Chapter 481: Moral Kidnapping

Whenever someone said this, both of them would retort: "He didn't agree; the old lady passed away right after she finished speaking, and we were all there at the time."

At that moment, Yano indeed hadn't waited for an answer before Yamu breathed her last.

The funeral ended.

Wang Yong and Lao Qi wanted to bring Sheng Hanyu back immediately and prepared to leave the Fishing Village.

But they were met with unanimous opposition from everyone, and even Sheng Hanyu did not agree.

He did not agree to leave, not because he wanted to continue the wedding with Yafei.

It was because the Fishing Village had suffered heavy losses and morale was low after this encounter with the Pirates, so he could not leave now.

Yamu passed away due to excessive grief, but there were also several young men from the Fishing Village who sacrificed their lives in the battle, and there were many others who were injured.

The funerals for the dead were held together, but the compensation for the families of the victims and the subsequent living arrangements for the injured had to be properly implemented.

……

Cruise ship.

Wang Yong and Lao Qi returned.

Just as Shi Youxuan had guessed, they failed to bring Sheng Hanyu back, but Lao Ya Tou had followed them.

The old man came to see Shi Youxuan, but without a word upon meeting, he knelt down and kowtowed, leaving Shi Youxuan completely speechless.

Is this old man addicted to kowtowing or what?

And he specifically knelt and kowtowed in public; what is he doing, moral kidnapping?

This time, Shi Youxuan did not dodge; she sat openly on her chair and accepted his kowtowing.

In any case, he was not her elder, so she would not suffer any karmic retribution.

Shi Youxuan's reaction instead left Lao Ya Tou not knowing what to do next.

In his impression, the big-bellied woman in front of him was just a wealthy lady raised in a boudoir and accustomed to a life of luxury.

Such women often have one characteristic—they are easily soft-hearted!

That was why he came up today to kneel and beg her, begging her not to take her husband back and to leave Yano for them.

His original plan was that he would kneel, Shi Youxuan would immediately help him up and then ask him what he wanted, and he would then logically present his request.

He had also thought that Shi Youxuan would certainly not agree to him immediately at first, so he would recite the prepared speech; women are all soft-hearted, and in the end, she would definitely agree to his request!

But now, the beginning was already wrong.

However, since it had already started, even if it felt wrong, he had to bite the bullet and carry on.

"Thump, thump, thump—"

Lao Ya Tou's head hit the floor, making a "thump-thump" sound against the floorboards.

Shi Youxuan remained calm and composed, accepting it generously.

After more than a dozen kowtows in a row, Lao Ya Tou's forehead was even scraped, but Shi Youxuan did not tell him to stop, so he stopped on his own.

"Madam, I would like to ask you for something..." Lao Ya Tou said sheepishly.

Shi Youxuan interrupted him: "Wait a moment, make yourself clear: are you asking me for a favor, or are you threatening me?"

Lao Ya Tou:...

How was he supposed to answer that?

He considered it and replied: "It is asking you for a favor, how could it be a threat?"

"Oh!"

Shi Youxuan put on a look of sudden realization and smiled: "So that's how people in your village ask for favors, performing such a grand gesture. If this were where we are from, your behavior just now would be considered threatening..."

"Where we are from, when asking for a favor, people just state the matter directly, or perhaps bring a gift to show sincerity."

"There really isn't any kneeling without a word... No, wait, there is, only beggars or debt collectors do that. I don't need to explain what a beggar is to you, right? You know what that means."

"It's quite interesting when debt collectors do this; it's moral kidnapping. People are always willing to sympathize with the weak. Once they see someone forced to kneel, everyone will condemn the person who owes the debt. You came and started kneeling and kowtowing, and it completely stunned me. I don't think I owe you anything..."

Lao Ya Tou's face flushed red; if there were a crack in the floor right now, he would have crawled into it without hesitation.

That's right, he was indeed trying to use moral kidnapping.

But thinking it is one thing, and having the thought exposed and spoken aloud to one's face is quite another.

"No, that's not what I meant..." Lao Ya Tou said while defending himself, and sheepishly stood up.

A wasted kneel.

Not only was it a wasted kneel, but he also had to explain that the kneeling wasn't intentional!

But how was he supposed to explain that?

Lao Ya Tou was in a terrible bind.

Shi Youxuan, being "understanding," smiled and gave him a way out: "I know, this must be the etiquette where you are from, but we don't have such etiquette here, so I won't return the gesture."

Lao Ya Tou:...

He had to take the way out immediately; if he didn't, he would be a fool.

The two sat down, and Shi Youxuan had Zhang Ma serve tea and asked him the purpose of his visit.

It should have been a logical conversation, but Shi Youxuan didn't play by the rules, so he suddenly didn't know where to start.

Lao Ya Tou couldn't get the words out, so Wang Yong said sullenly: "The people in the village won't let Big Brother come back and even want him to marry Yafei. It's truly preposterous! My brother has a wife and a daughter, and is about to have a son; what is there to marry? Those people have water in their brains, they are seriously ill..." The more he spoke, the angrier he got.

Lao Qi tugged at him.

Meaning: stop talking, the Madam is pregnant, what if she gets agitated?

However, Wang Yong didn't understand Lao Qi's meaning; he thought Lao Qi was worried about Lao Ya Tou being present.

He immediately glared: "Why are you tugging at me? Can't you see that this old man followed us back for exactly this reason? It's the same whether I say it or he says it. I have to warn the Madam not to be soft-hearted and agree to everything..."

Lao Qi really wanted to kick him.

He thought to himself, are you blind? Can't you see what kind of personality the Madam has?

She could be soft-hearted, but she would not have unprincipled, overflowing compassion.

Shi Youxuan said to the two of them, "Alright, stop arguing here and letting outsiders laugh at you; you've been tired for several days, go get some rest."

Neither of them would leave, saying in unison, "We're not tired." In reality, they were just worried.

What Lao Ya Tou wanted to say had been said by Wang Yong in advance, and he had even provided commentary.

The effect of "kneeling" was greatly diminished, and it was basically useless now.

But the words still had to be spoken, and the request still had to be made.

Lao Ya Tou: "Madam, I would like to beg you to agree to let Yano stay in the village. The village suffered too great a loss from the Pirates this time, and Yano is the Village Chief; the village truly cannot do without him right now."

Shi Youxuan agreed, very readily: "Fine."

Lao Ya Tou:...

Wang Yong:...

Lao Qi:...

Zhang Ma:...

She had agreed too readily; no one had expected it.

Wang Yong was just about to object when he met Shi Youxuan's warning gaze, telling him not to say anything more, so he swallowed the words that had reached his lips.

"Really? You agree?" Lao Ya Tou was overjoyed and was about to kneel to Shi Youxuan again.

However, just as he stood up, he remembered what she had just said, so he sheepishly sat back down.

The person had sat down, but the words were not yet finished.

Shi Youxuan had agreed to the first request very readily, which gave him a misconception.

Lao Ya Tou felt that she would also agree to his second request.

"I have one more request."

Shi Youxuan picked up the fruit juice in front of her and took a sip, saying calmly, "Speak."

"Please agree to stop pestering Yano and let him marry Yafei."

Heh.

Shi Youxuan could only respond with a "heh."

Before she could flare up, Wang Yong could no longer hold back.

"Pah!"

He glared at Lao Ya Tou and exploded in anger: "You are truly thick-skinned to have the nerve to bring up such a shameless request..."

"Lao Qi, take Wang Yong back and don't let him come out again." Shi Youxuan gave the order, and Lao Qi pulled, dragged, coaxed, and persuaded Wang Yong out.