Chapter 151
The more Huo Yunlan thought about it, the angrier she became.
Ever since encountering Li Zhiwei today, nothing had gone right for her.
It seemed Li Zhiwei was simply incompatible with her; meeting her always brought trouble.
What she needed now was an outlet for her frustration.
She couldn't do anything to Li Zhiwei, but dealing with some unknown, insignificant brat—she refused to believe she couldn't handle him.
Li Residence
“Pretty sister, I’m sorry, I was wrong. I shouldn’t have called you ‘mother’ regardless of the setting. I won’t do it again in the future,” Xu Qingshi said, standing before Li Zhiwei with a face full of grievance as he apologized.
Li Zhiwei felt somewhat uncomfortable with Xu Qingshi's sudden apology. After all, this matter wasn't his fault.
"I don't think you did anything wrong," Li Zhiwei said with a sigh, though she wasn't sure if the child would understand her words.
But regardless, she shouldn't have taken her frustrations out on a child.
“But you’ve been ignoring me these past few days,” Xu Qingshi said, his eyes reddening as he looked at Li Zhiwei, his gaze filled with grievance.
"Qingshi, I'm sorry. This matter isn't your fault," Li Zhiwei replied, unsure how to explain the knot in her heart to Xu Qingshi.
After all, the one who had robbed her was Xu Heming.
“Pretty sister, I must have made you angry, that's why you're ignoring me. Pretty sister, next time if I do something wrong, can you tell me? I'll correct it!” Xu Qingshi, however, didn't see it that way.
But he didn't like it when Li Zhiwei was angry and ignored him.
To Xu Qingshi, Li Zhiwei was the first woman he had liked besides his father and grandmother. He truly cared about her attitude towards him.
“Alright! Qingshi, if you don't want to change, you can still call me mother. It's fine with me,” Li Zhiwei said gently, stroking Xu Qingshi's head.
"No. I'll call you mother after you marry my father. Then, you have to give me a big 'change-of-address fee'!" Seeing Li Zhiwei return to her usual gentleness, Xu Qingshi felt relieved. But remembering what Moyu had told him—that an unmarried woman suddenly having such a big son would invite gossip—he didn't want people talking about Li Zhiwei.
Anyway, once his father married Li Zhiwei, they wouldn't have to worry about such talk.
"Fine, I can give you a big red envelope even now!" Li Zhiwei said, lightly tapping Xu Qingshi's nose.
"That won't do. You should ask Old Xu for it later, don't let him off easy!" Xu Qingshi shook his head, dragging Xu Heming into it.
"Deal!" Li Zhiwei and Xu Qingshi shared a smile, their previous misunderstanding now cleared.
Huo Yunlan had inquired around and finally arrived outside the Li residence.
"Deng Hong, are you saying that little boy who offended Yun'er lives here?" Huo Yunlan thought there must be some mistake.
The Li family only had Li Zhiwei as a child. How could there be a boy as old as Qin Keyun?
If the Li family really had a son, there would be no need to hide him, right?
"Reporting to Madam, Shunzi specifically followed that little person, and he entered this Li residence," the maidservant named Deng Hong stated emphatically.
Huo Yunlan inwardly cursed her bad luck.
She originally wanted to avoid any entanglement with the Li family.
But it was truly a case of fearing something and having it happen.
"Go knock on the door!" After some consideration, Huo Yunlan ordered Deng Hong to call at the gate.
The gatekeeper of the Li residence opened the door, puzzled by the aggressive group from the Qin family.
"Who are you looking for?" the gatekeeper asked with a frown.
"Tell your mistress to come out," Huo Yunlan said irritably.
She didn't ask for Li Zhiwei because Huo Yunlan felt Lady Yao would be easier to talk to than Li Zhiwei.
Moreover, seeing Li Zhiwei would remind her of her brother's intention to marry Li Zhiwei, which made her even more disgusted. Better to avoid seeing her altogether.
The gatekeeper servant wanted to say something, but seeing Huo Yunlan's aggressive demeanor, he hurried inside to find someone.
Li Zhiwei had just sat down with Xu Qingshi when she saw the gatekeeper rushing in.
"What's going on?" Uncle Zhou, who was nearby, quickly stopped the gatekeeper servant to ask.
“Steward Zhou, Madam Qin has brought a whole group of people, fiercely demanding to see the mistress at the gate!” the servant said anxiously, glancing at Li Zhiwei beside him.
After all, the mistress was in poor health and usually didn't receive outsiders.
But it was Madam Qin; the servant didn't dare offend her.
"I'll go see," Li Zhiwei said with a frown, thinking that having her mother alone in Li'an County was indeed unsafe.
It seemed she still needed to bring her to the capital.
And that Madam Qin—wasn't she the eldest daughter of the Huo family?
Could it be she came because of meeting Huo Yunxuan today?
"Pretty sister, I'll go with you," Xu Qingshi quickly stood up and said.
"No need, you wait here for... for me," Li Zhiwei shook her head and followed the gatekeeper and the steward out.
"Moyu, call the guards. Let's go together to see what's happening," Xu Qingshi, worried about Li Zhiwei, hurriedly said.
As soon as Li Zhiwei reached the entrance, she saw Huo Yunlan leading a group of people surrounding the outside of the Li residence.
Anyone unaware might think the Li family owed the Qin family money.
"Miss Huo, bringing so many people to my Li family's gate—is there something the matter?" Li Zhiwei asked calmly.
After all, without figuring out Huo Yunlan's purpose, Li Zhiwei wouldn't take any action.
"Why is it you? Where is Madam Li? Tell an adult of your household to come out," Huo Yunlan said discontentedly upon seeing Li Zhiwei emerge.
"My mother is in poor health. I can make decisions for the Li family. Miss Huo, or perhaps I should address you as Madam Qin, please speak directly!" Li Zhiwei also had no desire to beat around the bush with Huo Yunlan.
Their relationship was already strained anyway, and it likely wouldn't improve.
Better to be direct.
See what medicine she's selling in her gourd.
Huo Yunlan frowned upon hearing this. Asking Li Zhiwei this question felt somewhat difficult to voice.
But if she didn't ask, she felt she couldn't seek justice for her daughter.
"There is someone we are looking for in your residence. That person is a four or five-year-old child, very good-looking. That child injured our young mistress today! As long as you hand over that child, our Qin family will not hold your Li family accountable!" Deng Hong, receiving Huo Yunlan's signal, quickly stepped forward and said.
Upon hearing this, Li Zhiwei's heart sank. Could they be talking about Xu Qingshi?
Remembering today's events, Li Zhiwei felt uneasy.
"Is your Qin family's information network that poor? Everyone in Li'an County knows my Li family has no children," Li Zhiwei said worriedly internally, but her words were sarcastic. She thought that as long as she refused, they wouldn't dare barge in to search recklessly.
"I saw it clearly, that person entered your Li residence!" Deng Hong insisted.
Li Zhiwei frowned, about to refute again.
"Pretty sister!"
A sudden voice came from behind her.
