Wei Wenjuan and Wei Wenqing were so nervous and flustered largely because Ke Muning's reputation in the outside world was indeed very poor.
Crazy and cruel.
These were the words most commonly used to describe him.
So for someone like Ke Muning, drowning Li Xiaoya in the sea in front of everyone would be considered a more "normal" behavior.
Taking Li Xiaoya to "play" parasailing and then going shopping for clothes was what seemed "abnormal".
Wei Wenjuan was confused by this "unusual" behavior and could only choose to... continue observing.
Meanwhile, Ke Muning had gained a new understanding of Li Xiaoya.
The reason he acted crazy was indeed that simple - just for his own amusement. He hadn't thought that much about it initially, let alone analyze the pros and cons.
But this child was different. She had made such a choice after clearly analyzing the advantages and disadvantages.
How interesting!
Ke Muning gradually stopped laughing and carried her up the stairs.
At this point, Li Xiaoya used her phone to translate another sentence. She said, "This way, there's one more person in the world who doesn't care."
Ke Muning paused for a moment before he understood what she meant.
A big crazy person and a little crazy person - of course, the little one wouldn't care if the big one was crazy or not.
Ke Muning excitedly said to Secretary Wang, "This little friend of yours is so much fun!"
Secretary Wang smiled slightly, thinking to himself that he also found her quite amusing. Unfortunately, she wasn't his.
At this moment, Ke Muning's subordinates suddenly drove up in a beach buggy.
Although the translation was a bit slow, this time Li Xiaoya didn't miss the content of their conversation.
"We just discovered something very strange," the subordinate said.
"What is it?"
"Wei Er is monitoring us."
"...Huh?" Ke Muning laughed, "He's monitoring us? Were we discovered when we landed? Well, it's not surprising. I might not recognize their faces, but my face is quite recognizable."
"But why would he want to monitor us?" The subordinate couldn't understand this point.
Li Xiaoya lowered her eyes, trying hard not to show any unusual reaction.
"Monitoring one's enemy, just like I monitor him," Ke Muning said calmly.
"But those two brothers, due to their physical condition, haven't been involved in business for a long time. When they saw you coming, they couldn't run away fast enough. How would they dare to actively monitor you?"
"Not involved in business? That's probably in the past. Otherwise, they wouldn't appear here. It suggests that their psychological trauma might have healed."
The subordinate shuddered upon hearing this: "Then we should be wary of Wei Er turning the tables on you."
Ke Muning put Li Xiaoya down and stroked his chin, saying, "Why don't we have the sniper kill him now? We can find the other one slowly."
Li Xiaoya's heart tightened.
Her brain instinctively experienced a wave of intense dizziness.
This time she didn't type for translation; that would be too slow, and her hands might shake.
She quickly used voice input.
So the phone's AI voice cut in: "With so many people around, how can you ensure accurately killing just him?"
Ke Muning smiled at Secretary Wang: "Did you send her to learn from us secretly?"
Secretary Wang replied nonchalantly: "Is there any need for secrecy?"
He bent down and told Li Xiaoya with a smile: "He probably arranged multiple snipers, shooting from multiple angles to maximize the chance of a fatal shot. They might fire a blank first, so people on the beach would scatter in panic. His target is in a wheelchair and can't move as easily on the soft sand, so the area around him would clear more quickly..."
"Alright, alright," Ke Muning interrupted him.
Li Xiaoya quickly tugged on Ke Muning's sleeve.
Ke Muning bent down as well.
Li Xiaoya used her phone to ask him: "How can he guess your thoughts?"
Ke Muning's mouth twitched: "I'm crazy, not stupid. Any smart person would think of arranging multiple snipers simultaneously."
Ke Muning shrugged: "But maybe he's also a bit crazy deep down."
"Oh." Li Xiaoya held onto his sleeve, not letting go, wanting to delay a bit more.
But at this moment, the subordinate spoke again: "So, sir, shall we proceed as planned?"
Ke Muning nodded.
That anxious feeling of dizziness intensified.
Li Xiaoya breathed softly, not daring to reveal anything.
But facing such a crisis was beyond what a child could handle.
What to do? What to do?
Second Uncle would die.
No.
She didn't want another relative to die.
A loud "pop" sounded.
Everyone was startled.
Ke Muning instinctively grabbed Li Xiaoya and dove to the ground. Secretary Wang almost simultaneously reached out and grabbed Li Xiaoya's collar, pulling her along.
The three of them tumbled into the woods by the roadside.
Ke Muning had one hand pressed on Li Xiaoya's left shoulder, while Secretary Wang had one hand on her right shoulder.
Then, using the height of the stone steps as cover, they slowly peeked out...
Secretary Wang was quite exasperated: "It's fireworks."
Ke Muning: "..." "Reflex action, sorry."
"There are more people on the beach now," Ke Muning suddenly noticed.
"They were all attracted by the fireworks," Secretary Wang chuckled, patting the dust off his clothes.
"The sound of fireworks makes for excellent cover for a murder scene," Ke Muning laughed as well.
But at this moment, the subordinate's phone rang.
After answering, he said with a grim expression: "We've lost the target."
"Ah." Ke Muning didn't get angry, "No wonder they suddenly set off fireworks. Looks like they've grown a brain."
On the other side.
Someone was pushing Wei Wenjuan, running frantically into a villa.
The door opened.
A tall young man standing inside slowly turned around and said, "Xiaoya, you don't need to worry. Someone will protect her."
"Young Master Sheng, why are you here too?" Wei Wenjuan was surprised.
The Sheng family... they really stepped in?
Wei Wenjuan's eyes instantly welled up with tears, feeling that they, as uncles and grandfathers, were truly incompetent.
Back on this side.
Li Xiaoya also slowly stood up, the aftereffects of her intense emotional fluctuations suddenly manifesting.
She fell backwards.
Ke Muning and Secretary Wang heard the movement and almost simultaneously turned and caught her.
But now they also saw that her knee was scraped.
"Does she faint at the sight of blood?" Ke Muning wondered.
If so, she wouldn't make much of a little crazy person after all.
Secretary Wang's eyelids flickered as he said, "Probably heat stroke."
The climate here was completely different from back home, so heat stroke wasn't surprising.
Ke Muning said, "Kids are such trouble."
But after saying that, he still hoisted Li Xiaoya up.
The subordinate pressed: "So about the sniping..."
"We've lost the target, so we'll wait," Ke Muning replied.
"What if they escape during the night..."
"Ha." Ke Muning laughed, "Isn't he counter-monitoring me? He probably doesn't want to give up the chance to snipe me either. This is great. I won't leave, and neither will he. We'll see who kills whom first."
Ke Muning said excitedly, "How interesting. Much more interesting than killing two oblivious fools."
Ke Muning took Li Xiaoya to where he was staying, with Secretary Wang accompanying them.
The family doctor knelt in front of Li Xiaoya, treating the scrapes on her knee and palm.
"You didn't bring any medication for heat stroke?" Ke Muning asked Secretary Wang.
Secretary Wang spread his hands: "No."
Ke Muning thought to himself, how could he be even worse at taking care of children than himself?
"Go buy her a hat, then she won't get heat stroke."