Chapter 175: Chapter 173: Stay Away from Vans
"Grandma, why are you looking for Xue Rui?" Lin Ruoxi asked, her eyes full of confusion.
’Xue Rui was just here yesterday, so why does she want him to come again today?’
’Although she wanted him to come, too, she didn’t want to tire him out...’
Lin Ruoxi looked at the old woman with a gentle gaze. ’People get like children when they’re old,’ she thought, ’always making unreasonable demands.’
’It’s just hard on Xue Rui. I’ll have to cook more for him and give him shoulder rubs in the future...’
A middle-aged man walked in and said with a smile, "Xixi, your grandmother is my aunt. By rights, you should call me Uncle."
Lin Ruoxi faltered. "Uncle?"
But she had never seen this man before. She turned a questioning gaze to her grandmother.
"Yes," the old woman nodded. She hadn’t expected anyone to remember her at a time like this.
Lin Ruoxi immediately stood up and said obediently, "Hello, Uncle."
"Ah, what a good girl. How old are you this year?" the man asked with a smile.
Yu Minlan frowned and pushed the man out. "Old Mrs. Wang needs her rest. If you have something to say, say it outside."
"And who are you to her?" a woman demanded, her voice shrill.
On the seats in the hallway, there were several others also claiming to be Lin Ruoxi’s relatives.
A passing nurse shot them a glare. "This is a hospital. Keep your voices down."
Yu Minlan felt a headache coming on. She had no idea where this crowd had suddenly appeared from, all claiming to be the old woman’s relatives.
But Xue Rui had told her that Lin Ruoxi had no relatives—that the old woman was her only family.
She had just called Xue Rui to report, and he had told her not to let these people get near Lin Ruoxi.
"Lin Ruoxi is an orphan. She has no relatives. Who are you?" Yu Minlan demanded from outside the room.
"We had a bit of a misunderstanding back in the day and lost touch. Now that my aunt is sick, of course I, her nephew, have to come and see her," the man said with a smile.
He couldn’t tell who this woman was, but he knew that anyone who could stay by Lin Ruoxi’s side must have a special connection to her.
A while back, someone told him that Lin Ruoxi had donated a road to Hua Village, spending a full 200,000!
The news had spread through quite a few villages.
’To casually donate 200,000, Lin Ruoxi’s family must be worth at least a million.’
’He was only now finding out he had a rich relative. He had to cozy up to her.’
’And the girl looked so hopelessly naive. He could probably squeeze quite a lot out of her.’
’All he had to do was get close to her for a few days under the guise of being family, and then he could ask her for a loan.’
’She had so much money, anyway. It wouldn’t matter if he never paid it back.’
The man turned to go back into the hospital room, but Yu Minlan blocked the doorway. "You’re not allowed in."
"Sister Yu, why not? They say they’re my relatives," Lin Ruoxi said in a small voice.
Yu Minlan was getting extremely agitated. Even a fool could see the greed in their eyes. They were after Lin Ruoxi’s money.
Faced with Lin Ruoxi’s question, Yu Minlan was at a loss for how to answer.
She recalled that Lin Ruoxi never questioned anything Xue Rui said. "Boss Xue says they can’t come in," she declared.
"Xue Rui?" Lin Ruoxi wasn’t surprised. She just spoke softly to the people outside the door, "Uncle, please don’t come in. Xue Rui will get angry."
’Xue Rui said I could trust Sister Yu, too.’
The burly man outside the door was taken aback. "Who’s Xue Rui?"
’Who is this Xue Rui? How does he have so much influence? Just his name was enough to make Lin Ruoxi change her tune.’
’Had someone else gotten to her before they did?’
"Xixi, we’re your blood relatives. There are a lot of bad people out there; don’t let some outsider trick you," a middle-aged woman said.
Yu Minlan stood protectively in front of Lin Ruoxi, her eyes filled with disdain. She felt a wave of nausea.
’You’re the ones trying to trick her!’
"Xue Rui wouldn’t lie to me," Lin Ruoxi said with a frown. She didn’t want to hear anyone speak ill of him. She retreated to her grandmother’s bedside and pulled the privacy curtain, blocking the outsiders from her sight.
The old woman didn’t want to deal with their squabbling. Her mind was empty; she just wanted Xue Rui to get there quickly.
Yu Minlan held her ground, blocking the door, while the group of people simply stood outside and waited.
The standoff lasted for a long time, until a young man in a school uniform approached. Only then did Yu Minlan step aside.
"So you’re Xue Rui?" the middle-aged man said.
"We’re Old Mrs. Wang’s relatives. Why won’t you let us in? What right do you have to interfere in our family reunion?"
Seeing that he was just a student, some of them immediately grew bolder and more arrogant.
’He’s just a brat. If we get loud enough, we can probably scare him off.’
Xue Rui’s expression was grim. Without saying a word, he walked to the head of the old woman’s bed and pressed the call button.
A nurse came in moments later. Xue Rui addressed her, "Hello. These loiterers are disturbing the patient’s rest. Could you please call security for me?"
This was the orthopedics ward. None of the patients had life-threatening conditions—mostly just broken arms and legs. They were currently munching on fruit and enjoying the show.
Seeing that Xue Rui was calling security to kick the people out, they felt a little disappointed the drama was ending.
"Okay," the nurse nodded.
She remembered Xue Rui. He was the one who had rewarded that good samaritan with 5,000 yuan yesterday. You didn’t see that every day.
On one side were shameless hooligans shouting at the top of their lungs; on the other was a polite student. As she walked out, she made a point of saying, "I’m going to call security now."
"Who do you think you are? This is none of your business!" the woman yelled.
"Quiet!" the nurse yelled back.
The man beside her tugged her arm. "Don’t be hasty. I think the old woman was pretty receptive to us. If we come a few more times over the next few days, we’ll find an opening."
Xue Rui let out a cold smile. He had already made arrangements on his way over. Village Chief Hua was waiting downstairs with a few young men right now.
He watched from the window above, and once he saw the group walk out the entrance of the inpatient building, Xue Rui made a call. "Secretary Hua, it’s the group right in front of you. I just booked a table at Qunfang Tower. Remember to come over when you’re finished."
"Boss Xue, you’re being too formal," Village Chief Hua said with a grin, waving his hand. The young men beside him instantly swarmed forward and shoved the group into a minivan.
"I’m making all you young men run this errand; you have to at least eat a good meal," Xue Rui said with a laugh.
"Alright, we’ll head over in a bit," Village Chief Hua said before hanging up and climbing into the passenger seat of the van.
Lin Ruoxi suddenly cried out, "My uncle is being kidnapped!"
She’d seen it in dramas before. Beat-up vans were for kidnapping people. Xue Rui had even told her to stay far away from any suspicious-looking vans.
Xue Rui had said that cute girls were the ones who got kidnapped.
Xue Rui patted Lin Ruoxi’s head. "I did it."
"Oh..." Lin Ruoxi mumbled, nodding.
’She was actually very curious, but since it was Xue Rui who did it, then there was no problem. She knew Xue Rui was a very kind person. He was probably just taking her uncle home.’
"Don’t have any contact with these people. They aren’t your relatives, and their intentions are impure," Xue Rui sighed.
"Okay," Lin Ruoxi replied softly. That was what Sister Yu had said, too.
Xue Rui gently pinched Lin Ruoxi’s cheek. ’When Lin Ruoxi had it so tough before, where were all these relatives?’
’Now that she was a little heiress, they all suddenly crawl out of the woodwork. He didn’t even have to assume the worst; their intentions were obviously not pure from the start.’
No one asks after the poor in a crowded city, but the rich have distant relatives in the deep mountains.
’With a swarm of flies buzzing around Lin Ruoxi, what else could he do?’
The best solution was to get people from Hua Village involved. For one, Lin Ruoxi had donated a road to them. And for another... a village is a collective. Since Lin Ruoxi was from Hua Village, it was only right for Village Chief Hua to handle this.
Inside the van, the group was still trying to process being suddenly bundled into a vehicle. Their first thought was that they were being kidnapped...
"Who are you people?" the woman asked, her voice trembling.
Village Chief Hua grinned. "I’m the chief of Hua Village. I’ve been there for decades. How is it I’ve never heard that Lin Ruoxi has any relatives?"
"That’s because..." The woman breathed a sigh of relief.
But before she could finish her sentence, a hand suddenly smacked her on the back of the head.
"Just keep your mouth shut," the man beside her muttered.
He recognized the chief of Hua Village. Twenty years ago, the man had been a notorious hoodlum in the ten-mile radius, and he later became the village chief.
Even though this was a society ruled by law, who wouldn’t be terrified after being dragged into a van by a group of burly men?
"Hey, you look familiar. Have we met before?" Village Chief Hua said, turning his head.
Seeing that familiar smile, the corner of the man’s eye twitched. He had fought with Village Chief Hua when they were younger. The man had been absolutely ruthless, leaving a scar on the back of his neck... and a lifetime of psychological trauma.
"Stay away from Lin Ruoxi in the future," Village Chief Hua said coolly.
Xue Rui had spearheaded the road donation for their village, and he always sent gifts during the holidays.
’There might be other opportunities to cooperate with Xue Rui in the future. If I don’t handle this well, who knows what our village might lose out on.’
’That girl, Lin Ruoxi, has become the bond between Xue Rui and Hua Village. I have to lend a hand.’
Besides, he hated this kind of fair-weather relative.
"Chief, where are we headed?" the young man driving asked.
Hearing this, the people in the back tensed up immediately.
Village Chief Hua chuckled. "Taking them home, of course."
The man’s heart sank. ’What does he mean by that? Is he going to find out where I live?’
’And who was this "Boss Xue" the Village Chief mentioned? It looked like "Boss Xue" was the one who ordered them to be picked up.’
’Could it be... that kid in the high school uniform from before?’
He suddenly realized that Lin Ruoxi was surrounded by too many powerful people...
’A "reformed" old hoodlum like this was protecting her. He couldn’t afford to provoke people like that.’
"I promise, I’ll never go looking for that family again," the man said, his tone utterly submissive.
"Your promise means nothing. I know the chief of Wang Village. You’re going to go to your village committee and write a formal letter of guarantee," Village Chief Hua said, lighting a cigarette. He then casually tossed a pack of soft-cover Chunghwas to each of the young men.
’Anyway, Xue Rui would definitely reimburse him at dinner tonight. Why not use Xue Rui’s cigarettes to earn some goodwill?’
"I..." The man’s face flushed red. Wouldn’t this be a total humiliation in front of his entire village?
They hadn’t laid a hand on him, but this was more painful than any beating!
Village Chief Hua nodded to himself. ’Xue Rui’s idea really worked wonders,’ he thought. ’You can make someone dizzy with rage without even lifting a finger...’
...
「In the hospital ward.」
"Mrs. Wang, did you call me here just for this?" Xue Rui felt it couldn’t be that simple.
If it were just some relatives causing a scene, the old woman wouldn’t have been in such a rush to see him; Yu Minlan would have kept her updated.
Seeing the old woman’s hesitant expression, Xue Rui suddenly understood. He turned to Lin Ruoxi and said, "You and Yu Minlan can go home and start cooking. Make me a bowl of noodles."
Lin Ruoxi’s face instantly lit up. Xue Rui had been coming to her house for dinner for several days now.
’Xue Rui likes my cooking.’
After watching Lin Ruoxi leave, the old woman asked, "Did you get the clothes?"
"What clothes?" Xue Rui’s face darkened. ’Don’t tell me she’s still thinking about the clothes that fell off the building yesterday?’
"The burial clothes. It’s hard to put them on once a person is gone."
