Lin Wanrong felt a chill in her heart just thinking about it.
She instinctively wanted to keep Xiao Tuanzi out as well.
Just then, the phone rang.
Father Shen answered the call.
It was from the hospital.
“Hello, Mr. Shen, the test results are in.”
Mother Shen vaguely overheard and straightened up, leaning closer.
“Based on the blood samples you provided, there is indeed a kinship relationship between you and this child. The detailed test report will be mailed to your address tomorrow.”
“Thank you,” Father Shen replied calmly.
He only managed to hang up after accidentally fumbling with the phone twice.
Mother Shen also relaxed her tightly clenched hands.
Ever since she saw Xiao Tuanzi, she had felt that Xiao Tuanzi must be her daughter.
How could she have started doubting it after all this time?
It must have been an illusion brought on by overwhelming joy.
She shook her head, dismissing these distracting thoughts.
She crouched down and hugged Xiao Tuanzi.
“My dear child, it’s Mommy’s fault. Mommy is sorry for you. You’ve suffered all these years outside.”
Xiao Tuanzi nodded weakly.
On the mountain, she was a little tyrant. No matter how much trouble she caused, the worst punishment was kneeling before the ancestral master with incense.
But today, running around all day without even a meal to eat—that was truly miserable.
“It is a bit miserable. I’m so hungry.”
The two little ones behind her also lay on the floor.
Hungry, they were all hungry.
Hearing this, Father Shen, who had been calm until now, felt his face grow warm.
“Let’s eat, let’s eat. Nanny Zhang, is the meal ready? Bring out a few more pounds of meat.”
Shen Mengqi stood nearby, her eyes wide with shock.
Why did her parents, after just one phone call, decide to let this little beggar into their home?
Even worse, they were letting these stray cats and dogs in too!
It wasn’t that she disliked cats and dogs—it was because her brother was allergic to them.
Ever since she was little, any small animals she secretly brought home would be thrown out by her parents.
Seeing this outsider, this little beggar, allowed to bring these things into their home made Shen Mengqi even angrier.
She stepped forward and grabbed Xiao Tuanzi’s hand.
“Hey, little beggar, I won’t let you into my house.”
Father Shen and Mother Shen exchanged a glance.
Mother Shen picked up Xiao Tuanzi and walked toward the dining table.
Father Shen stayed behind.
He spoke to Shen Mengqi.
“Mengqi, this is your younger sister. Mommy and Daddy lost her when she was little.
Haven’t you always wanted a younger sister? From now on, you’re an older sister too.”
Shen Mengqi was utterly shocked.
She had indeed always wanted a younger sister.
But she didn’t want one this old.
She wanted one like her classmates had—a beautiful little doll that could be placed in a stroller.
Not a dirty little beggar wearing an old dress!
Shen Mengqi screamed and cried.
“I don’t want a sister like this!”
Shen Mengqi stomped her feet in anger.
“She’s half a head taller than me! How could she be the kind of beautiful doll that sits in a stroller?”
Father Shen knew Mengqi would have a hard time accepting this at first.
He tried to comfort her with things she usually liked, but unfortunately, it had no effect.
Shen Mengqi’s screams even drew Nanny Zhang from the kitchen.
“What’s wrong with the young miss?”
Nanny Zhang walked out of the kitchen and saw Shen Mengqi crying her heart out.
Her own heart felt as if it were being squeezed.
She stepped forward and hugged Shen Mengqi.
“Young miss, don’t cry. Your face will look ugly if you cry too much.”
Shen Mengqi usually loved hearing others praise her for being pretty.
At this, her crying subsided a little.
Father Shen breathed a sigh of relief and was about to stand up to accompany his daughter for a meal.
Nanny Zhang spoke up.
“Mr. Shen, not to criticize you, but why pick on a child?”
Nanny Zhang was already over sixty years old.
She had spent most of her life in the Shen Family.
She had started working for the Shen Family right after getting married.
One could say she had watched Mr. Shen grow up.
Only she dared to speak to Mr. Shen like this.
Mr. Shen didn’t argue, after all, he still had feelings for Shen Mengqi after raising her for so many years.
“Nanny Zhang, please do your best to comfort her. I’m going to have a meal with my daughter.”
Daughter?
“Miss has already eaten. If she eats again now, she might get indigestion.”
Father Shen frowned almost imperceptibly.
“I meant Shen Qingxuan.”
He turned and walked toward the dining table.
“She just came back and hasn’t eaten yet.”
Only then did Nanny Zhang notice a little child sitting at the dining table.
Her gaze swept over the child a few times.
Finally, it settled on her face.
She looked so much like him—almost exactly like Mr. Shen when he was little.
Nanny Zhang was stunned for a moment.
She lowered her head and asked, “Mr. Shen, where did you bring this child from?”
Father Shen and Mother Shen glanced at Shen Mengqi and didn’t mention that the children had been switched.
They were afraid it would leave a psychological scar on Shen Mengqi.
They only said she had been found recently.
From now on, she would be Mengqi’s sister.
To the outside world, they could just say they were twins.
[Chomp chomp… What kind of twins look so different?]
Lingfeng gnawed away under the table while gossiping.
[Delicious, delicious. Coming down the mountain with Xiao Tuanzi was the right choice.]
Xiaobai was completely immersed in the joy of eating meat.
It was starving, and the few pounds of meat that had just been brought out were nowhere near enough.
In the blink of an eye, the three little ones had devoured everything in front of them.
Father Shen and Mother Shen were both a bit surprised.
Mother Shen felt more heartache.
Father Shen spoke up.
“Nanny Zhang, make some more food.”
Nanny Zhang was still comforting Mengqi and didn’t want to let go of her.
Hearing Father Shen call her, she didn’t want to go.
“It’s already late at night. How much can a five-year-old child eat?”
Nanny Zhang had indeed prepared quite a lot.
With the table full of dishes and the meat brought out afterward, there was easily over ten pounds of food.
Enough for a whole family to eat.
It was just one child and two little pets.
Surely that was more than enough to fill them up.
Mother Shen also spoke up.
“Nanny Zhang, please make a little more. My dear, it looks like she hasn’t eaten her fill.”
Nanny Zhang had just comforted Mengqi and didn’t want to let go of her.
“Oh my, like a hungry ghost reincarnated. How can a little child eat so much?”
At these words, Father Shen and Mother Shen’s expressions changed slightly.
If anyone else had said this, they would have been furious.
But Nanny Zhang had been brought in by Grandma.
She was a distant relative of the Shen Family.
Usually, they got along quite well with her.
Although she sometimes acted like an elder, putting on airs,
there was still a bit of Grandma’s influence in her.
Looking at the amount of food on the table again,
they also thought it was possible for a child to get indigestion from eating so much.
Mother Shen lowered her head.
She wrapped Xiao Tuanzi in her arms and asked her softly,
“My dear, are you full?”
Xiao Tuanzi patted her belly.
She was about sixty or seventy percent full—she could still eat a bit more.
But at times like this, her master usually wouldn’t let her eat more.
He said that eating too much would make her sleepy during meditation.
Xiao Tuanzi thought for a moment and replied in her childish voice,
“I’m full, I’m sleepy. Can I skip meditation?”
In the past, after meals, her master never allowed her to go straight to sleep.
She either had to do her schoolwork or sit in meditation and practice her skills.
Now that she was not at the temple, could she occasionally get away with it?
Xiao Tuanzi’s voice was low and somewhat unclear.
Mother Shen thought she was asking if she could skip cleaning.
Her heart ached.
This child must have suffered a lot outside.
She quickly replied, “Of course you can. How about sleeping with Mom tonight?”