Volume 15
Chapter 18: Three Bowls Won’t Get You Past the Ridge (Part 2)
“Then what number do you want to be?” Lu Li asked, amused. How had he not discovered in his past few lives that the Little Tiger was such an Annoying Ghost who loved to ramble on? Before, whenever they had a conflict, his partner would always “run away from home” without a word, never babbling on like she did in this life. Perhaps it was because she knew her complaints would be met with a response. Wasn’t this a kind of expression of love?
“At least I have to be in front of Zhu Qiao. I want to be number six. And the village girl, Hupo, Yameng, and Chu Jingyi, those four have already gotten their rings. I can’t compete with them. Number five is probably Zhu Xi’s, so I can only be number six.” She really was chattering away, like a little old woman.
Lu Li helped her rock the hammock. The Little Tiger was a little afraid of heights. “Don’t rock it! I’ll fall!”
“As long as you don’t die from the fall.”
“How can you be like that!” As she spoke, she kicked Lu Li’s hand with her small, white-socked feet.
Lu Li held the young girl’s foot in his hand. It was small and exquisite, and he could hold it completely in one hand, with even some room to spare. “Number six(lao liu) sounds too ugly. It feels like some kind of old sneak hiding in a corner.”
“Where! Number six has bones of steel and can even turn invisible. How is that name ugly?” The Little Tiger twisted her waist. “Don’t grab my foot. It tickles, it tickles!”
“I’ll just grab it, I’ll just grab it. If you beg me, I won’t.”
The Little Tiger’s eyes were watery. “Please, don’t grab it.”
A tremor went through Lu Li’s heart. His hand went weak, and Chen Jianing broke free. Who would have thought that this Annoying Ghost would suddenly change her face, reveal her tiger fangs, and kick at Lu Li’s face. “You bad guy, take my foot!” The kick wasn’t heavy; she had deliberately held back her strength, just grazing Lu Li’s face. But even so, it was enough to make Chen Jianing happy. She giggled nonstop, and seeing Lu Li’s defeated look was as if she had won the lottery.
Lu Li feigned anger, rolled up his sleeves menacingly, looking like he was about to get serious. The Little Tiger was instantly flustered and scrambled to jump out of the hammock. Unfortunately, this girl’s coordination wasn’t very good. Her toes got caught in the hammock’s mesh, and she was about to fall face-first and disfigure herself. Lu Li was quick-witted and caught her in one fell swoop, using his body as a cushion. Fortunately, he had caught her.
Just as Lu Li thought the Little Tiger was going to blame him for making her fall, this Annoying Ghost anxiously touched his chest. “You fool, are you not hurt? Does it hurt…” At a time like this, being melted by a girl’s tenderness, even the most intense pain would vanish into thin air. Lu Li grinned. “I was fine even when I rolled down the snowy mountain. It didn’t hurt at all.”
Chen Jianing saw that he wasn’t forcing a smile, so she sat on his waist, snuggling against him intimately. “…It’s okay to be the youngest. I know. Zhu Qiao is also half a princess, so she definitely has to be in front of me. I was just saying it. It’s not that I have to make things difficult for you…”
Some girls look like a house with no windows and no doors. This house even has legs. When a person comes, the house runs away. But if you can get into the house, you’ll find that the inside is warm and sweet, the fire blazing. Chen Jianing was this kind of girl. The Chen Jianing of the past, who always spoke sarcastically and got into arguments with people, and the considerate and humble Chen Jianing of this moment, were perfectly combined. The little tiger in Lu Li’s heart seemed to have come to life, in an instant embellishing the memories of his past two lives with her, making them vivid and full of flesh and blood.
Yes, she had both an annoying side and a pitiful side. Back then, no matter how sad she was, she hadn’t gone to Lu Li’s wedding to cause trouble. No matter how sour she felt in her heart, she had never really tried to destroy Lu Li’s love with another person. No matter how fiercely she argued with Lu Li, in the end, she would always come back to his side. All her actions were explained.
“Then do you want to be number five?”
Chen Jianing’s eyes widened. She looked at him in disbelief. “Is that really okay?” Then she understood something and huffed. “You’re teasing me again! I’m not Miss Lu, that silly cat. I won’t be spun in circles by you with a little bit of petty profit.”
“I’m serious. I plan to go home with you this summer and be open and honest with our parents.”
“…” Chen Jianing stared at him intently. She had to determine if Lu Li was lying to her or not. Maybe if she showed a happy expression, Lu Li would burst out laughing and then say, Silly girl, you fell for it. Of course I’m lying. How can you be ranked in front of two princesses? She felt she would definitely cry.
“I’m going to buy a few houses and write your name on the property deeds. I’m also going to put… hmm, one-eighth of my assets into a trust, and you’ll be the beneficiary. With these guarantees, even if our parents are still suspicious, their hearts will waver.” Lu Li said seriously. He was of course not playing a trick on the Little Tiger. Little Qiao’s personality was the softest, even softer than his Yibao’s. Yibao was soft on the outside but tough on the inside. Little Qiao was soft on the outside and soft on the inside. To have others call her big sister, Little Qiao herself probably couldn’t get used to it. So Little Qiao definitely had to be after Chen Jianing… As for Zhu Xi… hmph, hmph, Lu Li had to put the bad woman last, let her be the youngest, to be ordered around by the other girls.
Hearing Lu Li’s words, even if she had been tricked by him, Chen Jianing accepted it. She pressed her face against Lu Li’s. “No need… it makes me look like a bad woman who’s after your property… I don’t care about your stinking money. I can get rich by making games myself… I’ll just tell my parents then, if they don’t agree, I’ll, I’ll, I’ll elope with you! And, I’ll tell my mom that I’ve even given my body to you, and I’m even, even pregnant with your child, so I have to marry you. That way, she’ll definitely have nothing to say. Once I’ve handled my mom, it’s equivalent to having handled my dad.”
“Your elbow really turns out. Silly girl, aren’t you afraid that one day I’ll really abandon you after getting what I want?”
Chen Jianing thought of that possibility, and her eyes reddened. “I believe you won’t. But if you really turn bad one day, I… I… I…”
Lu Li quickly hugged her and pecked the little girl’s face. “Where else are you going to run? If you run, I’ll never be able to forgive myself for the rest of my life. I’m also thinking that when I become a little old man in the future, I’ll have you, a little old lady, push my wheelchair and take me for a ride.”
The Little Tiger went limp in his arms, no longer speaking, silently feeling Lu Li’s affection at this moment.
“Lu Li.”
“Mm?”
“In the future, when I become a little old lady, will you dislike me? You look young, so you’ll definitely be a handsome old man in the future. By then, you’ll probably be in your sixties or seventies and still have young girls clinging to you. At that time, when I’ve become a short and thin little old lady, will you dislike me?”
“If I dare to dislike you, you can find the other sisters in the family. Won’t they help you teach me a lesson?” Lu Li said with a smile.
Chen Jianing thought for a moment. He was right. Although she and the other girls in the family were, strictly speaking, all love rivals, everyone was a good girl. If anyone were to be truly abandoned by Lu Li, the others would definitely try to stop him.
Did this count as one of the benefits of a big family? Chen Jianing thought.
