“That’s right—human hearts are inherently good. When something happens, don’t panic at all, child. First, calm down, okay?” Zhang Mama kindly advised Lin Xi.

Xie Auntie had already sat down beside her, patting Lin Xi’s back to help her relax while curiously inquiring, “Child, you seemed perfectly fine just now—how did you suddenly end up like this?

It’s really scary! What happened to you? Auntie says, given your condition, it’s best to go out less. What if, when you have an episode, you run into not us but some bad guys?”

“Auntie…”

Lin Xi’s tears came pouring out as if they were tap water controlled by a faucet—turning on and off at will.

And they carried with them an indescribable sense of sorrow.

Before she could say a word, both aunties’ eyes were already red.

The uncles and aunts who had slowly gathered around to watch the scene also began to frown, quietly waiting for Lin Xi to continue.

As soon as Lin Xi’s tears started flowing and she let out a sigh, another pair of tears immediately streamed down her face. “Auntie, it’s a long story. But when you get down to it, it all comes down to my silly Younger Brother.”

“How so?” Xie Auntie’s curiosity was piqued—she seemed to have forgotten everything else, just wanting to sit quietly and enjoy this juicy gossip.

Zhang Mama was equally full of anticipation.

And so were the other uncles and aunts.

Although Lin Xi is someone who works with words, she’d never told a story in front of such a large crowd before, so she was naturally a bit nervous—but that didn’t affect her performance at all.

She let out another heavy sigh and said helplessly, “Three years ago, my younger brother Xiao Hu met a woman online.”

At these words, the atmosphere instantly heated up.

Lin Xi narrowed her eyes, let out another fittingly long sigh, took two sips of her drink to moisten her throat, and continued:

“The two of them hit it off really well online, as if they’d been longing to meet each other all their lives. The girl was also very beautiful, so they quickly arranged to meet in person.

After meeting, their personalities turned out to be a perfect match, and their relationship progressed rapidly. Before long, they were even talking about getting married.

Our whole family was overjoyed at the time—especially my parents, who couldn’t wait to provide every single good thing for the young couple’s wedding.”

“But then what happened?” Xie Auntie asked, already cracking sunflower seeds and generously offering a handful to the onlookers nearby.

Some people took them, others waved them off. Xie Auntie didn’t press the issue and quickly withdrew her hand, continuing to crack the seeds in her own hand.

Lin Xi sighed heavily again and said helplessly, “This should have been a good thing. We were all looking forward to the two families’ parents meeting soon and finalizing the marriage arrangements as quickly as possible.

But at this point, the woman’s side was awfully slow and showed no sign of being proactive at all.

We thought maybe she was facing some difficulties, or perhaps her parents had some objections. So we said it didn’t matter if her parents couldn’t come here—we could just buy tickets and go to their place to talk instead.”

“Exactly! Your family sure seems to value this future daughter-in-law,” Xie Auntie chimed in.

Lin Xi nodded. “Of course! My brother is thirty and still doesn’t have a home. My parents have been frantic for ages—every time we try to set him up with someone, he turns them down. Finally, we’ve found someone he likes and who likes him too—how could we not take it seriously? Like I said before, the elderly couple are willing to fork out anything, even their coffin money. But you know what, uncles and aunts?”

End of Chapter 192: Counterattack 118