TSWPF -Chapter 430 Such a Pity

When the atmosphere was at its best, someone suddenly exclaimed in surprise. The crowd quickly parted, making way for something.

Following the direction of their gazes, Liu Zhimou saw Diandian dragging a wild boar toward them.

His eyebrows twitched, and he hurriedly spoke up to calm the people, telling them not to be afraid.

He was worried that seeing Diandian might frighten the villagers and cause chaos.

Today was his precious daughter’s “third-day bath” ceremony, and he didn’t want anything to go wrong.

The villagers laughed and said he was worrying too much. How could they possibly be afraid of Diandian?

Diandian often went strolling around town with its father, Ah Huang. Everyone was familiar with them and wasn’t scared at all.

In fact, they quite liked them. They had never seen such a spiritual and intelligent “big tiger.”

As expected of something raised by the County Magistrate’s family—so smart.

“Diandian is amazing, bringing back a wild boar!”

“That boar must weigh over two hundred jin, right?”

“Looks like it.”

The villagers praised Diandian one after another, looking at the huge boar in its mouth with envy.

If their family had such a spiritual beast, they’d probably laugh even in their sleep.

It could guard the house and hunt for food—truly impressive.

Some even wondered if they should ask the magistrate for one cub when Diandian had babies.

Liu Zhimou had no idea what they were thinking. He frowned at Diandian and asked what it was trying to do.

Diandian glanced at him, dragged the boar in front of Xiaoxiao, and with a “plop,” dropped it. Then it lifted its head and howled proudly.

It had heard that gifts were given during the third-day bath ceremony, so it specially went hunting and brought back a wild boar as a present.

It wondered if Xiaoxiao liked it.

Lowering its head, it let out two soft howls toward the baby.

Perhaps disturbed by the noise, Xiaoxiao slowly opened her eyes.

The moment she did, everyone froze.

So beautiful…

That was the only word in their minds.

She seemed to have inherited all the best features of both her father and mother. Her little face was exquisitely delicate.

And when she opened her eyes, she looked even more beautiful.

They weren’t well-read, so they didn’t know how to describe it—just that she was incredibly beautiful.

That phrase scholars liked to use—“a beauty that could topple kingdoms”—felt perfectly suited to her.

“Awooo, awooo…” Xiaoxiao, look at me! I brought you a gift!

Seeing her awake, Diandian became even more excited.

Xiaoxiao’s eyes slowly turned toward Diandian.

That made Diandian overjoyed. It pushed the boar forward with its paw, asking if she liked the gift.

Xiaoxiao was too young to speak, so no one knew whether she liked it.

But the midwife certainly did.

Looking at such a huge boar, she was so happy she almost fainted.

Was this also considered hers?

If she sold it, it could fetch twenty or thirty taels of silver!

Heavens! She was going to get rich!

She even wished Madam Li would give birth to a few more children so she could earn more money.

Noticing that the midwife was slowing down, Liu Zhimou frowned slightly and coughed twice as a reminder.

“Move faster. Don’t let her catch a chill.”

Startled back to her senses, the midwife hurried up and soon picked Xiaoxiao up again.

Liu Zhimou stepped forward and took his daughter from her arms. Seeing that she wasn’t crying, he finally relaxed.

He smiled at the villagers.

“I’ll take my daughter back first. We’ll chat later.”

He couldn’t let her be exposed to the wind.

The villagers nodded in understanding.

Children were delicate; they couldn’t stay outside too long.

Diandian grabbed one leg of the boar and happily dragged it after Liu Zhimou.

This was its gift. It couldn’t be left behind.

The midwife watched the boar being dragged away, her lips trembling. She didn’t dare say anything.

Her heart was bleeding.

Her boar… gone…

Then she looked at the basin full of silver and cheered up again.

Even without the boar, she’d made a fortune.

She silently prayed that Li Qingling would have more children.

With more money, she could marry off her son.

“Diandian, why are you following us?” Hearing the dragging sound, Liu Zhimou turned back and laughed.

Diandian glanced at him. With its mouth full, it couldn’t answer.

Wasn’t it obvious? It was delivering a gift.

The master’s memory was really getting worse.

It complained inwardly and kept dragging the boar.

Liu Zhimou shook his head helplessly and told it to take the boar to the kitchen.

Diandian immediately spat it out and howled angrily.

This was for Xiaoxiao! Not for others!

“…”

Liu Zhimou shrugged. “I can’t understand you.”

No matter how loudly it shouted, it was useless.

Diandian glared at him, then resigned itself and picked up the boar again.

Once it saw the mistress, everything would be fine.

She understood it.

A hint of amusement flashed in Liu Zhimou’s eyes as he carried Xiaoxiao inside.

At the door, Xichun and Nianxia witnessed this funny scene.

Xichun hurried forward, greeted him, and asked anxiously if the baby had cried.

Seeing that she hadn’t, she felt relieved.

“Sir, Madam is still awake, waiting for you.”

She opened the door.

Liu Zhimou nodded and went in.

Diandian dragged the boar to the door and tried to follow, but Xichun stopped it.

“You’re too dirty. You can’t go in.”

Covered in filth, how could it enter the room?

Diandian looked down at itself and quickly withdrew its paw, whining softly.

How could it face the mistress like this?

Xichun understood and asked, “Do you want a bath?”

Diandian nodded eagerly.

Xichun laughed. “All the rose petals are gone. Is plain hot water okay?”

After hesitating, Diandian nodded sadly.

Fine… it would make do.

It jumped into the tub, urging her to scrub it clean.

After being washed and dried, Diandian rushed inside.

“Li Diandian!”

Liu Zhimou gritted his teeth.

“Can you be gentler? You scared Xiaoxiao!”

Diandian walked over guiltily and apologized.

Li Qingling smiled and comforted it.

“Just be careful next time.”

“Awooo…” I’ll be gentle.

She patted its head and noticed its fur was still a little damp.

Diandian immediately grew proud again, pacing in circles and boasting that it had hunted a wild boar for Xiaoxiao.

When she turned one month old, it would hunt an even bigger one.

“Diandian is amazing,” Li Qingling praised warmly. “Were you hurt?”

Diandian puffed up proudly, saying of course not.

She tapped its head lightly.

“Don’t be so arrogant. It’s dangerous.”

She was afraid this bold little fellow would challenge stronger beasts.

Diandian nodded obediently.

It promised to retreat if it met something fiercer.

That was what Mistress had taught it: “As long as there are green hills, there will always be firewood.”

It could take revenge later.

Today’s boar was something it knew it could beat.

Li Qingling praised it again, making it feel light and proud.

Just then, Nianxia shouted excitedly from outside:

“Madam! Ah Huang caught a super huge wild boar!”