Phi-Fic Chapter 172 Holy Father, Prepare to Die (21)
Chapter 172 Holy Father, Prepare to Die (21)
Having made his decision, Li Shi immediately began preparing for the matter once he had recovered most of his illness!
First and foremost, silver is essential!
Even if he were to move to a different place, he would need to prepare enough money! As for Li Jing and Xia Mingwei, they were never within Li Shi's consideration.
In his eyes, Xia Mingwei was a "monster" who might suddenly attack someone one day, and he wanted to stay as far away from her as possible. As for Li Jing, so what if she was his child? She was just a little girl; if she was gone, she was gone.
He planned to leave this place, somewhere no one knew him. He believed that with his years of experience as a butcher, he could easily remarry a gentle and virtuous wife and have several lovely children to carry on the family line!
So in the days that followed, Li Shi became incredibly "well-behaved." Of course, this was just a facade!
Besides running his butcher shop business every day, he also occasionally takes on odd jobs.
However, the beating he received last time still left a deep scar on Li Shi's mind. Whenever he went out, he tried to choose daytime and times when there were other people around.
Although Xia Mingwei felt that Li Shi's actions were completely unnecessary, his caution did have some effect to a certain extent!
Those who wanted to cause trouble for Li Shi saw that he refused to go out alone. Unable to find an opportunity, they gave up their idea of teaching Li Shi a lesson after a few attempts.
However, the resentment of these people could not be vented, which also had a significant impact on Li Shi's butcher stall.
Many villagers preferred to buy meat from other stalls rather than patronize Li Shi's business. As a result, Li Shi's money-saving plan was slowed down considerably.
But Li Shi knew that this was just a way for the villagers to gang up on him!
The goal was to turn him back into the "hardworking and conscientious" Li Shi he used to be, but he wouldn't let them have their way!
Li Shi would hide the copper coins he saved each day. The place where he hid the money was extremely secretive; it was under the abandoned pig trough in the storage room.
To prevent Xia Mingwei from discovering this place, Li Shi even took on all the housework!
Everything Li Shi did naturally didn't escape Xia Mingwei's notice. But since Li Shi insisted on taking the work upon himself, she was happy to have an easier time and let him have his way!
To avoid arousing Xia Mingwei's suspicion, he would occasionally use a small amount of money to supplement the family income.
He knew that Xia Mingwei was no longer the same person she used to be. The rent from the land she owned was enough to support her and Li Jing! He was only giving her this small amount of money to shut her up!
After a long year, Li Shi had saved up forty taels of silver.
He could hardly believe it; this was only the result of a year's work.
Looking at these fruitful results, Li Shi really wanted to travel back in time and slap himself.
If he hadn't done so many "good deeds" back then, wouldn't he be living the life of a landlord now, just like Xia Mingwei, collecting rent?
Thinking of this, Li Shi reaffirmed his determination to leave and start afresh.
Every year on the eighth day of the third lunar month, the town holds a grand celebration. Everyone in the village who is able to walk will go and watch the festivities.
Such a day was undoubtedly the best time for Li Shi to leave.
After Li Shi decided on the date, he eagerly awaited its arrival.
In fact, it wasn't just Li Shi; Xia Mingwei was also looking forward to this day. This mission had been going on for so long; it was finally time to wrap things up!
The days passed by slowly but surely, and the eighth day of the third month finally arrived, much to the mutual anticipation of the two of them!
Li Shi was overjoyed. Although he was still in the house, he could already see a wonderful future beckoning to him!
So no matter how Xia Mingwei asked him to do housework, he happily agreed.
But even though noon had passed, Xia Mingwei still showed no signs of getting ready or going out.
Li Shi could no longer sit still. He went inside and gestured as he asked, "Aren't you and your wife going to the lantern festival in town tonight?"
"I've been there before, so it doesn't matter if I don't go this year!"
Xia Mingwei answered without looking up.
Upon hearing this, Li Shi felt as if he were facing a formidable enemy. If Xia Mingwei didn't go, how could he begin his next plan?
With Xia Mingwei at home, the probability of leaving without anyone noticing is almost zero.
Li Shi immediately became anxious, gesturing frantically as he urged, "Although we've gone every year, there are always different things to do each year! Besides, we can also pray for blessings! I hope my wife and Jing'er will both go and bring the immortals' protection back home!"
Fortunately, with Xiao Ba's translation, it wasn't a big problem for Xia Mingwei to understand these gestures.
After gesturing all this, Li Shi gazed at Xia Mingwei with deep affection and took her hand.
Staring at her like that, Xia Mingwei felt goosebumps rising all over her body.
But to be honest, in the past year, Li Shi has been "honestly" making money and busy with all sorts of things at home. More importantly, since he recovered from his injury, he hasn't been doing good deeds outside anymore.
At first glance, I thought he had completely changed and become a rare good man!
But Xia Mingwei knew perfectly well that beneath Li Shi's honest exterior lay a restless heart.
Seeing Li Shi's anxious expression, as if he wanted to kick them out, Xia Mingwei wasn't in a hurry to expose him. Instead, she felt a bit like teasing him.
"In that case, Jing'er and I will go and take a look!"
Before Li Shi's smile could last long, Xia Mingwei continued, "Husband, why don't you come with us? It'll bring you good luck!"
As soon as Xia Mingwei said this, Li Shi almost lost his smile.
He quickly waved his hand, indicating that they didn't need to worry about him and could go and have fun on their own.
Xia Mingwei wasn't going to let him off so easily, so she persisted, saying, "Husband, you seem so averse to me and Jing'er, and don't want to go out with us. Could it be that you're hiding something from me?"
Upon hearing Xia Mingwei's words, Li Shi's heart leaped into his throat. With the dawn of a new future within reach, he absolutely could not allow himself to fail at the last hurdle.
He wiped the fine sweat from his temples, looking as if he couldn't resist Xia Mingwei's insistence, and went inside to change his clothes.
But Xia Mingwei knew that the opportunity was right in front of her, and Li Shi would never give up this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!