Chapter 155: Chapter 55: The Love Detective

“Wow! What a huge villa!”

After returning home, Yan Jing quickly became excited, running around the living room, looking here and there, and turning her head to call out:

“Big bro, did you buy this villa?”

“We all chipped in to buy it,” Yan Yu answered.

“How much did it cost?” Yan Jing naively asked.

“Little kids shouldn’t ask so many questions,” Yan Yu brushed off her inquiry.

“Heh,” Yan Jing revealed a mocking expression, “Sneaking off to buy a house without telling mom and dad, huh? Then you better get ready to pay me hush money.”

“How about I physically silence you instead?” Yan Yu said with a sinister smile, “Which do you think will cause amnesia more easily, a hit to the back of the head or the neck?”

“Hmph!” Yan Jing wanted to say, “Then I’ll call the police and get you arrested,” but then she remembered her older brother was now in a military academy, beyond the reach of the constables, so she stamped her foot, turned her head, and whooshed up to the second floor.

Only after his sister had left did Lin Ning incredulously ask:

“You didn’t tell your family about the prize money you won from the Mysterious Realm?”

“Why should I?” Yan Yu counter-questioned her, “Don’t tell me you talked to your family about it?”

“Of course,” Lin Ning said.

“Then your dad got even more anxious and started to rush you even harder to find a boyfriend,” Yan Yu said.

“How do you know?” Lin Ning was suddenly shocked.

“Because the more money a girl makes, the higher her standards become,” Chen Lingyun said with a laugh from the side, “Those earning five thousand a month expect their partner to make over ten thousand; those making ten thousand will raise their expectations to twenty thousand. The result is that the more you earn, the easier it is to end up single and available.”

“So what if I end up single?” Lin Ning countered defiantly, “When I become an old lady, I’ll just go live with Yun Jin, the two of us supporting each other.”

“That won’t do,” Su Yunjin laughed as she shook her head, “I’m going to get married, so I can’t spend my life just with you.”

“Eh?” Lin Ning was taken aback.

Zhao Yuanzhen listened to their conversation about marriage and fate with an indifferent “heh, so that’s it” expression on her face.

The Demonic Sect Enchantress, already with a partner, wasn’t flustered at all, and even wanted to laugh–haha, leftover ladies, I’ve already landed safely ashore!

“Big bro, which room do I sleep in?” Yan Jing asked, poking her head from upstairs.

“Whichever room is empty,” Yan Yu answered.

“Which room are you in?” Yan Jing pressed on with her question.

“The one with the plaque on the door,” Yan Yu replied.

Yan Jing continued investigating on the second floor and indeed found that the door of the master bedroom at the end of the hallway had a plaque with the character “Yan” on it.

Although there were many rooms in the villa, it was clearly designed for a single family, so there was only one largest master bedroom with an en-suite bathroom. All other rooms seemed to be secondary bedrooms based on their size.

Considering the layout, with the secondary bedrooms lacking private bathrooms, one would naturally choose to be closer to the common bathroom–the fewer nighttime trips, the better. Yet these sisters all chose to stay next to their older brother’s room.

Hmm…

Yan Jing’s gaze sharpened as she acutely sensed the secret behind everyone’s room choices, likely something unknown even to the people involved.

Hmph, you can’t hide it from the brain of this detective of love!

After picking the room closest to the common bathroom, Yan Jing wheeled her suitcase inside, then came out, feigning nonchalance, and went downstairs.

While still on the staircase, she could already smell the aroma of pickled fish.

Upon reaching the first floor, she saw Sister Lin attending to the gas stove in the semi-open kitchen, one side simmering with a pot of pickled fish soup and the other sizzling with a frying pan filled with seven or eight chicken wings.

Sister Su was beside her, chopping vegetables, preparing sides like black fungus, enoki mushrooms, lettuce, and dried bean curd sticks.

In the spacious living room, her big brother was lying on the sofa playing with his phone, without any intention of helping in the kitchen.

Sister Zhao was sitting next to him, watching TV and cracking sunflower seeds. The small mountain of seed shells on the table was evidence that this sister’s breastfeeding prowess wasn’t entirely due to genetics; a high intake of fats was a significant factor as well.

Chen, the most delicate-looking sister, was sitting alone in a wicker chair near the balcony, enjoying the distant river view, leisurely sipping coffee, with a serene and sweet smile on her face.

So elegant! Just too elegant!

Seeing this, the detective of love gathered some preliminary intelligence:

Sister Lin and Sister Su were more suitable for a domestic life, the virtuous type, while Sister Zhao and Sister Chen sought too much personal pleasure, which warranted deductions. However, Sister Zhao had the best figure, and Sister Chen was the most beautiful, which added back points in their favor.

Hmm, if I were my brother, I too would have a tough time choosing.

The investigation continues!

Yan Jing first entered the kitchen, deliberately exclaiming:

“Wow, it smells so good!”

“Does Jingjing like to eat fish?” Lin Ning asked with a smile.

“Yeah,” Yan Jing moved closer to her and tentatively said, “Brother also really likes fish.”

“Don’t worry about him,” Lin Ning immediately pouted and said, “He doesn’t help out, so whatever we cook, he’ll just have to eat.”

“Brother doesn’t help out?” Yan Jing asked knowingly, “Then why do you still cook for him?”

“We can’t always order takeout,” said Su Yunjin while chopping vegetables.

Yan Jing: ………

If it were her sharing an apartment with roommates, and the roommates never cooked, she certainly wouldn’t cook for both of them–even though she definitely wasn’t some kind of saint!

But to conclude from this that the two older sisters were interested in Big Brother, the evidence was still somewhat insufficient.

Yan Jing glanced at Big Brother playing with his phone in the living room and decided to go for a direct approach.

“Speaking of which,” she said nonchalantly, “why did Sister Zhao react so strongly when I mentioned in the car that my brother has a childhood betrothal?”

Su Yunjin’s vegetable cutting paused abruptly, while Lin Ning fell silent for a moment before saying:

“I don’t know, you can ask her.”

There it was, a clear sign of resistance. The two sisters definitely had something to hide.

Feigning ignorance, Yan Jing continued:

“Sigh, even if there really was such a betrothal, Big Brother definitely wouldn’t agree.”

“Why?” Lin Ning immediately asked in surprise.

Su Yunjin, although not turning back, paused in her actions, clearly her attention was drawn as well.

“Because my brother is super narcissistic,” Yan Jing laughed and said, “How could he possibly accept an arrangement by his parents and marry a woman with whom he feels no affection?”

“Ah, I see.” Lin Ning and Su Yunjin were quite surprised, but upon further reflection, it indeed seemed consistent with the captain’s character, so they quietly breathed sighs of relief and got back to work.

Yan Jing, noticing their subtle sense of relief, finally arrived at an answer.

Even if they hadn’t explicitly expressed liking Big Brother, at the very least they “harbored positive feelings” towards him–in other words, as long as Big Brother actively pursued them and didn’t do anything stupid, the odds were high that things would naturally develop.

As for Sister Zhao, there was no need to mention her. As soon as she heard ‘childhood betrothal’ she became anxious, which showed that she was already firmly caught by Big Brother.

So the only one left is you, Sister Chen!

Yan Jing walked to the balcony, calling out with a beaming smile:

“Sister Chen.”

“Would you like some coffee?” Chen Lingyun stood up.

“Thank you.”

Chen Lingyun gracefully stood and made a cup of coffee for Yan Jing. The latter held the cup and took a few sips before complimenting:

“It’s delicious. Sister Chen, your skill could rival a professional barista’s.”

“Hmm, that’s good,” Chen Lingyun said with a slight smile, “I don’t dislike your brother, you know~”

“Ah?” Yan Jing was momentarily taken aback before realizing– the other person had seen through her probing and straightforwardly given an answer.

“Just ‘don’t dislike’?” she asked with a beaming smile, “Sister Ling Yun, when you reached out to me before, I thought you were interested in my brother.”

“Well, I can’t really tell,” Chen Lingyun said slowly, “After all, I’ve never been in love before.”

“I can only say that if the person I spend my life with is him, I think I would be okay with that.”

Yan Jing had never been in love either, but with her extensive knowledge of various novels and TV shows, she fancied herself as experienced as an expert and thus was full of confidence.

If spending a lifetime together was okay, wasn’t that a confirmed romance for Sister Chen? Many couples who had confirmed their relationship wouldn’t dare say they were “already sure about spending their life with the other person”!

Case closed! To the eyes of this love detective, there’s only one clear truth!

The four sisters living in this villa all have the potential to be my brother’s love interest!

Now it’s time to choose the love conquest path!

————

“So after all your investigation, you came up with such an obvious conclusion?” Yan Yu didn’t hide the scorn on his face, “You useless little thing, I knew I couldn’t count on you.”

“What the heck?!” Yan Jing protested, “Big Brother, with your freakish level of narcissism, finding four sisters willing to accept you is already incredibly unbelievable, okay? Of course, I had to check carefully!”

“Check my foot!” Yan Yu said in disappointment, “Let’s just leave it at that.”

“So who does Big Brother have the highest affection for right now… I mean, which sister do you like the most?” Yan Jing shamelessly leaned in to ask.

“Go away, kids shouldn’t ask so many questions.”