Chapter 77: Begging for Mercy

When Li Zhuiyuan wasn’t home, Qin Li would return to her usual spot—sitting on the stool just inside the doorway, her feet resting on the threshold, eyes fixed straight ahead.

Beside her, Liu Yumei was spreading out a piece of paper and sketching clothing designs.

She drew quite well, vividly even. Though by modern tailoring standards her technique looked unrefined, the old tailors in those small workshops could understand it just fine.

Since her granddaughter was still growing, new clothes were needed every season. Liu Yumei’s favorite part of the day was dressing her granddaughter up prettily each morning—it brightened her mood for the entire day.

Just then, Liu Yumei noticed Qin Li turning her head slightly to look toward the path between the wheat fields.

She put down her brush and stood up.

A young man in a blue shirt was approaching the courtyard, clutching a stack of book scrolls.

Qin Li glanced at him briefly, then resumed looking straight ahead.

This young man was tainted, but subtly so.

“Excuse me, is this Li Sanjiang’s home?” Xue Liangliang asked.

“Yes, it is. He’s not home right now, and I don’t know if he’ll be back tonight. Are you here to see him?”

“I’m here for Little Yuan—Li Zhuiyuan. Does he live here too?”

Upon hearing Li Zhuiyuan’s name, Qin Li looked at him again.

“He’s not home either,” Liu Yumei replied.

“He should be back tonight. I’ll wait for him. Um, sorry, but where’s the bathroom? I need to go.”

“Out back.”

“Thank you.”

Xue Liangliang set the scrolls on the table and jogged to the back.

These scrolls were borrowed from the Institute of Literature and History—at the moment, they weren’t being closely guarded.

Liu Yumei casually opened one. As soon as she saw the bookmarked passage, her brow furrowed and her gaze sharpened. She muttered:

“The Bai family?”

Then she closed the scroll, picked up her brush again, and resumed sketching the clothing pattern. But as she drew, her focus wavered. She put the brush down once more, mulling over the young man's words.

“How did Little Yuan get mixed up with the Bai family?”

Just then, the distant rumble of a tractor sounded.

The driver didn’t drop them off at the road entrance but instead pulled straight up to the house.

After saying their goodbyes, Li Sanjiang and Li Zhuiyuan stepped onto the courtyard.

At that moment, Xue Liangliang returned from the bathroom.

“Huh? What are you doing here?” Li Sanjiang asked in surprise.

“Grandpa, Brother Liangliang’s here to help me with my studies.”

“Oh, that’s great. He can stay the night and share your room. Young man, have you eaten?”

“I have, yes,” Xue Liangliang quickly replied.

“All right then.”

Li Zhuiyuan walked over to Qin Li. She stood up and reached out, taking his hand.

Immediately, her eyelashes began to flutter, and her body started trembling slightly.

Li Zhuiyuan was taken aback. Why was she reacting this way just from holding hands?

“Ah Li, let go!”

Liu Yumei’s voice rang out sharply. When Ah Li didn’t obey, she turned to Li Zhuiyuan:

“Little Yuan, let go!”

Li Zhuiyuan pulled his hand away.

Ah Li made as if to step forward again, trying to grab his hand.

“Little Yuan, say goodnight to Ah Li. I’m taking her to rest.”

“Okay, Granny Liu.” Li Zhuiyuan looked at Ah Li. “It’s late. Get some rest. We’ll read together again in the morning. Goodnight.”

Xue Liangliang gathered up the scrolls and tugged Li Zhuiyuan’s hand. “Come on, back to your room. I found something big.”

As she watched Li Zhuiyuan walk away, Qin Li slowly lowered her raised hand.

Liu Yumei sighed and gently comforted her granddaughter:

“There, there. He’s fine now. He’s even better than that other boy.”

…

“Whoa, what kind of books are all these on your desk?”

The moment they stepped in, Xue Liangliang noticed the stacks of ancient books on Li Zhuiyuan’s desk.

“It’s just a hobby of mine.”

“Seriously?” Xue Liangliang flipped through a few pages. “If you’re into this kind of stuff, you should go into the humanities—maybe even archaeology.”

Li Zhuiyuan shook his head. “I don’t want to.”

He didn’t want to end up as a classmate of his mom’s.

“So what major are you thinking? Don’t tell me you’re aiming for something like me—water conservancy, Haihe University?”

Li Zhuiyuan thought it over and said, “That’s not out of the question.”

Something to do with water.

That university did seem aligned with his path.

“Then you better study hard. Haihe University isn’t easy to get into.”

“Mm.”

It really wouldn’t be easy. The old professors probably wouldn’t want to approve a school transfer.

“Here, check this out. What I found will blow your mind.” Xue Liangliang spread out a scroll. “This Bai family—turns out it’s a real surname. There are tons of references in local chronicles from the Ming and Qing dynasties, all about the Bai Family Matrons fighting monsters and quelling chaos. But weirdly, no Bai family men—only matrons.”

Li Zhuiyuan asked, “Do they only pass it down to women?”

“That’s my guess. Probably a matrilineal family that brought in husbands. But that’s rare in this region.”

Li Zhuiyuan read the scroll as he listened. “Keep going, Brother Liangliang.”

“The Bai family probably operated beyond just the Nantong area. I think there’s evidence of them across northern Jiangsu. But one thing’s certain—their ancestral home is in Nantong.

Look at this part. It mentions a place called Bai Family Town. That’s likely where their main branch was. The location? West of Yingzhou in the East Sea.”

“Yingzhou in the East Sea?”

“That’s Chongming Island.”

“Oh. So is Bai Family Town in Shanghai or Nantong?”

Chongming Island sits at the mouth of the Yangtze River—it’s the river’s gateway. Most of it belongs to Shanghai, but part falls under Nantong.

Xue Liangliang hesitated. “The description is weird. It feels like someone tried to research it carefully, but something got messed up in the writing. I followed the coordinates and—get this—I found that the place is now in the middle of the river.”

“In the river?”

“Yup. Right in the Yangtze now.”

“That’s gotta be an error.”

“Maybe. But so far, this is the only record I’ve found that gives a location for Bai Family Town.

And then I found something even stranger.

After the Yongzheng era in the Qing dynasty, local chronicles never mention the Bai Family Matrons again.

The Bai family—

The Bai family members—

Bai Family Town—

It all just vanished from history,

Like it disappeared overnight.”

• Please take a moment to rate this novel at Novelupdate.

Next Chapter >>>