Chapter 301: Exposed

Chapter 301 -302: Exposed

It wasn’t that Li Yang was truly scared of Uncle Chai’s threat; he just knew his own station and his current level of strength. Besides, he just wanted to be a simple farmer—to grow some vegetables, make a fortune, lead the whole village down the road to riches, and flirt with beautiful women like Aunt Rong.

As for everything else, he really didn’t want to get involved.

‘After all, I’m just not strong enough.’

But since Zhao Xuechu had asked, he mulled it over and said, “All I can say is this: I’ll ask Manager Zhang again, but I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to get it.”

“Thank you so much!” Zhao Xuechu said, sighing in relief. “I’ll be waiting for your news.”

That being the case, there was no reason to stay any longer. Li Yang nodded and quickly disappeared from the villa.

After leaving, Li Yang got in his car and drove to an ATM. He used the PIN Zhao Xuechu had given him to check the card’s balance. When he saw the number, he was completely dumbfounded.

It wasn’t one million. It was ten million!

This…!

He immediately called Zhao Xuechu. “This card… Did you give me the wrong one?”

“What’s wrong?” Zhao Xuechu sounded confused. “The wrong one? How? That’s impossible. I went with her to set up the account. She said it was for you, to thank you.”

“Then why is there ten million in it?” Li Yang asked, dumbfounded. “Didn’t she say it was one million as a thank you?”

Zhao Xuechu paused for a moment, then quickly explained, “Maybe she… felt one million was too little, so she gave you ten million instead. Oh, right. She did mention something to me last time. She said she knew you needed a lot of money to develop your village, and she also asked why you were so stupid as to not ask her for a reward.”

A heavy feeling settled over Li Yang.

‘She did it on purpose… Xiao Zhen definitely gave me this much money on purpose.’

Damn it!

To say Li Yang and Xiao Zhen didn’t get along would be an understatement. He couldn’t stand her, and the feeling was mutual.

He had mostly treated Xiao Zhen as a favor to Zhao Xuechu. Now that she’d given him ten million, Li Yang felt awkward.

“Since she gave it to you, just accept it and spend it,” Zhao Xuechu said. “Zhenzhen may be the Xia Family’s adopted daughter, but she’s never short on cash. You saved her life, after all. Ten million is nothing to her.”

Li Yang gave a wry smile. “Fine. You… thank her for me, will you?”

“Okay!”

After hanging up, Li Yang felt uneasy. He thought for a moment before calling Manager Zhang. “Manager Zhang, I wanted to ask, could you get me some more of that Iron-wire Grass?”

“My friend, what in the world do you need that Iron-wire Grass for?” Manager Zhang’s voice on the other end sounded like he was about to cry. “I don’t know what’s going on, but the company issued another strict order. They said the Iron-wire Grass has a critical use now. We can’t touch it unless a general manager one level above us requisitions it.”

“What?” Li Yang was dumbfounded. “So… you can’t get any more Iron-wire Grass?”

“There’s nothing I can do,” Manager Zhang said with a wry laugh. “To be honest, people have already been asking me why I needed the Iron-wire Grass. It looks like someone’s investigating. I… I didn’t mention you. I just said I needed it for personal use and managed to bluff my way through.”

Damn it!

Li Yang swore under his breath. ‘The Xia Family obviously knows already,’ he thought. ‘They just don’t know I’m the one who bought the herb.’

‘No, wait. Uncle Chai saw me. Now they’ll know for sure.’

A sense of danger washed over Li Yang.

“Manager Zhang, I’m so sorry,” Li Yang said after a moment’s hesitation. “I never thought this would cause you so much trouble. I really apologize.”

“It’s not that big of a deal…” Manager Zhang finally said with a wry laugh. “But I really have no way of getting you any more Iron-wire Grass.”

“I appreciate all your help,” Li Yang sighed inwardly. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll figure something else out.”

“Alright!” Manager Zhang breathed a sigh of relief. As long as Li Yang wasn’t going to press him about the Iron-wire Grass, everything was fine. “So… that business with the wild ginseng… can we still work together on that?”

“Of course!” Li Yang said with a smile. “I’m actually about to go looking for more. We’ll talk when I have something.”

“Great, great, great!” Manager Zhang said, nodding enthusiastically. “You have to let me know if you find a new supply.”

“Don’t worry,” Li Yang said earnestly. “If I find anything new, you’ll be the first to know.”

After a bit more conversation, he hung up.

Li Yang sat in his car, spacing out for a long moment.

‘Looks like things are starting to get out of my control.’

After thinking it over, he called Zhao Xuechu again and explained the situation.

“What?” Zhao Xuechu was startled, too. “So… there’s no way to get the Iron-wire Grass now? And you might have been exposed?”

Li Yang gave a wry smile. “Miss Zhao, it seems Xiao Zhen’s family situation is a bit complicated. I…”