Lin Fang blinked, suddenly realizing he had misunderstood the situation.
He looked at Li Xue with a flicker of confusion on his face. Li Xue, now awkward, chuckled nervously as she turned to those two men. "Well, Gege," she began, her voice carrying a sheepish tone, "it's not as serious as you think. I just... slept at his house. That's all."
Lin Fang, standing there like a deer caught in headlights, blinked twice before he asked, "Who are they?"
Li Xue, with a look of mild embarrassment, turned to him. "They're my brothers," she explained, gesturing to the two men who were still eyeing Lin Fang like hawks.
Li Xue's brothers, not letting up on their questioning, playfully nudged her to the side and both of them positioned themselves in front of Lin Fang, each taking his arm and dragging him to the couch nearby, forcing him to sit.
Lin Fang looked at Li Xue for help, but she gave him a subtle gesture to calm down, trying to maintain her composure.
"How old are you?" the first brother, Li Tianli, asked bluntly.
"24," Lin Fang answered without hesitation, although it just came out reflexively.
"And what do you do?" the second brother, Li Haoran, added while scanning Lin Fang closely.
"I'm a monster egg seller," Lin Fang replied. "And currently, a member of the Guild, here." He added the last part as an afterthought.
"Are you a native of Huaxi?" Li Tianli asked, narrowing his eyes.
"Yes," Lin Fang answered.
"Do you live alone?" Li Haoran pressed on.
"Yes," Lin Fang said again, glancing at Li Xue, who now seemed slightly more nervous.
Li Tianli raised an eyebrow. "Any debts left?"
Lin Fang shook his head. "No. Used to be. But I sold my house to clear all the debts." He answered honestly as he didn't feel any need to lie.
Li Haoran leaned forward slightly, looking even more serious. "Do you own your house, or do you rent?"
"I rent," Lin Fang replied. "And like I said, I sold my house."
There was a pause before Li Tianli asked, "How did you meet my sister?"
Lin Fang leaned back slightly, meeting his gaze. "I came here one day to meet Master Li Chengfeng, and I met her. Her cat seemed to be sick. I helped it with the cure. Then we talked. We hit it off."
Li Xue shifted uncomfortably, but Lin Fang wasn't fazed. The questions almost seemed predictable at this point for him.
Li Haoran then suddenly brought up a sensitive topic. "Do you know that she's the heiress of Velcra Networks?"
"Gege… you…"
At this, Li Xue tried to interject, but Lin Fang turned slightly serious, cutting her off. "Li Xue told me herself that she has nothing to do with her family's business," he said firmly. "She wants to run a business on her own. And… that's where I liked her. Also, I like the receptionist of Zero Guild, not the heiress of Velcra Networks."
Li Xue's face turned slightly red at that, but Lin Fang wasn't finished. "Honestly, I hate those who were born in wealthy households by stroke of chance but act as if they were superior to others, looking down on others. And Li Xue didn't have that arrogance. I respect her because she wants to build her own empire. With the money, she could buy a top guild in Sector 2 or maybe even Sector 1. But she was trying her best to run this rundown guild in such a poor neighborhood. That's admirable."
At once, a strange silence filled the room. Both the brothers of Li Xue looked surprised by his reply, but they had different reactions. The elder one had his eyes widened, while the younger one seemed to have a frown.
But that silence didn't last long.
However, it was broken by Li Xue instead, who dragged Lin Fang away with a glare at her brothers. "Enough interrogating my boyfriend," she snapped, clutching Lin Fang's wrist tightly.
They ended up in a dusty storage room with cardboard boxes, old gear, and shelves filled with files. Once she confirmed that others were far away from them, Li Xue exhaled sharply and turned to him. "I'm really sorry about my brothers."
Lin Fang chuckled faintly. "It's alright. I get it. If a guy likes a rich girl, the girl's family naturally assumes he's a gold digger. It's a perfect natural response."
Li Xue lowered her head slightly. "I'm sorry. My brothers can be a bit… much. I'm the youngest. So, they kinda…"
"It's fine," Lin Fang interrupted her, waving his hand with a smile. Then, after a brief pause, he looked at her with a confused expression. "But seriously… why did you suddenly make me your boyfriend?"
Li Xue looked at him sheepishly and answered. "You remember how I told you I ran away from home, right? Well, the reason wasn't just the company stuff. My parents were also forcing me into blind dates. My brothers are here to set me up with another guy. So I kind of lied that I already had a boyfriend. And they were all enquiring, asking questions about my boyfriend, and then I saw you… I don't know, I just went for it. You've got that ideal boyfriend look. You know, Tall, handsome, lean…"
Lin Fang blinked, scratching his cheek in embarrassment. "Uh… okay. Thanks, I guess."
He coughed lightly. "So, do I have to pretend we're a couple the whole day?"
Li Xue blushed. "Actually… three days. Please? Just until they leave. I'll talk to your girlfriend, I swear."
"I don't have one," Lin Fang replied flatly.
"Then what about the girl from yesterday?" she asked.
"Oh, Zhi Yan? She's my friend and my landlady."
"I see… So," Li Xue said slowly, "you don't mind acting as my boyfriend, right? You don't have to do anything weird. Just go about your normal stuff. I'll tell Uncle Li to keep my brothers busy, but they might still invite you to lunch or dinner."
Lin Fang smiled, waving his hand again in assurance. "Not a problem. I can do this much."
As if he suddenly remembered something, he then asked, "So, where's Li Chengfeng?"
Li Xue sighed. "Upstairs. Drunk, as usual. Come on."
They returned to the reception hall. Her brothers were still there.
Lin Fang offered them a polite smile, to which they responded with unreadable expressions. Li Xue barked a quick, "Watch the reception," before she and Lin Fang headed up the stairs.
As their backs disappeared, the younger brother leaned toward the elder and whispered, "Li-ge, for some reason, I feel like our sister is just trying to escape from the marriage talk."
Li Tianli shrugged his shoulders in indifference. "I like that guy, though. They look good together?"
Li Haoran frowned. "Seriously? What do we know about him? He seemed like someone of lower status, had no mana, and was just a monster egg seller, not even a trainer or breeder. And did you look at his clothes? They were just cheap brands, not even worth 1000 credits. He's not even suitable to be her friend, let alone her boyfriend. A Total gold digger, I'm telling you."
Tianli cast a sidelong glance at his younger brother and said. "Despite that, he's somehow a member of the guild. Why? Even if Li Xue owns this place, she can't just take anyone in. Not without Uncle Li's approval."
"You think we should talk to Uncle Li?"
"Not yet," the elder replied. "Let's observe. We'll separate them and ask questions. If they really are together, their stories will match. Then, we will run a background check on him, and we can decide on how to proceed."
"Got it."
*
Meanwhile, on the stairs, Li Xue whispered to Lin Fang at the same time, as if she had heard her brothers' conversation in the reception hall, "Listen. Soon I'll text you everything. Where we met, our first date, and what we like about each other. I will also send the list of my likes and dislikes. Memorize it, okay? They're definitely going to try and trap us with questions. Whatever I texted you will be our official story, alright? And also, send some rough details about your background, education, residence, parents, likes and dislikes, etc. We have to look like a perfect couple, but since we just started seeing each other, I will use that as a pretext to ask for atleast a year of time."
Lin Fang gave her a nod. "Alright."
After a while, they reached the third-floor tavern. Inside, Li Chengfeng was slouched in a chair, a half-empty jug beside him and a foul breath of alcohol in the air as usual.
Li Xue raised her voice, "Uncle Li."
He groaned and cracked an eye open. When he saw Lin Fang, he blinked a few times as his eyes wandered around, only to see his niece. He muttered. "Tch… Where's that pretty girl?"
Li Xue rolled her eyes. "Behave, Uncle."
Lin Fang stepped forward and said. "Master Li, I came here to inform you that in one week, I'm going to participate in the tamer examination with the monster I've raised at home. Is it possible to resolve the Nemesis Spirit issue by then?"
Li Chengfeng bolted upright, turning sober all of a sudden, listening to those words. "A tamer? Are you insane?"
His voice echoed across the tavern.
"I told you before. The path of a monster tamer isn't for you. That should be obvious by now. With mana crystals on the market, you could learn combat techniques. Then, use them to draw out Nemesis' power."
"I'm sorry, but Master Li, I don't want to be a hunter," Lin Fang said firmly. "I want to be a tamer. Can you help me or not?"
Li Chengfeng stared at him for a long second before grunting, "Fine. Your life, your choices to make… and your consequences to bear."
He stood up, wobbling slightly, then steadied himself. "Fine. The first thing we need to do is deal with the Nemesis Spirit."
"Where are we going?" Lin Fang asked.
"Where Else? The Spirit Valley."