Chapter 13

Xiao Chua's eyesight was exceptional, so he naturally saw the tears welling up in Xiao Liang's eyes.

Furthermore, Xiao Liang had no ability to hide his thoughts. He lowered his head and ate his meal, tears welling up in his eyes. The tears that fell into the rice were fine, but those that hit the bowl and the table made a little noise.

Xiao Liang didn't dare to look at Xiao Chua. He could only frantically wipe away his tears with the back of his hand and quickly shovel rice into his mouth.

He was crying and eating at the same time, and after only a few bites he was choking and coughing, his face covered in tears and snot.

Xiao Chuan ignored him and put down his chopsticks after finishing the last bite of his food.

After putting down his chopsticks, Xiao Chuan didn't leave. He stared sharply at Xiao Liang, as if annoyed that Xiao Liang's movements had soiled the food and disturbed his meal.

Understanding that his father wanted his second brother to solve the problem independently, Xiao Yi sat upright in his chair with his mouth shut, pretending not to hear his second brother's sobs.

Hearing his second brother coughing more and more violently, as if he couldn't breathe, he couldn't help but pat his brother's back.

"What's there to cry about? Who taught you to use tears to deal with things you don't want? Do you think you're your silly little sister, who's only three years old and doesn't understand anything, or do you want to be a fool too, a child who only knows how to cry and is always powerless to do anything?"

Xiao Chuan spoke coldly, already seething with anger because of Xiao Shan's tears, and now seeing Xiao Liang's tears, he felt they were incredibly stupid.

Learning these useless things from a sister who is two years younger than me.

Unfortunately, while a child's crying might work on Yu Nu, it had no effect on him.

"Father, I was wrong... I didn't want to cry..."

Xiao Liang shook his head frantically. He knew his father didn't like seeing them cry, but he just couldn't help it. He thought he would be fine after eating, but who knew he would choke.

Xiao Chuan swept the dirt off his face and said to his eldest son before leaving, "Xiao Yi, keep an eye on your brother."

"Father, don't worry. Second brother just choked because he ate too fast. He's sensible and understands your instructions. We won't disturb Madam."

After seeing Xiao Chua off, Xiao Yi wiped Xiao Liang's face and massaged his back. He only breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Xiao Liang had caught his breath.

As soon as Xiao Chuan left, Xiao Liang couldn't hold back his sobs any longer. He looked at his older brother with his mouth agape, feeling wronged: "Father, are you angry? I didn't want to cry, but I couldn't help it..."

"Father won't hold it against you, but next time Erlang, please try to hold back, okay? Erlang is a big boy now, he should be able to hold back his tears."

Xiao Yi knew Xiao Liang was upset, so he patted his back and comforted him, "Don't eat when you cry in the future, or you'll choke and get sick."

"I thought I would stop crying when I ate."

No matter how hard I tried to shovel food into my mouth, it was no use; I still wanted to cry.

Xiao Liang sobbed as he pulled a grain of rice from between his noses.

"Big brother, I'm so dirty, will you not like me anymore?"

The sobbing that was about to stop was interrupted by this conjecture, and tears streamed down her face again.

"You only had rice in your nose because you choked. Besides, you're my brother, and I'll never think you're dirty."

Xiao Yi took Xiao Liang to wash his face. Seeing that he had calmed down and stopped crying, he asked, "Have you eaten enough? Do you want to eat something else?"

Xiao Liang shook his head, and after a moment, he looked at Xiao Yi longingly: "I want to see Shan'er."

The two brothers looked at each other. Xiao Yi knew that Xiao Liang wanted to see not only his sister but also Mi Yao. Remembering his father's instructions, Xiao Yi took Xiao Liang back to the room. After confirming that there were only the two of them in the room, he instructed his younger brother: "Madam is our future mother. We must respect her and behave properly in front of her. But we are not her biological children. She will have her own biological children in the future. Shan'er is still young, so it's fine. We are the older children. If we also ask Madam to take care of us, it will be a trouble for Madam and cause her trouble."

"But……"

Xiao Liang pouted, tears welling up in his eyes again. He knew his little sister was young and didn't know any better, so she could be unruly, but he also longed for his mother to hug him more and for him to have fragrant ointment on his face.

"Big brother, I miss Mom."

He had forgotten what his own mother looked like, and only remembered a little bit of what his grandmother looked like holding his younger sister.

Before, he could never quite picture his mother holding him, but yesterday he dreamed that Mi Yao was holding him, and only then did his mother's face appear in his mind.

He knew that Mi Yao was not his biological mother, and that Mi Yao would have other children with his father, at which point he would become an unnecessary burden, but he still longed for his mother to hold him.

Why doesn't he have a mother?

If only he had a mother too.

*

Xiao Chuan reprimanded Xiao Liang for not keeping it from the servants of the Xiao family, so less than an hour later, Mi Yao overheard the whole conversation in the side room.

At times like these, she felt that the Xiao family especially needed a capable steward. If there was a good steward to manage the mansion and keep the servants in line and not to gossip about their masters, she wouldn't have to listen to the children suffer.

Although she was reluctant to admit it, even though she was a fictional character, she still felt indignant when she heard that children were being bullied by adults who took advantage of their authority.

No wonder none of the three Xiao family children have the air of a young master. Xiao Yi looks a little better, but he is just a clumsy imitation of adults. He looks mature, but he doesn't have confidence in his heart or have proper manners under the careful guidance of his elders.

"My brother-in-law seems to dislike Xiao Dalang and Erlang. He doesn't want them to bother my sister, nor does he want my sister to take care of them."

After finishing her idle chatter, Yu Xiu casually mentioned that she wanted Mi Yao to take seriously Xiao Chua's dislike of Xiao Yi and the others, so that she would avoid getting entangled with the three children in the future.

Especially the smallest one.

Yu Xiu looked at Xiao Shan, who was sitting on Mi Yao's lap and munching on a snack, and realized that she was indeed a little fool. She didn't even react when her own brother was scolded and cried.

"Hmm."

Mi Yao responded, but it was unclear whether she agreed with Yu Xiu or didn't care.

But judging from her subsequent actions, she clearly didn't care.

"After we finish our snacks, shall we wash our hair?"

Mi Yao rested her chin on Little Radish's fluffy hat and spoke as if she had just thought of something.

She and Little Radish weren't face-to-face, but Little Radish knew that her words were directed at her.

Because Mi Yao sensed that after she finished speaking, Little Radish stiffened and stopped eating the half-eaten pastry in his hand.

Mi Yao turned the little radish around to face her: "I originally wanted to take advantage of you while you were sleeping to see why you always wear a hat, but I felt that was wrong. If I want to see your secret, I need your permission."

Seeing the little radish's hand tightly gripping the brim of his hat, she was determined to see that radish-headed boy today.

The problems on a child's head can be big or small. It's unlikely that Granny Fan was so negligent in taking care of the child, dressing him properly while his head was infested with lice.

"Let me see, okay?"

When Mi Yao asked him a question, Xiao Shan immediately shook his head.

After shaking her, she cautiously looked at Mi Yao, afraid that she would be angry and unwilling to hug her again. But when she thought about taking off her hat, she pouted and felt that both choices were difficult.

Seeing that Xiao Luobo's eyes were red, Mi Yao quickly waved her hand: "I want to see your head not just to satisfy my curiosity, but to see if you need my help."

People in the Xiao family said that Xiao Shan didn't speak because she was stupid, that she couldn't understand what they were saying, and that her brain was like that of a one-year-old child.

But she felt that Xiao Shan could understand, so she looked at Xiao Shan and spoke to her softly, "You comb my hair every day, don't you want me to comb yours?"

Xiao Shan glanced at Mi Yao's hair and shook his head, but under Mi Yao's gentle gaze, he nodded again and loosened his hat brim.

Mi Yao didn't immediately take off her hat, but instead pinched her cheek: "Don't worry, no matter what, I promised you that you could come to me every day, and I won't easily go back on my word."

She originally didn't want to get too involved with the characters in the book; it would be best if everyone kept to themselves and didn't interfere with each other.

But Xiao Shan was young and had an inexplicable fondness for her.

Since she had no good way to get rid of Little Radish, she decided to treat it like starting a mini-game of raising a child, keeping Little Radish by her side to pass the time.

Since it's a game about raising children, you naturally have to raise them well.

Hearing Mi Yao's assurance, Xiao Luobo's tense body relaxed.

She touched the pastries with her other hand, but it was so greasy that she didn't dare touch anything else. So she could only hold one hand out in the air and raise the other hand slightly to push up her hat.

Seeing that Little Radish wasn't hesitating but genuinely agreed to take off her hat, Mi Yao helped her remove it.

"Ah, how could this be..."

Yu Xiu had been watching Mi Yao and Xiao Shan's interaction the whole time. Seeing her elder sister being so gentle to Xiao Shan, she felt indignant, so when she saw Xiao Shan's head under his hat, she deliberately couldn't help but be surprised and let out a cry of astonishment.

However, Xiao Shan didn't care about others. He just stared at Mi Yao. He saw Mi Yao reach out to dodge, but seeing the gentleness on Mi Yao's face, he still let Mi Yao put her hand on his head.

"It's quite cute, like a dandelion." Mi Yao smiled and ruffled the little radish's soft, downy hair.

Xiao Shan's hair was sparse and yellowish, and only a very thin layer. Such hair would be considered bald on a middle-aged man, but it looked quite cute on a three-year-old girl.

Her thin hair was like weightless down, fluttering in the wind.

"Someone said you're not good-looking?"

Seeing that Mi Yao didn't mind her head, Xiao Shan happily showed a row of small teeth, hugged Mi Yao's hand, and she nodded vigorously.

"That's because they don't know what beauty is. Just like a baby bird, when it's first born, it has fine downy feathers all over its body. You'll be like that too, and as you grow up, you'll be just like me."

Hearing that he could be like Mi Yao, Xiao Shan's eyes lit up. He carefully touched her smooth hair, and then reached out to touch his own hair.

"I was about the same age as you when I was a child."

Although Mi Yao didn't know what the original owner's hair looked like at the age of three, it didn't stop her from coaxing the child.

Mi Yao hadn't forgotten about washing her hair, even after looking at Xiao Luobo's head.

She asked Shuanghua to prepare hot water, rolled up her sleeves, and had Xiaoshan lie down so she could wash her hair herself.

She really liked the feel of Xiao Shan's hair; it was so tender, like newly grown animal fur, delicate and soft.

Worried that Xiao Luobo would catch a cold, Mi Yao quickly dried her hair and wrapped it up after washing her.

A damp cotton cloth was wrapped around Little Radish Head, and Mi Yao rubbed her face: "You look like a little bun."

Despite being called a steamed bun, Little Radish wasn't angry. She nestled in Mi Yao's hand and puffed out her cheeks, making Mi Yao think she looked even more like a fair-skinned, tender, and adorable steamed bun.