Chapter 437: The Grudge-Holding Little Demon

When Zhu Ping’an was marveling at how shockingly durable the little demon was, he was also deeply moved—once again—by just how punchable the brat’s very nature seemed to be.

“Uncle, you’ve got the wrong person!”

Those words, spoken by the little demon, struck the Marquis of Linhuai like a thunderbolt.

On one hand, the brat knew full well he was in the wrong and yet refused to repent, even daring to use such an almost brainless excuse to dodge responsibility. How could the Marquis not be furious?

On the other hand—uncle.

To the Marquis of Linhuai, that single word was no different from a hard slap across the face. Uncle? Damn it, I’m your father! If you’re calling me uncle, then who the hell is your father? Old Wang next door?! Bloody hell—your mother hasn’t put a green hat on me, yet you little bastard are trying to hand me one yourself?!

This unfilial wretch!

This was nothing short of betraying one’s master and ancestors—an unforgivable act of rebellion!

No matter who tried to intervene, it was useless. The First Madam’s pleas were useless. Even the Old Madam’s persuasion failed to move him. The Marquis of Linhuai’s resolve was unshakable. With his layers of flesh jiggling as he moved, he hauled the little demon over his knee, and with a rhythmic one, two, three, four, his palms came crashing down.

But the Marquis of Linhuai was, after all, far too fat.

After chasing the brat such a long distance and burning through an alarming amount of energy, only a few slaps in, he was already exhausted. Sweat beaded across his plump face. He paused the beating and stopped to catch his breath.

Pressing the little demon down, the Marquis panted heavily, taking a brief rest.

“Dad, hurry up and finish hitting me,” the little demon said at that moment, twisting his head around and lifting his chubby face to urge him on. “I still have to go eat. Grandma said she’s making roast duck for lunch. If it gets cold, it won’t taste good.”

His round, fatty little face was still dotted with tears, with a long string of snot swaying dangerously beneath his nose.

The previously chaotic scene fell dead silent the instant those words were spoken.

So quiet that even a pin dropping to the ground would have been clearly audible.

One second later, the silence was shattered by the Marquis of Linhuai’s furious roar.

“I’ll damn well hurry up and hit you, will I?!

I’ll damn well let it get cold and not taste good?!

Eat, eat, eat—let you eat!”

At that moment, the Marquis of Linhuai seemed to resurrect on the spot, fully healed and brimming with rage. Wielding palms as massive as bear paws, he swung them down toward the little demon’s backside with the air of a man purging his household of filth. The very first slap sent the brat howling in agony, snot and tears blasting out in a spectacular spray…

“My poor, wretched grandson!” the Old Madam cried, her heart breaking as tears streamed down her face. “Grandmother is useless—I couldn’t protect you. Eldest son, if you must beat someone, beat me instead! Rui-ge’er turned out like this because I failed to discipline him properly. Beat him to death, then—I’ll go to the underworld and beg your father for forgiveness!”

Ignoring the maids trying to support her, she shoved them aside and threw herself over the little demon’s body, shielding him from further blows. Then she even spat angrily at the Marquis of Linhuai.

“Mother, why must you do this?” the Marquis sighed helplessly. “I’m disciplining this worthless, unfilial son for the sake of honoring our ancestors and bringing glory to the family. How could I possibly bear such words from you?”

At last, his hand could no longer come down.

“You can’t bear it?” the Old Madam spat again. “Then my Rui-ge’er can? With palms as big as shoe soles like yours, how could my precious grandson’s little body possibly withstand that?”

Little body?

He was clearly built like a small fat pig!

“Mother… you… ah…” Seeing the Old Madam in such a state, the Marquis of Linhuai could only abandon the idea of continuing the beating. He let out a long sigh and handed the little demon back to her.

Though the beating was spared, the lesson could not be avoided.

On this point, the Marquis of Linhuai refused to budge. The brat had to learn his lesson.

And so, the roast duck the little demon had been obsessing over was gone. Even lunch itself was forbidden—by strict order of the Marquis, the brat was not allowed to eat at all. He was to reflect on his actions properly!

After issuing his decree, the Marquis strode toward the family dining hall, ordering lunch to be served for the entire household—except the little demon. He strictly forbade the brat from approaching the hall and ordered the kitchen not to prepare any food for him whatsoever. In other words, not only was he barred from the main meal, he wasn’t allowed to eat anything from the kitchen.

Having just barely saved the little demon from another beating, the Old Madam and the First Madam couldn’t very well humiliate the Marquis over a mere lunch. Still, neither of them intended to let the child go hungry.

The Marquis had only forbidden him from eating in the hall and from receiving food from the kitchen. That didn’t mean he couldn’t eat somewhere else.

Almost in unison, both women turned their gazes toward Li Shu.

“Grandmother, Aunt,” Li Shu said gently, “why not let Rui-ge’er go have lunch with Ping’an?”

Li Shu was far too clever.

Before either the Old Madam or the First Madam could open their mouths, she had already spoken first.

A good deed must be done by my own hand.

She smiled softly at the Old Madam, her expression warm and sincere, moving both women deeply.

The Old Madam and the First Madam nodded in satisfaction, comforted the little demon for a while, and then entrusted him to Li Shu.

“No! I don’t want to eat with that bumpkin brother-in-law!”

After the two elders left, the little demon lifted his fat little chin, openly resisting the idea of eating with Zhu Ping’an. He was still brooding over all the times Zhu Ping’an had “offended” him—like when he went out to play and didn’t bring him along, or when he came back and carried Niuniu down from the carriage but didn’t carry him, or how he bought Niuniu so many things but never bought any for him. The brat held grudges the way squirrels hoard nuts.

“Oh? That’s a pity,” Li Shu said calmly. “Because today, Ping’an happens to have roast duck for lunch. And also braised prawns in oil, red-braised rabbit meat, assorted dried fruits and candied snacks… oh, right—there seem to be two skewers of candied hawthorn too. But Rui-ge’er is right. Let me take a look at him—mm, he does look rather rustic. Well then, let’s not—”

She blinked her large, watery eyes, nodded solemnly as she analyzed the matter seriously, and then curled her lips into a smile, fully agreeing with the brat’s opinion.

What?!

Braised prawns in oil? Red-braised rabbit meat? And even candied hawthorn?!

The little demon’s eyes went wide, all sense of pain from his beaten backside vanishing in an instant.

“No! No one is allowed to say my brother-in-law is rustic!”

At that moment, the little demon exploded. With a loud howl, he jumped forward, executing a perfect one-hundred-and-eighty-degree reversal in attitude.

Li Shu immediately covered her mouth and laughed softly.

“Heh, so this is what they mean by ‘whoever feeds you is your mother,’” Zhu Ping’an chuckled as he watched the little demon. “This kid’s skin is thick enough—almost as thick as mine.”

Sometimes, having a thick skin was essential. Thick-skinned people stood closer to success than thin-skinned ones. Wasn’t there a saying—thick skin eats its fill? In this regard, Zhu Ping’an was quite optimistic about the little demon. This kid clearly had no idea what shame even was.

The essence of the dark arts was a thick face and a black heart. At the very least, when it came to thickness, the little demon was already leagues ahead of most people.

Li Shu led the little demon and the bun-faced maid to Zhu Ping’an’s guest room, then sent another maid to fetch lunch. Before long, dish after dish was laid out—roast duck, braised prawns in oil, and everything else, not a single item missing.

Zhu Ping’an had already eaten lunch earlier, so he merely sampled a few bites. Perhaps because he wasn’t hungry—or perhaps for some other reason—he felt that the Li household’s chef seemed slightly off today. This meal didn’t taste quite as good as before.

But for the little demon, this was the first time he had ever eaten food this delicious.

He devoured everything ravenously, completely forgetting the pain in his battered backside. Halfway through the meal, the Old Madam sent a maid to check on him. Seeing the lavish spread and how happily the child was eating, she returned to report back, thoroughly satisfied.