Part 3 of Chapter 73
Please Like Her 24
In just one short hour, she had glanced at the program team multiple times.
Shang Lu had never seen so many new faces among the staff, especially when they first met at the village entrance. There was a photographer who even dropped his camera, but he didn’t care about how much the lens cost; he simply picked it up and left.
Shang Lu remembered the face of the photographer, but she hasn’t seen him again until now. The total number of staff has also decreased from when she first saw them at the village entrance.
Today, the director is different from usual.
In the past, whenever she showed interest in something, he would always find it a topic and ask questions proactively. But today, despite her many glances, he seems to be avoiding her gaze, and even hurrying through the cues in the program progress.
The assistant director is not good at hiding things; at the moment, he keeps wiping the cold sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief.
Everything and everyone today is strange, let alone when they’re all piled together.
Shang Lu remains silent because she knows that even if she asks, she won’t get answers. So, she just follows the program team’s process.
Today is the day the village holds its monthly meeting. The village chief naturally has to preside over the meeting, and each household has to send representatives to attend.
Because they can receive some free rice, the villagers are quite enthusiastic about it. The elderly people who were originally gathering at the entrance of the village dispersed when they heard the announcement through the loudspeaker.
Compared to the so-called big stars, they are more interested in taking home rice to fill their bellies.
At the moment, only Zhang Qian and Ah Zhi are left at the village chief’s house. The village chief needs to preside over the meeting, but a villager suddenly informed them that the village chief had a dispute with a stranger asking for directions on the road and asked his elder son to hurry over and check.
The man seemed a bit hesitant but had no choice but to leave. Before leaving, he touched his son’s head and said, “Study upstairs quietly, don’t disturb the uncles and aunts working, take care of Mom and Grandma. Dad will be back soon, okay?”
The little boy nodded, looking relatively obedient.
However, after the man left, the program team turned their cameras towards Ah Zhi and Zhang Qian and said directly, “Can we have a brief interview? Don’t be nervous; just talk to us about the village’s specialties and such.”
Shang Lu lowered her eyelashes.
Their show was not really a travel program, and they wouldn’t advertise this village for free without a prior cooperation agreement.
Zhang Qian is not a skilled speaker, and she looked quite shy in front of the camera. She repeatedly waved her hand, saying she couldn’t do it.
However, the program team was still trying to communicate with her.
At this moment, a loud noise came from upstairs, like something heavy falling.
A staff member asked, “Did something happen? Should we go up and check?”
Zhang Qian’s face showed a hint of panic and she shook her head, saying, “It’s nothing, it’s nothing.””
Ah Zhi suddenly spoke up, “Mom, Grandma won’t fall from the upstairs, will she?”
Jiang Jing also expressed her concern, “If an elderly person falls, it’s a serious matter. We should go upstairs and check it out quickly.”
Song Zeqian added, “We’ll go with you. If anything happens, you, a woman, and a child won’t be able to do much.”
Zhang Qian quickly declined, “No need, thank you so much. I’ll go check; nothing will happen.”
“Mom, should I go check on Grandma and you stay here with them?” Ah Zhi suddenly stood up and said.
Zhang Qian looked conflicted. She was usually indecisive and followed her husband and father-in-law’s decisions. Now, having to make a decision herself, she was hesitant. But she also thought her son had a point, so she nodded in agreement.
Ah Zhi quickly went upstairs but rushed back down, crying out, “Mom! It’s bad, Mom! Grandma has fallen to the ground, and there’s glass on the floor. But Dad locked the security door, and I can’t open it. Grandma is bleeding, there’s blood!”
Song Zeqian immediately stood up and reassured Ah Zhi, “Don’t be afraid; we’ll take Grandma to the hospital.”
The atmosphere at the scene suddenly became tense.
Only Shang Lu was watching Song Zeqian and Ah Zhi, and finally understood everything at this moment.
All the pieces of the puzzle came together because Ah Zhi was the missing link.
At this moment, he and Song Zeqian had formed some kind of alliance, and the intermediary between them should be the village chief’s second son, the one Song Zeqian said had contacted him.
And the program team also knew about this and was willing to cooperate with Song Zeqian, which explained why the director and assistant director were acting strangely today and deliberately delaying Zhang Qian for an interview. Their plan was to question her when the strange noise came from the third floor.
Whether it was Ah Zhi recently taking the initiative to bring food to his grandmother or now going to check on her, it was all about teaching his grandmother how to cooperate with them.
Even the stranger who had an argument with the village chief about directions was likely arranged by them to divert the household’s labor force.
After spending these days with them, Shang Lu also noticed that the village chief considered himself an authority in the village. It’s just because they offered a substantial amount of money, so he had always been accommodating and not particularly cautious towards them. On the other hand, his son seemed more cautious and added an extra lock before they left. Even when they were not at home, they couldn’t access the third floor to see the village chief’s wife, resulting in the current standoff.
However, the turning point was on Zhang Qian.
Xiao Zhi cried to Zhang Qian directly, “Mom, what if Grandma dies? It was almost like last time… Please, quickly open the door.”
Zhang Qian had never expected such a situation to arise again, her face turning pale.
She knew where the keys to the house were hidden, but she didn’t dare to open that door. If she did, these people would see her mother-in-law. When her husband and father-in-law returned, they would surely be angry, and she might even have her legs broken.
So Zhang Qian wanted to refuse, to tell her son that she didn’t have the keys and to ask him to find his father to handle the matter, making it clear that it was not her concern.
But at this moment, Shang Lu looked at Zhang Qian and said, “For elderly people, a delay of even a minute in getting them to the hospital after a fall can impact their life. For Ah Zhi, he’ll remember for the rest of his life that he couldn’t save his grandmother today, and he might be haunted by guilt and the shadow of death for the rest of his life.”
After spending these days with Zhang Qian, Shang Lu knew very well that for Zhang Qian, her son was her entire world.
These words successfully shook this frail woman.
Zhang Qian murmured, “No… no…”
She wanted her son to grow up healthy and happy, to have a bright future. How could he live his whole life in the shadow of death and self-blame?
Furthermore, her father-in-law and husband didn’t want her mother-in-law to die. After all, it was a matter of life. Last time, they were also terrified and sent her mother-in-law to the hospital when they thought she was in real trouble.
Yes, that’s it.
Zhang Qian finally made up her mind, stumbling as she got up, went to the cupboard, took out a pair of slippers, and, trembling, reached into the slippers to retrieve a key. She extended it to her son.
And at that very moment, a cold and somewhat angry voice sounded at the door, “What are you doing?”
The village chief’s son had returned.
AAGHHHH THE SCUM IS BACK