In the afternoon, Xiaohan saw a nun in her thirties walking on the street and thought to herself, "There's a nunnery here, so it must be not far from here. My life is going to be like this, so why don't I become a nun? If I become a nun, I can at least have a bowl of rice to eat every day."
When a person is desperate, they will take any path. She can't go to her father's house, and now that her grandparents are gone, what good will going back to her hometown do? Nobody will care about her. In the end, she decided to become a nun in a temple. There are many nuns, so what difference does it make if she is alone?
Xiaohan caught up with the nun and asked her for directions to the nunnery, then boarded a bus to the mountains.
The place where we got off the bus was quite far from the nunnery, and we weren't familiar with the roads, so we didn't get to the nunnery until after dark.
That evening, Su Wei and Li Yuzhu witnessed the scene of her going to the nunnery to become a nun.
Li Yuzhu and Su Wei couldn't help but shed tears for Xiaohan's fate after hearing this. She said, "Xiaohan, your grandparents are gone now, and you have nowhere to go back home. Would you like to go back to your father's house? If so, I'll take you to the city tomorrow and call a taxi to take you directly to your doorstep."
Xiaohan's current situation leaves her with no choice but to seek refuge with her heartless father and stepmother; she truly has nowhere else to go.
After hearing this, Xiaohan said with tears in her eyes, "Should I go back and let my father and stepmother sell me again? If they sell me again, my life will be over. I've already lost hope in life. I've decided to become a nun tomorrow with that girl. You really don't need to persuade me anymore. Becoming a nun is the only path I can take now."
Li Yuzhu felt a pang of sadness upon hearing this. After considering it for a long time, she said, "Xiaohan, you're only nineteen years old. You can't waste your life in a temple. Fine, I have two daughters, one more won't make a difference. Would you be willing to be my daughter?"
Li Yuzhu couldn't bear to see the girl wallowing in self-pity. She deserved to have a good family and a better educational environment, just like everyone else.
However, when she was ten years old, her father took everything away from her. For his own selfish desires, her father took her mother's life.
Her mother was only 28 years old when she jumped off a cliff and committed suicide. She was later sold by her father and stepmother and almost died at the hands of her husband in the past three years. She is lucky to be alive today.
Li Yuzhu really couldn't bear to see such a pitiful girl become a nun, and she had to take her in no matter what.
Many nuns become nuns voluntarily, but she did not. She was forced into it by life and fate. If Li Yuzhu did not help her, her life would be truly over.
Li Yuzhu is thirty-six years old this year, seventeen years older than Xiaohan, so it's understandable that she's Xiaohan's mother.
Xiaohan is now homeless, and Li Yuzhu really couldn't bear to see her fall into such a state of depravity, so she finally decided to take her in as her daughter.
She didn't do this on a whim; she felt she should take in a homeless girl, especially since she and her husband were capable of raising her.
Xiaohan knelt on the ground, tears streaming down her face, and said, "Auntie, I was forced to have a child for someone. Don't you find me disgusting?"
With tears in her eyes, Li Yuzhu said, "Your situation has nothing to do with swear words. You are a victim. As long as you are willing to acknowledge me as your mother, I will accept you as my daughter."
Xiaohan knelt on the ground, tears streaming down her face, and cried out, "Mom, from now on, I'm your biological daughter."
Li Yuzhu pulled Xiaohan up from the ground and said, "I'll take you in as my daughter. From now on, you'll take your father's surname. Your younger brother is named Dongyusheng, your eldest sister is named Dongyurou, and your second sister is named Dongyumeng. How about you change your name to Dongyuhan?"
"I'll do whatever Mom says. From now on, my name will be Dong Yuhan."
Li Yuzhu said, "Yuhan, quickly greet your Aunt Su Wei."
The generational relationship between Li Yuzhu and Su Wei is a bit messed up. She and her husband call Su Wei "sister-in-law," but they make their three children call her "aunt." This is because before Su Wei and Chen Hong got married, Li Yuzhu's son called Su Wei "aunt," and later her two daughters followed suit.
Su Wei took out 10,000 yuan from her bag and handed it to Dong Yuhan, saying, "Yuhan, I can't let you call me 'Auntie' for nothing. Here, take this money."
Dong Yuhan was hesitant to accept the gift, but Li Yuzhu said, "You'll be my and Dong Qing's daughter from now on, so she should give you a gift. Please accept it."
Dong Yuhan thanked her and accepted the money, then handed it to Li Yuzhu, saying, "Mom, I don't know where to put so much money, please keep it for me."
Li Yuzhu smiled and said nothing, taking the money and putting it into her bag.
The only presentable item for Dong Yuhan was a pair of high heels given to her by the nurse. Her clothes were too tattered. Li Yuzhu went out of the room and found the abbess of the nunnery. She asked her to have a nun boil a large pot of water in the bathroom, carry it to the bathroom, pour it into a large bathtub, and let her daughter Dong Yuhan jump into the tub for a hot bath.
Li Yuzhu went back to her room, found a set of her own clothes in her suitcase, and also found a set of underwear that she had never worn. After taking a shower, she had her daughter change into them.
After taking a shower, Li Yuzhu combed her daughter's hair and then tied her long hair back with a hair tie.
After all that fuss, it was already past 10 p.m. When the mother and daughter returned to their room, Su Wei was already asleep. Li Yuzhu told her daughter to lie down and go to sleep, and then she lay down on another bed.
The next morning, after washing up, the nun brought breakfast.
Breakfast here is simpler: a bowl of porridge, two steamed buns, and pickled vegetables for each person. Li Yuzhu smiled and said, "Girl, haven't you always been thinking about losing weight? You eat by yourself. I'm taking my daughter out to eat."
Su Wei smiled and said, "Okay, you take your daughter out for a nice meal, I'll just stay here and eat my diet food."
Li Yuzhu had the nun take two breakfasts back with her.
Li Yuzhu slung her handbag over her shoulder, said "See you later" to Su Wei, and led her daughter out of the room toward the entrance of the nunnery.
The restaurants outside cater to tourists from all over the world, offering all kinds of food. The food is unrestricted, with chicken, duck, fish, and meat available for everyone to eat.
Li Yuzhu led Dong Yuhan into a mutton restaurant and ordered two bowls of mutton soup. Dong Yuhan put twice as much mutton in her bowl and also ordered two baked buns.
Dong Yuhan had never tasted such delicious mutton soup in the mountains. After eating steamed buns for two days in a row, she was already feeling hungry, and she finished the bowl of soup in no time.
Li Yuzhu ordered her another bowl of mutton soup, saying, "I asked the chef to put in extra meat, and we won't eat the flatbread, we'll just drink the soup."
Dong Yuhan said shyly, "I'm sorry to have made Mom laugh."
Li Yuzhu smiled and said, "Call me Mom and you're my daughter. Have you ever heard of a mother who laughs at her daughter?"
After hearing this, Dong Yuhan smiled, shook her head, and lowered her head to continue eating.
After finishing their meal, the mother and daughter returned to the temple and walked with Su Wei towards the main hall in the front courtyard.
Today is the day we ordained the girl from last night.
Having just completed the pre-ordination ceremony, the girl sat on a stool while the nun untied her braids and cut them off from the roots with scissors, quickly shaving off all her beautiful hair.
Then she washed her hair with hot water, and the nun shaved her hair off at the roots with a razor. In no time, the girl with a full head of beautiful hair became a bald nun. From then on, she might spend her whole life here. If she didn't leave this place and go out into secular life, she would never be able to grow her hair back.
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