Xiao Qiao followed Tao Wan's mother into the carriage. She watched as Tao Wan's mother and her younger brother stared at each other with a threatening and intimidating look, but this did nothing to stop her brother from crying uncontrollably.
"Mother, let me do it," Xiao Qiao'er said, unable to bear it any longer.
Tao Wan's mother simply put the child in the carriage and let the child sit there and cry.
"You brat!" Tao Wan's mother gritted her teeth. "If this were my child, I would have already taken action."
"Mother, if, I mean if... no one really wants her anymore, can you take care of her? I don't want her to go to an orphanage." Little Qiao'er had been thinking about this the whole way, and finally couldn't help but ask.
"Mother, I know I'm still young and don't have the ability to raise him, so I can only beg you." Xiao Qiao'er looked at Tao Wan's mother and spoke sincerely. "I... I'll eat less and make fewer clothes. Mother, when I grow up, I'll earn money to pay you back."
Tao Wanniang looked at Xiao Qiao'er's expectant eyes and felt a little helpless.
“But Xiao Qiao’er, he already recognizes his mother. If we’re separated, he might cry for quite a while,” Tao Wan’s mother said. “No matter how good you are to him, he will always side with his own mother.”
“Of course, children forget things quickly, and he’s still young. He’ll be close to whoever treats him well in the future,” Tao Wanniang said truthfully. “But what about his status? You’re my goddaughter, and I don’t want to take in another godson, especially since he’s not close to me.”
"I..." Little Qiao'er couldn't think that far ahead. In the Tao family, everyone called her the eldest daughter. If her younger brother came... "Mother, I don't know what to say."
"I don't know either, this is quite troublesome. Let's go see the child's mother first!" Tao Wanniang said helplessly.
The child was probably exhausted from crying; he sat on the carriage floor, sobbing intermittently, his head drooping as he dozed off.
Tao Wan's mother simply let him lie down; there was a blanket laid out in the carriage.
Soon, Zhang Liang drove his carriage to Zhang Xinlan's house. He got off the carriage and knocked on the door, but there was no sound from inside.
"Are you looking for someone? You're too late. The whole family moved out early this morning. I heard the house has already been sold," a neighbor said, coming out after hearing the noise.
"They moved? Where did they move to?" Zhang Liang was taken aback; he hadn't heard anything about it before.
"I don't know. There's always trouble around a widow's door, especially a young, beautiful, and wealthy one," a neighbor remarked. "She's got a high temper and doesn't associate with us neighbors."
Zhang Liang couldn't get anything out of her, so he could only return to the carriage and tell Tao Wanniang.
"I heard everything. What a clever plan! She's determined not to have the child." Tao Wan's mother sneered. What a heartless mother! "We can't find her. Let's go back."
Tao Wan's mother was at her wit's end; she really couldn't just abandon such a little thing to an orphanage!
"Mom, please set up a small bed in my room. I'll take care of him from now on," Xiao Qiao'er said on the way back.
“No, you’re still a child yourself,” Tao Wan’s mother refused firmly. “Find a younger woman to take care of him.” Tao Wan’s mother continued, “Little Qiao’er, to tell you the truth, I don’t like him. His own mother schemed against my second son’s family, and his father…”
"Forget it, let's leave your father's matter behind, but I don't want to be this brat's mother."
Xiao Qiao looked at Tao Wan Niang and asked hesitantly, "Then what should I do?"
"I will raise him in the East Courtyard. I will not skimp on his food, clothing, or other necessities. When he reaches the age for enlightenment, I will also let him receive his education. But, Xiao Qiao'er, I hope you will wait until you are eighteen before telling him about your relationship!"
Tao Wan's mother had already considered it in her mind. This child was only a little over a year old. It would be a long time before he started learning and became sensible!
"Or, if you can become independent early on and support your own family and career, you can tell him about your relationship sooner." Tao Wanniang gave Xiao Qiao'er a choice.
"Mother, can you tell me why?" Xiao Qiao'er asked sadly. "I feel a little uneasy."
“First, not everyone has a broad mind, and your mother doesn’t,” Tao Wan’s mother said truthfully. “Second, his misfortune was caused by his parents, not by you or me.”
“I know you’re feeling bad. You’ve become the daughter of the family, but your younger brother hasn’t enjoyed the same wealth and luxury. But at least he has a place to shelter from the wind and rain now. Qiao’er, you are kind and soft-hearted, but I hope that in the future you will think more about yourself.”
Little Qiao'er understood Tao Wan's mother's words. Although she didn't quite agree, she still nodded. "Mother, I understand."
“You don’t need to put too much pressure on yourself. Just study hard with Master Shen.” Tao Wanniang softened her voice and said patiently, “This child is still young. Look at Rui’er and Xiao Feng. Aren’t they also eating and playing every day? He lived like this before he started his education. In our family, no one looks down on anyone or anyone is more noble than anyone else, right?”
Xiao Qiao thought for a moment and nodded. Indeed, that was the case at home.
"So, as long as you don't overthink it, this little thing won't overthink it either," Tao Wan's mother comforted Xiao Qiao'er. "Just accept whatever your mother gives you without worry, Xiao Qiao'er, you are my daughter!"
Xiao Qiao'er was somewhat comforted, and looking at her younger brother who was still frowning even in his sleep, she sighed.
With a new child in the family, Tao Wan's mother asked Zhang Liang to find a woman who could take care of the child. Before that, she would have to trouble Gao Cui's mother to take a look.
"Master, what's the child's name?" Gao Cui's mother tidied up a room in the east courtyard for the child and the child's future wet nurse.
"Liang Dabao, it wasn't mentioned in the letter. Anyway, his surname is Liang, so let's just call him Dabao!" Tao Wanniang said perfunctorily. "This chubby little guy, his family must have fed him a lot of good food before!"
“Master, you are a good person,” Gao Cuiniang said sincerely. “This child’s parents had a grudge against you, yet you still took him in.”
"No, I just don't want to be a bad person. Coincidentally, I have the means to do some good deeds," Tao Wanniang said with a smile. Raising so many children was not difficult for her at all.
The capital city was crowded, so Zhang Liang quickly found a young woman named Yang Cuihua. She was from the countryside on the outskirts of the city and had been divorced by her husband's family because she had lost her child. She was now selling herself into slavery on the streets.
“Sister Tao, I’ve asked around. She’s a pretty honest and kind person, and she takes good care of the children,” Zhang Liang said.
Tao Wanniang gesturing for Yang Cuihua to come closer, looked her up and down, and finally said, "I have a child here who is a little over a year old. He is the son of an old friend of mine. His father is gone, and his mother remarried, so he is being raised by me. Can you take care of him?
Yang Cuihua nodded. Her tattered cotton-padded clothes looked hollow, and she was quite cold.
"Master, I can do it. I'll take care of her like my own child. As long as you take me in, I'll work hard." Yang Cuihua's chapped lips were bleeding as she looked at Tao Wanniang with a mixture of restraint and expectation.
"Cui Niang, let's have this person take care of for a few days," Tao Wan Niang said to Gao Cui Niang. She asked Zhang Liang to find someone, someone who could do the work, from the slave trader. It seemed that Zhang Liang had picked this person up on the street.
Gao Cuiniang agreed and asked Yang Cuihua to explain the matter, but she was also trying to find out about this person for Tao Wanniang. After all, the Tao family is now very powerful and wealthy, and who knows if someone might have ill intentions?
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