Her wish granted, Chi Wan was extremely satisfied. She gave Li Xingye's hand another shake. "Thanks, Boss! Let's head out now!"
With that, she let go of Li Xingye's hand without a second thought and strode quickly down the mountain.
As for Li Xingye, who had been a bit tense, his hand suddenly felt empty. He should have been relieved, but instead, he felt a strange sense of disappointment.
Shaking off those jumbled thoughts, Li Xingye cleared his throat, trying to change the subject. "Actually, you don't have to keep calling me 'Boss.' I'm probably not that much older than you. You... can just call me brother."
In Li Xingye's mind, Chi Wan calling him 'brother' would sound about the same as when Qiangzi and the others did.
But he soon realized it had been a terrible suggestion.
Because Chi Wan was all too happy to agree. "Okay! You're two years older than me, so from now on, I'll call you... Brother Xingye? Brother Ye? Or just... Brother?"
As Chi Wan's calls grew progressively sweeter, Li Xingye finally understood what it felt like to shoot himself in the foot.
He couldn't stop himself from clapping his hands over his ears. The heat radiating from his palms was astonishing; he suspected his whole face was about to burst into flames.
Heaven knows he'd never been this flustered, not even when facing a zombie horde.
Chi Wan was completely unaware that this seemingly invincible master of superpowers had nearly been brought to his knees by a simple form of address.
'The Boss had extended an olive branch, so it was only right for her to return the favor.' she thought.
So she said, quite naturally, "In that case, you can just call me Wanwan from now on... Brother Xingye."
'Considering their current relationship,' she thought, 'this felt like the most appropriate name to use.'
Li Xingye only managed a muffled "mhm" in reply.
Chi Wan didn't think much of it, her mind completely preoccupied with the house that would soon be surrounded by a thicket of thorns!
'Liu Dali and his cronies were definitely going to prison, but they still had family and friends. You can never be too careful. Now that the issue with the fruit trees was resolved, her family would surely be staying in the village for an extended period.'
'With these protective shrubs, she'd be able to rest a little easier when she eventually went away for school.'
Eager to tell Chi Yuanshan and Song Yinghe about the fruit trees, Chi Wan practically flew down the mountain path.
But as she arrived, breathless, near her front gate, she saw another crowd gathered there.
Her parents, Chi Yuanshan and Song Yinghe, were standing at the gate, their expressions incredibly grim.
Chi Wan's good mood evaporated in an instant. She frowned and walked over, only to see it was the village chief again, along with the all-too-familiar Xu Cuifen and her group.
"What's going on? You gather at our gate every day. Don't you people have anything better to do?"
Upon hearing Chi Wan's voice, Xu Cuifen, surprisingly, looked pleased instead of angry.
She plastered on a thoroughly phony smile and said to Chi Wan, "Well, well, little girl. You're just in time. Since your whole family's here, hurry up and pack your things. Stop taking up the village's space."
The village chief added, with a smile that didn't reach his eyes, "Here's the thing. The village has a rule: those who have moved to the city cannot inherit the family homestead. So, technically, this plot of land has been reclaimed by the village. You can't live here, let alone renovate the house."
Chi Wan looked at her parents and saw their faces were ashen. They were so stunned they couldn't utter a single word of protest.
'She had a sinking feeling the rule might be real. But they were all from the same village; if the chief wanted to be flexible, it surely wouldn't be impossible.'
'The village chief was wielding his petty authority like a royal decree. This was clearly retaliation for her getting Liu Dali and his goons arrested!'
Seeing the Chi family fall silent, Xu Cuifen's face was a mask of smug triumph. She sneered, "We know you wouldn't have come crawling back to the village if you weren't down on your luck. We're all fellow villagers, after all. We couldn't bear to see you thrown out onto the street."
"So, how about this? You go to the police station, sign a letter of forgiveness to get my Dali released, and I'll let you stay in our family's old house for a bit."
A man behind her suddenly spoke up. "But sis, that house was turned into a pigsty. No one can live there."
Xu Cuifen scoffed. "Isn't there a little shack next to the pigsty? The three of them can squeeze in there just fine. My Dali had to suffer through hard times, too, you know. Why? Is it suddenly not good enough for them?"
Chi Yuanshan couldn't even be bothered to engage with them anymore. He turned to the village chief and said, "Give me one day. We'll be gone by tomorrow morning."
Before the village chief could reply, Xu Cuifen interjected, "Absolutely not! The village has its rules, and we can't bend them for your family. If you're leaving, leave now!"
The village chief put on a troubled expression. "Yuanshan, it's not that I'm unwilling to be flexible, but everyone is watching. Besides, the house should have been reclaimed immediately, yet we've already let you stay for several days. So, you see..."
Watching their disgusting display, Chi Wan felt the lunch she'd just eaten churn in her stomach.
Her voice was crisp and resolute. "Fine, we'll move. But Liu Dali and his cronies getting out of jail? In your dreams! And you'd better remember this: you're forcing my family out today, but don't you dare come crying and begging for us to come back later!"
Xu Cuifen spat, "You little brat with ambitions higher than the sky and a fate as thin as paper! Get the hell out of our village! You've done nothing but stir up trouble since the moment you arrived! Who the hell would want you back?"
"Exactly! You come back and snatch the orchard, but then you don't even know how to take care of it! You've ruined a perfectly good orchard. The village's income will probably take a huge hit this year. You're lucky we aren't making you pay for the damages!"
"Hurry up and move! Stop squatting on village land!"
...
Chi Yuanshan could no longer contain his fury. He roared, "All of you, get out! After benefiting from our family's orchard for so many years, forget a single word of thanks, you dare to turn on us like this! Feeding the fruit to dogs would be a better use for it than giving it to any of you!"
"I'm moving right now, so you can all get the hell out! And another thing—even if the land goes back to the village, we still have the right to use the house! The most you can do is stop us from renovating it! Say one more word, and I'll file a formal complaint with the higher-ups!"
The village chief's expression flickered. He didn't dare push the man too far. He quickly put on a placating smile. "Now, now, Yuanshan, this is all very flexible. It's just our own village's custom. How about this? I'll give you an extra night. You can take your time moving. No rush, eh?"
With that, he led the others away.
Chi Yuanshan took several harsh, gasping breaths. He'd been angrier in the two days since returning to the village than in his entire life combined.
Once he had calmed down a little, he said in a low voice, "Wanwan, Ah He, I've failed you... I've made you suffer alongside me. It's because I'm useless. I..."
Hearing the choked sob in Chi Yuanshan's voice, Song Yinghe couldn't stop her own tears from falling.
But she quickly wiped her tears away, took Chi Yuanshan's arm, and said through gritted teeth, "Old Chi, don't be afraid! We built our lives from scratch once before, and we can do it again! If a man like Liu Dali can make a fortune off that orchard, why on earth can't we?"