Chapter 1773: Chapter 1773: Meeting

"Is he asleep? If not, let’s see him now." Gu Jinli looked at him and said, "Although Uncle Tian and Aunt Tian don’t show it as strongly as Uncle Dalin, they’re still constantly thinking about Dahua and Erhua... No matter who that child’s father is, since we’ve come across him, we must find out what happened and quickly send a message to Uncle and Aunt Tian."

There’s also Tian Erhua and the daughters of the Gu Damu and Gu Dalin families, Ms. Xie, and others.

"They were taken by the same group of people. Does this child know anything about them?"

Even if we figure out a general direction, it’s much better than searching blindly as before.

Thinking this, Gu Jinli urged impatiently, "Quickly bring the child here, I want to see him."

"Okay, don’t worry, I’ll send someone to get him right away." Qin San Lang raised his voice and called for Daqing, and Daqing quickly went to find You An to bring him over.

Erqing and the others came to clean up the house and make it tidy.

Qin San Lang prepared a bowl of sugar-fried wheat powder for Gu Jinli and persuaded, "Xiao Yu, have some to fill your stomach, otherwise you’ll feel very uncomfortable."

She had vomited up all her dinner, so drinking some of this emergency dry food would make her stomach feel a bit better.

Gu Jinli didn’t want to drink it, but seeing his worried face, she nodded and said, "Alright."

As soon as she said "alright," a smile appeared on Qin San Lang’s face, and his tense body relaxed a lot. He held her in one arm and fed her the sugar-fried wheat powder soup with the other.

But Gu Jinli’s stomach felt uncomfortable at the moment, and the more she ate slowly, the more she wanted to vomit, so she simply took the bowl and gulped it down in a few swallows.

Qin San Lang was startled and then laughed. This was Xiao Yu, even if she felt terrible, she would straightforwardly finish what needed to be done.

He put away the bowl, let her drink some water to rinse her mouth, and wiped her lips before holding her in his arms, waiting for the child to arrive.

A little over an hour later, the child was brought to the outer room of the main house.

"He’s here, go meet him." Qin San Lang stood up and led Gu Jinli by the hand to the outer room.

The child was originally sitting down, but when he saw the couple coming out, he quickly scrambled down from the chair. He was so nervous that he almost tripped, but Daqing caught him in time.

"Thank you, sister." He smiled gratefully at Daqing, though his voice trembled a bit, showing he was very afraid.

Daqing, being a cool and aloof person, didn’t show much expression to outsiders and simply looked at Gu Jinli and Qin San Lang, "Master, Mistress, the person has been brought."

She continued, "He’s already been bathed, treated with insect attractant, and Si’an has checked his pulse. Other than being thin and weak, having eaten some dirty things that require deworming and recovery, there’s nothing life-threatening."

Daqing briefly explained the child’s condition.

Gu Jinli listened and nodded, looking at the child... Thin, very thin, like a refugee, skin and bones. His face was very dark, his head had been shaved bald, close to the scalp, leaving only a round skull.

The little guy, seeing her looking at his head, smiled awkwardly, "Brother An said I had lice, so I had to shave it all off to get better."

Afraid that Gu Jinli might find him disgusting, he quickly added, "I’ve had three baths and put on clean clothes, no lice now... I’ll bathe and wash my head every day from now on, I won’t be dirty~"

Finishing, he sneaked a look at Gu Jinli, afraid she might be displeased. Suddenly recalling something, he hid his sneaky look and lowered his head to look at his feet.

He was wearing new cloth shoes, the best shoes he’d ever worn since birth, warm, and new.

New shoes! If his mother knew he had new shoes, she’d be very happy.

Thinking of his mother, the little guy began to cry, quickly trying to hold back the tears... He couldn’t cry; crying was bad luck and would make people dislike him.

"Raise your head, let me have a look at you," said Gu Jinli, approaching the child.

Qin San Lang, seeing this, lit a few more candles.

The room brightened, allowing Gu Jinli to see the child’s features more clearly... He resembled Tian Erqiang greatly!

Gu Jinli wasn’t familiar with Tian Dahua, and after nearly seven years, she had already forgotten what Tian Dahua looked like. She only remembered Tian Dahua as a quiet person, already a grown girl during the famine, who, for safety reasons, stayed at the camp with the elders instead of foraging.

But Gu Jinli knew what Tian Erqiang looked like, and this child really resembled him.

Nephews often resemble their uncles, so this child should indeed be Tian Erqiang’s sister’s child.

"Here, eat this." Gu Jinli, after assessing the little guy, saw his unease and turned to get an egg from the soft couch’s coffee table for him.

"I’m not hungry, not hungry, I’m quite full... I eat very little, just a handful of soybeans can last me a whole day." The little guy was terrified of being disliked and waved his hand, declining repeatedly.

Gu Jinli couldn’t stand to see him like this and raised her voice, saying, "Eat!"

The little guy was scared and quickly accepted the egg, but dared not eat it. He looked at Qin San Lang, on the verge of tears but trying hard to hold them back.

Qin San Lang said, "Go ahead, eat it. Afterward, we can talk."

"... Thank, thank you." The little guy stammered, fighting his shaking, raised his hands in a gesture of gratitude towards them.

Then he cautiously started eating the egg, fearing being reprimanded for eating slowly, he sped up and ended up choking.

Gu Jinli quickly took a bowl from the coffee table, gave him some water, helping him recover, "Why so hurried? Take your time, no one’s..."

Before she could finish, the child went to kneel down, but Gu Jinli quickly pulled him up, "What are you doing? You don’t need to kneel!"

The little guy’s tears couldn’t hold back any longer, he started crying, shaking, "Mistress, please don’t be mad, I’ve done wrong and will change... Please don’t dislike me."

Gu Jinli, taken aback, watching the tearful little guy, finally squatted down and hugged him, "Don’t cry, I’m not disgusted with you, nor am I angry, just worried you’ll choke."

She continued, "I have a bad temper, look fierce, but you don’t need to be scared. We won’t chase you away. Even if we can’t keep you, we’ll find you a home to live in, won’t let you wander like before."

"Rea-Really?" The little guy was thrilled, and after getting Gu Jinli’s firm answer, he asked, "What about Brother Rong and Little Yan Tai and them? Will Mistress chase them away too? Can you not? They don’t eat much... It’s unsafe outside, many bad people, and they look good, might get kidnapped and sold."

"Don’t worry, now that we saved them we won’t drive them away. We’ll find a place for them, and slowly look for their families. If not found, they can stay until they grow up," Gu Jinli promised, and the little guy, satisfied, thanked her again.

Gu Jinli nodded, sat him on a chair, and asked, "How old are you? Really just five? Your speech is quite fluent."

The little guy quickly replied, "A bit over five years old, not yet six... My mom told me so, I’ve always remembered, no mistake, and I haven’t lied."

Talking about his mother, Gu Jinli fell silent, Qin San Lang led her to sit on the soft couch, handed the child a bowl of water, and asked, "What’s your mother’s name? How come you’re called Tian Erqiang?"

Respectfully receiving the bowl, the little guy replied, "Mother’s name is Tian Dahua, part of the Tian Family from Gu Family Village in Gaoshui County... Why called Tian Erqiang? Because mother named me."

"Mother was sick, afraid she wouldn’t make it back home, afraid I’d forget our family being so young, gave me this name, said it was after my second uncle. When back in the village, if I met villagers and said this name, they’d know which family I belonged to and would take me to see Grandpa and Uncle... But when I got there, the village was empty."

Mother said Grandpa was old, might not still be alive.

But second uncle, if he’s alive, should be managing the household, so she used his name. Anyone who knew second uncle, hearing the name, would recognize we’re relatives and take me to him.

After listening, Gu Jinli felt terrible, knowing Tian Dahua must have passed, but still held on to hope and asked him, "Where’s your mother now?"

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