I Came to Collect a Debt and Got Stuck with a Living Ancestor

The main story is complete!

[New serial: Please Be More Reserved, Teacher] Come check it out! The blurb is at the bottom~

[Blurb]

Lishui Town lives off the sea. Its people are simple and honest. After taking care of some business, Fang Li returns home and climbs to the second floor of her apartment building, where she hears someone crying.

The Qi family has gambled themselves into bankruptcy and borrowed money they can't repay, so they offer up their child, Qi Ye, as collateral.

Fang Li watches her for a moment, just about to compliment her on how pretty she looks when she cries, but before she can say a word, she's cursed at.

"Stop staring at me. Kill me or do whatever you want!"

Huh? What a temper.

It's a peaceful era. Why talk about killing and violence?

Fang Li spends half an hour thinking in silence, then decides to keep this little troublemaker.

Qi Ye is convinced Fang Li has ulterior motives for taking her in.

So even though she can barely survive, she still refuses to stay in town.

But Fang Li doesn't get angry. Instead, she takes hold of what Qi Ye cares about most: she gives her food and clothes and provides for her.

Her excuse: "Just doing a good deed."

Fang Li could have kept pretending to be a decent person, if she hadn't noticed one thing: Qi Ye had started coming to her in the middle of the night with a pillow, and she was becoming less obedient, more lively and restless.

Oh. So it was the other one who had ulterior motives.

Young people are full of fire and passion. Fang Li can understand that, so she reluctantly agrees to play along with Qi Ye.

"I've been eating and drinking for free all this time. Can't I repay you by giving myself to you?"

Face burning red, Qi Ye can only mutter an unreasonable excuse.

The price of talking tough is a warning from the older woman, who's dropped her pretense: don't say such unpleasant things.

After that, their relationship is never normal again.

Years later, when Qi Ye meets Fang Li again, she gives her a slap.

Not too hard, but not enough to make her feel better either.

Qi Ye doesn't know why she did it.

She only remembers all too clearly that the woman in front of her had dumped her, without showing the slightest mercy.

Apart from that slap, there seems to be nothing left between them.

A good horse never eats the grass behind it.

But who ever said people could actually follow that advice?

At last, Fang Li relentlessly pursues her, teasing her openly and covertly. Qi Ye can only put on a haughty front.

She's willing to stake all her cards on a game she has no hope of winning against the woman before her.

* Both are each other's only partners. Six-year age gap; both protagonists are adults.

* Bittersweet romance, with plenty of push and pull later on.

* Set in a fictional world.

Please support the new book, Please Be More Reserved, Teacher~

[Blurb]

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After getting drunk, Ji Qu has a reckless one-night stand with her longtime nemesis, someone she has never been able to stand.

Unexpectedly, a few days later, the two run into each other at a matchmaking meeting.

Liang Qian is perfectly composed, her eyes full of tenderness. "Our matchmaking partner invited us to the same place, then didn't show up."

Ji Qu is so amused she's nearly furious. After a few seconds, she still can't help asking, "Why did you come to a matchmaking meeting?"

Liang Qian counters, "What makes you think you can ask me that?"

When they meet again, Liang Qian has become a private tutor to Ji Qu's younger sister.

Ji Qu's mother cheerfully places their hands together. "Liang Qian has kindly agreed to come teach your sister. You two should catch up properly. No more arguing like you used to, all right?"

Kindly agreed? What a sacrifice.

Ji Qu pulls her hand away and forces a polite smile. "Hello, Teacher Liang. Long time no see."

"Long time no see."

As her mother heaps praise on Liang Qian, Ji Qu sneers inwardly: Mom, she's my ex-girlfriend.

The fact that they've dated is the biggest secret between Ji Qu and her nemesis.

The lesson is over, and no one else is home.

Ji Qu and Liang Qian kiss. Only when their breath is mingling does Ji Qu speak. "Is this part of your lesson plan, too? What trick are you pulling now?"

Liang Qian wipes her lips. Her expression is hard to read, but she isn't flustered in the slightest.

"No tricks. A student's parent made a request, and I didn't want to turn it down."

After all, you were the one who started it, weren't you?

Ji Qu lowers her eyes, about to argue, but Liang Qian stops her with a breathless whisper. "You're so curious... I'll start thinking you're in love with me again."

What a silver tongue.

Ji Qu immediately falls silent.

Her sister moves on to the next stage of school, and her parents go abroad on vacation. There's no longer any need for a tutor in the enormous house.

Looking at the luggage piled by the door, Liang Qian asks coldly, "Are you kicking me out?"

The question hits Ji Qu right where it hurts. Her voice is cool as she replies, "Do I need to keep a liar by my side?"

She hadn't actually meant to kick Liang Qian out, but the misunderstanding makes her sigh inwardly. There's far too little trust between them.

Knowing she said the wrong thing, Liang Qian can only try another way to please her. As they draw closer, she realizes neither of them can be without the other.

They're still bound to keep entangling with each other.

She can't suppress her feelings, but she can't bear the pain of their past either.

In the end, Ji Qu gives in and warns Liang Qian: don't lie to me again.

If it weren't for that one lie, none of the mess between them would have happened.

The lie was hateful, yet it also bound them together.

Liang Qian lowers her head obediently. "I promise I won't lie to you. Let's be honest with each other."

Ji Qu believes her again.

In exchange, she's willing to be more open, too.

* Both are each other's only partners.

* They're childhood friends with a slight age gap.

Theme: Spring can bloom even in barren ground