Hong Dali didn’t mind the villager’s reaction. It was normal to feel afraid facing a scene as such.
They continued walking.
A while later, they arrived at a big yard. The yard was about 1,200 square feet. There was a basketball hoop made of wood and two single-story houses. It covered about 500 square meters. There was a sign hanging on the wall of the yard: He’an Village Primary School.
There should be students studying in a school. But this He’an Village Primary School was run-down, the roof even had a hole. It seemed it was impossible for students to study here.
Hong Dali tilted his head as he looked at it. “Tear it down.”
The mysterious man said, “En, one can be poor but cannot lack in education. Students should not need to suffer. Rebuild.”
Ling Xiaoyi nodded and replied, “Yes, Young Master.”
The reporters quickly recorded. “One can be poor but cannot lack in education. Students should not need to suffer. Famous words!””Even while squandering, Young Master Dali does it so rationally. He’s on a different level indeed!”
After giving his directive, Hong Dali continued walking. A brave kid carefully ran over and asked, “Big Brother, what are you doing?”
“Ah, I saw that the house is all broken-down, so I intend to tear it down.” Hong Dali looked left and right. “That’s not good either, tear it all down!”
“You are a bad person!” The kid shouted, “You can’t tear down our house!”
Eh? What is this situation?
The mysterious man knelt down to the kid’s level and laughed. “Little kid, this house is falling apart. If we don’t tear it down, how do we rebuild it?”
“Those who want to tear down our house are all bad people!” The little kid wiped his nose and shouted, “In the first few days, Wang Xigui also asked people to tear down the school to rebuild it. But after he tore it down, he left it there. He said it’s easier to get money if the school is torn down! I won’t allow you to tear down my house!” When the kid heard that they were going to tear down his house, he thought the mysterious man would be like Wang Xigui…
As he spoke, an adult emerged from the crowd and smacked the kid on his bottom. “The Leader is here, don’t talk rubbish!” He apologized to the mysterious man profusely. “The kid doesn’t know better, please don’t blame him…”
After the ruckus, the reporters looked at each other and nodded in unison. “There’s content here! This school was torn down by Wang Xigui?””There’s a lot of shady business for such a small village!””With Big Boss here, we can look forward to a good show!””Yes, yes, yes. Big Boss will stand up for them. There will be no problem!”
“Haha, it’s okay.” The mysterious man replied to the villager. He turned around and said to the Bureau Chief, “Do a thorough investigation, see what more you can find out.”
“Yes!” The Bureau Chief promptly responded. It seemed there were quite a lot of shady businesses in He’an Village.
Hong Dali teased the boy. “What if I say I can rebuild it? What will you do?”
“If you can really rebuild it…” The little boy rolled his eyes as he thought. “I will ask my brothers to apologize to you, and call you our big boss!”
“Haha. Good. I will make sure to be your big boss!” Hong Dali was satisfied with the boy’s answer. “Xiaoyi, make sure these are all rebuilt.”
Ling Xiaoyi: “OK, Young Master.”
“No, no!” The boy shouted. “You have to prove it to us. How else would we know if you are really going to rebuild it? What if you run away after tearing it down? It’s easy to tear down a house, but it’s really hard to build one!”
What the boy said made sense. Hong Dali thought for a while. “En, we should show our sincerity.” Hong Dali took out a gold brick from his pocket. “How about this? Do you know what this is? Oh yes, your attitude doesn’t seem too friendly toward our Leader ah?”
“Chey, after the earthquake, a leader came to monitor the work. All they did was go around once.” The little boy pouted disdainfully. “When he came, there were big cars and small cars. There were a lot of reporters too. They just took a few photos and left. We were oppressed by Wang Xigui and didn’t dare to say anything. They came for nothing.”
Hearing that, the reporters turned red and their hearts raced.
The little boy looked at the gold brick in Hong Dali’s hand and said, “Are you trying to bribe me with chocolate? I’ve heard of this. The gold foil is pretty. I heard it’s nice, but this cannot be exchanged for the house or the school!”
The mysterious man: “…” Hong Dali: “…” The others: “…”
Hong Dali stomped. “Who said this is chocolate! Does your chocolate look like this?!”
“Not chocolate?” The boy looked at it suspiciously—there was no opening like wrappers, and the most important thing was, the surface of the chocolate wrapping was not so smooth. “Let me take a look!”
“Take this.” Hong Dali said gloomily.
He had given out so many gold bricks, it was the first time it was mistaken as chocolate. This kid is too loathsome. Looking down on us!
“Its weight…” The boy turned the brick around and look at it. He didn’t attempt to peel off the foil. Instead, he put it in his mouth and wanted to bite on it. Hong Dali quickly stopped him. “Wait, it’s not chocolate…”
“It doesn’t seem like it.” The boy put the gold brick in his mouth but didn’t bite it yet. He observed the gold brick again and smiled. “It looks like real gold. Big Brother, your name is Hong Dali?”
“Yo, you know me?” Hong Dali asked curiously. “You’ve heard of me?”
“No.” The boy pointed at the brick in his hand. “Isn’t it written here, ‘Hong Dali shell’…”
The mysterious man: “…” Hong Dali: “…” The others: “…”
Hong Dali stomped his feet in a rage. “That word is read as ‘gift’, as in ‘gifted a present’!”
“Oh…” The boy flashed a grin. “I didn’t study much. Hehe. But Big Brother Hong, are you really here to help us? Not just pretending?”
“Would I get rid of Wang Xigui if I was pretending?” Hong Dali appeared upset. “I’m not talking to you!”
“This rascal.” The mysterious man smiled as he shook his head. He squatted down and patted on the boy’s shoulder. “His name is Hong Dali. Do you know who I am?”
“No.” The boy had no concept of the leader and status. He shook his head. “I know you seem like a very high officer. I heard that you defeated Wang Xigui. But it’s useless. Wang Xigui may be gone, but another Li Xigui or Zhang Xigui might come… You can’t come here every day as well.”
One cannot take offense at a child’s babble. This boy dared to speak up.
“It seems our fellow villagers don’t have a good impression of us.” The mysterious man took a deep breath. “Pretense, working on the project only by showing face, pretending to serve but with dark intentions… This is no good.”
He stood up and looked at the Bureau Chief. “Investigate.”
“Okay.”
At that moment, a villager walked up and carefully asked, “Leader, it’s late. Everyone should be tired and have not eaten yet. Hence, we discussed among ourselves and prepared some food. If you don’t mind, please help yourselves to the food…”
“This…” The mysterious man was a little embarrassed. “It’s too much work for the fellow villagers…”
“Aiya, Grandpa Mysterious.” Hong Dali didn’t mind at all. “They have already prepared the food, it’ll be a waste not to eat it. We can pay them for it, at least everyone can earn some money.”
To be honest, the mysterious man had come in a rush and was a little hungry. “Let’s eat a bit, then?”
“Yes!” Hong Dali nodded vigorously. “I have given out all my gold bricks. Everyone, eat some!”
Hearing that, everyone thought. “Young Master Dali is really considerate—rushing here in a hurry, I’m a little hungry, indeed!”
Just see how Hong Dali gets popular with the people with just a few words. Miraculous!
The village pot cooked quite quickly. In just a while, food was served.
Simple dishes, stewed cabbage with vermicelli, and white rice.
These people were all high-ranking heavyweights. No matter where they went, people served them good food. But here today, there was only one dish. They were a little unaccustomed, indeed.
The thing was, Hong Dali was enjoying the food. In just an instant, he finished all his food. He didn’t forget to smack his lips. “This stew is too delicious…”
The mysterious man happily ate too. “Stewed vegetables are very pleasing to the palate indeed.”
Even the number one person and Hong Dali ate so happily, what else could the others say? Hence, the huge pot of stewed vegetables and rice was wiped clean in just a while.
As they ate, the troops took out their rations and ate too. It’s natural to eat when one feels hungry!
As they ate, the officers discussed among themselves—
One person said, “You are close to the officer, did you find out what happened? What happened to Young Master Dali? Why is he dressed in torn clothes?”
Another person said, “Yes! It turns out that Young Master was planning to visit disguised as a commoner. Everyone knows he likes to have fun. Who would have thought that he discovered such a shady scene!”
The former person: “What shady scene?”
The latter person: “Here. Don’t think that it’s just a small village with nothing. The Village Chief acted like a king! He didn’t take no for an answer!” Hence, he told everyone what happened from the beginning. When he finished speaking, the soldiers’ blood boiled. “Young Master Dali works for the people indeed. We didn’t come for nothing!””That’s right. No explanations required, fan for life!”
As Hong Dali ate, the System suddenly sounded with a “ding”. “One more person added to the lackeys under the halo influence.”
