Chapter 1683: Open and Aboveboard Robbery

Moreover, these people didn't seem to be in much difficulty.

Some had dyed their hair in colorful shades, wore gold chains and small gold watches around their necks, and were dressed in floral shirts, designer clothes, and Spring Shoes, yet they shamelessly reached out to ask for money.

Litian was honest, but he wasn't stupid.

People like this couldn't possibly be poor; the hands they held out were smooth, without calluses, and were not the hands of someone who labored or worked year-round.

"No money."

He refused.

This was bad; he had poked a hornet's nest. These hoodlums were ashamed and angry at not getting money, so they blocked the doorway to keep him from leaving.

"Not giving money? Then don't even think about going to teach class."

"Right, the school shouldn't be allowed to stay open either, smash it all up!"

"Why give to others and not us? Smash it!"

These people were unreasonable and barbaric, and even wanted to use force; Litian couldn't just indulge them.

He had practiced martial arts since he was a child and his hand-to-hand combat skills were remarkable. In less than two minutes, those hoodlums who were preparing to cause trouble hadn't even realized what was happening before they were knocked to the ground, rolling around in pain.

Damn it, wasn't he a teacher?

How could he be so good at fighting?

These idle, bullying cowards, seeing they couldn't win, immediately knelt down and wanted to take Litian as their boss.

Of course, he wouldn't take these people as his disciples, but he didn't make things difficult for them either; he just domineeringly told them all to get lost!

The thugs were gone, but Litian's quiet life didn't return to how it was before; soon he welcomed various village, township, and even town-level officials.

These people also came to ask for donations, but they were different from those last ones.

Their attitudes were amiable, their words were pleasant, and the pretexts they gave were also respectable.

They concocted various pretexts: repairing bridges, building roads, fixing houses for the common people... everyone had a legitimate reason, and they all said they were doing good deeds for the country and the people.

Asking Litian for donations wasn't for nothing; they promised to write the donor's name on the bridgeheads and roads, so that the nearby commoners would remember him.

Litian wasn't interested; he just wanted to do good deeds and didn't want to be so high-profile.

So they promised, "Then we'll write your father's company name. Your dad is a rich man and doesn't lack this bit of money, but rich people need a good reputation; otherwise, the commoners will curse your family for being wealthy but heartless..."

Litian's eloquence was simply no match for them.

Soon he was swindled into feeling that what these people said made sense.

Then, one sum of money after another was donated, and soon they had no money left—not just Litian's own money, but the wages Lu Feifei had saved and the card Shi Youxuan had given them initially, which had ten million in it, were all gone.

Seeing Shi Youxuan staring at her, Lu Feifei nervously clutched her collar, lowered her head, and said in a small voice, "Auntie, this matter can't be blamed entirely on Litian. I was there at the time, and I also felt that what they said made so much sense..."

Shi Youxuan understood; it meant they had both been swindled together!

She asked, "So Litian wanted ten million to donate to them for building bridges and roads?"

"Yes." Lu Feifei nodded.

Shi Youxuan said kindly, "Feifei, tell Litian not to worry. I will deliver this money personally. Isn't it supposed to be used to build bridges in the company's name? It's appropriate for me to go."

Lu Feifei didn't show surprise on her face, but was instead very anxious: "Auntie, this matter doesn't seem that simple. The Principal said we were likely scammed. Things like this have happened before, but no one knows where the money went."

Shi Youxuan: "It's fine. Once I go, everyone will know. When the tide goes out, it's clear who is swimming naked."

She packed her luggage, preparing to head to Phoenix Town.

Yueyue kept hovering around her mother, chattering: "Take me with you, take me and Yuanyuan along. We've never been on a long trip, and I want to go outside and see."

Shi Youxuan smiled and touched her little daughter's head: "Go, go play! How old are you? It's normal not to have been on a long trip. I'll take you when you grow up."

She said it casually, just words to fool a child.

But children are not easy to fool. Yueyue pouted her little mouth and muttered: "Deceiving people, deceiving children is shameful. By the time I grow up, you'll be old; who will take whom out to play?"

Shi Youxuan:...

She stopped what she was doing and glared at her little daughter.

Yueyue immediately realized that what she said had made her mother unhappy, and corrected herself at once: "No, Mommy, I meant that when you're old, I'll take you out to play. Now you're the adult and I'm the child, so you take me out to play."

"Not taking you." The daughter's request was rejected cleanly and decisively.

Yueyue was very disappointed, but she knew there was no room for negotiation with her mother, so she went to find her father.

Dad was better than Mom; some requests Mom wouldn't agree to, but they would be satisfied by Dad.

She hugged her father's leg and looked up with her round little face, pleading: "Daddy, I want to go to Phoenix Town with you guys too."

"Why do you want to go to Phoenix Town?" Sheng Hanyu was always soft-spoken with his little daughter, afraid of scaring his little princess.

"Phoenix Town is so nice, just the name sounds good. There are phoenixes there, I want a phoenix..."

The little girl's mind was always filled with all sorts of whimsical ideas.

For example: Does Phoenix Town definitely have phoenixes?

The little girl thought, yes!

So her father patiently explained to her: "Phoenix Town is a place name; there are no phoenixes there. Just like there are no wives in wife cakes, no ants in ants climbing a tree, no lions in Lion Head, and no donkeys in donkey rolling... the logic is all the same."

"So there are no phoenixes! Oh, I misunderstood!"

The little girl was clearly very disappointed, but she still wanted to go with her mother.

For a child, every place they haven't been to is novel and interesting.

"Come, look at these photos."

Sheng Hanyu held his little daughter on his lap, opened his phone, and found pictures of Phoenix Town to show her.

He looked for photos taken just after a flood, where people were stepping in mud and water, every step sinking into the muck.

Not just their shoes, but the clothes on their bodies were also covered in mud and water.

Sheng Hanyu asked: "This is Phoenix Town. Do you still want to go?"

The little one didn't make a sound, but instead ran upstairs with a "thump-thump," where her mother's luggage was already packed and she was just about to close the lid of the suitcase.

She rushed in, said nothing, grabbed the clothes in the suitcase, and yanked them out!

"What are you doing? You brat, I'll hit you!"

Shi Youxuan was furious; she had just finished packing, and now it was all ruined, all for nothing.

"Mom, don't use this suitcase, you need to bring more clothes; Phoenix Town doesn't have any phoenixes, it's all mud and water, it ruins clothes so fast..."

Shi Youxuan:...

In the end, of course, she didn't take the big suitcase.

She was going to help her second son solve a problem, not to hold a fashion show, so bringing two changes of clothes was enough.

Before Mom left, Yueyue looked very serious, constantly urging Mom to come back quickly and to be careful.

I Like That My Wife Always Wants to Anger Me