The carriage swayed along the mountain road. Xiao Yunying heard the wind picking up outside, so she lifted the curtain and looked out.
"It's snowing."
Luo Xin leaned against her, playing with the wooden doll Chen Yuanxuan had given her: "Mom, you should lower the curtain, or you'll get a headache from the cold wind."
Xiao Yunying sat back down and said with delight, "Oh, little girl, you can even show concern for people in a serious way now."
Luo Xin put down the wooden doll and pouted at Luo Chen: "Big brother said that Mom's health is weak and she can't get sick anymore. He told me to take good care of Mom."
Xiao Yunying glanced at Luo Chen, who was sitting to the side, lost in thought.
Her first thought was that Luo Chen was thinking about his unreliable cheap father again.
And that is indeed the case.
Thinking about their experiences, it's truly tragic.
Abandoned by his birth mother and killed by his birth father in a short period of time, he went from being a young master of a wealthy family to a commoner who couldn't even get enough to eat. Later, the father he recognized took his grandmother and never returned. He had no blood relatives left to rely on.
It's already quite remarkable that they haven't gone astray after experiencing these successive setbacks.
At least his values are relatively normal, only his personality has some flaws.
Luo Chen is sensitive and suspicious, stubborn, and slightly impulsive, while Luo Yang is somewhat aloof. He usually only speaks a few words to her family members and avoids talking to outsiders.
And Luo Li...
Xiao Yunying shifted her gaze to Luo Li, who was happily playing with wooden dolls with Luo Xin, and paused for a moment.
...This child eats and sleeps well, and is carefree, so there's no need to worry about him having any emotional issues.
After all, he was still young then and didn't know anything.
In Xiao Yunying's opinion, the two children shouldn't be a problem.
No one is perfect; everyone is different.
As long as they don't grow up to be social scum and degenerates, a few minor "flaws" in their personality are no big deal.
Their personalities might be considered unique in modern times.
She was afraid that the two children weren't as carefree as they seemed, and that they might be developing some kind of illness from bottling things up inside.
"Mother, mother?!"
"Yes." Xiao Yunying responded first before snapping out of her daze, and looked at Luo Yang, asking, "What's wrong?"
Luo Yang asked, "Mother, is there something you want to tell me? Why are you staring at me like that?"
Xiao Yunying finally realized that she had been staring blankly at Luo Chen, who was directly in front of her, and awkwardly explained, "Nothing, I was just... thinking about something and got lost in thought."
"Don't worry, Mother, my brother and I are fine."
Luo Chen, who had been lost in thought, looked up at Xiao Yunying.
Xiao Yunying felt a little uncomfortable for some reason: "Hey, I wasn't thinking about... last night's events. I was thinking about what to cook for lunch."
She didn't spell things out explicitly in front of Luo Li and Luo Xin, but the two brothers understood.
Luo Yang's expression remained unchanged, but a hint of a smile flashed in his eyes: "Mother, do you know that when you are in a daze, your expression and the look in your eyes will change accordingly? Just now, when you were frowning, the worry and pity in your eyes were almost overflowing."
If someone else looked at him like that, he would definitely feel extremely disgusted.
He has his own self-respect; he doesn't feel sorry for himself, nor does he need anyone else's pity.
But this person was her, the stepmother he had accepted. Luo Yang didn't feel embarrassed or disgusted; instead, he felt a warm sense of being cared for.
Xiao Yunying touched her face: "Ah? Is that so?"
She knew she had a habit of spacing out, but she always thought that when she spaced out, she was expressionless and staring blankly into space.
Luo Li, standing nearby, asked, puzzled, "Mother, what are you worried about? Is it because we don't have enough money?"
"I...I'm worried about Walnuts and Pine Nuts. I wonder if they're doing well at your Grandma Yang's house."
Luo Li was easily fooled; he believed almost everything Xiao Yunying said.
Unlike Luo Xin, the little girl acted out of trust in her, while Luo Li's actions were purely...naive.
Upon hearing Xiao Yunying's words, the little boy immediately said, "Mother, don't worry, I'll go and bring the walnuts and pine nuts home in a little while."
Xiao Yunying nodded without saying a word.
Another worry arose in her heart: why did this child look nothing like his older brothers?
The two older children are quite intelligent, which means there's nothing wrong with the Luo family's genes. So why does Luo Li seem even less intelligent than Luo Xin?
Compared to Xin'er, he seemed more like someone who had been picked up.
Luo Chen spoke softly, "Mother, don't worry, I'm fine."
Xiao Yunying didn't know what to say, so she paused, patted his shoulder, and simply replied with a "okay".
Upon arriving home, Xiao Yunying saw the driver off and had Luo Chen and Luo Yang take Hua Mi and Luo Xin home first, while she took Luo Li to the Yang family's house.
She wants to order some wooden boxes to hold strawberries and melons.
Good product quality is certainly important, but the packaging also needs to be up to par in order to sell at a good price.
The wooden box doesn't need to be made of high-quality or thick materials, but it must be exquisite.
He casually mentioned that he was going to build a house and buy servants, and asked if the Yang family had time to make furniture.
Having received an affirmative answer, Xiao Yunying took Luo Li and the two puppies home.
Luo Chen lit the stove, and Luo Yang, sitting at the long table, called out to her, "Mother, look at this."
Xiao Yunying walked over and immediately noticed a piece of paper and several silver notes under the teacup on the table.
She looked at the silver notes in surprise, picked them up and counted them; there were five silver notes with a face value of one hundred taels each.
The note read "Thank you gift".
Xiao Yunying's first thought was that it was brought by the poisoned man in black.
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