It has nothing to do with the girl's subjective thoughts; it's just that Xiong Jing exists simply because she does.

The boys may not even be aware of this, yet they are already passively caught up in it.

There's no way around it; some things are instincts ingrained in our genes, an instinctive desire to possess limited resources.

However, it seems that Wang Xinhai misjudged the situation. His posture was not yet fully relaxed, and his state of ease and control had not yet fully developed.

Jiang Yiyao, having put away her phone and looked up, naturally shifted her gaze from Wang Xinhai's face to Xu Yan's, and spoke casually.

"How much did you spend today? Did you get a receipt?"

These words seem normal, but something is actually wrong because they came out too suddenly and have no connection to the previous conversation between Xu Yan and Wang Xinhai.

Wang Xinhai and the others only felt that something was slightly wrong, but they hadn't figured it out yet.

Xu Yan blurted out instinctively, "Around 30,000, I forget the exact number, the receipt... is it in the bag?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the expressions on everyone's faces gradually changed.

Wang Hui and Xu Jia'an, who were still smiling, suddenly froze.

Uncle Wang Lu, with his square face, seemed not to have reacted yet, probably thinking, "Thirty thousand? What thirty thousand? Can Happy Beans be exchanged for physical goods now?"

Cousin Wang Wei immediately looked at Xu Yan with a surprised expression, her big eyes blinking several times unconsciously.

Wang Xinhai, realizing what was happening, thought they were talking nonsense.

Thirty thousand?

Spending 30,000 yuan on a gift for your parents? Are you kidding me?!

This is ridiculous! You're a high school senior, where did you get so much money? Did you use your New Year's money to buy stocks?

You might as well say that some rich woman has taken a liking to Xu Yan, a young and handsome man, and is paying him a 30,000 yuan "sugar baby" fee!

Given Wang Hui and Xu Jia'an's upbringing, this is simply impossible, and he shouldn't seem to have any way to make money.

Wang Hui's eyes widened. "Thirty thousand?!"

Xu Yan hadn't had a chance to answer yet.

Wang Xinhai twitched the corner of his mouth. "Is it... some kind of shopping points? Thirty thousand is quite a lot."

He genuinely didn't know what to say at that moment, but subconsciously he felt he should say something. Whenever a person has this thought, they unconsciously embark on a path of trying to distort the facts.

"No, it's just 30,000 yuan. I don't think you get points for buying these things?"

Xu Yan gave a calm reply and glanced at Jiang Yiyao.

The girl picked up her phone again. "You don't have any points, won't you let your uncles and aunties take a look? What if they don't like it? They can return it."

Wang Xinhai instinctively didn't want to engage in this conversation, even though it was Jiang Yiyao who brought it up, because he had a premonition that something he was extremely unwilling to believe was about to happen, but his father seemed very curious.

"Yes, take a look at the gift the child gave you. Let me see what you bought for 30,000 yuan. I'll broaden my horizons. I've never received such an expensive gift before."

Honestly, I still don't want to believe it—where did such a young kid get so much money?

It's impossible that Wang Hui and Xu Jia'an knew I was coming and staged this whole thing, right? That would be going to extreme lengths.

Wang Hui hesitated for a moment, but ultimately believed that her child wasn't one to boast, especially since Jiang Yiyao had already said so...

So together with Xu Jia'an, they opened the gift bag on the table.

Soon, two different boxes were pulled out, containing the contents separately.

Upon seeing the logo, the youngest member, Wang Wei, was the first to react, exclaiming, "A Longines watch? Is that Chow Tai Fook?"

Then Xu Jia'an took out a watch first.

Just by looking at it, you can't tell the specific price, and it's not an overly flashy type; it can be considered a traditional classic.

Xu Jia'an immediately took a liking to the watch upon touching it, asking, "How much does this watch cost?"

Xu Yan thought for a moment, "It was originally around ten thousand, but it's been cheaper recently, now it's a little over nine thousand."

As soon as the calm words were spoken, a gasp was heard.

"More than nine thousand?!" Xu Jia'an quickly put the watch back into the box, as if afraid of breaking it.

Before her uncle's family could recover from their shock, Wang Hui had already taken out a gold bracelet.

The price hasn't even been torn off yet.

"Twenty thousand?! This bracelet is worth twenty thousand?!"

"How many!"

Wang Lu couldn't hold back any longer. He stood up and, without caring about anything else, went over to take a look with Xu Jia'an.

It has all the necessary certificates and pricing information; it's brand new and undamaged, undoubtedly a brand new purchase.

Including that watch.

This became an undeniable fact, leaving Wang Lu speechless and standing still, while Wang Xinhai, who hadn't gotten up from the sofa, felt extremely uncomfortable.

He wanted to say something, but his mind was so confused that he couldn't say anything at all.

Xu Jia'an finally came to his senses and couldn't help but look at Xu Yan, "You bought your mother a 20,000 yuan one, but gave me a 9,000 yuan one? You're discriminating against men!"

Xu Yan: ?

Old Deng, do you even have a conscience? I told you to watch fewer videos, why did you do this?!

Wang Hui slapped her husband in an annoyance, "What nonsense are you talking about! Why are you giving away 10,000 or 20,000 yuan of the child's feelings?"

Xu Jia'an's smile was so wide it could trap a fly. "I was just trying to lighten the mood, of course I was just joking."

Wang Hui carefully put the box away and grabbed Xu Yan's arm. "You silly child, why do you spend money so recklessly? Didn't I already tell you that your parents aren't the type to waste money? You should save it for yourself when you go to college. But instead, you buy us something, and such an expensive one at that!"

Xu Yan knew, of course, that his mother meant what she said, but in the eyes of his uncle's family... it was probably just showing off.

As for why the scene turned out this way, the atmosphere was completely divided... Xu Yan couldn't help but glance at Jiang Yiyao, who seemed to be looking at her phone as if nothing had happened.

Wow, so you're a war machine? Ready to start a war at any time!

Xu Yan looked away and said with a smile, "There's still quite a bit left... Don't worry, I can't give gifts every day. I'll save up my money after I spend this little bit."

After a long, loving conversation between mother and son, someone finally couldn't hold back anymore.

Wang Xinhai felt that his lips had become much paler, and his voice sounded dry, like the sensation of sandpaper wiping his bottom.

"Cousin... what did you do to earn so much money? Weren't you studying...?"

It couldn't possibly be a scholarship!

Xu Yan smiled and calmly replied, "I just play games online, do some gaming companionship, and do some order processing. I never thought I could earn this much. Maybe it's because the market is good lately. Unlike you, cousin, who has a stable career, I might not be able to earn this much one day."

Wang Xinhai: ...