Chapter 17
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Qin Siyen followed Lin Yi around all day.
Lin Yi felt terribly awkward. “Auntie Xie, is there anything I can help you with?”
Xie Yu pinched his little cheek and smiled. “Yibao is a young master now. What Yibao needs to do is play with the other children.”
Then she turned sternly toward Qin Siyen. “Yibao is bored. You little hired hand aren’t doing your job properly. I’ll deduct your after-meal fruit later.”
Lin Yi waved his hands in embarrassment, mumbling, “No, no, I’m not bored.”
Xie Yu practically wanted to pull Yibao into her arms and smother him with affection. How could there be such a well-behaved child?
Knock, knock~
“Is anyone there?”
Lin Yi turned and saw a little girl. Her frame was thin and frail, but her eyes were remarkably bright.
Lin Yi frowned. Instinctively, he felt uneasy.
But killers did not suddenly appear in this world. Where was this unease coming from?
Xie Yu went over to speak with the girl. “Hello. Are you looking for someone? This house has been temporarily lent to the production crew. The owners aren’t here.”
The viewers were also discussing the little girl who had suddenly appeared.
[All along, I thought this little fishing village was merely somewhat backward. The villagers are still dressed decently enough, but this girl is actually wearing patched clothes.]
[Look at her shoes, too. They still have those old foam soles, and there are holes worn through at the toes.]
[Has the production crew been staging everything all along? Is this girl what life in the fishing village is really like?]
The village chief had been watching the livestream closely. The moment Xu Yan returned appeared on camera, his eyelid twitched.
Why had she appeared outside House Number One?
He had no time to dwell on that. He immediately asked someone to explain Xu Yan’s circumstances in the livestream chat.
[I’m one of the young people from the village. This girl is named Xu Yan Hui. Her family consists only of her and her grandmother.]
Once an insider appeared, the viewers bombarded him with questions.
[What about her parents?]
[She doesn’t have a mother. According to the elders, Yan Hui was picked up by her father.]
[Where is her father?]
[I heard he died in a maritime accident, and her grandmother lost her mind after that.]
[She and Grandma Xu are the village’s welfare recipients.]
[No wonder she’s so poorly dressed. There’s no one able to work in the family, and her grandmother is mentally ill. Just surviving must have taken everything the little girl had.]
The viewers sighed with emotion. Some even contacted the local neighborhood office, hoping to donate clothes to the girl.
At the same time, in a villa in the capital, a little boy who looked about six was also watching the livestream of Baby Trip.
The boy coughed softly. His nanny looked concerned. “Young master, would you like to go back to your room and rest?”
The boy shook his head. “No.”
When Xu Yan Hui’s face appeared in the livestream, the boy’s pupils instantly contracted.
Today was the fourth day of filming. Xu Yan Hui—she had appeared after all!
The boy had heard yesterday that one of the children from the production crew had gone missing. He had secretly prayed for filming to be terminated.
He had never expected the program to continue.
In his previous life, he had participated in Baby Trip, and it was on this very day that he had been poisoned!
After returning to the past, he had secretly reported it to the police. But no one would believe something that had not yet happened. They had assumed it was merely a child’s prank.
*
At that moment, Xu Yan Hui stood outside the door of House Number One, looking shyly at the gentle Xie Yu before her.
“I… I’m not looking for anyone. I just wanted to give you some wild vegetables.”
“They’re very fresh and delicious.” As she spoke, she glanced up at Xie Yu, then quickly lowered her head again.
Her bare toes nervously curled inside her shoes.
Xu Yan Hui said, “I only… only wanted to thank you for making the village a better place.”
Xie Yu looked toward the assistant director, unsure what to do.
As guests, they were not allowed to casually accept gifts from villagers during filming.
The assistant director thought that this counted as friendly interaction with the locals, so he nodded. “Thank you, little one.”
Xie Yu accepted the basket. “Thank you.”
The little girl’s face flushed shyly, and she ran away.
Lin Yi wanted to look at the basket, but Nora and Mianmian came running in from outside.
“Yibao, come with us!”
They pulled Lin Yi along as they explained, “We’re playing marbles against them, and we’re almost completely out of marbles!”
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Little Mianmian cried, “All gone!”
Xie Yu looked at Qin Siyen. “Little hired hand, aren’t you going to catch up?”
Qin Siyen: “…”
Elsewhere, Yang Xing and Yang Bai finally found some work.
They were to remove the kernels from dried corn.
Entirely by hand.
Yang Xing had watched the older woman demonstrate and initially thought it looked fairly simple. They could even work indoors instead of being roasted beneath the sun.
It seemed like an easy job.
But when he saw the mountain of corn cobs piled before him, the corners of his mouth began twitching uncontrollably.
Yang Xing could not bring himself to ask for another job, so he steeled himself and began.
Yang Bai was quite pleased. The work was easier than he had expected.
The fishing village was built on uneven ground. The house where Yang Xing and Yang Bai were working stood on higher ground, allowing the father and son to see a group of children below, playing marbles beneath the shade of a tree.
Lin Yi, Nora, and the others were there, along with a child they all recognized, Xu Duruo.
When Lin Yi was absent, Xu Duruo had naturally assumed the air of the children’s leader.
But the moment Lin Yi appeared, Xu Duruo hurried over to his side and began talking to him.
One of the little boys refused to accept this and challenged them to a marble competition.
Several boys took turns, some even lying flat on the ground just to flick their marbles into the tiny holes.
Lin Yi, however, merely crouched halfway down, relaxed and at ease. His little marble seemed to have a guidance system installed, rolling into the hole without the slightest deviation.
Yang Xing sneered inwardly. Lin Yi was fit only to play such cheap games!
Children from the upper classes began learning golf and horsemanship from an early age.
No sooner had he finished grumbling inwardly than he saw Lin Yi carefully explaining something to Qin Siyen. Qin Siyen then began imitating Lin Yi, flicking his marble into the hole.
A chorus of cheers rose from the children!
Yang Xing was so furious that he nearly crushed the corn cob in his hand.
He turned his gaze away, only to notice Yang Bai staring down below.
“What? You want to play with them, too?”
Yang Xing’s tone was unpleasant. The moment he finished speaking, he noticed the older woman looking at him with displeasure.
The livestream chat erupted as well.
[What was that tone from Yang Xing? Was he being disdainful? What exactly was he looking down on?]
[What’s wrong with Little Bai wanting to play? If his useless father hadn’t dragged him along, he’d already be playing with the other children.]
[I’ve always felt that Yang Xing isn’t very close to Little Bai.]
[Do you people hide under their bed every day? You’re just making things up because they aren’t close as father and son!]
[It’s so hot out. Yang Xing may simply be worried about Little Bai. How can you read so much into it? Don’t you have anything better to do?]
“Time to eat!”
He Tong stood in the distance and called out loudly for the four children to come back for lunch.
Yang Xing heard her, and the sourness in his heart deepened.
He nudged Yang Bai and gave him a meaningful look.
Yang Bai glanced at the few scattered corn cobs beside Yang Xing.
The little boy grumbled inwardly: They had barely done any work, and he was already thinking about eating.
But who had told him to be this man’s son? He could only ask, “Granny, I… I’m hungry. May I have something to eat?”
Although Granny did not like Yang Xing, she had a very good impression of the quiet little Yang Bai.
The village children were all lively and boisterous. A boy as quiet as him was naturally more lovable.
Granny took a bag of neatly wrapped biscuits from the room and pressed it into Yang Bai’s hands. “Here. Eat these.”
Yang Bai stared at the biscuits, their packaging folded so neatly, and suddenly felt his eyes grow hot.
[Waaah, I suddenly miss my grandmother. When I was little, the old lady used to hide delicious snacks just for me. I was her granddaughter.]
[My grandmother would lock the snacks in a little cabinet, but they were always saved for my younger brother. My grandfather would secretly take some out for me whenever Grandma wasn’t home.]
[My grandmother is sitting beside me watching the livestream.]
[So jealous of the person above~]
Yang Bai had thought he could stay strong, but the moment he thought of his grandmother, he wanted to cry.
They were clearly sweet biscuits. Why did they taste so bitter and sour in his mouth?
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Yang Xing angrily snapped the corn cob in his hand in two!
*
In the courtyard of House Number One, everyone sat gathered together.
Neither Xie Yu nor Xi Lan knew how to cook.
He Tong had been spoiled from childhood. She had begun working as a model in her early teens. Let alone cooking—she hardly even ate.
Zhong Qi was only an amateur, but compared with the others, he was still the best cook.
The three mothers helped prepare the ingredients, so Zhong Qi’s work was relatively easy.
Even without tasting the dishes, Lin Yi could tell that most of the food on the table had been made by Zhong Qi.
He Tong placed a piece of tomato and egg on Nora’s plate. “Sweetheart, have a taste. Mommy made this dish herself.”
Nora looked at her mother suspiciously. “Mommy, I love you very much, but I think tomatoes mixed with sugar already taste delicious.”
Whenever mother and daughter cooked alone, Nora adored nothing but sugar-dressed tomatoes.
After all, the dishes they stir-fried always tasted rather strange.
Xie Yu burst out laughing. “Don’t worry, Nora. Your mother only moved the spatula around a couple of times. Uncle Zhong added the seasoning.”
Only then did Nora seem reassured, and she happily ate the food.
He Tong: “…”
He Tong huffed. “I refuse to believe Little Yan will spare your feelings!”
She placed a plate of stir-fried bamboo shoots in front of Qin Siyen. “Little Yan, would you like to try some?”
Qin Siyen picked up a piece and put it into his mouth.
His handsome little face remained perfectly calm.
He Tong looked suspiciously at him. Could Sister Yu actually have a talent for cooking?
She had personally added the seasoning to this dish!
He Tong picked up a piece and put it into her own mouth. A few seconds later, her face twisted into a grimace, and she immediately gulped down a large mouthful of water.
“Sister Yu, how much salt did you put in this? It’s so salty it tastes bitter!”
He Tong drank several mouthfuls of water before finally suppressing the taste in her mouth.
“That can’t be right. Why isn’t Little Yan affected at all? You’re fooling me, aren’t you?” As she spoke, Xie Yu took a piece for herself.
In an instant, her expression became identical to He Tong’s.
Qin Siyen unhurriedly spat the bamboo shoot into his small dish, then drank some water.
Lin Yi’s eyes curved with amusement. His master still loved teasing people just as much as ever.
He had not missed the fleeting look of shock in his master’s eyes when he first tasted the bamboo shoot.
Xie Yu now held both of Qin Siyen’s cheeks between her fingers. “Well, well. You even managed to fool your own mother.”
Qin Siyen spoke through his pinched cheeks. “You once put salt in a cake instead of sugar!”
Zhong Qi’s eyes widened. So this was what the great diva Xie was really like!
The assistant director watched the happy, harmonious scene and smiled.
What a pity Director Li had not been there to see such a warm moment.
The people around the table were laughing and playing when Lin Yi dirtied his hands peeling shrimp. He went with Mianmian to wash them.
Zhong Qi said, “There’s only one dish left: wild vegetable soup.”
“At this time of year, to have such tender fresh vegetables is a real blessing.”
The soup was served in a clay pot. Once thickened, its color was a milky jade-white, set off by the tender green vegetables within—like white jade and emerald.
Xie Yu and He Tong each filled a bowl for the children, while Xi Lan set one aside for Mianmian as well.
The soup was warm, at precisely the right temperature to drink.
Lin Yi returned holding little Mianmian’s hand. The moment he sat down, Zhong Qi handed him a bowl of soup.
Zhong Qi smiled warmly. “Yibao, have a taste. This wild vegetable soup is truly delicious.”
Lin Yi lifted the warm bowl and brought it to his lips. His brows immediately drew together. With a bang, he set the bowl down.
“Don’t drink it!”
Little Mianmian held a mouthful of soup in her puffed cheeks and blinked at him.
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