Everyone knew what kind of temperament Xiao Ya usually had.
How could she possibly have the nerve to eat cornmeal pancakes?
But Li Zhaodi absolutely refused to believe it. Furious, she kept muttering that it was impossible.
Wang Xiang’er didn’t want to argue with Li Zhaodi any further. She picked Ye Anran up from the ground and hurried home.
The child’s injuries were so severe—they had to get back quickly, take some money, and see a doctor.
Wang Dalin opened his mouth as if to speak, but in the end swallowed his words.
He had treated Xiao Ya passably in the past, but he was afraid of his wife. Each time, he only dared to secretly give Xiao Ya a bite or two of food.
Although Wang Dalin was biased to the extreme, Xiao Ya was still his daughter after all. He couldn’t really just watch his wife abuse her to death.
Only after the villagers had all dispersed did Wang Dalin tug at Li Zhaodi’s sleeve.
“Xiao Ya is our child too. What you’re doing is really too—”
Li Zhaodi turned and shot him a glare. “Child? Don’t you have enough children already? She’s an ungrateful little wretch!
Running off to recognize other people as her parents—are you blind?
We already have Da Ya and Bao’er. Why would we need a money-losing burden like her? She only knows how to make people hate her. Hmph!”
After saying that, she weighed the half-bag of cornmeal in her hand with satisfaction and happily returned to her room.
Watching Wang Xiang’er carry the child away, Wang Dalin thought that the child truly had it hard in his home. It might actually be better for someone else to raise her.
Anyway, once she grew up and understood things, she would naturally know that he, as her father, had his difficulties.
No matter what, he was still her biological father. In the future, she would still have to show filial piety to him.
With that thought, Wang Dalin felt relieved.
The child was only three and a half years old. It would take many years to raise her to adulthood.
At least this way, it would save the family quite a bit of grain.
Having figured it out, Wang Dalin finally picked up a broom and began sweeping the courtyard.
When Wang Xiang’er returned to the Wang family and explained the situation about the child, Zhao Guihua looked at the little one sleeping soundly in her daughter’s arms and nodded.
“The child is good-looking, but her temperament is too weak. She hardly speaks at all. Since you’ve decided to raise her, then raise her.”
Zhao Guihua knew well what her daughter’s in-laws were like. The family had four sons, and each household had only given birth to boys—not a single granddaughter among them.
Old Madam Ye had even grown somewhat obsessed, muttering about how an immortal had entrusted her in a dream to take good care of a little girl.
But when you can’t even give birth to a daughter, where would you find a little girl to care for?
People nearby all said Old Madam Ye had gone mad from longing for a granddaughter. In the surrounding villages, everyone found her strange.
Everyone valued sons—who would willingly raise a “money-losing burden”?
Carrying the child, Wang Xiang’er and Ye Sanlang returned to Xinghua Village.
As soon as they arrived, they ran into Liu Xiuxiu, the wife of Ye Second Brother. Wang Xiang’er felt a little apprehensive when she saw her second sister-in-law.
Liu Xiuxiu was not easy to get along with. She was sly and lazy, always speaking in a sarcastic tone.
The moment Liu Xiuxiu looked up and saw Third Brother’s wife returning with a child in her arms, she raised her eyebrows.
“Well! Where did you steal that child from?”
Wang Xiang’er quickly shook her head. “Steal a child? Of course not! She’s my daughter. From now on, she’ll belong to our household.”
Upon hearing that, Liu Xiuxiu nearly rolled her eyes to the sky.
“Hmph! People are practically starving to death these days, and you’re picking up children from outside?”
As she spoke, she headed toward the main hall. She had to properly report this to Mother. Third Brother’s wife was becoming more and more outrageous.
These days, even their own children were nearly starving.
And she had the nerve to bring home another child? Hmph!
Liu Xiuxiu went inside and began complaining to Old Madam Ye.
“Mother, just look at Third Brother’s wife. She doesn’t take you seriously at all anymore.
She actually brought home a child from outside and says she’s going to raise her in their branch of the family.
Mother, you must say something to her.”
Old Madam Ye slammed the table heavily when she heard this. “There are so many children in this house already, nearly starving to death, and she still brings in another one from outside?”
She was extremely dissatisfied with what Third Brother’s wife had done. When Wang Xiang’er entered the main hall, Old Madam Ye glared at her.
“You’ve always been the most gentle-tempered one. Why, in a year of disaster and famine, would you suddenly bring home a child?
If everyone in the Ye family had such a bodhisattva’s heart as you, would the rest of us even survive?”
Just as Wang Xiang’er was about to speak, Ye Sanlang quickly tugged at Old Madam Ye’s sleeve.
“Mother, don’t blame Xiang’er. This was my decision.
A few days ago, Qing’an was kidnapped. It was this little girl who ran over to inform us. Otherwise, Qing’an would have…”
At that point, Ye Sanlang’s face darkened.
Old Madam Ye frowned upon hearing this. Wang Xiang’er quickly explained Xiao Ya’s background.
Old Madam Ye sighed. “Since you two have already decided, then raise the child.
Your household only has one son. Adding another mouth is just adding another pair of chopsticks.
The child is fated with you, and since she saved little Qing’an, she deserves to be raised.”
Old Madam Ye now understood what had happened. She was fond of her little grandson Qing’an.
The third household had only that one precious child. The whole family had been terrified at the time. Thankfully, he was found.
So it had all been thanks to this little girl.
Although Old Madam Ye worried that the whole family might truly starve, this little girl was the benefactor of the third branch. A small child didn’t eat much—if each person spared half a bite, it would be enough.
Just as Old Madam Ye was about to leave the main hall, her gaze suddenly fell on the face of the little girl in Wang Xiang’er’s arms.
She froze on the spot.
Wasn’t this the little fairy child from her dreams?
Recently, Old Madam Ye had been dreaming often—of a white-bearded immortal, bringing along a chubby little toddler of about three years old, who frequently appeared in her dreams.
The old immortal would keep muttering that the little fairy child beside him was a lucky star, telling her to take good care of the child.
When she awoke, Old Madam Ye had assumed it was because she longed so much for a granddaughter.
After all, she had given birth to four sons in a row. When she gave birth to her fourth, she had hoped with all her heart that it would be a girl—but it was another boy.
Later, when her eldest, second, and third sons married, she hoped for a soft and sweet little granddaughter.
But the eldest’s wife gave birth to three boys, the second’s to two boys, and the third’s to one boy.
She had hoped again and again, yet never got a granddaughter.
So she assumed the dreams came from that longing.
But dreaming once or twice was one thing—every single time it was that same old immortal with the same little fairy child.
She had memorized the child’s appearance completely.
Old Madam Ye suddenly snatched the chubby little girl from Wang Xiang’er’s arms.
Seeing her mother-in-law so agitated, Wang Xiang’er didn’t dare truly let go.
“Mother, what’s wrong?”
Just moments ago, Old Madam Ye had seemed perfectly normal—why was she so excited at the sight of Xiao Ya?
Old Madam Ye shook her head. “This is my granddaughter! Oh my!
This is the little fairy child I told you about—the one the old immortal brought in my dreams. Look—she’s exactly the same, as if carved from the same mold!”
As she spoke, she gently touched the child’s face and muttered, “Why is she so thin? And her hair is so sparse. Just how did that family take care of this child?”
Old Madam Ye felt that even in a year of famine, no matter how little there was to eat, the child should not have been neglected like this.
The adults might be yellow and emaciated from hunger—but how could they let a child become so pitifully thin?