Chapter 137

Chapter 137: Money Is Not a Problem

“Did you say you came here to travel nearby and soak in the hot springs?” The Village Chief stared at Du An Rao and the others, eyes shining. Right now he did not mind at all that they had brought so many people.

Were these really people coming? This was clearly money walking through the door!

The villagers watching at the side also crowded over, joining the fun: “I never thought our village’s magma hot spring was already this famous outside. People even came all the way here just to visit. Do you think, after a while, more and more people will come? Then the families who have hot spring vents near their houses will all get rich, right?”

“What are you dreaming about? With the conditions in our village, if people come once, they definitely will not want to come a second time. Who knows who tricked them into coming here. Maybe they were just bored and came to this poor backwater for something new. It’s lucky to run into this once and you’re still thinking about a second time. I think you’d better go home and dream instead.”

“…”

The people around them were noisy, and the more the Village Chief listened, the darker his face became.

Du De Sheng had seen the world. Seeing this, he took the chance to tap his cane on the ground and pretended to be angry as he said: “So you are not welcoming us? Then we should go back.”

When the Village Chief saw this God of Wealth about to run away, how could he stay unmoved?

“No, no, our villagers are very warm and hospitable. How could we not welcome you?”

“Yes, yes, you are welcome, you are welcome. Don’t overthink it. We just suddenly saw so many people from another village and got curious, that’s all.”

“That’s good then.” Du An Rao also knew when to stop while she was ahead, so she followed along and said: “Do you have any hotels or places where we can eat around here? It’s getting dark. My grandfather is old and can’t go hungry, we need to eat soon.”

In such a remote village, there were hardly any people, let alone a hotel. They could only make do by eating in the villagers’ homes.

Du An Rao and the others had brought a lot of people. Counting everyone together, there were about twenty in all.

The Village Chief did a quick calculation and split them into four groups. Besides Du An Rao, Du De Sheng, and a few others, the rest went to eat at the homes of villagers who were willing to host them, then would gather again in his own yard after dinner.

Of course, the meals were not free. Du An Rao and the others had already said they would pay the villagers who hosted them a meal fee.

So the villagers who had been wary of them at first happily took them home.

As the most respected old veteran in the village, the Village Chief lived in a single story brick-and-concrete house that covered quite a bit of land. The food in his home was better than in other villagers’ homes, but it was still only some simple home-style dishes.

But Du An Rao and the others had not come here for this meal anyway.

After they successfully slipped into the Village Chief’s house and had eaten a few bites, Du An Rao started to casually probe again: “Village Chief, I just saw that living conditions here don’t seem very good. Most families still live in tile-roofed houses. Is there any better house?”

“My grandfather’s legs are not very good. The doctor told him to soak in hot springs more for therapy. I heard that this kind of volcanic hot spring works better than normal ones, so we came all this way to your place. If soaking today really works, we may stay here for a while. Could you help us find a better place to stay? Money is not a problem, we can talk about it.”

The Village Chief did not suspect anything. He did not really understand luxury brands or fancy cars, but he had eyes. Just by looking at how they were dressed, he knew these people were not short of money.

This was also the main reason he had quickly let down his guard after learning why they came. Compared to these people, they who were so poor that their pockets rang empty looked more like the ones with bad intentions.

“A better place to stay…” The Village Chief thought for a moment and said: “There is one, but I have to ask first. My brother-in-law’s house is the best in the village, a two story concrete house. It is a bit old, but really solid. His home is not far from here. After we finish eating, I will go ask him. If he does not mind, you can stay there tonight. It is just that…”

“Is there some problem?”

The Village Chief looked up at Du An Rao, his face full of embarrassment and worry, and said: “Although their house has two floors, it is not very big and there are not many rooms. If it were summer, it would be fine, but in winter… With so many of you, you probably can’t all stay in one house.”

Du An Rao turned and met Du Jun Yan’s eyes, understanding what the Village Chief meant.

If it were summer, so many of them could still sleep on mats on the floor at night and just make do for a few days.

But in the middle of winter, they really could not let so many people lie on the floor and freeze.

And the Village Chief had probably also seen that most of the people following them were bodyguards who needed to live close to their employer. If they were really separated, he was afraid these people would feel the conditions were too rough, get angry, and go straight back home instead of staying here.

“It’s fine.” At the key moment, Du De Sheng spoke: “Just An An, Jun Yan, me, and…”

“I can squeeze into a room with Brother Du.” Afraid he would be left behind, Xi Jing Yue rushed to volunteer, pretending not to see the open dislike on Du Jun Yan’s face.

“Then An An will take one room, Jun Yan and Mr. Xi will share one, and A’Ming and I will share one. That’s enough. The others can go out and find another place to stay.” A’Ming was the head bodyguard who followed Du De Sheng.

Only then did the Village Chief breathe a sigh of relief and say: “Alright then. In a bit I’ll help you go ask, and also see if any other families nearby have empty rooms, so we can keep your group living close together as much as possible.”

“Then we’ll trouble you, Village Chief. Like I said, money is not a problem. As long as we can live comfortably, you won’t miss out on the benefits.”

Du An Rao had never thought she would one day say something that sounded like a vulgar nouveau riche, but the effect of these words was obvious.

After this shiny sugar-coated shell hit him, the way the Village Chief looked at them changed. He looked at them as if they were a group of silly golden babies with too much money, and he nodded over and over.

Du An Rao caught the change in his expression. Her eyes turned, and she struck while the iron was hot: “I heard the villagers say this place is called Liu Family Village, and almost everyone here has the surname Liu. Does your brother-in-law also have the surname Liu?”

“No, no, my brother-in-law’s surname is not Liu. His surname is Qin. He and my wife’s family all fled here years ago during the war. They are not people of this village.”

“Oh, Qin, huh. Then please trouble yourself, Village Chief, to confirm with Mr. Qin as soon as possible. My grandfather really, really needs his house so he can rest.”

By now, Du An Rao was almost sure that this brother-in-law’s family of the Village Chief was very likely the so-called collateral relatives in charge of watching over Miss Qin. For the remaining ten or twenty percent of doubt, she would have to wait until she saw the family to confirm.

Ever since Du An Rao asked about the house, Du De Sheng’s heart had been hanging high. Seeing her talk circles around the Village Chief in just a few sentences, he grew even more pleased with her quick wits.

If this Qin family really was the one they were looking for, then tonight he might be able to live under the same roof as his beloved, and the chance of getting her out safely would rise a lot.