The younger generation, starting from where the wind blows...

Chapter 250 The slap in the face came too fast, like a tornado.
Tang Ruo and Li Shiqia's goal was to build a safe "moat" for Ma Siyi from the very beginning.

No matter how eloquently they speak, it doesn't change their intention to exploit Ma Siyi's tragic background to gain traffic through live streaming.

And they themselves have not denied this.

Xie Wanghe simply couldn't stand it anymore.

Without even saying goodbye, he turned and left.

Upon seeing this, Shao Xingchi hurriedly got up and chased after him.

Under the big locust tree at the entrance of the courtyard, Xie Wang and a person stood there.

When Shao Xingchi came out, he saw Xie Wanghe punching a tree trunk in a fit of rage.

Just as Shao Xingchi was about to speak, Xie Wanghe suddenly raised his head.

"I'm fine. Aren't you on the night shift tonight? Go back to the hotel quickly."

Shao Xingchi thought to himself that as a mere doorman, he probably wouldn't listen to Xie Wang or this prestigious university student.

Or perhaps they simply didn't want to listen.

"Okay, then I'll leave first."

Shao Xingchi went back, said goodbye to Xia Fenghua and Ma Siyi, and then left.

Xia Fenghua escorted Shao Xingchi to the door and saw Xie Wanghe still standing there alone, and suddenly felt a pang of heartache.

Just as he was about to speak, Xie Wanghe looked up and glanced over.

"Why are you looking at me? Hurry back and stay with Siyi. Don't let those three guys fool her."

Xia Fenghua felt a tightness in her chest.

"Xie Wanghe, do you think that everyone else who helps Siyi, except you, has ulterior motives?"

Xie Wanghe had already turned his gaze elsewhere, but upon hearing this, he turned his face back, looking utterly incredulous.

"So you also think I'm wrong, and those three people inside are right?"

Just as Xia Fenghua was about to deny it, Xie Wanghe suddenly sneered.

“That’s right. Those three people came under Yang Muye’s name. You’re getting paid by him and living in his house, so of course you have to speak on his behalf.”

Xia Fenghua opened her eyes wide, looking at the completely unfamiliar Xie Wanghe with disbelief.

"Xie Wanghe, you bastard!!"

After finishing her tirade, Xia Fenghua covered her face and ran into the courtyard, sobbing.

When Ma Siyi saw Xia Fenghua wiping away tears as she went into the house, she immediately stood up and went over to ask Xia Fenghua what was wrong.

"It's okay, you guys continue chatting, I'll go back to my room first."

Xia Fenghua said, her eyes red and her voice choked with sobs.

The more she acted like this, the more worried Ma Siyi became.

Tang Ruo and the other two exchanged glances, realizing that they had already finished talking to Ma Siyi.

You can't expect Ma Siyi to make a decision immediately about this kind of thing.

"Well... it's getting late, so we'll take our leave," Tang Ruo said, standing up.

Li Shiqia and Gao Bo also stood up.

Ma Siyi nodded.

Xia Fenghua was so heartbroken that she really couldn't consider Tang Ruo and the other two's suggestions right now.

Just then, the door to Room Number One suddenly opened.

Hu Youyu came out and volunteered to help Ma Siyi see Tang Ruo and the other two off.

The reason it was so "timely" was because Hu Youyu had been observing the movements in the yard from behind the curtain seam.

Everyone sees through this but keeps quiet about it.

Hu Youyu saw Tang Ruo and the other two out of the house, while Ma Siyi helped Xia Fenghua back inside.

Hu Youyu escorted Tang Ruo and the other two to the alley entrance, watched them get into a taxi, and then turned back.

After the taxi started moving, Tang Ruo, who was sitting in the passenger seat, suddenly turned around.

Their eyes met.

"I have an idea."

"I also have an idea."

Tang Ruo laughed.

"So we're thinking the same thing again?"

Gao Bo, who was standing to the side, was completely confused.

"No, what are you two doing here, playing riddles?"

Li Shiqia turned to Gao Bo and asked:

What did you think of Xiao Hu, the guy who just saw us out?

"She has a good eye for people and knows how to handle things."

Gao Bo suddenly realized something as he said this.

"You two want Hu Youyu to help persuade Ma Siyi?"

You're only half right.

Tang Ruo explained with a smile: "It would be a bit too abrupt to have Ma Siyi do a live broadcast right from the start and have her tell her tragic backstory. Wouldn't it be easier for everyone to accept if we introduced Ma Siyi's backstory from an outsider's perspective?"

Li Shiqia added, "Hu Youyu lives in the same courtyard as Ma Siyi, so he's the most suitable person to be this bystander."

Tang Ruo nodded in agreement. He planned to call Hu Youyu again when he got back to have a proper talk about the matter.

On the other side, Hu Youyu returned to the entrance of Youfeng Courtyard.

I saw Xie Wanghe standing under the big locust tree, making a phone call.

Hu Youyu didn't go over to disturb them and went straight back to his room.

Actually, Xie Wanghe only picked up his phone and dialed Zhou Haikuo's number after seeing Hu Youyu return.

Just pretending.

Normally, at this time, Zhou Haikuo would be busy coding or doing other things and wouldn't have time to answer the phone.

Xie Wanghe originally planned to hang up after the phone rang twice, then send Zhou Haikuo a text message saying he dialed the wrong number, and that would be the end of it.

Just as Hu Youyu's figure disappeared into the courtyard, Xie Wanghe was about to hang up the phone.

Unexpectedly, the call was answered at that moment.

"Wang He, what's up so late?" Zhou Haikuo's voice came from the other end of the phone.

Xie Wang's mind went blank for a moment before he finally spoke:

"Nothing much, just wanted to let you know that Siyi and Dahua have already moved into the courtyard house and settled in."

Zhou Haikuo on the other end of the phone remained silent.

Zhou Haikuo's intuition told him that Xie Wanghe's phone call was definitely not just to let him know.

Xie Wanghe realized that his excuse was a bit clumsy, and after a moment of silence, he confessed without being asked.

“Someone from a live streaming website just contacted Siyi, wanting her to start a live stream and use her family history to gain traffic. I argued with them, so I came out to get some fresh air. I didn’t have anything else to do, so I just wanted to talk to someone for a while.”

"Live streaming website?"

"Panda TV's website hasn't officially launched yet, but an agreement has already been reached with Yang Muyi's side."

Zhou Haikuo was speechless for a moment after hearing this.

Yang Muyi has already agreed, so the matter is practically settled. What else is there to say?

“I don’t know how they talked to Yang Muye, but I’m still not entirely at ease about this. Could you help me find out who these three people are?”

Xie Wanghe gave the names of Tang Ruo and the other two over the phone.

Are you sure it's the three of them?

"What, you know them?"

“I heard about their story from a senior classmate. They used to run a video website, which was very popular for a time. But it was later revealed that the identity of the internet celebrity peasant painter who supported the website’s traffic was fake. They came out and admitted to it, and then the website went bankrupt.”

Zhou Haikuo briefly recounted the story of "Da Vinci the Wanderer" over the phone.

Xie Wanghe's eyes lit up after hearing this. "I know how to persuade Siyi now. I'll hang up now and call you back later."

After hanging up the phone, Xie Wang and Fei ran back to Youfeng Courtyard and arrived at the door of Room 2.

"Bang bang bang!"

Xie Wanghe raised his hand and knocked on the door.

Ma Siyi came to open the door.

She thought Xie Wanghe had come to apologize to Xia Fenghua, and was about to step aside to let Xie Wanghe into the house.

"Siyi, I just called Haikuo and learned something from him: Tang Ruo and the other two are liars. You must not believe them!"

Ma Siyi glanced at Xie Wanghe, somewhat disappointed.

"Are you referring to 'Da Vinci the Wanderer'? Mr. Yang already told us about this when he called me and Fenghua this afternoon."

"Then what you just did—"

Xie Wanghe paused suddenly at this point.

Yang Muye knew that Tang Ruo and the other two had criminal records, yet he still chose to cooperate with them, so there must be another hidden story behind this matter.
"Mr. Yang said that no one can fall into the same pit twice. Tang Ruo and his team understand better than anyone the consequences of fakery backfiring on traffic, so they will cherish this opportunity for cooperation more than anyone else."

Xie Wang's Adam's apple bobbed laboriously; he was at a loss for how to refute it.

Fortunately, at that moment, my phone rang like a lifesaver.

Xie Wanghe took out his phone and glanced at it.

It was Zhou Haikuo calling.

He looked up, about to explain to Ma Siyi.

Bang!
Ma Siyi closed the door in front of Xie Wanghe.

Having been turned away, Xie Wanghe could only awkwardly pick up his phone and walk into the yard to make the call.

Zhou Haikuo asked right away:

"Have you already told Siyi about the identities of Tang Ruo and the other two?"

"said."

"Siyi already knew, didn't she? I was just about to remind you when you hung up the phone."

Xie Wanghe remained silent, his face grim.

Zhou Haikuo realized that what he had just said was somewhat of an hindsight comment, so he changed the subject.

Have you called home in the last couple of days?

"We just had a call yesterday, what's wrong?"

Is your dad feeling better?

"He's much better. He's planning to go back to driving trucks in a while—why did you suddenly ask about this?"

"My dad just called me right before you called me."

Sensing something was off about Zhou Haikuo's tone, Xie Wanghe gripped his phone tightly.

"Has something happened at my home?"

Xie Wanghe's biggest worry was his father Xie Tiancheng's health, but his parents always told him good news and never bad news, for fear of interfering with his studies.

"It's not just your home, it's our whole family."

Zhou Haikuo's answer left Xie Wanghe stunned on the spot.

Everyone?

Could something have happened on Red Street?

“My dad told me that recently there have been rumors about Huajie being demolished again. They were talking about it in great detail, and that the city had already issued the planning approval.”

A thunderous boom echoed in Xie Wanghe's mind.

The demolition of Huajie Street was such a big deal, yet his parents kept it a secret from him.

"Don't blame your parents. This isn't the first time they've said that Flower Street is going to be demolished, but it always ends up being nothing. Telling you before we have any concrete information will only distract you."

Zhou Haikuo comforted her over the phone.

Xie Wanghe was in a state of extreme turmoil, and his agitation was evident in his tone:
"Then why did you tell me this? Aren't you afraid it will distract me?"

This sudden "turning the tables" left Zhou Haikuo speechless.

Fortunately, Zhou Haikuo remained rational and did not argue with Xie Wanghe.

"I'm telling you this because I just called Chen Rui and asked him to find out if the news is true."

Xie Wanghe's heart skipped a beat.

What he feared most happened.

"Is Chen Rui's claim about the demolition true?"

"Chen Rui's mother said that Huajie Street will definitely be demolished in the end, it's just a matter of time."

The ambiguous answer made Xie Wanghe frown.

"Anyway, I'm just letting you know. You should also tell Dahuazi that with the current situation on Flower Street, your two families probably need to make some plans soon," Zhou Haikuo kindly reminded him.

These words sounded particularly harsh to Xie Wanghe.

The reason is simple: with the demolition of Huajie Street, other families can receive a considerable amount of compensation or several resettlement houses.

But Xie Wanghe's family is different from Xia Fenghua's.

Both the Xie and Xia families rented Grandma Ma's house.

Although Grandma Ma said more than once when she was alive that the houses of the Xie and Xia families were for perpetual lease.

As long as they don't plan to move, the rent will never be raised and the property will never be taken back.

The rent did increase a little later, and it was only after the Xie and Xia families strongly insisted that Grandma Ma agreed to raise the rent.

At the time, the Xie and Xia families intended to help Grandma Ma by raising the rent.

Even after Grandma Ma passed away and Ma Siyi ran away from home without a trace, the rent from the Xie and Xia families was still deposited in the bank on time, to be given to them when Ma Siyi was found.

Now that Huajie Street is facing demolition, the Xie and Xia families are just tenants and they won't get any compensation or resettlement housing.

They would have to find another place to live, or even buy a house.

This was like adding insult to injury for the two families who were already struggling financially.

No wonder Xie Wanghe and Xia Fenghua's parents kept this a secret from them.

"Oh, right, there's one more thing you probably need to tell Siyi."

Zhou Haikuo's voice pulled Xie Wanghe back to reality from his reverie.

"Siyi's mother is back in Flower Street!"

"what?"

Xie Wanghe's eyes widened suddenly.

Cao Yanyan's negligence led to her son's drowning, which forced Ma Siyi to submit a blank exam paper and run away from home. She even had the nerve to return to Huajie.

“She heard from somewhere that Huajie was going to be demolished. She went back to Huajie for two things: first, to report to the police station and ask the police to help her find her daughter.”

"Secondly, as Siyi's mother, she requested to manage the property during the period of her daughter's disappearance, which is the courtyard house that Grandma Ma left to Siyi."

"She went to your house and Dahua's house to argue just the day before yesterday. She said she would either accept the rent increase or move out!"

Xie Wanghe gripped his phone tightly, his eyes blazing with fury.

How dare Cao Yanyan manage Siyi's property on her behalf and even drive away her own family and Xia Fenghua's family!
Zhou Haikuo's voice continued to come from the other end of the phone.

“Right now, apart from Chen Rui’s parents, no one else on Flower Street knows that we have found Siyi. Given the current situation, it seems that Siyi has no choice but to come forward.”

These words were like a bucket of cold water, suddenly waking Xie Wanghe up.

Ironically, he had previously strongly opposed Tang Ruo and the other two encouraging Ma Siyi to do live streams, using her tragic life to gain traffic.

They scoffed at Li Shiqia's "moat" theory.

Reality immediately slapped Xie Wanghe in the face.

Dealing with a woman like Cao Yanyan who is extremely selfish and hypocritical.

We must, as the three people, say, resolutely draw a line between ourselves and them and expose their ugly faces.

(End of this chapter)