Yu Li said casually, “As long as it’s not that green tea b*tch Qi Jianhuan, I don’t care who it is.”
Qi Xi clapped her hands. “Sweetie, take another guess—why do you think Qi Jianhuan’s surname is Qi?”
Plenty of people in this world are surnamed Qi. Back when the Qi family had come looking, Yu Li hadn’t thought of it in that direction at all.
She had only heard coworkers gossiping privately at the TV station.
They said Qi Jianhuan wore designer brands head to toe and drove a luxury car—her family was supposedly extremely wealthy, a true heiress of a rich family in every sense.
They also said she was very low-key and never flaunted her family background.
But when Yu Li heard this, she thought: if someone were truly low-key, they’d wear affordable clothes, and they certainly wouldn’t be chauffeured around in luxury cars, as if terrified that people wouldn’t notice how privileged her family was.
Yu Li drew in a sharp breath. “So that’s why Qi Jianhuan and I never got along. Turns out it was all there all along.”
“She’s occupying your family, Xixi. She stole your life. She’s nothing but a thief. And they call her a real heiress? Pfft. She’s not fit to be even one of my darling best friend’s fingers!”
But Qi Xi wrapped her arms around Yu Li’s and said, “Every blessing comes with its misfortune. If I could do it over, I’d still choose this life—because without the switch, I never would have met Lili.”
“And I never could have stayed by your side all these years, never apart. Whether it’s family or anything else, nothing matters more to me than you, Lili!”
Qi Xi leaned against Yu Li’s shoulder, and as she spoke those words, her eyes reddened with hurt.
It was no exaggeration to say that without Yu Li’s protection since childhood, Qi Xi wouldn’t even have survived to this day.
But a lifetime of friendship let Yu Li immediately hear that something was off in Qi Xi’s tone.
“What’s wrong, Xixi? Did something unpleasant happen at the family reunion this morning?”
“Don’t keep things bottled up inside. If you’ve been wronged, tell me. My taekwondo black belt wasn’t earned for nothing.”
As she spoke, Yu Li moved to prove that her skills were still sharp, but Qi Xi quickly held her down, laughing. “My dear ancestor, please behave yourself—you’re not on your own anymore.”
“Actually, I’d already prepared myself before I went. Even though I’m related to them by blood, the person who lived with them for twenty-five years wasn’t me.”
“They couldn’t bear to let Qi Jianhuan return to her real family and suffer hardship, so they just announced publicly that I’m their long-lost daughter who’s been found, and that Qi Jianhuan and I will address each other as sisters.”
Hearing this, Yu Li’s blood pressure shot up.
“I’m furious! They swapped the children, yet instead of making up for everything you suffered over twenty-five years, they’re terrified that someone with no blood relation to them might feel wronged.”
“They’re playing the script of the brainless parents from those true-and-fake heiress novels, aren’t they? I’ve never seen anyone so incapable of getting their priorities straight. It’s just because they think you’re soft-natured and easy to push around, Xixi, that they have the nerve to say such things!”
Yu Li could never stand to see her best friend bullied, and she blazed into action, ready to get justice for her. “No way. We can’t swallow this. We’re going to the Qi family. I’m going to point at their noses and curse them out until they’re thoroughly torn apart!”
Unless they got a good scolding, these people’s brains must have been soaked in a toilet—stupid and stinky to boot.
Qi Xi stopped her, amused. “No rush, Lili. Although they can’t bear to part with Qi Jianhuan, they haven’t exactly shortchanged me either. Look—they even gave me a card. There’s thirty million in it.”
“Didn’t you have your eye on that 150-square-meter apartment in Mangui Fang for ages, Lili? You could pay for it in full right now. Then we could bring Grandmother over and all live together as one family. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?”
The two sisters had already planned it out long ago—they would work hard and save up to buy a big house together. It didn’t have to be huge; three bedrooms would do.
Yu Li, Qi Xi, and Grandma Zhou—the three of them, one little family.
“And even if you do want to settle accounts, you should wait until your pregnancy is stable. Otherwise, if the argument turns into a fight and you lose, Lili, wouldn’t you be the one at a disadvantage?”
Yu Li bristled at that. “How would I be at a disadvantage in a fight? I’ve never lost one in my life. Fine, fine, fine. Baby, look at this—Mommy is swallowing her pride for your sake.”
Having finally managed to calm Yu Li’s temper, Qi Xi remembered something else.
“Oh right, Lili, now that you’re married, does that mean you won’t be living with me and Grandmother anymore, and you’ll be moving in with your bargain-bin husband instead?”
Yu Li waved her hand. “He and I are a plastic marriage—only tied together because of the baby, with no feelings involved at all. The only reason I agreed to marry him was that I didn’t want the baby to be born without a father.”
“Besides, he’s the baby’s father, after all. He should at least shoulder his responsibility to provide support. Aside from the money, whether I have this husband or not makes no difference.”
Confirmed that Yu Li was not lovesick-brained, Qi Xi relaxed.
Card in hand, car on the road, the two sisters set off in high spirits to buy the house.
Yu Li was a woman of means now too, but she was ultimately a bit different from Qi Xi.
The money Qi Xi had came as compensation from her birth parents, so she could swipe her card freely, boldly, without a care.
But Yu Li’s card, though it had no limit, still belonged to Qi Chenyan.
Buying a house was a big expense, after all. If it were up to Yu Li alone—even with money in hand—swiping over a million without fully understanding the situation would definitely make her heart bleed.
Yu Li was about to message him on WeChat to ask, but when she checked, she discovered they had never even added each other on WeChat.
Truly the most familiar of strangers. A couple like them was probably one of a kind.
Fortunately, she did have Qi Chenyan’s phone number.
Qi Chenyan had just gotten off the plane, where a private car had been waiting for some time.
“Director Qi, welcome, welcome!”
A line of officials stood in formation to greet him, their manner exceedingly respectful, demonstrating the importance placed on Hua Country’s delegation.
Qi Chenyan shook hands all around and got into the car.
His phone buzzed.
[Hi there, it’s Yu Li! Have you landed yet? Just wanted to give you a heads-up about something—my best friend and I want to buy a house, splitting it fifty-fifty. I’ll swipe your card first and pay you back later, promise. Deal?]
Qi Chenyan frowned at first, then let out a soft, amused sigh.
Beside him, his secretary was seeing this for the first time—the Director, on an official visit abroad, not reviewing documents but playing on his phone.
To be precise, typing.
Whose face was big enough to make the Director type out a reply himself?
Keep in mind, the Director was always swamped with official duties—if he could send a voice message, he would never type.
After a while, Qi Chenyan put down his phone. He hesitated a moment, then spoke up.
“Xiao Chen, if I remember correctly, you have a girlfriend?”
Suddenly questioned by his boss about his private life, the secretary straightened his back at once and declared righteously, “Director, my girlfriend and I have always been very stable. She’s my first love, and we’re planning to get engaged this year.”
His private life was absolutely not promiscuous!
“Just chatting casually—how do you and your girlfriend usually get along? Before she spends money, does she politely ask you first, and then afterwards carefully settle up with you on exactly how much she spent and pay you back?”