Chapter 7
Xiang Wan stood in the courtyard, staring intently at the sun, her gaze calm yet tinged with a hint of defiance.
It's like challenging fate, saying, 'What can you do to me?'
Those who know Xiang Wan might think she is a somewhat aloof person.
But those who know her well would say that she is a somewhat unruly person, just like the horse she keeps at the horse farm, Longyuan.
Although she didn't know how her rebirth came about, she felt resentful about her predetermined fate, which gave her an impulse to fight against it.
To fight a losing battle is not a wise move. But Xiang Wan knew this, yet she still didn't want to be manipulated by others.
As the sun began to set, she gazed at the mountains bathed in its golden light, still pondering how she would cope with the future, when she felt an invisible gaze upon her from behind.
She turned around and met a pair of beautiful eyes, but those eyes were filled with pain and struggle.
Looking at the handsome little devil, Xiang Wan's brows gradually relaxed. She was somewhat attracted to good looks; otherwise, she wouldn't have chosen Zhou Chengze as her fiancé in her previous life.
Compared to Zhou Chengze's rugged good looks, this kid's appearance was so beautiful that it was hard to tell if he was male or female, which made him stand out from the small mountain village.
Xiang Wan knew the reason for the little devil's suffering, but having already learned of Zhou Chengze's scheming, she did not intend to support Li Family Village again in this life.
With her ripped pants wrapped around her legs, she didn't want anything to do with Zhou Chengze, that poor man from a humble background.
Therefore, she did not intend to intervene in the child's suffering. At most, she would leave the child tens of thousands of yuan as a thank you for the overnight stay after they left Lijia Village the next morning.
She looked at Chen Yan: "My companions and I are separated. Can you take me to find them?"
Her tone was flat, without any condescending air or humble manner of asking for favors; it was just a question without any emotion.
Xiang Wan's expression was as indifferent as her tone, but when she saw Chen Yan hand her fifty yuan, she looked at him with confusion.
"My mother-in-law said I have to pay for the money if I dirtied someone else's things." Chen Yan's fingers gripped the banknote so tightly they turned white. Seeing that she didn't take it, his shoulders slumped down in exhaustion. "Is it not enough?"
Looking at the crumpled fifty-yuan note in the kid's hand, Xiang Wan remained silent for a long time before speaking. Her voice was a little hoarse: "Those shoes were a gift from someone else, so you don't need to pay for them."
That's true; it was indeed delivered from the department store to the Xiang family so she could choose.
Chen Yan didn't say whether he believed it or not when he heard this, he just kept stuffing money into her hands. Xiang Wan thought that she would also give them a fee for staying overnight before leaving, so she accepted it.
Afterwards, Chen Yan took her to the village chief's house to find Wang Yidong and Uncle Zhang. Xiang Wan remembered that in her previous life, they had stayed overnight at the village chief's house.
The village chief's house wasn't far, and they arrived quickly. But unlike in the previous life, before they even entered the courtyard, they heard a fierce argument inside.
Thinking that Wang Yidong had gotten into a fight with the villagers, Xiang Wan frowned subconsciously, but stopped in her tracks after hearing the cursing.
"Li Taohua, you shameless vixen, you brought death to your scholar husband, and now you're trying to seduce my man."
"Don't make false accusations. Who seduced your man?"
"Li Shengde, tell me, why did you name our daughter Li Xiaohua? Is it because of that vixen Li Taohua?"
"..."
The crowd was noisy, filled with the sharp voices of women, some pretending to mediate, others adding fuel to the fire, while the men remained silent as if they had disappeared.
Looking at Li Taohua being beaten by her hair in the crowd, Xiang Wan's eyes showed no schadenfreude, nor any sympathy for her being beaten by her hair; only indifference as if it were none of her business.
Xiang Wan had no interest in knowing how much her future mother-in-law had schemed behind her back in her previous life. She was only certain of one thing: she found Li Taohua and her son Zhou Chengze disgusting to even look at.
Therefore, Xiang Wan only glanced at it and then didn't look at it again.
She glanced around the crowd and, not seeing Wang Yidong or the driver Uncle Wang, decided to go back to where the car had broken down to check again. But as soon as she turned around, someone pulled her into a tight embrace.
Xiang Wan is a bit of a germaphobe. Even when Zhou Chengze gets close to her, she will subconsciously feel disgusted. Her first reaction when someone hugs her is to frown.
But after smelling the soap scent on the other person, his brows gradually relaxed. The other person's scent was familiar; it was Wang Yidong's.
The other party quickly released her, and when Xiang Wan saw Wang Yidong's furrowed brows, she knew something bad was going to happen.
She's definitely going to start nagging again! Sure enough, the next second...
"Young Miss, why did you get out of the car?"
"We thought... well, we were terrified."
"I already told Miss that if we don't come, no one should open the door."
…
Xiang Wan sighed inwardly, trying to let it go in one ear and out the other, and jumped over Wang Yidong's shoulder to look behind her.
Driver Uncle Zhang, standing behind her, was also covered in sweat. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the young lady was alright: "Young lady, we'll stay at the village chief's house tonight."
Village chief Li Chengde was the male protagonist in the farce just now. Xiang Wan felt annoyed at the thought of being forced to listen to Li Taohua's gossip.
She pointed to Chen Yan, who was not far away, and said, "We're staying at Xiao Gui's house tonight."
Upon hearing this, Uncle Zhang and Wang Yidong looked at Chen Yan, who nodded back at them.
Uncle Zhang has a daughter, so he always feels a sense of kinship when he sees a girl the same age as his daughter. Looking at Chen Yan, he couldn't help but praise her, "What a lovely girl."
"..." Chen Yan pursed his lips, but thinking of his mother-in-law's medical expenses, he had no mood to refute.
Wang Yidong looked at him, thinking he was a new friend of the young lady, and nodded kindly to him. Then he turned to Xiang Wan and comforted her, "Young lady, we just borrowed the village phone to call home. The butler is on his way and will arrive at dawn tomorrow."
"Okay, I understand." So far, everything is under control, so Xiang Wan doesn't have much to think about.
After rambling on for a while, Wang Yidong straightened up from her half-squatting position and reached out to Wan, indicating that she should hold her hand.
"..."
Xiang Wan is only 12 years old and only reaches Wang Yidong's shoulder. She looked up at her maid with a complicated expression.
She didn't know how to tell Wang Yidong that although she was only in the preparatory class of sixth grade, her soul was already 26 years old.
Therefore, she will never get lost, and she doesn't need to hold hands like a child to walk.
But if she said that, Wang Yidong would probably think she's going through a rebellious phase.
Therefore, after much deliberation, Xiang Wan took her hand and let her pull her forward.
After taking a few steps, Wang Yidong stopped again and handed her a piece of candy from his pocket.
"..."
Xiang Wan chewed on her milk candy with a blank expression the whole way, but her cheeks were puffing out.
The four walked along a country path, with Chen Yan leading the way and Xiang Wan and the other two following him. Once they left the village chief's yard, the commotion and arguments behind them disappeared, and the place instantly became quiet, with only the occasional barking of the country dogs remaining.
They soon arrived at Chen Yan's house. Looking at the unfinished house with brick seams thicker than a fist, Wang Yidong and the driver, Uncle Zhang, exchanged a silent glance. They wanted to persuade him further, but Xiang Wan saw through their intentions: "If you want to stay at the village chief's house, that's fine too."
Uncle Zhang quickly shook his head: "I'm a grown man, I can stay anywhere, but I'm worried that you, Miss, won't be used to it."
Xiang Wan didn't say anything more, but proved it with her actions. She stepped into the outer room and sat down on the leather stool she had sat on at the beginning.
Since the young lady had spoken, Wang Yidong and Uncle Zhang naturally had no objections. The two busied themselves in the outer room, making a fairly warm bed for Xiang Wan.
Uncle Zhang even went back to the car and brought out the warm blanket that the young lady usually used in the car, which Wang Yidong took and spread on her bed.
Throughout the entire process, Xiang Wan didn't seem to care at all. She was engrossed in reading a book on investment and didn't even notice when Grandma Chen Yan got out of bed to visit them.
Because she had to learn various courses from a young age, Xiang Wan developed a skill: she could stay focused on her own things even in noisy environments.
Grandma Chen originally wanted to ask if they were missing anything, but she was taken aback by their grandeur when she came out.
In her mind, all you need to sleep is a blanket, and sometimes you don't even need a blanket, just a bed.
Although she could tell at first glance that this girl was no ordinary person, she was still amazed by their level of sophistication.
She only learned from Chen Yan that this was a young lady from the city, and then she smiled and went back to her inner room to rest.
By the time Wang Yidong finished making the bed, it was already quite late. Uncle Zhang went to the small room outside to make his bed, leaving only Xiang Wan, Chen Yan, and Wang Yidong in the room.
The lighting in the brick house was too dim. After reading for half an hour, Xiang Wan's eyes started to hurt, so she put the book down. She rubbed her eyes, looked at Chen Yan who was standing silently to the side, and asked in a relatively gentle tone, "Little brat, are you going to sleep with us?"
Seeing the little rascal suddenly blush, Xiang Wan raised an eyebrow, feeling somewhat puzzled: "Why are you blushing?"
Chen Yan didn't explain why she blushed, only saying briefly, "I'll just sleep on the floor in my mother-in-law's inner room."
Thinking it was just a shy little girl, Xiang Wan didn't bother with any further formalities: "Goodnight, kid."
Chen Yan glanced at her quickly before returning to the inner room.
Only Xiang Wan and Wang Yidong remained in the outer room. After a long day of travel, Wang Yidong was visibly exhausted: "Miss, shall we sleep now?"
"Okay, let's turn off the lights."
After Wang Yidong got out of bed and turned off the light, he quickly returned to his own bed. The two lay in their own beds, and just as Xiang Wan was about to fall asleep, she heard a hissing sound from the side.
"Young Miss, are you asleep?"
"..." Xiang Wan pursed her lips, "Not yet..."
After a long time, just when she thought Wang Yidong wouldn't speak again, she spoke again:
"Miss, did you already know the car would break down?"
Although Wang Yidong felt it was unlikely even after asking the question, everything that happened today was too strange, and how could it be such a coincidence that the young lady had told her to bring the spare tire the day before.
Xiang Wan's sleepiness was dispelled. She turned her back to her and said in a nonchalant tone, "I'm not a prophet."
"That's true... I was overthinking it."
Late at night, Xiang Wan opened her eyes, her pupils appearing especially clear in the darkness.
'You're overthinking it.'
"And tomorrow morning, the car that's supposed to pick us up will also break down."
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