Chapter 503 - Harmony

Chapter 503: Chapter 513 HarmonySong Zhentao was also a Municipal Party Secretary, holding a significant amount of power, even though his status still fell short of Su Mengxin’s, but it wasn’t so much that whatever Li Yifei said went. That said, with Huaxia’s increasingly intense anti-corruption campaign, being a secretary meant being particularly sensitive to such matters. With Wang Hongmin indulging his daughter to such an extent, if this was to leak online, it wasn’t just Wang Hongmin who would be unlucky—there would be significant pressure on the whole municipality.

Li Yifei sending the video directly to him was a way of saving face for him, enabling him to deal with the situation directly without causing a national uproar that would be difficult to contain. Therefore, he immediately made a decision.

Although Wang Hongmin was usually arrogant, a phone call from the Municipal Party Secretary meant his career was utterly doomed, and once he got to the Discipline Inspection Commission, he might as well forget ever leaving prison again; the man was so deflated he didn’t display any of his usual haughtiness.

"Dad! Dad! What’s actually going on?" Wang Yajuan, still oblivious, asked loudly.

"My daughter, I’m finished. The Municipal Party Secretary has already called me, asking me to report to the Discipline Inspection Commission."

Upon hearing this, Wang Yajuan also sat on the ground with a thud, speechless in shock, understanding that if her father was finished, it spelled disaster for her as well.

Chu Xiaoyao said disdainfully at this time, "This is what they call ’as a man sows, so shall he reap.’ You are getting your just deserts now."

Li Yifei couldn’t be bothered to pay them any more attention. In the past, he had left a way out for people, but this time Wang Yajuan had been too arrogant, so he didn’t leave them any room to maneuver, instead pushing them into a corner with no escape.

The onlookers were all jubilant, witnessing the downfall of a high official firsthand felt like a personal achievement, as if they had a hand in the official’s demise.

Li Dongfang quickly left with his people, certainly keen to distance himself from Wang Hongmin. The urban management officers also followed suit, leaving behind Wang Hongmin, who was no longer their leader and whom they no longer needed to flatter—especially after such a public humiliation, all thanks to Wang Yajuan. They considered it polite not to beat her up right there and then.

The crowd dispersed slowly, with Wang Hongmin and Wang Yajuan supporting each other as they left. At that moment, Wang Hongmin clung to a shred of hope that perhaps Song Zhentao was just trying to appease public anger and that he might not face serious consequences after all. In the past, several officials had been taken down only to be transferred to other departments after some time.

Unfortunately, his hopes were dashed the moment he arrived at the Discipline Inspection Commission, where he was detained. The procuratorate also intervened immediately, stripping him of any chance of turning things around.

Wang Yajuan was no saint either; taking advantage of her father’s connections, she had embezzled quite a lot at her job and was naturally taken into custody. Her husband, who wasn’t in serious trouble and hadn’t been arrested, immediately filed for divorce. He had tolerated his wife thus far, but now he was finally free of the burden.

But these are digressions for another time. At the moment, Li Yifei and others were continuing their vacation by the sea. The incident had excited Chu Xiaoyao and Xu Shanshan tremendously, and they sat together chatteringly nonstop.

"Sister Shanshan, I felt so good punching that guy earlier, his nose gushed blood with just one punch, and the funniest thing was that the guy actually cried—a grown man crying after getting hit."

"Giggle, mine was even more interesting. I just slapped him, and he actually cried out loud."

The battle made Chu Xiaoyao and Xu Shanshan fast friends as they laughed and recounted the episode, the previous distance between them no longer there.

"Ouch, my hand hurts." Chu Xiaoyao tried to grab a bottle of water, and as soon as she gripped it, she cried out in pain.

Xu Shanshan also said with her mouth agape, "It turns out hitting someone not only hurts a thousand times, but also wounds yourself eight hundred times. My hand hurts too."

Xu Yingying said both amused and annoyed, "Look at you two, just like a couple of violent women."

Chu Xiaoyao giggled, "I am a tomboy."

Li Yifei sat between Xu Shanshan and Chu Xiaoyao, "Give me your hands. I forgot how tender your hands are; otherwise, I wouldn’t have let you hit anyone. After all, there are bones in the face. How could it not hurt? Come, let me rub them so they don’t swell up like little buns and you end up unable to hold anything."

They both obediently stretched out their hands, which were already somewhat swollen. Li Yifei grabbed one in each hand and began to rub them.

"Uncle, it hurts a lot."

"Brother-in-law, be gentle."

They cried out immediately.

"Bear with it a bit, or it will hurt even more later." Li Yifei didn’t let go and continued to massage their hands.

They had no choice but to tough it out, and after a while, it felt much better. They went back to discussing the earlier incident, likely a topic they would repeat for days to come.

As he rubbed Xu Shanshan’s hand, Li Yifei suddenly felt something hook his palm. Turning to Xu Shanshan, he saw her wink at him, her face playful.

Li Yifei couldn’t help but smile. He had always had a little secret flirtation with Xu Shanshan; they hadn’t seen much of each other for a month, and such flirtations had naturally ceased. To engage in this playful banter once more was indeed a joy for Li Yifei.

Xu Shanshan saw that Li Yifei didn’t object and played even more joyously. Her little fingers danced in the palm of Li Yifei’s hand, as if they were a little snake poking here and there. Yet her face kept a very casual expression, pretending as if nothing was amiss.

"Daddy, I’m hungry," Li Yufei ran up to Li Yifei at this moment, and Li Yifei let go of their hands and lifted his daughter, smiling, "Then shall Daddy grill some meat for you?"

"Yay, yay, barbecue," the little girl immediately cried out in excitement. It was also an experience she hadn’t had before.

When they arrived, they had already prepared the barbecue materials, and Li Yifei was well-practiced in this sort of thing. In no time, he got everything ready, and then everyone gathered around the charcoal, grilling meat, chatting, and playing with Li Yufei, truly having a great time together.

After eating their fill, Little Yufei soon grew sleepy. Xu Yingying held her, and she fell asleep in Xu Yingying’s arms. After a day’s interaction, the little girl had really hit it off with Xu Yingying, and this made Li Yifei the happiest.

Everyone was pretty tired that day, and by just after nine o’clock, everyone had retreated to the tents to rest.

But in this one tent, there was only one man, Li Yifei, who should have been sleeping on the very edge, next to his wife, Xu Yingying.

However, Chu Xiaoyao insisted on being next to Li Yifei, so he had to let Chu Xiaoyao sleep on the edge, then he was next to Xu Yingying, with Little Yufei on the other side, and Xu Shanshan on another side.

They had brought only thin blankets, three in total. It would have been normal for Li Yifei and Xu Yingying to share one, but Xu Yingying, worried Little Yufei might kick off the blankets in the night, shared one with her. Li Yifei ended up sharing a blanket with Chu Xiaoyao, and since he had been living with Chu Xiaoyao recently, Xu Yingying was aware that not letting them share a blanket now would be nothing more than a sham.

But for Chu Xiaoyao, this held a special meaning. Her impression of Xu Yingying improved significantly. Lying on Li Yifei’s chest, she said to Xu Yingying, "Sister Yingying, you’re really nice. I’ll definitely listen to you from now on and won’t make trouble for you anymore. I’ll stand by your side."

Xu Yingying was a bit torn between laughter and tears as she said, "Should I thank you for that?"

"Hehe, no need, you’ve been so good to me. I’m not ungrateful. I’ll definitely repay you. If someone else tries to snatch Uncle away again, I’ll help you," Chu Xiaoyao playfully responded.

Xu Yingying tapped Chu Xiaoyao on the forehead and said, "Really, I don’t know how you can be so silly."

"As long as I’m with Uncle, I’m willing to be a fool forever," Chu Xiaoyao laughed, resting her face against Li Yifei’s neck.

Even though Xu Yingying knew Li Yifei had relations with other women, seeing Chu Xiaoyao getting intimate with Li Yifei still made her feel a sour twinge in her heart.

Chu Xiaoyao immediately noticed and said with a giggle, "Sister Yingying, don’t be jealous, eh? I’m just sneakily taking a little advantage. Uncle is still your husband."

Having her feelings exposed by Chu Xiaoyao made Xu Yingying a bit embarrassed. She huffed and said, "If you’re not afraid of losing out, then go ahead."

"Then I won’t be polite," Chu Xiaoyao said happily, chuckling again, as her hand reached towards Li Yifei’s waist.

Li Yifei quickly caught Chu Xiaoyao’s hand. Flirting with another girl beside his wife made him feel quite uncomfortable.

"Alright, let’s sleep. We wouldn’t want to wake Yufei," Xu Yingying said at the moment, closing her eyes.

Li Yifei had wanted to say something to Chu Xiaoyao, but with Xu Yingying saying that, he too closed his mouth, while Chu Xiaoyao, the little rascal, twisted her hand, insisting on reaching inside Li Yifei’s pants. Li Yifei didn’t want to make too much noise and alert the others, so he let her hand slip in. Chu Xiaoyao, holding onto Li Yifei’s ’thing,’ settled down.

Chu Xiaoyao didn’t do anything more. Being able to cuddle with Li Yifei next to Xu Yingying was an indescribable satisfaction for her. She believed there would be other opportunities in the future but also knew she couldn’t rush things.

However, in the middle of the night, a rustling sound woke Li Yifei up. Although it was dark in the tent, he could see it was Xu Shanshan getting up.

"Shanshan, what are you doing?" Li Yifei asked quietly.

"I need to use the restroom. Brother-in-law, will you come with me?" whispered Xu Shanshan.

"Of course," Li Yifei replied immediately. The beach was rather deserted at night, with only a few groups camping, and he was not comfortable letting Xu Shanshan go out alone.

They crawled out of the tent and headed to the nearby communal toilet. The night breeze blew, and Xu Shanshan shivered, saying, "It’s so cold!" as she turned to look at Li Yifei.

Li Yifei also felt it was quite chilly outside, especially since Xu Shanshan was dressed in very light clothing, so he extended his arm. Xu Shanshan immediately smiled sweetly and leaned against Li Yifei, hugging his waist, and he naturally wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

The restroom here was just a wall with men’s facilities on one side and women’s on the other, very rudimentary, and sounds from one side could easily be heard on the other. Li Yifei also relieved himself, but just as he came out, he heard a scream from the other side—it was Xu Shanshan’s voice.