TSWPF -Chapter 268 Excitement

As soon as the two returned home, the children’s eyes lit up, and they chattered excitedly, “Grandpa, you’re finally back! We can eat now!”

Hearing that the children hadn’t eaten yet, the old man’s heart ached. “What have you been waiting for? Why didn’t you eat earlier? You must be hungry!”

“It’s fine, I ate some dumplings to tide me over, not really hungry,” Li Qingling replied with a smile and turned to have the dishes brought out.

As soon as the old man sat down, Li Qingning curiously asked him, “Was the banquet fun? Was the food good?”

“Just singing and dancing, nothing particularly interesting,” the old man laughed heartily and patted Li Qingning on the head. “Not to brag, but the palace chef’s dishes aren’t as good as your sister’s. I came back hungry all day, waiting for your sister’s feast!”

Hearing this, Li Qingning looked at the old man with full sympathy. She hadn’t expected him to be hungry all day—how pitiful.

The old man saw the look of sympathy in the little girl’s eyes. He laughed again and pinched her cheek, saying, “Grandpa has been longing to eat fried dumplings for a long time.”

“My sister said not to eat dumplings before the meal, so save your stomach for the food,” Li Qingning said, patting her own stomach that had gone flat from hunger and pouting slightly in disappointment.

Being watched by her sister and not being able to eat dumplings freely—it was truly a pity.

The old man saw that Li Qingling was educating the little one and smiled, nodding. “Your sister is right. You shouldn’t eat fried dumplings before the meal; save your stomach for the dishes.”

With Grandpa saying so, there was nothing more to argue about. Li Qingning simply nodded.

Once all twelve dishes were laid out on the table, Li Qingling called out, “Time to eat!”

The old man and Mr. Luo looked at the table, where the twelve dishes were visually appealing, aromatic, and delicious. Their mouths watered.

Fortunately, they hadn’t eaten much at the palace, leaving room in their stomachs to feast.

The old man picked up his chopsticks and put a piece of meat into his bowl, then said, “Let’s eat.”

At his words, Li Qingling and the others finally started.

The meal was so satisfying that both the elderly and the children were stuffed, leaning back in their chairs and rubbing their full stomachs.

Especially the old man and Mr. Luo—they had never celebrated New Year like this in all these years. It was an extraordinarily fulfilling feast.

Mr. Luo silently thought to himself how lucky he was to have agreed with Liu Zhimou to spend New Year here. Otherwise, he would have missed all this delicious food.

Just for Li Qingling’s cooking alone, he had to stay and eat.

Thinking of it, he felt a little envious of the old man Xue—Li Qingling and the family lived here, so they could always eat her cooking anytime. How fortunate.

“Have some barley tea; it helps with the grease and clears the stomach,” Li Qingling said, having brewed a pot. She poured a cup for everyone and pushed it in front of them.

The old man lifted the cup, took a slow sip, then dramatically sighed. “With you all here this year, I finally feel like I’ve had a real New Year. The years before didn’t count.”

In the past, he treated New Year like any ordinary day, just making do, without any festive atmosphere. Especially on New Year’s Eve, after leaving the palace, they would just handle things perfunctorily, wash up, and go to sleep. There was no happiness like now, sitting with the children, eating the New Year’s Eve dinner personally cooked by little Qingling—it was delicious.

“We should celebrate New Year together like this every year, with the family dinner,” Li Qingling said with a smile.

“Yes, that’s right,” the old man nodded heavily, deeply moved. He decided that from now on, wherever the children went, he would follow—he didn’t want lonely, cold New Years anymore.

Though Mr. Luo remained silent, he felt the same warmth in his heart. This had been one of the happiest New Years he’d ever had.

Not wanting the two elderly to feel melancholy during the holiday, Li Qingling brought out the deck of playing cards she had prepared and shook them, asking, “Want to play cards?”

Seeing such unfamiliar cards, the old man became interested. He sat up straight. “What kind of cards are these? I’ve never seen them before.”

Li Qingling chuckled. “I invented this deck myself. You can use it to pass the time.”

“Good, how do we play?”

Li Qingling took a deck and slowly explained the rules. After finishing, she asked if they understood.

Once they all nodded that they did, she began teaching them how to play Dou Di Zhu (Fight the Landlord).

At first, the elders played slowly, unfamiliar with the game, but after a few rounds, they became even better than Li Qingling.

Seeing this, Li Qingling silently admired the wisdom of the ancients—it was impressive.

Li Qingling and Liu Zhimou didn’t play, letting the elders and children enjoy it. After watching for a while, Liu Zhimou pulled Li Qingling outside.

Outside in the garden, Li Qingling asked, “What are you doing?”

Liu Zhimou kissed her on the forehead and said, “It’s ready now.”

Just as Li Qingling looked at him in confusion, a sudden bang! fireworks they didn’t notice before went off.

Li Qingling looked up at the brilliant display, a smile on her lips. “Is this a surprise from you?”

Liu Zhimou hugged her from behind, smiling. “Do you like it?”

She nodded gently.

Though she had seen many fireworks in her previous life, seeing these ordinary ones this time still moved her deeply.

Liu Zhimou tilted his head and kissed the corner of her mouth, and together they gazed at the sparkling fireworks.

Hearing the sounds, the children playing Dou Di Zhu ran outside, shouting, “I want to play! I want to play!”

Seeing them, Liu Zhimou quickly let go of Li Qingling, careful not to act intimately in front of them.

“You can play, but be careful, okay?” Li Qingling warned the three boys, fearing they might accidentally hurt themselves with the fireworks.

The boys obediently nodded and, accompanied by a servant, personally lit the fireworks.

The children stared wide-eyed at the fireworks shooting into the sky, jumping up and down with excitement.

It was the first time they had seen such beautiful fireworks; in their village, they never had the chance.

After one round of fireworks, the children still wanted more. They asked the old man if there were more, and of course, he indulged them.

He had a dozen more fireworks brought out for the children to enjoy.

Once they had their fill of fireworks, the children pulled the old man and Mr. Luo back to play Dou Di Zhu again—they were hooked on this new game and hadn’t had enough.

They played until midnight, yawning one by one, until Li Qingling finally sent them to bed; otherwise, they wouldn’t wake up tomorrow.

Even Liu Zhimou and Li Qingling were called to bed by the old man. They had worked hard all day and didn’t refuse.

The next morning, the children came running to wish them a happy New Year.

Li Qingling and Liu Zhimou each gave a red envelope to the children, who grabbed them and ran off happily.

“Children are the happiest during New Year, getting red envelopes,” Li Qingling said. In her past life, she had always looked forward to New Year—good food and red envelopes made her the happiest.

Just then, a large red envelope appeared in front of her. She looked up at Liu Zhimou’s gentle eyes and asked with a smile, “What’s this for?”

“For you,” he said.

“You silly thing, I’m grown up now—why would I take a red envelope?” Li Qingling laughed and pushed it back. “Come on, let’s go wish Grandpa and Master a happy New Year.”

Liu Zhimou firmly placed the envelope in her hand and kissed her lips, smiling. “In my eyes, you’ll always be my child.”

Then he turned and walked away.

Li Qingling looked at the red envelope in her hand, then at Liu Zhimou’s back. A smile involuntarily curved on her lips. Having a man who treats you like a child in love is the happiest thing.

She felt lucky in this life, to have met him and received his love.

She tucked the envelope into her chest and walked briskly, grabbing his hand and tilting her head to look at him. “Husband, have I ever told you those three words?”

“Huh?” Liu Zhimou looked puzzled. “Which three words?”

“I love you.”

Hearing this, he was stunned for a moment before recovering. He gripped her hand tightly, pulled her into his arms, and kissed her passionately.

“…!” This was outside—how could he…

Li Qingling was dumbfounded!

The servants watching were also stunned.

Especially the maids, who blushed and looked away, embarrassed.

In their hearts, however, they were envious. The young lady and her master’s affection was truly beautiful.

After a long while, he finally let go, forehead pressed against hers, eyes full of deep emotion.

In such public, Li Qingling wasn’t as shameless as him. She pushed him away and walked off.

Her modern soul couldn’t match his ancient boldness.

Truly…

Li Qingling patted her reddened face. Next time, she absolutely would not say those three words in public again. She hadn’t expected to get so emotional.

Liu Zhimou hurriedly stepped forward and grabbed her hand again, holding it tightly, no matter how she struggled.

When they arrived at the old man’s courtyard, the children had resumed playing Dou Di Zhu.

Li Qingling: “…” Were they addicted? They just played whenever they gathered.

“Grandpa, Master, Happy New Year!” Liu Zhimou greeted with a smile.

Li Qingling followed suit.

The old man and Mr. Luo looked up, smiled, and replied, “Happy New Year!” They also gave out red envelopes.