TSWPF -Chapter 309 Surprise

Li Qingling hurried outside. The moment she saw Liu Zhimou, the first thing she asked was whether Ah Bai had come back.

“She came back last night,” Liu Zhimou replied. Seeing the dark circles under her eyes, he felt a pang of heartache and gently squeezed her hand. “I’ll go get you some breakfast.”

If they ever hosted guests again, he absolutely wouldn’t let her do everything herself. She was truly exhausted.

She was usually such a light sleeper—yet last night, even when Ah Huang and the others returned and made noise at the door, she hadn’t been woken up. That alone showed how tired she was.

He didn’t want trivial matters like this to wear her out.

Li Qingling was pressed into a chair by Liu Zhimou. Watching him hurry off to the kitchen to bring her breakfast, the corners of her lips couldn’t help but curl up. If Old Master Liu were to see Liu Zhimou serving her like this, would he be so angry his mustache would stand on end?

She sighed inwardly at her own good fortune—how lucky she was to have found such a wonderful husband.

In an environment where the husband was considered the sky, a man who treated her with such thoughtfulness was truly one in ten thousand.

“What are you grinning foolishly about?” Liu Zhimou came in carrying her breakfast. Seeing her grinning widely, he set the bowls and chopsticks down, then pinched her nose. “Eat while it’s hot.” He placed the chopsticks into her hand and urged her to eat.

Li Qingling looked up at him and smiled sweetly, answered softly, picked up a piece of scallion pancake, and took a small bite. The taste wasn’t bad at all. After swallowing, she asked if he’d fried it himself.

Liu Zhimou nodded frankly. With him, there was no saying like a gentleman stays away from the kitchen. If he’d stuck to that, he and his siblings would’ve starved long ago—there wouldn’t even be a chance for them to be standing here today.

People had to know how to adapt, to judge based on circumstances. One couldn’t be so rigid.

She nodded and gave him a thumbs-up. “It’s good. Even after being out of the kitchen for so long, your skills haven’t faded.” Ever since they’d gone to the capital, she rarely had time to cook; only when she was free would she personally make something to satisfy everyone’s cravings.

Seeing how happily she was eating, Liu Zhimou suddenly lowered his head and took a bite from the pancake she hadn’t even bitten into yet. Smiling, he said, “It really is good.”

“…”

Was she being teased again? She was, right? Right?!

Li Qingling stared at him, a little dumbfounded, feeling that his tactics were getting more and more impressive.

“Gone silly?”

“Someone’s gone silly.” Li Qingling lifted her chin toward him, signaling him to look behind.

Liu Zhimou turned around and saw Li Qingning staring at him with wide eyes. When had this little girl come over?

“Hehehe… you two continue… continue…” After saying that, Li Qingning let out a yelp, covered her eyes, and ran away again.

Liu Zhimou: “…”

Li Qingling: “…”

They looked at each other, then burst out laughing.

“Your image as a brother-in-law is ruined.”

Liu Zhimou reached out and pinched Li Qingling’s earlobe, making her shrink her neck sensitively. After she protested aloud, he kindly let her go.

“Your image as a big sister isn’t much better either.” He flicked her forehead. “Hurry up and eat. I’ve got a surprise for you later.”

“What surprise?”

“You’ll find out after you finish eating.”

“…”

Li Qingling resigned herself and lowered her head, eating faster, her heart full of curiosity about what surprise he meant.

Sitting opposite her, Liu Zhimou saw her eating so quickly and spoke up with concern, telling her to slow down—there was no need to rush.

She nodded and slowed her pace.

He suddenly felt like he was raising a daughter, worrying about her in every way.

If, in the future, they had a little daughter like her, just imagining it felt wonderfully warm.

After Li Qingling finished breakfast and looked up, she saw his gaze had gone hazy, the tenderness in his eyes almost overflowing. She tapped the table and asked what he was thinking about.

“Our little daughter.”

Little daughter?

Where did they get a little daughter from?

“Young Master Liu, may I ask where this little daughter of yours came from?” Li Qingling shot him a sidelong glance, wondering which wire in his head had gone wrong.

Coming back to his senses, Liu Zhimou pressed his lips together in a smile and asked her if it would be nice for them to have a little daughter in the future.

A delicate, soft little girl—just thinking about it made his heart melt.

“…”

Was having a son or a daughter something she could decide? “What if we end up having a son instead?”

He replied boldly, “Then we’ll keep having children until we get a daughter.”

Li Qingling rolled her eyes at him. “Do you think I’m a sow? Just giving birth endlessly?” This man’s way of thinking was really unreliable.

“What sow could ever be as beautiful as you?” Caught off guard, she was hit with another sweet line, so sweet it was almost too much for her to bear.

If he kept going, she’d float right off the ground.

“Alright, alright. Didn’t you say you had a surprise for me? Where is it?”

Liu Zhimou stood up, kissed her on the forehead, and told her to wait a moment.

He cleared away the bowls and chopsticks, washed them in the kitchen, then came back, took Li Qingling by the hand, and led her to the backyard.

When they arrived, they saw Li Qingning whispering with Master Luo. When the two noticed them, they both grinned mischievously.

Liu Zhimou: “…” Was his grandmaster getting dumber the more he mixed with Ningning?

Li Qingling: “…” What were they grinning about?

“Grandmaster, Ningning, what are you two doing?” she asked helplessly. Why weren’t they out playing today? What were they doing at home?

“Nothing.” Master Luo and Li Qingning answered in unison.

That clearly meant something was going on.

Patiently, Li Qingling asked again, then why the backyard? There didn’t seem to be anything fun there.

“Ah? There is—” Li Qingning was about to speak when Liu Zhimou cut her off. “Xiao Ling, close your eyes. Quickly.”

Brother-in-law was so bad—interrupting her!

Li Qingning pouted, clasped her hands behind her back, and watched Liu Zhimou, curious to see what surprise he had prepared for her sister.

Even Master Luo was very curious—what kind of surprise would his good grand-disciple give his granddaughter-in-law?

Li Qingling looked at Liu Zhimou for a moment, then closed her eyes.

Liu Zhimou walked over to the shed where Ah Huang and Ah Bai stayed, waved to Ah Bai inside, and called her out.

Ah Bai obediently strolled out of the shed. Liu Zhimou called Li Qingling’s name and told her to open her eyes.

Li Qingling slowly opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was Ah Bai looking at her. She instinctively covered her mouth, her eyes growing moist, and looked at Liu Zhimou. “This… this… Ah Bai… Ah Bai didn’t go back to Song Mountain?” She’d thought Ah Bai had returned there.

“Ah Bai refused to go back before seeing you,” Liu Zhimou said gently, patting Ah Bai’s big head. “Go on—she’s missed you too.”

Ah Bai let out a soft hum, stepped forward confidently, and rubbed her big head affectionately against Li Qingling.

Li Qingling squatted down and hugged her, eyes wet, saying how much she’d missed her and Ah Huang.

Watching Li Qingling talk to Ah Bai, Li Qingning couldn’t help rolling her eyes and looked at Liu Zhimou. Was this really the surprise he’d prepared for her sister?

Wasn’t it a bit too perfunctory? She’d thought he’d prepared something amazing for her sister.

She hadn’t expected the “surprise” he mentioned to be this. It made her feel… strangely lacking in a sense of achievement.

“What’s wrong?” Liu Zhimou asked.

“Brother-in-law, the surprise you told my sister about is just Ah Bai?”

Liu Zhimou didn’t feel embarrassed at all. He nodded firmly. “That’s right—it’s Ah Bai.” After a pause, he added, “Don’t you think your sister looks very happy seeing her?”

She had a natural affinity with animals and loved them—especially Ah Huang and Ah Bai.

Those two held a special place in Li Qingling’s heart.

Li Qingning seriously sized up Li Qingling and realized that, just as her brother-in-law said, her sister really was very happy.

Fine then. As long as her sister was happy, that was all that mattered.

Master Luo stood up, patted Li Qingning’s small head, and said with a smile that she was still young and didn’t understand the feelings between adults. When she grew up, she would understand.

Li Qingning nodded vigorously. That’s what she thought too. When she grew up, she’d understand why her sister and brother-in-law were always kissing.

She’d already bumped into them kissing many times, and no matter how she thought about it, she couldn’t figure out what was so good about kissing.

She’d wanted to ask Master Luo about it just now, but then she thought—he wasn’t married either. Asking him wouldn’t help. It was better to wait until she grew up and understand it herself.

Though her curiosity was overflowing, she wouldn’t casually ask her sister and brother-in-law. She felt that if she did, her butt would definitely be spanked swollen by her sister.

So she decided to bury this question deep in her heart and solve it one by one when she grew up.

“You said before that you raised two big tigers. I didn’t quite believe it,” Master Luo said with a sigh as he looked at Liu Zhimou. “Now that I’ve seen it with my own eyes, I believe it.”

That morning, when Li Qingning had dragged him to the backyard and he’d seen Ah Bai, he’d been truly frightened. Hugging Li Qingning, he’d run back into the house at a speed he’d never achieved before and slammed the door shut.

He’d been so fast that Li Qingning hadn’t even had time to speak. It wasn’t until he was about to go find Liu Zhimou to talk about it that he came back to his senses—only to be grabbed by Li Qingning, who quickly explained everything about Ah Bai and Ah Huang.

Seeing how serious and earnest she was, his firm belief had wavered slightly. It wasn’t until he was persuaded to go back to the backyard and saw her interacting so intimately with Ah Bai that he finally believed her.

The world was vast, full of wonders. From the bottom of his heart, he admired these children. To be able to get along so well with such ferocious beasts meant they truly regarded those two great tigers as part of their family.

“Ah Huang lost its mother not long after it was born,” Liu Zhimou said, recalling the past. “Xiao Ling carried it home and raised it day by day. Later, when we went to Song Mountain to take refuge, Ah Huang even brought back its own wife, Ah Bai.” Though those days had been hard, his heart had been steady and full. “We’ve always treated them as family.”

In their eyes, Ah Huang and Ah Bai weren’t beasts—they were family.

Master Luo nodded. He could see that clearly.