Chapter 103: Uncle Raids a Bird’s Nest
Su Keke giggled nonstop, stuffed a huge mouthful of rice into her mouth, cheeks puffing in and out as she chewed, looking utterly satisfied.
After the meal, Su Keke volunteered to take over the washing-up—pots and dishes included.
“Uncle, I saw a bird’s nest yesterday. Today I’m going to raid it and make steamed bird eggs for you. Steamed eggs are especially fragrant!”
Qin Mochen lifted his brows. “Raid a bird’s nest? Girl, can you even climb a tree that tall?”
“Of course! A hundred meters is too much, but ten or twenty meters is totally no problem!”
“This kind of thing—I’ll do it.”
Su Keke froze. “No way, Uncle. You can climb trees too? What on earth can’t you do?”
It wasn’t that Su Keke looked down on her uncle. It was just that she’d never seen someone so “precious” and high-status scamper around like a mud monkey.
Qin Mochen acted the moment he spoke. He followed the little girl to the big tree with the nest.
“See, it’s that nest up there. Actually, there used to be lots of bird nests on the mountain, because Shifu set up a small spirit-gathering formation here. Birds and beasts can sometimes sense spiritual qi even more keenly than humans, so the birds all liked to settle on Peach Blossom Mountain. But we couldn’t help it—Shifu and I both love eating bird eggs, so later fewer and fewer birds were willing to build nests here…”
Listening to the little girl sigh while explaining, Qin Mochen thought: You eat their eggs, and you still think you’ve got a point?
“Oh right, Uncle—people say leave some room, so you can meet again later. When we steal eggs, we can’t steal them all—we have to leave half. And we also can’t take eggs that are about to hatch. Uncle, tap the egg lightly with your finger. If it feels solid inside, it means a bird is about to hatch.”
Qin Mochen couldn’t help laughing. “You’re quite particular.”
Because Peach Blossom Mountain was cool, Qin Mochen was still wearing a casual jacket. Now he took it off, leaving only a short-sleeved shirt, and tied the homemade “egg-stealing pouch” Su Keke made around his waist.
The man shook out his arms and legs, backed up a few steps, then suddenly lunged upward with force. In just a few moves, he had climbed to a height of five or six meters.
Su Keke’s eyes widened at once.
So amazing!
Uncle was clearly an ordinary person—how was he climbing almost as well as Shifu?
Holding Qin Mochen’s jacket, Su Keke craned her neck to watch him. Seeing him solemnly tap bird eggs with a straight face, she found the scene ridiculously funny.
Suddenly, the coat in Su Keke’s hands vibrated.
It was Uncle’s phone.
Su Keke glanced up at Qin Mochen, thinking she should wait until he came down to tell him.
But after that first vibration, the phone started ringing—and it kept ringing without stopping.
Su Keke pulled the phone out and glanced at the screen. It was an unsaved, unfamiliar number, calling Uncle’s work line.
She knew Uncle had two numbers—one work number and one private number. The one she had saved before was Uncle’s private number.
By the time Qin Mochen climbed down, the phone had stopped ringing.
Su Keke quickly handed it over. “It rang for a long time just now. It might be something urgent at work. Uncle, you should call back.”
Qin Mochen untied the egg-stealing pouch from his waist and gave it to her, then took the phone and checked the call log.
When he saw that unfamiliar number, his brows furrowed.
After hesitating for a moment, Qin Mochen still called back.
Su Keke glanced at him, then happily began counting the eggs.
One, two…
“What did you say?” Qin Mochen’s voice suddenly rose, his face sinking.
Su Keke’s murmuring count cut off abruptly. She looked at him, puzzled.
Did something really happen?
“I’ll be there right away.”
Qin Mochen threw on his jacket and started walking away.
After taking several big strides, he saw Su Keke still standing there holding the eggs. Qin Mochen frowned slightly. After a brief pause, he said, “Girl, stay here. I’m going to meet someone. I’ll come back to pick you up soon.”
Su Keke’s eyes widened. “Didn’t Uncle say whenever you go out, you’ll definitely take me with you? You’re breaking your word again? Then from now on I’ll call you ‘Liar Uncle.’”
Qin Mochen rubbed between his brows. “…If you don’t mind, then come with me.”
The little girl immediately broke into a smile. Thinking it might be some big trouble at work, she quickly wiped that smile away and comforted him instead. “Uncle, don’t worry. No matter what it is, there’s always a solution.”
Qin Mochen looked at her clean little face and fell silent.
The two of them packed up their things at top speed. Su Keke also brought along the bird eggs they’d just stolen. Even though they couldn’t eat them on Peach Blossom Mountain, since they’d already taken them, how could she possibly put them back?
So she decided to bring them home and hand them to Auntie Lin.
Halfway along the road, Su Keke suddenly remembered something and slapped her own forehead.
After coming back to Peach Blossom Mountain, she had actually forgotten to take the grinding wheel!
They hadn’t gone too far yet. Su Keke really wanted to get out and go back for it—but she glanced at Uncle and saw his expression cold and heavy, and the thought disappeared instantly.
She could come back another day specifically for it.
Besides, if she could “trick” Uncle into coming once, she could do it a second time too—hehe.
Qin Mochen didn’t go to the company. Instead, he drove to a small shop.
Su Keke now knew this was called a coffee shop. But she’d heard that stuff was very bitter. She didn’t like bitter things.
Inside the coffee shop, the tables and chairs were separated by backrests. When the two arrived, a beautifully made-up woman was already waiting in a corner seat for quite some time.
She had been staring out the window. Only when the two approached did she turn her head.
“It’s you!” Su Keke exclaimed in surprise.
It was Miss Bai.
When Bai Yuexiang saw Su Keke, she paused slightly, glanced at Qin Mochen in confusion, then smiled back at Su Keke.
“Have a seat.”
The moment Qin Mochen sat down, his sharp gaze fell on her. “Where’s what you mentioned on the phone?”
Bai Yuexiang took an envelope out of her bag.
Before handing it to Qin Mochen, she couldn’t help glancing at Su Keke again. “Are you sure you want this little sister to be here too?”
Qin Mochen paused, hesitated for a moment, then lifted his hand and rubbed Su Keke’s head. “Go wait over there, alright? You can order a dessert and wait while you eat.”
Su Keke nodded obediently. She hadn’t come to eavesdrop on any work secrets or pry into anyone’s privacy. As long as Uncle stayed within her line of sight, that was enough—so she could protect him.
Qin Mochen watched Su Keke walk away, then watched her find a seat in the distance. A server came over to ask, and the little girl was already smiling as she held the dessert menu and looked through it.
Bai Yuexiang took in every bit of the man’s expression. She suddenly let out a laugh. “I thought it was just people in the circle spreading rumors and exaggerating. I didn’t expect—”
She paused slightly, looking at him with complicated eyes. “Mochen, you’ve changed.”
“Like this… is pretty good,” she murmured.
Qin Mochen frowned. “My relationship with her is not the kind of filthy thing you people are imagining.”
Bai Yuexiang covered her lips and smiled. “You think I think you two are what kind of relationship? What I mean is—rarely does a little girl manage to make you happy. I know you’re not the kind of man who would lay hands on a little girl like that.”
