TSWPF -Chapter 385 Begging

Half an hour later, Old Man Xue pulled out the silver needles, got up, and went to the flower hall. Frowning, he asked Liu Zhimou, “Have you found the mastermind behind this yet?”

“How can one feel at ease with an enemy lurking in the shadows, watching so closely?”

Liu Zhimou’s expression darkened slightly. He shook his head. “Not yet.”

The culprit had cleaned up their tracks too thoroughly, leaving no place to investigate. However, he had already assigned the Liu family guards to monitor the He, Zhao, Wang, and Lin families. If they made any move, he would receive word immediately.

He suspected the four families, but there was no concrete evidence.

“We need to find them quickly, or the family won’t be safe.”

“We’re tracking them…”

Old Man Xue hummed in acknowledgment. After a moment, he let the matter slip from his mind and cheerfully turned to Mr. Luo. “Do you want to take a walk up the mountain?”

He had been stirred by the letter Mr. Luo had written him, and since arriving in Ninghua County, he’d been eager to go up the mountain.

Mr. Luo’s heart lifted, though he maintained a calm expression as he glanced at Old Man Xue, then at Li Qingling, and said lightly, “At home, Xiao Ling is the one in charge. You need her approval to go up the mountain.” Ever since Mo’er’s incident, Xiao Ling had forbidden anyone from going up the mountain, much to his frustration.

Now that the opportunity had come, he certainly wasn’t going to let it pass.

Having someone lead the way was exactly what he wanted!

Hearing this, Old Man Xue looked at Li Qingling and chuckled, “Girl, I’ve been longing to visit Ninghua Mountain all this time. You won’t stop me, right?” He kept his eyes on Li Qingling, fearing she might shake her head in refusal.

Li Qingling stared at Old Man Xue for a moment, then asked, “And if I did stop you, would you just give up?”

In truth, she really didn’t want anyone from the household going up the mountain. She feared they might get into trouble.

Liu Zhimou’s accident had already terrified her enough. If others got hurt too…

Old Man Xue let out a heavy sigh, shaking his head. “It’s just a tiny wish of mine, and yet… I can’t seem to fulfill it. Alas…”

While shaking his head, he secretly watched Li Qingling, hoping she would relent and allow him to have his little adventure on the mountain.

Li Qingling ignored him and sipped her water leisurely.

“Ah… poor me!” Old Man Xue sighed again, even louder this time to ensure Li Qingling could hear him. “Ah… what a hard life!”

Pfft! Li Qingling nearly spat out her drink. She set down her teacup, wiped her mouth with a handkerchief, and looked at Old Man Xue. “Old man, it’s a shame you’re not in theater—you’ve got quite the talent.” Even just a few words could get him circling around his point.

Old Man Xue, seemingly oblivious to her teasing tone, continued his theatrical lament about his hard life.

Li Qingling’s head spun from the noise. She furrowed her brows and told Old Man Xue to stop. “Fine, you can go up the mountain.”

“Life… what?” Old Man Xue stared in disbelief. “Girl, you really mean I can go up the mountain?” Could it be a trick? Would she really give in so easily?

Li Qingling rolled her eyes at him and snorted. “Do you not want to go? If you don’t want to, then I’ll…”

“Go, go, go! Of course I want to!” Old Man Xue interrupted impatiently. “I’ll bring back tasty things for you.” He rubbed his hands together excitedly, ready to conquer the mountain.

Mr. Luo glanced at Li Qingling thoughtfully. If he ever wanted to go up the mountain again, maybe he should learn from Old Man Xue’s approach.

Seems effective!

“Ahem…” Mr. Luo cleared his throat and said casually, “Xiao Ling, Old Man Xue has come a long way. It wouldn’t do for him to go alone. I’ll accompany him up the mountain.”

“…!”

Li Qingling twitched the corner of her eye, giving Mr. Luo a half-smile. If he wanted to go, he could just say so—why involve Grandpa?

She had refused Mr. Luo countless times recently when he wanted to go up the mountain. Now that she’d agreed to let Old Man Xue go, he wasn’t about to miss the chance to go along.

Feeling caught, Mr. Luo awkwardly took a few sips of tea to cover his embarrassment.

“No need, no need. Elder Luo doesn’t need to come. I’ll have the guards take me,” he said, clearly unwilling to play along with Mr. Luo’s plan.

Hearing this, Mr. Luo was taken aback. Why would Old Man Xue sabotage him? Couldn’t he just go along with the plan? At first, he wanted company for the mountain trip, so how could he back out now that Xiao Ling had agreed?

He glared at Old Man Xue, who smiled lightly in return. “Going up alone is no fun; it’s better with company,” he said, then went on at length about the joys of having company on the mountain, trying to persuade Old Man Xue to join.

Listening to Mr. Luo’s long-winded speech, Old Man Xue looked at him suspiciously. Had the calm, aloof Mr. Luo been replaced? Why was he now such a nagging old man?

Mr. Luo’s mouth was parched from talking, and after several sips of tea, he finally asked Li Qingling, “Can I go with them?”

Li Qingling smiled helplessly and nodded. “Fine.”

For a single mountain trip, Mr. Luo had really gone all out, giving such a long speech. If she hadn’t nodded, who knew how much longer he would have lectured?

Seeing her agreement, Mr. Luo nodded slightly and instantly returned to his usual calm, aloof demeanor.

But after seeing his true nature, no matter how he acted, in Li Qingling’s mind, he’d never be that aloof man again.

He was just a mischievous old child. Once he started playing, he couldn’t stop—even more playful than Li Qingfeng and the others.

Old Man Xue snorted, glancing at Mr. Luo. “You rubbed off on him, huh?”

“…”

Mr. Luo drank his tea, stood, and gently smoothed his robe. “I’ll go prepare the baskets.”

Thinking of the last time Mr. Luo had prepared baskets, Li Qingling’s brows shot up. She hurriedly said, “Master, one basket is enough. Don’t prepare as many as last time.” Last time had been over the top—almost moving all of Ninghua Mountain back with them.

Mr. Luo frowned. “One basket won’t be enough. It’ll fill up instantly.”

Li Qingling said, “At most two, no more.”

“Three…” Mr. Luo held up three fingers, firm in his decision. “At least three baskets: one for game, one for vegetables, one for fruit…” He wanted even more, but Li Qingling wouldn’t allow it, so he had to compromise.

Li Qingling sighed and reluctantly agreed. “Three, no more.”

“All right…” Mr. Luo nodded and strode out of the flower hall, ready to share the news with the children and see if they could plead with Li Qingling to go up the mountain.

Old Man Xue watched Mr. Luo’s retreating figure and pondered: could Ninghua Mountain really have so many things to collect that he and the girl had to haggle over three baskets? Should he bring a couple more just in case?

He looked at Li Qingling, cleared his throat, and said he would also take three baskets.

After all, he couldn’t have fewer than Mr. Luo.

As expected, Li Qingling calmly nodded. “Fine.”

She couldn’t be biased and had to treat Old Man Xue fairly.

Old Man Xue chuckled twice, stood, and hurried after Mr. Luo to get the baskets.

Finally, it was quiet. Li Qingling exhaled and turned to Liu Zhimou, shrugging helplessly. “The house will be lively from now on.” With two old men around, peace was impossible.

Liu Zhimou leaned over, tapping her nose. “Just wait, those children will come looking for you soon.” Knowing Mr. Luo and the others were going up the mountain, how could they not want to follow?

“I’m ready,” Li Qingling said, thinking further. “It’s not that I don’t want them to go, I’m just worried about their safety. The person in the shadows hasn’t been found—I’m afraid he might strike again.”

“I understand. Have the family guards and household guards accompany them; they’ll be safe. Don’t worry too much,” Liu Zhimou said, squeezing her hand. “The person in hiding won’t act again soon unless he wants to reveal himself.”

“Let’s hope so.”

At that moment, several children ran in, laughing, and gathered around her, speaking in unison: “We want to go up the mountain with Mr. Luo!”

Li Qingling raised her eyes, coolly asking, “What’s fun on the mountain?”

“Sis, there’s lots of tasty food on the mountain. I’ll bring some back for you,” Li Qingning said, rolling his eyes and trying to please her. “Sis, I’ll stick close to Grandpa and won’t wander off. Don’t worry.”

Liu Zhiyan added, “Sister-in-law, I’ll watch over them. Nothing will happen to them, really. Can we go up the mountain?”

Thinking of all the delicious things, he almost drooled.

“You must follow Grandpa and the others and not wander off, understand?” Li Qingling’s voice grew stern. “If I find anyone misbehaving, they’ll never go up the mountain again.”

The children stood straight and answered loudly in unison, “Understood!”

Li Qingling pressed her lips together, dismissing them. Then she called Ling Yi to select some guards and household troops to protect Old Man Xue and the others on the mountain.

Ling Yi nodded.

After sitting a while, Li Qingling still felt uneasy. She pulled Liu Zhimou to the backyard, having Ah Huang and Ah Bai accompany Old Man Xue and the others, keeping them nearby for protection.

Ah Huang and Ah Bai assured her they would keep Old Man Xue safe.

Diandian, upon hearing about the mountain trip, excitedly ran around Ah Huang, saying it wanted to go hunting too.

Ah Huang wanted Diandian to become independent sooner and nodded in agreement.