Tai Yonglu and Tai Yongyue were still reluctant to leave—they had finally gotten out, and they still wanted to catch rabbits and pheasants.
But Tai Yongan, being older and more sensible, noticed their father's grim expression and tugged his younger brothers along to follow their father's footsteps…
The menfolk hadn't gone into the mountains entirely in vain—at least they'd found a few frozen bird eggs.
So the moment they entered the village, Tai Yonglu and Tai Yongyue sprinted home in excitement.
As it happened, they ran straight into Old Master Tai and Tai Jizong coming to find them.
Tai Yonglu shouted happily, "Grandpa, Grandpa, we found bird eggs! We'll steam some egg custard for little sister!"
Old Master Tai waved his hand and directly called to his eldest son, "Hurry home. Not long after you left, Zhuzhu started crying nonstop, calling for her father."
Tai Jizu's heart ached terribly. Without a word, he ran home.
The others followed close behind, not missing a step.
Sure enough, the moment they entered the courtyard, Zhuzhu's cries came drifting out.
"Zhuzhu, Daddy's back!" Tai Jizu strode into the house and saw his daughter crying so hard her little face was bright red, with glistening teardrops clinging to her eyelashes. His heart ached as he held out his hands helplessly, not knowing what to do.
Yang Lihua was carrying her daughter around the room, unable to soothe her no matter what. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw her husband return.
"After you left, I was teaching Zhuzhu to talk. She's smart—she was saying 'Daddy' perfectly clearly. Then, out of nowhere, she suddenly burst into loud crying. It scared me to death!"
As she spoke, Zhuzhu was already straining her chubby little body, reaching out her small hands desperately toward her father.
Tai Jizu quickly patted the cold air off himself, then carefully took the soft little milk bun into his arms.
"Zhuzhu, did you miss Daddy? Daddy's back. I brought you bird eggs—how about some egg custard for lunch?"
Zhuzhu didn't say a word. She reached out her little hand and touched the back of her father's head.
Just now, while playing with her mother, she'd suddenly felt sleepy and wanted to nap. As she was dozing off, she "saw" a picture!
She saw her father's head covered in blood, falling from a tree, dead.
Mom was crying, Grandpa was crying, her brothers were crying!
Wah wah, so scary!
She didn't want Daddy to die!
"Daddy!" The more she thought about it, the more frightened she became. Zhuzhu opened her little mouth and started crying again, her two chubby hands tightly covering the back of her father's head, refusing to let go.
Yang Lihua's heart ached, and seeing her husband's face being covered by their daughter, she moved to take the child back.
But Zhuzhu absolutely wouldn't let go. Like a squirrel clutching a hazelnut, she cried even harder.
She didn't want Daddy to bleed!
She had to protect Daddy!
The black aura on Daddy's head had grown again, wah wah!
Old Master Tai came in afterward and firmly closed the door to keep the cold wind out. When he looked up and saw this scene, he was baffled.
Zhuzhu had been simple since birth, but she'd always been obedient and well-behaved. This was the first time she'd thrown a tantrum.
As for Tai Jizu, with his daughter in his arms and the back of his head covered tightly, he inexplicably thought of the tree branch that had suddenly snapped earlier.
If he hadn't leaned forward, what would have snapped wouldn't have been the branch, but… the back of his head!
The elders always said that children's eyes and hearts were especially pure, and they could see bad things—especially disasters.
Could it be that his daughter, after hitting her head this time, hadn't just regained her senses, but had also gained some miraculous ability?
Just as he was hesitating, Tai Yonglu opened the cloth bag to show his sister something novel.
"Sister, look! So many bird eggs! They're frozen solid. Want me to give you two to play with?"
Zhuzhu was sobbing with hiccups when she suddenly caught sight of the mottled bird eggs and froze.
Yang Lihua seized the opportunity to take her daughter back, finally freeing her husband.
"Zhuzhu, come on, let's go play with the bird eggs on the kang in the west room. If we warm them up, maybe they'll even hatch into little birds."
Zhuzhu looked at the eggs, then at her father, her chubby little face full of conflict.
Daddy didn't seem to be bleeding. Did that mean he wouldn't die?
Then… could she play with the eggs for a bit and then come check on Daddy?
Just for a little while…
And so, Zhuzhu was carried into the west room, with Tai Yonglu and Tai Yongyue following to show off their treasure.
Tai Yongan went to help his second uncle chop wood—soon his second aunt would need to light the stove to steam the egg custard.
Eggs frozen all winter couldn't possibly hatch into birds. They were definitely destined for someone's stomach!
Seeing his father nearby, Tai Jizu pulled him into the east room.
"Dad, something happened when we went up the mountain just now."
Old Master Tai was startled and carefully looked his son over. Seeing several bloody welts on his neck, he asked, "Did you fall?"
Tai Jizu nodded. "I climbed a tree to get bird eggs. Something seemed to fly at me suddenly and snapped the branch. I fell off the cliff. Luckily, I got caught by small trees twice on the way down, and then landed on some hazel bushes, so I wasn't hurt."
He instinctively touched the back of his head and added, "I keep feeling like… that thing was aimed at my head."
Old Master Tai's expression changed. Clutching his brass tobacco pipe, the veins on the back of his hand bulging, he asked in a low voice.
"Who else knows about this?"
Tai Jizu quickly shook his head. "Don't worry, Father. I felt something was off, so I brought the boys back. But just now, Zhuzhu kept shielding the back of my head, as if she was very scared…"
The Old Master was taken aback for a moment, then his eyes gradually brightened.
He hadn't noticed it before, but now that his son mentioned it, it did seem like his granddaughter was acting a bit unusual.
The Old Master stood up and paced around the room a couple of times. Finally, he instructed his eldest son, "You can talk about this with your wife. From now on, keep an eye out to see if Zhuzhu shows any signs of being off. But don't mention it to anyone else—we don't want rumors spreading. Zhuzhu is a little girl, and her reputation matters."
"I understand, Father. I was just making wild guesses anyway!" Tai Jizu said with a simple, honest smile. "Zhuzhu woke up and can speak now—that's more than enough for me. I won't be greedy for anything else!"
The father and son exchanged a few more words before heading out the door, each going about their own business.
The twenty-some bird eggs they'd found in the mountains didn't even equal four chicken eggs in total, but they still brought the family great joy.
One was set aside for Zhuzhu to play with, while the rest were carefully stored away by Liu Dongniang.
At lunchtime, half a bowl of egg custard was placed in front of Zhuzhu again—golden, soft, and fragrant.
After crying for so long, Zhuzhu's little belly had long been rumbling with hunger.
This time, she held her little wooden spoon herself and clumsily scooped up some custard.
The family all expected her to eat it up greedily, but to their surprise, she brought the first spoonful to her grandfather's lips.
"Ah, eat!"
The Old Master was overjoyed, the corners of his eyes faintly reddening.
Though his granddaughter still couldn't clearly call him "Grandfather," it was only a matter of time and practice.
Such a filial and obedient granddaughter—she truly warmed his heart to the core.
He lowered his head, pretending to take a big bite, then smacked his lips and pushed the spoon back.
"Delicious! Thank you, Zhuzhu. You go ahead and eat!"
Pleased with the praise, Zhuzhu giggled, her little head bobbing from side to side, then offered the spoon to her father, her mother…
Of course, no one could bear to actually eat it either, so they all followed the Old Master's example.
And so, one spoonful of egg custard was "tasted" by the whole family without diminishing a bit, until it finally ended up in Zhuzhu's mouth.
The chubby little girl ate happily, her big eyes curving into joyful crescents. Whenever her little hands weren't steady enough and the spoon tilted, spilling a bit of custard, she would pick it up and pop it back into her mouth.
Watching her, the whole family felt full even without eating!
After the meal, just as the table was being cleared, a sudden knock came at the courtyard gate.