Siheyuan: A Very Happy Era

Chapter 555 I knew I couldn't hide this from you
"Qiangzi, it's me."

When Xu Wanling looked up and saw Li Guoqiang's figure, she stopped abruptly, and a look of fear appeared on her face.

In the past, she might have been able to comfort herself by thinking that Li Guoqiang was just an ordinary Confucian scholar, and that she didn't need to be afraid of him.

Now, Li Guoqiang has become a deputy section chief, the same level as the deputy director of the commune.

Furthermore, given Li Guoqiang's relationship with the county leaders, no matter how proud she was, she had no choice but to bow her head in front of him.

"Comrade Xu Wanling, what brings you to my house?"

Li Guoqiang walked up to Xu Wanling, frowned slightly as he looked at her, and a hint of displeasure was visible on his face.

"I...I came here to talk to Xiuzhen and the others!"

Xu Wanling lowered her head slightly and answered somewhat haltingly.

"Really? You don't have to work in the fields now?"

Li Guoqiang raised an eyebrow, then spoke in a deep voice to raise his questions.

"I've already asked the captain for leave!"

Xu Wanling's heart tightened, and she hurriedly began to explain.

In fact, she didn't come here to talk to Shang Xiuzhen and the others at all. She came to ask Shang Xiuzhen and the others for help, to see if she could go to the beekeeping research institute with Li Guoqiang.

Although this beekeeping research institute is located deep in the mountains, the living conditions are much more difficult than in Jinshanbao.

However, she believed that Li Guoqiang must have the ability to solve these problems; otherwise, how could Li Guoqiang have brought his wife and children into the deep mountains?

Moreover, once you get into the research institute, it's like having a respectable job, and you'll never have to work in the fields again.

Perhaps she'll have another chance to go back to the city someday!
What really annoyed her was that Shang Xiuzhen, Pan Qiaoyan, and the others didn't consider their past relationship at all and refused to help her talk to Li Guoqiang.

Thinking of this, a look of regret suddenly appeared in her eyes as she looked at Li Guoqiang.

If she had been more affectionate towards Li Guoqiang back then, wouldn't she be spared the hardship of working in the fields every day now?

At this moment, Li Guoqiang had no idea what Xu Wanling was thinking. He glanced at her briefly after hearing her answer, then said nothing and walked straight toward the door.

Just as he passed by Xu Wanling, her expression changed drastically, and then she suddenly reached out and grabbed his arm.

"Qiangzi, I want to go to the beekeeping research institute. I want to go with you. I'm willing to do anything you ask me to do. Please take me with you!"

"I'm sorry, I don't have that authority. If you really want to work at the research institute, you can apply to the county leaders."

Li Guoqiang glanced at Xu Wanling's arm, then looked at her humble expression, and shook his head without thinking.

Although Xu Wanling was quite good-looking, he could sense from the beginning that she had ulterior motives, so he couldn't bring himself into such big trouble for a mere bite of food.

"Qiangzi, I really know I was wrong. I was wrong before. I shouldn't have looked down on you. I was so blind to your worth. Please, just be kind and give me a chance to make amends, okay?"

When Xu Wanling saw that Li Guoqiang had rejected her so readily, she became anxious and hurriedly pleaded in a humble tone.

Keep in mind that it has only been less than two years since she came to Jinshanbao, but she looks at least four or five years older than before.

Especially when she stands with Shang Xiuzhen and others, people are willing to believe that she is Shang Xiuzhen's aunt.

She couldn't imagine how old she would look if things continued like this for another three to five years.
This was something she found completely unacceptable, given her tendency to be narcissistic and vain.

Therefore, in order to become as young and beautiful as Shang Xiuzhen and others, she would be more than willing to be Li Guoqiang's concubine, or even a maid.

Unfortunately, Li Guoqiang had absolutely no interest in her. He simply shook off her hand and walked into the house without a word, as if he couldn't be bothered to waste any more words with her.

Seeing this, her eyes reddened, and she wanted to chase after him to continue pestering him, but she was afraid of angering Li Guoqiang.

Left with no other choice, she could only turn around, cover her face, and stumble away, filled with regret.

"Hey, Qiangzi, you're back!"

"Yes, I took care of it and rushed back immediately. Is everything alright at home?"

As soon as Li Guoqiang entered the outer room, he ran into Xu Yuping, who was coming out of the west room. Upon hearing her greeting, he hurriedly asked her a question.

"It's nothing, just people from the village who come over from time to time to ask us about things. They seem quite interested in the job openings at the beekeeping research institute."

Upon hearing this, Xu Yuping quickly waved her hand and answered softly.

Upon hearing this, Li Guoqiang raised an eyebrow and then asked with some curiosity, "So what did you tell them?"

"Sigh! What else can we say? We'll just say it's not something we can handle, and tell them to wait until you get back!"

Xu Yuping walked forward slowly, took the luggage from Li Guoqiang's hands, and answered softly with a smile.

Since following Li Guoqiang, she has experienced so many things, and she is no longer the ignorant country woman she once was.

"Ah!"

Hearing this answer, Li Guoqiang was secretly pleased, and then chuckled and praised, "You guys did a great job. Anyway, whatever happens, just push it onto me."

"Ok!"

Upon hearing this, Xu Yuping nodded gently in agreement, then pursed her lips and asked, "By the way, now that you're back, are we leaving soon?"

"No rush. I plan to talk to Brother Yuliang and Uncle Maocai tonight first, and then check the weather and pick a better day."

Li Guoqiang waved his hand, then spoke earnestly.

"Okay, then you can handle this as you see fit. We'll all listen to you."

Hearing Li Guoqiang say this, Xu Yuping didn't ask any more questions. She simply nodded in agreement and then went to get hot water and a towel for Li Guoqiang to wipe his face and wash his feet.

Soon, Luo Huijuan and the others, who were playing with their children in the east room, also noticed that Li Guoqiang had returned. They then asked him about the situation at home and Xiangmizhai. After learning that everything was normal at home and Xiangmizhai, they were all relieved and, like Xu Yuping, asked about the departure date.

Li Guoqiang's response remained the same as before: he told them to relax and wait a few more days.

Immediately afterwards, he called Luo Huijuan outside alone and told her about Yan Jiecheng forcibly borrowing money from Yu Li and then arranging for him to stay in his room, as well as Luo Guofu's lack of care for his body and his affair with Zhao Qiuyan.

Upon hearing this, Luo Huijuan was immediately enraged and began to curse at the air.

Seeing Luo Huijuan's reaction, Li Guoqiang dared not reveal that Zhao Qiuyan was pregnant with a girl, fearing that Luo Huijuan would run back to Beijing and beat Luo Guofu up.

After a while, when Luo Huijuan's anger had subsided, Li Guoqiang gently comforted her, "Alright, you know what kind of person Xiaofu is. The more you scold and pressure him, the more resistant he will become."

Only when he truly experiences the bitter consequences will he realize his mistakes and be truly determined to correct them.

In short, don't worry, I will do my best to help him get better, no matter what.

"Ok!"

Upon hearing these words, Luo Huijuan's lips moved as if she wanted to say something, but in the end, she didn't say anything.

Because she knew that no matter how skilled Li Guoqiang was, he couldn't overcome Luo Guofu's self-destructive behavior, so how could she completely put her mind at ease?
However, what Li Guoqiang said earlier wasn't entirely without merit.

If we want Luo Guofu to truly change, we have to let him experience the bitter consequences himself first.

Otherwise, even if she ran up to Luo Guofu and said a lot of persuasive things, it would all end up being a bunch of nonsense.

With all this in mind, no matter how worried she was, she could only patiently wait and see how Luo Guofu behaved next, and then try to guide and help him as needed.

At the same time, through Luo Guofu, she has come to realize the importance of children's education.

If her child grows up to be like Luo Guofu, then it would be better to just kill her.

This is one of the main reasons why she was so supportive of Li Guoqiang taking the children to live in Hong Kong.

Because she didn't want the children of Shang Xiuzhen, Pan Qiaoyan, and others to grow up badly due to a lack of fatherly love.

Soon, she suddenly realized something and hurriedly asked, "Are you planning to secretly take us to Hong Kong tonight?"

"That's right, I knew I couldn't hide this from you!"

Upon hearing this, Li Guoqiang immediately nodded and praised him.

"So how are you going to explain this to Xiuzhen and the others?"

Luo Huijuan rolled her eyes slightly, then asked with some concern.

"It's alright, I'll give them acupuncture so they can sleep longer. By the time they wake up, we should already be in Hong Kong."

Li Guoqiang waved his hand and then spoke with a relaxed expression.

"Alright! Then be careful and don't overwork yourself."

Upon hearing Li Guoqiang's words, Luo Huijuan immediately understood that he intended to use teleportation to travel all the way to Hong Kong and try to arrive there in the shortest possible time.

This would undoubtedly require Li Guoqiang to expend a great deal of energy.

Therefore, she couldn't help but feel a sense of worry.

"Don't worry! I know what I'm doing, there won't be any problems!"

Seeing the worry on Luo Huijuan's face, Li Guoqiang quickly tried to comfort her.

In fact, he had already found out that there would be a direct flight from Shenyang airport to Guangzhou tonight, which would only take a dozen hours.

At that time, he only needs to hide in advance, hitch a ride, and then once he arrives in Guangzhou, he can use teleportation to get to Hong Kong.

After comforting Luo Huijuan, he first went inside to check on the children. Then, seeing that it was almost time, he took some candies and snacks he had bought from Beijing and went to the homes of Xu Yuliang and Sun Maocai to tell them that he would be leading people into the mountains the next day to set up a bee farm.

Upon hearing this, Xu Yuliang, Sun Maocai, and the others were immediately taken aback, and then asked Li Guoqiang if he needed to arrange for some people to go with them.

After all, they knew that Li Guoqiang had brought nine children with him when he went into the mountains this time. They couldn't just leave the children aside and let Luo Huijuan, Pan Qiaoyan and others do the work, could they?

Li Guoqiang refused without hesitation. To avoid arousing suspicion from Xu Yuliang, Sun Maocai, and others, he made up an excuse to scout ahead, saying that he would first take people to make simple arrangements and then come back to bring people to help.

Seeing Li Guoqiang's resolute attitude, Xu Yuliang, Sun Maocai, and the others had no choice but to abandon their idea of ​​sending someone to accompany him.

Seeing this, Li Guoqiang, in order to put Xu Yuliang, Sun Maocai and the others at ease, said that he would return to Jinshanbao in ten days to tell them in person about the progress of the beekeeping research institute.

Upon hearing this promise, Xu Yuliang, Sun Maocai, and the others immediately felt much more relaxed, no longer so worried that Li Guoqiang would get into trouble and cause them to lose their current good life.

Seeing that the problem had been solved, Li Guoqiang did not waste any more time outside. He first rushed to Xu Guangshou's house, put down a jar of aged wine and a box of Daohuacun pastries, and then quickly returned home.

By this time, it was getting dark outside, and Xu Yuping, Ma Shufen, and the others had already prepared a sumptuous dinner.

Moreover, since they didn't know they were leaving that night, they all seemed quite relaxed, and some even joked that they should do their best to defeat Li Guoqiang so they could become the mistresses of the house.

Seeing this, Luo Huijuan was about to speak up to stop Li Guoqiang from overexerting himself, but Li Guoqiang immediately stopped her.

In fact, after more than half a year of practice, his martial arts skills have broken through the L7 level, which has greatly enhanced his physical fitness and energy.

Therefore, unless he works at a high intensity for ten days or half a month continuously, it's all a piece of cake for him.

The reason he planned to take a hitchhiking flight was not because he was afraid of getting tired, but because he felt there was no need to make things difficult for himself.

Soon, the whole family finished dinner in a warm and lively atmosphere. Then, as usual, they first boiled water to take a bath, and then took turns reviewing their lessons.

When the moon was high in the sky and all was quiet in Jinshanbao, Li Guoqiang and Luo Huijuan suddenly got up from the kang (a heated brick bed).

(End of this chapter)