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Chapter 69: Never Cheap Them
Chapter 69: Never Cheap Them
Chapter 69
..."Second Uncle?" Li Xiaoya sensed his hesitation.
Did he want to accompany her?
Or was Second Uncle afraid to appear in public?
Li Xiaoya wanted to tell them it was fine, she could go by herself.
But Second Uncle spoke first.
He looked at Wei Wenqing: "Will you accompany Xiaoya?"
Before Wei Wenqing could react, Second Uncle immediately shook his head in negation: "No, that won't work. You can't speak, it would be inconvenient everywhere."
Wei Wenqing glared at his brother defiantly, gesturing: "I'll try, I'll bring bodyguards."
The Second Young Master still firmly shook his head: "No."
His eyes, which had always been dull and full of self-abandonment, now seemed much clearer.
The Second Young Master squeezed out a painful voice: "Our family can't even muster one able-bodied person..."
"I'll go then," the Second Young Master made the final decision with difficulty.
Li Xiaoya finally found a chance to interject: "I can go by myself..."
"I haven't worn formal clothes in a long time, I'll need to pick out something suitable," the Second Young Master muttered to himself.
"Do I still look like an evil ghost now?"
"If I had known this day would come, I shouldn't have smashed the food they sent."
"If she goes with me, will I embarrass her?"
The more the Second Young Master spoke, the more his brows furrowed, his nervousness and anxiety palpable.
Li Xiaoya couldn't help but say again: "Uncle, I really can go by myself."
How could that be possible?
It was just the child's words to comfort him.
The more Li Xiaoya said this, the less willing the Second Young Master was to let her enter the "tiger's den" alone.
The Second Young Master pushed his own wheelchair, saying decisively: "I'm going back to pick out clothes now."
Li Xiaoya couldn't stop him, and could only sit dumbfounded on the bed watching him leave.
As the door opened, a servant outside was startled to see the Second Young Master: "How... how are you here? Your health, your..."
While speaking, the servant lowered his head to look at the Second Young Master's legs.
The Second Young Master's face turned cold.
Why didn't he want to go out?
Because just the "concerned" looks from the servants were enough to make him unbearable.
"What? Is this not my home anymore? Do I need to report to you where I want to go?" the Second Young Master asked coldly with a sneer.
Hearing this, how could the servant dare say anything more? He immediately lowered his head and fell silent.
The Second Young Master suddenly felt stifled.
But this wasn't the old society anymore, he couldn't throw things at people's heads when he was angry.
He closed his eyes briefly, thinking that things were different now, they had a child in the family, he needed to control his emotions and set a good example.
Only then did the Second Young Master suppress his anger and wheel himself past the servant.
Soon, bodyguards came forward to take over pushing the wheelchair.
On this side, Wei Wenqing shrugged helplessly at Li Xiaoya, then bent down to lift her from the bed.
His brother complained he couldn't speak at the banquet.
Well, he could complain that his brother couldn't carry Li Xiaoya.
"Brush teeth," Wei Wenqing gestured as he carried her into the bathroom.
As Li Xiaoya wet a washcloth, he stood beside her squeezing toothpaste.
A servant who followed in saw this scene and immediately panicked: "Oh my, how can we let you do this yourself, Young Master!"
Wei Wenqing gestured: "I'm happy to."
Seeing this, the servant just stood by without moving.
Li Xiaoya frowned, feeling this wasn't right.
She could see that people here didn't respect him much.
"Uncle, you can wait for me outside," Li Xiaoya said softly.
Wei Wenqing thought she was right, the little girl might need to use the toilet or something, what was he doing standing here?
Wei Wenqing immediately nodded and went out.
Li Xiaoya brushed her teeth and washed her face by herself, then turned to the servant and said: "Please comb my hair."
The servant was stunned, thinking wasn't she supposed to be from the mountains? How does a child from the deep mountains know how to order people around like this?
Of course, she only dared think this, never say it out loud.
She found a comb and began neatly combing Li Xiaoya's hair.
Li Xiaoya spoke to her frankly: "I just arrived here, there are many things I don't recognize or know how to use. You need to tell me."
"...Yes, Young Miss."
By the time they were finished, half an hour had passed.
The servant brought Li Xiaoya downstairs for breakfast.
This wing of the house was unusually lively, with Wei Lin sitting on the left side of the table, Wei Wenqing on the right, leaving the head seat empty.
In this wing, Wei Lin was actually equivalent to the master here. But with Wei Wenqing present today, he certainly couldn't assume that role.
Who knew Wei Wenqing wouldn't sit at the head either.
Could they be waiting for the Second Young Master to arrive? Wei Lin raised an eyebrow.
At this moment, Li Xiaoya approached, and Wei Wenqing suddenly stood up, imitating Sheng Yuxiao's earlier action, lifting Li Xiaoya and placing her in the head seat.
The wing suddenly fell silent.
The servants watched Wei Wenqing's actions in utter shock.
Wei Lin took a breath, then exhaled, smiling as he said: "When Xiaoya grows up, she'll take over the Old Master's duties, so sitting at the head is not wrong."
Wei Wenqing glanced at him, thinking he finally said something sensible.
Soon it was time for the servants to serve the dishes.
They moved swiftly and quietly, making almost no sound. When serving Li Xiaoya, they were especially careful.
Clearly, this little miss who appeared out of nowhere had risen even higher in their esteem.
The Wei family's breakfast was sumptuous; Li Xiaoya had never eaten such good food before.
But she seemed to eat without much enjoyment.
One moment she thought of her mother's last few years in the village, when they often didn't have enough to eat.
The next moment she thought of Sheng Yuxiao.
Would Sheng Yuxiao continue filming the show? What would he eat in the village? If only he could taste these dishes too.
Li Xiaoya's lack of enthusiasm for the food, in others' eyes, looked like innate upper-class manners!
Coming from a mountain village, faced with such a table of food, yet not showing the slightest urgency or loss of composure.
Wei Lin's eyes flashed, and he couldn't help but marvel again at how miraculous human genes were...
Meanwhile, Sheng Yuxiao, who was on Li Xiaoya's mind, had "ransacked" her home.
"Bro Sheng, why are you taking all this junk back?" Other rich kids didn't understand.
They actually hadn't had enough fun yet. But if Sheng Yuxiao was leaving, they naturally felt it wasn't interesting anymore.
"What junk?" Before Sheng Yuxiao could speak, Ning Heng glared back, "I'll give you a chance to rephrase that! These are all Li Xiaoya's things. They're called memories, understand?"
"Oh. Li Xiaoya really left just like that..." the person mumbled, suddenly realizing, "Shit! Does that mean we shoveled manure for nothing?"
Ning Heng said quietly: "Luckily I arrived a step late..."
Sheng Yuxiao glanced sideways, saying: "It's not for nothing, didn't the show's ratings go up?"
"But they're not giving me a cut of that money."
"I'll ask the production team to get you a appearance fee."
"Bro Sheng is still the best!" The person exclaimed happily.
Sheng Yuxiao didn't say more, taking a final look at the rickety little house before him.
No matter how it was furnished inside, it still looked shabby and broken... but it was this broken-down thing that somehow made one feel a bit reluctant to leave.
After a while, Sheng Yuxiao still said two words: "Let's go."
Li Xiaoya had left in a hurry that day, but today was different. Dou Dawei got the news and immediately drove over to see them off.
"Don't forget what I told you on the phone," said Sheng Yuxiao.
Dou Dawei nodded repeatedly: "Don't worry! I remember everything. The pig must be sold, and the chickens too. Anyway, we can't let the villagers get them cheap!"
Sheng Yuxiao nodded, then thought of Aunt Man whom Li Xiaoya had specifically mentioned.
"The leftover mushrooms and the remaining land, give those to Aunt Man. Grandpa Li won't be coming back anyway, these people will eventually occupy it."
"Yes, yes!" Dou Dawei responded, all while marveling at how thoughtful Young Master Sheng was, even remembering this.
Sheng Yuxiao truly despised the people here.
Having said his piece, he got in the car.
And so, just like the day Li Xiaoya left, several luxury cars parked in Li Family Village set off towards the village exit one after another.
Following behind were the TV crew's vehicles.
With such a commotion, how could the villagers not notice?
They poked their heads out one after another, asking in bewilderment: "They've all left?"
"That TV crew is gone too?"
"Why are you leaving so suddenly?"
"Didn't you say you were going to help develop tourism in our village? Didn't you say that after filming the show, people would come here to play and pay us?"
They only became anxious when it involved their personal interests.
They didn't care about who was going to jail or who was taken by the police for questioning. They only cared about the immediate situation - their money was about to fly away!
So one by one, villagers dropped what they were doing and chased after the cars.
The production team was frightened and quickly stepped on the gas.
A cameraman persuaded them: "Don't, don't rush forward, the mountain road isn't easy to navigate, don't cause an accident. We can just send someone to explain things clearly to these villagers."
Everyone had no choice but to look to him.
Anyway, the cameraman was also harboring anger towards these people, so he decisively got out of the car, his back against the door, ready to run at any moment.
"Why are you leaving?"
"Yeah! You owe us an explanation. You've been filming in our village for so long, but all the money went to the village chief's family and Li Xiaoya. Didn't Li Xiaoya say she had some rich relatives coming? I don't think she needs money!"
"That's right, that's right, but we haven't received a penny."
"What about that tourism development thing, when are you coming to do that for us?"
They all crowded around him.
The cameraman listened, his head fuming. He sneered, "This isn't something we can decide. Young Master Sheng already said..."
"Said what?"
"Said this place... doesn't deserve it. A place that eats people like this, it doesn't deserve to become rich!" The cameraman said in one breath.
The villagers were all stunned.
Their last delusion was shattered...
Undeserving?
They actually said they were undeserving!
Anger surged on the villagers' faces, and they were about to reach out to grab the cameraman.
The cameraman opened the car door, sat back in, all in one smooth motion.
"Let me tell you," he lowered the car window a bit, "don't do anything rash, or the police will invite you to the station."
The villagers cursed loudly: "You son of a bitch, if we had known you wouldn't keep your word, who cares about the police?"
"That's right! If they dare come, we'll flip their cars!"
The cameraman's face turned red with anger: "What kind of people are these? Let's go, let's go quickly."
"Some places are just like this, with fierce local customs and united locals. They don't care about police or anything, they'll beat you with hoes regardless," the driver said in terror as he stepped on the gas. "They only know four words - the law doesn't punish the masses."
The cameraman cursed, "No wonder they dare to engage in human trafficking! They're really not decent..."
"Just wait, if Li Xiaoya's relatives really have some power, there will definitely be consequences..."
After making their threats, the villagers also returned to the village, cursing and swearing.
"If only we had stopped Li Xiaoya's car that day."
"Exactly!"
By the afternoon, it had gotten a bit dark.
Someone quietly sneaked to Li Xiaoya's house... After all, no one was there now, it would be a sure thing to steal!
But when they sneaked in, they found...
"Damn it! Not even a chicken left!"
One cursed.
Another followed, "Even the pigs are gone... Aren't those rich kids supposed to be wealthy? How can they be so inconsiderate, even taking the pigs away."
They cursed together, and as they came out, they realized several people had sneaked over.
"Li Xiaoya's family still has land..."
"Right... there's still land."
As they mentioned this, they got excited again and rushed towards the fields. When they arrived, they found Aunt Man and her husband watering the fields with manure.
"What are you doing?"
"Xiaoya left and gave us the land," Aunt Man said, unable to hide her joy.
"How come it was given to you?" They gritted their teeth, obviously unwilling.
"What? You're not happy about it?" They were all from the same village, who was afraid of whom? Aunt Man's husband revealed a fierce look and shouldered his hoe.
His family had two brothers, in their prime. In a fight, they could call for help...
In mountain villages, when fighting for state benefits or homestead land, apart from those with some power like the village chief, others relied on how many young and strong members their family had.
"We're not happy, but forget it, you can have it..." These few people, despite gritting their teeth, had no choice but to leave sensibly.
Who knows how many curses they uttered behind their backs.
Now they really hoped Grandpa Li would eat prison food and best if he died in there, never to return.
This way, after some time, they could tear down Li Xiaoya's house and occupy the land to build their own...
The villagers thought quite well of themselves.
That same day, police cars came to the village again.
The police wanted to take more people to cooperate with the investigation.
The villagers were of course unwilling, and many picked up hoes and sickles, intending to resist violently.
But this time, the police who came were not from some township police station.
They had rich experience in dealing with rural crime and all carried riot shields. Seeing people daring to wield knives, they naturally suppressed them and simply took them all away in one sweep!
"Murder! The police are wronging good people!"
"Damn it, let go, let go, you're all hired by those rich kids..."
The villagers cursed loudly, but it was useless now.
The mountain village quickly returned to tranquility.
Aunt Man walked on the way home, feeling an unusual silence along the way.
"The village suddenly has a lot fewer people, it feels strange," she murmured.
The man beside her, rarely showing such an overly enthusiastic smile, said, "Thanks to you, you took care of Li Xiaoya's mother before, next year we'll plant corn in that field..."