Chapter 299: Not Doing Anything Proper

When Li Xian returned home, he found Li Daoyun sitting at the door, playing with Li Lingling.

Recently, the little girl had been in a bad mood. She didn't play with the other kids much at kindergarten and often sat alone in a corner at home, lost in her own thoughts.

Li Xian scooped up Li Lingling at the gate, gave her a light tap on the head, and made a funny face.

Although Li Lingling was still a little girl shorter than his waist, in Li Xian's memory, she was always the older sister who used to catch fish and shrimp with him.

Now that things had changed, it was time for him to reciprocate. Whenever he had free time, he enjoyed taking Li Lingling around, doing some very childish and immature things.

Because of this, the little girl had a special fondness for her second uncle.

When he teased her, the rarely seen smile appeared on her face.

Seeing the little girl finally happy after trying so hard to make her laugh, Li Daoyun let out a sigh of relief and lit up his pipe.

"Your big brother is really something. Even if there's a lot going on at home, he can't spare a visit to see his old man?"

Li Xian knew that Li Daoyun's complaint was not about himself but rather his concern for Li Lingling's future.

Having a stepmother after his biological father remarried, and now with another child on the way, it was indeed a big blow to Li Lingling. Li Qing had gotten used to leaving Li Lingling at Li You's place, and given how busy he had been lately, it was understandable that he had neglected her a bit.

Spinning Li Lingling around in place, Li Xian put the little girl on his shoulders like a cowboy.

"Grandpa, why worry about such things? Lingling is six now and will be starting first grade soon. Once I finish up here, I might have to go to Harbin. I have too many businesses to handle right now, and there's talk of setting up a head office or even a group company in Harbin. By then, I should be able to settle down. If things don't work out, Lingling can come with me, and I'll take care of her."

"Nonsense. You're not even married yet. How can a grown man raise a child? Besides, you're so busy, can you really take care of her?" Li Daoyun waved his hand dismissively.

"Hire a nanny!" Li Xian shrugged. If someone couldn't even handle one child, how could they run a big business?

Li Lingling, who had clearly heard about Harbin, thought of it as a huge city and a mysterious wonderland, something only seen on TV for a child who had never left the forest farm.

"Second Uncle! What's in Harbin? The kindergarten kids say that in Bangye, they sell children's cookies in iron boxes with a small door. When you open the door, the cookies jump out. Is that true in Harbin?"

"Ah?" Li Xian raised his eyebrows, his mouth agape.

Kid, have you been misled by the country bumpkins in your class? I haven't seen any cookies in iron boxes with doors for twenty years!

"I also heard they sell giant bubble gum, as long as several waist belts! You can't finish eating it in a year! Is that true in Harbin?"

"Huh?"

Li Xian scratched the back of his head.

Girl, I promise you, big bubble gum like that has never been developed by any company!

After all, chewing a whole box of big bubble gum would make your jaws ache. What kind of crazy designer would make such huge bubble gum?

"And also, Second Uncle, I heard from Wang Lina in kindergarten that there are dolls as big as real people that can talk and sing when you clap your hands. They wear real clothes and shoes and are very pretty! Is there such a thing in Harbin?"

Cough, cough,

Li Xian's face turned red with embarrassment.

That doesn't exist right now, but it will in twenty years. I used to collect one myself.

"This… I'm not sure, but if you go to Harbin, Second Uncle will go with you to the supermarket and look for it. Okay? Oh, you don't know what a supermarket is, do you? It's a place with rows of shelves full of all kinds of delicious and fun things, like dolls and chocolate beans. You can pick whatever you want from there!"

At Li Xian's description, the little girl's eyes lit up.

"No need to pay?"

Li Xian gave her a playful tap on the head.

Little brat, do you think you're living in a post-communist society?

Watching the lively interactions between the two, Li Daoyun chuckled but said nothing.

Seeing his kind old face, Li Xian finally asked, "By the way, Grandpa, what tricks did you use to make those three from Cong Gui willingly scrub the big barrels in the small square?"

In fact, after assigning the dirty job to those three in the morning, Li Xian had been expecting them to come complaining and find an excuse to reprimand them. 

But to his surprise, the three seemed quite cooperative and didn't cause any trouble.

This made him curious about Li Daoyun's methods.

"What tricks could I use? Just talked reason with them. You know our Li family's tradition of governing by virtue."

Hearing his response, the old man's smile grew even kinder.

---

Despite his skepticism about his grandpa's virtue-based methods, Li Xian didn't press the issue further. It's said that old people have their own ways of dealing with things, and as long as it works, that's good enough.

After dinner, the old man went out for a walk. Li You and Zou Ni went to the east side, as Wang Feng had been overdue for a while, but there was still no sign of labor.

However, Li Xian knew that his second sister, Li Qing's second daughter, had been overdue by more than half a month before giving birth. Now, with the due date still not close, and seeing that Li Lingling seemed reluctant to go home, he made an excuse that he was too tired to move after a long day and stayed home with the little girl.

While it was true that he was reluctant to go to the east side, it was also true that he was concerned about taking care of Li Lingling. But staying home during winter wasn't that simple; Su Ya's mood had been off lately. Compared to her cheerful demeanor when she first arrived, the little mute seemed to be deliberately avoiding him, which made Li Xian feel quite frustrated.

If it weren't for the many issues with the pickled cabbage factory and the lack of opportunities to be alone with Su Ya, he would have already asked her what was wrong.

Now that everyone had gone to Li Qing's place, the opportunity presented itself.

After dinner, Su Ya finished tidying up and went back to her room with Wang Zhiya.

When Li Xian entered the room with Li Lingling, the two girls were busy with something in front of the mirror. Seeing him come in, Su Ya quickly turned her back.

"Oh, what are you doing?" Li Xian asked curiously as he walked over.

"Go away!" Wang Zhiya was unhappy that Li Xian entered without knocking. "How can you just barge into a girl's room? What if we're not dressed properly? Aren't you afraid I'll call someone to catch a pervert?"

How novel!

Li Xian chuckled and patted Li Lingling's soft little hand.

He thought to himself, "You big blabbermouth, living in my house and eating my food, and you still have the nerve to lecture me?"

Does she really think she's not an outsider?

With this thought, Li Xian tilted his head and said, "Deputy Section Chief Wang, I remember when Director Xu called me, he said you were here to make a report, right? But since you arrived, it seems like you haven't done anything serious. You're staying in my house and eating my food, and even our big yellow dog knows to guard the house. You should be doing something proper!"

Wang Zhiya indeed hadn't been doing anything serious these days.

Although she had been working at the Forestry Bureau for almost a year, most of her work was related to bureau-affiliated enterprises, and she had mostly stayed within the Forestry Bureau. She had never been to the forest farm.

She had heard that the forest area was a nice place in autumn but had never seen it for herself.

Since the report wasn't urgent, Wang Zhiya had gone into sightseeing mode as soon as she arrived. Every day, when Li Xian and Li You were out, she would ride around the forest farm on a bicycle, exploring the surrounding areas.

Now that Li Xian had pointed this out, Wang Zhiya's face turned red immediately.

"Can't you speak properly? Who says I haven't been doing anything serious? I… I need to investigate the situation before making the report, right?"

"Ha-ha."

Seeing the girl's stubbornness and her lack of confidence in her words, Li Xian responded with a mocking smile.

But at that moment, he noticed something strange about Su Ya.

The girl, with her back turned and head lowered, was moving a chair slowly toward the door.

"And you!"

As Su Ya attempted a slow retreat like a snail, Li Xian pointed at her.

"What's going on with you these days? Why do you keep avoiding me? Have I done something to offend you or did something wrong?"

Faced with Li Xian's questioning, Su Ya panicked. She quickly stood up from the chair,

 waving her hands in a flustered manner, trying to explain.

But…

When the girl turned around, Li Xian felt as if he had been struck by an invisible hammer. He staggered backward several steps until he hit the wall and had nowhere to retreat.

Only then did he nervously raise his hand.

Su Ya's face was covered in colorful makeup: red lipstick like she'd eaten a dead child, green eyeshadow reminiscent of Cleopatra, and black eyebrows that looked like they came straight out of a cartoon!

"Ah! A ghost!"

As Li Xian panicked and lost his ability to speak, Li Lingling beside him covered her chubby little face with her hands and screamed.