Chapter Eighty-Five: The Matchmaker Took Leave, and the God of Wealth Filled In

So the cousin has come?

Qin Tian glanced at the old, worn-out car outside, then at the grim expressions on Jiang Tianxiang and his daughter’s faces. Stroking his chin, he wondered if this was some poor relative come to borrow money.

He decided that was the likeliest possibility. After all, scenes like this were hardly rare these days.

What family did not have a wealthy relative? And what family did not have a poor one as well?

When affection became entangled with money, it was always a headache.

Shen Xiaoqing raised a finger to her lips in a hush gesture, then beckoned Qin Tian over, signaling him to come in quickly.

After Qin Tian entered, he stood awkwardly to one side, feeling rather at a loss. Hanging there like that seemed a little embarrassing.

He should never have come, he thought in regret.

“Who is this?”

At that moment, Jiang Yingying’s cousin seemed to notice Qin Tian’s embarrassment and, with apparent goodwill, helped him out of the situation.

Qin Tian thought this cousin seemed quite adept at handling people, and his opinion of him improved a little. So what if he was a poor relative? Polite people were welcome anywhere.

“Xiaotian, have a seat,” Jiang Tianxiang said, gesturing toward the empty sofa beside him.

Qin Tian felt as though granted amnesty. He forced himself to remain calm, walked over to the sofa, sat down, and asked, “Uncle Jiang, what happened?”

The moment the words left his mouth, he wanted to slap himself.

This was someone else’s family matter. What was he meddling for? Wasn’t that just being a busybody and making himself unwelcome?

Yet, to Qin Tian’s surprise, after pondering for a moment, Jiang Tianxiang actually explained the situation to him.

“Xiaotian, Yingying’s cousin is in a bit of trouble right now. Since you’re a young man too, Uncle wants to ask you: if this happened to you, what would you do?” Jiang Tianxiang said.

“Dad! This is our family matter. Why ask him?” Jiang Tianxiang had barely finished before Jiang Yingying objected.

The girl was probably still angry about Nangong Xiaoe. From the moment Qin Tian entered until now, Jiang Yingying had not given him a pleasant look.

“The more people we talk to, the more solutions we may find,” Jiang Tianxiang said sternly.

“Uncle Jiang, tell me. I’ll help however I can,” Qin Tian said.

“This is how it is. This is Yingying’s cousin, Jiang Fuan. Fuan, this is our Jiang family’s honored guest, Qin Tian,” Jiang Yingying introduced them first.

“Uncle Jiang, I dare not claim such an honor. I’m only an employee at your company,” Qin Tian said modestly.

“Hello, cousin,” he then greeted Jiang Fuan.

“Since when are you allowed to call him cousin?” Jiang Yingying said unhappily.

Qin Tian calling Jiang Fuan cousin—what did that make him? Did he really think himself a member of the Jiang family now?

“Yingying!” Jiang Tianxiang shot her a glare.

Even if, at the beginning, the Jiang family had invited Qin Tian over partly so they could pay him to solve their troubles, in actual fact, what Qin Tian had done for the Jiang family far exceeded what a subordinate ought to do.

Not only had he successfully helped the Jiang Group through its crisis, he had even cured Jiang Tianxiang’s legs. If that was not an honored benefactor, what was?

“Hmph!” Jiang Yingying snorted coldly and turned her head away.

Jiang Fuan looked at Qin Tian and Jiang Yingying, his expression thoughtful.

“Hello. I’m older than you, so I’ll call you Xiaotian,” Jiang Fuan said to Qin Tian.

Qin Tian smiled and nodded.

“Fuan has fallen for a girl, and she likes him very much too. They’ve been together for nearly three years, and by the end of this year they planned to meet both families and discuss marriage,” Jiang Tianxiang said.

“That’s a good thing, a real happy occasion,” Qin Tian said, already making a guess. Could this be about borrowing money for a wedding?

“It is a good thing, but the girl’s family refuses to meet. If they do agree to meet, they’re demanding at least five million as a meeting gift,” Jiang Tianxiang said.

“Five million as a meeting gift? What? Five... five million?” Qin Tian repeated the number reflexively, then stared wide-eyed.

What the hell was this, robbery? Just to meet them, they wanted five million?

Besides, wasn’t a meeting gift supposed to come from the girl’s family to the new son-in-law? Why was it the other way around?

So Jiang Fuan had come here planning to borrow five million?

Five million was no small sum. Even though the Jiang Group was rich, lending that much to one individual at once would make Jiang Tianxiang hesitate, which explained the sour look on his face.

“So cousin is here because...” Qin Tian wanted to see whether it was really about borrowing money, and how much.

His impression of Jiang Fuan was fairly good. He looked refined and polite, a spirited young man.

If possible, Qin Tian was even willing to talk privately with Jiang Fuan and lend him the five million himself.

“He’s here to borrow money,” Jiang Tianxiang said.

Qin Tian thought to himself: Just as I suspected! He really is here to borrow money!

Jiang Fuan immediately nodded in embarrassment. “I only have two million in cash on hand. Even if I sold the company, I could only gather four and a half million, so I’m still short half a million. I wanted to ask Uncle if he could lend me a little.”

Four and a half million? Qin Tian froze. Jiang Fuan was actually that rich? So he was not some poor relative after all—he had simply been driven to the brink by that extortionate gift demand.

“Fuan lost both parents when he was young, but he was ambitious and made his own way through school. He even started a company, and in a year he can make several hundred thousand in net profit,” Jiang Tianxiang said.

“Cousin is impressive!” Qin Tian could not help giving him a thumbs-up.

“So, what do you think we should do? I’m trying to persuade Fuan to break up with that girl. The woman’s family clearly does not want him to marry her; this is just a roundabout way of driving him off!” Jiang Tianxiang said.

“Uncle Jiang, I think breaking up is unlikely. The two of them clearly love each other deeply. The only obstacle now is the girl’s family. Why not find a time for you, as an elder, to go over and talk with them, try to negotiate?” Qin Tian suggested.

“Negotiate? They’ve already gone to my cousin’s company gate and cursed at him! The things they said were vile! They’re just bullying my cousin for being alone!” Jiang Yingying said angrily.

“Really that outrageous?” Qin Tian said, stunned.

“So you see, the girl’s family has no intention at all of marrying her off to Fuan,” Jiang Tianxiang said with a bitter smile.

“What kind of family are they? Is there really no chance at all?”

Qin Tian felt that when such a tragedy occurred, either the issue was the person, or it was the money.

Jiang Fuan had built a company on his own, which made him an upstanding and promising young man. He also seemed decent enough.

Then it had to be the money. Most likely the girl’s family had some wealth of their own, and thought Jiang Fuan lacked the standing to marry their daughter.

“There is a chance, but...” Jiang Fuan said, then stopped himself.

“But what?” Qin Tian frowned slightly, sensing the matter might be serious.

“The five million gift money was only the beginning. If we really want to get married, they’ve demanded a betrothal gift of one hundred million,” Jiang Tianxiang said helplessly on Jiang Tianxiang’s behalf.

Qin Tian froze, then cursed inwardly: What the hell, are they shaking people down?

A hundred million as bride price? Was the God of Marriage on leave while the God of Wealth was covering the shift?