Chapter 1684: Kindness and Love Should Be Reserved for Those Who Truly Need It

Phoenix Town.

Shi Youxuan felt as if every bone in her body had been rattled apart, but she had finally arrived.

It was truly grueling; although this was her second time here, she still found it very hard to adapt.

She was actually doing better than the two reporters accompanying her, who were in a much worse state, vomiting wildly along the way until they had brought up even their previous night's meal.

One of the female reporters had been crying and begging to leave before they were even halfway there. Shi Youxuan wanted to offer some kind words of persuasion, but a single sentence from the tricycle driver made her abandon the thought of turning back: "You want to get off here? You couldn't walk back in two days, it's hard to even catch a ride, and you might run into wolves on the road..."

Forget it, she would just have to bite the bullet and keep moving forward; at least suffering in the vehicle was better than losing her life.

After much difficulty, they arrived at Phoenix Town and settled into a hotel.

The reporters were very professional; once they arrived and let out a sigh of relief, they didn't even take a bite of food before they started organizing to go out for their interviews.

The interviews were supposedly about the place where the bridge and road were being repaired.

Shi Youxuan said, "No rush. It's late today, and we're unfamiliar with the place, so we'd better wait until tomorrow morning to go."

The two nodded in agreement.

Shi Youxuan had been here once before, so she was more familiar with the situation here than they were.

She took the reporters to eat the local specialty, lamb braised noodles: rich lamb broth, delicious lamb, a spoonful of bright, oily chili sauce over noodles two fingers wide, topped with fresh green cilantro—it was wonderful.

The noodles were delicious, and since both of them were hungry, they wolfed down a bowl each.

The bowls here were much larger than the ones back home, and the portion of noodles was generous; just like that, a bowl of noodles instantly cured the exhaustion of the journey, making the hardships along the way feel worth it.

The two had a better impression of Phoenix Town and were just about to praise it when several locals came over and sat at the table next to them.

They loudly called for the boss, demanding five bowls of lamb noodles, and told the boss to add more lamb and more broth, and not to be stingy with the ingredients.

That was only because the bowls had a fixed capacity; otherwise, they would have demanded more noodles too.

They demanded more of this and more of that, yet didn't say a word about paying extra!

The boss wasn't a fool, so since they didn't mention it, he took the initiative to ask: "Lamb is twelve yuan a serving, how many extra servings?"

That did it; it was just one sentence, but it was like poking a hornet's nest.

"What? You want me to pay extra just for adding a few slices of lamb? Letting you add them is giving you face; don't you dare be ungrateful."

Where there are people looking for trouble, there are others to fan the flames.

Another person said, "Lao Litou, when Teacher Sheng and Teacher Lu from Phoenix Town come to eat your noodles, why don't you make them pay extra? I saw it last time; you didn't just add thick slices of meat to their bowls, you added plenty of noodles too, so much it was almost overflowing."

"Exactly, why are you favoring outsiders? We are all from the same town, and you want to charge us for adding two slices of meat?"

"How much extra benefit does that guy surnamed Sheng give you? You talk about him like he's your own father, singing his praises everywhere..."

The noodle stall owner's face turned red with anger, and he defended himself: "Every time Teacher Sheng and Teacher Lu come, they pay extra, and they also help needy students go to school by covering their tuition. It's only right that I don't charge them."

"What right do you have to compare yourselves to them? Oh, I get it now, you're jealous that Teacher Sheng's family is rich, and you resent that he has money but doesn't spend it on you. You're all in your twenties or thirties, with hands and feet but no desire to work, just idling your lives away..."

Lao Litou at the noodle stall was a straightforward man who said what was on his mind; good was good, bad was bad, and he only spoke the plain truth.

But the plain truth is grating and unpleasant to hear.

Stung in their sore spots, the group flew into a rage, flipped the table, and threatened to smash Lao Litou's stall.

Lao Litou grabbed a kitchen knife, ready to fight for his life, and cursed loudly: "You little brats, you dare to stir up trouble on my turf? If I don't beat your human heads into dog heads today, you won't know how many eyes Lord Ma has!"

As for how many eyes Lord Ma had, the thugs truly didn't know.

But Lao Litou's ferocity truly scared these few pieces of trash.

They scrambled away in terror, still mouthing off as they fled: "Just you wait, Lao Litou, just you wait!"

The thugs ran off, and Shi Youxuan and the others helped him set the kicked-over tables and chairs back up; fortunately, there was no real damage, and the furniture wasn't broken.

"Thank you, those pieces of trash ruined your meal. Never mind, no charge," Lao Litou waved his hand, telling them to go.

He was in no mood to run the stall anymore and prepared to go home early to gather his brothers, cousins, nephews, and nieces to go to the thugs' homes and teach them a lesson.

The monk may run, but the temple cannot; did they think Lao Litou was someone to be bullied?

Shi Youxuan insisted on paying the bill, and the two reporters asked what was going on.

So he told them about how, a few days ago, the thugs went to the school to demand "donations" from Teacher Sheng but were beaten up instead. Lao Litou said everyone felt it was very satisfying, but Teacher Sheng had offended these people.

The few thugs spent their days hanging out together, doing no good, only thinking about how to take advantage of others and bully them.

Since they couldn't get anything out of Teacher Sheng, they thought about taking revenge on him.

One of the thugs had an uncle who was a cadre in the township, and a few days later, the cadres went to the school for an inspection as a group, followed immediately by rumors that Sheng Hanyu had taken money to repair the bridge and road.

Lao Li sighed: "Sigh, it's hard to be a good person these days. The money Teacher Sheng donated can't repair the bridge or road at all, and even if it were used, it wouldn't be enough. Where that money went, nobody knows..."

He vented his grievances to his heart's content, not knowing that the reporters had already recorded it all.

Back at the hotel.

The two reporters were young and hot-blooded, and they wanted to organize the draft and send it out immediately, but they were stopped by Shi Youxuan.

Shi Youxuan said, "Here, the mountains are high and the emperor is far away, and transportation is inconvenient. Don't look at the village and township cadres' low rank; they are the local emperors of every village and township. If you send the draft out today, we won't be able to do anything tomorrow."

"Not only will we be unable to do anything, but our personal safety won't be guaranteed either."

The male reporter was indignant: "We came all this way to expose the truth; we can't just stop reporting because we're afraid of trouble."

Shi Youxuan smiled: "Of course we have to report it; why else would I have invited you here? Reporting is one thing, and exposing the truth is another. We can't let good people suffer grievances while bad people triumph, but we also can't take risks."

She told the two reporters her plan. At first, they were indignant and angry, then they looked confused and hesitant, then they smiled, gave Shi Youxuan a thumbs-up, and finally clapped in approval.

It was brilliant; this was truly a wicked good idea.

She wouldn't take a single cent, yet she would make these people unable to say a word!

Not only would they be unable to speak, they would have to praise her against their will, and afterward, they wouldn't dare to find fault with her son and future daughter-in-law.

Evil people are dealt with by other evil people; kindness and love should be reserved for those who truly need it!

Like "The Madam Always Wants to Anger Me"