Minhu smiled and said, "Thank you again, Miss Xu, for coming to Ningzhou Prefecture to treat me. Thank you also for your kindness to Jiaer. Alas, this child has never spoken, laughed, or cried since her mother passed away two years ago. But you actually made her laugh and even cry."
Xu Lanyin looked at Min Jia in the room and decided not to talk about her here as the kid was very smart.
Minhu is a smart man, good at solving cases, and should be a thoughtful and perceptive person. However, he does not understand his daughter at all. Like others, he sees her as a "problem" child and even thinks she is a little stupid.
One possibility is that Min Hu was too busy with official duties to care for her child, so he didn't know her true self. Another possibility is that Min Jia harbored hostility towards Min Hu and some of her relatives because of her mother's death, and she intentionally isolated herself...
Xu Lanyin smiled and said, "Jie'er is a good girl who remembers feelings. I like her very much."
Minhu felt Xu Lanyin's words were polite, but he still liked them. He nodded at her again before hurriedly heading to the outer courtyard. He felt useless. He was married with a daughter, and had spent so many years in officialdom, yet a young girl had actually made him so flustered. He knew he had to remain calm. This Miss Xu was so good at reading people's minds, and he couldn't let her see his panic and laugh at him. His steps gradually became steady.
Xu Lanyin walked into the house and sat next to Min Jia, looking at the little house with her for a while. She pointed at the tadpole and said with a smile, "Its name is tadpole. Isn't the tadpole baby cute?"
The tadpole has a big head and a pointed tail. Except for the whites of its eyes, its entire body is black.
Min Jia nodded politely.
Xu Lanyin smiled and said, "Then Aunt Xu will tell you a story about a tadpole looking for its mother, okay?"
Min Jia's eyes were immediately filled with joy and he nodded quickly.
Mother Liu on the side was very anxious and shook her head at Xu Lanyin, meaning that she should not mention her mother in front of her sister, as that would make her sister even more sad and the master would not be happy either.
She furrowed her brows in anger, thinking that Miss Xu was too reckless and self-righteous. If she hadn't received instructions from the master and housekeeper Hao beforehand, she would have spoken harshly to her.
Seeing Mother Liu's little action, Minjia's little face immediately became serious and his little mouth was pursed into a slit.
Xu Lanyin snorted inwardly. These people thought Min Jia was a child, even dumber than other children. They even dared to wink at her in front of her, thinking that the little girl couldn't understand? They also thought that the more they mentioned their mother, the more they would miss her, and if they stopped mentioning her, she would slowly be forgotten.
I don't know why her mother's death had such a huge impact on her. The more she was asked to forget, the more she couldn't. She was particularly hostile to those who tried to make her forget her mother.
Mother Liu also noticed that Minjia was unhappy with her, so she smiled awkwardly and didn't dare to make a face anymore.
Xu Lanyin smiled at Mama Liu and insisted, "I'm talking about the tadpole's mother, it's okay."
She moved the brocade stool closer to Min Jia and whispered an adapted version of "The Tadpole Looking for Its Mother." "Warm spring arrived, the ice in the pond melted, and the frog gave birth to four little babies, the tadpoles. Then, the frog mother was invited to the cat's home as a guest. The tadpole babies, with big heads, black-gray bodies, and long tails, swam happily around in the pond. After a few days, the tadpole babies grew two hind legs and were invited to the fish mother's home to play..."
The tadpole missed his mother and, after asking the fish mother, turtle mother, and duck mother, he finally found his frog mother in the cat's house by the pond. During the search, the tadpole grew two more front legs, lost his tail, and his skin turned green. He finally looked like his mother and had the same abilities as her...
The little girl listened very attentively. She was very smart. Even without the comic strip, she could understand and imagine Xu Lanyin's descriptions, and her facial expressions changed from time to time.
When the little girl heard that the tadpole had finally found its mother and became like her, her eyes turned red with excitement and she leaned into Xu Lanyin's arms.
She thought to herself, "It's great that the tadpole has finally found his mother. My mother can't be found, so I'm happy for the tadpole..."
Xu Lanyin heard this thought again. Although it was not much, Xu Lanyin still heard the kindness of the little girl and her longing for her mother. With this kindness, communication became easier.
Xu Lanyin had used up her two daily quotas for listening to Minhu's inner thoughts, and hadn't even tried to leave a single one for her. She really wanted to know what the little girl was thinking, to make her happy sooner rather than later. Only when she was happy could she perhaps start talking again.
Xu Lanyin asked with a smile, "Was the tadpole baby happy when he couldn't find his mother?"
Min Jia nodded.
Xu Lanyin continued, "When mother was away, was Tadpole Baby always working hard to practice his skills and make himself more and more like mother?"
Min Jia nodded again.
Xu Lanyin smiled and hugged the little girl, saying, "So, I want to be like the tadpole baby. Even though I haven't seen my mother, I want to be happy, strong, and studious. When I grow up, I want to be as beautiful, smart, and capable as my mother."
She didn't know what Minjia's mother was like, but in the child's mind, mothers were definitely the best. Even if Minhu really had a rift with his wife during her lifetime, or his wife really made some mistakes, the child should remember the good side of his mother.
Min Jia didn't respond, as if he was thinking.
Mother Liu understood. It turned out that Miss Xu was encouraging her daughter to be happy and live a good life even without her mother. She smiled again, secretly thanking herself for not being reckless.
Xu Lanyin added, "All mothers are the same. No matter where they are, they all hope that their children will be happy, strong, and more like themselves."
An average six-year-old child might not understand this, but she believed Min Jia would definitely understand it.
Min Jia seemed to still be thinking.
At this time, the maid came with a lunch box. Since there was a small house on the table, the food was placed on the small table above the Luohan bed. There were six dishes, a soup, and two sets of bowls and chopsticks.
This allows Xu Lanyin to eat at the same table with the little girl.
While Mama Liu was leading Minjia to the bathroom, Zhangzhu whispered to Xu Lanyin, "Just now, Housekeeper Hao sent someone to tell her to let the young lady play with Jiajie first, and then go to the outer study to diagnose the patient after she falls asleep. He also said that Master Zhao has also returned home and is staying in the guest room."
Xu Lanyin nodded.
The little girl ate very little. When Liu Mama tried to feed her, she shook her head and refused, eating on her own. Xu Lanyin gave her some meat dishes that were easy to digest, and she ate them politely.
Xu Lanyin kept observing Mother Liu out of the corner of her eye. She did not show any unhappiness. On the contrary, she was very happy to see Min Jia eat one more bite.
Xu Lanyin intuitively felt that this wet nurse must be a good one.
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