Meng Wange walked up the wooden stairs inside the inn, crossed a long hallway, and arrived at a closed door. Since this was the only room with a light on, she took a light breath, then raised her hand and knocked on the wooden door in front of her.
A few seconds later, a familiar female voice came from inside the room—
“Huh? Don’t knock, don’t knock, didn’t I say I don’t need room service?”
Accompanied by a somewhat flustered sound of footsteps, the wooden door was pulled open a crack, and a face covered in a white sheet mask, with only two eyes showing, peeked out from the gap.
Seeing this face that she had only encountered a few days ago, Meng Wange nodded politely—
“Hello, Head Maid. It’s me, Meng Wange.”
The Head Maid stared blankly for a few seconds, then slapped her forehead, and ruthlessly closed the door again.
Ten seconds later, the wooden door was pushed open again.
“So it’s you, Miss Meng Wange. Good afternoon.”
Quickly changing into a well-tailored black women’s suit, Bai Family’s Head Maid silently adjusted her gold-rimmed glasses, and gave Meng Wange an elegant and polite bow.
“Although I’m happy to see you, if I remember correctly, President Bai’s instruction was for you to bring Miss Su Wanli here tomorrow, correct?”
Maintaining a plastic smile on her face, she slowly straightened up, a hint of barely detectable threat in her tone.
“So, before that, you’d better give me a reasonable explanation so I can report to President Bai later.”
With that, she leaned half her body out, warily glanced around the hallway to make sure no one else was there, then stepped aside and gestured for Meng Wange to come in.
“You seem to have arrived… much earlier than we expected.”
“Yeah, I’ll explain.”
Meng Wange agreed without hesitation, then calmly stepped into the room, closing the door behind her for the Head Maid.
The room’s decor was simple: only a bed, a pair of table and chairs, and a wall painting of ocean waves.
Without further hesitation, Meng Wange got straight to the point, addressing the Head Maid’s earlier question—
“First of all, my relationship with Su Wanli might not be as close as President Bai imagines. This is only my first week at the Su family. If I abruptly propose taking her to a completely unfamiliar small town, it would easily arouse suspicion from both her and Su Heng.”
“So I need an opportunity that makes her take the initiative to be interested, rather than me making the request.”
The Head Maid leaned against the table, arms crossed, smiling—
“But what does that have to do with you coming here alone a day early? In my opinion, for you to come alone to this godforsaken Yunsheng County would be more likely to arouse the Su family’s suspicion, wouldn’t it?”
“Mm, there’s some truth to that.”
Meng Wange smiled and shrugged.
“However, I’ve already found a way to make Su Wanli take the initiative to propose going to Yunsheng County—tomorrow, as agreed.”
“Oh? So your plan is to take some nice scenic photos back and tempt that Eldest Miss to come?”
“No.”
Meng Wange shook her head with a smile.
“Through some guidance that I’m better at, I’ve already sparked a more effective interest in her than scenic photos.”
“Your sense of humor has improved quite a bit.”
The Head Maid raised an eyebrow slightly.
“Thank you for your patient praise.”
Meng Wange smiled, lightly tapping her temple with a fingertip.
“But precisely because of that, I was able to gather some intelligence in advance and form my own ideas.”
“Your ideas?”
“That’s right. If you don’t mind, I hope you can also relay the following words to President Bai.”
Meng Wange curled the corners of her mouth slightly, walked step by step to the window, and pulled open the heavy curtains that blocked the light.
“If I’m not mistaken, the plan you are to execute this time was still proposed by Mr. Bai Hewei, right?”
Although the Head Maid didn’t respond, the expression on her face confirmed Meng Wange’s guess.
“Heh, it’s actually not that hard to guess. The concept is almost identical to that evening banquet, except this time Mr. Bai seems to have thought it through more thoroughly.”
“The Su family formulated a renovation plan for this street a few years ago and got most of the shop owners here to agree to demolitions through various means. Now, only a few ‘nail households’ are still stubbornly resisting, led by the owner of this Yun Sheng Ocean Hotel, Li Yunsheng.”
Recalling the expression of the female innkeeper just now, Meng Wange sighed softly.
“Although the number of customers has been declining year by year, whether it’s to seek more profit or based on some hard-to-let-go sentiment, regardless of the conditions the Su family offered, Owner Li firmly refused to demolish. Until recently, even she started to waver.”
Meng Wange’s gaze fell back on the Head Maid’s face.
“So, perhaps to prevent the Su family’s influence from further expanding, or simply to make things difficult for the Su family, Mr. Bai’s plan this time is still to let Su Wanli mess up all this, right?”
“For example, let her oppress the merchants, ruin the precious fireworks show for the locals, disrupt their originally peaceful lives. In that way, even those who originally agreed to demolitions would start to change their minds, and the whole street’s residents would unite in common hatred, working together to resist the Su family’s commercial project.”
The Head Maid lightly clapped twice.
Clap, clap.
The expression on her face also became quite appreciative.
“Although I’m not entirely clear on the full plan, the scheme President Bai gave me does include ‘stirring up conflict,’ so your guess is mostly right.”
“So, since Miss Meng Wange came to me specifically, it can’t just be to show off your excellent thinking skills, right? Do you have something you want to say to me or to President Bai?”
“Mm. Same as last time, this plan still has significant loopholes.”
Meng Wange shook her head with a smile.
“Su Wanli’s personality is indeed moody, but that doesn’t mean she will certainly conflict with the nearby merchants. Moreover, even if her actions do provoke resistance from the local residents, the most fundamental problem remains unsolved.”
“Relying solely on public outrage is still too idealistic. People’s anger is temporary. The Su family only needs to further increase the compensation, or even just delay a bit longer, given the current customer traffic in Yunsheng County, the residents might even start begging for the Su family to carry out the renovation.”
“… So, what do you mean?”
“Sorry, I’m not saying the plan is completely useless. But, from my standpoint, being closer to Miss Su Wanli, there might be an easier way to stop the Su family’s renovation plan.”
Meng Wange took out her phone from her pocket, unlocked the screen, and showed a chat interface to the Head Maid.
“It’s simple, but a method you definitely wouldn’t think of.”
“—So, what’s Yunsheng County like? Do you think it’s a nice place? Take some photos for me.”
“—Hey hey hey, you there? You haven’t been kidnapped by locals, have you?”
“—Hiss, you bastard, are you having too much fun? Don’t reply and you’ll see! If you haven’t been in a car accident or kidnapped, I’m going to come over and kidnap you!”
“Ah, sorry, the last two lines weren’t there just now. Just look at the first one.”
Looking at the messages from Su Wanli on the screen, Meng Wange’s lips curled up almost imperceptibly, then she quickly turned off the screen and carefully put the phone back into her pocket.
She cleared her throat and looked seriously into the Head Maid’s eyes—
“In my opinion, Miss Su Wanli appears to disdain everything on the surface. But for the things she acknowledges as beautiful or good, she has an extraordinary protective instinct.”
“So… what if this Eldest Miss of the Su family, who has always been doted on by Su Heng, takes the initiative to express that she ‘doesn’t want this street to be demolished’?”
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