The next day, news that the fourth son of the Xu family had a daughter spread throughout Fu’an Village.
It wasn’t that the villagers were particularly gossipy, but rather that the commotion at the Xu household the previous night had been too loud to ignore.
In the main house of Old Liu’s family, who lived closest to the Xus, Old Mrs. Liu was twisting hemp rope with her neighbor Old Mrs. Chen.
As they worked, they chatted about village gossip, eventually turning their conversation to the Xu family.
“Hey, did you hear? The fourth son’s wife gave birth yesterday—had a girl.”
With a strong twist of her hands, the hemp rope grew longer. Old Mrs. Liu smoothed the rope forward and turned to Old Mrs. Chen with a face full of schadenfreude.
Old Mrs. Chen curled her lips, equally disdainful.
“With all that racket yesterday, how could I not know! Xu Lao Nian’er even brought Doctor Ji to their home. Old Mrs. Xu really splurged—Doctor Ji’s fees aren’t cheap.”
The hemp rope lengthened another section as Old Mrs. Liu smoothed out the newly twisted portion.
“Well, that’s the only descendant their fourth son left behind. Of course Old Mrs. Xu would take it seriously! Otherwise, their fourth son’s line would die out!”
Pausing her work, Old Mrs. Chen snorted coldly.
“Hah, what good does taking it seriously do? She still ended up with a money-losing girl. If you ask me, their fourth son was cursed to death by this money-loser! Otherwise, why would Xu Sizhu fall off the cliff and die right after Li Shi got pregnant? And didn’t you hear those tigers and wolves howling yesterday? It was downright chilling. That little girl might be the Broom Star reincarnated!”
At this point, Old Mrs. Chen suddenly felt a chill down her spine.
Old Mrs. Liu, feeling similarly, rubbed her goosebump-covered arms. “Oh, stop talking about it! It’s too creepy!”
Neither old woman noticed that their conversation had been overheard by Old Mrs. Liu’s young grandson who had just run in from outside.
While the two were gossiping about Old Mrs. Xu, she was anxiously pacing around the room holding her newborn granddaughter.
“Mother, let—let me try again.”
Li Shi, with a cloth wrapped around her head and still pale-faced, reached out toward her mother-in-law, wanting to take back her daughter.
Glancing at Li Shi’s flat chest, Old Mrs. Xu sighed and didn’t hand over the baby.
“Never mind, if there’s no milk, there’s no milk. I’ll have your father ask around the village if anyone has a goat or cow that just gave birth, see if we can get some milk.”
Hearing this, Li Shi lowered her hand and hung her head.
It was all her fault for being so weak—she couldn’t even squeeze out a bowl of milk.
When Liu Shi entered with brown sugar water and heard her mother-in-law planned to buy milk for that worthless girl, she felt terrible.
What a precious girl! She actually needs bought milk to drink?
The baby only cried once after being born—who knows if she’ll even survive.
Even if she does survive, she’ll just be a money-loser in the future.
Spending all that money would be like throwing it into water—better to use it to buy good medicine for her own husband and Xu Er Zhu.
The two brothers had gotten their legs caught in the door crack yesterday when they went to fetch the doctor, terrified by the wild beasts gathered outside. One broke his left leg, the other his right.
Fortunately, Doctor Ji was there yesterday and set their bones properly, otherwise they might have been permanently disabled.
From the moment she was born, she caused her two uncles to break their legs—this little girl was definitely a jinx!
Thinking this, Liu Shi’s expression turned unpleasant as she watched the little girl nestled in Old Mrs. Xu’s arms.
As if sensing the hostile gaze, Jin Feng—who had been named Xu Tianbao by her grandmother—frowned slightly, her consciousness gradually awakening.
The most immediate sensation Jin Feng felt upon waking was hunger.
She was so hungry that she couldn’t help but want to open her mouth and wail.
It seemed that in the past, whenever she felt hungry, all she had to do was cry out like this, and someone would bring the freshest magical beast to her lips.
But who was it?
Her memories grew increasingly hazy, but the feeling of hunger became sharper and more intense.
Never having endured such distress before, the child let out a loud cry, kicking her little legs as she wept, expressing her discontent.
The sudden wail from the little milk dumpling startled Old Mrs. Xu, who was holding her, making her tremble and nearly drop the baby.
Even Liu Shi was shocked by the robust cry, exclaiming, “Oh, mother!”
No one had expected the little milk dumpling, who had been so quiet since birth—almost as if she might stop breathing at any moment—to cry with such vigor.
Snapping back to her senses, Old Mrs. Xu felt both heartache and relief upon hearing her precious granddaughter’s cries, and she broke into a smile.
She had feared the little girl wouldn’t survive, given how silent she had been, but now she was crying with such strength.
The kicks from those little legs against her arm even stung a bit.
There was no doubt about it—the little girl was crying like this because she was hungry.
Li Shi, sitting on the kang, craned her neck to look into Old Mrs. Xu’s arms, her anxiety bringing tears to her eyes.
“Mother, Tianbao is so hungry. Why don’t you hand her to me and let me try again?”
The little milk dumpling’s incessant crying pained Old Mrs. Xu deeply.
With no other options, she could only let her fourth daughter-in-law try once more.
Just as Old Mrs. Xu was about to place the little milk dumpling into Li Shi’s arms for another attempt, Zhao Shi walked in cheerfully from outside, carrying a large bowl.
“Mother, Fourth Sister-in-law, I’ve brought milk! We have milk now!”
The rich, non-gamey scent of milk filled the room as Zhao Shi entered, making even the adults salivate with its delicious aroma.
Overjoyed, Old Mrs. Xu quickly took the little milk dumpling back from Li Shi, sat on the kang, and accepted the bowl of milk from Zhao Shi.
The bowl was still slightly warm to the touch—the milk had clearly been heated. Old Mrs. Xu glanced at Zhao Shi and nodded in approval.
Although her second daughter-in-law was usually a bit lazy, she could be quite clever when it counted.
The large bowl was too big for the little milk dumpling, so Old Mrs. Xu had to feed her carefully with a small spoon.
But the hungry little one, smelling the delicious aroma, had no patience for such slow, measured sips.
Driven by the enticing scent wafting into her nostrils, the little milk dumpling grew impatient and suddenly opened her eyes.
Even with her eyes closed, the little milk dumpling was utterly adorable. But now, with her big, dark eyes wide open, full of longing, her cuteness multiplied exponentially.
Staring into her granddaughter’s bright, dark eyes, Old Mrs. Xu was completely stunned.
So beautiful! How could there be such a beautiful child in the world?
Lost in admiration of her little granddaughter’s beauty, Old Mrs. Xu completely failed to notice that the chubby baby had already stretched her short arms and legs out from under the small quilt, using all four limbs to clutch the large bowl she was holding.
With a strong kick of her short legs, the bowl tilted, and the milk flowed right into the baby’s mouth.
Gulp, gulp… gulp, gulp…
Amid the sound of the baby vigorously drinking milk, Old Mrs. Xu finally snapped out of her reverie.
Looking again, she saw that the entire bowl of milk had been finished by the little one.
Oh my goodness! Such a big bowl, and her little granddaughter had drunk it all!
Quickly setting the bowl down, Old Mrs. Xu picked up her granddaughter and gently patted her back to help her burp.
Her little granddaughter was so strong even when drinking milk—she was sure to grow up healthy and robust.
Thinking this, Old Mrs. Xu couldn’t help but smile, but as she turned her head, her smile froze on her face.
“Liu Shi, are you a hungry ghost reincarnated? Stealing milk from a child!”
Old Mrs. Xu’s sharp shout startled Liu Shi, who was licking the milk bowl, causing her to knock her teeth against the rim.
Hastily checking the bowl to make sure she hadn’t chipped it, Liu Shi breathed a sigh of relief.
Seeing her mother-in-law’s stern expression, Liu Shi grinned sheepishly.
“Mother, I didn’t want to waste it.”
Old Mrs. Xu was furious at Liu Shi’s cheeky grin.
Just as she was about to scold her again, the baby in her arms smacked her lips twice.
Looking down, she saw that the well-fed little one had closed her eyes and fallen back asleep.
Afraid of waking her granddaughter, Old Mrs. Xu swallowed her anger and simply glared at Liu Shi, ordering her to go wash the bowl and stop being an eyesore.
Scolded and assigned a chore, Liu Shi felt a bit wronged, but the lingering sweet taste of milk in her mouth quickly lifted her spirits.
Washing the bowl was no big deal—she hadn’t licked it clean anyway. The milk was so fragrant and sweet; maybe rinsing it with water would leave a little flavor behind.
Old Mrs. Xu saw right through her daughter-in-law’s petty thoughts but usually turned a blind eye out of gratitude for Liu Shi giving the Xu family their only grandson.
After Liu Shi left the room, Li Shi moved closer to Old Mrs. Xu.
Gently tapping the baby’s chubby cheek with her finger, Li Shi finally managed a small smile.
“This is wonderful. Our Tianbao finally has milk to drink.”
Hearing this, Old Mrs. Xu remembered something and turned to her second daughter-in-law, who had been quietly standing by.
“Second daughter-in-law, what kind of milk is this? Where did it come from?”