The production team wanted to say, "Young Master, you're here to film a show, not do charity work. Why are you so enthusiastic about something that's not your concern?"
But as they were about to speak, they remembered that it was the production team's car that had scared the person into the ditch, so they could only hold their tongues.
Sheng Yuxiao was a man of his word and acted with vigor.
He scooped up Li Xiaoya and rushed back to the car.
Li Xiaoya had lost one of her shoes.
She lifted her head in a daze, but could only see the young man's sharp jawline. His tightly pressed lips made him look unapproachable.
But Li Xiaoya still struggled and called out, "My grandpa, grandpa hasn't had any water yet..."
Sheng Yuxiao only cared about Li Xiaoya and couldn't be bothered about others. He pursed his lips and said, "He has hands and feet, can't he do it himself? Why does a little kid like you need to serve him?"
Li Xiaoya said, "Well, he doesn't have feet."
Sheng Yuxiao: "..."
He numbly wiped his face and looked again at the child he was holding. There wasn't much sadness or pain on her face; her eyes were clear and innocent, with a hint of resilience in her expression.
...Damn, she seemed even more pitiful now!
Sheng Yuxiao raised his hand to lower the car window and shouted to the staff outside, "Her grandfather has no feet, help give him some hot water!"
Staff: Huh?
Are we really doing volunteer work now?
Wait, what happened to the notorious young master of the Sheng family?
The barrage of comments also fell silent for a moment:
[...This Li Xiaoya seems pretty miserable, guarding a rundown house and taking care of a grandfather who's lost his ability to work. Where are the rest of her family members?]
[Come on, you really believe this? Isn't this obviously a scripted show?]
Inside the car.
Sheng Yuxiao put her down and bent over to fasten her seatbelt.
Suddenly, a scalding tear fell on the back of Sheng Yuxiao's hand.
Sheng Yuxiao flinched as if burned, his expression changing slightly as he hurriedly looked at Li Xiaoya's face. He thought he had touched on a painful subject.
But Li Xiaoya's eyes were just brimming with tears. She moved her lips and trembled as she whispered, "My shoe, I lost a shoe."
"My shoe." Li Xiaoya was very upset, even more so than about her grandfather losing his feet.
Perhaps because the former was a long-standing pain buried in the years gone by.
The latter was the inescapable poverty of their current constrained life.
[Damn, if this is really a scripted show, I have to say the script is pretty good...]
Sheng Yuxiao took a deep breath and said, "It's just a shoe, don't worry. I'll compensate you for this too."
Li Xiaoya nodded through her tears.
Li Family Village was truly poor. The staff had no choice but to take Li Xiaoya to the Village Chief's house for a hot bath.
The Village Chief's house was a two-story cement building. The walls weren't tiled, and it wouldn't have stood out much even in the countryside.
But compared to Li Xiaoya's home, this place suddenly seemed luxurious.
When the Village Chief heard that Young Master Sheng had finally arrived, he eagerly came out to greet him, rubbing his hands: "You're here? The bed is all made..."
The Village Chief's voice trailed off abruptly.
He looked at the six-foot-tall young man in front of him, who was carrying Li Xiaoya under his arm.
The Village Chief's voice rose: "Li Xiaoya! What are you doing here?"
If it weren't for the cameras, the Village Chief would have started scolding her by now.
[Uh, the Village Chief's family seems quite well-off]
[Who else noticed? There are a lot of staff members waiting in the Village Chief's house, and pre-installed cameras]
[I get it! This must be Li Qingqing's home!]
"Never mind that, Young Master Sheng met this poor child on the way and brought her here for a bath," a staff member took charge and pushed the Village Chief aside.
Sheng Yuxiao just walked straight in with Li Xiaoya, going upstairs, not like a guest but more like the owner. After all, this young man was used to being domineering.
To curry favor with Sheng Yuxiao, the Village Chief had specially offered the master bedroom. The master bedroom had an en-suite bathroom, and Sheng Yuxiao pushed her in, saying, "Go wash up."
Li Xiaoya stood in the bathroom, looking small and pitiful.
She turned around helplessly, clumsily trying to find the switch, fumbling around until water sprayed her in the face.
Outside, Sheng Yuxiao could hear the water turning on and off intermittently.
Then the door opened, and a wet little head poked out. Li Xiaoya said in a small voice, "I... I don't know how to use it."
Sheng Yuxiao let out a long sigh, realizing that this child had probably never seen a shower head before.
He held onto the doorknob, hesitated for a moment, and asked first, "Are you dressed?"
Li Xiaoya nodded.
Only then did Sheng Yuxiao enter, and for the first time, patiently taught Li Xiaoya how to use the shower.
After all this fuss, it took Li Xiaoya half an hour to bathe.
The Village Chief, pressured by the staff, went to find some of Li Qingqing's clothes for Li Xiaoya to change into. He carried the clothes in his arms and headed upstairs.
"Young Master Sheng, Young Master Sheng, I'm the Village Chief. I've brought some clothes for Xiaoya." The Village Chief's tone was unmistakably fawning.
The door opened, but Sheng Yuxiao said, "No need."
He stepped aside, saying, "She's already dressed."
At that moment, Li Xiaoya had just walked out of the bathroom, wearing a hoodie several sizes too big for her. It looked like a baggy dress on her, revealing her thin ankles below.
The sleeves were so long that she had to raise both hands, standing there looking a bit dazed, but mostly indescribably adorable.
Sheng Yuxiao had given her his clothes.
"This... this..." The Village Chief's voice was immediately choked in his throat.
How could this be allowed?
Li Xiaoya, that damned Li Xiaoya!
At this point, the cameras had captured Li Xiaoya's appearance, and the barrage of comments exploded again.
[Ah, it's an ACRONYM hoodie! That's crazy, it costs over ten thousand yuan! How could he just let her wear it?]
[Sheng Yuxiao, are you going to give her all your clothes? You've even given away your jacket...]
[I suddenly don't envy Li Qingqing anymore.]
"Come here, let's dry your hair," Sheng Yuxiao reached out to Li Xiaoya.
Li Xiaoya had caught a bit of a cold, and her nose was stuffy. She answered in a nasal voice, "It'll dry if I just let it air out."
Sheng Yuxiao frowned in displeasure, "Air out? You'll catch a serious cold that way. Come here... oh, you've never seen a hair dryer either, right?" "I'll dry it for you," Sheng Yuxiao felt this task couldn't be left to anyone else.
Li Xiaoya looked up, nervously glancing at the Village Chief, before walking over to Sheng Yuxiao.
Sheng Yuxiao firmly grasped her shoulders, picked up the knockoff brand hair dryer, wrinkled his brow in disgust, but still turned it on and started blow-drying Li Xiaoya's hair.
Li Xiaoya stood there motionless, feeling only a pair of large hands constantly running through her hair, accompanied by warm air.
It felt so cozy.
She had never felt so warm before.
Sheng Yuxiao blew her hair dry while criticizing, "Did a dog chew on your hair? The ends are all uneven."
Li Xiaoya replied, "The teacher cut it."
Sheng Yuxiao was speechless. "What kind of craftsmanship is that?"
After drying her hair, Sheng Yuxiao rolled up her long sleeves and put a hat on her. "This way you won't be cold when you go out..." Sheng Yuxiao's voice suddenly trailed off as he looked at her.
The hoodie was too big for her. Once pulled on, it swallowed her entire head, leaving only a bit of her snow-white chin visible.
Sheng Yuxiao curled his fingertips, unable to help but mutter, "Damn cute."
Soon, a staff member brought cold medicine. Li Xiaoya wasn't afraid of the bitter taste at all. She drank the powder in one go, wiped her mouth, and said, "I should go back now."
For some reason, Sheng Yuxiao felt a bit disappointed, but he said, "Alright, someone take her back."
Upon hearing this, the staff members breathed a sigh of relief. Great, this troublemaker was finally going to let them record the show properly.
"Wait a minute, your shoe... you're missing a shoe," Sheng Yuxiao suddenly remembered.
Li Xiaoya had already cried over her shoe, but now she appeared strong and generous. She said, "It's okay."
He had already given her so many things.
Maybe the shoe was still waiting for her where she left it.
If it wasn't there, it didn't matter. She could always dig through the trash to find it.
The Village Chief eagerly chimed in, "Why don't we let her wear Qingqing's shoes?"
He wanted to get rid of Li Xiaoya as soon as possible and also curry favor with Sheng Yuxiao.
But Sheng Yuxiao was displeased: "Why give her someone else's old junk? What if she gets athlete's foot?"
The Village Chief: "..."
The bullet screen comments also went wild:
[...]
[I can't argue with that]