Girl, There's Something Wrong With You - Chapter 4

“Remember, auntie, staying for a long time doesn’t mean you’re settling down. They treat you like one of their own out of courtesy, but that doesn’t mean you truly are. You still need to be respectful and polite.”

“In any noble family’s residence, men and women live separately, with direct senior members having their own independent residences. If they let you choose where to stay, pick a place in the women’s quarters, as close to the core members as possible. And try to avoid going to the men’s quarters often, or there will be gossip.”

“The reason for choosing this location is to encourage you to visit Cheng Yuexian more frequently. She’s the only senior female member of the Shendu Cheng family, and she’s around your age, so it should be easy to form a friendship.”

“If you do manage to gather any information about the Iron Giant, remember to inform the family, but don’t ask about it directly. If it’s sensitive, they won’t tell you anyway, and asking might just create unnecessary awkwardness.”

Zheng Qiupei agreed, her attitude couldn’t be more agreeable. Zheng Dehui, observing her expressions carefully, felt slightly uneasy.

Her parents died when she was young, leaving no other relatives from that branch, so she lived with the family of the clan leader. Given their similar ages, she got along well with the younger generation.

However, over time, the brothers noticed that this auntie’s personality was just a bit too good-natured, almost to an unnatural extent.

To put it in perspective, if friendship could be quantified as goodwill points, strangers would start at 0 (nodding acquaintances), but this auntie would start with 500 (familiarity). Once you naturally reached 500 (familiarity), she would act as if you were at 1000 (close friends).

This wasn’t necessarily a flaw, but it made it hard for people to get used to and manage social distances properly.

At home in the Zheng family, it was fine, but outside, it made it easy for people to take advantage of her. After all, relationships require time and effort to maintain, but with Zheng Qiupei, you didn’t need to invest anything. She treated you like a friend she’d known for years, sincerely…

Of course, this also had its benefits, making it easy for her to make friends.

While there were bad encounters where she might suffer minor losses, like lending money that wasn’t returned, most people adhered to the principle of reciprocating goodwill. Her warmth made it hard for others to stay distant, and friendships developed easily.

That’s why Zheng Dehui said, “It should be easy for you to form a friendship with Cheng Yuexian,” because, in the aristocratic circles, Cheng Yuexian had a decent reputation without any notorious stories.

However…

“Auntie,” Zheng Dehui, still worried, earnestly reminded her again, “even though it might sound rude, please don’t fall in love.”

Yes, don’t fall in love.

Given her personality, if the normal pursuit intensity is 10, hers would be 500, naturally exuding warmth.

If the other party were a scumbag, they’d completely take advantage of her and then deny any responsibility.

The reason why relationships require equal investment from both parties is that the more you invest, the tighter you’re bound.

However, with her nature, she’s too easy to exploit…

“Don’t worry, clan leader,” Zheng Qiupei said with a smile, “I’m not the type to fall for someone easily. Otherwise, how would uncle have trusted me to go to university away from home?”

“Auntie, as long as you understand.” Zheng Dehui felt a mix of amusement and exasperation.

Who is the elder here? It felt like he was the father worried about his daughter’s early romance.

But she was right. Excessive warmth is different from being overly romantic.

During her university years, the biggest issue she faced was friends she had just met borrowing money and not returning it, which the family had to retrieve and teach the offenders a lesson.

Other than that, she hadn’t experienced being deceived or hurt in a relationship…

That’s because she never had a relationship in the first place!

Thinking this, Zheng Dehui felt troubled again and gave her a few more reminders before letting her go.

No, auntie can’t go alone. Someone has to accompany her.

After some thought, Zheng Dehui dialed Wang Xinzhi’s number.

The Taiyuan Wang family and the Xingyang Zheng family, both having psychic abilities, collaborated on many academic projects and had a good relationship.

Although both belonged to the Five Great Families, the Wang family was “the leader of the noble families in the world,” while the Zheng family was “last among the five,” so there was no conflict of interest.

Since Zheng Qiupei and Wang Wanrou were familiar with each other, Zheng Dehui thought of asking the Wang family to have Wang Wanrou take care of her more over there.

After leaving the clan leader’s office, Zheng Qiupei walked on the clan grounds’ paths under the moonlight, feeling somewhat anxious and uneasy.

She had lived in the Zheng clan grounds for twenty years, even commuting to university and returning every night to sleep here. She had deep feelings for every blade of grass and tree in this place.

She never expected that as soon as her nephew took office, he would drive her out of the clan grounds to live in someone else’s home.

Refusal was out of the question, so she could only agree. She just wondered if the Shendu Cheng clan grounds would be a dangerous place…

Thinking back to the brief conversation she had with Cheng Jinyang in the old house in Wujiang Town, she felt a bit more at ease.

Compared to the unfamiliar Cheng Yuexian, she would rather deal with Cheng Jinyang, whom she knew.

Right! Why don’t I call Wanrou and ask? I heard she also lives long-term at the Cheng clan grounds!

So Zheng Qiupei quickly pulled out her phone, scrolled through her contacts, and dialed Wanrou’s number.

As soon as the call connected, she quickly spoke:

“Rourou, are you currently at the Shendu Cheng clan grounds? I have a question for you. What are the rules for guests there…”

“Huh? Sister Xiao Pei?” A different voice answered, sounding confused.

Zheng Qiupei exclaimed, checked her phone screen again, and realized she had accidentally called Lu Qingyun.

Among the younger generation of the Five Great Families, there were almost none who weren’t familiar with her, and Lu Qingyun was no exception. Feeling embarrassed, Zheng Qiupei softly explained her mistake. Lu Qingyun laughed it off and asked:

“You were asking about the rules at the Cheng clan grounds. Is the Zheng family sending you there to live?”

“Yeah.” Zheng Qiupei replied quietly.

“Ugh,” Lu Qingyun groaned in frustration. “We also notified them yesterday. The family is asking me to visit the Cheng family tomorrow because my brother and I dealt with them before.”

“Oh, that’s how it is.” Zheng Qiupei covered her mouth and laughed. “The rules of our noble families are like that: if you haven’t met, it’s ‘I’ve heard a lot about you.’ Once you’ve met, it’s ‘our families have a long-standing relationship.’ They have to fully exploit every personal connection.”

“The problem is, my brother and I didn’t have a pleasant time with them last visit!” Lu Qingyun complained. “And that Cheng Jinyang is a scumbag. I even had a quarrel with him!”

“Scumbag? No way.” Zheng Qiupei recalled her last visit to Cheng Jinyang’s home in Wujiang Town. “He didn’t seem like a bad guy to me.”

“You don’t know. I saw him and Cui Jinqi hugging in public last time!” Lu Qingyun dropped a bombshell.

“What? Are they dating?” Zheng Qiupei was stunned.

“Who knows?” Remembering the scene outside the mall, where Cui Jinqi hugged Cheng Jinyang’s arm and mentioned being pregnant, Lu Qingyun said helplessly:

“Maybe Jinqi was tricked by him. The Shendu Cheng family is a fifth-grade noble family. Under normal circumstances, how could they marry a woman from one of the Five Great Families? Maybe they’re planning to force the Cui family to accept it. Sister Xiao Pei, you must be careful!”