Chapter 58: Don't You Miss Me?

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 Chapter 57: Sarcasm and Bickering

It was around three in the afternoon.

There were only a few people who knew Jiang Chenchen's phone number. Therefore, she assumed it was Xia Changli calling, but the number on her phone was unfamiliar.

At this moment, Zhan Momomo was happily standing up, one hand gripping the railing, the other waving in the air.

She shouted joyfully a few times.

On the opposite side, Jiao Weiyun felt extremely disgusted inside, but he didn't show it. He just loudly reminded her, "It's dangerous to stand like that. Sit down quickly!"

Zhan Momomo had been resentful of Jiao Weiyun for a long time. He always had this hypocritical attitude, as if she owed him a lot.

However, maintaining her artist's demeanor, she endured it in front of the camera.

Facing the wind, her hair was tousled, but she maintained her composure. She continued with her sarcastic tone, "Why don't you stand up too? The sea breeze feels refreshing. Are you afraid or... incapable?"

She paused for a moment, then continued with a stronger tone, "Can't you do it?"

She said it as if it were a joke.

Jiao Weiyun was so angry that his face turned green, as if he had hit a sore spot.

He stood up, suppressing his anger, and said, "This is not good. I kindly reminded you, what are you talking about?"

"I just asked you to stand up and enjoy the sea breeze. Don't wrong me." Zhan Momomo complained in a weak and pitiful manner. She even grabbed Jiang Chenchen's arm, and with her other hand covering her chest, she acted as if someone was bullying her.

Jiang Chenchen silently put down her phone. She was familiar with scenes of fights.

Jiao Weiyun disliked Zhan Momomo's hypocritical behavior. He was so angry that his hands trembled, gritting his teeth, his face looking embarrassed.

If it weren't for the public setting, he wouldn't be able to bear it!

Zhuang Wengui quickly stood up to mediate, "Ah, everyone might have misunderstood each other's way of speaking. It's okay once we talk it out. It's indeed dangerous. Everyone, please sit down!"

His voice was too soft, and his presence was weak, unable to calm the situation.

The atmosphere became subtly tense for a moment. It seemed like anyone could lose their temper at any moment.

Of course, they were all decent people, not rolling up their sleeves for a fight. But the atmosphere became somewhat gloomy and sarcastic.

The program team loved these kinds of quarrel scenes.

Various hanging cameras carefully recorded the situation.

These were all short-lived incidents, and the person driving the speedboat quickly shouted, "Hold on tight!"

Following the trajectory, there was a sudden turn, seawater splashed, and the people who stood up were thrown off balance by this sudden maneuver. It was dangerous. The two men reacted quickly, grabbing the railing to stabilize themselves.

But Zhan Momomo was petite, with not much strength. She failed to hold onto Jiang Chenchen's arm, and in the confusion, she accidentally pulled off the strap holding Jiang Chenchen's phone around her neck. With the boat rocking, the phone was thrown out.

At this moment, Jiang Chenchen didn't have time to grab her phone, as Zhan Momomo grabbed onto her arms with both hands.

After the commotion, the speedboat finally slowed down.

Jiang Chenchen's phone had completely disappeared into the sea.

Zhan Momomo released her arms, sat down, and looked guilty. "I'm sorry. It's because of me that you lost your phone. After we finish recording, I'll compensate you with a new one."

Jiang Chenchen's gaze fell into the churning seawater. At that moment, she almost felt an impulse to jump in and retrieve her phone.

But her arms were restrained, and she couldn't swim.

So, she abandoned the idea.

Seeing that Jiang Chenchen didn't respond, Zhan Momomo thought she was angry and apologized again in a low voice.

Jiang Chenchen came back to her senses and said it was okay.

...

Meanwhile, Sheng Mingsi had finished his business and wanted to call Jiang Chenchen to check on her. However, there was no answer, and he guessed she might have mistaken his number for a scam.

His vigilance was quite high.

He put down his phone, preparing to head back.

At this moment, he ran into an old acquaintance.

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  Chapter 20: Grand Plan

"Father, I can't walk anymore."

The chubby boy pouted, looking at Zhang Yiquan with a grievance, while Zhang Yiquan looked at his son's physique, then at his own arms, and fell silent.

"Wei'er, you better walk by yourself. I'm afraid your mother will spank you again until your butt blooms."

Last time, in front of his own mother, the chubby boy's butt was spanked until it bloomed. Even if he begged his grandmother, it was of no use. It was said that he wasn't disciplined properly, and he dared to eat poisonous substances, which convinced his mother to punish him severely.

And then, there was no "and then."

Initially, they despised the donkey cart, which led them to the Chen family. But now, with the cart gone, they started to miss it, miss its smell.

"This matter can't just be left like this!" The woman gritted her teeth, evidently still resentful towards the Chen family for not gaining any benefits last time, which left her brooding.

"The Chen family has the support of the bailiffs, we don't need to provoke them," Zhang Yiquan analyzed the situation. He knew that the Chen family had a good relationship with a bailiff named Xu Tian.

Looking at their current situation, with their donkey cart gone because of Zhao Guang's deliberate provocations, what could they do? If they provoke the Chen family again, and Xu Tian comes to hinder them, they might not even survive to reach southern.

Most importantly, they were struggling to maintain themselves.

Losing something makes you realize its value. Though the donkey cart stank, walking was truly exhausting, especially with the shackles.

Their legs felt like they weren't theirs anymore, their ankles were rubbed raw, bloodied.

And this was just the first day.

To reach Nanman seemed impossible. It was too exhausting.

Not just them, everyone was suffering.

Snap!

Another person collapsed to the ground.

The nearby bailiff showed no expression, paying no attention, instead picking up a whip and lashing out at the fallen person.

"Get up, stop pretending to be dead."

Others quickly helped the fallen person up, supporting him as they left. Only then did the yamen stop lashing out with the whip.

Though it was only the first day, several people experienced this kind of suffering, and for a moment, the whole group wailed.

Fortunately, they finally arrived at an open space to spend the night.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Resting, the bailiffs distributed steamed buns, and the water had to be procured by themselves. Then, they were allowed to rest in place.

The Chen family members were also tired, but rather than walking, they rode in carriages. Riding in carriages was also tiring, so they got off to walk for a bit.

Seeing everyone busy with their own affairs, the Chen family members exchanged glances, and eventually, Chen Xue spoke up.

"Father, we need to speed up our plan."

After the incident with Zhao Guang poisoning them, Chen Xue proposed a plan called "Conquest."

Yes, it was that straightforward.

Her plan was simple.

Conquer all the bailiffs here and turn them into their own people.

At that point, they wouldn't have to worry about this or that. They'd all be their own people.

At that point, they would truly turn the path of exile into a tourist route.

At that point, with all the bailiffs on their side, who would dare to cause trouble for them?

They could eat whatever they wanted without hiding, openly enjoying their meals, and let the yamen take the blame for everything.

At that point, they could ride in carriages, eat hotpot, sing songs, and live carefreely.

This plan was "grand," but implementing it would be difficult.

However, they had already completed the first step, dealing with Zhao Guang.

There were only twenty yamen in the exile convoy, far fewer than the hundreds of prisoners.

But with fewer people, it was easier to pick them off one by one.

Originally, they wanted to deal with them one by one, but after discussing it, they decided to target the yamen captain first.

After all, for this group of exiles, the yamen captain was the leader. Once they dealt with him, dealing with the rest would be easier.

However, they had already tested it last time, and the yamen captain was very slippery, not participating at all. He neither oppressed them nor showed them favor.

Intentionally letting the yamen captain ask questions, Chen Xue wanted to test his attitude towards the Chen family. His attitude was impartial.

Like some people, it was obvious that they cared about reputation, some loved money, and some were upright...

However, none of these labels seemed to fit the bailiff captain. Finding out his preferences was difficult, making it hard to cater to him. The Chen family could only observe for now.

It was getting dark.

The bailiffs were resting in their carriages, while the prisoners were collecting firewood in the nearby woods, preparing for the night.

Some were also gathering wild fruits to eat along the way.

Others went to the riverbank to fetch water.

Everyone was busy with their own tasks, while the members of the Chen family had nothing to do. They had enough water, and they had food, too.

"Let's go to the riverbank and see if we can catch some fish!"

Chen Xue couldn't wait. Although there were fish in her space, they were for viewing only and were very expensive. They couldn't be eaten.

So, catching fish was not about eating them, but about the process. Chen Xue enjoyed the process of catching fish.

The joy of catching fish, you can't imagine!

Chen Yuan naturally didn't refuse. Whether it was to store meat for the road or to help the injured servants replenish their nutrition, it was a good choice.

Arriving at the riverbank, it was already crowded with people.

Many prisoners were washing clothes, fetching water, and some were fishing in the river.

Although it was called a river, it was actually not very large, only about four or five meters wide and less than a meter deep.

The Chen family did not squeeze into the crowd but came to a less crowded place by the riverbank.

Several servants rolled up their sleeves and started to wade into the water.

Snap!

However, they had just entered the water when they heard the sound of a stone falling into the water not far away. Not only did it splash the water high, but it also scared away the fish.

Chen Xue turned her head and saw the Zhang family not far away, looking at them unfriendly.

"You did it on purpose!" Xiao Die was a little angry.

"This river is so big, and it's not owned by your Chen family. What does it have to do with me if I disturb the fish?" Zhang Yiquan sneered. Seeing the Chen family wanting to catch fish to eat, he wanted to spoil their fun.

Why should the Chen family, as prisoners, be allowed to ride in a carriage and still want to eat fish? It's simply dreaming!

"Is your Chen family too overbearing? You can catch fish in the river, but we can't throw stones at fish?"

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