Chapter 101: Trick Uncle—Back to Peach Blossom Mt.
After dealing with Jiang Yueyue and the starving ghost, it was already getting late.
But this time Su Keke had learned her lesson. On the way to school, she had texted her uncle, telling him there was something going on at school and she’d be home later.
When she got home, before Qin Mochen could even ask, Su Keke poured out everything that happened at school in one breath. After finishing, she even put on an exaggerated, heartbroken expression. “Uncle, listen to this—are those people even reasonable? Can you just summon ghosts whenever you feel like it?”
Qin Mochen watched her quietly and went along with her. “They’re outrageous. Good thing you rushed over tonight.”
Su Keke grinned. “Exactly.”
“And what about the Huang family?” Qin Mochen asked when he noticed she had been avoiding it. “Did they apologize to you?”
The moment Su Keke heard that, she pouted. “They treated me to a big meal. Not as tasty as Auntie Lin’s—way too oily and salty. Then they rambled on about a bunch of nonsense. Huang Yueshan’s father even wanted to personally drive me back. I said I had to go to school, and only then did he stop insisting.”
Qin Mochen lowered his gaze slightly, his voice turning faintly cold. “Is that so? Then it seems their sincerity is only so-so.”
“Oh right, Uncle—let’s start packing, hehe. We’re going to Peach Blossom Village this weekend!”
“We need to bring two changes of clothes, toiletries—no need to bring food. When we leave, there’s still some rice at home. On the mountain there are all kinds of wild vegetables and wild ducks. When the time comes, I’ll catch two for Uncle to eat…”
Qin Mochen: “No need to bring too much. We’ll pack just one bag—put your things together with mine.”
Su Keke: “Okay, Uncle.”
This time Qin Mochen didn’t drive the off-road vehicle from last time, nor did he bring the modified mountain bike. Instead, he switched to a light sedan and an ordinary bicycle with a crossbar.
“Wow, Uncle, look! They’re actually building a road at the end of the village!” Su Keke pointed out the car window, exclaiming.
How long had she been away? They were already repairing the road here? She hadn’t heard any news about road construction before.
Qin Mochen said flatly, “This area is, at the very least, part of a scenic zone. The road can’t be too bad.”
Su Keke nodded, still finding it strange.
For so many years they hadn’t repaired this stretch—why did they suddenly start now?
The sedan was parked at the village end, and they asked a villager there to keep an eye on it. Qin Mochen then rode the bicycle into the bumpy, uneven dirt path between the fields.
The bike didn’t have good shock absorption. It jolted and bounced along the way. Since the luggage was placed on the back seat, Su Keke sat in front.
The little girl held onto the handlebars and laughed out loud.
“Uncle, why is your riding worse than last time? Ouch—my little butt…”
Qin Mochen chuckled softly. “Then you ride it?”
“I can’t. I’d definitely ride straight into the field and crush someone’s crops. Then I’d get scolded for sure.”
“Uncle, look—those peaches are even bigger than last time!”
“Mm, they are a lot bigger.” In truth, he couldn’t really tell.
“…Uncle, look over there! Those purple wildflowers that grow into little spiky balls—aren’t they pretty? I used to pick them all the time when I was little.”
Qin Mochen turned his head and glanced. “That’s a kind of thistle. It’s a Chinese medicinal herb.”
Su Keke was surprised. “Uncle has even seen this kind of countryside wildflower?”
“Heh. You think I’ve only seen skyscrapers? I’ve been to many places.”
As they were talking, Su Keke was suddenly distracted by something else again.
“Wow, Uncle, look at the sky! A whole flock of wild ducks flew past—that’s the kind of game Shifu and I like to eat the most…”
Qin Mochen shook his head with a light laugh.
“Girl, the road ahead is a bit bumpy. Sit tight.”
Su Keke hurriedly hugged his waist.
“Ahhh, it’s really bumpy—my little butt…”
After getting off the bike, Su Keke couldn’t wait to run up the mountain. “Uncle, hurry, hurry!”
Qin Mochen took the steps two at a time, yet the little girl still climbed faster than he did.
Su Keke ran to a spot more than ten meters higher than him, planted her hands on her hips, looked down at him from above, and laughed smugly. “Uncle, can’t you run anymore?”
Qin Mochen’s brow twitched. He lowered his body slightly—and without warning, chased up after the cocky little girl.
Su Keke spun around and bolted, wiggling her butt as she ran. “You can’t catch me, you can’t catch me, you can’t catch me…”
Reality proved that once Qin Mochen got serious, he could still utterly crush Su Keke.
She was directly grabbed and lifted up from behind.
Qin Mochen held the little girl up and swung her back and forth, looking like he might toss her out at any moment. “Dare to mock me, hm? Today I’ll teach you what ‘respect your elders’ means.”
As he spoke, he pretended he was about to throw her.
But Su Keke clung to his arm and laughed. “Again, again! Uncle, swinging on your arm like a swing is so fun!”
Hearing that, Qin Mochen truly wanted to toss her out.
When the two finally arrived at their destination, Qin Mochen stared at the thatched cottage in front of him and froze.
He had seen thatched cottages before, but this was the first time he’d seen one so shabby. If you compared a thatched cottage to a coarse linen garment, then this one was a coarse garment patched and mended countless times—the kind a beggar would wear.
Su Keke unlocked the door and warmly invited him in. “Uncle, come in and sit!”
The ground inside wasn’t even cement—it was just bare packed earth.
Qin Mochen ran a hand across the wooden table and wiped up a thin layer of dust.
Su Keke hurriedly explained, “It’s because no one’s been home, so it got dusty. Usually it’s super clean. If food drops on the table, you can still pick it up and eat it—really.”
“…I know. I don’t mind.”
Su Keke quickly wiped down the table and chairs with a rag. “Okay, Uncle, you can sit now.”
Qin Mochen gave a low “Mm.” “You sit too.”
Su Keke’s eyes darted, and she suggested, “How about we sit outside the door?”
She carried two small wooden stools out and placed them side by side, giving the slightly bigger one to her uncle.
Then the two of them—one big, one small—sat on the little stools together, looking out at the mountain scenery.
“Uncle, look over there—see those two trees? In the hottest part of summer, Shifu and I would tie hammocks to them, one for each of us. Shifu was so bad—when I was sleepy to death, he still insisted I recite all kinds of talismans from beginning to end before letting me sleep.”
“Heh, is that so.”
“And over there, that little peach tree—that’s one Shifu and I planted together when I was little. I didn’t expect it to be so big now.”
“Mm. Time passes quickly.”
“Uncle, do you know why there are so many mountains around here, but only this one mountain is planted with peachwood?”
In Peach Blossom Village, the peach trees were planted on flat ground. On the mountains, people usually planted other things. The mountain Su Keke lived on was the only one covered with peach trees.
Qin Mochen pretended to think and replied, “Probably because only this mountain had people living on it, and the people living there like peach trees.”
Su Keke laughed twice. “Uncle, you can just say the people living on the mountain were me and Shifu.”
