Sheng Yuxiao watched her pear fall to the ground, feeling as if his own heart had crashed down with it.
His lips tightened, his expression sharp and somewhat terrifying.
[Holy crap! Is that the father from Li Family Village, the one who allegedly ran off with money and a lover when Li Xiaoya was three years old? Has he come back? To find Li Xiaoya?]
[Sheng Young Master's expression is a bit scary]
[Anyone would look upset in this situation]
"Xiaoya..." Sheng Yuxiao called out softly.
An irresponsible father, who had disappeared for who knows how many years, leaving behind debts and allowing Li Xiaoya to be bullied by villagers. What kind of father was that?
Such a person, yet he chose to show up at a time like this... But they couldn't avoid discussing it for fear of hurting Xiaoya.
Not only did they need to talk about it, but they needed to have a thorough face-to-face discussion.
They even needed to let everyone know.
To expose Li Jiang completely!
At the same time, they could preemptively block Li Jiang's escape routes.
To prevent him from playing any emotional or moral blackmail cards.
"Damn!" Xu Ruying cursed at this moment, "He has the nerve to look for Xiaoya? What kind of life has Xiaoya been living? Now that Xiaoya is doing well, he shows up? No, is he involved in the Li Family Village case? Is he trying to escape punishment?"
Xu Ruying's outburst effectively cemented Li Jiang's negative image.
Li Xiaoya slowly came back to her senses and handed the pear to Sheng Yuxiao, saying, "Wash it."
The sharp look on Sheng Yuxiao's face instantly disappeared, replaced by a wry smile: "Okay, I'll wash it... Or should we get a new one?"
Li Xiaoya shook her head.
Sheng Yuxiao immediately got up to wash the pear for her.
With Li Xiaoya's interruption, the atmosphere wasn't as heavy anymore.
Xu Ruying sat down and was about to pat Li Xiaoya's head.
Sheng Yuxiao suddenly turned back: "What are you doing?"
Xu Ruying immediately withdrew her hand, muttering, "At a time like this?"
The previously indignant bullet screen comments were now amused.
Xu Ruying pouted before continuing: "At a time like this, you're still thinking about eating pears? It fell on the ground... Okay, I know you don't want to waste it."
Li Xiaoya tilted her head and asked back: "If not eating pears, then what?"
"Uh, maybe we should talk about how to deal with your father..."
"We can eat pears and talk at the same time, can't we?"
Xu Ruying was stumped: "Well, yes."
[Li Xiaoya is all about maintaining her composure, just doing what she wants to do, right?]
[Damn, my mental state isn't as good as a child's]
[Maybe it's because the little one hasn't seen much of the wider world yet, ignorance is bliss?]
[Hasn't Li Xiaoya seen enough? At such a young age, she's experienced all the ugliness of human nature]
[Sigh, will the police be looking for her father too? If they find him, will the Li Family Village case be solved? After all, he's the real person involved]
[Are there any netizens in Jin City? Keep an eye out?]
[Ah, if you put it that way, I'm getting fired up!]
[Is there a reward? If there's a reward, I request to join the search! I live in Jin City]
At this moment, Li Jiang was watching the live broadcast of the show.
The reason he had been able to keep up with Li Xiaoya before wasn't a coincidence.
As early as when Li Xiaoya was taken away from Li Family Village by Wei Lin, he had almost simultaneously hitched a ride with a fellow villager, traveling across provinces to reach Jin City.
This way, he could minimize leaving traceable records along the way.
In the previous episodes of the show, the production team had filmed Li Qingqing's life. So he learned the location of Sheng Yuxiao's villa from Li Qingqing's perspective.
Although that villa was only used for filming, he had grasped a clue.
Later, he also learned the school address through the production team's footage.
He hadn't acted rashly, only daring to stake out fixed locations rather than following Li Xiaoya. That would have been too easy to detect.
The hospital incident occurred after he heard about the location of Qin Sui's birthday party. He had staked out in advance and only managed to follow when the scene became chaotic with Old Mr. Zhang being sent to the hospital.
And now... he sat under a bridge, watching the bright and grand mansion on the screen, and those wealthy young masters and misses in the mansion who were dotingly attentive to his daughter...
The contrast was stark.
Then he looked at the rapidly scrolling bullet screen comments.
His expression gradually turned grim...
Were these people just talking, or did they really intend to search for his whereabouts together?
This Young Master Sheng was truly difficult to deal with!
He had exposed him to the public like this...
"Old Jiang, why are you hiding here? The boys were saying they wanted to have a drink with you." Someone jumped down the ladder and came over to pat Li Jiang's shoulder.
The person wore a construction helmet and a torn fleece jacket despite the cold winter.
"Sigh, don't be sad. Which daughter doesn't recognize her father?" the person said, shaking his head. "Actually, you're quite handsome. You could find someone else to marry and have another child, wouldn't that be good?"
Li Jiang gave a bitter smile but didn't speak.
"Come on!" The other person pulled him up. Not far away was a small construction site where people would gather in shacks to play cards and drink when not working.
Li Jiang had reversed his name, going by the alias Jiang Li, and was fitting in well here.
They didn't know who Li Jiang's daughter was. They only heard him say that he had been admitted to university years ago, but his family was poor, so he couldn't attend. He was forced to marry and later had a daughter who was sent away by his parents.
He had been working odd jobs to earn money while searching for his daughter's whereabouts.
Everyone was very sympathetic towards him.
As for the issue of not being able to produce an ID card, it wasn't strange...
There are people called "Sanhe Dasheng" nowadays who sell their ID cards.
Presumably, he had also been pushed to a certain point by life, with no other choice...
Moreover, Li Jiang was quite handsome with a scholarly air. Everyone said he could easily find a wife, but Li Jiang always shook his head and declined.
He said he was afraid that if he remarried, his new wife might not treat his daughter well. He would eventually find his daughter and bring her back.
Hearing this, everyone became even more sympathetic, repeatedly praising him as a good father, lamenting that everything was caused by poverty!
On the other side.
When Sheng Jun said he would send Li Qingqing away, of course he didn't mean personally.
He only sent a driver.
"Uncle, can I go to the bathroom?" Li Qingqing asked pitifully.
The driver said, "You might not find your way. I'll show you."
Li Qingqing pointed to the bustling square: "I can ask for directions."
"Go ahead." She wasn't an important person anyway, so the driver didn't pay much attention.
After getting out of the car, Li Qingqing entered the mall, then immediately turned in another direction and ran.
She had thought it through. She didn't want to return to Li Family Village to face ridicule and live a life of stark contrasts.
But she also couldn't gain Sheng Jun's affection.
So there was only one way left!
Pretend to be kidnapped!
Hadn't Li Xiaoya been taken away by Li Hongguang during the show last time?
Afterwards, Sheng Yuxiao and Qin Sui were furious and mobilized considerable resources to search for her.
Did Qin Sui like Li Xiaoya that much at the time? Li Qingqing didn't think so. She felt that the reason Qin Sui was angry and went to search was because the person had been taken right from under his nose.
For these wealthy young masters, it was a kind of provocation, an insult!
When someone goes missing, isn't it also a kind of responsibility?
So Sheng Jun should send people to look for her too, right?
After all, she was a minor!
Previously, Li Qingqing had resented her younger body for being too young to get close to Sheng Jun.
But now she thought it was a good thing. At least under social scrutiny, children would be closely watched and valued!
