Chapter 169: My Family’s Junk
Guan Lei was momentarily stunned but quickly became annoyed with himself. When he had tidied up the room, he had merely thought about how he could make Shen Xi more comfortable. He forgot about the persona he had built up in Shen Xi’s eyes.
Pursing his lips, he slowly moved to the sofa. Once seated cosily, he said, "It’s my family. My family collects second-hand items, and we’re mostly responsible for removing things the rich don’t want anymore. This sofa, for instance, is something my father collected the other day. Seeing it was still quite new, I decided to move it here."
Shen Xi’s tone betrayed her scepticism. "Oh, is that so?"
Guan Lei’s expression turned serious. Then, he pointed to a scratch on the sofa and said, "Of course, it’s true. If you don’t believe me, look at this scratch. Those wealthy people don’t want it because of this scratch."
Guan Lei spoke frankly as if he was not the one who had just scratched the sofa.
Shen Xi leaned over to look at the scratch Guan Lei pointed at. Inwardly, she rolled her eyes. The scratch was the size of a fingernail and was hardly noticeable. If Guan Lei did not scratch it, she would eat her hat!
Since Guan Lei wanted to keep up the ruse, Shen Xi decided she would not be so mean to call him out on it. "You’re right! There is a scratch. Whoever threw away the sofa because of it is too wasteful! If you had not brought my attention to it, I would never have known it was there... The sofa is practically brand new."
"I agree. The rich are often wasteful; they don’t know how to be thrifty. When my father collected this second-hand sofa, the owner said we could keep it; It’s supposed to be custom-made from the best leather on the market. My father gifted it to me for my future marriage. I might put it in my wedding room when I get married. At least then, it would look more dignified.
Shen Xi almost burst into laughter. Guan Lei was quite the storyteller, attempting to convince her that his family collected second-hand goods and recycled them for a living. He even talked about things like marriage!
Guan Lei snuck a glance at Shen Xi. He relaxed when he noted Shen Xi’s expression had not changed. It seemed she was not overly suspicious of him.
He was almost out of ideas and feared Shen Xi would discover the truth.