TSWPF -Chapter 310 Impressive

Li Qingling spent most of the afternoon playing affectionately with Ah Bai. It wasn’t until Aunt Huang and the others came looking for her that she finally left the backyard and returned to the front courtyard.

In high spirits, she warmly entertained Aunt Huang and the rest, and through their chatter learned all sorts of trivial village gossip. She listened with great interest, finding it surprisingly enjoyable.

Back in the capital, where would she ever have the leisure to listen to gossip like this? Everyone there wished they could split one person into two just to get things done.

Only after returning home did she have the time to sit around and casually chat with villagers.

She really liked days like this.

If only the Emperor hadn’t insisted that Liu Zhimou enter officialdom instead of allowing him to become a teacher, perhaps they would already be living a relaxed pastoral life.

Someone like her—who didn’t fight or compete, had no ambitions, and only wanted to live peacefully—really disliked intrigue and scheming.

It wasn’t that she didn’t know how to do it; she just didn’t like it. Life like that was too exhausting.

Now, all she hoped for was that Liu Zhimou could safely and steadily get through his term of external appointment. After returning to the capital and serving a few more years, once Liu Zhiyan and Li Qingfeng had grown up and formed their own opinions, perhaps the Emperor would finally allow him to do what he truly liked.

She understood his temperament well. He also didn’t enjoy court life much. Mr. Luo had once said that Liu Zhimou’s nature was very similar to his father’s—both disliked being constrained.

Unfortunately, Liu Zhimou wasn’t as decisive as his father. His father had flatly refused to enter officialdom, no matter how many times the Emperor invited him, never once relenting.

At heart, Liu Zhimou was softer than his father. Once the Emperor put on a pitiful act and voiced his grievances, Liu Zhimou couldn’t withstand it and would eventually agree.

Still, no matter what decision he made, she would support him wholeheartedly and stand firmly behind him as his strongest backing.

“Hey, Xiao Ling, how is the Zeng family doing in the capital?” one woman asked eagerly, hesitating for quite a while before finally voicing what she wanted to know.

As soon as she spoke, the others also turned to look at Li Qingling, all curious about how the Zeng family was faring in the capital. Had they already begun living a life of wealth and splendor?

To be honest, they were quite envious of the Zeng family—able to follow Li Qingling to the capital and even settle down there.

If only they had been on better terms with Li Qingling back then, might they have gotten such an opportunity too?

That was why, when Li Qingling and her family returned this time, the villagers were all but desperate to latch onto them, hoping Li Qingling would take a liking to them and lead them into a life of riches.

Li Qingling calmly swept her gaze over the women. She could see very clearly what they were thinking—nothing more than currying favor, hoping she would take them away from Niutou Village.

Everyone had a bit of calculation in their hearts. It didn’t really bother her, so she didn’t take it too seriously.

“If it weren’t for our roast duck shop needing Uncle Zeng and the others to manage it, they’d probably want to come back to Niutou Village too,” Li Qingling said with a slight sigh. “You all know—people who come from the countryside are often looked down on in the capital. They get called country bumpkins.”

She spoke half-truths, half-exaggerations, and after hearing this, the jealousy on the women’s faces gradually faded.

If life in the capital was even harder than life in Niutou Village, what was there to envy?

“Xiao Ling, is the capital really as bad as you say?” someone asked skeptically.

She had heard others say that the capital was wonderful.

Li Qingling smiled. “There are good things and bad things about the capital.”

Living there meant being extremely cautious, always afraid that one careless step outside might offend an official and bring disaster upon oneself.

“In the capital, do you really run into officials the moment you step outside? Are their ranks even higher than Zhimou’s?” In their minds, Liu Zhimou was already a very high-ranking official, not someone to be casually offended.

Li Qingling gave a wry smile. “Zhimou’s rank is actually the lowest in the capital. Just about any official outranks him.”

She wasn’t lying. A seventh-rank official like Liu Zhimou really didn’t count for much in the capital.

Her words left the women stunned. They hadn’t expected it to be like this.

“Th-then… we heard that Zhimou’s parents came from the capital, and that their family background was very good. Is… is that true?”

As they spoke, they couldn’t help but rack their brains, trying to remember whether they had ever offended Liu Zhimou’s parents in the past.

They were afraid that once Liu Zhimou returned, he might settle accounts with them.

Li Qingling paused, surprised that the villagers knew about this. Who had told them?

“Where did you hear that from?” she asked.

The women thought about it, then all started talking at once, naming different people they’d heard it from.

In the end, it was impossible to tell who had spread it first.

Li Qingling quietly noted this in her heart, then smiled and said that her father-in-law and the others were indeed from the capital, but their family circumstances were just so-so—not as good as people made them out to be.

She didn’t want anyone with ulterior motives using this to stir up rumors. It was better to downplay the matter.

Hearing this, the women felt reassured and stopped pressing her with questions, shifting the topic elsewhere.

Seeing how sensible they were, Li Qingling finally breathed a sigh of relief and continued chatting with them, smiling and responding.

All in all, the conversation was quite pleasant, with nothing unpleasant happening.

When it was nearly time for dinner, Li Qingling finally walked the still-reluctant women out of the house.

Once they had gone far away, she let out a deep breath. Talking all day had utterly exhausted her.

When Liu Zhimou returned from outside and saw her like this, he smiled and asked if she was very tired.

She nodded lightly. “It feels like I’ve said a whole year’s worth of words today. I really haven’t talked this much in a long time.”

No wonder people said that three women made a whole marketplace—how apt.

Liu Zhimou couldn’t help laughing. With so many people chatting, even one sentence per person could drag on forever. No wonder she looked completely worn out.

“It’s rare that we’re back. Just endure it a bit.”

“It’s not a big deal—my mouth’s just dry,” she said. She truly admired Aunt Huang and the others. After talking so much, they didn’t even feel thirsty.

Hearing this, Liu Zhimou laughed again. He took her hand and led her into the main hall, personally pouring her a cup of tea to quench her thirst.

Li Qingling waved her hand. She said she had already drunk a lot of tea, her stomach was bloated, and she didn’t want any more.

Liu Zhimou helplessly tapped her forehead and called her silly.

“What about you? What were you chatting about with others?”

Liu Zhimou took a sip of tea. “Nothing much—just listening to small matters people talked about.”

Li Qingling didn’t pursue it further. Thinking of what the women had said about Liu Zhimou’s parents, she brought it up and also voiced her own suspicions.

Other things didn’t worry her so much. She was only afraid that certain people with ulterior motives might use this matter to do something bad.

“It’s fine. I’ll have someone investigate who spread it,” Liu Zhimou said, now also on guard. He feared it might be an enemy of the Liu family deliberately releasing this information, trying to manipulate the simple villagers into committing crimes.

If that were the case, it wouldn’t just harm the Liu family—it would also ruin the villagers.

So this matter had to be thoroughly investigated.

After telling Liu Zhimou about it, Li Qingling felt relieved. She stood up and said she was going to cook.

Liu Zhimou followed her into the kitchen, and together they prepared the meal.

After dinner, Liu Zhimou went to the study with Mr. Luo. No one knew what they were discussing; by the time Li Qingling had fallen asleep, they were still talking.

Early the next morning, Li Qingling woke up and glanced at Liu Zhimou, who was sleeping soundly. She didn’t wake him, carefully getting out of bed to prepare breakfast.

“Why are you all up so early?” she asked in surprise when she saw Li Qingning and the other children playing in the front courtyard with Ah Huang and Ah Bai.

As soon as Ah Huang saw Li Qingling, it ran over and rubbed its big head against her waist, grunting as it told her that it had settled its own children properly, then followed along with Ah Bai and the kids.

“They can take care of themselves now, right?”

“Yes, they can. They’re amazing,” Ah Huang grunted twice. How could its children be anything but capable?

Li Qingling rubbed its big head and smiled. “That’s good. But later, you have to sneak out through the back courtyard, alright? Don’t scare the villagers.”

Ah Huang rolled its eyes. It had already thought of that.

Li Qingling laughed twice, patted its head, and told it to go play with Li Qingning and the others while she went to make breakfast.

“Big Sister, Ah Huang dragged back a wild boar. It’s in the backyard. Go take a look and see how to deal with it,” Li Qingfeng said proudly, puffing out his chest as he loudly reported the news. He thought Ah Huang was incredible—able to defeat such a huge wild boar.

Before Li Qingling could even go to the backyard, Ah Huang, upon hearing Li Qingfeng’s words, dashed back there with a whoosh and personally dragged the boar out.

When Li Qingling saw it, her mouth fell open. That boar must weigh two or three hundred jin. How had Ah Huang dragged it back over such a long distance?

“Ah Huang, you’re amazing! Did you hunt it in Song Mountain?”

Pleased with the praise, Ah Huang stood up and turned in a circle, saying that it had hunted it deep in Niutou Mountain, not Song Mountain.

There were wild boars in Niutou Mountain now? Li Qingling was startled. A few years ago, even deep in the mountain there were barely any wild chickens or rabbits, let alone boars.

This boar had probably wandered over from another mountain. She would have to inform the village head so that villagers wouldn’t go into the deep mountains. Running into a wild boar would be dangerous.

“Thank you, Ah Huang. I’ll roast two pig legs for you later.”

That was exactly the sentence Ah Huang had been waiting for. Delighted, it nudged Li Qingling’s waist again. It had been a long time since it’d eaten her roasted meat and missed it terribly.

“Alright, alright, stop being clingy,” Li Qingling said, patting its big head. “Xiao Feng, go find the village head and have him call people over to slaughter the pig.”

Such a big boar was far more than they could finish themselves. They could share it with the villagers.

Li Qingfeng responded loudly and dashed off at full speed.