Fang Qiao brought breakfast home, and Tian Tian had already gotten up and was squatting in front of the sink washing her face.

Fang Qiao smiled and walked past her, saying, "Sweetie, wash your face and come inside for breakfast. Auntie bought some big steamed buns."

Upon hearing about the big steamed buns, Tian Tian hastily wiped her face with her little hands and stood up without stopping: "I'm all washed, Auntie, I'm all washed!"

Fang Qiao looked closely and noticed a speck of yellow eye discharge in the corner of her eye that hadn't been washed off. She shook her head and said, "No, you haven't washed it properly. Wash it again. You can only eat after you've washed it clean."

"Okay, okay."

Fang Qiao turned and went into the house with breakfast in hand. Tian Tian squatted down dejectedly and continued washing her face.

Just then, a 'thud' sounded from behind—the sound of a brick falling to the ground.

Fang Qiao looked back and saw a furry little head peeking out from the wall shared with Li Dan's family on the west side.

The girl's short, dry hair was messy and unkempt. Because she hadn't combed it, a few tufts of hair stuck up. She was Liu Lai'er, who had just been adopted by Li Dan yesterday.

When Liu Lai'er saw that Fang Qiao had spotted her, she hurriedly tried to hide by pulling her head back, but since she was perched on the wall, there was nowhere to hide. Afraid of being scolded, she put on an almost tearful expression and called out, "Ah, Auntie."

Unlike the low walls in the countryside, this wall shared by the two families is a full 1.8 meters high. At that height, even an adult would have a hard time climbing it by hand without anything to step on.

How did a three-year-old girl climb up such a high wall? What if she fell?

Fang Qiao was startled, but dared not speak loudly, for fear of frightening her and causing her to slip again.

A gentle smile appeared on her face as she softly asked, "Oh, it's Lai'er. How did you climb so high? Where are your parents?"

Liu Lai'er swallowed hard and answered softly, "He, they all went to work. I, I'm a little hungry. I heard you were going to eat, so I wanted to, wanted to see..."

Fang Qiao frowned, thinking: Did Li Dan not feed the child before going to work, making the child so hungry that he climbed over the wall?

He then asked, "Didn't you eat breakfast?"

Liu Lai'er nodded timidly.

As mothers themselves, Fang Qiao couldn't bear to see a little girl, about the same age as Tian Tian, ​​go hungry, so she said, "It's just that Auntie's family is about to have breakfast, why don't you come to my house for a meal?"

Even a three-year-old girl can't eat much.

"Can you get down by yourself?"

"Yes." Liu Lai'er nodded, but remained perched on the wall without moving.

Fang Qiao asked, "What's wrong?"

Liu Lai'er said, "Auntie, can I just climb over the wall and jump into your house? My door is locked from the outside, and I can't get out."

"..."

Hearing Liu Lai'er's words, Fang Qiao felt a surge of anger welling up inside her.

Not feeding her child and locking herself out of the house before going to work—does Li Dan still think of herself as a carefree, lonely person?

Even if you gave her a child, she wouldn't know how to raise it!

"Of course." Fang Qiao suppressed her anger, handed the breakfast in her hand to Xiao Jing, who had come out of the house after hearing the noise, and walked to the base of the wall, stretched out her arms and said to Liu Lai'er, "Jump over, Auntie, I'll catch you."

Liu Lai'er trusted Fang Qiao, and without saying a word, she jumped down from the wall, not at all worried that Fang Qiao might not catch her or anything.

Fang Qiao caught Liu Lai'er as she jumped down from the wall and gave her a big hug.

The little girl not only looked thin and frail, but also felt incredibly light when held in one's arms.

He had barely any flesh on his body; when Fang Qiao touched him, he was all bones.

Fang Qiao put her down on the ground and asked, "Lai'er, how old are you this year?"

Liu Lai'er pursed her lips and whispered, "A little over three years old."

“Me too, me too!” Sweetie chimed in, “But I was born in September and I’m three and a half years old now. What month were you born in?”

Liu Lai'er shook her head: "I don't know which month. My mother said it snowed the day I was born."

“That’s winter, I was born in autumn, so I’m older than you.” Sweetie took Liu Lai’er’s hand and said, “I’m the older sister, you have to call me older sister.”

Liu Lai'er obediently called out, "Sister."

Sweetie smiled happily, took Liu Lai'er's hand and led her to wash her hands: "Little sister, come on, I'll take you to wash your hands. After you wash your hands, we'll eat together. My aunt bought big steamed buns, they're so delicious."

The two girls' birthdays are at most three months apart, but Tian Tian is at least three fingers taller than Liu Lai'er. One is chubby and fair-skinned, while the other is skinny and bony.

Fang Qiao sighed. It was all because of the preference for sons over daughters.

Yesterday, she overheard some gossip. It was said that Liu Lai'er's original family had already had four girls. Liu Lai'er was the second oldest, with two younger sisters. The youngest had just finished her postpartum confinement, and her mother was already pregnant again, determined to have a son.

Fang Qiao may not approve of it, but these days, most families have four or five children, so this kind of thing is not uncommon. Therefore, she just sighed a few times and that was it.

After all, she's just a nobody; she's already doing well enough to take care of her own little corner of the world.