LOT -Chapter 274 The Scapegoat Hero Ji Qianhua

In the end, under Lin Mo and Bai Xiao’s endless rainbow-colored compliments, Ji Qianhua finally finished roasting the chicken.

The moment he placed the roasted chicken into their hands, Ji Qianhua immediately stood up and said, “I’m going back to read the military manuals. If there’s nothing else, I’ll leave first. You two should eat less of this stuff.”

Lin Mo hurriedly stood up, tore off two chicken wings, and handed them to him. Don’t ask why not drumsticks—because she couldn’t bear to give the drumsticks to anyone.

“Ji-ji ge, these two chicken wings are for you. You worked hard helping us roast the chicken. I’m not that stingy, so this counts as your payment.”

Looking at the two wings shoved into his hands, Ji Qianhua’s mouth twitched. “I want to eat a drumstick.”

Hearing this, Lin Mo’s eyes went wide. She took a huge step back. “I already gave you chicken wings—why are you still coveting my drumsticks? You can’t be this greedy!”

Beside her, Bai Xiao nodded in agreement. “Exactly, exactly. A person shouldn’t be so greedy!”

Ji Qianhua: … Wanting one drumstick counts as greed?

Two wings had way more meat than a single drumstick—this chicken was quite plump too.

Lin Mo eyed Ji Qianhua warily, stepped back a few more paces, grabbed Bai Xiao, and ran. The way her back looked, she almost seemed… flustered.

【Run, run! He’s definitely eyeing my drumstick. What if he steals it?】

Bai Xiao: 【Don’t worry, don’t worry. I’ll give you one of mine. I’m not that greedy.】

The “greedy person,” Ji Qianhua: …

Wanting your drumstick makes me greedy? I’m the dignified heir of the Prince of Zhen’nan’s manor! Very few people have even tasted my roasted chicken. And now because I want a drumstick, I’m the greedy one?!

Ji Qianhua was so angry he almost laughed. Looking at the two chicken wings in his hand, he stuffed them angrily into his mouth.

Might as well eat them—it was his hard work after all.

Lin Mo and Bai Xiao found a small corner and happily ate their chicken, munching and complaining at the same time.

Unfortunately, the corner they found wasn’t a very good one—it was right below Lin Qi’s window. So every word they said was heard loud and clear.

“This Ji Qianhua is too stingy. Everything about him is good except his stinginess. Do you think he’ll be willing to spend money on my sister in the future? What if he refuses to spend on her?”

Bai Xiao: “Probably not? He doesn’t have much money, but he seems pretty generous when it comes to your sister. I don’t think you need to worry about that.”

Lin Mo: “But he even fusses over roasting us a chicken. A man who’s this petty—of course I’d worry!”

Bai Xiao thought for a moment. “That might be person-dependent. He’s stingy with us, but probably not with your sister. You can’t compare liking someone to not liking someone.”

Lin Mo’s eyes instantly widened. “So he doesn’t like me?! We grew up together, and he doesn’t like me?!”

Bai Xiao didn’t even know how to respond. Why should he like you? He already likes someone else…

“Um… He already has someone he likes, so there’s no way he’d like you.”

Lin Mo slapped her thigh in outrage. “That’s not what I meant! I wasn’t talking about romantic liking—I meant friendship! Sibling affection! He’s always saying he treats me like a real younger sister. But now he doesn’t like me, so he nitpicks me—this is too much!”

Bai Xiao was speechless for two seconds. “That’s not how this works. He really does treat you like a real younger sister—but real siblings settle their accounts properly, don’t they?”

Otherwise, why would you be allowed to come and go freely in the Prince of Zhen’nan’s manor? Why were you able to use his name to cover for your mischief when you were little?

Yes—when Lin Mo was young, because she was afraid of getting beaten for causing trouble, she would use Ji Qianhua’s name whenever she messed up outside.

And then the Prince of Zhen’nan’s manor would have a little boy kneeling on the ground, gritting his teeth and refusing to confess. Even if he was beaten until he cried, he still wouldn’t admit it.

But internally, he was already cursing Lin Mo to death.

During that period, Lin Mo got into trouble every day. Lin Qi had to study, so the job of watching her fell to Ji Qianhua.

And Ji Qianhua really didn’t disappoint—he didn’t manage to control her at all, but he took the blame for everything. The little boy was surprisingly good at taking beatings. No matter how hard the Prince hit him, he stubbornly refused to confess.

In his words: “I didn’t do it, so why should I admit it?” But when asked who did do it, he wouldn’t say—so he got beaten again.

To adults, concealing wrongdoing is the same as doing it.
You say you didn’t do it, but you won’t say who did—don’t you deserve the beating?

Because she had such a “thick-skinned, good-at-taking-beatings” neighbor brother, Lin Mo practically flew to the heavens during that time. If the adults hadn’t caught her in the act eventually, Ji Qianhua would still be suffering.

And after all that, she still dares say he doesn’t treat her like a real younger sister? What more does she want?

Lin Qi by the window was speechless as well. Couldn’t these two pick a more hidden place to gossip? Why must they sit right under his study window?

Bai Xiao suddenly felt something was wrong. He slowly lifted his head—only to meet Lin Qi’s gaze directly. He jumped in shock.

“Ah! Ge!”

He quickly nudged Lin Mo. Lin Mo, still chewing on chicken, raised her head. Seeing her brother’s not-quite-smiling expression, she instinctively grinned.

“Ge… do you want some?”

Lin Qi smiled gently. “And what exactly are you two doing here?”

Lin Mo’s eyes rolled, and she quickly decided to push everything onto Ji Qianhua.

“Ge, listen—Ji-ji ge insisted on treating us to roasted chicken. His roasted chicken is really delicious.”

Bai Xiao hurriedly echoed, “Yes yes, we couldn’t refuse, right?”

Lin Mo even sneaked a glance at her brother. Everyone in the family could discipline her—sometimes her siblings were even stricter than her parents, especially when it concerned her health.

Her siblings were extremely strict about her eating. With her parents, she could act cute and get away with it. With her siblings? Absolutely not.

That’s why whenever she was sick as a child, her parents directly put her in her siblings’ care—so she wouldn’t soften their hearts with acting cute.

Even though her mother had agreed to the chicken today, her siblings might not! Which was one of the reasons she definitely did not invite her brother to roast with them earlier.

【Judging from his face, I think he bought it. Ji-ji ge already has enough black pots to carry anyway—what’s one more?】

Lin Mo chewed the last bit of meat in her mouth.

Mmm! Delicious!