"The place where I sleep was arranged by Li Xiaoya herself. You should find somewhere else to sleep."
"I hope you're not foolish enough to think Li Xiaoya's grandfather is a good person. Don't let that old coot take advantage of Li Xiaoya."
"Stay away from Li Xiaoya when nothing's going on. Don't infect her with your detestable aura."
...
"I'll be back soon."
A flurry of messages, one after another.
It was clear that Sheng Yuxiao was anxious.
Qin Sui, without blinking, deleted them all.
He suddenly felt that it might not be so bad if Sheng Yuxiao didn't come back.
Qin Sui tossed the phone back to the executive producer.
The executive producer asked, "Is that it? Aren't you going to reply?"
"There's nothing to say," Qin Sui replied coolly, then went back inside.
The previous night, Qin Sui had indeed slept elsewhere, as he didn't want to be too close to an unfamiliar child.
But tonight, he was determined to sleep in Sheng Yuxiao's spot.
Li Xiaoya noticed him rolling up the bedding and immediately pounced on it, holding down the corners firmly. "That's Sheng Yuxiao's. Don't touch it."
[Oh no, Li Xiaoya is becoming more and more endearing]
[Qin Sui looks like a big bad wolf standing next to her]
"Do you know how low the temperature will drop tonight?" Qin Sui crouched down beside her and asked.
Li Xiaoya shook her head.
"I just checked on my phone. It'll be 8 degrees Celsius. If I sleep like I did last night, I'll freeze to death." Qin Sui looked into Li Xiaoya's eyes, his tone gently persuasive. "Do you want to see me freeze to death?"
Li Xiaoya hesitated.
She slowly got up and said softly, "Then don't dirty Sheng Yuxiao's bed."
Qin Sui's gaze flickered, and he seemed to understand a bit... why Sheng Yuxiao was so protective of her.
She was both resilient and soft, still maintaining an innocence untainted by the world.
They quickly finished washing up and crawled into their respective beds.
Qin Sui lay on the uneven ground, staring at the pitch-black ceiling, and said, "I watched a bit of the show before I came."
Li Xiaoya's ears twitched at the sound of his voice, but she didn't respond to Qin Sui.
Qin Sui continued, "I heard you singing to Sheng Yuxiao."
Li Xiaoya looked at him warily.
She wouldn't sing for him.
"You were singing 'Lubing Flower.' Do you miss your mother?" Qin Sui asked.
Sheng Yuxiao never asked such questions.
He might look arrogant on the outside and have a terrible temper, but inside he was much gentler.
Qin Sui was the complete opposite. He appeared quiet and composed on the surface, but he revealed his aggressive nature without a sound. To achieve his goals, he could completely disregard others' feelings.
Li Xiaoya bit her lip and remained silent.
Qin Sui asked again, "Don't you miss her? I thought you'd especially miss her when you see other kids being picked up by their parents at school."
[Damn, Qin Sui's words are so cutting]
[No wonder he doesn't get along with the young master Sheng]
Li Xiaoya turned over, covering her face with the blanket. "I don't miss her. ...Mom told me not to miss her. After she died, she became the dew, the sun, and the wind. I see her every day, so I don't need to miss her."
[Ah, this part is so heartbreaking]
[Li Xiaoya's mother must have been a very gentle person]
[She must have been well-educated too, right? Otherwise, how could she say such things?]
[Is her mother a local? Judging by Li Xiaoya's appearance, her mother must have been a great beauty too. How did she end up marrying into such a poor place?]
The comments couldn't help but discuss eagerly.
"What about your father?" Qin Sui asked again.
Li Xiaoya said, "I don't want to think about him!" This time her tone was a bit fiercer, genuinely not wanting to think about it at all.
"Don't you want him to come back?"
Li Xiaoya pulled down the blanket. The moonlight faintly illuminated her face; she seemed to have cried.
After a long while, she said firmly, "No!"
Qin Sui changed the subject: "Did your mother teach you standard Mandarin?"
"Mm-hmm." Li Xiaoya responded in a low voice.
"Was she from the city?"
"I don't know."
[He's really pretending to be a relative from Li Xiaoya's mother's side, huh? Digging so deep.]
Qin Sui didn't say anything else after that.
He just felt a strong sense of incongruity, thinking that Li Xiaoya shouldn't be in a place like this.
In the blink of an eye, the sun rose again, and the sound of roosters crowing came from afar, particularly jarring.
Qin Sui got up and went outside, only to see a man in his late forties sneaking around outside.
"Stealing? There's nothing left to steal here," Qin Sui said coolly.
Startled by the voice, the man quickly turned around, stuttering, "I-I'm the Village Chief."
Qin Sui narrowed his eyes, looking him up and down, and asked, "What do you want? Here to deliver poverty relief?"
The Village Chief choked, quickly waving his hands and saying, "No, no, I'm here to see you. Do you know? The one who went to the city to film the show in exchange is my child, called Li Qingqing..."
Is this guy crazy?
Qin Sui looked at him and coldly uttered three words: "Don't know her."
What kind of nobody dares to come asking for his acquaintance?
After all, as the heir to a wealthy family, even though he was still a minor, his aura was already intimidating.
The Village Chief was stunned by Qin Sui's three words, and it took him half a minute to find his voice again. "But, but according to the show's rules, you should be filming at my house!"
"Rules?" Qin Sui turned his head towards the camera crew. "Director."
The executive producer scurried over.
Qin Sui asked, "Is there such a rule?"
The executive producer: "There is... ah, or isn't there?"
Qin Sui: "Are you asking me?"
The executive producer immediately became resolute: "There's no such rule."
The Village Chief was dumbfounded. "This... how can this be? Young Master Sheng didn't follow this before, and now a new person comes and doesn't follow it either?"
Qin Sui's tone remained cool: "If Sheng Yuxiao wouldn't do it, why would you expect me to?"
The executive producer quickly stopped the Village Chief: "That's right, you should leave now."
But how could the Village Chief be willing to go?
He had already lost one cash cow, and now he was determined to keep this golden opportunity. He couldn't let that little girl Li Xiaoya take all the benefits!
"You don't understand how bad the conditions are here. My home is different. If you come to my house, there's a memory foam mattress! Hot water 24 hours a day! And we even have internet!"
Qin Sui looked at him and asked slowly and deliberately, "Li Family Village is so poor, yet you, the Village Chief, have such good conditions at home? You haven't been embezzling government funds, have you?"
The Village Chief's face instantly turned the color of pig liver: "I- I, of course I didn't! What are you saying? It's just that my son works in town, so that's why... that's why..."
"Alright, alright, that's enough," the director pushed the Village Chief towards the door, lowering his voice to warn him, "Don't think I don't know what strings you've been pulling behind the scenes."
The Village Chief's face paled, but he still stuttered a defense: "Pulling what... what strings? I don't understand..."
The director let out a light scoff, only saying one sentence: "Actually, I find Li Xiaoya quite an endearing child."
The Village Chief immediately shut his mouth.
Meanwhile, Qin Sui returned to the room where Li Xiaoya had just sat up, asking, "Who came? Was it Sheng Yuxiao coming back?"
Qin Sui shook his head: "Unfortunately not. ... It was your village's Village Chief."
"Oh." The light in Li Xiaoya's face dimmed again.
Qin Sui asked, "Do they often bully you?"
Li Xiaoya looked at him blankly: "Who?"
"The Village Chief's family."
"..."
"Why aren't you saying anything? Has he threatened you?"
Li Xiaoya said quietly, "Grandpa listens to them, and Grandpa tells me to listen to them too."
Qin Sui knew the cameras were rolling. He removed his mini microphone and camera, leaned in closer, and stared intently into the young girl's eyes.
He asked in a low voice, "Do you want me to help you get revenge?"
He said, "In this area, I'm even more skilled than Sheng Yuxiao, you know."
