Chapter 128: Clear Words, No Hidden Meanings

In these times, forest farms are just what they are. In the whole forestry bureau, during the logging season, it's rare to find someone with a clean record. Even Xu Chaoyang, who oversees such a large forestry bureau, isn't entirely without issues. In this era, it's a general trend, so one can't expect too much. But as long as someone can get things done and doesn't deceive others, they are considered a good person.

Clearly, Accountant Liu is not one of those.

However, Li Xian didn't plan to completely ruin Accountant Liu's family. The impact of his timber business on the official ecology of the entire forest farm is significant. Even if Liu were removed, replacing him with someone else would still cause trouble.

What Li Xian wanted was for people like Accountant Liu to understand that he wasn't to be trifled with. Moreover, he wanted to show some opportunists that the Li family was not easily bullied.

Restoring the Li family's pride was all he needed to do.

Fundamentally, Li Xian didn't enjoy being constantly entangled in trouble.

The world is so fascinating, with countless enjoyable things to do. He wasn't interested in seeking trouble.

So, when Accountant Liu and Liu Guangfa arrived with substantial New Year gifts, wearing serious expressions, Li Xian didn't say much. Since they had already yielded, he didn't want to push further.

Killing someone doesn't involve more than a nod of the head.

This was Li Xian's thought, and it was shared by Zou Ni and Li You.

Though they understood that this incident would likely sour relations between the families in the future, Li You and Zou Ni still didn't lose their enthusiasm. They treated their guests as they would normal friends visiting during the New Year.

There were no shortages of frozen peanuts, melon seeds, candy, and tea. They even opened a pack of the festive cigarettes they usually saved for special occasions, placing them in front of Liu and his son.

Liu and his son understood that coming to the Li family home was essentially an act of submission, and they were uncomfortable about it.

Sitting silently on the kang, they showed no intention of leaving.

Seeing this, Li Xian glanced at Wu Shengli and signaled him with his eyes, "Godfather."

Wu Shengli, though straightforward and lacking the cunning of Zheng Weishi, had spent many years as the head of the Forestry Protection Section and was not naive.

He waved his hand and called to Li Pi, who was nibbling on a frozen pear, "Xiao Si, go to the guesthouse and find Meng Qingwei. Tell him I need to see him."

Li Pi put down the pear and looked at Li Xian, "That's fine... but brother, it's too cold outside. I'd like to take a car."

Li Xian kicked him.

When there was no car, you ran on the road every day. Why didn't you complain about the cold then?

Seeing Li Xian's angry glare, Li Pi pouted. At his age, his interest in the Cherokee SUV had exceeded his excitement for the New Year. In the afternoon, when the car was parked outside, he had stayed inside for over two hours without minding the cold. He even asked Li Xian about the age requirements for a driver's license.

Reluctantly, Li Pi put on his heavy winter coat and went to the guesthouse. Soon, Meng Qingwei arrived.

Seeing Accountant Liu and his son there, Meng Qingwei felt a bit awkward.

Noticing his discomfort, Wu Shengli said in a deep voice, "Qingwei, I'm getting older and my temper isn't great. I hit you yesterday, didn't I? You're not angry, are you?"

Meng Qingwei was taken aback, thinking that while he had indeed been hit with some sunflower seed shells yesterday, he hadn't been beaten!

But he quickly understood, "Old Section Chief, don't say that. We're all soldiers you trained. It's normal to get a few hits."

Wu Shengli smiled inwardly and waved his hand, "The misunderstanding has been cleared up. Please take Liu... Liu Guangfa back. You didn't let him suffer any losses, did you?"

"No, no!" Meng Qingwei shook his head and clarified, "Actually, there wasn't much to it. It was just some minor friction, mostly caused by kids fighting. We didn't let anyone lose out."

Clearing Meng Qingwei's involvement, Wu Shengli waved him off, "Then just take them home."

"Okay!"

Meng Qingwei sighed in relief, thinking the matter was finally resolved. He also felt grateful for his old leader's support and decided to bring some good gifts when visiting after the New Year.

Liu and his son, having received Wu Shengli's word, stood up. Although reluctant, they had to show a grateful demeanor and thanked Wu Shengli.

After all, Li Xian could take action, but Liu Accountant couldn't afford to offend a recently retired influential leader with deep connections.

Expecting to avoid attention by coming in the evening, Liu and his son found that the neighbors were already peering over the courtyard wall with curious and complex expressions.

Under the watchful eyes of the neighbors, Liu Accountant lowered his head and quickly left the courtyard.

There was an indescribable complexity in his hurried steps.

---

After Liu Accountant left, Li Xian grabbed the two bags filled with canned fruits, sausages, and candy, along with the two triangle bags he had prepared earlier, and headed out.

"Er, where are you going?" 

Facing Zou Ni's inquiry, Li Xian blushed, "Oh, I'm going to visit Zhang Yaba. He had a lot of trouble with the coffin and the iron cover later on, so I'm dropping by to visit him for the New Year."

Zou Ni looked at her son with suspicion, wondering why he was bringing gifts even though he had already paid for the work. However, since her son had grown up and the family had enough New Year supplies, she didn't stop him.

Kicking aside Li Pi, who wanted to follow him, Li Xian, carrying the items, set off towards the west end of the forest farm like Santa Claus.

Zhang Yaba still lived in a mud house, though it was quite spacious—five rooms in total.

Two rooms were for living, two were used for storing and working on wood, and the remaining room was for apprentices.

When Li Xian arrived at Zhang Yaba's house, seven or eight people were having dinner.

As the work for carpenters increased as the New Year approached, and since there were no ready-made furniture options, people in the forest area had to find carpenters to prepare new furniture.

In the mud room used as a workshop, three cabinets, assembled but not yet painted, stood there. Zhang Yaba and his apprentices were squatting on the ground, eating steamed buns.

When Li Xian entered with his bags, Zhang Yaba stood up, holding half a steamed bun in his mouth, and greeted him with a bright smile, "Ah Ba! Ah Ba Ah Ba!"

Li Xian laughed heartily, "Brother Zhang, how have you been lately?"

"Ah Ba!"

"That's good, that's good!" Li Xian didn't mind whether Zhang Yaba meant that or not. He glanced around at the apprentices squatting on the floor.

Then he smiled.

Perhaps because Zhang Yaba himself was a disabled person, the apprentices he took on were also not entirely healthy.

One was a hunchback, another wore glasses so thick that he had to bend down to see pickles, one had lost his left arm, another had lost his right foot, and another wore a hearing aid.

Among them, Su Hui was holding a bowl of coarse porridge and was constantly watching him.

Seeing this lineup, Li Xian clicked his tongue and smiled at Su Hui.

He thought to himself, with this entire assembly of disabled people, you're the only healthy one among them. Your future must be limitless.

After exchanging a glance with Su Hui, Li Xian handed one of the triangle bags to Zhang Yaba, "Brother Zhang, it's New Year's, and I didn't prepare much. Take this."

"Ah Ba Ah Ba!"

Seeing Zhang Yaba refuse, Li Xian insisted, "Take it. It's not valuable. After the New Year, we'll need to buy some things, so just put in some extra effort then."

Hearing this, Zhang Yaba revealed a wide smile, showing his big white teeth, and took the bag, placing it aside.

Noticing that Li Xian's gaze was lingering on Su Hui, Zhang Yaba smiled silently, pointed at Su Hui, and gave him a thumbs-up.

He then pointed to the intricate carvings on the three unfinished pieces of furniture and took Li Xian to the window, showing him a row of small wooden figurines carved from leftover wood.

The figurines were small and seemed to be made from scraps of furniture. Some were carved into characters from stories like Sun Wukong and Guan Gong, while others were simple human statues.

Li Xian picked up a few and examined them. They were indeed well-carved. The eight-inch-tall Sun Wukong had a vividly detailed crown, and a smaller Qin Shubao had intricate armor patterns.

But what interested him most were the four character busts.

Unlike the other storybook characters, these four busts included one of Su Ya.

Seeing the uncolored but facially similar wooden figurine of Su Ya, Li Xian looked at Su Hui, who seemed somewhat shy, and said, "I didn't expect you to have such talent. The carvings are truly impressive."

Su Hui became even more embarrassed and lowered his head deeply.

Li Xian looked at the four character busts

. One seemed to be Su Hui's mother, another Su Hui himself. The most unusual was the last one, which was a male figure but without facial features, looking quite strange.

Having read Su Ya's diary and considering the Su siblings' background, Li Xian understood.

This was probably the father that only existed in Su Hui's imagination.

Quietly placing the figurine on the windowsill, Li Xian walked back to Su Hui and handed him the three bags.

"Take these back tomorrow. Use them for the New Year."

After saying this, and despite Su Hui's resistance, he patted his head and bade farewell to Zhang Yaba.

Looking at the three full bags in his hands, especially the two mesh bags containing canned fruits that he only received from his sister when he was ill, Su Hui hesitated for a moment before catching up.

"Hey!"

Hearing the call as he exited, Li Xian stopped and turned around, "I thought you didn't like talking. What's up? Want to chat?"

Su Hui, standing at the door, fidgeted for a while before slowly stepping over.

"You… you…" He hesitated for a long time, finally summoning up the courage to ask quickly, "Do you… do you like my sister?"

Seeing Su Hui's furrowed brow and complex expression, Li Xian couldn't help but purse his lips.

He wasn't sure about his feelings for Su Ya. He only knew that there was something about her that continually drew his attention, making him think of her from time to time.

Looking up at Orion, which had moved to the south, he then looked down at Su Hui.

"Let's speak plainly. Yes, I do like her."