108: Chapter 108 Relatives Visit

Once they reached the countryside, the road conditions deteriorated significantly, forcing Xiao Yuchen to slow down. When the villagers saw that Xiao Yuchen had brought along a fleet of luxury cars, their faces were filled with shock.

Xiao Yuchen smiled and greeted everyone, and soon they arrived at the entrance of Happiness Village.

The villagers had never seen so many luxury cars before; many didn't even recognize the makes, because in their eyes, any sedan was considered a luxury car.

Dozens of luxury cars entering the village at once made Happiness Village instantly lively. Everyone stopped to watch, curious to see which family's child had become successful.

Xiao Yuchen's home was at the west end of the village, but the Dao in the village was already narrow, and combined with the fact that many families liked to place large rocks in front of their doors, the fleet moved very slowly.

Because the cars were moving so slowly, many villagers followed the fleet, wanting to see exactly whose house they were heading to.

Fifteen minutes later, Xiao Yuchen parked his car in front of the old house, and the others found their own parking spots. Fortunately, there was an empty lot in front of Xiao Yuchen's old house; otherwise, there really would have been nowhere to park.

When Xiao Yuchen got out of the car, the villagers began to chatter, speculating about his identity.

Xiao Yuchen and Xiao Yuxin had left the village six or seven years ago; at that time, Xiao Yuchen was only in middle school, and Xiao Yuxin had just started elementary school.

Although they returned often with their parents afterward, very few people in the village had seen them, aside from their neighbors.

"Aren't those the two children from the Xiao Family? They've really made it big."

"Yes, yes, that's them! The last time I saw them was five years ago. They've grown so much. They should still be in school, right? How are they driving luxury cars?"

"Who knows? Could it be an inheritance left to them by Old Xiao?"

Everyone was whispering, but no one dared to step forward. Just then, a middle-aged woman squeezed out from the crowd, and when she saw Xiao Yuchen and the other, she froze on the spot.

"How is this possible? How could it be Xiao Chen? Why did he suddenly return? No, I must inform everyone."

Xiao Yuchen ignored the crowd and went straight to the entrance of the old house. Looking at the rusted iron gate and lock, he was filled with mixed emotions.

"Yiran, this is where Xiao Yuxin and I grew up. It's a bit dilapidated, but those days were the happiest times for Xiao Yuxin and me. It's a pity we can never go back," Xiao Yuchen sighed.

"Yuchen, don't be sad. Everything is in the past. Your uncle and aunt would certainly not want to see you like this," Li Yiran comforted him.

Xiao Yuchen nodded slightly, ripped the lock off the gate, and pushed it open to walk inside.

The courtyard was not large and was covered in weeds. Xiao Yuchen summoned his Pill Fire and tossed it directly into the weeds.

The weeds ignited quickly, but the flames seemed to possess intelligence; they burned only the weeds, automatically changing direction when they reached the house, until all the weeds were reduced to ashes.

"Brother Xiao, your fire control technique is truly impressive; you can burn exactly what you want."

Xiao Yuchen was in no mood to joke with Zhou Tiancheng, so he said casually, "Brother Zhou, have everyone bring down the cleaning tools."

Once the fire went out, the group entered the courtyard with various tools. Under Zhou Tiancheng's direction, dozens of Jiangcheng bigwigs began to busy themselves.

While everyone was cleaning up the courtyard, the four of them went inside the house. Looking at the old furniture, childhood memories flooded into Xiao Yuchen's mind.

Xiao Yuchen and Xiao Yuxin went straight to the inner room and saw photos plastered all over the walls. The one in the center was a family photo of them.

"Brother, let's take these photos back. These are all our memories."

"Alright, let's take them all back. Modern technology should be able to turn these photos into color."

Xiao Yuchen and the others carefully peeled the photos off the wall. Every time they removed one, they would recall the circumstances of when it was taken. These were likely the most precious things in the room.

Besides the photos, another wall was covered with certificates of merit, all earned by Xiao Yuchen and Xiao Yuxin during their school days.

"Brother, I earned more certificates of merit than you when I was a child," Xiao Yuxin said proudly.

"That goes without saying; you were always better at studying than me. Let's take these back, too."

As the three of them cleaned the room and sorted through their memories, just as they were about finished, Xiao Yuchen heard a commotion outside. More than twenty people walked in.

Xiao Yuchen only glanced at these people, but his heart could no longer remain calm, as these twenty-some people were all his relatives.

"Why are you here?" Xiao Yuchen asked coldly.

"Xiao Chen, we heard you were back, so your Third Uncle came to see you."

"Yes, Xiao Chen, it's been so many years. We've missed you all so much, so we discussed coming over together to see you."

Xiao Yuchen looked closely. His uncles, aunt, and others had all come. He hadn't realized these relatives were so united before.

"That's unnecessary. I'm only back to pick up some things. Since we've severed ties, let's make a clean break of it. There's no need for any contact in the future."

Xiao Yuchen was angry. These people could choose not to acknowledge them, but his parents had been so good to them in the past, yet they weren't even willing to see his parents off on their final journey. Didn't their consciences hurt when they did that?

"Xiao Chen, actually, we had our reasons. You can't blame us for this matter. We..."

"Not blame you? Should I blame my parents, then? How did my parents treat you in the past, and how did you treat them?" Xiao Yuchen almost roared.

"Xiao Chen, we really had no choice. You have to believe us."

"No choice? Then tell me. If you can convince me, I might consider forgiving you." Xiao Yuchen was a reasonable person; he could give these people a chance to explain.

"We can't. We promised someone else, so we can't say."

"Since none of you are willing to speak, why did you come? Do you think I'll forgive you just by saying it was a misunderstanding? Everyone leave, except for Xiao Ying. You are not welcome here."

Xiao Ying, whose name was Xiao Yuying, was his Third Uncle's daughter. When his parents passed away, only Xiao Ying had given him five hundred yuan. He would never forget that.

Hearing Xiao Yuchen say Xiao Ying's name, the others were visibly stunned. They didn't understand why Xiao Yuchen would treat Xiao Ying differently. Could it be that they had been in contact all along?

Being singled out by Xiao Yuchen, Xiao Yuying's body stiffened visibly. Back then, she had secretly given her own lucky money to Xiao Yuchen; her parents didn't know about that at all.

"Yu... Yuchen Ge, I... I... I'm sorry. I couldn't attend Second Uncle's funeral back then. I hope you can forgive me. And as for everyone else, they really had their reasons. Please, don't hold a grudge against them."

Hearing Xiao Yuying say the same thing, Xiao Yuchen frowned deeply. He might not believe those other people, but he did trust his cousin's words to some extent.

"Could they really have some unspeakable difficulty? If that's the case, why aren't they willing to say it? Who did they promise to keep the secret from?"

Xiao Yuying's words left Xiao Yuchen feeling conflicted. Perhaps he really had misunderstood these people, but if they refused to speak, what could he do?

If these people were enemies, he could use soul-searching, but he obviously couldn't do that to them.