"Li Li!"
Grandma Ming from next door saw Xie Li riding his bicycle over from afar and smiled, "You're finally back!"
Despite the sweltering summer heat, Xie Li wasn't wearing a hat, and beads of sweat were visible at his temples.
"Grandma, what's the matter that's so urgent?"
She casually wiped the sweat from her brow with her hand; her ten fingers were slender, white, and delicate, like scallions.
However, his face was covered in a greenish-blue paste, which looked extremely strange.
Grandma Ming, however, was unsurprised by Xie Li's appearance: "Someone from your family has come! It's someone sent by your wealthy biological parents, urging you to leave quickly!"
Xie Li's gaze followed the peeling lime of the courtyard wall into the yard, where a car was parked at the entrance.
Beside the car, a slick-haired man was talking to a girl in a white dress.
"That person seemed very anxious; your biological parents probably want to see you as soon as possible," Grandma Ming sighed. "Alas, Erzhu has really done something terrible! He caused you to be separated from your family for over ten years..."
"Are you in a hurry?" Xie Li looked at the man calmly, as if deep in thought.
The old man cheered again, "But you and my Xiaoxiao are both good kids, and it just so happens that you're both going to Linjiang City! What a coincidence!"
As they were talking, the girl walked over, a gentle smile on her face: "Xie Li."
Xie Li, whose expression hadn't changed at all when she heard that her wealthy parents had sent someone to pick her up, was now somewhat bewildered.
"Ah, hello." She greeted him somewhat awkwardly, her gaze falling on the other person's long, smooth, black hair.
Xie Li couldn't help but glance at it a few more times with envy.
"I heard your biological parents are going to take you to Linjiang City? What a coincidence, I'm also going to Linjiang No. 1 High School soon." Ming Xiaoxiao pursed her lips, her watery almond eyes looking at her with a certain stubbornness. "But unlike you, I was able to go to Linjiang City to study because I received funding from the Spring Bud Project."
The Spring Bud Project is a charity program that helps academically excellent but impoverished students to attend school. It has high entry requirements and conducts a comprehensive assessment every year, which is said to be very difficult.
In their area, there was only one Ming Xiaoxiao, who received financial aid all the way to high school thanks to her excellent grades from a young age.
When Xie Li was in elementary school, she was also full of confidence and wanted to take the Spring Bud Project to get some subsidies to help support her family... Unfortunately, Ming Xiaoxiao passed, but she did not.
"You're amazing," Xie Li exclaimed sincerely. "Congratulations!"
——
Xie Shiyou had been waiting for Xie Li to come over on her own, but to his surprise, she started chatting away, not in a hurry at all.
He had no choice but to condescend and approach, his face full of displeasure. "Have you finished your business? Can you leave now?"
Xie Shiyou came to our door two days ago. He had already received a survey report before he came, and he was not very happy about this job.
The Xie family, a prominent and wealthy clan in Linjiang City, lost their eldest daughter fifteen years ago, which was big news in the elite circles at the time.
The Xie family went to great lengths to find the child back then, but technology wasn't as advanced as it is now, and the child simply disappeared into the vast sea of people.
It wasn't until six months ago, when the police station notified them that the fingerprint comparison in the database had matched, that the Xie family learned that this ill-fated young lady had been abducted by human traffickers and sold to a remote mountain village, becoming a veritable village girl.
The Xie family sent people to investigate, but did not take the person back on the spot. Instead, they waited for half a year before sending Xie Shiyou to pick him up.
Even though Xie Shiyou was mentally prepared, he was still very disappointed when he saw Xie Li.
He knew the rural environment was poor and this real heiress had long been spoiled, but he never expected that Xie Li was not only unlike a rich girl, but also unlike a normal person.
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