Tang Rubao raised her hand and lightly touched the little girl’s dirty face.
The dirt on the girl’s face was dry and caked, it wouldn’t come off at all.
Tang Rubao scooped the child up and rushed into the post office, shouting, “Comrade, do you have any water? Quickly, bring me some water!”
The post office staff, seeing her run in holding a little girl in a panic, assumed something had happened.
When she asked for water, two men quickly brought her their own cups.
“Thank you,” Tang Rubao said, trying to suppress her excitement, but her hands trembled uncontrollably as she took the water.
She squatted down, wet her palms and sleeves, and carefully wiped the dirt from the little girl’s face.
Soon, a familiar, sallow, yet youthful face appeared before her.
Tang Rubao stared in shock, her limbs going weak, and she collapsed to the ground.
The enamel mug in her hand clattered to the floor.
She stared in disbelief at the little girl standing in front of her.
It wasn’t just that they resembled each other, they were identical.
Her daughter, Anlai, had not even turned six when she died.
The girl before her looked about five or six years old.
Tang Rubao felt like she was dreaming, she had thought of her daughter last night, and now she was seeing her today.
It was too unreal.
She pinched her thigh hard.
Pain… it hurt a lot.
She closed her eyes and gently shook her head.
Opening them again, the little girl was still standing there.
Her wet bangs clung to her forehead, and her eyes shone as clearly and brightly as black pearls.
Tang Rubao’s own eyes welled with tears.
“Comrade, are you alright?” the man who had handed her the water asked, concern in his voice.
Tang Rubao snapped out of her daze, pointing at the little girl in front of her. She looked up at the man, “You know her, right?”
The man glanced at the girl, smiling. “She’s the little beggar on this street. She’s been here for three years.”
“A little beggar?” Tang Rubao’s eyes widened. She had been begging for food here three years ago? How old would she have been then?
The man looked at her. “Comrade, do you know her?”
Tang Rubao straightened. She gave a quick explanation, “She looks very much like my deceased niece, who passed away three years ago…”
The man noticed her agitated manner when she had hurriedly carried the little girl inside, it didn’t seem like an act. Perhaps this little girl really did resemble her niece.
He kindly suggested, “Kind neighbors usually give her food and clothes. She’s been homeless here for three years, and no one has adopted her. If your situation allows, maybe you could take her back and raise her as your niece?”
“No…” Tang Rubao shook her head, looking into the little girl’s eyes, now filling with tears.
God had given her a chance to be reborn and now a chance to make amends to her daughter.
How could she possibly raise a little girl as a niece?
Seeing no response, the man looked at the girl with pity.
It was a girl, after all. If it were a boy, she would have been adopted long ago.
Just as he was feeling sorry, Tang Rubao suddenly hugged her tightly, tears streaming down her face, her voice choked with sobs: “I… I want to raise her as my daughter…”
Evening.
The sun was setting, painting the sky in fiery clouds, the earth and sky like a brilliant oil painting.
Tang Rubao took the little girl to the sentry post to register.
She handed over the certificate from the police station. “I adopted a daughter named Anlai. This is a certificate issued by the Public Security Bureau.”
After registering, Tang Rubao took the little girl home.
She bathed her, washed her hair, and dressed her in the new clothes they had bought from the store.
The little girl, now tidy and clean, bore a faint resemblance to her.
Seeing the little girl’s clean face, Tang Rubao couldn’t help but cry again, turning her head to wipe her tears.
The little girl stood nervously in front of her. “Mom,” she said.
Tang Rubao, her eyes red, replied, “From now on, your name is Anlai, your mother’s precious daughter.”
Anlai nodded obediently. She liked the name, it meant “to return safely.”
Tang Rubao touched the little girl’s face, overwhelmed with emotion.
“Have you ever called anyone else ‘Mom’?” Tang Rubao asked.
Anlai shook her head. “No, they weren’t my mother.”
Tang Rubao was slightly surprised. “Then why do you call me Mom?”
Anlai said softly, “You are my mother. You always save me in my dreams. In my dreams, you are my mother.”
Tang Rubao’s eyes stung with tears. “Where are you from?”
Anlai shook her head. “I don’t know. I’ve been begging for food ever since I woke up.”
Tang Rubao asked, “What happened before you woke up?”
Anlai thought for a moment, then shook her head. “I don’t know.”
…
Tang Rubao stared at Anlai for a long time.
She gently stroked her little face and said tenderly, “Are you hungry? Mom will go make you some food.”
They ate at a state-run restaurant, but after walking back, they were hungry again.
“Mom, I want to eat noodles,” Anlai said, blinking.
“Okay, Mom will cook noodles for Anlai.” Tang Rubao went to the kitchen to make noodles and fry eggs.
She also picked some sweet potato leaves from the yard and stir-fried a whole plate.
Anlai seemed to have a good appetite, finishing half a large bowl of noodles, the poached egg, and plenty of sweet potato leaves.
“Mom, the noodles you cooked are delicious,” Anlai said, putting down her chopsticks and looking at Tang Rubao with admiration.
Tang Rubao’s throat tightened again. She felt like crying.
In her past life, her daughter had loved the food she cooked the most.
Whether stir-frying vegetables or making noodles, her daughter loved everything she made.
Every time her daughter saw her busy in the kitchen, she looked at her with admiration.
In her daughter’s eyes, her mother was like a god.
After falling ill, her daughter’s appetite declined, she could no longer eat much of what she cooked.
Tang Rubao felt tense, fearful, anxious…
Every night, she knelt and begged God to spare her daughter.
She would have given her own life in exchange for her daughter’s health and safety.
The day before her daughter passed away, the small, frail body lay in her arms. “Mom, I want to eat noodles.”
She cooked noodles for her daughter.
That was the most her daughter had eaten since falling ill.
After finishing, her daughter looked at her with the same admiring eyes she now saw in Anlai’s, saying, “Mom, the noodles you cooked are delicious. I want to keep eating them forever…”
“Mom will always cook noodles for you,” she said, tears streaming down her face as she touched her daughter’s thin, small face.
The next day, her daughter’s fragile body grew cold.
The eyes that closed never opened again.
She could no longer see her daughter…