TSWPF -Chapter 123 Agreement

After much persuasion, Li Qingling finally saw the village head off, grain in hand. She turned back and smiled at the children, comforting them, “Don’t be afraid. Big Sister won’t let you go hungry.”

The children nodded one after another. In their hearts, Big Sister had always been strong. They believed she would never let them starve.

Seeing how much the children trusted her, Li Qingling’s lips curled into a smile.

After giving them a few instructions, she prepared to go to town to see whether Fuman Restaurant had reopened.

Liu Zhimou was worried about her going alone and decided to go with her. Knowing she couldn’t talk him out of it, Li Qingling nodded in agreement.

The two of them reminded the children again to stay home, lock the door properly, and not open it casually. Only after the children agreed did they leave on foot.

When they reached town, they headed straight for Fuman Restaurant. The moment they saw its doors open, their eyes lit up.

They wouldn’t go hungry anymore…

They hurried inside. When they saw the shopkeeper, smiles immediately appeared on their faces.

“Shopkeeper Uncle, long time no see,” Li Qingling greeted him with a smile.

Hearing the familiar voice, the shopkeeper looked up and saw Li Qingling standing before him. He smiled. “Little Miss Li, long time no see.” He had originally planned to go to Niutou Village in a few days to see whether Li Qingling and her family had returned. He hadn’t expected that before he could go, they would come to him instead.

Judging by their appearance, they seemed to be living fairly well—not like people who had been through great hardship.

Seeing that the shopkeeper hadn’t lost any weight, the smile on Li Qingling’s face deepened. “Shopkeeper Uncle, when did you come back? Last time I passed by, Fuman Restaurant wasn’t open yet.”

“It was last night. I was planning to go check on you in a couple of days, but you came first. That saves me the trouble.”

Hearing this, Li Qingling raised her brows and smiled as she thanked him.

The shopkeeper sized her up curiously and asked where they had gone to take refuge during these past few months.

He had seen refugees before—yellow-faced, thin, dressed in rags like beggars.

Compared to before, Li Qingling and Liu Zhimou were only a little thinner, with hardly any other change.

They really didn’t look like refugees.

Li Qingling felt there was nothing to hide, so she briefly explained what had happened over the past few months.

Naturally, she omitted the matter of saving the old man and Liu Zhihao.

After listening, the shopkeeper felt admiration rise in his heart. To think of such an idea—truly clever. No wonder his master had instructed him to take extra care of this family after returning.

“No wonder you don’t look like refugees,” he said with a smile, teasing her. “So you’ve been living on wild game for months? Little Miss Li, what brings you to see me today?”

People didn’t visit the Temple of the Three Treasures without a reason. If he couldn’t even see through Li Qingling’s little intentions, he wouldn’t deserve to be the shopkeeper of Fuman Restaurant.

Her heart skipped a beat. Li Qingling knew she couldn’t hide it from him. A little embarrassed, she said, “I did come to ask Shopkeeper Uncle for a favor today.” She quietly took a breath and continued, “To be honest, last night Niutou Mountain collapsed and buried our home. All the grain and supplies were lost, so I came to ask if I could borrow some grain.”

“What?” Even the usually calm shopkeeper was startled. “Niutou Mountain collapsed? Was anyone in your family hurt?”

“No. Luckily we ran quickly, so everyone is safe,” Li Qingling replied. Thinking back to last night, her heart still pounded. If not for that nightmare she had…

Hearing that no one was hurt, the shopkeeper finally relaxed. “As long as people are safe, that’s what matters. Those material things can be earned back in the future.”

Li Qingling smiled. “That’s what I think too. It’s just that we’re in some difficulty right now, so I can only come ask for your help.” If she had known this calamity would strike, she wouldn’t have brought all that grain back from Song Mountain. If she hadn’t, they wouldn’t need to ask others for help now.

Thinking of the grain buried under the cellar, her heart ached.

Truly, man proposes but Heaven disposes. Who could have known this would happen?

“That’s easy enough. How much grain do you need?” the shopkeeper asked. The more he interacted with this girl, the more clever he found her. She asked to borrow grain instead of silver—after all, with grain prices so high now, even borrowing silver wouldn’t buy much grain.

Seeing that the shopkeeper was willing to lend them grain, Li Qingling finally felt some of the tension ease.

Coming to Fuman Restaurant was really just a matter of trying her luck, to see whether the shopkeeper would be willing to lend them grain. If he refused, she had no way to force him.

Fortunately, the shopkeeper was willing to give her face.

“I’d like to borrow one hundred jin of grain. Is that possible?” Li Qingling said calmly. She had already planned that once Fuman Restaurant reopened, she would receive dividends. If she couldn’t repay in grain, she could use silver instead. “I can write an IOU for you. I won’t default.”

She still had that much credibility.

Hearing this, the shopkeeper considered for a moment, then nodded. “I can lend you one hundred jin. But there isn’t much grain here right now. I can only give you twenty jin first. The remaining eighty jin will have to wait a few days. Can you wait?”

Most of their grain had been transported away earlier. Now that they were reopening, they still needed time to bring supplies back.

Besides, he would need to report this matter to his master.

Li Qingling had no objections and nodded.

As long as she could borrow grain, waiting a few days didn’t matter.

Seeing her agreement, the shopkeeper instructed the waiter to pack up twenty jin of grain and bring it out to her.

At the same time, he handed Li Qingling twenty taels of silver.

“This…”

“For buying a pot,” he explained. “Having grain but no pot to cook it wouldn’t do.”

A surge of emotion welled up in her heart. Li Qingling accepted the silver without hesitation, bowed deeply to the shopkeeper, and thanked him.

She would never forget the kindness of everyone who had helped them.

The shopkeeper waved his hand, smiling as he said it was nothing.

To him, it was just a small favor. If his master were here, he would surely do the same.

After chatting a bit more, Li Qingling and Liu Zhimou politely declined the shopkeeper’s invitation to stay for a meal and left Fuman Restaurant with big strides.

“If only I hadn’t used all that silver to buy grain back then,” Li Qingling sighed regretfully. “We wouldn’t have ended up like this.” That had been all their savings, gone just like that. They had to start over again.

Liu Zhimou switched the grain to his other hand and reached out to hold Li Qingling’s hand, smiling as he comforted her. “If you hadn’t used that money to buy grain, we’d have starved to death on Song Mountain long ago. How could we be standing here talking now?” He hated seeing her take all the blame upon herself. “You think too much. As long as our family is safe and together, we can earn that money back sooner or later.”

Back then, they had started with nothing. Now it was just starting over again—what was there to be afraid of?

Li Qingling tilted her head and glanced at him, then smiled with narrowed eyes. “You’re right. Starting over isn’t scary.”

If she could earn that much money before, she could do it again—and even more.

In her heart, she made a firm resolution to earn money as quickly as possible. Otherwise, the children wouldn’t be able to go to school.

She didn’t want to delay their future.

Seeing that she had thought it through, a smile finally appeared on Liu Zhimou’s face. As long as she didn’t get stuck in a dead end, that was good.

“Let’s go. Buy what we need and hurry home. If we’re late, the children will worry.”

“Mmm.” Li Qingling nodded.

After buying everything the household lacked, the two of them headed home.

As soon as they arrived, the children saw that they had really brought back grain, and excited smiles spread across their faces.

“Big Brother, where did you get all this grain?” Liu Zhiyan asked, looking at the grain on the ground and the pots and utensils, frowning slightly.

After so many events, this child seemed to have grown up overnight, learning to think more carefully about things.

Liu Zhimou had no intention of hiding it from them and told them everything directly.

Their children couldn’t be sheltered like those who knew nothing of the world. They had to understand how difficult it was to keep this family going—only then would they grow and become resilient.

“I’m telling you this so you’ll know that this family isn’t easy to support. I hope everyone can unite and hold this home together,” he said. Though he wanted to temper the children, he didn’t want to frighten them too much, so he added an explanation. “Do you understand what Big Brother means?”

“We understand,” the three boys replied seriously, nodding.

The two little ones looked at each other, then around, and also piped up in their childish voices that they understood.

Looking at his younger siblings, Liu Zhimou smiled gently, encouraged them a few more times, then sent them off to do whatever they needed to do.

When Liu Zhimou was teaching the children, Li Qingling usually didn’t interrupt.

After he finished and the children dispersed, she finally spoke. “Why tell them all this? Won’t it just make them worry?” In her heart, the children were still very young. She didn’t want them to bear so much.

Liu Zhimou saw through her thoughts at a glance. “They’re not that young anymore. They should know these things.” This girl didn’t realize that she herself was still young too. “Don’t worry. They’re not as fragile as you imagine. You don’t need to be so protective.”

Li Qingling thought about it and sighed. From that day on, she tried every possible way to earn money and restore the family’s living conditions.