Chapter 82: First Encounter with the Wenchu People

Li Xiao called his academic advisor and easily got permission to take time off.

After all, his advisor was aware of Li Xiao’s family situation.

Someone from his family background could likely live comfortably for their entire life, as long as they didn’t try to start a business.

So, as long as Li Xiao didn’t fail any classes, his advisor was willing to turn a blind eye.

...

Early the next morning, Li Xiao drove toward the Xihan’er Milk Tea Shop.

The shop wasn’t located in the city center, but on the outskirts of a commercial district.

Because it was so early, there weren’t many pedestrians or cars on the road.

Li Xiao parked the car. He was about to pull out his phone to call Wen Churen.

But his gaze quickly landed on a girl sitting on an electric scooter, eating a bun and drinking soy milk.

The girl was wearing a blue grid-member uniform, with her hair in a neat, short ponytail under a blue cap. Her face was a delicate, oval shape.

However, from working on the streets year-round, her skin wasn’t the pale white that many admired, but a healthier, wheat-toned tan.

She looked to be around 25 to 28 years old.

’That must be Wen Churen,’ he thought.

Li Xiao didn’t rush to get out of the car.

After all, it wasn’t 9:00 a.m. yet.

Of course, the other main reason was that she was still eating breakfast.

If he went over now, she would definitely feel obligated to stop eating to handle the handover.

But Wen Churen ate quickly. Within a few minutes, she had finished her soy milk and bun.

Seeing this, Li Xiao didn’t wait any longer and got out of the car.

He walked briskly to the girl’s side.

"Hello, are you Ms. Wen Churen?"

When Wen Churen saw Li Xiao approach, she quickly put away her phone, but a flicker of hesitation crossed her face when she got a clear look at him.

"Hello, I’m Wen Churen. Are you... Mr. Li?"

Wen Churen couldn’t help but hesitate.

After all, Li Xiao didn’t look very old—twenty or so at most.

Li Xiao knew what she was doubting.

"That’s right. I’m Li Xiao."

He opened his wallet and handed over his student ID.

After looking at the student ID, Wen Churen’s doubts subsided a little.

"Hello, Mr. Li. The lawyer you previously hired has already taken care of the paperwork for the milk tea shop."

"So, legally speaking, this shop is already yours."

"I came here today mainly to coordinate with you about the issue of the shop’s employees."

"You are aware of the employee situation, aren’t you, Mr. Li?"

Li Xiao nodded gravely.

"I have a general idea. There are eight employees in total. Only two are regular people, and the other six are Xihuan’Er, correct?"

Wen Churen:

"That’s right. The milk tea shop’s current employee situation is quite complex."

"According to the agreement Mr. Tang originally signed, this milk tea shop is required to provide employment for no fewer than six Xihuan’Er for three years."

"I wonder if you have any objections to this, Mr. Li?"

Li Xiao shook his head lightly.

"You don’t have to worry about that at all."

"A base salary of just 1,500 yuan per person adds up to only 9,000 a month. That amount of money is nothing to me."

"Even if this milk tea shop doesn’t stay open, I’m willing to support these Xihuan’Er unconditionally."

This wasn’t an empty boast from Li Xiao. Never mind a salary of 9,000 a month; even 90,000 a month wouldn’t put any pressure on him.

Li Xiao had thought his magnanimous display would put Wen Churen at ease. However, the reality was the exact opposite of what he expected.

Hearing that the shop might not stay open, Wen Churen suddenly became anxious.

Her voice instantly rose in pitch.

"No, how could you? This shop has to stay open—"

But halfway through her sentence, Wen Churen seemed to realize she was getting too emotional. An unnatural blush flashed across her face, and she quickly bowed and apologized.

"I’m sorry, Mr. Li. I got a little too emotional."

Li Xiao didn’t quite understand Wen Churen’s reaction.

’From his perspective, these Xihuan’Er have intellectual limitations and are quite different from ordinary people.’

’Shouldn’t she be happy to hear that someone is willing to support them unconditionally?’

’Could there be some hidden reason for this??’

Li Xiao asked, confused.

"Miss Wen, you seem to have a different opinion about my willingness to unconditionally support these poor children??"

Wen Churen bit her lip, then nodded.

"Mr. Li, are you free right now?"

"If you are, I’d like to take you to the care center in our district."

"There’s a welfare section there that specifically looks after children like them. We can go see for ourselves what typical Xihuan’Er are like."

"After we’re done, we can come back to the milk tea shop. It should be open for business by then."

"You can see what the kids are like when they’re working, Mr. Li. Then, you should understand what I mean."

Li Xiao didn’t know what the girl was trying to say, but he nodded anyway.

’It’s broad daylight. A government grid member isn’t going to do anything bad to a grown man like me.’

"No problem. I’m free all day today."

Wen Churen quickly patted the back seat of her electric scooter.

"Then, hop on, Mr. Li."

"I’ll take you."

???????

Li Xiao glanced at the cute, pink "little sheep" scooter next to Wen Churen, and several question marks appeared over his head.

Seeing the hesitation flash across his face, Wen Churen realized her mistake.

’We’ve only just met. It was probably a bit reckless of me to just invite him to ride on the back.’

She quickly put her key away and said with an embarrassed laugh:

"It seems this scooter isn’t supposed to carry passengers anyway. How about I call a Didi?"

Li Xiao held back a laugh. ’This girl is pretty interesting.’

He pointed toward a Mercedes-Benz with flashing lights in a parking spot.

"No need to call a Didi. I drove."

Wen Churen followed Li Xiao’s finger and saw the black Mercedes-Benz. She couldn’t help but suck in a sharp breath.

She had seen this car before. It cost over 500,000 yuan. She never imagined that this ridiculously young Mr. Li would own such a vehicle.

But she quickly came to her senses.

’Anyone with a bit of sense could see that the Xihan’er Milk Tea Shop was bound to lose money for a long time.’

’For him to take it over without any hesitation, his financial situation couldn’t possibly be bad.’

Faced with Li Xiao’s invitation, the slightly older Wen Churen didn’t act coy. She neatly parked her "little sheep" in a spot and got into the back seat of the Mercedes.

After getting in, she handed him her phone, which was already set up with the navigation.

The two didn’t talk much, simply following the phone’s navigation.

The black Mercedes soon stopped outside a care center a few blocks away.

Wen Churen had clearly been here before. She led Li Xiao into the care center with practiced ease.

Along the way, many staff members and even patients’ families greeted Wen Churen warmly.

Clearly, Wen Churen the grid member was quite popular.

But what puzzled Li Xiao was that many of the people who greeted Wen Churen then looked at him with strange expressions.

He felt that their gazes were both odd and familiar, but for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out why they seemed familiar.

Soon, they passed through some other care areas and arrived at the section dedicated to caring for patients with cerebral palsy, autism, Down syndrome, and other similar conditions.