Under Xue Rui's interrogation, Lin Ruoxi "confessed" everything.
Last year, her grandmother had fallen, and the surgery cost a lot of money. Adding in the follow-up medication costs, their neighbor, Aunt Zhang, had lent Lin Ruoxi thirty thousand yuan.
Of course, it wasn't just a loan. Aunt Zhang was also using the Lin family's land.
It was a full five mu, all planted with fruit trees—the same orchard where Xue Rui had picked fruit when he entered the village.
"She really knows how to play her angles."
Xue Rui sneered. Some people were truly just demons wearing human skin, man-eating ghouls on the inside.
Some of the villagers pitied Lin Ruoxi and would find excuses to help her out from time to time.
But others saw that the Lin Family had no male heirs and were planning to devour their entire inheritance!
"Did you write an IOU?" Xue Rui asked.
"I did," Lin Ruoxi said meekly.
"So every time you pay her back, does she keep a record? Does she even acknowledge the payments?" Xue Rui pressed on.
Lin Ruoxi thought for a long while before shaking her head. "I just keep track of it myself."
Exasperated, Xue Rui pinched Lin Ruoxi's cheek, making her squeeze one eye shut in pain.
"What good is you keeping track? When the time comes, she'll just deny it and make you pay back the full thirty thousand," Xue Rui said irritably.
Lin Ruoxi simply didn't understand the evil in the world, assuming everyone was just like her.
"How much is the annual rent for your land? Did you sign a contract?"
"For the five mu, it's 2,500 a year. Aunt Zhang said she'd deduct it from the IOU, so we didn't sign a contract."
Lin Ruoxi rubbed her reddened cheek, sneaking a frightened glance at Xue Rui, whose expression was terrifyingly grim.
'She didn't know why Xue Rui was asking all this. Could it be that his teacher really had sent him to do a home visit?'
"Alright, you can go back to what you were doing."
Xue Rui said, ruffling Lin Ruoxi's hair.
After Lin Ruoxi left, Xue Rui subconsciously sucked on his finger. The pain in his fingertip made him feel agitated.
'This woman, Zhang, has some real nerve,' he thought. 'She's banking on the Lin Family having no male heir, thinking she can bully them as she pleases.'
The Lin surname was foreign to this village. They had no relatives, so bullying them came with no repercussions.
With a measly IOU for thirty thousand, she planned to seize the Lin family's property and even viewed Lin Ruoxi's own labor as something she was entitled to.
Not even signing a land lease contract... this left a loophole for Xue Rui. A mocking glint flashed in his eyes. He had a plan.
The only prerequisite was Lin Ruoxi's cooperation.
But that wasn't much of a problem. Lin Ruoxi was afraid of him. At worst, he could just be a bit more forceful and compel her to submit.
Xue Rui walked into the living room, where the old woman was staring blankly at two funeral portraits on the table.
He pulled up a stool and sat down beside her, looking at the two portraits as he spoke:
"Grandma, when are you planning to go see these two? Before the Mid-Autumn Festival?"
"You... How did you know?" The old woman looked horrified that he had guessed her secret thoughts.
"I had someone read your fortune. You're not fated to die yet. You've got at least seven or eight years left. King Yama isn't coming for you this year," Xue Rui said, feigning profound wisdom.
The old women in the village weren't very educated. They believed whatever they heard. Using superstitious talk was still effective.
"I'm just a curse. My being alive only holds Xixi back. Xixi is a good student! Everyone in the village says she can get into a university."
The old woman began to wipe her tears as she spoke.
"I'm going to take her out of this village in a few days. I'll sponsor her through university and let her see the big city."
Xue Rui said, crossing his legs.
"You've taken a fancy to Xixi, haven't you?"
The old woman wasn't too surprised. From the very beginning, she could tell this boy had a maturity beyond his years.
Besides, the way he stared at her granddaughter was so direct, without the slightest restraint.
Xue Rui was taken aback. 'This old lady is certainly direct,' he thought.
But on second thought, the old woman was right.
If Lin Ruoxi weren't pretty, he wouldn't have been willing to go to all this trouble. He'd have just figured out the general cause and solved the problem with the crudest method possible.
But Lin Ruoxi was just too beautiful, and Xue Rui didn't want to miss this opportunity.
"Grandma, name your price. How much to sell her to me?" Xue Rui said with a nonchalant look.
"Not for sale!" The old woman was angry now, her cane rapping sharply on the table.
"I may be a curse who failed to raise her son right and is now a burden on her granddaughter, but Xixi is not livestock! How could she be sold!"
As she spoke, the old woman moved to drive Xue Rui out.
"It's just business. We can discuss it slowly." Xue Rui pushed the old woman back down into her chair, acting like a persistent pest.
If he acted like a perfect gentleman, he was actually afraid the old woman would feel at ease and go through with dying.
But what if he, Xue Rui, was a hooligan? Would the old woman feel comfortable leaving her granddaughter to a scoundrel like him?
Even though the old woman couldn't do much, she would probably fight with all her might, even if it cost her old bones, to protect her precious granddaughter. Her will to die would surely be diminished.
Lin Ruoxi walked into the living room carrying a basin of hot water. She tilted her head, looking at the two of them. She had heard Xue Rui and her grandmother arguing from the courtyard.
'Even though Xue Rui is unreliable and not very respectful to the elderly, he still has his principles. He wouldn't actually do anything to my grandmother.'
"Grandma, what were you two arguing about just now?"
Lin Ruoxi looked curious. Her grandmother was so old; why was she still arguing with people?
"Our deal didn't go through. I offered a hundred thousand to buy you, but your grandma thought it was too cheap and wouldn't sell," Xue Rui said, spreading his hands.
"A hundred thousand? A girl from the next village got married, and she was as fat as a New Year's pig, but her betrothal gift was a hundred and eighty thousand! Xixi is so beautiful, you can dream on."
The old woman snorted.
"See? I told you we could negotiate," Xue Rui said with a nod.
"Huh?"
Lin Ruoxi's big eyes were filled with confusion. In the time it took her to heat up some water for a foot bath, how had Xue Rui and her grandmother started discussing "selling her"?
It seemed... they were actually haggling.
"Grandma, time to wash your feet." Lin Ruoxi led her grandmother back to her room.
As for Xue Rui, his gaze roamed over Lin Ruoxi's body without any attempt to hide it, making her blush and earning him an increasingly hostile glare from the old woman.
The two went into the room, and the old woman whispered a warning to Lin Ruoxi:
"Xixi, you have to be on your guard against that boy. His intentions aren't pure."
Lin Ruoxi didn't pay it much mind. She reached out to test the water temperature, then placed her grandmother's feet in the basin.
"Grandma, Xue Rui... he's actually a good person," Lin Ruoxi explained.
She wasn't stupid. Every time Xue Rui forced her to do something she didn't want to, she felt a little scared.
But thinking about it afterward, his actions were filled with good intentions. He wasn't really bullying her.
Although he sometimes pinched her cheeks until they hurt, he never did anything too out of line.
"Grandma knows you don't have any friends, but that boy is no good. He's too wild. You can't handle him," the old woman said with a grave expression.
Lin Ruoxi looked up, her eyes full of confusion.
'Me, handle Xue Rui? Why would Grandma even think that?'
But she didn't take it too seriously. When old people get to a certain age, they're like children. Sometimes they just like to say silly things, waiting for someone to humor them.
"I'll listen to you, Grandma," Lin Ruoxi said with a smile.
"Sigh..."
Seeing Lin Ruoxi's reaction, the old woman thought, 'It's over.'
Just then, Xue Rui was lying on the *kang* playing with his phone. Even though it was a Nokia, it could still get on QQ. It was only text chat, but it was much better than watching the black-and-white TV.
On the tiny screen, Xue Rui scrolled to Gu Muxue's QQ profile.
Xue Rui: I was bitten by a spider.
Gu Muxue replied almost instantly: A spider roll? Are you asking me out for sushi?
Xue Rui: ...
It was like talking to a brick wall. A rich young lady like Gu Muxue probably didn't even know what a real spider looked like. It was pointless to even tell her.