81 Fortune Child
“What nonsense are you talking about? How old is Ah Yu? How would she know that someone had fallen into the well!”
Old Liu looked at Liu Dashi with a dissatisfied expression. “How do you teach your children every day?”
“It’s really Sister Ah Yu. She saw it and asked us to go over.”
Xing Hua usually did not dare to speak to her grandfather, but now that her grandfather suspected that she was lying, she felt aggrieved.
The other children in the family hurriedly said, “That’s right, it’s Sister Ah Yu.”
“We’re not lying.”
Old Liu looked at Little Ah Yu.
The child was small, and he was afraid of scaring her. A stiff smile appeared on his lips as he asked slowly in a stiff voice, “Were you the one who told them?”
Little Ah Yu nodded obediently. “Yes.”
She still wanted to say that the elf had told her, but Liu Shi had already rubbed her head and said with a smile, “Father, it’s probably Ah Yu who saw it. This child has been a little different since she was young. She brings luck to the people around her.”
Seeing Old Liu’s “I’ll listen to you brag” expression, Liu Shi continued, “Perhaps it’s because her luck is better that her body is not so strong. We didn’t dare to let her go out. She’s recuperating better this year, so we brought her here.”
These words matched Wang Chuanman’s words from before.
The couple was not good at lying. Before they came, Old Madam Wang had specially told them a few times to remember this story before letting them pass.
Liu Shi and Old Madam Wang had even discussed it a few times before and agreed to cover for Ah Yu.
In order to make Ah Yu’s identity more legitimate, they had to build a strong story with the Liu family and make them think that Ah Yu was Liu Shi’s child from the beginning.
On the other hand, Old Madam Wang would make arrangements with the village chief, elders, and the others of Hu Family Village so that everyone would keep their mouths shut in the future and not leave any clues.
Ah Yu’s performance was really a little special. Liu Shi did not know any great principles. She only knew that the fewer people there were that suspected Ah Yu’s identity, the more she could keep this slightly different child.
“Yes, yes, yes. Our Ah Yu has been very lucky since she was young. It’s all thanks to her that our village was able to avoid many calamities. Previously, when the avalanche came, if everyone hadn’t gone to look for Ah Yu, they would have been buried in the snow. Who knows how many people would have died!”
Wang Chuanman followed Old Madam Wang’s instructions and skipped over the matter of the python and the group of snakes. He emphasized that Ah Yu had saved the entire village and an adult. Only then did their village have disaster relief food.
“The food we gave you was distributed by the Imperial Court. If not for the Imperial Court’s disaster relief food, our family would still be hungry,” Wang Chuanman said.
Old Liu looked at Little Ah Yu doubtfully, but the others in the family already looked at Little Ah Yu differently.
Qin Shi also struggled out of the bed and sat beside him. When she heard this, her eyes were filled with relief.
She said, “I was still thinking that since you only gave birth to one daughter in the three years you’ve been in the Wang Family, the Wang Family would probably treat you badly. Now, it seems that the daughter you gave birth to is even better than a son. If their Wang Family has a conscience, they definitely wouldn’t bully you.”
These words were said in front of Wang Chuanman. Wang Chuanman immediately said in fear, “Mother, what are you saying? Our Wang Family lacks a daughter. My brothers are very envious. I’m also very grateful to Liu Shi for giving birth to Ah Yu for me.”
He said it sincerely. Everyone in the Liu family thought that he was speaking the truth.
But Liu Shi herself knew that she had really not given the Wang family any sons or daughters throughout her three years there. However, no one in the Wang family even gossiped behind her back.
No one urged her to have children.
Someone from Hu Family Village had once said a few words, but they were all refuted by her mother-in-law. Gradually, everyone stopped talking.
“Father, Mother, Husband treats me very well. Don’t worry,” Liu Shi said gently.
So it’s really like that. When Old Liu looked at Little Ah Yu, he seemed to be thinking of something.
He looked at Little Ah Yu for a long time before returning to the house. When he came out again, he had a safety talisman in his hand.
He threw it on the table and patted it with his palm. “This thing is taking up space at home. Take it away if you want!”
Liu Shi picked it up.
Madam Yang, the eldest sister-in-law, whispered to her, “Mother went to Yuanhua Monastery to get this before the new year. No one in the family gets a talisman. It’s solely for you. Mother had a nightmare at that time and dreamed that you were experiencing a laborious birth. She kept the dream to heart and climbed up the mountain to beg for the talisman that night.”
However, she had been busy and had fallen sick again. She had yet to send the safety talisman out.
Madam Yang had once been a little jealous of this younger sister. The Liu family had a total of three daughters. The first two were married and had left the family. One of them was beaten to death by her husband’s family, and she only found out after she’d died. The other was in the neighboring village.
As for the remaining youngest daughter, the family was a little worried about her marriage.
Dashi and Ershi were very good to their little sister and remembered to include her in everything. At that time, Madam Yang had seen too much of this care and felt a little uncomfortable.
However, later on, when the family was in trouble, Liu Shi received ten catties of food from the matchmaker without a word and married herself off.
Other than food, she also left behind all the dowry that her in-laws had prepared. She went to the village dozens of kilometers away alone.
At that time, her impression of this little sister changed.
Unlike the adults, the children in the family looked at Little Ah Yu with sparkling eyes.
Especially the six-year-old Goutou. His pitch-black hands wrapped around Little Ah Yu’s hand and rubbed against it vigorously. He even said, “Sister, Sister, you’re lucky. Give me some. In the future, I won’t lose again when I play Water Ripples with the others!”
Xing Hua Flower pulled his dirty hand away and said angrily, “Your hand is black and smelly. Don’t dirty our sister’s hand.”
Little Ah Yu felt that it was quite fun and giggled. She even asked, “Big Brother Goutou, what is Water Ripples?”
Goutou said, “It’s just smashing rocks into the water. Then, we’ll see how much the waves will rise. Mutou is the most powerful in the village. He can create a long string of waves! I can make 11 waves, and Mutou can smash out more than 20 waves!”
Because he loved the game but did not know how to count, Goutou had been deceived several times.
Later on, he specially found adults who knew how to count and specially learned how to count. In less than two days, he could count to a hundred.
He was now the child who was best at counting in the village.
“It’s just that we can’t bring you to the waterside now. Otherwise, I’ll show you the game.” Goutou felt a little regretful.
“Let’s go dump the sandbags,” Li Hua suggested. “They’ll be in the courtyard.”
“Sure, sure!”
The children swarmed into the courtyard to play. Everyone surrounded Little Ah Yu and taught her how to play.
When the adults saw them in the courtyard, they only told them not to go out and ignored them.
Now that the matter of the girl falling into the well was resolved, there was the matter of returning the money.
In front of her brother and sister-in-law, Liu Shi took out the silver again. “The year before last, when I came home, I borrowed one tael of silver from the family. At that time, I really had no choice. Now that our family’s condition is better, I need to return it immediately. Mother-in-law says that since the family has borrowed it for two years, we need to return it with interest. One tael of silver and 100 copper coins.”
100 copper coins was naturally not a lot, but they were returning a proper piece of silver this time. This was slightly more valuable than the few pieces of fragmented silver that they had borrowed previously.
Old Liu was stunned when he saw the tael of silver his youngest daughter took out.
Then, his face turned the color of pig liver as he slammed the table. “You want to be calculative with your father now?! Do I lack this bit of money!”
At this moment, someone shouted from outside the courtyard, “Is Uncle Wang home? The village chief wants all of you to go over. By the way, your daughter’s family is also required to go.”