Chapter 116: Chapter 107: The Same Age as Xuanxuan

"Fengling County, right? Your Grandpa mentioned it that night. I remember now, it’s quite far from Wancheng," Tang Qingyun said. "Young lady, lift your head. It’s polite to look at someone when you’re speaking to them."

Xiao Man took a deep breath to compose herself and replied, "You’re sitting and I’m standing. It feels very impolite for me to look at you like this."

Tang Qingyun: ...

The little girl before him was still a bit thin, but she was starting to have a growth spurt. Standing outside the car window, she did seem to be looking down at him a little.

He couldn’t help but chuckle and cleared his throat. "You have a point. Your surname is Mo, and your name is Mo Dan Ni? That’s a nickname, isn’t it? Have your parents given you a formal school name?"

Xiao Man dodged the question. "I’m the first child in the family, so I’m called Dan Ni."

Tang Qingyun paused. "You’re your parents’ first child? How old are you?"

"My birthday is in July. I just turned eleven."

"You... your birthday is in July?" Tang Qingyun looked at Xiao Man in surprise.

Xiao Feng, who was standing to the side, smiled. "That’s the same age as Xuanxuan."

Xiao Man lifted her head and looked calmly at Tang Qingyun. ’That’s right. Mo Dan Ni is the same age as Xuanxuan. There’s another child, also with a birthday in July, who also just turned eleven. Do you remember?’

But Tang Qingyun just lowered his head to look at his watch, then smiled at Xiao Man. "Young lady, you have a nice voice. Do you like to sing and dance? You should be in the fifth grade now. How about next year? Next year, have your family bring you here and look for this Uncle Feng. He can take you to the regional song and dance troupe to audition. With your potential, you should be able to get in, and you can study there... How does that sound? We have to get going now. Oh, right. Xiao Feng just said you couldn’t find your relatives and have nowhere to go, is that right? Then let’s have Xiao Feng arrange something for you! You’re still young, little girl. You can’t just run around on your own in the future. It’s not safe!"

With that, the car window rolled up.

Xiao Feng tried to pull Xiao Man into the compound, intending to find someone to personally escort her to the guesthouse, but Xiao Man refused. Last night, when she’d asked Xiao Feng for help getting a room at the guesthouse, she hadn’t had the slightest intention of using her connection to Tang Qingyun. It was the same today. But after this bizarre meeting with Tang Qingyun, hearing the word "arrange" come from his mouth grated on her nerves. The guesthouse... there was no way she could stay there now.

’Her own father... he shows concern for a stranger, for someone else’s child, so why can’t he spare a single glance for his own flesh and blood?’

"Hey, Mo Dan Ni! Why are you being so stubborn?"

When Xiao Feng, a sturdy young man, found he couldn’t even hold onto a little girl and had his hand shaken off by Xiao Man, he got angry. "Can’t you be smart about this? Secretary Tang means well! He’s arranging your future, don’t you get it? Be good and don’t be ungrateful!"

"I don’t need it. If I want to sing, I can learn from the loudspeakers. I don’t want to join a song and dance troupe. Thank you!" Xiao Man said, then ran off.

Xiao Feng was both baffled and exasperated. ’How can anyone be so foolish? Is it easy for a country girl to get into a song and dance troupe? She’s turning down a golden opportunity handed to her on a silver platter!’

He decided to just forget about her and hurried back to the office to grab some cigarettes. They had to head to the provincial city soon. Sister Wu had called to say that Xuanxuan and Hao Hao missed their father. Secretary Tang was a good, family-oriented man. He had spent last Sunday inspecting the countryside, so this Sunday he had to return to the provincial city to be with his wife and children.

Inside the car, Tang Qingyun couldn’t see Xiao Feng and Xiao Man struggling outside. He leaned back against the seat, covering his eyes with one hand. His smile had vanished, replaced by a face full of sorrow.

’Seeing Mo Dan Ni gave him an inexplicable feeling of familiarity and closeness. He had studied her features carefully, mulling it over in his mind, and realized... the girl’s features actually resembled his own brother, Tang Qingshan!’

’And he and Tang Qingshan, though not twins, were often mistaken for one another. Everyone, even their parents, thought the two brothers looked very similar!’

’This Mo Dan Ni... she also had a birthday in July, had also just turned eleven, was also the first child in her family, and, her surname was also Mo!’

’So many coincidences, with only one exception: she was from Fengling County!’

’For a moment, Tang Qingyun couldn’t help but fantasize: if only the child left with the Mo family in Gongdao Village, Ping County, had grown up to look like Mo Dan Ni... he and Xiao Wen would surely never have given her up!’

The moment that thought surfaced, a sharp pain pierced Tang Qingyun’s heart. ’He couldn’t deny it. The child had been abandoned, thrown away, simply because she wasn’t good-looking.’

’His own flesh and blood, discarded just like that!’

’Xiao Wen disagreed with that sentiment. She said it was just a mutual fostering arrangement. Just as the two of them doted on Xuanxuan, the Mo couple cherished Xiao Man just as much! Xiao Man didn’t lack parental love. Compared to Xuanxuan, Xiao Man even had four or five younger siblings. In the future, the siblings could rely on and look after each other, which was nothing but beneficial!’

’That was the reasoning, but how could conditions in the countryside possibly compare to the city?’

’Tang Qingyun desperately wanted to work up the courage to go see that child, but he couldn’t stand against Xiao Wen’s tearful pleas. And Xiao Wen had a point: "If you go see her and she finds out, then what? Will you take her? If you can’t bring her to live with you, why disturb her and disrupt her peaceful life? If this is the life she wants, wouldn’t you just be hurting her?"’

’"You have to understand, her face is ruined. Her personality and temperament are not normal. She won’t be able to adapt to your world!"’

’"And more importantly, could Xuanxuan and Hao Hao accept Xiao Man? If you bring a girl like that to live with us, the news of the children being switched at birth will get out... It won’t just affect your job and your future; it will put Xuanxuan and Hao Hao in an awkward position. How would they face their classmates and friends? Besides, we have no way of explaining this to the family in Beijing!"’

’"The best we can do for her now is for our whole family to be a little more frugal and send her more money and food, so she can live a comfortable, worry-free life in the countryside. That’s the most practical thing! In the future, we’ll save up a sum of money for her to ensure she’s taken care of in her old age. Once we’ve done our part, we can die without regrets..."’

The sound of a car door opening and closing startled Tang Qingyun from his thoughts. He took the pack of cigarettes and lighter that Xiao Feng handed him, lit one, and asked, "Is Mo Dan Ni taken care of?"

Xiao Feng shook his head helplessly. "That little girl... I don’t know what’s wrong with her. I was going to take her back to the office and have Xiao Jiang take her to the guesthouse to arrange food and lodging, but she wouldn’t listen to me. She ran off!"

Tang Qingyun was taken aback. "A little kid like her, wandering the streets alone? That won’t do. What will she do tonight?"

"From what she said, it sounds like she came into the city with her family. I just don’t know where they are, letting her wander around like this. I think that girl is pretty sharp. Finding a place to stay probably won’t be a problem for her. I saw her last night at the movie theater entrance. Secretary, you know what she was doing? She was doing business!"

"Her? An eleven-year-old girl? What kind of business could she be doing?" Tang Qingyun was incredulous.

"Aren’t there a lot of mountains over in Fengling County? The mountains are full of wild grapes. She probably picked them with her family and came to the city to sell them. When I ran into her last night, she was squatting at an alley entrance in front of the movie theater with a big basket. She’d already sold all her wild grapes! She’s very smart and has a good memory, too. She recognized me just by the sound of my voice—we only spoke a few words on the road that night."

Tang Qingyun fell silent for a moment before saying, "She’s so young and already learning to do things like that? Does she not go to school?"

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