TSWPF -Chapter 306 Startled

When Li Qingling took Liu Zhirou out for a walk around the village, everyone they met greeted them with warm, smiling faces.

One reason was that Li Qingling had led them to prosperity; another was that she had married well. Her husband was an official, so no matter what, they couldn’t afford to offend Li Qingling.

Faced with such enthusiastic villagers, Li Qingling felt quite happy as well. Sometimes she even stopped to chat with them for a bit.

The village wasn’t big, yet the two of them ended up walking for nearly an hour before they finally made their way through it.

Only after they reached the fish pond did they let out a sigh of relief. The villagers were just a bit too enthusiastic—so much so that their throats were practically dry from all the talking.

Liu Zhirou glanced at Li Qingling and asked with a grin, “So, do you still dare come out for a stroll next time?”

This girl was teasing her, wasn’t she? Li Qingling reached out and pinched Liu Zhirou’s cheek. “Isn’t it because we haven’t come back for such a long time? That’s why everyone in the village is so enthusiastic.” Way too enthusiastic—so much that she could barely take it.

For the remaining two days, she decided she’d behave herself and stay at home. She wouldn’t dare go out again. If she did, she’d probably get surrounded by villagers all over again.

“Sister-in-law, next time you go out, don’t ask me along,” Liu Zhirou said seriously. “I was really scared today.” She’d never known villagers could talk so much. Once they started, they just wouldn’t stop. If Sister-in-law hadn’t found an excuse to leave, they might still be stuck in the crowd, unable to escape.

Thinking about those overly enthusiastic villagers, Liu Zhirou shuddered. She really couldn’t handle it.

Li Qingling patted her on the head and whispered that she wouldn’t be going out either, telling her to rest assured.

Looks like Sister-in-law was scared too. Liu Zhirou covered her mouth and laughed.

“Alright, alright. Let’s take one more walk around here, then we’ll head home.”

“Okay…”

Li Qingling held Liu Zhirou’s hand and slowly walked along the pond. Halfway there, they saw Li Qingning with Master Luo and a group of village children catching fish in the shallow water.

Seeing Master Luo laughing heartily, Li Qingling twitched the corner of her mouth in speechless disbelief. Was this really the Master Luo she knew?

He looked like a completely different person.

If his students saw him like this, they’d probably think their teacher had been replaced.

“Great-Grandmaster, Ningning, how many fish have you caught?” Li Qingling called out.

Master Luo and Li Qingning, who were having the time of their lives, heard her voice and turned around together. They saw Li Qingling holding Liu Zhirou’s hand, standing on the bank and smiling at them.

Li Qingning waved vigorously, excitement written all over her face. “Sister! Rourou! Why are you here? We’ve caught lots of fish—we’ll grill them for you later!” She hadn’t played this freely in a long time. She was truly, truly happy…

If only she could stay at home a few more days—but unfortunately…

Li Qingling walked over to the bucket and peeked inside. Sure enough, it was half full of fish, and they were quite sizable. They really would taste good grilled.

Thinking of fragrant grilled fish, she couldn’t help swallowing.

It had been a long time since she’d had grilled fish—she really missed it.

“Alright, I’ll be waiting for you to grill some for us.”

Hearing that, Li Qingning felt her energy surge again. With a cheerful “hey-ho, hey-ho,” she went back to catching fish.

“Great-Grandmaster, you look like you’re having a lot of fun,” Li Qingling said, leaning against a nearby post and laughing. An old child, truly an old child—Master Luo was becoming more and more childlike.

Master Luo nodded openly, admitting that he really was very happy.

Hunting in the mountains, catching fish in the river—this was the first time he’d ever played so freely. It was even more enjoyable than the time at the countryside estate near the capital.

There was a saying: laugh once, grow ten years younger. Playing with these children made him feel much younger—and much happier.

He truly loved his current life. Laugh when he wanted, speak freely, without any restraints—free and at ease. It was genuinely good.

Just for this alone, he had to follow Liu Zhimou and the others.

While Li Qingning was still young, before she was confined at home doing embroidery and needlework, while she still had time to play, he wanted to play along with her.

This little girl had countless clever ideas—ideas most people would never think of. Listening to her always left him laughing and crying at the same time.

As long as Master Luo was happy, Li Qingling didn’t say much more.

When they finally filled an entire bucket with fish, everyone climbed back up. Without even caring that their clothes were soaked, they ran off to gather firewood to grill the fish.

Li Qingling and Liu Zhirou helped out as well.

“Ningning, you promised Great-Grandmaster you’d go back to change clothes before coming back,” Li Qingling reminded her. “Wearing wet clothes makes it easy to fall sick.”

After that, she looked at the other village children. “You too—hurry home and change.”

The children all looked to Li Qingning, waiting to see what she would do.

Li Qingning didn’t dare challenge her sister’s authority. She nodded firmly and told the others to go home and change. Then she grabbed Master Luo and ran off as well.

That was more like it. Seeing them behave so obediently, Li Qingling smiled faintly.

By the time she finished setting up the grilling rack, Li Qingning and the others had already changed clothes and returned.

“Alright, we can start grilling the fish now.” Li Qingling stepped aside and gave them space.

Li Qingning waved to her little companions and announced loudly, “Let’s grill!”

The village kids swarmed over, surrounding the rack and starting to grill the fish.

Of course, Master Luo—the old child—wasn’t about to fall behind. He personally took a fish, squeezed next to Li Qingning, and placed it on the rack.

Li Qingling glanced at Liu Zhirou standing off to the side and motioned for her to join them.

She felt that if Liu Zhirou spent more time playing with village children, her personality would become more cheerful.

To play with them, she had to blend in—to become one of them.

Watching the children laughing and joking as they grilled fish, Liu Zhirou’s eyes showed a hint of envy. But when she looked at Li Qingling, she shook her head and said she wouldn’t go.

“…”

Li Qingling had seen the envy in her eyes and thought she would step forward. She hadn’t expected her to refuse again.

With a helpless cough, she called out to Li Qingning.

Li Qingning answered loudly, asking what was wrong.

“Take your Rourou sister to grill fish.”

“Got it!”

Without another word, Li Qingning ran over. Ignoring Liu Zhirou’s protests, she dragged her straight into the crowd around the grill.

At first, Liu Zhirou resisted a little. Gradually, she relaxed and began focusing on learning how to grill fish from Li Qingning.

She’d never grilled fish with her own hands before—she hadn’t expected it to be this fun.

Seeing Liu Zhirou slowly mingle with the group, Li Qingling smiled. Children just needed more contact; before long, they’d warm up to each other.

In the future, besides her taking Liu Zhirou out to play, Li Qingning could take her along too—slowly, step by step, helping her become more cheerful.

The eldest sister-in-law was like a mother. Both families lacked parents, so as the sister-in-law, she had to work hard for their futures—including their marriages.

“Sister, I grilled this myself—eat it first.” While Li Qingling was thinking about Liu Zhirou, Li Qingning had already finished grilling a fish and brought it over for her.

Liu Zhirou took it and thanked her mischievous little sister.

Though this sister of hers was a bit naughty, she was kind-hearted and good-natured. She would never do anything wrong. Liu Zhirou firmly believed this about her.

She ate the grilled fish slowly. After finishing, she told Li Qingning to keep an eye on Liu Zhirou, then headed home herself.

After Li Qingling left, Li Qingning cheerfully urged her friends to take their time grilling fish. If they were still hungry after eating, they could go catch more fish from the river.

The children cheered excitedly upon hearing this.

Life at home had improved somewhat, but their thrifty parents would never be willing to spend money buying them extra meat.

Being able to eat fish to their fill today by following Li Qingning made them extremely happy. They even secretly decided that they would stick close to Li Qingning in the future. In their hearts, they believed that following behind Li Qingling meant meat every day.

Li Qingning had no idea what they were thinking. She simply placed a grilled fish in front of Master Luo and told him to eat first.

Li Qingling glanced helplessly at Master Luo and said through clenched teeth, “Great-Grandmaster, did you hear what I said?” This old child was really treating himself more and more like a child—he hadn’t heard her at all.

Someone tugged lightly on Master Luo’s sleeve. Only then did he realize Li Qingling had been calling him. He raised his head helplessly and asked what she wanted.

“…”

So she couldn’t call him if there was nothing? Li Qingling was half furious, but her tone softened.

“Nothing. You all keep grilling. I’m heading home first.”

“Alright, goodbye.”

“Bye, Sister…”

Seeing that everyone was busy grilling fish with no time to pay her any attention, Li Qingling smiled helplessly, shook her head, and turned to leave.

After taking just two steps, she turned back and called out to Li Qingning, asking if they wanted to eat roasted chicken.

Roasted chicken?!

Of course they wanted it—how could they not? That was meat, real meat!

“If you want roasted chicken, then you have to divide the work and cooperate. Got it?”

Divide the work and cooperate? What did that mean?
Li Qingning looked at Li Qingling in confusion and asked Liu Zhirou to help explain.

Not daring to show off in front of Master Luo, Li Qingling explained it directly herself.

After listening, Li Qingning clapped her hands. “Sister really is amazing—and I’m amazing too!”

After thanking Li Qingling, she personally picked a few little companions to go catch chickens with her. They were going to eat roasted chicken.

She’d thought they could only eat grilled fish today—she hadn’t expected her sister to be so kind and let them catch chickens to roast.

Li Qingling smiled, told Liu Zhirou to enjoy herself, and lifted her foot to head home.

When she got back, she saw Liu Zhimou already at home. She raised her eyebrows and asked, “Why are you home? Weren’t you going to pay respects to the ancestors?”

Liu Zhimou smiled. “I’ll go a bit later.”