Part 3 of Chapter 71
Please Like Her 22 – Please, continue to choose her firmly.
They quickly arrived at the village chief’s house by car, and the arrival of so many people also attracted the attention of the onlookers nearby.
The village chief’s son is coming back, and this news has already spread throughout the village, attracting numerous curious villagers.
It has been five years since most villagers last saw the village chief’s second son, and in reality, many of them can’t quite remember what he looks like. Especially, since the person isn’t even here.
Nevertheless, the village chief quickly appears and warmly embraces Xu Ze, repeatedly saying, “It’s good to have you back.”
Following Song Zeqian’s gesture, Lin Yanyan takes the initiative to introduce herself.
Next, Song Zeqian introduces himself and has Xu Ze briefly introduce the other people.
In truth, this exchange feels somewhat awkward, but the villagers who are in the dark can’t tell and only perceive it as a touching ‘son coming home to filial piety’ scene.
Song Zeqian’s purpose is straightforward: to spread the word. Soon, all the villagers will know about their ‘characters.’
An elderly man grabs Xu Ze’s arm and says, “I held you when you were three years old! Do you remember?”
Xu Ze responds hesitantly, “I have some recollection.”
The elderly man immediately smiles and praises Xu Ze for being sensible.
Shang Lu holds back her urge to laugh out loud and continues to play the role of a shy and obedient person.
The others also struggle to suppress their smiles.
Some people, upon learning of Song Zeqian’s identity, want to approach and strike up a conversation, hoping to find jobs for their children who were working outside.
With their ‘characters’ now introduced, the village chief helps fend off the enthusiasm of other fellow villagers. He invites everyone inside and, amidst the well-wishes of the other villagers, expresses his gratitude. His eyes are slightly teary, as if he genuinely waited for his son.
Lin Yanyan looks at the village chief with a puzzled expression and whispers, “He looks so pitiful. Why isn’t his son coming back?”
Shang Lu shakes his head and mutters, “Don’t meddle in other people’s private affairs. Let’s focus on our own tasks.”
Lin Yanyan obediently responds, “Okay,” as she has always listened to Shang Lu’s words.
Apart from the village chief, the house only has his eldest son, daughter-in-law, and a grandchild. He tells them that the first-floor rooms have been prepared and they are free to choose.
The village chief’s family resides on the second floor. As for the village chief’s wife, she has some mental health issues and spends most of her time resting on the third floor. They need not worry if they hear any strange noises.
Shang Lu : “…”
This sounds a bit strange.
But they came here to hone their acting skills, and it was Song Zeqian’s choice of location, so Shang Lu restrained herself from thinking too much and carried her luggage to the room.
The village chief’s house was quite large, and their self-built house was considered luxurious within the entire village, even deserving the title of a ‘small villa.’
The number of rooms on the first floor was just enough for each of them. Shang Lu unpacked her things, and Song Zeqian collected all their electronic devices.
From now on, they were isolated from the outside world, and the only thing they had to do was to integrate with the villagers.
The village head provided them with a simple meal to welcome them, and after lunch, they had free time to explore the village, essentially to interact with the villagers.
Although Xu Ze was not very talkative, due to his special status, as soon as he stepped out, other villagers surrounded him and kept asking questions. He didn’t need to initiate social interactions.
Shang Lu repeated her ‘old tricks’ and wandered around the village entrance, where she saw two little girls playing shuttlecock.
While they were here to integrate into rural life, her role was that of the youngest sister. Her older siblings were successful enough, so she had only spent a short time in the countryside during her childhood. Then she went to middle school, and high school after that, in the city. So, right now, she was here to learn what the childhood of these children was like.
So Shang Lu stood by the roadside, watching these two children playing.
At that moment, she saw Meng Li hurrying by from not far away, still scratching his arm.
Shang Lu called out to him and asked, “What’s wrong with you?”
Meng Li had already developed red marks on his arm from mosquito bites, and it was clear that he was itching.
Shang Lu took out mosquito repellent and anti-itch cream from her bag and handed them to him.
Naturally, Meng Li wanted to refuse. He and Shang Lu were not exactly friends, and taking her things like this didn’t seem appropriate.
But—
His arm was just too itchy.
Shang Lu smiled at him and said, “I have a lot of these. Take it and let’s work together. We should have a pleasant cooperation.”
For Shang Lu, if Meng Li couldn’t focus on studying due to health issues, it would affect her the most, as she had the most scenes with him.
Shang Lu took the initiative to extend an olive branch, which surprised Meng Li. He had initially thought that his attitude towards Shang Lu would lead to grudges, but later he heard that Shang Lu had recommended him to Song Zeqian.
She doesn’t seem to… hate him?
Meng Li hesitated for a moment, but eventually accepted what Shang Lu handed to her, saying, “Consider me owing you two favors.”
Then Meng Li asked, “What are you still doing here?”
Shang Lu pointed to those two little girls and said, “Of course, I’m here to play with them.”
Soon, Shang Lu took the initiative again and, with her outstanding shuttlecock-kicking skills, won over the two little girls, instantly gaining two ‘Little Sisters1.’ She was invincible when it came to playing in the village.
Meng Li watched from the sidelines in silence.
Is this Shang Lu’s way of studying?
It’s so strange.
But he hesitated for a moment, then turned to look at the little boys not far away who were playing marbles.
Maybe… he should give it a try too?
In the end, with Meng Li suffering a crushing defeat, he became a follower of those little boys and was forced to play the stone-kicking game with them.
Meng Li : “…”
Shang Lu’s method is really unreliable.
Everyone went their separate ways and ‘explored’ the village for a day, then returned to the village chief’s house for dinner.
The village chief’s eldest son seemed to have a bad temper and didn’t talk much to them. He just carried a basin of rice and went upstairs.
Yes, it was rice served in a basin, soaked in soup, with some cabbage thrown on top, and not a single piece of meat.
Lin Yanyan remembered seeing a video online where rural people feed dogs with leftover food, so she curiously asked, “Do you have a dog at home? Where is it?”
The village chief’s eldest son’s expression was somewhat stiff, so the village head explained to them, “No, this is my wife’s dinner.”
Meng Li was quite surprised and, as he always spoke his mind without much politeness, he said, “You actually serve this kind of food to people?”
The atmosphere instantly became awkward.
The village head’s daughter-in-law quickly stepped in to explain, smiling gently, “My mother-in-law has some dental problems, so she can only eat soup-soaked rice.”
Shang Lu glanced at Song Zeqian. His face held a hint of carefully concealed coldness, but the tightness of his lips revealed his current mood.
Shang Lu’s brain started to spin rapidly.
There must be a problem here.
What is Song Zeqian’s real purpose for choosing this family?
- like subordinates in teenagers’ gangs ↩︎
It probably has the same situation with the script.
This is Song Zeqian’s family, isn’t it? Song Zeqian is the real second son of this family?
This is worrying, in chinese novel, whenever the plot involves rural village, it’s always human trafficking, patriarchy and forced marriage 😩