The villagers had been working at the winery for three years, and all the division of labor were done in an orderly manner, so there was no need for anyone to be there to supervise them anymore.
Plus everyone was very conscientious and self-disciplined, so Liu Yusheng coming over for a walk was just a routine.
The winery's bookkeeping was taken care of by the village head Liu Jinfu. After half a year of learning with the bookkeeper that Qian Wanjin assigned, he was now proficient at it.
There weren't many things that needed her to worry about.
After a brief stop at the winery, Liu Yusheng left with Axiu.
Before they arrived, she had been worried that in a crowded and noisy place, Axiu might experience negative emotions, such as uneasiness, discomfort, and anxiety.
But in the end, nothing happened, and the young man who was surrounded by a bunch of people acted unaffected.
Not that he was adapting well, he simply treated the people around him as air….
After psychological trauma, self-isolation and autism were developed. The torturous pain also stimulated the body's protective mechanism, making him subconsciously forget everything. Thinking of this, Liu Yusheng sighed inwardly; her medical skills were of no use to him.
A finger poked at her cheek, so she gave a sidelong glance to the young man suspected of treating her like a pet. "What's wrong Brother Axiu?"
Axiu hesitated, pulling the corners of her drooping mouth up with his fingers.
"…"
"It's nice."
"It's a smile." She was between laughter and tears.
Axiu nodded. "Smile, you smile."
Seriously, it was much like training a puppy…
From the winery through the ancient acacia tree at the entrance to the village, she could see her grandmother sitting under the tree chattering with village elders from afar.
Seeing the two kids approaching, Grandma Liu immediately stood up. "No more nagging no more. The children are back. I'm also going home."
"Grandmother why did you come here?" Liu Yusheng was doubtful.
Running out to gossip in the morning was something that had never happened to Grandma before. Seeing how she went out like a breeze, she thought there was something urgent.
"I'm idle at home, so I came to find someone to talk to. Let's go, I'm going back with you." Grandma Liu made the chance encounter incredibly natural that Liu Yusheng didn't doubt it.
But Axiu looked at the old woman for a moment and his brows furrowed. "At the winery, peeking."
Grandma Liu: "…" Axiu, can you be silent at times like this?
Liu Yusheng: "… " Has something happened that I didn't know?
Two pairs of eyes, one old and one young, twitched as they looked at Axiu, while he remained quiet, innocent, and dazed.
Each of the three headed home with their own thoughts.
Halfway through, they met a group of children from the village, laughing and joking. When they saw Axiu, their laughter came to an abrupt halt.
Granma Liu's heart thumped. Oh no, she forgot to explain to the village children as well.
In her haste, she stood in front of Axiu, trying to block the children's view.
It was too late.
"Woohoo! Ghost!" Several children cried, their tiny bodies huddled together and shrank back.
"You kids are really…this is my Axiu, a living person! Who are you calling a ghost?! You don't believe me?!" Grandma Liu turned around and hugged Axiu, cupping his ears tightly with her hands. The eleven year old boy was almost as tall as her, but was just too thin to look like a child. "Right? Have you ever seen anyone who can hold a ghost? Our Axiu is only a few years older than you. You-uhm-should call him Brother Axiu!"
It hurt like hell inside. The flaw in the plan – how did she miss the village kids? How hard must it be for Axiu to hear those words.
Axiu wasn't hurt. He just wanted to push away the person who was hugging him.
He didn't like anyone touching him.
But strangely, when he wanted to push the woman away immediately, his hand refused to rise as he wanted.
The old woman hugging him, with the smell of the kitchen's smoke, didn't smell good. He didn't dislike it, but his heart seemed very calm, very… solid.
He couldn't figure out what this complicated feeling was at the moment, so in his confusion, he screwed up his brows to think and decided to ignore this woman who was hugging and shielding him for the time being.
The children choked down their sobs at the sight of the picture in front of them. Still, no one dared to approach.
In truth, the first time she encountered the group of children, Liu Yusheng reacted almost the same way as her grandma, wanting to immediately protect Axiu, but she was small and one step too slow.
This step made her discover a lot of things, and she ended up crying in her heart.
She and her grandmother were worried to death, but in reality, Axiu was totally unaffected.
He was chill and calm to the point that Liu Yusheng even suspected he didn't even know what a ghost was, or maybe it was that he really didn't care what people thought of him at all. Because despite the reactions of the kids across from him, Axiu didn't spare them even a glance.
Indifferent, not caring in the slightest.
Liu Yusheng walked to the children and tilted her head a bit. "Why are you saying that Brother Axiu is a ghost?"
She was as old as the children, plus was a village treasure, and every child in Xinghua Village was constantly advised at home to never, absolutely never bully Shengsheng. Whoever dared to disobey would be waiting for a spanking at home.
So as soon as Liu Yusheng asked, someone sobbed and answered. "Nannan, he's so ugly, he's so scary!"
"Don't you usually fall and have a scar where you've been knocked?"
"Yes, I used to fall on my knees and I still have all the scars!" The inexplicable question diverted the kids' attention.
"I have them on me, and several others!"
Liu Yusheng nodded. "Are those scars ugly?"
"Pretty ugly…"
"You are actually very lucky that your scars can be covered by your clothes, but Brother Axiu isn't so lucky. He hurt his face and ended up with scars on his face that made him look like this. You all used to cry in pain when you fell and bumped yourselves, right? Look at the big scar on Brother Axiu's face. He felt ten times more painful than you did. Now that he has a scar, he's still being called a ghost, isn't he pitiful?"
The children fell silent for a moment. They exchanged looks, and some of the more sensible ones blushed with shame.
Liu Yusheng added, "Although Brother Axiu's face isn't pretty now, he's not scary. He's a great, great person. I can now read and write. I can read the Three Character Classic, the Thousand Character Classic, and many books. I can also do some simple Kung Fu. Everything is taught by him."
What do kids like to do?
They loved to play.
And they most admired capable people.
After hearing her speech, the stiff atmosphere from before was gone, and wows of wonder sounded.
"Is he really that powerful? More powerful than Brother Dabao, than Brothers Zhixia and Zhiqiu?"
"Of course. Look at me, I'm as old as you are, but I can run a winery!" Liu Yusheng proudly raised her chin and turned to Axiu, raising her small hand. "Brother Axiu, hug."