Chapter 167: Guiding Tao Ming

Qin Youchuan was a man who could never stay idle. Finding nothing to do outside the estate, he would go around the manor looking for tasks, utterly incapable of sitting quietly in his own courtyard.

Tao Ming walked and asked along the way, taking many detours before finally managing to track down Qin Youchuan.

When she spotted him, he was making peculiar, yet surprisingly rhythmic, sounds facing the pond.

"Grandfather!" Tao Ming called out loudly to make sure he heard her.

Qin Youchuan turned his head, saw Tao Ming, and wiped a nonexistent sweat from his forehead with a smile. "Mingming, you certainly made quite a stir today."

Tao Ming pointed at her own outfit. "Grandfather, don't you think I'm showing too much skin?"

"I once went out to sea on the Qin family's great ships. The women overseas show even more than you do," Qin Youchuan said dismissively. "As a daughter of the Qin family, you can wear whatever you like. You needn't pay any attention to idle gossip outside."

Tao Ming had not expected Qin Youchuan to be so open-minded, and her estimation of him rose by a dozen percentage points.

Seeing Tao Ming deep in thought, Qin Youchuan asked, "Mingming, is something the matter?"

Tao Ming walked shoulder-to-shoulder with Qin Youchuan toward the front courtyard. "Grandfather, do you know of a vegetable market in the west city?"

"Since it's on Qin family ground, of course I know it." Noticing Tao Ming's short strides, Qin Youchuan purposefully slowed his pace.

"The lives of the common people around there are terribly hard!"

Qin Youchuan had not expected Tao Ming to care about the lives of ordinary people. He smiled and said, "That area was originally set aside by the Qin family to provide shelter for those struggling to get by, and we have never collected rent from them."

Tao Ming's opinion of Qin Youchuan rose even higher. "The houses and such around there are in dreadful condition, though."

Qin Youchuan wanted to offer some guidance. "Mingming, if the housing were built any better, the people who move in wouldn't be the truly destitute."

It was as if Tao Ming were seeing Qin Youchuan for the very first time, and she involuntarily stopped in her tracks.

Noticing she had stopped, Qin Youchuan turned back in confusion. "The study is only a few steps away. Why did you stop?"

Tao Ming carefully and earnestly observed his appearance. At first glance, he looked somewhat intimidating: thick eyebrows, bell-like eyes, a fleshy nose, and a wide mouth, matched with a burly, tiger-like frame. Never would she have guessed that beneath Qin Youchuan's rough-and-ready exterior lay a benevolent and delicate heart.

Tao Ming stepped forward and hooked her arm through Qin Youchuan's. "Grandfather, from now on, you are my idol!"

Feeling Tao Ming's small hand linked through his arm, Qin Youchuan thought to himself that anyone desperate for a grandson was a fool—how could a grandson ever be as endearing as a granddaughter?

Immersed in the joy of domestic bliss, Qin Youchuan missed what Tao Ming said next.

Seeing Qin Youchuan smiling cheerfully, Tao Ming continued, "Grandfather, I'd like to redevelop that area."

Qin Youchuan frowned. "You want to build a shopping mall there?"

Recalling the places she had walked through today, Tao Ming replied, "If the space is big enough, a shopping mall there would work, too."

Qin Youchuan led Tao Ming into the study and motioned for her to sit down. "What about the residents currently living there? How should they be settled?"

Tao Ming thought for a moment. "Grandfather, as long as they are ambitious, I will provide them with jobs to earn a living, improve their circumstances, and let the next generation receive an education so they can have a better path forward in the future."

Qin Youchuan understood some of the terms while others he did not, but that did not prevent him from grasping her underlying intent.

However, he had his own considerations. "Mingming, most of the people in that area are elderly and frail. I'm afraid they won't be able to work."

Qin Youchuan's score in Tao Ming's heart went up again. "Grandfather, what do those elderly and frail people rely on to live right now?"

"The Qin family provides relief for them from time to time."

*I figured as much,* Tao Ming thought to herself. After a brief pause, she suggested, "Grandfather, how about this: I'll find a place to house those who have completely lost their ability to work, and take care of them until the end of their days."

Pondering the phrase "completely lost their ability to work," Qin Youchuan asked, "And what about those who haven't lost their ability to work?"

Tao Ming patiently explained, "Grandfather, there's a saying in another realm: 'Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.' It means that simply handing someone fish is not as good as teaching them how to fish."

After thinking for a long while this time, Qin Youchuan said, "Mingming, I'm a rough man without so many twists and turns in my thoughts. If you have the confidence, I will simply be your backing."

Tao Ming deliberately puckered her lips in a spoiled manner. "Grandfather, you're putting me in a very difficult position."

Not knowing what made her feel difficult, Qin Youchuan asked, "What's difficult about it?"

With an exaggerated expression, Tao Ming said, "My conscience will hurt if I give you too little money!"

"Hahahaha!" Qin Youchuan was amused into hearty laughter by Tao Ming. Once he finally stopped laughing, he said, "I'll fetch the map of that place for you to see."

Qin Youchuan stood up, walked through a small door at the back of the study, and quickly returned carrying a roll of cloth.

Spreading the cloth out on the desk, Tao Ming gazed intently at it. The area looked like a rectangular shape covered in burrs, located roughly between the west gate of the Qin Estate and the western city wall of the Imperial City.

Pointing at the map, Qin Youchuan introduced it to her: "It is over five hundred zhang from east to west, and more than three hundred zhang from north to south."

Tao Ming made a rough mental calculation. This area was definitely large enough to build a shopping mall, with plenty of space left over to construct several residential apartment buildings as well.

"Grandfather, could you lend me this map for a few days?" Tao Ming figured that planning according to the blueprint would give her a much better grasp of the project.

Qin Youchuan pushed the map toward Tao Ming. "Take it."

Tao Ming put away the map and stood up. "Grandfather, I'll ponder this matter over the next few days and come back to see you once I have a solid plan."

Qin Youchuan gestured for her to wait a moment. Wearing an expression of grave seriousness, he made Tao Ming instantly panic, unsure of what he intended to do.

"Mingming, life is still long, and you will inevitably encounter frustrating things. Don't take them to heart."

Realizing he was trying to counsel her, Tao Ming was about to chime in when she heard Qin Youchuan say, "You and Ruanruan are descendants of the Qin family. No matter how big of a mess you stir up in the future, the Qin family will back you up. Go ahead and make all the trouble you want—don't be afraid!"

Tao Ming froze.

Her first thought was that Qin Youchuan had discovered her and Ruanruan's Demon race identities.

Her second thought was that Qin Youchuan was actually willing to accept and tolerate both her and Ruanruan simply because they were descendants of the Qin family.

Her third thought was that Qin Youchuan's words were undoubtedly the most reassuring thing she had heard during this entire period.

Tao Ming felt a sourness rise in her nose, a sudden heat prickled behind her eyelids, and tears streamed down uncontrollably.

All the self-doubt, self-examination, self-negation, along with every bit of pain, heartache, grievance, annoyance, confusion, and fear she had felt lately, gushed out together with her tears.

Tao Ming squatted down on the ground, wrapped her arms around her knees, and had a thorough, good cry.

Qin Youchuan stood quietly beside her, and through Tao Ming's trembling shoulders, he seemed to catch a glimpse of the person he had met in his youth.

If he had been as firm and persistent as Su Nanxi back then, perhaps that person wouldn't have left him so early.

It had been too long—so long that he could no longer clearly remember that person's face, only that they used to call him "Little Chuanzi."

Having cried her fill, Tao Ming felt a bit embarrassed looking at the tears and mucus smeared across her trouser legs. She stood up, wiped her face clean, and looked at Qin Youchuan. "I've made a fool of myself in front of Grandfather."

Withdrawing his thoughts, Qin Youchuan saw that Tao Ming now looked noticeably more cheerful than before. He chuckled, "How old are you anyway? Your father is hundreds of years old, and he still bursts into tears in front of me."

Unable to picture Qin Siyu crying, Tao Ming wore an expression of sheer astonishment.

Qin Youchuan waved a hand. "Off you go. There's still a long road ahead."