TSWPF -Chapter 188 The Search

His heart jolted violently. He hadn’t expected the constables to arrive so quickly. Had Laifu managed to escape through the back door?

He dug the fingers of his left hand hard into the palm of his right, forcing himself to calm down. He couldn’t reveal even the slightest flaw. The moment he slipped, Li Laifu would be in danger.

“Li Qingling, what do you mean by this? Are you really going to turn against your own grandfather like this?”

Li Qingling raised an eyebrow and looked at Old Li. “Uncle Li, this habit of yours—randomly claiming relatives—is really bad.” One moment he spoke so decisively, and the next he called himself her grandfather. What exactly did he want? “Enough nonsense. Where is Li Laifu?”

“Didn’t my son already say it? Are you deaf?” Old Li snapped coldly, staring at Li Qingling. “Li Qingling, I think you’re deliberately here today to cause trouble.”

Old Li was stalling for time, hoping to delay as long as possible so Li Laifu could escape farther away.

Li Qingling parted her lips, about to retort, when her hand was suddenly gripped firmly by Liu Zhimou. She swallowed the words she was about to say and looked at him in confusion, wondering what he was about to do.

Liu Zhimou’s gaze swept over Madam Liu, and he felt something was off. He couldn’t figure out what she was so nervous about. “You’re blocking the door, refusing to let us in, and also refusing to let Li Laifu come out and see us. Could it be that Li Laifu isn’t in the house at all?”

When she heard this, Madam Liu’s face turned even paler. Seeing her expression, Liu Zhimou confirmed his suspicion.

It seemed Li Laifu really wasn’t in the house.

“You… what nonsense are you spouting?” Madam Liu stammered. “If my son isn’t in the house, where could he be? He just finds you all disgusting and doesn’t want to see you.” She clutched Old Li’s clothes, straightened her back, and shouted loudly.

They absolutely couldn’t let them discover that her son was gone.

Li Qingling carefully examined Old Li and Madam Liu, and sure enough, she noticed how unnatural their expressions were. She tugged at the corner of her mouth. “Don’t you know what you just said is basically ‘the thief shouting thief’? If Li Laifu were really inside, you wouldn’t be this nervous.”

She turned to the constables, her expression softening slightly. “Constable brothers, could I trouble you to go in and search? We suspect the criminal has escaped.”

Out of respect for Liu Zhimou, the constables smiled and nodded, saying there was no problem.

They strode forward and told Old Li and Madam Liu to step aside and stop obstructing official business.

Old Li and Madam Liu tried desperately to block the doorway. “What are you trying to do? Huh? What are you trying to do? Believe it or not, we’ll accuse you of trespassing!”

If the constables went in and checked, they’d immediately know their son wasn’t there. After that, they’d surely search everywhere. Who knew whether their son could escape smoothly?

Being blocked like this made the constables visibly displeased. They directly reached out, dragged Old Li and Madam Liu aside, and marched into the house to search.

During the search, Madam Liu wailed and tried to rush in to stop them, but a constable warned her that if she continued to interfere with official duties, they’d throw her straight into jail.

Hearing that, Madam Liu was so frightened she didn’t dare obstruct them anymore.

She suddenly turned and lunged toward Li Qingling, trying to hit her. Liu Zhimou caught her hand and shoved her away forcefully. If Old Li hadn’t supported her in time, she would’ve fallen to the ground.

Panting heavily, she pointed at Li Qingling and cursed viciously, “You broom star, you cheap slut! You’ll die a horrible death! You definitely won’t end well!”

She cursed Li Qingling, wishing her a miserable death in this life.

Li Qingling looked at Madam Liu coldly and snorted. “Heaven has eyes. It knows who’s good and who’s evil. People like you, who commit all kinds of evil, are the ones who’ll be punished by heaven and won’t end well.” Even if heaven didn’t punish her, Li Qingling would.

Just sending her precious son to prison was already enough to break her heart.

She wasn’t heartless, nor was she some saint. If others bullied her to this extent, she wasn’t going to just endure it.

Back then, when her mother was harmed to death by this woman, she shouldn’t have let her off so easily. She should’ve made her suffer severe punishment.

Otherwise, someone like her would never repent.

So this time, no matter what, she wouldn’t let Li Laifu off. She had to teach him a lesson—make him remember from the depths of his heart that Li Qingling was someone he couldn’t afford to provoke. If he did again, the consequences would be dire.

“I spit! Heaven will only punish a vicious woman like you!” Madam Liu spat fiercely in Li Qingling’s direction. Then she turned to Liu Zhimou. “Liu Zhimou, are you really comfortable sleeping beside such a vicious woman? Aren’t you afraid she’ll strangle you in your sleep?”

Trying to sow discord? Li Qingling chuckled softly and was about to speak when Liu Zhimou beat her to it. “As long as she’s happy, I don’t mind even if she strangles me to death.” After saying that, he looked at Li Qingling with an expression that said dying by her hand would still be blissful.

That look made Madam Liu grind her teeth in hatred. Why did Li Qingling, that cheap slut, deserve Liu Zhimou’s devotion?

What right did she have to such luck?

“Liu Zhimou, you’ll regret it. You’ll definitely regret it,” Madam Liu snarled. Marrying a vicious woman like Li Qingling would be the greatest misfortune of his life.

Liu Zhimou replied just as firmly that he would never regret it. The luckiest thing in his life was marrying Li Qingling.

Without her, there would be no Liu Zhimou of today.

She was his lucky star.

Hearing his words, Li Qingling pressed her lips together and smiled softly. This man rarely said sweet things, but every time he did, her heart raced.

Being able to marry him was also the luckiest thing in her life.

She was happy—truly happy.

“I think the most unfortunate thing in this life was Uncle Li marrying you,” Li Qingling added coolly. Old Li had been completely corrupted by Madam Liu. He once had a shred of conscience, but now it was completely gone. “Uncle Li, if you don’t divorce Madam Liu, you’ll just continue being unlucky. No need for me to say much—just think carefully about every misfortune your family has faced. Haven’t they all been stirred up by Madam Liu?”

Since Madam Liu wanted to sow discord between her and Liu Zhimou, she’d turn it back on her.

Old Li really did start thinking about it. One incident after another came to mind, and they all did seem to originate from Madam Liu. If she hadn’t meddled, none of it would’ve happened.

As he thought about it, the way he looked at Madam Liu changed.

Madam Liu’s heart skipped a beat. She tightly grabbed Old Li’s hand and shouted, “Old man, what are you thinking? Don’t fall for Li Qingling’s tricks! Don’t you know she’s deliberately driving a wedge between us?”

She failed to break Li Qingling and Liu Zhimou apart, yet Li Qingling was about to succeed instead.

If Old Li really divorced her, she’d be utterly ruined.

Old Li looked deeply at Madam Liu. In front of so many people, he wouldn’t do anything, but once the doors were closed later, he’d settle the score.

“So what? She’s my wife. She’s followed me my whole life. I won’t divorce her. Stop wasting your breath trying to stir things up.”

Hearing this, Madam Liu was deeply moved. She looked at Old Li with tears in her eyes, feeling that following him all her life had truly been worth it.

She had no idea that Old Li was already planning to reckon with her later.

“Oh? That’s really a pity then,” Li Qingling shrugged indifferently.

She’d only said it casually anyway. She hadn’t really expected to break them apart.

If it did work, then her words would’ve been worth it.

Madam Liu lifted her chin and chuckled. “The old man and I have suffered together all our lives. We’re companions of a lifetime. With just a few words, you think you can drive us apart? Dream on.”

When she was young, she truly suffered a lot following Old Li. But hearing his words just now, all of it felt worth it.

Old Li’s heart stirred slightly. He glanced at Madam Liu again and silently sighed.

After this, he’d talk to her properly. No matter what, she was someone who’d accompanied him for a lifetime. He really couldn’t bear to completely break her heart.

“Just pray that Uncle Li can keep tolerating you forever. The day he can’t anymore is the day you’ll have to pack up and leave,” Li Qingling said lightly.

A person’s patience has limits. Once Madam Liu exhausted Old Li’s tolerance, her luck would run out.

“You—”

“There’s no one else in the house,” the constables reported, interrupting Madam Liu.

Sure enough, Li Laifu had escaped. But they’d been guarding the courtyard the whole time—how had he gotten away?

Li Qingling frowned again, glancing at Old Li and Madam Liu. She lowered her eyes and thought carefully. Where could Li Laifu have escaped from?

Seeing Li Qingling’s troubled expression, Madam Liu looked smug. They’d delayed long enough—by now, her son could be anywhere. She wanted to see how Li Qingling planned to find him.

“Constable brothers, when you searched the house, did you notice anything suspicious?” Liu Zhimou asked gently.

“No, nothing suspicious,” the constables replied in unison.

Nothing suspicious? Then how had Li Laifu escaped? He couldn’t have just vanished into thin air.

Suddenly, a spark of insight flashed through Li Qingling’s mind. She clapped her hands forcefully. “I’ve got it.”

Her words made Madam Liu and Old Li’s hearts leap again. They stared at her nervously.

Li Qingling curled her lips into a smile and said loudly, “The cellar. Li Laifu must have escaped through the cellar.”

She remembered that Old Li’s cellar had two exits—one of them in the back courtyard. Li Laifu must have escaped through the back way.