"I-I'm sorry..."
Qin Lei hastily used her hair to cover the scar, burying her head even lower, not daring to look up.
Seeing this, Qin Yi felt both heartache and anger.
His gaze fixed on Zheng Dapeng, a chilling cold emanating from him.
Sensing it, Zheng Dapeng tossed his phone onto the sofa, stood up, and yelled, "Qin Yi, what are you glaring at?"
Qin Yi's fists clenched involuntarily.
But just then, Zheng Shufen grabbed him and quickly said to Zheng Dapeng, "No, no, Dapeng, don't be angry. Xiao Yi wasn't glaring at you, you misread it..."
Zheng Chenggong walked up to Zheng Dapeng and patted his arm, "What are you doing?"
Zheng Dapeng then pointed at Qin Yi, sat down, and said no more.
Later, Zheng Chenggong went to the kitchen to cook, and Zheng Dapeng sat on the sofa playing with his phone.
Zheng Shufen had wanted Qin Lei to cook, but Zheng Chenggong firmly refused, not even allowing her to help.
With no other choice, Zheng Shufen called Qin Yi and Qin Lei into the bedroom to talk to them.
"Xiao Yi, Xiao Lei, Auntie and Dapeng have a bad attitude towards us, just bear with it, it will pass!"
"Don't conflict with them, after all, we're living in someone else's house, troubling them!"
"It's normal for them to have opinions and be dissatisfied with us."
"..."
Zheng Shufen kept admonishing the two.
Qin Lei listened and kept nodding.
Qin Yi, however, remained silent.
In his heart, he had already secretly decided that he still needed to buy a house!
Given the attitude of Zhang Guihua and Zheng Dapeng just now, he didn't want himself, Zheng Shufen, and Qin Lei to suffer here!
Zheng Chenggong finished cooking and called Qin Yi and the other two out to eat.
After they finished, Qin Yi gave Qin Lei some instructions, asking her to take good care of Zheng Shufen, and then he left.
Since he had made the decision to buy a house, Qin Yi didn't want to delay. The sooner he bought the house, the sooner they could move out.
Qin Yi didn't go to a particularly distant place. After leaving the Fuguirenjia residential area, he found a real estate agency nearby and walked in.
Since they were already here, it would be convenient to buy a house nearby to avoid the hassle of moving things too far.
"Welcome, sir. Are you looking to rent or..."
As Qin Yi stepped through the door, a woman in a work uniform greeted him.
However, she stopped midway through her sentence, her tone changing immediately as she recognized Qin Yi, "Qin Yi, it's you!!!"
Qin Yi looked at her and recognized her as a former university classmate, Zhuang Siyu.
"Heh, weren't you in jail? How are you out?"
Zhuang Siyu looked Qin Yi up and down. Her initial enthusiasm vanished, and she crossed her arms, a playful smile on her face.
Back then, Qin Yi's imprisonment for Liu Jinxiu had been widely discussed among their classmates.
Later, after Qin Yi went in, Liu Jinxiu actually got together with Tang Jialei, the one who had harassed her and caused Qin Yi's imprisonment. This was also known to everyone.
As a result, Qin Yi had become a huge joke in their class.
Even now, his classmates often used his story as a topic of conversation.
Qin Yi sensed Zhuang Siyu's expression and replied faintly, "My sentence is up, so of course I'm out!"
"Zhuang Siyu, I want to buy..."
Zhuang Siyu completely ignored his intent and interrupted, "Qin Yi, I heard your girlfriend ran off with someone else, and it was the person who harassed her and got you jailed. Is that true?"
Qin Yi's face darkened slightly, and he didn't answer.
What was this? Stirring up his past troubles, intentionally rubbing salt in his wounds?
Although Zhuang Siyu clearly saw Qin Yi's displeasure, she showed no restraint and didn't care at all.
Seeing Qin Yi's silence, she continued, "Qin Yi, I'm talking to you. Didn't you hear me?"
"Your girlfriend left with the man who wronged you. How do you feel about that?"
"And also, in those years you were in prison, were you bullied?"
"I heard that prisoners, after being incarcerated for a long time, become very desperate and lonely. Did those strong men have designs on you?"
Her words became increasingly absurd and offensive.
By the end, Qin Yi's face had completely darkened. He said coldly, "Get out of the way!"
He bypassed her and walked inside, intending to find other staff members.
His exclamation angered Zhuang Siyu.
Zhuang Siyu moved sideways to block his path, "Qin Yi, what are you pretending for? You're an ex-convict. I'm speaking to you kindly, and you're acting all high and mighty. You really don't know what's good for you..."
Qin Yi walked straight through. When she blocked his way, he elbowed her shoulder. Zhuang Siyu stumbled back several steps and fell to the ground with a thud.
Then, without another glance at her, Qin Yi said to another male staff member in a suit, "Brother, you have properties for sale here, right? I want to buy a house!"
Zhuang Siyu got up from the ground, initially furious and about to lash out at Qin Yi.
Hearing Qin Yi's words, she paused for a moment, then burst into laughter, "Haha, Qin Yi, did you go crazy in jail? You want to buy a house? A newly released ex-convict like you, what can you buy a house with?"
"Don't think I don't know your family's situation. Your mother and sister are living in a garbage dump. What are you pretending to be here?"
Upon hearing this, the male staff member, who had been about to answer Qin Yi, swallowed his words.
He then looked at Qin Yi with disdain, "What are you shouting about? Who's your brother! Get out. We don't have houses for sale here, and even if we did, you couldn't afford it. Don't cause trouble here!"
In an instant, other staff members in the store began whispering and pointing at Qin Yi.
"So he's that unlucky guy who went to jail for his girlfriend, only for her to run off with someone else!"
"Siyu told us so many times before, and today we finally see him in person, nice!"
"Tsk tsk, he must have just gotten out, right!"
"Definitely! Didn't you hear what Siyu said!"
"So he comes to buy a house right after getting out? Does he have money?"
"He's got nothing. He's probably just looking around..."
They all looked at Qin Yi with expressions of contempt and disgust.
Not a single one was willing to attend to Qin Yi.
Qin Yi, with his sharp hearing, caught every word of their discussion.
Regarding this, Qin Yi scanned them with his eyes, his gaze lingering on Zhuang Siyu for two seconds before he turned to leave.
There were many real estate agencies. If they didn't want his business, he could just go to another one.
But he had only taken two steps when a very young female sales associate, full of youthful energy and looking like she had just graduated and entered society, walked in, sweating.
Seeing Qin Yi, she proactively greeted him, "Hello, sir!"
After greeting him, she continued to walk inside.
Qin Yi stopped, turned his head, and called out, "Miss, please wait a moment."