Chapter 354
“Teacher, could you please hand this birthday gift to him for me?”
The small package was opened, revealing a finely crafted belt adorned with intricate embroidery of flowers, birds, insects, and fish, showcasing the care of the embroiderer.
“!”
Xiao Li Tianzun leaned back slightly.
Chuchong really did this for me; I could cry.
Princess Xiao Jiang not only remembered his birthday but might have been preparing for it for a long time?
Meanwhile, he hadn’t even visited her and the little ones in Ni Jiao Alley during the New Year...
He gently ruffled Princess Xiao Jiang’s hair and said softly, “Ahem, actually, Brother Li has a gift for you too.”
“What is it?”
Xiao Jiang’s eyes sparkled with excitement as she peeked from behind the cloth.
“He also asked me to wish you a Happy New Year.”
Li Mo rummaged through the system space and found a piece of red cloth, wrapping a silver note inside.
Watching as Princess Xiao Jiang treasured the red envelope, tucking it into her clothes and patting it gently as if afraid it might fall, Li Mo felt a pang of guilt.
He had only thought of it on a whim, yet she valued it so much.
Hmm, I’ll have to make sure to give her a proper New Year’s gift later...
With the gift received, Princess Xiao Jiang’s rigorous training began anew that night; she seemed even more focused than usual.
In just one hour, she challenged the Jinwu projection three times.
And!
In the final attempt, she seized a fleeting opportunity in the narrow gaps, finally discovering the Jinwu projection’s flaw, just a hair’s breadth away from victory.
“Once Chuchong breaks through the observation of the divine, she’ll surely ascend the Qianlong List.”
Tianzun muttered to himself, a swell of pride rising within him.
It felt like a seed he had accidentally stumbled upon had now blossomed and borne fruit, growing wildly.
But it was the New Year.
Why was Princess Xiao Jiang working so hard lately?
Too much of a good thing can be counterproductive; Tianzun felt she was stretching herself too thin and should find a balance...
Just as he was lost in thought, a disturbance suddenly rippled through the outside world.
.....
Xiao Li’s consciousness was still in the small world, just finishing distributing rewards to the servants with Li Dalong and his wife, before finally tidying up the kitchen.
Given the last time Xiao Li had rambled on, the couple exchanged glances, silently understanding each other’s thoughts.
“By the way, our son’s birthday is today.”
“Let’s have the kitchen make a bowl of noodles, and maybe... check in on him?”
“Yeah, he’d better be in his room.”
Before long, Li Dalong and Gu Xueqin, carrying the bowl of noodles, arrived at Xiao Li’s door.
Sometimes, fate works in mysterious ways.
The couple unexpectedly bumped into a certain ice block.
Good news, they caught the culprit.
Bad news, this time it wasn’t Xiao Li.
“Xiao Bing’er?”
“.....”
Ying Bing still wore that fluffy white cat hat, cradling a large box in her arms, the night’s fireworks casting a glow on her features.
She paused, her eyelashes fluttering, and after a moment of hesitation, she feigned nonchalance and said earnestly, “I... I must have walked into the wrong room.”
“.....”
Gu Xueqin was taken aback, as if recalling certain memories, and glanced at her husband.
Years ago, when she returned home from out of town, she had traveled with the young Li Dalong, and they had stayed at an inn together.
At that time, they had already developed feelings for each other, but the tension had yet to break, so they had separate rooms.
Then, in the middle of the night, Li Dalong, half-asleep and smelling of alcohol, had stumbled into her room.
The next morning, he claimed he had drunk too much and walked into the wrong room...
Feeling her wife’s narrowed eyes, Li Dalong cleared his throat and said, “Oh, Xiao Bing’er, you’re here to celebrate with Xiao Mo? Then could you please take this bowl of noodles inside?”
“I still have firecrackers to set off; I can’t miss that.”
“?”
Ying Bing watched as Li Dalong and Gu Xueqin walked away, her gaze finally landing on the bowl of noodles.
Li Mo lay on his bed, his consciousness immersed in the world seed.
But with the commotion outside, he couldn’t possibly remain oblivious; he had sensed the moment the ice block collided with his parents.
At this point, he had already opened his eyes.
Just as he sat up, the door swung open with a soft click.
“Xiao Bing’er? Did you think I wouldn’t come looking for you today, so you came here yourself? Actually, I was just about to...”
“Not a dual cultivation.”
“Hmm?” Li Mo was taken aback.
“Happy Birthday.”
Ying Bing set down the noodles and opened the box she had been holding.
Inside were many items: a spinning top, a tangram, marbles...
And a small wooden sword, still carrying the fresh scent of wood, clearly made not long ago.
If one were to count, there were exactly seventeen gifts.
Just like Xiao Li’s age.
---
Chapter 388: The Gift Most Loved by a Gentleman
In the Li residence, in the room of a certain little tyrant with a divine hammer, Li Mo sat on his bed, gazing at the open box.
After awakening from the mystery of the womb, those long-buried memories surged forth, each one as vivid as if it had happened yesterday.
There were exactly seventeen, one for each year.
“Xiao Bing’er...”
Li Mo stared blankly, looking up.
The snowy night’s fireworks illuminated her red dress, and the slightly askew white cat hat framed her face, while her white stockings wrapped around her long legs, the snowflakes adorning her neatly tied hair.
The old man of the leftover egg festival had his leftover egg.
In the vast heavens and earth, there was a goddess of spring for oneself.
And she suddenly appeared by your side, bringing you a birthday surprise.
That’s how Xiao Li felt right now.
“I found this while cleaning the room; it seems... it’s your stuff.”
Ying Bing sat beside him, her eyes downcast.
“......”
Li Mo glanced at the pacifier in the box.
No matter how much of a little devil he had been as a child, he couldn’t have gone out to buy this thing right after being born.
“Maybe it was sent by my spring fairy.”
Li Mo set down the pacifier and picked up a jade pendant carved with bamboo joints.
It symbolized that a boy had grown up and could wear beautiful jade like a gentleman.
When he had been out shopping with Xiao Bing’er, he had found it exquisite, but after haggling for a long time, he had resorted to the ‘if you don’t sell it, I’ll leave’ tactic, yet had failed to acquire it.
Xiao Bing’er had actually gone back and bought it.
“I’m glad you like it...”
Seeing him happily hanging the jade pendant, Ying Bing gently slipped off her shoes and sat on the bed, her small feet wrapped in stockings, neatly folded to one side.
As she brewed tea, she stole glances at him.
Suddenly, the tea in the cup rippled slightly; her gaze froze, and she bit her lip, pulling her foot back.
“This wooden sword is really beautiful. If I had one of these when I was a kid, I would have made all the other children envious.”
Li Mo held the small wooden sword seriously in his left hand.
Right, Xiao Li had dreamed of being a swordsman since childhood!
“Are all these gifts to your liking?”
Ying Bing casually looked out at the fireworks, her serene eyes sparkling in the light.
Li Mo hugged the box and replied earnestly, “Yeah, but they resonate with different ages of my heart.”
“What’s the one that resonates most with you now?”
“Well, that would naturally be the jade...”
Li Mo had been torn between the jade pendant and the wooden sword.
But his gaze seemed to have a mind of its own, drifting toward the slender, exquisite foot peeking out from the stockings beside him.
“.....”
Xiao Bing’er’s complexion had always been fair, but now it suddenly contrasted sharply with the white cat hat, the difference becoming strikingly apparent.
It is well known that jade symbolizes purity.
Bamboo represents resilience.
Together, jade and bamboo signify that while jade may be destroyed, its whiteness cannot be altered; bamboo may be burned, but its joints cannot be destroyed, making it a favorite among gentlemen.
And it is also well known that Xiao Li was a super gentleman.
Gentlemen love jade and bamboo √
Li Mo is a gentleman √
So Li Mo was merely harboring a gentleman’s lofty aspirations; what’s wrong with that?
Moreover, Xiao Bing’er had taken off her shoes, her legs crossed elegantly, her icy skin and delicate bones bathed in the glow of the fireworks.
She might not realize that the orchid blooming in the empty valley could overshadow all the flowers in the world.
In this moment, Li Mo felt that even if he were a peerless sword immortal, the sword in his hand would tremble slightly; let alone, he was just a hair’s breadth away from becoming a legendary swordsman.
Besides, no swordsman could master foot massage like he did...
“Xiao Bing’er, all sixteen gifts you gave me for my birthday are the best, but the last one...”
“However... I haven’t washed up yet today.”
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