Chapter 76 – Extra: Childhood Sweethearts (If Route)
The villagers of Baihua Village were afraid that Boss Wang had come looking for trouble, and they rushed over as soon as they heard the news.
Chu Jiexiang packed two sets of clothes and was about to leave the village. This matter was rather tricky; he might need to ask for help from old friends from his school days. He was the Queen Bee—protecting the green mountains and clear waters of Baihua Village was his mission.
He listened for a while and only then realized that this had all started because of a friend the little Bee Queen baby had made.
The clanspeople were extremely warm and welcoming. They said they could squeeze a bit and free up four rooms for the guests—there was no problem staying the night. It was already dark, and the mountain roads were hard to walk.
When Meng Xueyuan saw Uncle Queen Bee take out that suitcase again, he nudged his finger.
“Uncle, are you going out? It’s dark already. Go tomorrow instead.”
Hearing this, Shen Ning said, “If it’s not urgent, I can give you a ride out tomorrow.”
Chu Jiexiang said honestly, “Our village has run into a bit of trouble. I need to find a classmate, and I may not be back for three to five days. If Mr. Shen is leaving tomorrow, could you take Yuan-yuan with you? He doesn’t need to transfer schools—he can keep attending that kindergarten.”
Lu Xiao was the first to agree. “Then I won’t transfer schools either.”
Mama Meng bit her lip. She knew the Queen Bee was arranging this because he was afraid of clashing with Boss Wang. Boss Wang had several thugs under him, and only because Baihua Village was united had he not dared to harass them openly.
But how could she, from a united Baihua Village, take Meng Xueyuan and run first?
Shen Ning frowned. “What exactly happened? Let me see if I can help.”
Mama Meng really didn’t want Chu Jiexiang to go out so late. Anyway, her son had already eaten so much of their food—he would definitely have to repay it someday. Rather than letting the Queen Bee go begging for help, it was better to owe Shen Ning another favor and work together to repay it later.
After Mama Meng explained the situation, Shen Ning understood. “A factory can’t be built like that. Your scenery is so good—this place could be a resort in the future. Once it’s damaged, it’s permanent.”
“Mr. Chu, don’t go out yet. I have a way,” Shen Ning said to the villagers. “Everyone, don’t worry. Go back and sleep easy.”
The neighbor living next to Meng Xueyuan immediately vacated his room for Shen Ning’s bodyguards and went to squeeze in with relatives.
Shen Ning felt an inexplicable fondness for this village. He bent down and patted Meng Xueyuan’s chubby cheek.
“You go to sleep too, little one. Mind squeezing in with Lu Xiao?”
Meng Xueyuan: “I don’t mind!”
“Dad, you’re amazing.” Lu Xiao hugged Shen Ning. “Dad, I love you so much.”
Shen Ning: “Go to sleep.”
After the two little ones crawled into bed, Shen Ning finally called Lu Fengge.
“‘He has a way’ = ‘call Lu Fengge.’”
When Lu Fengge heard that his wife and child were in some unknown mountain village and had gotten involved in a dispute, he steadied himself. “I’m coming right away.”
Shen Ning: “As long as you can solve it, you don’t need to come in person.”
Lu Fengge: “I’ve already gotten off the plane.” If he didn’t come now, he didn’t dare imagine where this father and son pair might decide to settle down.
Shen Ning: “……”
…
Adults have adult worries. Children are only responsible for growing up happily.
It was Lu Xiao’s first time visiting a friend’s home, and he decided to behave well. A child who never did homework, he voluntarily suggested doing homework, thinking that this way the uncles and aunties would like him coming to play with Meng Xueyuan.
Meng Xueyuan was a little puzzled. “Big brother, what homework are you writing?”
“Handwriting practice.” Lu Xiao opened his practice book and sharpened his pencil. Meng Xueyuan’s name was fairly complicated; the strokes needed to be thin.
“Okay.” Meng Xueyuan took out his math workbook and did arithmetic problems.
Before bedtime, Shen Ning came to check on the two children. He opened the door a crack and saw two small backs bent over writing.
So cute.
“Babies, what are you doing?”
Lu Xiao: “Dad, I’m practicing handwriting.”
Shen Ning felt comforted. Seeing how frantically he was practicing, it looked like he had inherited a bit of talent—was he copying ancient poems?
He leaned in to take a look.
The entire page was filled with Meng Xueyuan’s name.
The next day, Lu Xiao woke up early out of habit. Looking at Meng Xueyuan’s rosy sleeping face, he secretly made a decision: before little brother woke up, he had to find something fun so that Meng Xueyuan could play as soon as he woke.
From now on, Meng Xueyuan would recognize him as his big brother.
Lu Xiao’s gaze locked onto a bicycle toppled beside the stone mill.
For Lu Xiao’s age, the bike would need two auxiliary wheels on the back.
This bicycle belonged to Meng Shancha, a sixth grader who rode it to school. He was tall and had bought a youth model. The chain had fallen off when he came home yesterday and hadn’t been fixed yet.
Lu Xiao squatted beside the bike. Ten minutes later, without a teacher, he reattached the chain.
He started learning to ride.
Given Lu Xiao’s height, when he sat on the seat his legs couldn’t reach the pedals, so he held the handlebars without sitting on the seat, standing up to pedal.
Lu Xiao learned it—and Meng Xueyuan woke up.
Lu Xiao patted the seat. “I’ll give you a ride.”
Meng Xueyuan climbed onto the back seat in a daze, gripping the metal bar behind. “Big brother, I’m sitting steady.”
Lu Xiao steadied the bike, looking quite the part. He pushed it forward for a bit, then stepped on the pedals.
The two wheels started rolling successfully, struggling forward along the village road where concrete didn’t fully cover the ground.
Meng Xueyuan’s baby-fat cheeks jiggled with every bump. He had to wrap his arms tightly around the unused seat to keep himself steady.
Big brother was already working so hard pedaling—if his own bottom hurt from the bumps, that was fine.
Shen Ning had stayed one night in Baihua Village. For some reason, he felt very comfortable living here. It was like when he had first returned from France—clearly staying in the unfamiliar Lu family home, yet he felt an inexplicable closeness, a closeness to the land.
After breakfast, he thought it over and talked to Mama Meng about Lu Xiao overfeeding Meng Xueyuan with snacks.
“Those snacks cause cavities very easily. Yuan-yuan is so young—if his teeth hurt, his eyes would swell from crying. I came this time to take Lu Xiao for his semiannual checkup. Especially during the tooth-changing period—if new teeth grow crooked, it’s painful.”
To keep Mama Meng from worrying, he added, “Just routine checks—looking for cavities, measuring bone age, and having the doctor make a nutrition plan.”
Mama Meng felt that if Shen Ning were a salesperson pushing dental packages, it would be hard for anyone to refuse—but she also felt it wasn’t necessary to make such a fuss. “Is it because Yuan-yuan eats too many sweets? That’s fine. Everyone in our village eats like this; the older generation is all fine.”
Shen Ning thought that Yuan-yuan was so cute—Lu Xiao shouldn’t let good intentions turn into trouble.
He wanted to persuade her more, but suddenly paused. Mama Meng’s argument sounded oddly familiar—had his grandfather mentioned something like this before?
The reason he felt close earlier was because Nan Cheng had the Lu family. Compared to France, it was richer in spiritual vitality and soothed the flower-god aura that was constantly dissipating from him. This place felt even more comfortable than Nan Cheng, which meant that the residents here were even stronger than the Lu family of Nan Cheng—more numerous, even living together as a clan.
During his morning run, he had noticed beehives everywhere—in the mountains, under eaves, among treetops. The people here lived in harmony with bees to a miraculous degree.
Could it be the Bee Clan?
Shen Ning’s heart jolted. Back then, the Shen family had been helped and sheltered by other clans; the Lu family had made the greatest sacrifice, and the other clans had also given their all. His grandfather and father had always wanted to repay them.
Could the Bee Clan be here?!
Shen Ning cautiously tested the waters. “Yuan-yuan’s mom, let me tell you a story.”
…
Ten minutes later, Mama Meng called over the Queen Bee, Chu Jiexiang.
Half an hour later, the village convened a meeting. After more than half a century, the spirits successfully assembled again.
Shen Ning received a call from Lu Fengge and walked out as he spoke. “You really came?”
Lu Fengge: “I was afraid you wouldn’t come back.”
Shen Ning: “I was just saying it casually. Right now I’m in—”
Shen Ning looked up and saw Lu Xiao wobbling along on a bicycle with a passenger. His heart tightened. He opened his mouth but feared startling Lu Xiao and making them both fall.
He hung up and ran over, grabbing the bike in one swift motion. After steadying it, he began educating the two of them.
Shen Ning ground his teeth. “You’re only four and a half. The law doesn’t allow four-and-a-half-year-olds to ride bikes with passengers.”
If you fall, that’s one thing—but you’re carrying the Bee Queen baby, the collective treasure of Baihua Village!
Lu Xiao’s forehead was covered in sweat from overestimating himself, but he was stubborn. “I won’t fall.”
Shen Ning lightly kicked his son’s butt. “Your feet can’t even touch the ground. How are you going to brake?”
Lu Xiao pressed his lips together. When he rode alone, he just jumped off, but clearly he couldn’t do that with a passenger—the bike would lose balance.
Meng Xueyuan squeezed up in front of Lu Xiao and softly spoke up for him. “Uncle Ning, I believe big brother.”
“Big brother is really good at riding! He won’t fall.”
Lu Xiao’s mood brightened again. Intimidated by his dad’s expression, he didn’t dare speak, but his eyes were full of light as he looked at his little brother. See? Meng Xueyuan thought he was amazing.
Shen Ning: “This is very dangerous.”
Meng Xueyuan said softly, “It’s okay even if we fall. It won’t hurt.”
Shen Ning: “……”
Sweetheart, once you fall you’ll know that Lu Xiao is a little rascal.
“I can also race cars!” Lu Xiao whispered to his fanboy—though it was remote-control racing. Still, since Meng Xueyuan trusted him so much, sooner or later he would drive a real race car and take him for a spin.
Meng Xueyuan’s round eyes sparkled with stars. “Wow.”
Shen Ning waved his hand. “Go play then—but no more riding bikes.”
Lu Xiao squatted beside the bicycle in disappointment. He wasn’t familiar with this place—where could he take little brother to play?
Meng Xueyuan hugged him from the side. “Big brother, do you like watermelon? Let’s go to the watermelon field.”
Lu Xiao: “Okay!”
There was a watermelon field in the village, with late-ripening melons lying round and plump on the ground.
As the host, Meng Xueyuan said to Lu Xiao, “You can eat as many as you want.”
Lu Xiao: “One. Half each.”
He wanted to pick the sweetest one—
Meng Xueyuan tapped Lu Xiao’s little hand. “Big brother, I’ll pick.”
Lu Xiao knew to yield the fun melon-picking process to his little brother. He tucked his hands behind his back, feeling even more gentlemanly than Lu Fengge.
Meng Xueyuan squatted down, spread his arms, and hugged a chubby watermelon, lowering his head and pressing his face against it. His milky-white cheeks pressed against the black-and-green stripes, like watermelon cream ice cream.
A bee’s antennae can detect smell and touch. He didn’t have antennae, but there were red moles on either side of his nose bridge. Pressed close, he tried to sniff out the sweetness of the melon.
Like a real little bee busy in the melon field, he stuck out his butt and hugged one melon after another, testing them one by one.
Lu Xiao thought he was so cute.
Meng Xueyuan: “Big brother, this one is sweet. This one is sweet too.”
Lu Xiao immediately developed decision paralysis—he wanted to taste every melon Meng Xueyuan had carefully selected.
“This one,” Lu Xiao said with restraint. The rind of the melon Meng Xueyuan had pressed against was the roundest—it could be worn like a hat.
Lu Xiao felt he couldn’t just eat this melon casually. He huffed and puffed carrying it home, secretly took a knife and cut it in half, and they ate it spoonful by spoonful.
Lu Xiao tied a bundle of foxtail grass and gave it to Baby Meng as thanks.
Lu Fengge hadn’t yet arrived at Baihua Village when he dealt with Boss Wang on the way.
Around thirty years old, seasoned in his methods, cutting off someone’s capital chain was overkill for Boss Wang—but since it was something Shen Ning had personally instructed, he paid extra attention, making sure Boss Wang wouldn’t dare invest in any polluting factories for the rest of his life.
Lu Fengge was handsome and calm, with a stern appearance. Outside, he was decisive and thunderous; at home… even three-year-olds dared to rebel.
One rebel was bad enough—another would follow suit.
Lu Fengge worried that his wife and child wouldn’t adapt to life in the countryside and would stubbornly stay out of spite. Only when he arrived did he realize—what lack of adaptation? They were living incredibly well.
His wife looked even better.
His younger son also… seemed even cuter—probably mainly because he hadn’t seen him in two months.
As soon as Lu Fengge arrived, Shen Ning, ignoring the fact that they’d argued before, mysteriously told him the secret of Baihua Village.
Shen Ning especially liked the children here. They were very smart. Children of Yuan-yuan’s generation studied seriously and diligently—aside from the occasional lazy one, but even the lazy ones did well academically. They were all promising.
Shen Ning told Lu Fengge that he hoped to take these children to Nan Cheng to study and provide them with a better learning platform.
He had already discussed it with Queen Bee Chu Jiexiang today.
Even from humble origins, outstanding talents can emerge—but Chu Jiexiang felt that going out to broaden their horizons was also good. If they couldn’t adapt, they could always come back.
The Lu family had three children. Shen Ning didn’t want it to seem like he was finding three study companions for his own kids, so the children wouldn’t be raised in the Lu household. He arranged another residence instead, and the Bee Clan would also send someone to watch over them.
Shen Ning said, “If he makes good friends, your son will become much cuter.”
Lu Fengge was a little skeptical. “R-really?”
On the other side, the Queen Bee gathered the children together and told them, “You can go with Uncle Shen to Nan Cheng to study. When you’re outside, you must stay united, help one another, and never let outsiders bully any of our babies.”
He was responsible for guarding the green mountains and clear waters of Baihua Village. Creating gold and silver mountains would be the next generation’s task—together.
Meng Xueyuan nodded. Only by studying could he become like Uncle Chu—understanding many things, understanding environmental pollution, and knowing how to protect their homeland.
“Clan leader, we’ll study hard!”
Baby Lu Xiao mixed in, excited but basically making up the numbers, shouting, “Study hard!”
Meng Xueyuan said, “Big brother, you have to mean it.”
Lu Xiao: “Alright.”
Study hard—deal.
