TSWPF -Chapter 439 Caught

Upon hearing Li Qingling’s words, Xiaoxiao twisted her little head and buried it against Liu Zhimou’s neck, her small hands clutching tightly around his neck, clearly unwilling to leave.

Seeing their daughter so reluctant to let go, Liu Zhimou’s lips curled into a smile, and his heart swelled with pride.

He slightly turned his body to prevent Li Qingling from taking their daughter, indulgently saying, “Since she doesn’t want to go, let’s not force her.”

“…“

Having a father who spoils his daughter unconditionally left her unsure whether to be angry or amused.

When this little one grows up a bit more, how will she even discipline her?

No, tonight she must seriously talk to Liu Zhimou about this issue. If she doesn’t, he’ll soon forget all she’s said before, driving her half crazy.

When she’s disciplining their daughter, he absolutely cannot interfere—otherwise, every time their daughter makes a mistake, she’ll run to him for protection.

At this rate, she’ll turn into a selfish little tyrant.

She doesn’t require their daughter to achieve much, just a good character—definitely not selfish or self-centered.

With that in mind, she lowered her voice and called out Xiaoxiao’s name.

Hesitant, Xiaoxiao lifted her head, glanced at her, and then buried her face back in Liu Zhimou’s neck.

Liu Zhimou patted her gently on the back to comfort her. Just as he was about to speak, he noticed Li Qingling raising a finger and slowly shaking it. That gesture immediately made him swallow the words he had on the tip of his tongue.

When the lady is angry, the consequences are serious.

Better not to upset her, even if it meant disappointing his daughter.

“Xiaoxiao, shall we go home with mommy?”

The little one protested with a couple of soft “ah ah” sounds, still refusing to leave.

“Darling, look…”

Li Qingling glanced at Liu Zhimou indifferently, then looked at the back of the child’s head. “Liu Xiran, did you not hear what mommy said? Hmm?” What she says goes. No compromise.

This little one is clever. If you compromise once, there’ll be countless times afterward.

So she absolutely wouldn’t give her that precedent. She wanted her daughter to understand that no matter how much she fusses or acts spoiled, her mother would never give in.

She wanted to instill this awareness: when you can’t get something, throwing a tantrum won’t work. Eventually, she’ll learn how to behave.

Seeing Li Qingling’s stern expression, Liu Zhimou patted the little one’s back again, gently coaxing her to go home with Li Qingling.

The little one timidly lifted her head and looked at Li Qingling. After a moment, she reluctantly stretched out her small hands, letting Li Qingling pick her up.

Li Qingling took her into her arms, kissed her forehead, and smiled. “Good girl.” She used this opportunity to teach her, “Daddy has work to do. We can’t disturb him, understand?”

The little one made a couple of soft “ah ah” sounds.

“Good. Let’s go home and wait for Daddy, okay?” Li Qingling kissed her again. “Come on, say bye-bye to Daddy.”

The little one raised her tiny hands and waved at Liu Zhimou, showing a toothless grin and giggling twice.

Liu Zhimou stepped forward and kissed the back of her little hand. “Be good and wait for Daddy at home. I’ll bring you some treats.” If it weren’t for official duties at the office, he’d have loved to go home and stay with his daughter all day.

Ever since the little one was born, he wished there were no official duties so he could spend more time at home with her.

The little one giggled again and wriggled in Li Qingling’s arms, as if agreeing with Liu Zhimou.

Liu Zhimou’s heart melted completely. He grabbed her tiny hands and kissed them repeatedly.

Seeing this, Li Qingling rolled her eyes in silence. How long are they going to keep this up?

It’s not like she can’t see him again; they’ll be home soon.

Really…

“Let’s go…” Not looking back at the father-daughter duo, Li Qingling said those words, holding the little one as she strode off.

Once they were out of sight, Liu Zhimou withdrew his gaze and turned to continue his work—but then he saw Magistrate Ma looking at him as if he had seen a ghost.

He adjusted his expression and asked if Magistrate Ma had nothing to do.

Magistrate Ma wiped his face with his hand and said in a tone of envy, “The young lady is really beautiful.”

He had always envied others with daughters, while his own family had four little stinky boys.

Mentioning daughters, Liu Zhimou couldn’t hide his expression and smiled, unabashedly saying, “Of course.”

In his heart, no one could compare to his precious daughter.

It was only after becoming a father that he truly understood—seeing the innocent smile of his little one made him want to give her everything. No exaggeration: even if she demanded his life, he would not hesitate to give it.

Magistrate Ma thought of the adorable young lady and glanced at Liu Zhimou, who looked so proud, feeling even more envious. Should he go home and ask his wife about having a daughter too?

But if luck wasn’t on his side and they had another boy, what then?

Thinking of a string of sons at home, he hesitated.

“Sir, do you have any secrets to having a daughter?”

“…”

Hearing this, Liu Zhimou almost choked on his own saliva. He looked at Magistrate Ma in surprise. “Magistrate Ma, you… don’t mean you want another one, right? What if it’s another boy?” That would be another headache for him.

“I just wanted to ask you, sir, if there’s any secret to having a daughter?” He didn’t want another stinky boy—he wanted a soft, sweet little girl.

Just imagining a soft little girl calling him Daddy made his heart ache with desire.

He couldn’t wait to go home and discuss having a daughter with his wife.

Liu Zhimou shook his head to shatter Magistrate Ma’s fantasy, saying there was no secret.

He only realized it was a daughter after she was born, fulfilling his wish for a girl.

Hearing this, Magistrate Ma sighed in disappointment. Fine, no secret then.

Then he remembered Elder Xue and asked Liu Zhimou if there was any medicine that could determine a child’s gender.

“…”

Liu Zhimou patted Magistrate Ma firmly on the shoulder and told him to stop overthinking. There’s no magic medicine.

If there were, the imperial consorts would have already given birth to countless princes.

Even his grandfather would have been famous throughout the land.

Magistrate Ma slumped, uttered an “Oh,” and dejectedly returned to his desk to continue his work.

Liu Zhimou glanced at him and silently rejoiced that he had a daughter. If it had been a son, maybe he’d also come up with these wild ideas.

He felt lucky—he got exactly what he wanted.

Thinking of his soft, adorable daughter, he steadied his emotions and focused on his work, eager to finish quickly so he could go home to her.

Meanwhile, back at home, Li Qingling ran into Mr. Luo upon returning.

Mr. Luo quickly took the little one from her arms and kissed her tiny cheek. “Where did you two go?” No wonder they weren’t at home—turns out they went out.

Li Qingling smiled helplessly. “Diandian took Xiaoxiao to the office.”

“Just Diandian?”

“Ningning went too.”

Mr. Luo relaxed and nodded. At least someone was accompanying them.

He had worried if it was just Diandian taking Xiaoxiao—it could’ve been dangerous.

Although Diandian was strong, it’s not human. If anything happened, it couldn’t call for help. Leaving Xiaoxiao alone with it would be unsafe.

“When this little girl grows older, she might run around. Xiaoxiao would definitely team up with Diandian.” Li Qingling thought.

Knowing Li Qingling was talking about herself, Xiaoxiao clung pitifully to Mr. Luo’s neck and nuzzled him, making him feel tender.

“Our Xiaoxiao is so clever. No matter how she runs, she’ll be fine.” Mr. Luo defended her. “Come on, Great-Grandpa will take Xiaoxiao out to play, not minding you, Mommy!”

“…“

Li Qingling rubbed her forehead in exasperation. Look at this—she hadn’t even said anything yet, and Xiaoxiao was already defended. How is she supposed to teach her?

Everyone at home spoils the little one, and she’s the only one going against it. Easy?

“Sister…” Li Qingning tugged at Li Qingling’s sleeve. “It’s fine, I’ll go back.”

Li Qingling ruffled her hair and hummed in acknowledgment.

Li Qingning smiled at Li Qingling and dashed off.

But she didn’t return to her courtyard—she went straight to the backyard to find stinky Diandian and get revenge.

Now that Diandian was grown, it no longer shared a room with its parents and slept next door.

Li Qingling ran to Diandian’s room but didn’t see it, so she turned toward her parents’ room.

Seeing no sign of it there either, she asked if it had returned.

Ah Huang said no and asked Li Qingling what happened.

Li Qingling frowned, plopped onto the floor, leaned against Ah Huang, and rubbed his big head, complaining to him and asking him to teach his son a lesson—this was unacceptable behavior.

Ah Huang responded that he would discipline the stinky little brat.

How dare he betray Ningning and run off? He must’ve been asking for trouble.

Even worse, he took Xiaoxiao out without telling her. She wanted to go out too.

Going out alone was boring, but taking Xiaoxiao along made it fun.

Moreover, he’s stronger and can protect Xiaoxiao better.

If Li Qingling knew Ah Huang’s thoughts, she’d be furious. But she didn’t, and continued to mutter about Diandian’s misbehavior.

She stayed in the backyard until evening, determined to catch Diandian. Just as she was about to give up, Ah Huang nudged her, signaling that Diandian had returned.

She sprang up and ran out, seeing Diandian cautiously creeping inside on all fours.

Li Qingling crossed her arms, hiding a smile, and deliberately spoke coldly, “Decided to come back, huh?” She had been waiting for it for so long.

At this, Diandian paused, slowly turned its head toward Li Qingling, and instinctively gave her a pleading smile.

Was it planning to turn and run again? Ningning looked angry.

“Don’t bare your teeth at me.”

With that, Diandian immediately closed its mouth.

“…”