The Little Life of a Big Landlord

Chapter 253 Interrogation

Inside the inner room, several tea trays were placed on the kang (a heated brick bed), filled with various dried fruits, fresh fruits, and fresh milk.

Zhuo Mengfei pouted and sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) watching TV, her little hands squeezing the remote control. She kept changing channels, but none of them were to her liking. Or rather, her mind wasn't on the TV at all.

Yang Ming glanced at her, somewhat puzzled, and asked, "What's wrong? Who upset you?"

"Nobody provoked me..." Zhuo Mengfei rolled her eyes at Yang Ming and said angrily.

"Does someone owe you two dollars and not pay it back? Tell me, and I'll help you get it..." Yang Ming laughed.

"Stingy..." Zhuo Mengfei rolled her eyes at Yang Ming again. "Two yuan is not even worth it???"

"Why isn't it worth it???" Yang Ming laughed as he opened the cabinet and put the notebook inside. "You're still a student, and the money you're spending is your parents' money. You need to know that every penny your parents have is their hard-earned money. Don't you feel guilty wasting it like that???"

"My dad wouldn't care about two yuan..." Zhuo Mengfei pouted, her eyes practically rolling to the ceiling.

"Hehe..." Zhuo Mengfei was clearly a spoiled little girl. Yang Ming chuckled and didn't say anything more. "If it's not that you owe money and can't pay it back, then what is it???"

"It's nothing..." Zhuo Mengfei said sullenly.

"Hehe, can't you tell??? Some young lady is throwing a tantrum because no one is serving her..." Li Xuefei poked her head out from behind Yang Ming and said with a grin.

"Li Xuefei, get out of my way..." Zhuo Mengfei glared at Li Xuefei and said.

"Hehe..." Li Xuefei giggled and playfully stuck out her tongue at Zhuo Mengfei, a gesture that almost made Zhuo Mengfei's lungs explode with anger.

"Oh right..." Yang Ming sat down on the kang (a heated brick bed), picked up a bag of fresh milk from the kang, bit it open and drank it. "Where did good fortune go???" He looked at the clock on the wall. The hands showed that less than two hours had passed since he left.

"Sister Jixiang and Sister Ruyi went to milk the cows..." Li Xuefei sat down next to Yang Ming, picked up a bag of milk, and started drinking. "They just left a little while ago..."

"Hmph..." Zhuo Mengfei snorted, "We said we wanted to help them, but they wouldn't let us no matter what. So stingy..." Sure enough, the crux of the matter was found...

"Oh..." Yang Ming nodded. "So that's how it is. Don't blame them. Cows are filthy and have a strong milky smell. If you get it on your clothes, it won't be clean for three days. The smell on Jixiang Ruyi only disappeared the night before last..." The back garden is a secret place. It would be strange if Jixiang Ruyi let them in.

"So disgusting???" Zhuo Mengfei felt goosebumps rise all over her body. "I'll never drink milk again..."

"Hmph..." Li Xuefei rolled her eyes at her. "You spoiled young lady, of course you don't know the hardships of working people. Do you know what fertilizer is used when the grain you eat is grown? It's farmyard manure made from fermented manure. I wonder if you'll still eat grain in the future. Wow, eating grain is like eating manure..."

Li Xuefei was disgusting and ruthless. With just a few words, Zhuo Mengfei's face changed color. In Zhuo Mengfei's mind, the latrine carts used to clean the toilets in the school kept appearing. Whenever it was time to clean the toilets, those latrine carts would stop outside the toilets, and all the classrooms nearby would have to close their windows.

"How can a young lady say such disgusting things???" Yang Ming glanced at Li Xuefei with disdain. "You guys stay home and play. I'm going out for a bit..." Now that Ji Xiang Ruyi is back, that mission is probably complete.

"I want to go too..." Zhuo Mengfei stood up, her face pale and pouting. She hadn't yet recovered from that nauseating thought.

"I'll go too..." Li Xuefei stood up, unwilling to be left behind, even though her face was flushed after being lectured by Yang Ming.

"What are you two doing following me?" Yang Ming glanced at the two women. "I'm going on business, not out having fun. It's not appropriate for you two to come along..."

"Brother Yang, please let us come along. We promise we won't cause any trouble..." Zhuo Mengfei leaned over, hugged Yang Ming's arm, looked up at him pitifully with her big eyes, and said in a sweet voice.

"Yes, Brother Yang, take us there..." Li Xuefei hugged Yang Ming's other arm and looked at him pitifully.

"Then I won't go..." Yang Ming plopped down on the kang (a heated brick bed).

"Yay..." the two girls cheered in unison.

"Brother Yang, we're so happy you can stay home and play with us..." Zhuo Mengfei said in a sweet, coquettish voice, "How about we play Dou Dizhu (a card game)?"

"Playing Dou Dizhu isn't fun, let's play mahjong instead..." Li Xuefei said.

"We're one short for the three of us. Erfang is playing at the village chief's house. Otherwise, the four of us would be perfect..." Zhuo Mengfei said.

"Why don't you go to the village chief's house to find Erfang too???" Yang Ming felt a chill run down his spine. "You guys don't know, do you??? The village chief's pigsty has two big rabbits..."

"We saw them a long time ago. It's nothing serious, just a bit big. There are two chickens too, and they're huge..." Zhuo Mengfei said.

"Well..." Li Xuefei nodded repeatedly, "Genetically modified technology, well, they come in all sizes, it's not surprising at all..."

"Uh..." Yang Ming paused, glanced at the two sly-looking girls, and finally said helplessly, "I give up, let's go together..."

"Yay..." The two girls immediately jumped up excitedly and high-fived in celebration, but then, remembering that the other was their mortal enemy, they couldn't help but snort coldly and turned their heads away at the same time.

"Let's go, let's go..." Yang Ming, exasperated, waved to the two women and walked towards the back garden first. The two women exchanged a glance and quickly followed.

As soon as they entered the back garden, the two women were caught off guard by the sudden change in temperature, and their bodies, wrapped in their winter clothes, immediately broke out in a thin layer of sweat.

"It's so hot..." Zhuo Mengfei unzipped her winter coat and took it off, leaving only her thermal underwear.

"It's so hot..." Li Xuefei also took off her winter coat and the sweater underneath, leaving her in only a thin thermal undershirt.

"You take it off but I won't???" Zhuo Mengfei had always disliked Li Xuefei. "Let's see who dares to take it off..." As she spoke, she took off her thermal underwear as well, leaving the girl with only a small vest on.

"Shameless..." Li Xuefei's face flushed red as she glared at Zhuo Mengfei. "If you're so capable, take off your vest too..."

"Pah, who's acting like a female hooligan like you??? You're so vulgar..." Zhuo Mengfei rolled her eyes at Li Xuefei and said disdainfully.

"You're the one who's a hooligan..." Li Xuefei glared angrily at Zhuo Mengfei, "Look at you, your belly button is showing..."

"What's wrong with your belly button??? You don't have one???" Zhuo Mengfei rolled her eyes. "In the summer, I wore even less than this..."

"It's summer now???" Li Xuefei retorted.

"Then put on your winter coat..." Zhuo Mengfei said.

"Alright, alright... If you two keep arguing, then don't follow me anymore..." Yang Ming said, his face darkening again.

"Hmph..." The two women exchanged another glance and snorted coldly, but stopped arguing.

"Let's go..." Yang Ming called out, leading the two women toward the hot spring valley.

"Hey... Is Phoenix here???" Yang Ming led the two women directly to the hot spring valley. Afraid of seeing something they shouldn't if they went in rashly, he shouted loudly outside the gate.

"Why did it take so long???" Zhang Fenghuang, wearing a bathrobe, emerged from the valley, glanced at the two young girls, and complained, "You were so busy flirting with those little girls that you completely forgot about your old friend..."

"Stop talking nonsense..." Yang Ming glared at Zhang Fenghuang. "Watch your jokes next time. She's still a high school student..."

"Hmph..." Zhang Fenghuang pouted, opened the gate, and gracefully walked up, grabbing Yang Ming's arm and scolding, "Are you trying to drive me crazy? You said 'wait a little while,' but it's been ages already!"

"You really are..." Yang Ming rolled his eyes and pulled his arm out of her embrace. "I have some things to do. You, help me take good care of these two little sisters..."

"Entertain them???" Zhang Fenghuang glanced seductively at the two girls. "All the handsome men here are taken. What am I going to offer them???"

Both girls felt a chill run down their spines after being glanced at by Zhang Fenghuang, especially Zhuo Mengfei, who rubbed her exposed arms.

"You..." Yang Ming was speechless with anger, "If you keep talking nonsense, everything I promised you is null and void..."

"Yes, yes, yes..." Zhang Fenghuang laughed and waved to the two girls, "Little sisters, come with me???"

"I'm not going..." Zhuo Mengfei looked at Zhang Fenghuang warily.

"Don't come any closer, or I'll hit you..." Li Xuefei said, her eyes fixed on Zhang Fenghuang.

"Don't be afraid, this person is called Zhang Fenghuang. He's an online writer who specializes in writing palace dramas. He loves to play tricks and schemes..." Yang Ming quickly said.

"Really???" Zhuo Mengfei's face was full of doubt.

"It's fake..." Li Xuefei tossed aside the winter coat and sweater she was holding, already getting into position.

"What's going on here???" Zhang Fenghuang blinked, looking astonished. "Looks like a fight is about to break out..."

"Isn't it all your fault???" Yang Ming glared at Zhang Fenghuang. "You made that kind of joke the first time you met them, no wonder they beat you up. I forgot to tell you, this female warrior in a martial arts stance practices Shaanxi Red Fist, and this little girl in short clothes practices Taekwondo..."

"Huh???" Zhang Fenghuang was taken aback, then chuckled awkwardly, looking at the two girls, "I was just joking with you, don't take it seriously..."

"You don't look like a good person..." Zhuo Mengfei looked at Zhang Fenghuang warily.

"Although I feel like throwing up just listening to you talk, I won't argue with what you said..." Li Xuefei said warily, looking at Zhang Fenghuang.

"I'm telling you, you two are too arrogant! Do you know who's protecting me? My eldest sister is the successor of the Wild Goose Qigong. Let me tell you, you'd better behave yourselves and come with me to the hot springs. Otherwise, don't blame me for calling my sister to deal with you..." Zhang Fenghuang's face darkened immediately as she pointed at the two girls and threatened them.

"You dare threaten us??? You're asking for a beating..." Li Xuefei glared with her eyebrows and shouted, then lunged at Zhang Fenghuang.

"Ah..." Zhang Fenghuang cried out in surprise when she saw Li Xuefei attack without warning and quickly hid behind Yang Ming.

"Alright, what's all this commotion about?" Yang Ming's face darkened.

"Hmph..." Li Xuefei stopped, pouted, "Who told her to be so bad..." As she spoke, she glared fiercely at Zhang Fenghuang.

"Go take a bath right now, you're covered in sweat and smelly..." Yang Ming scolded.

"Hmph..." Li Xuefei pouted so much her lips could practically hang an oil bottle from them. "I'm not going! You said you'd take us out to play, so why are you dumping us here???"

"That's right..." Zhuo Mengfei insisted.

"I was also going to soak in the hot springs, but we only have one pool at home. You two want to bathe with me???" Yang Ming said.

"You pervert..." Li Xuefei said, pointing her finger at Yang Ming's nose.

"That's right, you're being a pervert..." Zhuo Mengfei pointed her slender finger at Yang Ming's nose.

"Are you still going to wash or not???" Yang Ming rolled his eyes.

"Of course we'll wash, and not only will we wash, we'll wash with you..." Li Xuefei said.

"Yes..." Zhuo Mengfei also said.

"I'm a man..." Yang Ming said.

"We'll treat you like a eunuch..." Zhuo Mengfei said.

"Yes..." Li Xuefei nodded in agreement.

"I..." Yang Ming stammered, muttering, "You two are really not easy to fool..."

"Of course, do you think we're stupid???" Li Xuefei and Zhuo Mengfei said smugly.

"As soon as I saw you calling for help, I knew you wanted to ditch us and go have some fun by yourself..." Li Xuefei pouted, rolled her eyes at Yang Ming, and said.

"Brother Yang, you're really not a good person. Erfang always praised you as an honest man..." Zhuo Mengfei said, as if she was not as good as she had heard.

"Why don't you just tell the truth? What exactly are you going to do?" Li Xuefei glared at her and said.

"Fine, fine..." Yang Ming rolled his eyes. "I'll be frank with you guys. I'm going to interrogate a prisoner. It might be a bit bloody, and I might have to strip the prisoner naked. Do you still want to go???"

"Male or female???" Li Xuefei asked, her eyes darting around.

"There are both men and women..." Yang Ming said.

"Then we definitely have to go. After all, there are female prisoners. It's not easy for a grown man like you to handle this. If your wife finds out that you stripped a female prisoner naked, she'll definitely want a divorce..." Li Xuefei nodded seriously.

"That's right..." Zhuo Mengfei chuckled, "We're doing this for the sake of your family's harmony. We're all human beings, so there's no need for you to thank us."

"I'm so dizzy..." Yang Ming felt his eyes were hurting from rolling them back so many times. "Everyone, go away, go away..."

"I want to go too..." Zhang Fenghuang whispered, hiding behind Yang Ming.

"Okay, okay, let's go together..." Yang Ming nodded repeatedly. Anyway, he had come to terms with it. Now, he didn't need to worry about anything at all, because he had more than a million cyborgs who could do any job, and this number had probably already broken through again.

Yang Ming led the three women through a maze of twists and turns into a small valley. This valley was very small, with two mountains very close together, so the sunlight couldn't reach it at all. Without sufficient light, it was naturally impossible to raise livestock.

The valley was somewhat dark and damp, with tender green weeds growing haphazardly. Some clung to the ground like moss, while others were taller than ankle-high, soaking your shoes if you stepped on them, and still others reached above your knees, growing without any order whatsoever.

In the center of the valley stood seven wooden crosses, and on each cross were seven people tightly bound—five men and two women. Beside them, Ji Xiang Ru Yi was watching over them.

"Master..." Ji Xiangru saw Yang Ming and rushed over, bowing respectfully.

"Hmm..." Yang Ming nodded calmly. "Did they confess?"

"No..." Ji Xiang looked somewhat ashamed. "They're very stubborn, and we're not professional interrogators, so... please punish them, sir..."

"Master, it's all Ruyi's fault for being useless..." Ruyi also lowered her head in shame to apologize.

"It's not your fault, the prisoners are just too stubborn..." Yang Ming's face turned cold, and a slightly sinister smile appeared on his lips as he slowly approached the seven prisoners.

"You kidnapped my daughter, you're really something, incredibly powerful..." Yang Ming's gaze swept over the seven men, he grinned maliciously, gave them a thumbs-up, and then punched one of the male prisoners, the same man from the waiting hall.

Yang Ming's punch was extremely powerful. With a cracking sound, it shattered the man's shoulder blade, and several bone fragments pierced through the flesh and protruded.

"Ugh...ugh..." The man was in so much pain that he was drenched in cold sweat, but he gritted his teeth and didn't utter a sound.

"Do you know what I'm doing??? I'm furious, extremely furious. How dare you kidnap my daughter! I can tell you clearly that I won't kill you because I'm a law-abiding citizen. I won't detain you because I can't represent the court to sentence you to prison. And I certainly won't let you go because wrongdoing must be punished—that's the way of heaven..." Yang Ming said a bunch of useless things.

"Just tell me straight, what do you want to do with us???" One of the prisoners raised her head, revealing a pretty, indifferent face.

(End of this chapter)