In that era, when she met Madam Xu, she was required to address her as Great-Grandma according to seniority, but now this little girl was calling her Sister.
Wow, this experience is truly fantastical.
"Yu'er? Yu'er? Where did you run off to? Yu'er?"
Upon hearing the call, the little girl immediately responded happily.
"Mother, I'm here."
The little girl waved her hands, and the woman who rushed over finally found the little girl's trail in the grass.
When the woman saw a young and beautiful girl squatting next to the little girl, she was slightly taken aback.
"Mommy, I'm talking to a pretty older sister."
Bai Qianmo looked at the woman, who appeared to be in her thirties, tall and beautiful, with a gentle and virtuous air about her.
She was wearing a dark green cheongsam, black leather shoes, and carrying a small pearl handbag. She looked like a sophisticated and elegant woman.
"Who are you?" The woman walked over and looked Bai Qianmo up and down with some curiosity.
"My name is Xu Jin'en. You must be my third aunt?"
Xu Jin'en?
Du Wanru seemed to be recalling the name, going through all the eligible girls in the Xu family in her mind, but she still couldn't remember a girl named Jin En.
She smiled apologetically: "You call me Third Aunt, which means you are a daughter of the Xu family. I'm sorry, I don't think I've ever seen you before."
“I was sent to a rural village when I was a child, before you even joined the family.”
Du Wanru had a look of sudden realization.
"Oh, you're Sister Fengqin's daughter."
Bai Qianmo was a complete stranger to Xu Jin'en's mother.
She had only heard Xiao Huan mention that Yang Fengqin was the eldest daughter of the Yang family in the north of the city.
More than a decade ago, the Yang and Xu families in the north of the city were equally prominent, both being among the four great Confucian merchant families in Shanghai.
It is said that Xu Jiangfeng and Yang Fengqin's wedding was a huge sensation, lasting for three days and three nights, with more than a thousand tables set up for the banquet.
In addition to the guests who came to the mansion to offer their congratulations, the Xu family also set up hundreds of tables of food and drink on a long street outside the gate, so that the people of the city could watch the excitement and also have a meal.
This wedding became the most sensational wedding in Shanghai in those years.
However, her good fortune was short-lived. Three years after Yang Fengqin joined the Xu family, the Yang family declined while the Xu family grew stronger, so Yang Fengqin's status in the Xu family plummeted.
Her husband, Xu Jiangfeng, began to reveal his philandering nature, leaving Yang Fengqin to spend her days in tears.
In the end, he became depressed and tragically drowned himself.
Apart from that, she knew nothing else about Yang Fengqin.
"Do you know my mother?"
Du Wanru sighed, "Speaking of which, the Yang family and the Du family are not related by blood. My great-grandmother was a daughter of the Yang family. Sister Fengqin and I are of the same generation, so I should call her cousin."
“When I was little, I stayed at the Yang family’s house with my great-grandmother for a while. At that time, Sister Fengqin was not yet married, and I was just a little girl about the same age as Yu’er. But Sister Fengqin was beautiful and I have a good memory, so I always remember what she looked like.”
"Later, I moved to Beiping with my family and never saw Sister Fengqin again. When I heard news about her again, she had already passed away. At that time, I only heard that Sister Fengqin had left behind a daughter who was sent to a country estate. When I entered the house, I inquired about your whereabouts, but my sister-in-law kept it a secret and deliberately concealed it. I didn't know where you went."
Du Wanru warmly grasped Bai Qianmo's hand.
"It means we are destined to meet here today. Perhaps Sister Fengqin also hopes that I can meet you."
"Third Aunt, I never imagined that you and my mother were actually cousins."
Looking at the bright and beautiful young girl in front of her, Du Wanru felt a pang of pity.
"You've suffered these past years. Now that you've returned to the Xu family, are you settling in well here?"
At the main residence, Du Wanru couldn't be too direct in her questions.
Bai Qianmo understood the deeper meaning in her words.
Everyone in the Xu family knows that Chen Xin'e is a shrewish woman. If she returns to her stepmother Chen Xin'e, she will inevitably be bullied.
Thinking of this, Bai Qianmo politely replied, "Third Aunt, you don't need to worry about me. I'm doing very well here."
Du Wanru's eyes held a hint of heartache, but she didn't ask anything more.
*
When Bai Qianmo and Du Wanru parted ways, Du Wanru told her the address where she lived in Shanghai.
They also made an appointment to visit Yang Fengqin's grave early the next morning to pay their respects.
Bai Qianmo returned to her courtyard.
Xiao Huan was sitting on a bamboo chair in front of the door, with a small box on her lap. She was looking down and intently fiddling with something, completely unaware that Bai Qianmo had walked in.
Bai Qianmo walked up to Xiao Huan and glanced at the small box on her lap.
Inside was a box of jewelry.
"Oh, Miss, you're back."
Bai Qianmo leaned lightly against the door frame and chuckled softly, "I wondered what you were looking at so intently. Turns out you've been hiding so many jewels and ornaments."
"Miss, have you forgotten? These are all the jewelry that Madam left for you."
"Madam? You mean my...mother?"
“Of course it’s Madam Yang. How could the current Madam possibly be willing to give you such valuable jewelry?”
Bai Qianmo wasn't initially interested in the box of jewelry, but since it was a gift from Yang Fengqin, she carefully examined the box.
The box wasn't very big, but it was almost full of jewelry.
There was a pair of emerald green bracelets, several pairs of gold earrings, hairpins, pearl earrings, and agate bracelets, all of which were jewelry that women often wore.
You can tell it's an antique just by looking at its condition.
Why did you suddenly bring out all this jewelry?
Xiao Huan said, "Miss, there used to be a pair of gemstone pendants in this jewelry box, but they can't be found now."
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