The program team quickly established the new workflow. However, they didn't have the contract yet as they needed the approval from Sheng Yuxiao's mother before they could proceed.
Sheng Yuxiao stood on a small hill with a decrepit house swaying behind him.
He forcibly held Li Xiaoya's head with one hand, making her stay on his side while calling his mother with his phone on the other hand.
The call was quickly answered.
A cold voice came from the other side, "I thought they would confiscate your phone immediately."
"I'm sorry to disappoint you," Sheng Yuxiao sarcastically replied first, then continued, "Do you remember the program schedule that was sent to you before? The program team arranged for me to live in the village chief's house. However, I find it too luxurious, which is detrimental to meeting your expectations for me, mom. Hence, I proactively requested to live somewhere more dilapidated..."
On the other end, Sheng Yuxiao's mother, Xu Qiulai, put her phone down and starred at the screen to confirm the caller identity.
The number and the voice were correct.
Had her son been possessed by a ghost?
"Why aren't you speaking?"
"Do you think I'm crazy?" Sheng Yuxiao asked twice in succession.
"No, I was just thinking about what new trick you are planning," she replied calmly.
Sheng Yuxiao gulped, "Are you really my biological mother?"
"Because I am indeed your mother, I understand you so well. Give the phone to the director and let him talk to me," she ordered.
Helplessly shrugging his shoulders, Sheng Yuxiao handed over the phone like calling a dog, "Director! Take the call!"
The director daren't delay and gratefully accepted.
"Find a quiet spot and tell me the real situation." Xu Qiulai's voice rose from the other end.
The director hastily held the phone and ran to the side. Obviously, in front of Sheng Yuxiao, the director dared not to even fart.
It took less than five minutes for the director to explain the situation, stressing particularly on Li Family Village's evaluation of Li Xiaoya.
"Indeed, the child seems to have a bad character. Yet for some reason, Sheng resisted and insisted on living here..." The director said assuredly, "We are also very worried that she might take advantage and pin herself on the Sheng Family."
"So what you're suggesting is that we should leave this matter as it is?" the director asked delicately.
Sheng Yuxiao's mother, Xu Qiulai, was an artist by profession. However, her personality was more like a decisive businesswoman.
After hearing the director's complaints about Li Xiaoya, she said calmly, "Let him be...If he can't even handle this little issue, there's no point in inheriting the Sheng Family's fortune in the future."
The director was momentarily stunned at this.
And thus, the matter was settled.
The contract was quickly drawn up as well.
"Give that to me for a look," Sheng Yuxiao signaled, fetching the newly made contract in front of him.
"You plan to have her grandfather sign this?" Sheng Yuxiao furrowed his brows.
"Well, she's still a minor. Even if she signed it, it wouldn't have any legal effect."
"No." Sheng Yuxiao denied categorically.
He and Grandpa Li had hardly spoken a few words, but Sheng Yuxiao felt an instinctive distrust towards him deep in his heart.
"Um... How much money is there?" Li Xiaoya put forth her question in a frail voice.
The production crew wore a faintly changing expression. So she's in a hurry to get the money, too? She really is just like her grandpa.
Sheng Yuxiao, without thinking too much, glanced at the contract and said, "Twenty thousand... wait, isn't twenty thousand too little? Are you guys dismissing a beggar?"
The crew: "…"
The crew wiped their sweat and persuaded him in a low voice, "Sheng, you can't disrupt the market rules."
"I am paying. I want to, any problem?"
"…" "It's not about that. You need to think. Suddenly giving a huge sum of money isn't a good thing for a poverty-stricken household rooted in a mountain village. Not only can it attract covetous eyes, it might also…"
The crew didn't finish the sentence, implying that it might also attract greedy people and engender greater ambitions.
Thankfully, at this moment, Sheng Yuxiao seemed convinced. He said, "Alright." And after not a beat he asked Li Xiaoya: "Is it enough?"
Although, he speculated that this young girl probably didn't understand how much twenty thousand really was.
Li Xiaoya looked right into his eyes, her pupils dilating slightly and her eyes seemingly even brighter.
She asked softly, "Can we not give the money to Grandpa?"
"Then who do you want to give it to?" asked a crew member.
This scene was not avoided by the camera, so the comments were rampant again:
"A kid wanting to embezzle money privately?"
"I don't understand why the Sheng family allows Sheng Yuxiao to interact with her."
"To give it to Aunt Man from the village, Uncle Bin..." Li Xiaoya listed a few names by counting on her fingers, completely beyond the crew's expectations.
"Give it to them for what?" The crew in surprise, changed their tune.
"My dad swindled money from them before he left. I want to pay them back." Li Xiaoya said seriously.
"Dear God! Her dad is such a man?"
"What sort of hellish start is this for a young little girl?"
"Don't whitewash it. Even if her native family is so bad, it's not an excuse for her liking stealing, robbing, and lying."
"Do as she says." Sheng Yuxiao darkly interrupted.
"Yes, yes." The crew member, recovering from the shock, looked at the slightly malnourished girl with a much more complex gaze.
"Right, we had given Grandpa Li a thousand before we left. It was meant as a mental damage fee for Li Xiaoya." The crew member hesitated a bit, but then added an explanation.
Sheng Yuxiao frowned, "What are you guys doing? If it's compensation for Li Xiaoya, why didn't you give it to her directly?"
The crew member suddenly looked embarrassed.
Sheng Yuxiao squatted down and asked Li Xiaoya, "Did you know about this?"
Li Xiaoya shook her head blankly.
Grandpa hadn't told her about receiving the money.
Sheng Yuxiao didn't say anything else.
This money... he had to get it back for Li Xiaoya. She couldn't be bullied just because she was young.
This Grandpa Li, an utterly disrespectful old man!
The director-general came over at this time and said carefully, "Your mother asked us to take your phone."
Sheng Yuxiao originally wanted to lose his temper, but considering that he was coming to Li Xiaoya's place and the crew were quite cooperative, there was no need for such tension.
So he very obligingly handed over his phone.
The director-general breathed a sigh of relief: "If you want to use the phone, you have to exchange it with points."
"Points?" Sheng Yuxiao knew that this was to explain the next program rule, all for the sake of increasing watchability.
The director-general passed the rules to him.
Sheng Yuxiao looked down:
Getting up early, 1 point.
Going up the mountain to pick fruit, pick mushrooms to exchange money, etc., 10 yuan = 1 point.
Respecting teachers at school, 1 point.
Book corner volunteer, 1 point.
...
10 points could be exchanged for 1 minute of phone use.
【Looks like Madam Xu’s expectation for her son is very low, even respecting teachers could earn points.】
【The conditions are so strict, there’s not enough time to make a call in one minute】
【It’s unscientific that Sheng Yuxiao did not get angry】
"This collection is too slow," Sheng Yuxiao frowned, "My mother wants to change my nature, right? Do good deeds and good things add points or not?"
The director hesitated for a moment and said, "Yes."
Sheng Yuxiao nodded, "Well, add this rule."
The director-general quickly asked an assistant for a pen.
When the new rules have been added, Sheng Yuxiao pointed to Li Xiaoya and asked, "Does this count as doing good deeds?"
The director general: “...” He had been waiting for him here.
The director-general: "Yes."
"Just add 1 point, the shoes are something I owe, it does not count." Sheng Yuxiao said generously.
The director-general was relieved, that's good. Otherwise, if Sheng Dasha relentlessly treats Li Xiaoya well, wouldn't the points system collapse due to inflation?
Li Xiaoya raised her hand weakly at this time: "I have to go to school now."
Sheng Yuxiao's previously tired face suddenly lit up.
He said: "Let’s go, together."
On the other side.
Li Qingqing asked for some things from the housekeeper and made a hand-drawn picture herself.
She used Morandi's color which would only become popular in the following years. The matching was quite harmonious and stunning at first sight.
The barrage froze:
【How did she create this? This kid is really outstanding, not at all like a rural child】
Li Qingqing couldn't see the online comments, but she could still guess how others would praise her.
She couldn't help but smile.
She remembered that Sheng Yuxiao's mother, Madam Xu, was a painter... this trick of hers should be particularly pleasing to Madam Xu, right?
Li Qingqing took the picture downstairs, asked softly, “Mr. Butler, when will Uncle and Aunt come back?”
The butler didn't change his expression and said, “They won't be back today.”
Li Qingqing disappointingly returned to her room and walked into the bathroom. It was the only place without a camera.
She quietly took out her phone. It was the one her father stuffed to her before they set off. She wanted to see how the program was doing now... how was that Young Master Sheng getting along in her home?
But as soon as she took it out—
In silent mode, there were 39 missed calls.
All from home.
Li Qingqing's face changed. What had happened?