Chapter 234: Our whole family will still need your help.

Chapter 234: Our whole family will still need your help.

The villager and Li Xuefeng exchanged glances and both had a plan in mind.

The villager first returned home and, reluctantly, took out a few pieces of candy. She handed them to Li Xuefeng, telling her to use the candy to build a rapport with the two Yujia children.

Li Xuefeng was not very happy when she saw this.

She and her mother had not eaten much candy during their visit to her aunt in South Tuo Village, and now she was being asked to give up some to coax the children. She felt a bit unwilling to part with it.

The villager gave her a reproachful look and lowered her voice to instruct her, "The Yujia family is well-off. Don't treat the candy as something precious; they probably eat candy all the time... Besides, you have to spend a little to gain a lot. Once you build a good relationship with those two children and find an opportunity to meet their older brother, and if you marry into the Yujia family, living in their big house, enjoying delicious food every day, and being waited on by maids, you'll be in a position where our whole family will still need your help."

The villager's words intrigued Li Xuefeng.

She was confident in her beauty and had always been unwilling to live a hard life. The future her aunt painted for her hit the mark perfectly, especially since she was known for her beauty in the surrounding area.

Li Xuefeng clutched the pieces of candy and, together with the villager, approached the children.

...

Xingxing and Ju Geer were playing with a bamboo-vine ball that Fourth Uncle had made for them.

The ball was woven from bamboo and vines, giving it elasticity, and it would bounce back up after lightly hitting the ground.

The two little ones were having a great time playing catch.

In just a short while, they had already attracted quite a few children over.

Xingxing and Ju Geer were not stingy children, and they started playing the ball game with the village kids.

Just as they were having fun, a gentle voice suddenly came over, "This ball is really interesting. Where did you buy it?"

At that moment, the ball was in Xingxing's hands.

Xingxing hugged the bamboo-vine ball and looked up to see two adults standing nearby, smiling warmly at them.

One of them, Xingxing had seen before when she was taking a walk with Wei Pozi to aid digestion. Xingxing remembered that her grandmother had asked her to call the woman "Aunt Zhang."

Xingxing greeted her politely, "Hello, Aunt Zhang."

As for the younger-looking one, Xingxing didn't recognize her and felt a bit hesitant, not knowing how to address her. After a moment of hesitation, she decided not to greet her but explained instead, "This bamboo-vine ball was made by Fourth Uncle, it wasn't bought."

Villager Zhang, seeing that the little girl remembered her, smiled with her eyes, "Oh, what a sweet little girl."

She nudged her niece, "This is my niece, Li Xuefeng, who is visiting the village. You can call her Sister Xuefeng."

Xingxing responded with an "Oh," and obediently called out, "Sister Xuefeng."

Li Xuefeng and Zhang exchanged a glance, both with a flash of joy in their eyes.

This little girl was quite easy to talk to.

"Hurry up and pass the ball," Ju Geer urged, growing impatient.

"Coming, coming," Xingxing immediately forgot about Li Xuefeng and Zhang, and with her small hands, pushed the bamboo-vine ball in her arms forward, tossing it to the next player, Ju Geer.

The children were happily playing with the bamboo-vine ball, and Li Xuefeng and Zhang watched for a while, unable to find another chance to join in the conversation.

Zhang grew impatient and whispered to Li Xuefeng, "You stay here and look for another opportunity. I have chores to do at home, so I'll head back first."

Although Li Xuefeng was growing a bit impatient, she thought about the big courtyard she'd have in the future and the maids who would serve her, so she nodded.

Luckily, the wait wasn’t for nothing.

After playing with the bamboo and vine ball for a while, the children wanted to switch to a different game. Xingxing wasn’t into that game, so she waved to Ju Geer and the others with the ball in her arms, saying, "I'm going home to rest."

Ju Geer led a group of kids away noisily, and Xingxing, still holding the bamboo and vine ball, was about to head home when Li Xuefeng hurried over, greeted Xingxing with a smile, and offered her some malt candy.

Xingxing remembered the last time when Zhou Wuniang gave her and Ju Geer some candy, which later caused a quarrel with her grandmother. She felt a bit uneasy.

When this newly acquainted "Sister Snow Phoenix" offered her candy, Xingxing instinctively took a step back and shook her head, saying, "Thank you, Sister, but Xingxing doesn’t want any."

Li Xuefeng’s smile faltered.

"Why don’t you want it? You don’t like candy?" Li Xuefeng asked Xingxing.

Xingxing shyly shook her head. "I already have some candy, thank you, Sister. I don’t want any."

Li Xuefeng became a bit anxious, thinking this child was being difficult.

"Is there something else you need, Sister?" Xingxing asked. "If not, I’m going home now."

Feeling anxious, Li Xuefeng quickly thought of a way to win Xingxing over.

She softened her expression, smiled, and said, "You’re called Xingxing, right? Dear sister, I’m from another village and I’m not very familiar with our South Tuo Village. Can you show me around a bit?"

This was simple. Though Xingxing was young, she was always warm and genuine. Hearing this, she immediately said, "Sure! But, Sister Snow Phoenix, you’ll have to wait a moment while I put this bamboo and vine ball back."

Li Xuefeng was worried that Xingxing might not come back out after going inside, so she insisted on walking Xingxing to the door and stood there with a smile, saying, "I’ll wait for you here. Go put the ball away, and then we’ll go."

"Okay!" Xingxing agreed.

Bai Xiaofeng, who was watching Bang Geer at the Yujia house, heard the commotion and came out to see what was going on. She saw Xingxing running with sweat on her forehead.

Bai Xiaofeng grabbed Xingxing, took out a handkerchief from her pocket, and gently wiped the sweat off Xingxing’s forehead, scolding her gently, "Why are you running so fast? Careful, you might fall! Grandma would be heartbroken."

Xingxing let Bai Xiaofeng wipe her face without protest and said with a slightly embarrassed smile, "I’ll run more slowly next time."

Bai Xiaofeng chuckled. "Why are you in such a hurry? Where are you going?"

Xingxing pointed to the gate. "That sister wants me to show her around South Tuo Village."

Bai Xiaofeng let out an inquisitive sound, recognizing the girl who had come with Zhang Shi earlier that morning.

She understood immediately that the girl was probably trying a roundabout approach.

With a half-smiling glance, Bai Xiaofeng gave Li Xuefeng a look that seemed to see through everything. Li Xuefeng felt a flush of embarrassment and took a couple of steps back.

Bai Xiaofeng didn’t stop Xingxing. She saw it as someone offering to give Xingxing a free tour. She wiped Xingxing’s hands again and instructed, "Just walk around the village, don’t go too far, okay?"

Xingxing smiled and nodded. "I got it, Second Auntie!"

Bai Xiaofeng lovingly gave Xingxing’s little bottom a gentle pat. "Go on and play."

With a shy smile, Xingxing ran out of the gate.

Li Xuefeng had composed herself by now. Seeing Xingxing come out, she quickly went over and took Xingxing’s hand. "Let me hold your hand."