Mind reading saves the whole family; I'm firmly in the role of a charlatan.

Chapter 138 Strange and Unorthodox

The village is isolated and there are few opportunities to generate income, so the village chief attaches great importance to these freeloaders who come to his door.

Just as the group finished their meal, the village chief returned with good news.

"It's done, it's done. I just went to ask my nephew for you, and he agreed."

"Your nephew?"

"Yes, my brother-in-law and his wife work away from home, and my nephew is the only one at home right now. As long as he agrees, there won't be any problem."

Du Anrao stroked his chin, a half-smile playing on his lips.

[This family is really something. The adults went out to work, leaving a young man at home to look after her. It seems my feeling was right; he's just a lazy bum who only wants to lie around. Even if he stayed to look after Miss Qin, he probably wouldn't put in much effort, which is why he ignored her illness and let it drag on until she died.]

Du Desheng clenched his back teeth, and his face twitched twice as a result.

[But this is fine too. If we can collect one payment, we can collect a second. As long as we pay enough, we can openly enter his house. Then we can sneak Miss Qin out when he's not looking.]

After thinking it over, Du Anrao realized something was wrong with himself.

[Wait, why did I use the word "steal"? It sounds like stealing someone, which is rather improper.]

Xi Jingyue: Pfft...

Du Junyan: "..."

Du Desheng blushed, thinking to himself, "You little rascal, you know that saying such things is inappropriate? Really!"
"That's good. Since the host has agreed, and it's getting late, can we go take a look now and then take my grandfather to the hot springs tomorrow?"

In order not to arouse the village chief's suspicion, Du Anrao always kept in mind the purpose of their visit.

"By the way, is the hot spring place far from their house?"

"It's not far, there's a pond about two or three hundred meters behind their house."

"That's good, Grandpa. Shall we go over there...and take a look?"

"Okay, you've made excellent arrangements. We'll follow your lead and go now."

The group walked in a grand procession toward the Qin family's small building. From afar, they could see a detached two-story villa, which was clearly quite old, covered with moss and green plants that stretched all the way to the roof.

In this place where almost everyone lives in a tiled house, it truly stands out from the crowd.

As I got closer, I noticed a young man in his early twenties standing under the slightly dim yellow light. He was dressed casually, with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, looking quite nonchalant.

Upon seeing Du Anrao and the others approach, his eyes lit up slightly. Before even getting close, he had already given Du Anrao and the others a blatant once-over.

"So you want to live in my house?"

"Yes, we might have to stay here for three or four nights."

“Okay, eight hundred per person per night, no, one thousand. In addition, you have to pay me two days’ deposit.”

Before Du Anrao and the others could react to Qin Shouye's words, the village chief's expression changed drastically. "Shouye, what nonsense are you spouting? Didn't we just agree that we'd only charge two or three hundred a night as a token gesture? This isn't a hotel; charging a thousand a night for just one person is highway robbery!"

"Oh, Uncle, don't you see we're in the middle of nowhere? I'm already being incredibly kind by taking in these strangers. What's wrong with asking them for a little more money? The hotels outside are nice, but they're not here. Can you magically move them over here?"

As Qin Shouye spoke, he pulled the village chief aside and whispered, "And Uncle, look at their clothes and appearance, do they look like they're poor? I've heard about what happened this afternoon. You don't leave the village much and haven't seen much of the world, so you can't tell what's going on with them. I've stayed at my uncle's place with my parents for a while before, and I know that the cars they drive are Porsches, and each one costs at least that much."

Qin Shouye made a gesture, and the village chief paused for a moment before cautiously asking, "Two hundred thousand?"

"More than two million."

The village chief gasped, "This..."

"So, a few thousand dollars is nothing to them; they can easily make it through their fingers."

The aunt and niece were whispering to each other, and Du Anrao's expression was subtle and hard to describe.

[Is it now fashionable to whisper and plot loudly in front of the person in question? Don't they know that sound travels only a limited distance? We were only a few steps away; do they really think we're deaf?]

Du Junyan and the others: "..." Maybe in their eyes, we just have built-in shielding abilities?

[Is this guy trying to fleece us? Oh well, with his thin cheeks and upturned nostrils—a face that screams "money-leaking"—no amount of money can keep him. Once we rescue Miss Qin, he'll make sure he pays back the same amount he swallowed.]

Completely unaware that his future had already been planned out, Qin Shouye, after whispering to the village chief, didn't forget to continue boasting about his old house.

"There's a saying that goes, 'Things are valued for their rarity.' Our house is the rarest thing around here. If you want to live in my house, you should at least show some sincerity, right?"

As Qin Shouye spoke, he subtly rubbed his fingers together. Du Junyan turned to look at his sister and understood, saying, "Okay, let's do as you just said. We'll book four nights first, and then pay you two more days' deposit, for a total of 60,000. Here's 30,000."

"Thirty thousand!" The village chief finally snapped out of Qin Shouye's spiel and nearly popped his eyes out when he saw the thirty thousand yuan that had just been transferred to Qin Shouye's hand.

Qin Shouye was also extremely excited, but secretly regretted that if he had known these people were so easy to talk to, he should have asked for a higher price earlier.

"You guys know your stuff. In all the surrounding areas, our place is the best. You won't regret paying this price. If you're comfortable, come again next time." Qin Shouye couldn't contain his joy as he led everyone inside, chuckling softly.

The village chief followed behind, repeatedly apologizing to Du Anrao and the others, saying that the child was ignorant and made unreasonable demands, and that he did not know beforehand that the child would do such a thing, otherwise he would definitely have stopped him.

Du Anrao and the others had already seen through him perfectly; the aunt and nephew were cut from the same cloth.

The difference is that Qin Shouye only thought about taking this opportunity to make a fortune, while he thought that Du Anrao and others would come more often and give them more money.

"Your rooms are downstairs, there are exactly three rooms, you can allocate them yourself. You can use the things in the rooms, but you will have to pay for any damage. Oh, by the way, you will also be responsible for your own meals, I can't cook, and the money you are given does not include that."

"You little rascal..." The village chief was furious at his shameless and scoundrel-like behavior.

Du Anrao twitched his nose, his eyes brightening slightly.

[It smells like medicine!]

(End of this chapter)