Chapter 253 The New Factory
But some things just can't be hidden from adults. Tao Huaiming knew his son had committed murder, but instead of persuading him to turn himself in, he helped him cover it up. He rushed to the cornfield that very night, only to find Li Mao, whose body was stiff, clutching a corn stalk, with crawling marks behind him. After checking his breathing, he sighed several times.
It turned out that the brick at noon had only knocked him unconscious. The terrified men didn't dare to go up and check if he was alive or dead. After calming down a bit, they only dared to drag him into the cornfield. The poor boy froze to death.
After disposing of the body, the first thing Tao Huaiming said to his son when he got home was, "Son, I've taken care of things. You and your brothers should pretend you never saw Li Mao. It's just his bad luck that he chose to take the shortcut instead of the main road."
The rest are obvious; they were just a few kids who made a mistake and pretended they'd never seen Li Mao before. Plus, human traffickers were active at the time, the investigative equipment was outdated, and several heavy snowfalls washed away all traces, which led to the case being closed as a disappearance.
"Goodness, what a ruthless man! It seems there's some retribution coming. It's not that retribution won't come, it's just that the time hasn't come yet. The Tao family father and son can just wait to go to jail!"
"After that incident, Li Mao's parents were devastated and fell seriously ill. Not long after, they also passed away. But he had an older brother who was very successful and made it in the officialdom. The Tao family doesn't need our help!"
"Tsk tsk, you've caused other people's families to be ruined and killed. You're in for it. Hey, Little Black, that's an earthworm. You can't eat it. Spit it out now, or... I'll beat your butt until it's bruised."
Without a nanny, the villa had to be managed by several people. Today, the two of them were assigned the task of weeding. The mischievous little black and white dogs also came to the backyard. After a crazy chase, they fell in love with playing with earthworms.
Sensing the anger in its owner's tone, Xiao Hei looked up, its little head turning around in confusion. Finally, it picked up the wriggling earthworm and ran off. Xiao Bai excitedly chased after it, and Yun Xia, no longer caring about her image, rolled up her sleeves and gave chase.
A dozen minutes later, the girl, covered in dirt and with withered leaves stuck in her hair, finally caught the restless cat, snatched the earthworm, grabbed its ear, and scolded it for a long time.
"Xiaxia, if you keep talking... it might get depressed!"
With its tail tucked between its legs and eyes turned down, the cat's face was shaped like the Chinese character "囧" (jiǒng), making it look like someone had bullied it.
"You're such a good actor. Fine, I'll let you off this time, but you're not allowed to play with earthworms again."
Once freed, Little Black howled a few times, wriggled its bottom, and ran off in a flash. Yun Xia shook her head helplessly, then stood up and stared blankly into a pair of deep, still eyes.
When she came to her senses, Bai Ye, with a faint smile on his face, was thoughtfully picking the withered leaves from her hair. A faint fragrance wafted into her nose with each approach of his. Driven by curiosity, the girl leaned closer, her nose twitching as she sniffed him.
Although Bai Ye enjoyed being close to her, what was with all this sniffing?
She instinctively took a half step back and asked in confusion, "What's wrong? Did you smell something unpleasant on me?"
After saying that, he swallowed hard, afraid of hearing a positive answer. He only breathed a sigh of relief after seeing the girl shake her head in denial.
"Bai Ye, you... you're wearing perfume? Hmm, it smells pretty good!"
Bai Ye, who had been stunned for a few seconds, chuckled for a long time before saying, "Why would a grown man like me wear perfume? Maybe it's because of the laundry detergent at home."
Upon hearing this, Yun Xia nodded seriously and said, "Then next time I run into Uncle Zhang, I'll also take a closer sniff. If the scent is exactly the same, I'll switch my laundry detergent to the same brand as yours."
Upon hearing this, Uncle Zhang was alarmed and quickly tried to smooth things over, saying, "There's no need for such trouble. I'll just ask on my way back. Didn't you say you wanted to clear all the weeds from the backyard? Do you need my help?"
"Yes, of course we need it! There's strength in numbers!"
From then on, Bai Ye, who came to deliver the good news, spent the whole day working in his uncle's backyard. The trash cans by the roadside were filled with withered weeds. After a warm welcome, Yun Xia watched him leave.
With the matter on Wuyun Mountain settled, the two of them gave up the idea of building a road. Renting land in another village was put on the agenda. The village chief was a shrewd man. He negotiated with them for half a month before the contract was finally signed. When Village Chief Li heard the news, he smoked four pipes of tobacco and kept cursing the heartless troublemakers.
"Stop cursing, come inside and eat. You always tell others to be content with what you have, so why can't you accept it when it comes to yourself? The big bosses from the city are here to make money, not to do charity. How can we let our village take all the profits?"
"What do women know? A few months ago, when I deliberately brought up the road repair, the two big bosses would smile. But the last few times I brought it up, they frowned and changed the subject. Do you know what that means?"
"Ha, road construction is a big deal, it costs tens of thousands, why would they do it for free?"
"Those guys with long hair and short brains, the peony factory is getting bigger and bigger, and the dirt road is a huge obstacle to transporting goods. If they don't repair it, it means they're going to shift their focus. Who knows, in a few years, they'll take all the factory buildings and equipment away, leaving only an empty building here."
"I don't understand what you're saying. Don't worry about it. Go wash your hands and come eat."
Village Chief Li sighed, knocked out his cigarette butt, and staggered back into the house. Actually, he was quite clever and guessed the truth pretty accurately.
After that incident, Bai Ye completely abandoned any sentimental notions and formulated a future development strategy for the factory entirely from a businessman's perspective.
We'll select a good location at the foot of the mountain, buy it directly from the government, and put the construction of the new factory on the agenda. Once it's completed, we can simply move the equipment down from the mountain. As for the village employees, they can apply to move into the employee dormitory.
Yun Xia wholeheartedly agreed with this decision. The factory would not be built on any village land, to prevent some people from having the evil idea of trying to take a share of the shares again. It would only cost them a few hundred thousand more, and the annual dividends would be worth that amount anyway.
The construction workers were numerous, and as the saying goes, many hands make light work. The house was completed before the New Year. Ignoring Village Chief Li's request, Bai Ye ordered the equipment to be moved directly, including the air conditioners from the mountain.
"Oh, all done. Hurry back to the city. If we don't spend New Year's Eve at home, Jiang Chao's face will be sour for a whole year."
"Yunxia, are you itching for a beating?" Jiang Chao, who had just picked her up from school, heard this as soon as he entered the house and asked with a gloomy face.
The girl thought to herself, "Oh no!" and hurriedly hid behind Bai Ye, peeking out guiltily to secretly observe his expression.
"Young man Jiang Chao, be gentle, you've scared Xiaxia!"
"Bai Ye, I'm disciplining my disobedient sister, you have no right to interrupt."
After saying that, he strode forward and pulled the girl out. Bai Ye held his arm down, his sharp eyes, like knives, constantly shooting at the sharp-tongued man.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com