TSWPF -Chapter 234 Heartache

The old man hurried to the courtyard where Li Qingling lived. As soon as he entered, he saw that it had changed dramatically.

All the flowers that had been there before were gone, leaving only bare soil.

He saw Li Qingling with several children, laughing and watering the ground, and his eyes nearly popped out. “This… what on earth happened? Where are the flowers?” Everything had changed since he last went out.

Hearing the old man’s voice, Li Qingling wiped her sweat, turned to him, and smiled sweetly: “I pulled out all the flowers. I’m planning to plant vegetables here.” She wasn’t being vulgar—she really didn’t appreciate flowers much. Growing vegetables made more sense: pick them whenever you want, fresh and cost-saving.

“What? You’re going to plant vegetables here?” The old man’s voice suddenly rose. “Girl, are you out of money? If you don’t have any, just ask me.”

“What does this have to do with me being out of money?” Li Qingling pursed her lips in exasperation. “Old man, calm down. I didn’t touch the flowers outside, only the ones in my courtyard.” She wouldn’t dare move the flowers outside; she was afraid he might actually get angry.

The old man wasn’t a scholar, so why did he act like one?

Seeing Li Qingling acting as if it was no big deal, he felt both exasperated and amused.

“If you put that crooked idea of yours on my other flowers, just wait and see if I let you get away with it.”

It was precisely because of this fear that she hadn’t dared touch his other flowers. Otherwise, she would have planted fruit trees all over the estate!

That way, they could have fresh fruit all year round. Unfortunately, she could only plant a few fruit trees in her own courtyard; elsewhere, she didn’t have the courage.

“No, how could I dare? I only touched this courtyard,” Li Qingling said with a mischievous laugh. She looked at the old man and tried to reason with him: “Old man, look at these flowers—they can’t be eaten and require so much effort to maintain. Wouldn’t it be better to plant fruit trees? Think about it: fresh fruit all year round. Isn’t that wonderful?”

Hearing this, the old man actually thought seriously for a moment. Seeing fruit hanging from the branches all year did sound quite nice.

Seeing a hint of hesitation on his face, Li Qingling added fuel to the fire: “Old man, the estates in the capital all look pretty much the same. What’s so special about flowers? If we plant fruit trees in your estate, won’t it really stand out from the others? Others would have to spend big money to buy fruit, but we could just pick what we want. Isn’t that great?”

“Fruit trees, nothing but fruit trees—no flowers at all. What’s so beautiful about that?” Although the old man’s mind wavered, thinking that there wouldn’t be a single flower left made him resolute again.

Li Qingling rolled her eyes and quickly said, “Old man, how about this: we pull out the ornamental trees in the estate and plant fruit trees, but leave the flowers alone. Does that sound okay?” The ornamental trees could only be admired—they couldn’t be eaten. Planting fruit trees would be both beautiful and practical, two birds with one stone.

This was acceptable; as long as she didn’t touch his flowers, he could compromise.

“Fine. As long as you don’t put your crooked ideas on my flowers, everything else is up to you!”

Hearing the old man agree, Li Qingling cheered. She promised him she wouldn’t touch his flowers.

The old man nodded and walked into the newly prepared vegetable garden, asking Li Qingling what they were planting.

Li Qingling smiled: “Just some fast-growing greens. There are about two and a half months until the New Year. By then, we’ll have fresh greens to eat.”

The old man glanced at her and said mildly, “It snows here in winter. Do you really think planting vegetables here will yield anything? Everything will be covered by water—what would you even eat?”

“Old man, don’t you know who I am? You really didn’t think this through?” Li Qingling looked at him with a hint of disdain. “I’m building a greenhouse. With a greenhouse, we won’t have to eat pickled vegetables. We’ll have fresh greens. I’m going to develop this properly—selling fresh vegetables in winter will make a lot of money.”

Hearing this, the old man asked her curiously what a greenhouse was. He hadn’t heard of it before—could this girl really have come up with it?

Seeing his curiosity, Li Qingling gave a brief explanation. Once she finished, the old man clapped his hands and said it was feasible.

In winter, there was hardly any fresh greens, and they were tired of eating dried vegetables all the time. If this girl could really provide fresh greens, he would definitely praise her.

“Girl, you look so confident—have you done this before?”

Li Qingling smiled awkwardly: “I’ve done it at home, not outside. But I’m sure it will work. Don’t worry, you’ll have fresh vegetables.” Previously, she planted seeds in pots, kept them inside a heated room, and managed the temperature carefully.

This time, planting outside, she would need to figure out how to maintain the temperature. If all else failed, she’d fall back on her old method.

The corners of the old man’s mouth twitched. Seeing her so confident, he had assumed she had prior experience. But this was her first real experiment.

He wasn’t sure if it would succeed. If not, all the flowers in that garden would have been in vain.

“Alright, old man, I’m looking forward to eating your fresh vegetables—don’t disappoint me!”

“Hehe, don’t worry, I won’t let you down,” Li Qingling almost slapped her chest in assurance.

The old man glanced at her again. “And Zhimou? Has he gone to Mr. Luo’s place?”

Li Qingling nodded. “Yes.”

Hearing this, the old man left Li Qingling alone and went to talk with Li Qingning and the others.

Li Qingling watched the old man chatting with the kids, shrugged, finished watering the remaining soil, and went to change her clothes.

“You little rascals, hurry up and change into clean clothes. Stop causing trouble here,” she called out.

As soon as she said this, the kids acknowledged her and headed to their rooms.

She had just changed when Nian Xia’s voice came: “Miss, Guan Yan is here.”

“Let him in.”

Nian Xia opened the door and gestured to Guan Yan to enter.

Guan Yan walked in, looking around cautiously. “Madam, the master has asked you to take the Second and Third Young Masters and Second and Third Young Misses to the Luo Residence.”

“Did he say what it’s about?”

“The master said Mr. Luo wants to see you all.”

Hearing this, Li Qingling understood immediately. She told him to wait a moment while she checked if the kids had finished changing.

Soon, the children and the old man arrived.

The old man’s timing was perfect; she had just been about to look for him.

“Old man, we’re going to the Luo Residence. What should we prepare?” She wasn’t familiar with these matters and didn’t know what gift to bring.

The old man cleared his throat and awkwardly stroked his beard. He wasn’t knowledgeable about gift-giving either!

The estate’s household staff handled all of that. If any gifts were needed, he left it entirely to them and had never involved himself.

“Seeing your face, I can tell you don’t know,” Li Qingling said, looking at him disdainfully. The old man truly was clueless. “Nian Xia, go fetch the steward and tell him I have urgent business.”

The capital wasn’t like their Niutou Village. You couldn’t just give vegetables or eggs. Here, gift-giving was very particular. The wrong gift could not only upset the host but also embarrass yourself.

Nian Xia said yes and hurried to fetch the steward.

“Sister, are we all going to the Luo Residence? What kind of place is it? Is it fun?” Li Qingning climbed onto Li Qingling’s lap, looking up curiously.

Li Qingling tapped her forehead and glared: “What else is on your mind besides play? Did you finish embroidering the handkerchief I asked you to?” She wanted Li Qingning and Liu Zhirou to learn some needlework skills—she wasn’t sure if they’d managed.

Li Qingning’s gaze wavered. The handkerchief was difficult—there was no way she could have finished.

Seeing this, Li Qingling knew the answer. She flicked Li Qingning’s forehead again. “I’ll give you ten more days. If the handkerchief isn’t done, no going out to play.” Then she turned to Liu Zhirou. “Rou Rou, you must supervise her. No cheating, understand?”

She knew Liu Zhirou was soft-hearted and doted on Li Qingning. If Li Qingning acted cute or tried to get away with it, she would give in.

Li Qingling didn’t want to force Li Qingning, but in this environment, she had no choice.

She didn’t demand mastery, but it had to be done properly. Later, when choosing a husband, at least no one could find fault.

Liu Zhirou nodded obediently. “Understood, sister-in-law. I’ll keep an eye on her.” She gave Li Qingning a helpless look.

This time, she really couldn’t help her. She was on her own.

“Xiaoning, how about you?”

Li Qingning weakly responded, “Understood, sister!” Her fingers already hurt all over.

Li Qingling smiled, nodding. That was more like it.

At this moment, Nian Xia arrived with the steward.

“Miss, you called for me?”

Li Qingling nodded and directly asked about gift-giving.

The steward explained everything, and Li Qingling now had a clear idea. She thanked him politely.

Once they finished, the old man had the steward prepare the gifts for the Luo Residence for Li Qingling and the children to bring.

Li Qingling didn’t bother with pleasantries—she didn’t have much, and if she wanted to give gifts, she had no choice but to rely on the old man.

Once the steward prepared the gifts and loaded them onto the carriage, Li Qingling took the children to the Luo Residence.

She hadn’t expected to encounter her rival at the entrance.