Lin Xiao nodded, moved, and pretended to eat while holding the bowl. If you looked closely, you could see his tears falling into the bowl drop by drop.
Although they weren't his relatives, their actions were even more touching than those of family. After thinking for a while, he pushed the bowl aside, knelt on the ground, and kowtowed three more times.
Jiang's mother quickly tried to pull him up: "Child, what are you doing? Come on, get up."
"No, Auntie, I remember all the kindness you've shown Lin Xiao. I have nothing now and can't repay you..."
Jiang's mother said softly, "We're helping you not so that you'll repay us in any way."
"Auntie, listen to me. I've thought about this for a long time. I love your family, I love the warmth between you all. I may have nothing now, but I will work hard. Nobody knows what the future holds."
Today I want to recognize you as my godparents. I hope you will accept me. I promise to be filial to you and take good care of Er Ya in the future.
Jiang's mother looked at Lin Jianguo and saw him nod. She quickly pulled Lin Xiao up and said, "Get up, child. In your aunt's heart, I've always treated you like my own child."
Er Ya clapped her hands happily and said, "Great! From now on, I'll have to call him 'brother'! I'll have a real brother now, hehehe."
Jiang's mother looked at her daughter's happy face with amusement and said cheerfully, "Tonight, I'll cook some good dishes and invite your Aunt Peach Blossom over. We'll have a proper family reunion banquet."
"Yay, yay, that's great! Brother, let's eat quickly. We'll go up the mountain later and see if we can find anything good to add to our family reunion feast today."
Lin Jianguo chuckled and said, "Okay, let's get a pound of wine later and invite my dad and older brother over for a good drink tonight."
When Jiang's mother heard that they were going to call the people from the old house, her face fell: "Why call them? Things have already gotten so tense, why bother getting them together again?"
Lin Jianguo said with a forced smile, "I'm just happy. Besides, I need to let my parents know about this godson thing."
“I don’t care, I don’t want them to come and take advantage of me. You can be close to them if you want, but don’t drag me and Er Ya into it.”
Lin Jianguo said somewhat angrily, "You know, those are my parents after all. Would you be happy if I didn't let you associate with them?"
Mentioning this made Jiang's mother angry, and her voice rose eight octaves: "What's wrong with my parents? Have they been unkind to you, their son-in-law? Look at how your mother treats me."
Seeing that her parents were about to start arguing, Er Ya quickly ran forward, linking arms with each of them: "Alright, Mom and Dad, we just got to know my brother today, isn't this a good day? Why are you getting so worked up?"
He said to Lin Jianguo, "Dad, I have to criticize you. My grandparents are such good people. You can't talk to them when you two are arguing. Do you think my mother won't get angry with you?"
Lin Jianguo realized he had said the wrong thing and said softly, "I'm sorry, I just spoke in the heat of the moment, that's not what I really meant."
Er Ya continued to say to Jiang's mother, "Mother, you are also wrong. No matter how the people in the old house treat us, as Father said, they are still his own parents, so it is not wrong for Father to want to be filial."
"What? You really want them to come over for dinner?"
Er Ya said mischievously, "Dad and Mom, we can do this: after we prepare the food, we can take some to the old house, right? If Dad wants to eat in the old house, let him eat there. We won't interfere with their family reunion."
She manages to offend neither side; she's truly an ordinary little genius.
Having resolved the minor family conflict, and seeing the couple peacefully packing their things again, Er Ya sighed helplessly.
"Hey, my brother and I aren't going to eat dog food here anymore. Brother, let's go. Nothing can stop us from making money. We single dogs should turn our grief into strength and make more money."
This child is talking nonsense again, spouting all sorts of dog-related things. I don't know what's going on in that little head of his all day.
Er Ya didn't care what they were saying about her. She and Lin Xiao carried baskets and headed up the mountain.
Right now, everyone in the village was eating, gossiping about recent events as they ate. Just as they were getting into their conversation, they looked up and saw the main character of the story walking this way. They quickly nudged the person who was talking so enthusiastically and gestured with their mouths to signal that the person was coming over.
Er Ya looked around, confused, as everyone stared at her. She touched her face, wondering if there was something on it. Nothing seemed to have happened in her family recently.
A woman carrying a bowl walked towards them and tentatively asked, "Lin Xiao, does your father really not want you anymore?"
Oh, so that's what happened. She thought those people from the old house were causing trouble again.
Er Ya smiled and said to the woman, "Auntie, you're quite well-informed! My brother has separated from his father."
"Oh dear, those Lin Shitou and his wife are really awful. How old is their child? They are so heartless."
"Yes, I didn't believe it when they first said it, but I didn't expect it to be true."
"Poor child, what will become of you?"
Seeing Lin Xiao's face darken, Er Ya patted his hand reassuringly and said to the group of people who were ostensibly concerned about Lin Xiao but were actually just there to watch the show:
“I know my brother Lin Xiao is pitiful. That’s why we let him eat at our house today. But we’re not rich either. After this meal, we don’t know where our next meal will come from. I wonder if you aunties and grandmas could let Lin Xiao eat at your house tomorrow or the day after?”
Upon hearing Er Ya's words, the woman, who had been wiping away tears as she spoke, immediately stopped crying and quickly said, "I heard my child calling me. You can talk here; I have to go home."
Er Ya looked at the remaining people and saw them awkwardly saying, "These days, nobody's rich. I'm worried about what to eat for dinner. I need to hurry up and sort through the food for tonight."
"Who can argue with that? Sigh, this world is like this."
The crowd dispersed quickly, and Er Ya chuckled and said, "Alright, brother, now we can finally have some peace and quiet."
Lin Xiao nodded affectionately at her head: "Why did you scare them like that? They didn't mean any harm."
"Hehehe, I just didn't want you to be sad. Alright, let's hurry up and go. Let's do our best today and dig up all the medicinal herbs we found this morning."
"Okay, take a rest if you're tired."
To be continued!
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