14: She's stupid, isn't she?

Following the address, Liu Xiaoli drove to the North Second Ring Road.

“Are you sure you remembered the location correctly?” she asked her daughter, looking at the surrounding environment.

They were already on the Second Ring Road; any further in would be the core district.

“It's right here, next to the Jinsheng Building on North Second Ring Road,” Liu Yifei said with certainty.

“There, I see him.” Liu Yifei spotted Li Xiuwu standing by the roadside.

“Li Xiuwu!” She waved from the car window.

Li Xiuwu also saw Liu Yifei and waved back. Behind him, the automatic gate slowly opened.

Liu Xiaoli drove the car inside.

[Detected: Peerless Dual Cultivation Dao Companion Liu Yifei. Favorability: 55. Unable to bind. Please increase favorability as soon as possible.]

[Detected: Top-tier Dual Cultivation Dao Companion Liu Xiaoli. Favorability: 62. Unable to bind. Please increase favorability as soon as possible.]

As Li Xiuwu watched the mother and daughter get out of the car, he questioned the system in his heart: Are you a decent system?

“Wow, so many flowers! They smell so good and look so beautiful!” Liu Yifei’s eyes widened as she looked at the garden full of flowers.

The West Courtyard was quite empty, so flowers had been planted there a while ago. Many were now in bloom, filling the air with their fragrance.

The air in this Courtyard House was fresh and floral. It also seemed very quiet; separated by just a wall, the noise from the road outside was barely noticeable.

Liu Yifei ran toward the flowers, cupping one to take a deep breath with a look of intoxication. She flitted through them like a little butterfly.

“Is this your home?” Liu Xiaoli was also very surprised by the environment.

“It's a company property. I'm just looking after it for now,” Li Xiuwu replied casually.

“Let's go sit inside.” He pointed toward the Chuihua Gate of the side courtyard. His gaze couldn't help but linger on Liu Xiaoli; her favorability was actually higher than Liu Yifei's.

“You certainly have a taste for the finer things,” Liu Xiaoli remarked, taking in the Courtyard House as she saw the garden full of fragrance.

“I was bored being alone, so I just set it up randomly. There wasn't much planning.”

Moving from the West Courtyard to the main courtyard, Liu Yifei found everything new and exciting. Her large eyes seemed unable to take it all in at once.

In front of the hall in the middle courtyard stood a crabapple tree. Perched on it were colorful birds—Orioles, parrots, and Sparrows—chirping away yet peacefully coexisting. They tilted their heads, looking curiously at the sudden visitors.

“How many courtyards deep is this place?”

“It's a five-entry courtyard. The front exit leads directly to West Sea Park.”

Liu Xiaoli was shocked. A five-entry Courtyard House, and it even had a West Courtyard.

Her gaze fell on Li Xiuwu again; clearly, he was hiding some secrets.

“I want to take a look around.” Hearing that the front gate led to the West Sea, Liu Yifei became very interested. She walked through the hall to the front courtyard, went out through the Chuihua Gate, and excitedly ran up to the pavilion.

“The scenery is so beautiful.” Liu Yifei opened her arms as if she wanted to embrace the West Sea.

A summer breeze blew in, carrying the coolness of the West Sea.

The air inside the Courtyard House was fresh and the environment quiet; the sweltering heat of late summer was kept at bay.

Opening the front gate, the hustle and bustle of the outside world rushed in. Liu Yifei reached the water's edge, where there was a pavilion from which she could see several small islands in the West Lake.

“I really want to live here.” Liu Yifei looked toward Li Xiuwu.

[Detected: Liu Yifei's favorability has increased. Current favorability: 57.]

Li Xiuwu pretended not to hear and looked at the pleasure boats on the West Sea.

“You still have to go filming,” Liu Xiaoli coughed, reminding Liu Yifei.

[Detected: Liu Xiaoli's favorability has decreased. Current favorability: 49.]

Returning to the middle courtyard, Li Xiuwu brewed tea for the two of them.

“What kind of company did you sign with that they are so generous?” Liu Xiaoli inquired about the courtyard.

“Golden Culture, an enterprise from Shenzhen.”

While they chatted, Liu Yifei looked around and discovered the scorched tail zither on the side table.

Curiously, she went over and plucked a string. A 'wong' sound interrupted the conversation between Liu Xiaoli and Li Xiuwu.

The Lion Cat seemed to be woken up; it jumped up, arched its back, and let out a yawn.

“Wow, what a beautiful kitty.” Liu Yifei crouched down.

“Meow!” Startled, the Lion Cat jumped back and looked at Liu Yifei warily.

It was a stray cat that had made its home here because of its communication with Li Xiuwu; it was naturally very wary of humans.

“Don't run, kitty.” Liu Yifei chased after it for a couple of steps.

The Lion Cat quickly hid behind Li Xiuwu.

“Meow, someone's trying to catch me!” the Lion Cat complained to Li Xiuwu.

“Don't be afraid, she won't hurt you.” Li Xiuwu stroked its head.

“Meow, really?” The Lion Cat tilted its head.

“So cute! Can I hold it?” Liu Yifei’s eyes sparkled.

“There's canned meat in the kitchen. Go open one for it,” Li Xiuwu suggested.

“Okay.” Liu Yifei ran to the kitchen on the north side of the east wing and came back with a can of meat.

“Kitty, here's some meat for you.” Liu Yifei opened the can and crouched on the ground.

“Go on, she won't hurt you, and you shouldn't hurt her either.” Li Xiuwu patted the Lion Cat's head.

The Lion Cat looked at Liu Yifei, then at the canned meat on the ground, and cautiously walked over.

Approaching Liu Yifei, the Lion Cat looked up and met her eyes. After confirming there was no malice, it lowered its head to eat the meat.

She reached out to stroke the Lion Cat's back. Its long fur was smooth and felt very comfortable.

The Lion Cat's body tensed up, and it immediately looked up to meet Liu Yifei’s eyes again. Liu Yifei didn't dare move.

Sensing no malice from Liu Yifei, it lowered its head and continued eating. Liu Yifei stroked it carefully, and the Lion Cat seemed to accept her touch, no longer being on guard.

“Auntie and Xixi, why don't you stay for dinner before heading back?” Li Xiuwu said.

“Sure!” Before Liu Xiaoli could refuse, Liu Yifei had already agreed.

Liu Yifei felt so comfortable here; the air was fresh, her whole body was relaxed, and she didn't want to leave.

“Alright then, let me cook for you all.” Since her daughter had agreed, it was hard for Liu Xiaoli to refuse, so she offered to cook.

If Li Xiuwu hadn't mentioned it, Liu Xiaoli wouldn't have realized it was already evening. It really was comfortable here; she was even considering whether she should buy a Courtyard House to live in.

“Thank you, Auntie.” Li Xiuwu didn't refuse. His cooking skills were average, and he had originally planned to order food from a hotel.

Liu Xiaoli went to the kitchen to see what ingredients were available.

She saw Li Xiuwu with his sleeves rolled up, his movements somewhat clumsy, and she smiled. It seemed even geniuses weren't good at everything.

“Go chat with Xixi for a bit. Leave the kitchen to me.”

“How can I do that? Let me help you, Auntie.” After all, this was his home; letting Liu Xiaoli do the work was already quite impolite.

Liu Xiaoli put on a stern face, pretending to be angry: “I treat you as a junior, yet you're still being so formal with me.”

“Alright then, Auntie, call me if you need anything.” Since Liu Xiaoli put it that way, Li Xiuwu stopped pretending, dried his hands, and walked out of the kitchen.

“Little parrot, come down quickly.” Liu Yifei, holding the Lion Cat in her arms, reached out to try and get the Budgerigar in the tree to land on her hand.

“Meow, is she a fool?” Sensing Li Xiuwu approaching, the Lion Cat looked up to ask him.

Li Xiuwu looked at Liu Yifei. She had a very bright smile on her face, clearly very happy.

“Probably,” he sent a thought back.

“How pitiful!” The Lion Cat stretched its legs and yawned, its golden pupils looking at Liu Yifei with pity.

“Li Xiuwu, can this parrot talk?”

Li Xiuwu glanced at the parrot in the tree, feeling a bit speechless.

“Can it or not?” Liu Yifei didn't notice Li Xiuwu's expression, keeping her head tilted up to look at the parrot.

“Try scaring it a bit,” Li Xiuwu said, then began to step back.

“Ah!” Liu Yifei let out a shout, which not only startled the birds in the tree but even caused the Lion Cat in her arms to tumble out in surprise, jumping down and running to Li Xiuwu's side.

The flock of birds on the branches were all startled; several flew away, and the Budgerigar was also spooked.

“Oh, you ghost! You scared me to death!”

Liu Yifei stared wide-eyed at the parrot in the tree, doubting if she had heard correctly.

“Call me Daddy.”

“No way, you're so bad.”

“Call me Daddy.”

“She really is a fool.” The Lion Cat rubbed against Li Xiuwu's leg a few times, looking at Liu Yifei with pity.