I was sold when I opened my eyes! My sick and disabled husband comforts me every night after he wake

Nie Yuan was taken aback at first, then nodded as if relieved. "Are you sure you want to support him? You won't regret it?"

Lan Zhi gritted her teeth and replied:

"Yes, it's just a child. We've raised him, so what's there to regret?"

Nie Yuan nodded, "Okay, then wait for me a moment."

Seeing him run into the house, Wu Juan quickly followed.

What are you going to do? What do you want to do?

Nie Yuan picked up the rice bag, intending to fill the rice container, but Wu Juan snatched it away.

"What are you going to do?"

"Get some rice for that child."

"What does it have to do with you if someone else's child is your problem?"

Nie Yuan looked at Wu Juan with a serious expression, then put a finger to his lips and shushed her.

“Mother, I did bring that child back. I just said I was going to take him to the yamen on purpose. Think about it! There are plenty of little beggars on the streets of Binjiang Town. Do you think the county magistrate would care about such a trivial matter? He won’t. If Lan Zhi doesn’t want to raise him, I will. Tell me, is it more worthwhile to raise a child or to take some rice?”

Nie Yuan's words left Wu Juan with mixed feelings of belief and doubt.

"Are you serious? Then let's just throw that child away! It's none of our business anyway."

"Mother, how can you bear to watch such a small child starve to death on the street? How can you be so heartless?"

"What should I do?"

Nie Yuan glanced outside and saw that Lan Zhi had already left with Mao Mao. He said anxiously:

"Let's give him some rice; that would be more than enough."

Wu Juan cursed under her breath in annoyance.

"Running into this little devil is never a good thing. Stop pretending, we're almost out of rice."

Seeing that his mother finally stopped objecting, Nie Yuan hurriedly filled the rice bag with rice.

Lan Zhi carried Mao Mao home, her feelings complicated.

Mao Mao blinked his big eyes at Lan Zhi's face, tears still clinging to his eyelashes.

"Sister, do you think my mother went to find my father? If she can find him, she will definitely come back to pick me up. When my father comes, I will make him compensate you with lots and lots of money."

His cautious manner made Lan Zhi feel a pang of heartache.

Seeing that she didn't speak, Mao Mao continued to try to please her.

"Sister, even if my parents don't come to pick me up, when I grow up, I can earn lots and lots of money. Then I'll buy you beautiful new clothes and lots and lots of delicious food."

Lan Zhi smiled.

Although Mao Mao is only five years old, he already knows how to please people. It seems that he is really afraid that she will not want him.

She raised her hand to wipe away the tears from Mao Mao's eyelashes and gently comforted her:

"It's alright. You can stay at your sister's house from now on. Your mother might come to pick you up sometime."

Mao Mao nodded happily.

"Thank you for taking Mao Mao in, sister. Mao Mao doesn't eat much, and Mao Mao can still work."

"Lan Zhi..."

Nie Yuan caught up from behind, carrying a sack of rice.

“My mother said that this child looks quite pitiful, so you can take this rice home and eat it!”

Lan Zhi refused outright.

"No need, we're not begging."

"That's not what I meant. I brought this child with me, so I should do something for him."

Lan Zhi initially wanted to refuse, but considering that they were indeed out of rice and that the child was indeed brought by Nie Yuan, she simply put Mao Mao on the ground, took the rice bag from his hand, and...

"Then thank your mother on behalf of the child."

Holding Mao Mao's hand with one hand and carrying a bundle and a rice bag on her other arm, she walked briskly towards home.

Nie Yuan wanted to offer to take them back, but he knew it would be pointless and she would definitely refuse, so he turned and left.

Mo Ning watched as Lan Zhi led Mao Mao into the courtyard and guessed that the child probably couldn't be sent away.

After he gave a wry smile, Lan Zhi brought Mao Mao to him and introduced her:

"This is Brother Mo Ning."

Mao Mao quickly called out sweetly,

"Hello, Brother Mo Ning."

Mo Ning nodded to him, and Lan Zhi shrugged helplessly at Mo Ning.

"Let him stay!"

"It's all up to you."

She smiled gently at him, then pointed to the stone bench on the ground.

"Mao Mao, sit here for a while. I'll go cook and then boil water for you to take a bath."

Mao Mao obediently sat down next to Mo Ning, watching her walk towards the kitchen, before looking up at Mo Ning.

"Brother Mo Ning, is my sister your wife?"

His question startled Mo Ning for a moment, then he nodded.

"Yes."

"My sister is so beautiful, and her voice is so lovely, just like my mother's."

Looking at the tiny child, Mo Ning asked softly,

"Where did you and your mother come from? Why did you come here?"

Mao Mao pouted and shook her head.

“I don’t know. My mother took me away from home when I was one year old. She said my home was in a very, very far place, and in order to protect me, she had to take me around to different places…”

Mo Ning looked at the thin, aggrieved-looking Mao Mao with a pang of heartache, and couldn't bear to ask any more questions.

For lunch, Lan Zhi made white rice porridge as usual, and considering that Mao Mao was there, she specially added some white sugar.

While eating, Mao Mao kept pursing his lips as he looked at the white porridge in front of him, seemingly very hungry, but he didn't dare to touch his chopsticks.

Lan Zhi asked in surprise,

"Why don't you eat?"

Mao Mao blinked her big eyes at her and shook her head.

"Sister, I'll just have half a bowl."

His cautious demeanor is truly heartbreaking to see.

Lan Zhi chuckled softly.

"There's plenty of porridge tonight, so eat more. You'll need energy to do that. You're in charge of cleaning up the dishes tonight."

Upon hearing this, Mao Mao picked up her chopsticks and began to eat the porridge in large mouthfuls.

Seeing him wolf down his food, Lan Zhi and Mo Ning exchanged a glance and smiled helplessly.

What could such a young child have gone through to become so cautious?

After dinner, Mao Mao offered to clear the dishes, but Lan Zhi didn't want him to do it, and Mo Ning stopped her.

Watching him take the bowls and chopsticks into the kitchen, Mo Ning said softly:

"Let him do some work, it's a way to preserve his dignity. This kid is very smart, but he seems to have a lot on his mind. He has a maturity that shouldn't be there for his age."

"Yes! For such a young child to have such heavy burdens and be so sensible, perhaps he has experienced things that ordinary people have not!"

At this moment, Lan Zhi suddenly remembered the bundle on the stone bench and hurriedly went forward to open it.

At this moment, Mao Mao came out of the kitchen and sat down next to Mo Ning. Lan Zhi quickly turned around and asked:

"Mao Mao, do you know what's in this bundle?"

Mao Mao shook his head.

"I don't know. My mother has been guarding this bundle and won't let me see it."

Lan Zhi became even more curious. She removed the clothes from the top of the bundle, revealing an embroidered handkerchief underneath, which seemed to contain something.

She removed the handkerchief and saw a dazzling gold-lettered waist tag inside, with two large, glittering gold characters: "Xiang Rui" (Auspiciousness), and a small silver bell tied with a red string, on which were engraved two characters: "Mao Mao" (Hairy).

Lan Zhi held the two items up to Mao Mao.

Have you ever seen these two things before?

Mao Mao shook his head directly.

"No."

She then looked at Mo Ning.

"These two items have been hidden by Mao Mao's mother. Is there some secret behind them?"