Sweet Rebirth: The Little Healer

Damn. Li Guihua had found Wang Dadan’s weak spot. If he still tried to force the issue, he’d have to face their combined pressure.

The copper pipe was an ordinary one, and there was no way to prove it was his. But for Li Guihua to bring it up at this moment clearly meant she suspected him.

If you don’t want anyone to know, you shouldn’t have done it.

Wang Dadan’s conscience was eating him alive, and he absolutely didn’t dare to push his luck.

Wang Dadan was stunned for a moment, then said with a fawning smile, ”Although there’s not much going on in the village, I don’t have the time to do such a thankless job. I only said that before because I was worried these young people were too impulsive and might get into trouble. Since they’re all good youths, there’s no need for a search.”

Wang Dadan changed his tune faster than flipping a page. A moment ago he was aggressive and adamant, and now he was showing a completely different face.

”Heh heh, Director Wang is right. Although the farm work is done for now, we should start our ideological work,” Miao Dahai said. ”Tomorrow, we’ll notify everyone to come to the village for a study session to strengthen their ideological re-education and raise their political consciousness.”

”Yes, yes, I’ll arrange it right away,” Wang Dadan said hurriedly. ”You won’t have to worry about a thing!”

Miao Dahai nodded. Only then did they move all the items to the warehouse, where they would wait to be sold to the supply and marketing co-op in exchange for things the villagers could use.

After Miao Dahai and Li Guihua left, Wang Dadan and Li Siming sat on chairs in the village, neither saying a word. Their faces were grim, their hearts filled with rage.

Accountant Li dared not speak, afraid he would anger Wang Dadan.

After a long while, Wang Dadan finally recovered, saying coldly, ”Am I going to be trapped in the palm of their hands for the rest of my life? Am I going to be threatened by them forever?”

”You, at least you’re still young. Don’t be hasty,” Li Siming said earnestly. ”Miao Dahai and Li Guihua are both old foxes. The two of us might not be a match for them, at least not right now! We have to be patient. A little impatience spoils great plans!”

”That’s why I’m so angry,” Wang Dadan said grimly. ”No, I have to think of a plan! Since Miao Dahai wants to be a bleeding-heart, I’ll let him be one until he’s sick of it. The village isn’t chaotic enough right now. I need to bring more people in. More people means more chaos. And once things get chaotic, we’ll have our chance.”

Accountant Li had recently benefited from Wang Dadan’s generosity, so he was naturally willing to cooperate. Besides, their past dealings had already tied them together like two grasshoppers on the same rope. Helping Wang Dadan was the same as helping himself.

As for what little conscience he had, it had long since been devoured by dogs in the face of profit, vanishing without a trace.

If he sucked up to Wang Dadan now, his son could go to the city. In the future, his daughter’s job would also be secured—she could become a worker in the city with an iron rice bowl, then find a good husband and never have to worry about food or drink for the rest of her life.

”What’s your next move, then?” Li Siming asked. ’If it’s a good plan, I’ll cooperate. I’m just afraid his plan will be terrible and drag me down with him!’

Wang Dadan smiled and whispered a few words in Li Siming’s ear, his grin cunning and treacherous.

After listening, Accountant Li nodded repeatedly, in complete agreement. He felt that by doing this, they could fish in troubled waters and seize the opportunity to gain the upper hand.

While the two were plotting, Miao Dahai and Li Guihua were also devising their own countermeasures.

”Miao, that Wang Dadan is eyeing your position like a hungry tiger!” Li Guihua shared a common interest with Miao Dahai because her son who worked in the city, Zhao Jian Country, was married to Miao Dahai’s daughter, Miao Xiaohong. Thus, the two families had a solid relationship; you could say they flourished together and fell together.

Miao Dahai took a sip of hot tea and said slowly, ”That punk Wang Dadan has ambition, but he’s not worth worrying about. After all, he’s not an upright man and he’s made plenty of mistakes. We could take him down with any one of them. The one I’m worried about is Li Siming. On the surface, he’s a good old boy, but if there’s a profit to be made, there’s nothing he wouldn’t do. He’s full of dirty tricks that he keeps well hidden.”

Li Guihua agreed with Miao Dahai.

”People of a kind flock together!” Li Guihua added. ”That Li Siming is no good, and Liu Lanhua is even worse—warm on the outside, but poisonous on the inside. She was so chummy with those two young women, Wang Yuan and Li Qiong. If you told me she didn’t have some ulterior motive, not even a ghost would believe you.”

”That woman is rotten to the core, utterly shameless,” Miao Dahai sneered. ”When you have a moment, go talk to the kids at the Dragon King Temple. Don’t let them get sold and still help the traffickers count the money! Wang Dadan was willing to strike once, and he’ll do it again. If they’re still foolish enough to be deceived and ignore our advice, they’ll have no one to blame but themselves.”

This was also a brilliant move against Wang Dadan, one that might come in handy later.

”Mm, I will,” Li Guihua nodded. ”Those kids aren’t fools. They can tell good from bad.”

When Zhao Nuanyue and the others returned to their residence, they were still on edge, even though they had already put their things away.

Late into the night, Wang Dadan still hadn’t shown up with anyone.

”I bet Uncle Miao will keep Wang Dadan in check, so we don’t need to worry,” Zhao Nuanyue said. ”They have no proof for the things we kept, so they can’t do anything to us. Besides, Wang Dadan and Li Siming’s own houses aren’t exactly clean. If they insist on searching our place, we’ll make a huge scene and report Wang Dadan and Accountant Li. The village committee will have to send people to search their homes too. And if the committee does nothing and protects Wang Dadan and Li Siming, then we’ll go to the county. We’ll find someone who will listen to reason somewhere.”

Yang Guanghui agreed. ”Right. Let’s get some sleep. We just have to stick to our story that we turned everything in. No one can do anything to us then.”

”Mm-hmm.” Li Qiong and Wang Yuan both nodded, agreeing to present a united front.

Several nerve-wracking days passed, but there was no movement from Wang Dadan.

Zhao Nuanyue secretly went to observe Wang Dadan, only to find he wasn’t in the village but had gone to the county seat. So, her consciousness could only follow Liu Lanhua and Li Siming to watch them instead. It had to be said, the husband and wife duo of Li Siming and Liu Lanhua were very good at hiding their true nature. Their malevolence was hidden in private, and anyone who didn’t know their true colors would be deceived.

Even those who knew the truth could still be taken advantage of if they weren’t careful.

After following them for several days in a row, Zhao Nuanyue found nothing.

Even after Wang Dadan returned from the county seat, Zhao Nuanyue didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. Liu Lanhua didn’t even come to see Wang Yuan and Li Qiong during the day anymore.

Zhao Nuanyue didn’t dare to let her guard down. She feared this was the darkness before the dawn, the easiest time to be caught off guard before the enemy leaped out to take her life.

Almost every night, Zhao Nuanyue had to wander in the water. With the help of the Dragon Scale, although she was still an ethereal shadow in the water, she had already mastered the trick. She could make her shadow appear at any location she chose and dissipate in an instant.

At the same time, her sensory abilities had also grown much stronger.

She was also now discovering that as her powers grew, the Dragon Scale became brighter and brighter. At the same time, more fish and shrimp began to appear in the waters of Nianqiao Village, making its bounty all the more abundant.