The man's body trembled slightly, and he instinctively glanced in Li Xiaoya's direction.
But he firmly shook his head.
Sheng Yuxiao frowned: "You don't believe it? You saw her at first glance, didn't you? Why do you still doubt your own eyes?"
Sheng Yuxiao stepped forward: "Is it because you think it shouldn't be this easy to find her?"
The man raised his hand and made a gesture.
Sheng Yuxiao immediately reached out to the staff: "Pen and paper, bring them again!"
The staff members were confused but still handed the paper and pen to them.
The man took them, looking at Sheng Yuxiao with an inscrutable expression, then hastily wrote a line:
You're deceiving me. Did you deliberately find her to trick me?
Sheng Yuxiao laughed in exasperation: "Deliberately found her? Where could we find such a girl to fool you? Today's encounter was just an accident, wasn't it?"
The man hesitated and wrote again on the paper:
I don't trust anyone.
Sheng Yuxiao said: "Suit yourself, then."
Then he turned and went back to Li Xiaoya.
Li Xiaoya quickly asked: "Did he write his name?"
Sheng Yuxiao shook his head: "He said he doesn't trust anyone."
Li Xiaoya cupped her chin: "Is it because many people have deceived him?"
Sheng Yuxiao paused: "Maybe."
"Why would so many people deceive him?" Li Xiaoya asked, puzzled.
Sheng Yuxiao actually didn't care about the Wei Family's affairs at all.
Now that Li Xiaoya mentioned it, he pretended to think about it and said: "To wear down one's will and desire through repeated disappointments?"
Li Xiaoya summarized: "That's terrible."
"It is a bit scary. ... This way, they completely lose hope of finding their relatives. Even if they do find them one day, they won't dare to believe it's real." Sheng Yuxiao murmured, frowning, "The person behind this has quite vicious methods."
Li Xiaoya finally couldn't help but ask the question she cared about most: "So is he... Mom's relative?"
"He should be."
"Is it because of bad people that he didn't immediately acknowledge me?" Li Xiaoya's tone was more careful this time.
"I think so," Sheng Yuxiao said with certainty.
Li Xiaoya looked at that man again.
The man had walked back from the doorway, awkwardly squeezing through the crowd to stand three steps away from Li Xiaoya, looking at her both greedily and restrainedly.
When he noticed Li Xiaoya was also looking at him, he quickly averted his gaze.
As if such eye contact would shatter the beautiful dream.
"Did he appear here alone to avoid bad people?" Li Xiaoya lowered her voice even more.
Sheng Yuxiao paused and said: "It's possible."
Li Xiaoya's direct relative had come all this way to find her, yet he dared to come only by himself. After meeting Li Xiaoya, his first reaction was that others had designed a trap to deceive him.
What kind of situation was the Wei Family in now?
How did it end up like this?
This man was Wei Xuanming's younger son, even if he was mute, he was still a proper young master of the Wei Family! Yet he ended up in such a state! It was simply ridiculous!
At this moment, Li Xiaoya jumped down from the high stool and asked a nearby staff member: "Sister, do you have any tissues?"
"Yes." The staff member hurriedly gave her some.
She took them and walked straight to the man: "You should wipe your face, there are a lot of snowflakes on your eyebrows."
The man tried his best to control himself.
But he still couldn't resist.
He reached out with trembling hands, took the tissue, and wiped his face vigorously. His already reddened eyes became even redder.
"Would you like some hot water?" Li Xiaoya asked him.
But the man shook his head, extremely wary.
Sheng Yuxiao watched from afar and said to the staff member beside him: "Go find someone who knows sign language."
"Huh?" The staff member asked blankly, "Will this person keep following us?"
Sheng Yuxiao nodded and urged: "Hurry up and go."
After making arrangements, Sheng Yuxiao returned to Li Xiaoya's side.
Li Xiaoya whispered to him: "He won't eat or drink."
Sheng Yuxiao seemed much colder, saying: "Then leave him be." Then, fearing Li Xiaoya would worry, he added, "You should know he's an adult, he can take care of himself."
"Oh."
That night they stayed at a hotel in the county town.
The man paid for his own room, not far from theirs.
Early the next morning, Sheng Yuxiao took Li Xiaoya back to the village, deliberately not saying goodbye to the man.
As expected, the man quietly followed them.
The staff members were efficient; they had found a college student who knew sign language in the county town the night before.
The college student, on early holiday break and with nothing to do, was especially excited to come, and now he was also following the car.
The staff thought that since they had invited a sign language interpreter, they might as well invite the man to ride in the car together.
But the man still waved his hand in refusal.
The staff had to ask through the intercom: "Young Master Sheng, what should we do? He won't get in the car."
Sheng Yuxiao sighed and said: "He's really stubborn."
Li Xiaoya suddenly spoke up: "He would probably ride a tricycle."
Sheng Yuxiao thought she was right and immediately had the staff quietly arrange for a tricycle.
Soon, a tricycle passed by. The carriage was filled with large winter melons and pumpkins, almost bursting at the seams.
But the tricycle driver still warmly asked: "Young man, need a ride?"
The man nodded, put his hands together in a gesture of thanks, and then sat down.
The program staff couldn't help but wonder: "Our car is so comfortable, why won't he ride? That tricycle is so bumpy, there's barely room to sit, yet he insists on riding it."
Sheng Yuxiao snorted lightly: "A tricycle carrying vegetables passing by shows it's not an intentional setup. And the driver is a local. So it's more trustworthy than us. Even Li Xiaoya understands this logic."
The program staff was stunned, and after a while, sighed: "Li Xiaoya was already smart enough."
Sheng Yuxiao didn't respond to them, but couldn't help shaking his head and said to Li Xiaoya: "Your mother's relative seems quite naive, very easy to deceive."
Li Xiaoya pressed her lips firmly, then said: "It's okay, I'm smart."
If they were her relatives, then she would protect them!
There's no rule saying children can't protect adults!
Sheng Yuxiao rubbed Li Xiaoya's cheek: "Right, good thing our little duck is smart!"
The man rode the tricycle all the way to Li Family Village.
He took out a damp map and pointed to the markings on it for the driver.
The driver said: "I can't read!"
But the man stared at the stone tablet at the village entrance and knew he had arrived! He had found Li Family Village marked on the map!
That's right.
That's right!
The young man hadn't lied to him!
The man jumped off the tricycle, hurriedly handed the driver a few hundred yuan, and then ran at full speed to catch up with Li Xiaoya and the others.
He followed them all the way home.
Wei Zhen wasn't there.
Li Xiaoya entered, first lighting the fire and boiling water, then throwing sweet potatoes into the stove.
Only then did she turn around.
She saw the man blocking the doorway, no longer hiding or restraining himself, his eyes full of greedy gazes and surging tears.
Li Xiaoya waved at him: "Come in."
The man moved his steps, stumbling inside.
Li Xiaoya looked at him, his lips were chapped and peeling, his cheeks reddened from the cold, while his neck and forehead had a bluish-white tinge...
Li Xiaoya poured some water from Sheng Yuxiao's cup and handed it to the man.
This time, the man didn't refuse, took it and drank it all in one gulp.
The staff found it very surprising: "Why did he take it and drink it this time? What's the reason for this?"
The man put down the water cup and waved his arms.
This time there was an interpreter.
The sign language interpreter said: "I once just ate a meal, there were drugs in it, I slept for a long time, and when I opened my eyes, I had lost your mother. This time, before finding you, I couldn't drink a sip of water or eat a bite of food."
