Li Xiaoya followed for a couple of steps, then suddenly turned back and pointed at Zhou Xiaoshu, saying, "Can you tell the teacher for me later that I left early?"
This way, Zhou Xiaoshu wouldn't forget.
Zhou Xiaoshu nodded firmly upon hearing this, but An Ying beside her showed a slightly puzzled expression.
Why "later"? Why not tell the teacher now herself?
An Ying thought a bit more but couldn't figure it out.
None of them had watched "Exchange Lives," so they didn't recognize who Li Qingqing was.
After all, the target audience for such a show wasn't them, but rather their parents... Only adults have parenting troubles and would watch such things.
They just thought it was great...
"Li Xiaoya left, so can we throw this away now?" They looked at the "exotic food" in front of them, their faces full of eagerness.
"No, Zhou Xiaoshu will tell on us."
"Okay, then what should we do?"
"Let's take it back for my dad to eat."
They reached an agreement on this.
By this time, Li Xiaoya had already followed Li Qingqing slowly out of the lawn area, then walking further and further away...
Li Xiaoya had learned from Sheng Yuxiao how to make emergency calls, and her fingers secretly pressed on her phone, ready to face any danger...
But at this moment, Li Qingqing said with a complex tone, "Let's go in."
Li Xiaoya looked up.
It was a small pavilion.
Open on all sides, hidden among the trees, looking a bit dilapidated.
There was no one inside.
And... if someone shouted here, nearby people could hear it clearly.
Li Xiaoya couldn't help but tilt her head in confusion: "Where are the people?"
Just as she finished speaking, the sound of footsteps on the snow could be heard, crunch, crunch.
"Have you been waiting long? Dad went to buy you some hot orange juice." Li Jiang held out the paper cup in his hand.
Li Xiaoya looked at him without moving, her eyes showing unfamiliarity.
Li Jiang had watched "Exchange Lives," and after coming to Jin City, he had always been secretly watching her from the shadows.
He had never seen her like this before.
Her eyes were full of unfamiliarity.
Even more so than those people who went to Li Family Village to film the show for the first time... The unfamiliarity in her eyes then wasn't as intense as it was now.
So intense that it seemed from the year he left home, she had completely forgotten him.
Li Jiang's expression froze for a moment, but he continued, "Don't you recognize Dad? Here, take it. The weather is cold, it'll freeze your hands. Even if you don't drink it, hold it to warm up."
Li Qingqing couldn't help but look down at her own hands, red from the cold.
She scoffed inwardly.
After living with that rich family for so long, would Li Xiaoya still care about this cheap orange juice?
At this moment, Li Xiaoya finally moved. She slowly reached out and took it.
Li Qingqing was surprised.
She really fell for Li Jiang's act?
Li Jiang was also surprised, then felt a surge of joy: "Are you happy that Dad came to see you?"
Li Xiaoya shook her head.
Li Jiang's mood was like a roller coaster, instantly plummeting again: "Why? Don't you want to see me anymore? I watched the show and only then did I know how hard your life was in the village. Dad went back to the village, but you had already come to Jin City with them, so Dad had to come to Jin City too..."
"When you left, you said you were going out to make money, then you'd take me to the big city," Li Xiaoya suddenly spoke.
"Yes, but Dad was useless, couldn't make money, so I delayed coming back to the village to get you. Can you forgive Dad?"
"Grandpa said you ran away with a pretty lady, that you would give him a grandson, and that you'd become city people, and no one would want me anymore," Li Xiaoya continued.
"How would your grandpa know these things? It's all village gossip, fabrications that reached his ears, and he believed them."
"You took Aunt Man and the others' money, and I had to repay the debt."
Hearing this, Li Qingqing inwardly sneered. Starting to complain now? Li Xiaoya really couldn't let go of Li Jiang as her father.
Li Jiang now also showed a pained and pitying expression.
"Dad saw it all, and it breaks Dad's heart. That money wasn't what Dad owed them, it was them hoping I'd take the money to invest... You're young, you don't understand what a business venture is, don't know that these things can make or lose money. When they saw they couldn't make money, they came to pressure you, a child..."
"I know what a business venture is," Li Xiaoya interrupted.
Oh right, Li Jiang remembered that in the show, thanks to that young Mr. Sheng, some pharmaceutical company had gifted her 1% of their shares.
Li Jiang coaxed, "Alright, alright, you know, you know."
Li Xiaoya suddenly asked, "How many years did you live in the village?"
"What?" Li Jiang was stunned for a moment.
This question came out of nowhere, but after his momentary shock, Li Jiang continued to play the role of a good father, patiently answering, "Ten or twenty years, I guess. Dad grew up there... Later I left for high school, and only came back when I married your mom."
Li Xiaoya immediately questioned him: "You lived there for so long, didn't you know what kind of people were in the village? Didn't you know what kind of life I would have after you left?"
Li Jiang was instantly at a loss for words.
Li Qingqing was also stunned for a moment.
"I only lived there until I was seven, and I could understand these things. Yet you couldn't understand. Are adults dumber than me?" Li Xiaoya then asked him.
"Of course not..."
Li Xiaoya nodded: "If it's not stupidity, then it's wickedness."
Li Jiang's expression instantly froze.
Li Qingqing, who had just been scolded by Li Jiang earlier, now found the scene quite amusing, even gratifying.
But thinking that Li Xiaoya might really be smarter than her... Li Qingqing suddenly couldn't laugh anymore.
"Xiaoya, you're a child, you can't understand the adult world. In the adult world, there are many things we have no choice but to do. I had no choice but to leave the village, no choice but to seek a way out, no choice but to leave you behind..."
"Mm, I know. For children, the sun in the sky and the stone under their feet are equally important. But for adults, many things are different. Adults categorize people and things into first class and second class... I was the lowest class in your heart. So you could abandon me for other things you had no choice about," Li Xiaoya said slowly.
Li Jiang's breath caught.
Although he knew Li Xiaoya was smart, her being this smart still made Li Jiang a bit uncomfortable.
He immediately changed his strategy, his eyes reddening: "Yes, no matter what I say, it's all Dad's fault. Dad shouldn't have left you behind, and Dad knows that you're saying these things because you've been hurt... It's okay, if there's anything else you can't forget, just say it. You can scold me, even hit me..."
Li Xiaoya didn't move.
She tilted her head and looked at him: "I said all these things, are you very upset?"
