Chapter 623: Chapter 623: A Simple Favor
Xiangxie Palace.
The taxi stopped at the entrance.
Rong Ling got out of the car, closed the door, and looked at the magnificent entrance of the villa area.
Xiangxie Palace, located in a premium affluent neighborhood of Beijing, where every inch is worth gold, providing a quiet retreat in the bustling city. The residents here are either wealthy or famous.
At first glance, the entire villa area feels exceptionally luxurious, from the design of the exterior to the landscaping of the entire villa area.
He had seen many villas where rich people live, but despite being villas, they felt like standalone houses.
But in this villa area, each villa is very large, and the distance between the buildings is also ample, with each household having its independent garden.
Lin Qi sent Rong Ling a QR code for access through a text message, and Rong Ling directly opened the QR code and scanned it to pass through security.
Entering the villa area, he wandered around, taking quite a while, before finally finding his way to Lin Qi’s door.
At the entrance, there were two security personnel and a butler.
As soon as the butler saw him, he walked over: “Who are you looking for?”
Rong Ling said, “I’m looking for Mrs. Huo.”
The butler immediately said, “You must be Mr. Rong!”
He examined him, and the impression he got of Rong Ling was that he looked very young and inexperienced, like a university student who hasn’t graduated yet.
The butler said to him, “Follow me inside!”
Rong Ling nodded and followed him inside.
Passing through the garden, the butler led Rong Ling into the living room.
Not long ago, Huo Tingdong and Lin Qi moved in. The villa had been renovated for a while, and after ventilating for some time, Huo Tingdong and Lin Qi decided to move in during the summer vacation.
Entering the foyer, Rong Ling paused for a moment as he looked at the luxuriously decorated villa. He noticed that the entire living room was carpeted, and such carpets were very expensive, so he was afraid of dirtying them.
The butler handed him shoe covers, and only after changing into them did Rong Ling follow the butler into the living room.
Lin Qi came downstairs, and upon seeing Rong Ling, she immediately smiled at him, “You must be Rong Ling!”
“Brother!”
From the second floor came the cheerful voice of Rong Xiaoyi.
Rong Ling raised his head and looked in the direction of the voice.
Rong Xiaoyi was holding an adorable stuffed doll in her arms, and the doll was particularly exquisitely made and seemed quite expensive.
Rong Ling frowned and asked, “Xiaoyi, how can you just take someone else’s stuff?”
Rong Xiaoyi was startled for a moment and immediately explained, “This doll…”
Lin Qi patted Xiaoyi’s head and said to Rong Ling, “It’s a gift from my daughter to her.”
Lin Qi had just brought Xiaoyi home. After the family had a meal, Lin Qi brought Zhouzhou and Yinyin to play in the living room.
Yinyin was holding the stuffed doll in her arms.
Although she was still young, she was a child who loved to share. Upon seeing Rong Xiaoyi, she enthusiastically handed the doll to her.
A girl of Rong Xiaoyi’s age could hardly resist such an adorable doll. Even though she was a guest at someone else’s house and understood basic manners, she knew that no matter how cute the doll was, it was Yinyin’s cherished toy, so she dared not hold it.
But Yinyin was particularly enthusiastic, forcefully stuffing the doll into her arms.
Rong Xiaoyi played with the doll for a while. Yinyin saw that she seemed to like the doll very much, so she tugged on Lin Qi’s sleeve and told Lin Qi that she wanted to give the doll to this sister.
Rong Xiaoyi was incredibly surprised by this unexpected kindness.
Besides her brother, Yinyin was the first person to give her a gift.
Lin Qi said, “Xiaoyi seems to really like this doll, and my daughter likes Xiaoyi too, so she parted with the doll and gave it to her.”
For a moment, Rong Ling felt a bit complicated.
This family seemed very kind.
At least in this indifferent society, it’s rare for anyone to care so much about unrelated strangers.
Rong Ling said, “I don’t know how to thank you.”
Lin Qi said, “You’re welcome.”
She led Xiaoyi downstairs, and as soon as Xiaoyi saw Rong Ling, she immediately threw herself into his arms.
Only when she saw Rong Ling did she feel truly secure.
Rong Ling squatted down and touched her cheek, “Xiaoyi, what happened?”
Rong Xiaoyi said, “Today after school, I was waiting for brother to pick me up at the school gate, when suddenly someone asked if I knew ‘Rong Xiaoyi’. Didn’t you teach me that if someone asks for my name, I shouldn’t answer them? I was afraid they were bad people looking for trouble, so I pretended not to know, and wanted to leave, but…”
She looked at Lin Qi and said, “It was this lady who saved me, and Uncle Huo! He was amazing, he defeated those bad guys so easily, and then she brought me home, and we had dinner together.”
Rong Ling roughly understood what had happened and, feeling guilty, said, “Xiaoyi, I’m sorry… I was late today.”
Originally, he should have picked Xiaoyi up promptly after school.
Unfortunately…
Delays on the road cost a bit of time.
Rong Ling stood up, looked at Lin Qi, and said, “Mrs. Huo, thank you for saving Xiaoyi. But, I hope this won’t cause you any trouble.”
Lin Qi said, “No, it was nothing.”
She looked at Xiaoyi, opened her mouth to speak, but hesitated.
Rong Ling said, “Mrs. Huo, I’m very grateful for your help… I don’t know how to express my thanks…”
Lin Qi said, “Are you in debt to loan sharks?”
Rong Ling: “It’s a debt my dad owes.”
Lin Qi: “I heard from Xiaoyi that you and Xiaoyi rely on each other for survival. Do you have no one else in your family?”
Rong Ling frowned slightly, “We don’t have a mother, and as for my father… he’s an alcoholic. Xiaoyi suffered a lot living with him, so I took Xiaoyi away from that home and rented a place on my own, working to earn money and support her on my own.”
Pausing, he said self-deprecatingly, “But, I’m not much of a competent brother. Xiaoyi has suffered a lot following me. I hope Xiaoyi hasn’t caused you any trouble.”
Lin Qi suddenly stopped asking questions.
She looked at Xiaoyi, and suddenly said, “Xiaoyi, you really weren’t lying to Auntie, your brother really is very handsome.”
Rong Ling was taken aback.
Lin Qi explained, “Xiaoyi said her brother was the most handsome, more handsome than TV stars. Seeing you in person, I believe it now.”
Rong Ling was a bit embarrassed, his handsome face slightly blushing, “Uh, thank you…”
Lin Qi asked again, “Have you eaten yet? Why not stay for a homemade meal?”
Rong Ling: “Thank you, but it’s getting late, and I don’t want to disturb you.”
Lin Qi: “It’s no trouble at all.”
Xiaoyi looked up at Rong Ling and said, “Brother! Aunt Qiqi’s cooking is so delicious! Even better than what you make!”
Rong Ling: “Alright, don’t undermine me, please.”
Rong Xiaoyi stuck out her tongue and made a gesture of zipping her lips, indicating she’d stay quiet.