“Wait, what did I do for you to arrest me?” Xia Dongyang still clung to a sliver of hope.
He thought that Xia Nianhong and Xia Ye wouldn’t really call the police and arrest him just for 80,000 yuan. After all, over the years, he had squandered more than 2 million yuan, and nothing like this had ever happened before.
“You know what you did yesterday afternoon.” The two policemen had rushed over from their homes in a hurry and hadn’t brought any equipment. They grabbed Xia Dongyang and started walking toward the police station.
On the way, Xia Dongyang saw Xia Yu and noticed the suitcase in Xia Yu’s hand.
“Hey, how did my suitcase end up with you!” Xia Dongyang couldn’t believe it. He had hidden it so well. The town was so big, how could Xia Yu have found it?
“Not only did I find your suitcase, but I also found you,” Xia Yu said coldly. “You’re such a noob, not even a good thief.”
“How dare you talk like that!” In Xia Dongyang’s mind, memories of the three small slopes flashed by, and suddenly he understood.
“You tricked me!” He struggled fiercely, broke free from the two officers, and charged toward Xia Yu.
However, his sudden attack was ineffective. Xia Yu grabbed his arm, kicked his calf, and pressed him to the ground.
“You’re even bad at fighting,” Xia Yu sighed.
The two officers hurriedly stepped forward and re-arrested Xia Dongyang.
They hadn’t expected Xia Dongyang to try to escape, so they hadn’t used much force before.
Xia Dongyang, now caught again, let out a sigh of relief.
He had just acted on impulse. From his past experiences, he had long realized that he was no match for Xia Yu.
So after being pinned down by Xia Yu, he felt panic and feared that Xia Yu might hurt him badly. Fortunately, the police were present, and Xia Yu didn’t dare to act recklessly.
Resigned to his fate, Xia Dongyang felt that nothing serious would happen to him.
After all, he was still a member of the Xia family.
At this moment, his foolish sense of pride resurfaced.
He said to the two officers, “Comrades, could you blur my face? Or at least give me a hood?”
The two officers looked at Xia Yu, who instructed Youxue to go to a nearby field and pick up a white plastic bag.
Xia Yu took the plastic bag and personally placed it over Xia Dongyang’s head.
The plastic bag was thick and not very transparent. After wearing it, Xia Dongyang’s face was partially hidden, making it impossible for others to recognize him.
Xia Yu wasn’t helping Xia Dongyang; he was just trying to avoid gossip from nosy women.
Bending over and pretending to be hunched, Xia Dongyang assumed a feeble posture.
The two officers couldn’t help but laugh.
When they reached the town, Xia Yu took Youxue and separated from the officers. It would sound bad for the son to be escorted by his own children, so they returned home and handed the suitcase to Xia Nianhong.
After receiving the money, Xia Nianhong sighed in relief.
This was their last savings.
If they had lost this money, they would only have a storefront in the town and an apartment, which would have made them feel uneasy.
“Is that guy at the police station?” Xia Nianhong asked Xia Yu, hesitating slightly.
Xia Yu understood; she meant she didn’t want to pursue the matter further.
“Youxue and I had already planned to go to Lishan; we originally intended to leave last night. Now that the money is recovered, we’ll go,” Xia Yu stated that he wouldn’t get involved in Xia Dongyang’s affairs, leaving the elderly couple to handle things as they wished.
“Good, good, you two go ahead,” Xia Nianhong felt relieved. She and her husband knew each other well and were soft-hearted without fearing embarrassment, but if Xia Yu and Youxue stayed, they would still need to maintain their image as fair and respected grandparents.
“We’ll see you off first and let that scoundrel stay at the police station.” Xia Nianhong helped Xia Yu and Youxue pack their things while Xia Ye went downstairs to prepare a bag of local specialties for Xia Yu to take.
They waited at the roadside for ten minutes before the car heading to Zilang arrived. Before getting on the car, Xia Nianhong stuffed a roll of money into the arms of both Xia Yu and Youxue.
After boarding the car, Xia Yu looked at the money—five thousand yuan.
Youxue also looked at hers—it was also five thousand yuan.
The girl handed the money to Xia Yu.
“You can keep it yourself,” Xia Yu said.
Delighted, Youxue accepted the money and began calculating how much was now in her personal savings.
The previous two appearance fees from Heimao, totaling ten thousand yuan, were also in her possession.
Ten thousand plus five thousand, plus what her brother had given her earlier, and the grocery money, she now had 17,452.3 yuan!
What could she spend this money on?
The girl was troubled.
“By the way, have there been any more people contacting you about Heimao for advertisements?” Xia Yu asked Youxue. The previous two advertisements had already aired, so Heimao’s popularity should have increased further.
“There were two, but since my brother has been busy, he declined them.” Having spent a lot of time with Heimao, Youxue could tell that although Heimao was generally quite smart, it was nowhere near as impressive as when filming advertisements.
There must have been something her brother did during those times.
Looking at Xia Yu, Youxue didn’t ask.
Her brother was at the age where he could have his own little secrets.
She sighed and turned to look at the scenery outside.
The view of fields on both sides of the road was something you couldn’t see in the city.
After a bumpy ride, the two returned to Zilang. They went home briefly, prepared some things, and then boarded a bus to the neighboring city again.
Xia Yu had wanted to take a taxi directly, but Youxue refused, saying it was too wasteful.
The bus wouldn’t take much longer.
At one o’clock in the afternoon, the two arrived at a hotel at the foot of Lishan Mountain.
After checking in, Youxue excitedly grabbed her phone and dragged Xia Yu up the mountain.
Xia Yu glanced at Youxue’s phone. It was the one he had bought for her when he first got the game. It was only worth over a thousand yuan.
There was a mobile phone store nearby, but the girl would probably be reluctant to spend money, so he decided to buy her a new one later without prior notice.
He could also buy Youxue a mirrorless camera. Although she didn’t seem to have much talent, if talent wasn’t enough, it could be compensated by investment.
In his previous life, Xia Yu had known someone who was into photography. His skills weren’t particularly good, but he often won city and provincial awards. Apart from his expensive equipment, it was also because of his shooting locations.
Ordinary photographers would go to great lengths to take a good photo, climbing mountains and wading through rivers, but he simply spent money to go all the way to Antarctica.
How could beautiful scenery in mountains and rivers compare to that of Antarctica?
With such shooting locations, as long as the skills weren’t vastly different, the latter’s photos would naturally look better.
In this society, there are various shortcuts available to those who have money.
Taking photos all the way up, they reached Lishan Temple halfway up the mountain and burned incense. Xia Yu and Youxue came to where they sold amulets.
Unlike the amulets of Xianfeng Temple, which were known for their floral and leaf patterns, the amulets at Lishan Temple featured various fruit patterns.
Youxue chose two: one with an orange pattern and another with a pear pattern.
Back at the hotel, she gave the pear-patterned amulet to Xia Yu.
“What does this mean?” Xia Yu asked as he accepted the amulet.
“It’s a complete pear, symbolizing that we won’t separate,” Youxue explained. She then took out her orange-patterned amulet, “Orange means auspiciousness. This one is for good luck!”
After accepting the amulet, they enjoyed the night view from the mountain and finally waited until Youxue fell asleep.
It was time to take action.
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage