Chapter 8
Xiang Wan woke up very early in the morning, the moment the evil fat goose at the little devil's house made its first quack.
She couldn't explain why, but somehow she glanced at the crack between the bricks and ended up meeting the wicked little eyes of that silly goose.
Small, wicked eyes, about the size of a mung bean.
Ever since the man and the goose locked eyes, it has been screaming wildly, as if it had gone mad.
Although Xiang Wan is fluent in six languages, she has never been familiar with animal language. Even so, she still recognized that the fat goose was yelling at her.
She tried to close her eyes to avoid looking at it, but it kept barking louder and louder.
Just when she was about to lose her temper, the stupid goose suddenly stopped squawking. Xiang Wan glanced through the crack in the bricks again and saw that the little devil had woken up. She then chased it back into the fence.
Before leaving, it barked at the little devil, sounding somewhat aggrieved.
Hearing its pitiful cries, Xiang Wan felt a strange sense of triumph, realizing that she had actually been competing with a goose, and she calmed down a bit.
She glanced at her watch; it was only a little past five, but she was no longer sleepy, so she began to look around the room.
The lights in the unfinished apartment were tungsten filament bulbs, which were only available in the 1980s. She was very surprised when she first discovered them yesterday, as she had only ever seen such bulbs in retro-themed restaurants.
Wang Yidong next to her showed no signs of waking up. Xiang Wan quietly got out of bed and put on the wool slippers that the driver had brought her from the car yesterday.
When she came out of the outer room, she saw the rare sunrise.
Xiang Wan gets up earlier than sunrise every day, but she's so busy that she's never seen the sunrise. Before she turned 18, she was busy studying; after she turned 18, she was busy handling various internal affairs of the group.
The first time Xiang Wan saw the sunrise was in Lijia Village, which made her sigh at the unpredictability of fate.
The sun rose from the direction of the mountain, and its afterglow illuminated the entire cypress forest, making it as beautiful as a gift from the world to her rebirth.
Standing in the sunlight, Xiang Wan gazed at the mountains on the other side, as if she were getting to know Lijia Village all over again.
Because of the influence of Zhou Chengze and Li Taohua, she didn't really like this village, even though it was a village she had sponsored in her previous life.
She was still admiring the scenery on the mountain when she sensed footsteps approaching her. She glanced behind her and saw that it was that poor little Chen Yan.
Even after learning that the silly goose was "her" pet, she still couldn't bring herself to hate the poor little thing.
Even with Zhou Chengze back then, Xiang Wan never felt a moment of pity; she simply didn't like owing favors to others.
There was nothing particularly special about them, but those shoes stayed with her for a long time.
Little did they expect that it was all Li Taohua's scheme, and the little devil who offered help in their time of need ended up with nothing.
Xiang Wan looked at Chen Yan with some curiosity for the first time: Did the 'she' in the previous life receive her financial support? But it was obvious that the answer was unknown, and even if she asked Chen Yan in this life, she would not know.
The little devil was still wearing the same pink cotton-padded jacket as yesterday, which made her skin look even whiter. Just as she was about to ask what her purpose was, she saw the snow boots that the little devil handed her.
"It's already washed clean," Chen Yan said softly.
These are the pairs of shoes she was going to throw away yesterday after stepping in cow dung. They were so dirty back then that you couldn't even tell their original color, but now they've been washed clean.
Looking at the boy's hands, which were red from the cold, Xiang Wan frowned. She remembered that she had said that it was fine to just throw them away, and besides, it was so cold, and there were no washing machines in Lijia Village, so it was easy to imagine where he had washed them.
In sub-zero temperatures, the river water will only get colder.
She didn't take the snow boots, feeling somewhat indifferent for the first time because someone didn't care about her body: "I don't want them, throw them away for me."
She turned to go inside after saying that, but then heard a voice behind her, softer than a mosquito's buzz: "Um..."
Chen Yan hesitated, then said, "If you don't want it, could you leave it for my mother-in-law to wear?"
Xiang Wan's gaze was flat, her voice devoid of any inflection, as indifferent as water about to freeze: "I don't like other people wearing my shoes."
"……knew."
Although the other party hid it well, she still saw the disappointment in the kid's eyes, but he didn't say anything and even walked away a little.
After being rejected, Chen Yan took his snow boots to the woodshed, moving as quietly as he had come, reminding Xiang Wan of the idiom "walking on thin ice."
She felt a moment of pity, but her heart remained resolute: she never wanted to have any contact with anyone from Li Family Village again in this lifetime.
Xiang Wan looked up at the blazing sun, lost in thought, when she felt the satellite phone in her pocket vibrate.
She took it out and saw that it was Li Xia.
Li Xia is the grandson of the butler grandfather. He graduated from the butler academy at the age of 23 and is the next butler designated by the Xiang family.
Having roughly guessed what the other party would say, Xiang Wan pressed the answer button.
"Young Miss, I am Li Xia."
"Um."
“We rushed here after receiving the call in the early morning, but there was a slight problem on the way, so we may be a little late. We have been unable to get through to her on the phone. Is Miss safe now?”
Li Xia is a very efficient person. Since he said he would be late, his car must have broken down.
Xiang Wan thought for a moment and asked, "We're safe. What's the situation on your end? Did your car break down?"
"Yes, Miss."
"Did you change the spare tire?" She remembered that Li Xia usually kept a spare tire in the car.
"..." Li Xia was silent for a few seconds, but Xiang Wan keenly sensed that something seemed a little off.
Li Xia's voice remained calm, but it sounded somewhat serious: "Even after changing to a spare tire, it broke down."
Seeing that she didn't speak, Li Xia deliberately softened her voice: "Don't be afraid, Miss. I will definitely pick you up and take you home before this afternoon."
"There's no rush."
In any case, Lijia Village posed no threat to her, and given the current situation, Xiang Wan was not in a hurry to go home.
She continued speaking to Li Xia on the other end of the phone: "There should be a service area before you come. Go inside the mall and buy a pair of snow boots, size 38."
"Size 38? Who is the young lady buying it for?"
I owe someone a favor here.
Li Xia immediately understood: "Is there anything else you need?"
Xiang Wan thought for a moment and then added, "And another pair of snow boots in my size."
"Understood. If you encounter any problems, Miss, you can call me. My phone number hasn't changed."
"knew."
After hanging up the phone, Xiang Wan's expression gradually turned somber from its previous calm.
As she expected, it was indeed the little trick that fate was pulling behind the scenes.
But what she didn't understand was what the person who pushed her wanted to do, and what their purpose was in trapping her in this Li Family Village. Was it to make her adopt Zhou Chengze?
Xiang Wan was still deep in thought when she saw her driver, Uncle Zhang, run in from outside the yard with a happy expression: "Miss, I found a villager who can repair cars through the village chief, and he has just fixed the car."
She looked at Uncle Zhang, secretly relieved to finally have some good news. She was about to ask something more when she heard urgent calls from the inner room: "Grandma—Grandma—"
It was Chen Yan's voice.
Something seems to have happened in the inner room.
Without hesitation, the two rushed into the inner room. As soon as they entered, they saw Grandma Chen Yan lying on the cement floor. Chen Yan, who was not strong enough to lift her, was holding her arm and crying.
Wang Yidong also woke up and stood beside him, looking helpless.
Xiang Wan frowned, asked Uncle Zhang to pull Chen Yan away first, and then gestured to Wang Yidong to help her turn the old man over.
Chen Yan didn't know what she was going to do. He kept trying to break free from Uncle Zhang's restraint and rush over, but Xiang Wan ignored him and used one hand to check the old man's pulse and carotid artery.
Only after confirming that the old woman still had a pulse and was breathing did she have time to deal with the 'crazy' kid. Xiang Wan looked at Chen Yan, put her hand on his shoulder, and said in a reassuring voice, "Kid, if you want to save your mother-in-law, you have to listen to me."
Seeing that Chen Yan seemed to have regained his composure, she added, "Do you understand?"
"good."
After he nodded, Xiang Wan looked at Uncle Zhang behind him and asked, "The car is fixed now, right?"
Uncle Zhang seemed to just realize what was happening, looking somewhat stunned: "Yes."
Xiang Wan appeared calm, even composed: "Get in the car and take her to the county hospital."
"I'll go right now." Zhang Rang seemed to have found his backbone and turned to drive the car up.
"Wait."
Xiang Wan wiped the thin layer of sweat from his forehead, knowing he was nervous, and reminded him, "Uncle Zhang, you'll be driving later, so please calm down."
"knew."
Zhang Rang didn't know if it was magic or not, but after the young lady said those words, he really felt much better.
Chen Yan was holding his mother-in-law's arm, his eyes red and swollen. As if he had thought of something, he rushed to the large box opposite the bed and took out the small box.
Without even counting the bills, he handed the stack of banknotes directly to Xiang Wan: "For Grandma's medical expenses."
Xiang Wan glanced at it and saw that there were even five-mao banknotes inside, a stack of odds and ends, but only two of them were red.
A trip to the hospital isn't enough, not to mention the wound on Grandma Xiaogui's leg, which is clearly not an ordinary wound.
She didn't take the stack of banknotes, but asked him to put them away. Chen Yan kept trying to give them to her, until Xiang Wan looked at him calmly. He then rushed back to put the money away and looked at his mother-in-law nervously while holding her arm.
"I'll obey, please save my mother-in-law."
His eyes were like those of a stray cat huddled up in the rain, reminding Xiang Wan of the day she first met Ju Tuan.
She patted the little devil's head and comforted him, saying, "Don't be afraid, little devil."
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