Wealthy Beauty in the 60s-Chapter 178 - 177: Death Trial (Monthly Ticket 730+)

Not sure whether Dong Meihua felt the same, but she certainly stopped getting close to Xia Xiao and the others, which left them speechless. Yet, that might be for the best since they were never on good terms.

Everyone else didn’t pay much mind to it, and Li Shengmei even called out to Dong Meihua, "Meihua, after work, go pack your things. From now on, you’ll live at our place."

Wang Aihua whispered, "It looks like Dong Meihua is going to marry into the He Family ahead of time."

Everyone nodded in agreement, not finding it sudden at all. They were dating anyway, so it was bound to happen sooner or later.

Today’s work had only reached halfway when news from the Red Star Production Team reached them. They said two young men who dug up graves last night had died, and several others had fallen ill, even the team leader Liu Haiguo.

Xia Xiao was completely stunned. Dead, how could they be dead?

Some said they died or became ill out of fright, but nonetheless, people started to believe it was retribution for desecrating graves.

"Brother Gao, how did they die?" Xia Xiao seized an opportunity to ask Gao Jiaxing.

"I didn’t see it myself, just heard, their hands were all rotted."

Hearing Gao Jiaxing say this, Xia Xiao thought of corpse poisoning, though some were probably scared to death as well.

This day, Xia Xiao worked absentmindedly, feeling as though she might have caused their deaths.

If she hadn’t frightened them so much yesterday, they might not have died. This thought troubled her deeply.

She spent the day in low spirits because of this.

And the energy stone continued to attract Shitou, while Xia Xiao didn’t enter the space to look at those treasures; right now, she had no desire to.

"What’s wrong, you’ve been unhappy all day?"

Gao Jiaxing noticed Xia Xiao’s mood a while ago and commented.

"Brother Gao, do you think there really are ghosts in this world?" Xia Xiao asked.

"They could exist," Gao Jiaxing wasn’t sure either, given that he’d never seen one.

"Do you think they died of fright?" Xia Xiao continued.

Gao Jiaxing nodded, "Ge Lai said it seems like they were scared to death, but their hands were all rotted, so maybe they died of poisoning too. Don’t overthink it."

This reassurance from Gao Jiaxing didn’t clear the gloom in Xia Xiao’s heart. Seeing this, Gao Jiaxing added, "I’ll give you a talisman. If you feel scared, just recite it in your heart, and you won’t be afraid anymore. But keep it to yourself, don’t spread it."

Xia Xiao’s eyes widened as she listened to Gao Jiaxing recite a few lines, like a chant, something about "I have one hundred and eighty dragons, turned into one hundred and eighty swords...".

Xia Xiao was perplexed and asked, "Who told you this?"

"When I was very young, a Taoist priest told me and gave me this charm. I’ve recited it since then. He even said I was fated to face a deadly calamity," said Gao Jiaxing.

Upon hearing this, Xia Xiao’s eyes widened, "A deadly calamity, at what age?"

"Who knows." Gao Jiaxing chewed on a grass stalk, "Anyway, I’ve been fine all my life. Remember how quickly I recovered when I had a fever last time? Maybe that was my deadly calamity and see, didn’t I come out alright?"

Xia Xiao nodded. She had her concerns but felt she couldn’t discuss them with Gao Jiaxing.

"Don’t worry too much; it’s normal to be frightened of retribution."

Gao Jiaxing said, also relieved, "Thankfully our young people from our production team didn’t join in. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be so calm right now."

"What is the Red Star Production Team going to do now?" Liu Haiguo, the team leader, had fallen ill.

Gao Jiaxing chuckled disdainfully, "What else can they do? Ge Lai is in charge now. Liu Haiguo is too impressionable and likes to hear flattery. The Red Star Production Team has been performing poorly, finishing last in production every year. If this continues, Liu Haiguo won’t last as the leader for much longer."

Xia Xiao nodded. She had heard quite a bit about the state of the Red Star Production Team. Liu Haihua was always up to something, and so was Liu Yue. When Feng Ying joined them, it became a trio.

None of these people, including Liu Haiguo, knew much about production. They could barely manage the land and blindly gave orders, which is why the productivity of the Red Star Production Team was so poor.

Because of what happened at the Red Star Production Team, other teams didn’t dare to engage in grave digging anymore. On the Red Star side, Liu Haiguo had been ill for several days due to the shock.

Ge Lai took charge of the team’s affairs. Ge Lai, who grew up living off charity meals from a hundred families, knew the world well and how to interact with people, so soon he gained more prestige in the Red Star Production Team than Liu Haiguo had.

Moreover, Ge Lai was the son-in-law of Liu Jiefang, a man respected by Liu Jiefang before he died, who still holds considerable authority in the hearts of the Red Star Production Team. Ge Lai, who had been watched growing up by everyone, outshone Liu Haiguo.

With Ge Lai stepping up, Feng Ying was the first to feel discontent. Being married to Liu Haiguo, she naturally wanted the best for him, but now that Liu Haiguo was bedridden, Ge Lai had gained popularity.

If this kept up, Liu Haiguo’s position as the team leader would be at stake. Mrs. Liu and Liu Haihua were okay with it, one was the son-in-law, and the other was the husband. They didn’t see any problem with Ge Lai, rather, they felt that without him, Liu Haiguo might not have been able to keep his position as the team leader.

But one person, just like Feng Ying, was unhappy—Liu Yue. Having always been spoiled and proud, she had held a grudge against Ge Lai for a long time because of that slap. She was not willing to see him succeed, and Ge Lai’s success was not to her advantage.

Once Feng Ying noticed Liu Yue’s dislike of Ge Lai, she immediately sided with Liu Yue, and even often whispered to Liu Haiguo, suggesting that Ge Lai had great ambitions to usurp his position.

This made Liu Haiguo quite unsettled. Naturally, he valued Ge Lai as a brother and brother-in-law, but he wanted Ge Lai’s help, not his replacement.

Hence, the dynamics between Liu Haiguo and Ge Lai became delicate. Between Liu Haiguo and Ge Lai, Mrs. Liu definitely sided with her own son, after all, she only had this one son, and she would rely on him for her future years.

And during this time, Feng Ying became pregnant, which made Mrs. Liu value her even more. Feng Ying subtly started disparaging Ge Lai to Mrs. Liu, who then grew wary of him as a threat to her son’s position, and began to dislike Ge Lai too, often badmouthing him in front of Liu Haihua.

Since Liu Haihua never liked Ge Lai, it was easy to imagine how she treated him, demanding one thing today and another tomorrow, constantly threatening Ge Lai with her son.

Ge Lai was suffocating from the frustration caused by The Lius’ attitude. Ge Lai felt deeply disillusioned due to their suspicion. He had done a lot to help Liu Haiguo maintain his leadership position, not expecting The Lius to doubt him now, leaving Ge Lai feeling powerless.

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