Originally, Auntie Li had only planned to call out to Lu Suzhen from outside the door and had no intention of entering the house. But when she saw the fair, rosy-cheeked little chubby girl in the courtyard, she could not resist pushing the gate open and stepping inside.
“She’s my granddaughter!” Lu Suzhen introduced proudly and openly.
There was no point hiding it anyway. As long as their family raised Luoluo, the whole village would eventually find out. It was better to admit it honestly from the start.
“Oh my~” Auntie Li stared at Luoluo in shock, openly sizing her up with curiosity and scrutiny. “Tsk tsk, what a pretty child. Such delicate skin too. She doesn’t look like a village kid at all. This child… really is your family’s granddaughter? Did your Xiao Lu have her while he was away…”
“She is my granddaughter, my Xiao Lu’s child.” Lu Suzhen stood up straight, her back rigid with pride, and raised her voice at Auntie Li. “My Xiao Lu has a kind heart. He found her by the roadside. She’s destined for our family, and from now on she’s a proper child of the Xiao family.”
Auntie Li was momentarily intimidated by Lu Suzhen’s imposing manner. She gave an awkward laugh. “Yes, yes, Sister Suzhen is right. Fate, fate…”
Her eyes rolled slightly before glancing at Luoluo again. “It’s just… this child looks precious, probably abandoned from the city, right? Who knows what kind of background she has… You all should be careful. Don’t get yourselves into trouble…”
“Trouble?” Lu Suzhen sneered, planting both hands on her hips. “The Xiao family walks upright and lives honestly. We’re simply raising a child no one wanted. What trouble could there be?”
As she spoke, she scooped Luoluo into her arms and kissed her cheek. “Our little Luobao is a lucky child. She won’t bring trouble, only blessings. Li Cuihua, instead of worrying about our family, you’d better hurry up and gather pig grass.”
Auntie Li’s face flushed red and white from the scolding, but she did not dare argue back directly. She could only laugh dryly. “I’ll go now, I’ll go now…”
Lu Suzhen was famously fierce in Guhe Village. Her husband had died early, leaving behind two elderly parents and three underage sons.
Back then, everyone in the village had said the Xiao family was finished.
Yet Lu Suzhen had stubbornly carried the entire household on her own shoulders.
During those years, she worked like several men combined. She respectfully saw the two elders through their final years, then raised all three boys herself.
Her eldest son, Xiao Shan, had once been the most promising young man in the village. Unfortunately, her luck was poor. Just as life had finally begun improving, Xiao Shan met with an accident.
Now her own life was already difficult enough, yet she still insisted on raising an unknown little girl as her own granddaughter. Who knew what had gotten into her head?
The moment Auntie Li stepped out of the Xiao family courtyard, she curled her lips disdainfully and spat toward the house before turning away.
Thus, the small disturbance ended under Lu Suzhen’s overwhelming dominance, and peace returned to the courtyard once more.
Only then did Lu Suzhen sit back down with Luoluo in her arms and retie the little crooked pigtails that had become messy while she slept.
“Luoluo, don’t be afraid. Grandma’s here. Grandma will protect you.”
“Mhm!” Luoluo leaned against her dependently and began counting on her tiny fingers again. “Luoluo’s not scared. Luoluo has Grandma, Eldest Uncle, Daddy, Little Uncle, and Little Turtle too…”
Xiao Lu and Xiao He, who had just come out of Xiao Shan’s room, could not help pausing at the warm scene between the old woman and child.
Xiao He strode over, snatched Luoluo from Lu Suzhen’s arms, and swung her up onto his shoulders in one motion.
“Come on, Luoluo. Uncle’s taking you out to play.”
“Xiao He!” Lu Suzhen hurried after him worriedly when she saw what he was doing. “Be careful! Don’t let Luobao fall!”
“Got it…” Xiao He replied without even turning back as he carried Luoluo out the door.
It was Luoluo’s first time sitting on someone’s shoulders like this. At first she felt nervous and scared, but once she realized her little uncle was holding her steadily, the fear immediately turned into excitement and delight.
Xiao He carried her toward the back mountain to check the rat traps he had set earlier. He had not gone into the mountains to inspect them for two days.
It was Luoluo’s first time walking along narrow field ridges and her first time entering the mountains. Everything around her felt strange and fascinating.
“Little Uncle,” she called excitedly from atop his shoulders while looking around everywhere, “what’s that? Luoluo’s never seen it before…”
“That’s a scarecrow,” Xiao He explained seriously while following the direction of her finger. “It’s placed in the fields to scare away birds that steal grain.”
She pointed at the wildflowers blooming beside the road again. “These flowers are so pretty! Luoluo wants to pick some to bring home for Grandma and Eldest Uncle.”
“Luoluo doesn’t love Little Uncle anymore. You’re not giving any to Little Uncle,” Xiao He teased with fake sadness.
Luoluo stretched out her chubby little hands and patted Xiao He’s face comfortingly. “Little Uncle can pick them together with Luoluo…”
Xiao He: “…”
So basically she wanted him to help with the work so they could go home and flatter his mother and older brother together?
“Then what about your daddy? Aren’t you giving him any flowers?” Xiao He asked smugly, pleased that at least he had been included while his second brother had not even been mentioned.
Above his head where he could not see, Luoluo frowned in conflict. “Daddy’s fierce. Daddy doesn’t like flowers.”
It seemed Xiao He’s second brother had already left quite a deep impression on Luoluo. She really did not think very highly of him.
Xiao He carried Luoluo all the way to where he had placed the rodent traps before finally setting her down and telling her to sit nearby and not move.
He brushed aside the camouflage covering the trap and saw that one mountain rat had been caught inside.
“Ah! Luoluo, we’re having meat tonight!”
“Where’s the meat?” Luoluo looked at the mountain rat trapped by its leg with obvious disgust. “This mouse is ugly. Luoluo doesn’t like it.”
Xiao He paused while holding the trap. “We’re not taking it home for you to raise. It doesn’t need to look pretty. As long as we get meat to eat, it’s fine.”
“We’re eating the mouse?” Luoluo’s eyes widened in horror. Pointing at the rat with her chubby finger, she refused flatly, “Luoluo won’t eat mice…”
Xiao He scratched his head, unsure how to explain to a three-year-old child just how delicious a fat mountain rat could be when stir-fried.
He glanced at the clean and fair Luoluo, then at the dirty gray mountain rat.
No wonder she refused to eat it. The thing really was ugly.
With that train of thought, he finally came up with an explanation.
“It can’t be helped. Uncle can’t catch rabbits, so I can’t give Luoluo tasty rabbit meat…”
Unexpectedly, Luoluo’s eyes widened even further.
“Tasty rabbit meat?” She waved both little hands frantically. “No, no eating! Luoluo won’t eat fur-fur!”
“Won’t eat fur-fur?”
Xiao He repeated the phrase in confusion before his eyes landed on the gray fur covering the mountain rat.
Instantly, he burst out laughing.
“Luoluo,” he said while pointing at the rat, “we don’t eat the fur. We clean the fur off first, then cook the yummy meat.”
“Rabbit meat… yummy?” The moment Luoluo heard the words “yummy meat,” she immediately swallowed her drool with a loud gulp.
“Mhm! Rabbit meat is really delicious. It’s just that Little Uncle can’t catch any.” Xiao He sighed regretfully.
“Luoluo catch!” Luoluo instantly jumped to her feet, waving her little hands energetically as if preparing to accomplish some great feat.