TSWPF -Chapter 418 Envy

Liu Zhimou cleared his throat, smiled, and shook his head. “You must have seen it wrong. That didn’t happen.”

Saw it wrong?

The magistrate glanced again at Diandian, frowned, and stroked his beard. Maybe his eyes were playing tricks—how could a tiger have such a human-like side? If it did, wouldn’t it be a spirit by now?

“Lord Liu, if I come closer… it won’t bite me, right?”

Before Liu Zhimou could answer, Ah Huang lifted his head, glanced at the Perfect, and clearly showed disdain. Such a stinky human—who’d want to bite?

The Perfect’s body stiffened. This time, he wasn’t mistaken. The tiger was indeed looking down on him.

“Hehe… Lord Liu… your tiger… has it become a spirit?” How could it have such human-like expressions?

“Ah Huang understands human nature,” Liu Zhimou replied calmly, addressing the Perfect’s words.

Earlier, when Liu Zhimou said the tiger understood human nature, he hadn’t quite believed it.

Now, he did.

The Perfect’s eyes burned as he looked at Ah Huang and its family of three, clicking his tongue. “Lord Liu, how can you even afford to keep them?” With such massive bodies, their appetites must be huge.

“No need for me to feed them. They hunt for themselves,” Liu Zhimou said matter-of-factly, though pride flickered in his expression. “They also bring prey home, so we’ve never lacked meat.”

“….”

He wanted such a tiger too—one that not only didn’t require feeding but even brought food home.

He rubbed his hands together, smiling at Liu Zhimou, who involuntarily bristled.

“Lord Liu…”

“Perfect, can you speak normally?” Liu Zhimou thought. If a grown man spoke like that to him, he’d have nightmares that night.

The Perfect cleared his throat, composed himself, and asked if Liu Zhimou had any tigers as big as Diandian at home.

No sooner had he finished than Ah Huang, basking in the sun, got up and stared directly at the Perfect.

Want its cub? You’d better ask if it agrees first.

The Perfect jumped back to Liu Zhimou. “Liu… Lord Liu, this…” What was going on?

Liu Zhimou called Ah Huang, telling it not to scare the Perfect.

Ah Huang glanced at Liu Zhimou, let out a threatening grunt toward the Perfect, then lay back down to sunbathe.

Even if it didn’t like sharing its mate’s cub, that was still its cub.

Liu Zhimou glanced at the Perfect and, suppressing a laugh, said, “Diandian is an only child.” So forget it.

Even if it weren’t an only child, he wouldn’t give away Ah Huang and Ah Bai’s cub.

The Perfect looked at Diandian, who was snuggling up to Ah Bai, and sighed with regret.

“Lord Liu, how are you so lucky?” To find a tiger to take home.

Though, it was also Liu Zhimou’s courage—if it had been him, he might not have brought it back.

After all, in his mind, tigers were man-eating beasts, meant to be killed, not taken home.

Liu Zhimou smiled, saying nothing.

If not for his wife insisting they bring it home, he wouldn’t have kept it.

But after raising it, he felt fortunate—Ah Huang had truly helped them a lot.

They considered it part of the family.

The Perfect looked at Ah Huang’s family of three once more, shook his head, sighed, and turned to leave.

Better to leave early than let his heart get heavy.

At that moment, a guard hurried over and told Liu Zhimou that many villagers had gathered at the gate, wanting to see the great hero, Ah Huang.

“….”

Liu Zhimou looked at the guard, puzzled. “Explain clearly. What’s going on?”

The guard quickly repeated everything. Liu Zhimou turned to Ah Huang and asked if it wanted to go out and see the villagers.

He had expected the villagers to be scared of Ah Huang, but this reaction… was completely unexpected.

Ah Huang got up from the ground and nodded at Liu Zhimou.

Don’t be fooled by Ah Huang’s simple expression—it had a trick up its sleeve. Once the villagers saw it and were no longer afraid, it could freely go out to play.

Seeing Ah Huang nod in a human-like way, the Perfect widened his eyes in astonishment. His previous jealousy flared up again—he wanted a tiger like that too!

“Lord Liu, when Ah Bai has cubs, can…?” He trailed off, grinning slyly at Liu Zhimou, trusting that Liu would understand.

Liu Zhimou pulled a smile, gestured toward Ah Huang, and said the Perfect could negotiate with it. If Ah Huang agreed, one could be given to him.

“….”

The Perfect glanced at Ah Huang and quietly shuffled his feet, afraid of being bitten.

Ah Huang looked at him with disdain and, confident in its steps, walked toward the gate.

The Perfect gave Liu Zhimou a wry smile. Ah Huang refused.

How did he know? He’s not blind. How could he not understand the disdain in Ah Huang’s eyes?

Liu Zhimou shrugged helplessly. “Then there’s no way.”

The Perfect slumped, watching Ah Huang’s retreating figure, sighing again.

“Awwooo… awwooo…” Dad, I’m coming too.

Diandian slowly got up, following its little legs after Ah Huang.

Looking down at it, Liu Zhimou said, “The villagers didn’t come to see you—why are you joining?”

Diandian wagged and said, “I want to see how mighty my dad is.”

Hearing this, Ah Huang was pleased and allowed Diandian to follow.

Diandian had achieved its goal, grinning with its tongue out.

It thought its dad was too easy to fool. One word, and it had succeeded.

“Lord Liu, are you really letting your tiger meet the villagers? Aren’t you afraid of scaring them?” The Perfect looked at Ah Huang and Diandian, worried.

If the villagers were scared, what if they demanded Liu Zhimou kill Ah Huang?

Although it was his first meeting with Ah Huang, he didn’t want such a human-like tiger to be killed.

Liu Zhimou said calmly, “If they were afraid, they wouldn’t have come.”

He trusted the villagers of Ninghua County—they weren’t cruel.

Seeing Liu Zhimou unconcerned, the Perfect quietly exhaled, hoping nothing bad would happen.

At the gate, Liu Zhimou told Ah Huang to wait. He went out first to see the villagers and gauge their reaction.

Ah Huang grunted and obediently stayed behind the door.

Liu Zhimou opened the gate and saw a large crowd gathered. Suddenly, his head ached—why were they so curious?

“Sir, where’s your tiger?” the villagers asked eagerly.

Liu Zhimou raised a hand. Once the crowd quieted, he asked if they really wanted to see his tiger.

They shouted back, “Yes!”

“Aren’t you afraid?”

“No! He’s our hero. How could we be afraid?”

“Yes, we’re not afraid.”

Those who had seen Ah Huang spoke loudly, while those who hadn’t were slightly uneasy, unsure if it truly wouldn’t bite or eat humans.

Liu Zhimou looked around, then asked again, “Are you really not afraid?”

No response. Following their gaze, he noticed Diandian peeking from the gate.

He sighed helplessly and called it over.

Diandian excitedly crawled out, ran to Liu Zhimou’s feet, plopped down, and looked up at him, then at the villagers.

“Awwooo… so many people.”

All here to see its dad.

It felt a little envious of him.

Seeing adorable Diandian, the villagers rubbed their hands, wanting to hug it.

“Sir, is this yours too?” How could it be so cute?

Liu Zhimou glanced at obedient Diandian, smiled, and said, “It’s Ah Huang’s son, Diandian.”

The villagers suddenly understood and eagerly praised it.

Ah Huang, hiding behind the door, rolled its eyes silently—its silly son had stolen the spotlight again.

Liu Zhimou smiled. “Do you want to see his dad?”

“Yes…”

“Good…” He called toward the gate, “Ah Huang, come out!”

Ah Huang looked at the Perfect, grunted, and then pointed to the gate with a paw, signaling him to open it.

Half-open, how could it get out? Stuck in the middle would be humiliating.

The Perfect understood, smiling helplessly as he opened the gate fully.

With its massive body, Ah Huang appeared before the villagers.

The previously noisy crowd went silent, all eyes on Ah Huang.

Those who had seen it before shouted “Hero Ah Huang!”

Those who hadn’t were startled.

They hadn’t expected the county magistrate’s tiger to be so massive—it was intimidating.

Ah Huang leisurely walked out, moved its obedient son sitting by Liu Zhimou aside with a paw, and took the spot itself.

Diandian: “…”

Liu Zhimou: “…”

The Perfect: “…”

The villagers were dumbfounded. After a while, someone snickered—Ah Huang wasn’t so scary after all.

“Awwooo… are you my dad?”

Diandian howled at Ah Huang.

Ah Huang glanced at its silly son, swept it aside with its tail, keeping it out of sight.

Its majestic scene couldn’t be upstaged by its foolish son.

The villagers laughed even louder, fully letting go of their fear.

“County magistrate, can we touch your tiger?” someone asked.

Liu Zhimou looked at Ah Huang and asked its opinion.

Ah Huang wanted to go out and play—sacrificing a bit of dignity was fine—so it nodded.

Seeing Ah Huang agree, Liu Zhimou told the villagers they could, but gently—don’t hurt Ah Huang.