Chapter 158: The Little Fool in the Group Favorite Story – 1

As soon as Xie Hui entered the mission world, he was greeted by the sound of loud, annoying crying.

Frowning, he walked out and saw a boy in tattered clothes sitting in the courtyard, his face smeared with mud, crying loudly.

When the boy saw his father come out, he hurriedly stood up and ran towards him.

“Waaah, Daddy, Daddy.”

From the client’s memories, Xie Hui knew that this was the time when Xie Kangli had taught her son that eating dirt could cure illness. Seeing his son crying so miserably and his niece standing there smugly, Xie Hui felt anger rise within him.

He crouched down and used his sleeve to wipe the mud off his son’s face, then turned his head and said coldly, “Xie Kangli, stop right there!”

“Second Uncle, what are you doing? I have to go find Grandma!”

Normally, when she mentioned going to find Grandma, the client would let the matter drop. After all, in those days, family harmony was paramount, and even if parents beat their children to death, it was no big deal.

“Don’t be in such a hurry to find your grandma. First, explain to me what you just did to my son.”

Ning Ning, who was being held by his father, pointed at the dirt on the ground while crying and said indistinctly, “Dad, dirt, eat, no eat…”

“She made you eat dirt?”

Seeing Ning Ning nod, Xie Hui gently patted his shoulder, walked over, grabbed a handful of dirt, and pinned Xie Kangli against the big tree in the courtyard, shoving the dirt into her mouth.

“You like eating dirt, huh? Then have a good taste of it!”

There were some free-range chickens in the farmyard. Xie Hui didn’t mind the dirt, but that didn’t mean Xie Kangli, who had it shoved into her mouth, didn’t mind.

She struggled like a madwoman, but no matter how hard she tried, as a girl not yet ten years old, she couldn’t move at all under the control of Xie Hui, a strong adult man.

“Want more? Here, let me help you taste it thoroughly.”

Seeing that she spat out everything he shoved in, Xie Hui simply grabbed her by the neck, pinned her to the ground, and rubbed her face against the dirt.

Watching her cry with tears streaming down her face and her skin scraped by the gravel, Xie Hui, who was usually very tolerant of children, felt no pity at all. He didn’t think he was being too harsh.

He had always thought children were supposed to be kind, but Xie Kangli completely shattered that belief. It turned out there really were children who were vicious at such a young age.

Tricking Ning Ning, who wasn’t very bright, into eating dirt wasn’t even the worst of it.

She also coaxed Ning Ning into burying himself in a pit while she covered him with dirt.

When she saw some wild fruits she wanted to eat, she made Ning Ning climb the tree to pick them, not caring if he might fall.

She snatched Ning Ning’s cornbread and made him eat grass. Her various malicious behaviors were too numerous to count.

The client had previously tolerated this partly because he genuinely liked his niece and partly because he felt that with his son in such a foolish state, he might not live long himself.

So he hoped that when he was old and gone, the family would at least take care of his son for his sake.

When he saw Ning Ning being bullied by his niece, the client rarely intervened. He would even scold Ning Ning harshly when he came to him in tears, thinking of him as nothing more than a fool who knew nothing!

“Second Uncle, you actually did this to me. I’m definitely going to tell Grandma!”

The client feared her threats, but Xie Hui was not afraid at all.

Though he hadn’t been in this world long, Xie Hui had already come up with a plan in this short time.

At this time, because Ning Ning had a fever, the doctor said the treatment would be expensive, so the Old Madam wanted to split the family.

Before the family was divided, the money for the child’s treatment had to come from the family’s common funds.

But if the family was divided, whether or not to treat the child would be Xie Hui’s responsibility as the father.

In the client’s memory, he had knelt in the courtyard, begging his mother not to split the family, barely managing to get past the issue.

Now, as Xie Hui, he didn’t even think of begging her not to split the family. He couldn’t wait to divide it.

Since the family was about to be divided, if he didn’t deal with this bad seed now, there wouldn’t be another chance. So, after hearing her threat, Xie Hui kicked her again.

“Still want to go tell your grandma? Then I might have to break your legs and cut out your tongue so you can’t go tattling. What do you think…?”

This was purely Xie Hui scaring her. After saying it, he saw her so frightened that a puddle formed under her, and he left with a disdainful frown.

He walked over to his son, who was standing there in shock, and picked him up.

“Don’t cry. Daddy’s here.”

“Waaah…”

Xie Hui wasn’t without cruel means, but he habitually acted within the bounds of what was acceptable.

If this were the Apocalypse, or in the Infinite Worlds, or if he weren’t just an ordinary farmer, he wouldn’t hesitate to apply all the ideas in his mind to Xie Kangli.

But now it was clear that he was just an ordinary farmer. No matter how angry he was, the most he could do was give her a good beating.

After the beating, Xie Hui sat in the courtyard with his son, in the place where the client’s father usually sat, waiting for the others to return so they could discuss splitting the family.

Xie Kangli, who was too scared to move, finally got up and glared at her second uncle with resentment.

“Second Uncle, how dare you treat me like this! Aren’t you afraid of bad luck?”

“If you say one more word, I’ll hit you again.”

Xie Kangli’s eyes were filled with a fierce look, almost as if she wanted to eat him, but she didn’t dare make another sound because of Xie Hui’s earlier words.

Ning Ning, who was being held by Xie Hui, reached out to gently remove the grass from his father’s clothes. The serious look on his face while doing this didn’t make him look like a fool at all.

This was exactly why the client had always felt so distressed.

His son, no matter how you looked at it, didn’t seem like a fool, but he was indeed a genuine fool!

“Host, do you feel that something about this person… seems a bit off?”

The system suddenly noticed something unusual about Xie Kangli and reminded the host.

“Hmm, do you know what a magnet is?”

“Host, the system’s database has records of it.”

Since waiting for people to return was boring, Xie Hui patiently communicated with the system in his mind and explained.

“In this world, Xie Kangli is like a magnet, and other people’s Qi Luck is like iron. As long as they stay with her, she’ll absorb it all.”

“After absorbing the Qi Luck, she’ll consume their rationality. When there’s not a shred of rationality left, that person becomes her puppet.”

“Take the client, for example.”

Perhaps at first, the client had resented why his son was a complete fool.

But this resentment didn’t affect his love for his son. Later, the reason he overindulged his niece and neglected his son was that he had lost all self-awareness and became a walking corpse.

“Dad, waaah.”

After explaining to the system, Xie Hui heard the child’s voice beside him.

This child was already five years old, but he couldn’t speak clearly and was slower than others in many things.

Xie Hui looked down to see Ning Ning, who had been cleaning the grass off him, discover a small wildflower on his clothes.

The flower, which seemed to have come from somewhere, was a bit wilted. Ning Ning held it in his palm, treasuring it as if it were a rare treasure.

“Ning Ning, how about we don’t need Grandpa, Grandma, or the other uncles anymore?”

Although Xie Hui was determined to split the family, he felt he should at least discuss it with the child.

According to his judgment, Ning Ning was a fool, but as a father, he didn’t want to see his child as a fool.

Whether the child understood him or not, Xie Hui wasn’t sure.

But when he mentioned Grandma, he could clearly feel Ning Ning’s body tremble with fear, which made Xie Hui’s heart ache.

“No, Grandma, no.”

Xie Hui slowed his speech and patiently communicated with him.

Ning Ning held the little flower, looked up at his father with a puzzled expression, and after a while, repeated, “No, Grandma?”

“Yes, no more Grandma.”

After Xie Hui said this, he saw Ning Ning smile.

He smiled like a cat that had successfully caught a small fish.

Very obedient and very cute.

“From now on, Ning Ning will follow Daddy, but it might be a bit tough.”

Ning Ning probably didn’t understand this, as he continued to sit there giggling. When Xie Hui looked away, Ning Ning tugged at his clothes, wanting his attention.

Under Xie Hui’s gaze, he continued to giggle in the same manner.

They didn’t have to wait long before a commotion sounded outside, and the door was pushed open forcefully from the outside.

Afraid that the child would be frightened, Xie Hui covered his ears.

Xie Kangli, who had been too scared to speak earlier, suddenly seemed to find her support. She quickly ran over, her face full of injuries, and stood in front of the Old Madam, speaking with grievance:

“Grandma… Second Uncle, he…”

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In novel tropes, a group favorite (團寵) means the main character is the “darling of the group” — everyone (family, friends, love interests) loves, protects, and spoils them.