Weisheng He paused.
“Mother, you should understand. If Madam Jia hadn’t spoken up for me at the funeral, I’m afraid I would already have…”
Her mother immediately turned serious.
“Don’t worry. I’ll personally place this medicine into Madam Jia’s hands. I won’t let anyone else touch it.”
Only then did Weisheng He relax.
“Take the two children with you as well.
“I saw it clearly at the funeral. Madam Jia was willing to help me entirely for the children’s sake. If you bring the twins with you, seeing them might lift her spirits a little. That can only be good for her condition.”
Her mother nodded solemnly.
“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure everything is handled properly!”
Just then, the twins came pattering over.
“Grandmother, are we leaving?”
“Yes. We’re leaving right now!”
At the Lin residence, Jia Min lay in bed.
Her complexion was sallow, her eye sockets sunken, and her entire body had wasted away until she was little more than skin and bones. A noblewoman from a prestigious household now looked no different from a refugee outside the city.
It was painful to look at.
She had gone three days without eating rice or wheat-based food.
Lin Daiyu leaned against the bedside, her small hands tightly clutching her mother’s fingers as tears streamed silently down her face.
“Why are you crying?” Jia Min’s voice was very soft, as though drifting in from somewhere far away. “Mother is fine. I’ll be better in a few days.”
Lin Daiyu shook her head without speaking.
She knew her mother was lying to her.
She was already six years old, no longer a little child who understood nothing.
A maid entered to report.
“Madam, Madam Weisheng’s mother has brought the Li family’s eldest young master and eldest young miss to visit you.”
Jia Min paused.
“The Weisheng family?”
The maid reminded her, “She is the birth mother of the Young Madam Li you met at the funeral half a year ago. She said she brought a medicinal pill that might help your condition, so the gatekeeper asked Master for permission and let them in.
“They’re already in the courtyard, waiting beneath the corridor.”
Jia Min immediately remembered the young widow who looked delicate yet remained strong-willed, as well as the brother and sister who were around the same age as her own children.
The maid continued, “She also said they came to visit someone who is ill, so they absolutely must not tire you out.
“She said people from ordinary families like theirs don’t observe all the complicated formalities wealthy households use when receiving guests. It would be enough for you to simply let them see you. There’s no need to trouble yourself on their account and risk making Master resent them for causing you to overexert yourself.”
Jia Min could not help laughing.
Then, for some reason, her eyes suddenly stung.
“Let them in.”
When Weisheng He’s mother entered with the two children, Jia Min was being helped out of bed by a maid.
“Don’t move! Don’t move!”
Weisheng He’s mother hurried forward and pressed her back down by the shoulders.
“Just stay in bed. Don’t move.”
She was surprisingly strong, and Jia Min was too weak to resist her at all.
Jia Min could only say helplessly, “You are my elder. How can I receive you while lying in bed? Wouldn’t that be terribly discourteous?”
“Nonsense!” Weisheng He’s mother waved a hand. “We’re farming folk. We don’t care about all those rules you people from great households have.
“A sick person should act like a sick person. Just lie in bed and rest. Moving around will only make you worse!
“If your condition worsens because of me, did I come here to visit the sick or to take revenge on you? If my daughter finds out, she’ll give me an earful!”
Jia Min laughed again.
With things put that way, there was no reason to keep insisting.
She obediently lay back down.
Weisheng He’s mother immediately stepped forward and tucked the blanket around her.
Warmth spread through Jia Min’s heart.
She was just about to speak when she noticed the two children staring curiously around the room with their large, round eyes.
Her gaze immediately settled on them and would not move away.
She had not seen the twins for half a year, and they had grown quite a bit.
Young Master An had a tiny topknot tied atop his head and wore a sapphire-blue jacket. He looked sturdy and adorable, the kind of child who made people want to scoop him into their arms.
Young Miss An was dressed almost exactly the same, except her jacket was black, which was just enough to tell the two apart.
Jia Min held out a hand.
“Come here and let me have a look at you.”
Weisheng He’s mother gave the children a gentle push from behind.
Understanding immediately, the two trotted toward the bed.
Young Miss An reached it first.
She lifted her head and promptly burrowed into Jia Min’s arms.
Young Master An refused to fall behind. He grabbed the edge of the bed and began climbing up, trying to throw himself into Jia Min’s embrace as well.
When had anyone in the Lin household ever seen children this lively?
Everyone stared in astonishment and actually forgot to stop the overly energetic Young Master An.
Lin Daiyu, however, had been watching her mother closely the entire time.
She quickly grabbed the hem of Young Master An’s clothes.
“Little sister, Mother is sick. If you jump on her, you’ll hurt her.”
Young Master An turned around.
His eyes lit up instantly.
“Wow! What a pretty big sister!”
Then he quickly corrected her.
“But, Big Sister, I’m a little brother!”
Hearing him, Young Miss An popped her head back out of Jia Min’s arms and stared directly at Lin Daiyu.
“Wow! Big Sister really is pretty!”
Lin Daiyu blinked.
“Little brother and little sister are very pretty too!”
Young Master An grinned.
“Hehe, Big Sister is prettier!”
Young Miss An nodded vigorously.
She felt that great minds truly did think alike.
Then she turned toward Jia Min.
“Madam, is she your child? Can she be our older sister too?
“I want an older sister. I asked Mother to give birth to one for me before, but Mother said she couldn’t!”
Jia Min burst into laughter at the childish words.
“Well, she really can’t give birth to an older sister for you!
“Why do you want an older sister?”
“Because older sisters are supposed to take care of their little sisters!
“I don’t want to be the older sister. I want to be the little sister!
“But my little sisters are too young. They can’t even talk properly, so they can’t be my older sisters. That means I have to find one myself!”
Young Master An slid off the bed and pulled Lin Daiyu closer to Jia Min.
He nodded repeatedly.
“That’s right, that’s right! I don’t want to be the big brother either. I want an older sister and an older brother!
“Auntie, does your family have an older brother besides Big Sister? If you do, then we won’t have to go to other grown-ups’ houses to look for one.”
Jia Min’s body suddenly stiffened.
Her hand began to tremble slightly.
She thought of the son she had lost.
If only my son were still alive…
“Madam, are you sad because there’s no older brother in your family?” Young Miss An tilted her head and looked at her curiously. “It’s okay if there isn’t one!
“Having Big Sister is already very good. We can look somewhere else for an older brother.
“If Madam wants an older brother too, you can come visit other grown-ups’ houses with us. If you see one you like, just ask to bring him home!”
Jia Min did not know whether to laugh or cry.
How could I possibly just take someone else’s child home that easily?
She makes it sound as though children are cabbages I can simply pick up and carry away. Who would let me take a child their family treasures so dearly?
Young Miss An was about to answer when a sharp sound rang out.
Smack!
Weisheng He’s mother smacked her on the back.
“You little girl, what nonsense are you saying?
“Those are other people’s older brothers and sisters. What do they have to do with you? If someone thought you and Young Master An were adorable and wanted you two to go home with them and become their son and daughter, would you agree?”
Young Miss An immediately became serious.
“No way!”
Weisheng He’s mother was just about to smile when the girl added,
“But!
“They can come to my house and be my second father and second mother!
“Parents can have several children in this world. So why can’t children have several fathers and mothers?”