Chapter 141 Chapter 141 Update.
"stop!"
Song called the two maids who had been abducted, paid her respects to Jun Gu, walked to Tian Shi, looked at the little girl in her arms, tears streaming down her face, and knelt down in front of Tian Shi, calling her benefactor.
This frightened Tian.
"No, no."
He and Ji Xu lifted her up.
"Xiaoyao, Xiaoyao, I'm your mother."
Song couldn't restrain herself any longer, and hugged the little one whom she hadn't seen for three years, calling her "my darling" and shaking the rattle in her hand.
"This is your favorite game, remember?"
Xiaoyao really watched for a while, and let Anjing hold her for a while. When he came to his senses, he still stretched out his hand for Tian.
Song didn't try to grab them, fearing that she would be frightened. She handed the rattle in her hand to her to play with, and ordered her maid to fetch the things and show them to Tian and the others. They only saw some old things such as small shoes, small shirts, and longevity locks.
"These are the ones she used to wear."
There were also a few graffiti, one of which had a crooked word "言" written on it.
"She started learning Chinese characters at the age of three. Her teacher taught her how to recognize Chinese characters for a while. She wrote all of these."
After seeing this, Tian Shi was convinced that Song Shi was the youngest's mother. Moreover, she was not as unreasonable as the old lady, so she said:
"This happened so suddenly that Xiaoyao couldn't accept it for a while, and I don't blame her. I have an empty room at home. If you're willing, you can stay with her for three or five days and spend some time with her. I'll make it clear to her that you are her biological mother. She's a smart and good child, and she will definitely recognize you."
With such an opportunity, the Song family would definitely accept it and were overjoyed.
Old Madam Yan frowned and pointed at Song and said:
"I asked you to pay attention to Yong'er's affairs and adopt him as your own as soon as possible, but you kept putting it off, saying you were not feeling well or that you were too busy. Now you have the time to stay here for three or five days?"
"Xiaoyao is my biological daughter. It's worth it for her. Yong'er has his own siblings and family to take care of him. It's not right for me to take someone else's child away.
Aunt Jun is old and shouldn't be exposed to the wind outside. Why don't you two help the old lady back to the car?"
Later, Song settled down here. Tian cleaned up an empty room on the west side for her. The maid packed two bags for her and brought several large boxes of cakes.
"Xiaoyao, do you remember what this is?"
She was holding a handful of cheese pastries. Xiaoyao had eaten them when she was a child, but she didn't remember it. She only remembered that Qiu Gu gave a handful to her family. Everyone ate a piece and it tasted great.
Ji Zhu and Xiao Yao were playing with the dove cart in the yard, and stopped when they heard the words.
“It’s a cheese puff pastry.”
Xiaoyao also made the same gesture, and also made another one:
“It’s delicious.”
"Xiaoyao, take this and share it with your sisters, okay?"
Song coaxed her, saying that Xiaoyao was not just greedy for the cheese pastry, but wanted to give this good thing to her family, but was afraid that it would be taken away, so she hesitated for a moment.
Song placed the box by the well.
"I'll stay away, you come and get it."
Because she was always gentle, Xiaoyao plucked up his courage, was wary of her and the two maids, approached carefully, took it, and immediately ran back to Jizhu.
I saw a box full of cheese puff pastry with almond shreds on top. It was as crisp as snow when I took a bite, exactly the same as what Qiu Gu had given me. I gestured happily:
"Good stuff, let's eat it!"
Jizhu was reluctant to eat at first. She vaguely knew that Xiaoyao was leaving. If she ate the lady's food, it would be like returning Xiaoyao to her. She was reluctant to do so. Xiaoyao found that the food in her hand no longer smelled good when she didn't eat it.
Tian and Ji Xu went to collect the belongings from the store and said:
"What a delicious cheese puff pastry. Who gave it to me?"
Xiaoyao pointed at Song who was looking at this side, and Tian taught:
"That lady is Xiaoyao's mother."
Xiaoyao pointed at Tian and gestured:
"You are my mother."
Tian was glad that Song didn't understand Xiaoyao's gestures, otherwise she would have felt bad. She explained to her:
"Little Yao crawled out of my mother's belly. It was that lady who carried you for ten months and gave birth to you. You are also her closest relative, but you were abducted by Madam Xiao and met my sisters."
"I was born by her? Why don't I remember?" Xiaoyao asked.
Tian knew what she meant and said, "You were still young at that time, and children don't remember things."
Tian explained her life story to her, ate a piece of the cheese pastry, and asked Jizhu to eat some too.
"This is a gift from the lady. Don't you usually like to eat these sweet things?"
"What's the matter with the lady or not?"
Seeing that Xiaoyao didn't hide, Song came a little closer and said,
"Call me aunt. My mother's family has no brothers or sisters, and Xiaoyao is my only daughter. She is an unrelated person. If you don't mind, why don't our two families become relatives?
The children call me aunt, and the youngest one has a mother now, so she doesn’t have to change her name. It’s her blessing.
I have also decided to change the Yao in Xiaoyao's name to her current Yao, and her full name in the family tree will be Yan Yao Niang. Thanks to meeting your family, she was able to turn misfortune into fortune, which shows that this is a good name."
Tian was also pleased to hear this and urged Feng and Zhu to call her aunt. Song smiled and agreed, saying:
"I'm not familiar with this place. Would you three like to take me for a walk around? Once I learn the route, I'll definitely come here often."
With Tian's persuasion, the child agreed to take her out. Tian and Ji Xu were busy preparing dinner at home. When guests came to the house, they had to entertain them well. Besides, the little one didn't have much time left to stay at home, so she wanted to make more of her favorite food and let her eat enough.
Feng and Zhu both went, so Xiaoyao had to follow.
"This is North Street in Jiaomen City. My family has a stall selling braised food in Jiaomen City."
Ji Feng pointed everywhere.
"Braised food?"
Song asked what it was, and heard that it was no wonder, "Your sister is very capable. She was able to buy a house around here. Take our place, for example. Those houses have been passed down for generations. They are the foundation of our ancestors. Your sister relied entirely on her own ability. You can see how difficult it was."
When Ji Feng heard her praising her sister, she treated her more kindly. They went shopping in the store, and Song bought them many delicious and fun things, such as candied haws, silk flowers, pottery figurines, and a leather ball stuffed with feathers.
This was something they had to save up their pocket money for a long time to buy. Feng and Zhu didn't dare to accept it for fear that Tian would say something.
Song said, "Don't be afraid. I like you kids and bought this for you to play with. Sister Tian is here so she won't say anything to you."
They collected it uneasily and went home. When they met Da Yak, he immediately saw the ball in Ji Feng's hand and said:
"This is great, it's sure to go far if you kick it! When can we play a game?"
I was so envious that I pulled Ji Feng aside and asked:
"Who is this? Treating you so well?"
Ji Feng's face lit up. She gave him a string of candied haws and said:
"She is Xiaoyao's biological mother. We regard her as our aunt."
When Jin came back from closing her stall and saw the children, she was extremely jealous. However, she was not jealous of the food and toys in the children's hands, but of Song, who was able to get her child back.
Perhaps it was because of the inseparable blood bond between mother and daughter that they were naturally close and easy to get along with. In addition, after playing for half a day, Xiaoyao was not as wary of Song as before. When Song used a towel to wipe the sugar stains from the corner of her mouth, she did not dodge.
Jin watched from the doorway and thought of Tiger Boy, feeling extremely melancholy. Sometimes she said she wanted to tear off the flesh of that thief Xiao and eat it, and sometimes she sighed and groaned. She lay on the kang with a headache and had no appetite for dinner.
The next morning, she was too lazy to set up the stall. Her daughter Ji Yuan said:
"I heard that the neighbor next door got married well. Now Erfeng and the others call Madam Song from Maoling Town "Auntie."
After hearing what happened next door, Jin Shi felt more energetic. She thought of Song Shi whom she had met yesterday, the carriage at the door, and her clothes, which were not like those of ordinary people. So she said:
"We're incredibly lucky! Who knew that dumb girl with lice all over her head was from Wuling? If we had known, we would have tried to coax her with two bean curd cakes. Wouldn't she have followed us wholeheartedly? Now that good relative from Maoling is ours, she might even be able to help us find Tiger Boy."
"Who says it's not? It's cheaper for the neighbors."
Ji Yuandao said that her husband Du Xian had always wanted to move to Maoling Town, but had no way to do so.
Wang'er was jealous of the food that Feng, Zhu and others in Qianmen were eating, so Jizhu gave her a piece of meat pie. He ate it and returned to his home in Houjiaomen.
Qiu Gu was sewing embroidery by the window. She was reluctant to even burn charcoal in the room. She was rubbing her hands together because of the cold. When she saw Wang'er coming back, she asked him to go and write.
Wang Er didn't want to write, so he started gossiping about the incident at Qianmen:
"Little One's biological mother has come, riding a tall horse and a carriage, and she's bought delicious food and fun things for Erfeng and the others."
Qiu Gu always said to him, "What others give, no matter how good it is, is limited. No man from Qianmen is destined to be an official. You must study hard. When your father-in-law returns from his business in Bashu, let him see your progress."
Wang'er had to pretend to read the book, thinking about the bamboo sword and clay cart his grandfather brought back from Bashu.
The Tian family in Qianmen lit a stove in the main room and had dinner at the table. Today they had guests, so Tian used two wooden tables to make a large dining table. The dishes on the table were all Tian's specialties, including steamed, fried, stewed, and horse-drawn wine. She asked the two maids to sit down and eat as well.
"There's still room. Don't be shy, you two. Sit down and eat together."
The two maids did not sit down, but served Song in the back, and Song also said that they were welcome.
Tian just sat down and called Xiaozhu to her side, leaving a seat next to Xiaoyao for Song so that the mother and daughter could be close to each other.
Noticing that Song was a vegetarian and didn't eat meat, her maid said:
"Our wife was unlucky to have children. We managed to raise our daughter until she was three years old, but she went out to watch the fun and was lost. We asked a fortune teller to come and do the divination. The fortune teller said, 'How could it be that our ancestors made a living by slaughtering livestock, and therefore committed excessive killing?' Therefore, our wife has been a vegetarian and praying to Buddha for three years."
Tian saw that Song was not in good health and even coughed a few times when exposed to the wind. She wanted to persuade her to take some tonic food, but after hearing the reason from the maid, she didn't dare to speak.
"Eat yourselves, don't be restrained because of me." Song Shi countered, "Even this vegetarian dish is better than the one made by the cook in my house."
Song stayed here for five days, accompanying them to the elementary school in the morning and evening, and keeping them company at all three meals. She was already able to play with Xiaoyao. Feng and Zhu also taught her what Xiaoyao's gestures meant, and she could understand a little bit.
That day, she accompanied Xiaoyao in playing twirl and asked:
"Xiaoyao, are you willing to go home and live with your aunt for a while?"
Xiaoyao started to address her as aunt, just like Feng and Zhu. Song was happy because at least Xiaoyao was willing to get close to her. With time, they would surely regain their mother-daughter relationship and slowly change her way of addressing her.
Xiaoyao gestured, "Is Xiaozhu going too?"
This time, Song brought her back to the Yan family. She had to meet the elders in various places, write her name in the family tree, and deal with some household chores. Therefore, Xiaoyao had to take a leave of absence from elementary school for a while. But she said that Xiaoyao didn't understand these things, so she coaxed her:
"Little Yao can stay here first. If he gets some goodies, like the dove cart, bronze bull, and all kinds of fruit, wouldn't it be nice to hide them away and then invite Little Zhu and the others to come and play?"
The coaxed little one was moved. Just thinking about it gave him a sense of accomplishment, like going out hunting, hunting a big wild boar, and carrying it back for his family to eat. So he nodded in agreement. When he left the next morning, he gestured to Jizhu:
"The Yan family has some good stuff. I'll keep it for you to come and we can play with it together."
Song said farewell to Tian and asked the maid to bring two boxes, saying:
"Here, there are 100 taels each. Sister Tian, please accept it."
Tian quickly said no, "I took her in because she was helpless and pitiful, a little girl of her age. Now you're asking for money? It would only hurt Xiaoyao's sincerity towards our family. I can't accept this money."
Song said, "This is not a thank you gift. If you hadn't brought Xiaoyao from Youzhou to Chang'an, I'm afraid we would never have met in this lifetime. Just for this one thing, if you really want to thank me, even if you move the Yan family's warehouse here, I still don't think it will be enough.
I've been here for a few days and haven't bought any decent gifts for my three children. Sister Tian took the money and either made them jewelry or used it for the family business. This will make our family's life better, and it also shows the care and concern of my aunt."
Speaking of business, Tian remembered that her daughter failed to borrow money and wanted to stockpile goods but did not have enough capital. She was worried about this at the moment, so she did not refuse, gritted her teeth, and accepted it with a thick face.
Seeing that she was no longer stubborn, Mrs. Song guessed that the family was short of the money. She had originally planned to hire an embroiderer to make clothes for them, but she couldn't do it due to time constraints, so she gave her cash instead. Now she felt that giving money was more practical and felt more at ease.
After chatting for a while, she took Xiaoyao back to Maoling Town. They accompanied each other all the way to the intersection of Beida Street, until the carriage went to Wei Bridge. Xiaoyao waved reluctantly from the car.
The mother and daughter stood there for a long time. When they returned home, they saw Jin standing at the door, looking around like a thief. Tian scolded her:
"Hey! What are you doing?"
I thought she was going to steal something while no one was at home, but I saw that Jin looked lonely and retracted her head.
Tian was about to retort her a few more times, but then she remembered her own son Ji Hu, who was also abducted by the thief Xiao and was left to wander outside. She was lucky for the time being and was spared any harm.
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