294 Uncle

Li Zhe sat in the car and laughed so hard that he thought he was going crazy. He really could not understand what game Guan Lei was playing.

Thinking about the call he received from Guan Lei’s form teacher the previous day, Li Zhe burst into another round of laughter. Watching from the sidelines was not enough! He needed front-row seats to watch as Guan Lei made a fool of himself.

Li Zhe dialed Guan Lei’s number.

Guan Lei was working in the field when his phone rang. He got up and patted his hands, and pulled out his phone. However, when he saw it was Li Zhe calling, he immediately hung up.

Nothing was more important than pleasing his future father-in-law.

Li Zhe’s mouth hung wide open. His blank stare soon became a sneer when he finally realized Guan Lei had rejected his call.

That was fine. Even if Guan Lei refused to answer his phone, there was still something called a text message.

Guan Lei impatiently fished out his vibrating phone from his pocket. Li Zhe had sent a string of messages, and each only served to blacken his mood.

Li Zhe: “My dear nephew, your form teacher called yesterday and said that you were at your classmate’s house, so I came to pick you up. Look to the east.”

Guan Lei looked up and saw a black car parked a short distance away.

Gritting his teeth in anger, Guan Lei dialed Li Zhe’s number. “If you dare come over, don’t blame me for getting nasty!” he warned in a low growl.

Hearing his nephew on the line, Li Zhe could not help but be amused. He decided to push his luck. “It’s too late. I’ve already asked your form teacher to inform your classmate’s parents of my arrival. I’ll pick you up soon.”

Guan Lei’s eyes narrowed dangerously as he stared at the black car. It was almost as if he was trying to roast his uncle alive with his fiery glare. Li Zhe and Meng Yu were the same. They both had poor taste.

“What are you doing?” Shen Yan asked when he noticed Guan Lei’s motionless form.

“I’m getting out of the car, my good nephew, ” Li Zhe continued with a smile.

Guan Lei turned to Shen Yan, who was walking in his direction. “I’m sorry, Uncle. I was speaking to my uncle.”

Shen Yan nodded in understanding. “Is your uncle here? Your teacher told me he would be picking you up today. I almost forgot.”

“No, my uncle said he’ll be back in the afternoon,” Guan Lei answered quickly.

Shen Yan nodded and continued his work.

“So I’ll come back in the afternoon?” Li Zhe echoed, glancing in Guan Lei’s direction. Although he could not see Guan Lei’s expression, he could imagine how interesting it must have looked.

Guan Lei stared daggers at the expensive black car. “Sure. But you’d better not be riding in the car you’re currently using. Take the bus. Take off any branded goods you have on your person. My uncle is supposed to be an ordinary man who collects garbage.”

The car Li Zhe drove, and the clothes he wore were not those a garbage collector ought to possess. If Li Zhe waltzed over like he wanted to, he would expose his ruse. Guan Lei could not have that.

Li Zhe laughed so hard that he gasped for breath. “Not bad! You’ve got some interesting tastes, kid. I hear cosplay is all the hype now. Don’t worry; I’ll be a good uncle to you.”

Guan Lei turned a deaf ear to Li Zhe’s laughter and hung up. He was extremely annoyed. How could he have let Li Zhe catch him in his present state?

The morning passed quickly, and soon Shen Yan returned with Guan Lei to the tent where Shen Xi and Lu Shan were resting.

Lu Shan used a towel to wipe off the sweat on Shen Yan’s face. There was an air of tender warmth between the two.

Guan Lei watched the older couple, his eyes green with envy. He turned to Shen Xi, eagerly awaiting her gentle ministrations with a dry towel.

Unfortunately, Shen Xi did not realize what Guan Lei wanted. She regarded Guan Lei’s pitiful state with sorrow, feeling like she had let him down. He was their guest, but she had allowed her father to force him into harvesting sweet potatoes from the field.

Guan Lei heaved a long sigh. He drooped in sadness, seeing that Shen Xi did not understand what he wanted.

Guan Lei slumped, seemingly in low spirits, throughout the journey back to the house.

Shen Xi went up to Guan Lei and asked, “Are you unhappy? Is it because my father forced you to pick sweet potatoes with him? Are you tired?”

Feeling that Shen Xi was too slow on the uptake, he replied, his poor mood evident in his clipped response. “No!”

Shen Xi frowned at the tone and expression Guan Lei wore. She could understand, to an extent. Who would not be angry about being treated as free labor?

“You’ve worked hard. I’ll talk to my father later. He’s too much! How could he expect a guest to help him harvest sweet potatoes?” Shen Xi raged on Guan Lei’s behalf.

Guan Lei’s expression grew more bitter with every word Shen Xi spoke. “That has nothing to do with it!”

Guan Lei was close to tears. Shen Xi kept treating him like a stranger and a guest. He did not even know which was worse at this point!

Shen Xi frowned in consternation. Men were so difficult to understand. What was the problem if not being forced into hard labor?