TSWPF -Chapter 178 Drunk

After leaving the ancestral hall, Li Qingfeng felt a little down. He clutched the letter of severed relations tightly in his hand, keeping his head down and saying nothing.

Seeing Li Qingfeng like this, Liu Zhiyan scratched his head. His family had no relatives, and he had never encountered a situation like this before. For a moment, he didn’t know how to comfort him.

After thinking for a moment, he hooked an arm around Li Qingfeng’s shoulder and said seriously, “You keep calling me stupid, but I think you are the foolish one. Don’t you still have us? Why be upset over someone who isn’t even related to you?”

Li Qingfeng looked up at Liu Zhiyan and thought his words made sense, so he nodded.

“That’s better!” Liu Zhiyan said with a satisfied smile.

“Thanks!”

Liu Zhiyan lightly bumped Li Qingfeng with his fist. “Why are you being so polite? We grew up together—we don’t need formalities.”

Hearing this, a deeper smile spread across Li Qingfeng’s face, and he began joking and chatting with Liu Zhiyan.

Seeing this, Li Qingling, who was walking behind them, finally let out a sigh of relief.

Liu Zhimou held Li Qingling’s hand, and when she turned to look at him, he only gave a faint smile.

“Not worried anymore, huh?” He knew that a child he had taught wouldn’t be so fragile.

“Yes, Xiaofeng adjusted pretty quickly.” She had thought it would take him a couple of days to get over it, but unexpectedly, Liu Zhiyan’s words seemed to fix everything immediately.

Good resilience.

Liu Zhimou watched Li Qingfeng and Liu Zhiyan walking ahead, a faint smile flickering in his eyes. He raised his voice, “You two will return to the academy first thing tomorrow.” Once he said it, there was no room for argument.

They had taken several days off already and couldn’t take any more.

Li Qingfeng and Liu Zhiyan immediately groaned at the news—they had to go back to endure school again.

“Brother-in-law, can’t we go back to the academy after Grandpa and Dahe return to the capital? They’ve come all the way here; we want to spend some time with them.”

“Yeah, Brother, we don’t know when we’ll see Grandpa and Dahe again!”

Their combined pleading would likely have softened Li Qingling’s heart.

But Liu Zhimou was not Li Qingling. He knew their tricks. With a serious face, he said two words: no.

He had taught them well; when they raised their tails like that, he immediately knew what they were thinking.

That’s exactly why he had to strike hard and couldn’t agree to their request.

If he said yes, they would expect a second favor.

For their own good, he could not give in.

Hearing this, Li Qingfeng and Liu Zhiyan exchanged a helpless glance.

“Grandpa, don’t you want us to stay with you a little longer?” Seeing that Liu Zhimou wouldn’t budge, Li Qingfeng tried appealing to the old man, hoping to get him to say yes.

If the old man agreed, even Liu Zhimou would have to yield.

The old man smiled gently. “Although I do want you to stay a bit longer, I’m returning to the capital tomorrow, so there won’t be time for you to stay with me.”

He knew exactly what these two little rascals were thinking—they just wanted to slack off and avoid school!

If it were anything else, he could help them, but this matter was different.

If they wanted to succeed in life, they had to study seriously without any slack.

“Ah? Grandpa, you’re going back to the capital tomorrow? So soon? Can’t you stay a bit longer? You just got here!” Li Qingfeng and Liu Zhiyan scampered over to the old man, reluctant to part with him.

Every time Grandpa and Dahe visited, it was always so brief. They couldn’t spend more time with them.

The old man patted their heads and shook his head with a bitter smile. He wished he could stay longer too, but he had no freedom—he couldn’t make his own decisions.

“Why don’t you go to the capital with Grandpa?” The old man thought this suggestion was good, but he knew Li Qingfeng and Liu Zhiyan couldn’t make such a decision. He looked at Li Qingling and Liu Zhimou, “Girl, what do you think? Want to go to the capital with Grandpa?”

Li Qingling shook her head firmly. “Not yet. We can’t go now.” If they really went, she would need to settle things at home first and send someone ahead to scout the situation.

The old man’s eyes lit up. So Li Qingling had already planned to go to the capital eventually. “Alright, then. When you’re ready to come, just write me a letter, understand?”

Once Li Qingling and the others came, the family would finally be reunited.

“Sister, are we really going to the capital?”

“Do you want to go?” Li Qingling asked back instead of answering him.

Li Qingfeng nodded eagerly. He did want to go. After hearing what Dahe said, he had longed to experience the capital.

Li Qingling smiled faintly. “Once Brother Zhimo passes the provincial exam and goes to the capital for the next stage, we’ll go with him.” By then, she’d have enough time to arrange things at home.

Hearing this, Li Qingfeng cheered. The surprise made him forget all his unhappiness. He grabbed Liu Zhiyan’s hand, jumping and running so that even from afar, people could hear their laughter and play.

Liu Zhimou smiled at Li Qingling. “How do you know I’ll pass the provincial exam?” She was already preparing to go to the capital so quickly—this little girl really…

Li Qingling patted Liu Zhimou’s shoulder confidently. “I believe in you. You’ll pass the provincial exam. Even if you don’t, we can still go to the capital to see the sights.”

“Exactly! When you come to the capital, we’ll live with Grandpa. His place is big enough for all of us.” Thinking of the whole family living together, the old man’s smile bloomed like a flower.

Li Qingling didn’t hesitate. She nodded.

The old man liked her straightforwardness. He patted her shoulder with a smile. “Grandpa will be waiting for you in the capital.”

With that, everyone returned home in high spirits. Once Li Qingling got home, she began preparing food to celebrate Liu Zhimou passing the county-level exam.

Not long after she entered the kitchen, villagers began arriving one by one, all carrying something—meat, vegetables, and so on.

They came to congratulate Liu Zhimou, and Li Qingling gladly accepted their gifts, inviting them in for tea until the meal was ready.

The men went to chat with Liu Zhimou over tea, while the women helped Li Qingling with the cooking.

Li Qingling thanked them with a smile. With help, cooking went much faster.

Just as everyone was busy, Old Mrs. Huang hobbled over loudly. “Hey, you didn’t even call me! And you came so fast.” She entered the kitchen as she spoke.

Li Qingling noticed the scratch marks on her face and was shocked. “Grandma, what happened to your face? Who scratched you?”

Old Mrs. Huang laughed off the concern. “I just had a fight with your grandmother… no, with Liu Chunhua. Don’t worry about it. She won’t get the better of me.” She had heard that Liu Chunhua’s family had severed ties with Li Qingling and her siblings, and she thought that was great. Now they couldn’t take advantage of Li Qingling’s family.

Li Qingling’s eyebrows twitched. “Grandma, don’t you want to do something about it?” The scratches were deep, showing how much force Liu had used.

Old Mrs. Huang sat on a stool, shaking her head. “It’s just minor scratches. They’ll heal in a few days. No need for medicine.” She looked at the prepared ingredients, ready to be cooked. She got up and moved to Li Qingling’s side. “Xiaoling, let me handle the cooking. You just sit.”

Li Qingling raised her hand to gently fend her off. “Grandma, you don’t need to. Just sit and chat with us.” With her injured foot, there was no way she could cook.

“Hey, hey, you girl, my hand isn’t hurt. I can cook.”

Li Qingling shook her head, insisting, gently pushing her back to the stool.

Seeing she couldn’t help, Old Mrs. Huang tried to replace others, but they didn’t let her. Finally, with a resigned sigh, she returned to her seat.

Watching Li Qingling skillfully cook, she thought to herself, “Xiaoling, Liu Zhimou passed the county-level exam. Should we hold a banquet?”

“No need. We’ll celebrate him with this meal.” Li Qingling didn’t even look up. “He still needs to focus on studying. We’ll throw a proper banquet after he passes the provincial exam.”

When he passed the provincial exam, even the village head wouldn’t allow them to skip the celebration—it was a village honor.

“Right! I can’t wait to toast the provincial-exam-passed Master Liu Zhimou.” Everyone agreed.

The kitchen buzzed with lively chatter over the topic.

Half an hour later, the meal was ready. Men ate at the main hall, women in the kitchen.

Hearing the commotion in the hall, the women laughed and joked among themselves.

As the meal was nearly finished, Li Qingning ran over to Li Qingling. “Sister, brother-in-law is drunk.”

“Ah? Brother-in-law drank? And got drunk?” Li Qingling was surprised. She hadn’t expected Liu Zhimou to drink, much less get drunk. Could he be pretending, like on their wedding day?

Li Qingning nodded frantically. “Yes, yes, he drank a lot. Sister, you should go check on him!” He smelled terrible, and she didn’t want to get too close.

Li Qingling was a bit anxious. She put down her chopsticks. “Grandma, you all eat slowly. I’ll be back soon.”

Old Mrs. Huang nodded. “Go quickly. Don’t worry about us.”

Li Qingling smiled apologetically, then hurried to the room.

As soon as she entered, a strong smell of alcohol hit her. How much had Liu Zhimou drunk to smell like this?

She went to the bed and gently nudged the flushed Liu Zhimou, calling his name a few times.

Liu Zhimou mumbled a couple of words, grabbed Li Qingling’s hand, pulled her into his arms, and pressed a kiss to her lips.