Chapter 132

Chapter 132

“No, but aren’t you afraid that woman might come back someday with the children’s real father? If they want the children, won’t you have raised them for nothing?”

The man hesitated, then said, “Probably not. She used to be a brothel woman. Even she doesn’t know who the children’s father is.”

His companion: “…”

All he could do was pat the man on the shoulder. He truly didn’t know what to say about this brother anymore.

He could only hope that after the man raised those two children, no one would come along to snatch the fruits of his labor, and that the two children wouldn’t turn out to be ungrateful little wolves.

Jiang Yunsui cracked sunflower seeds while she and Xiao Xing kept listening until the two men finished talking, then left.

“Bye, Xiao Xing. I’m going back now.”

After saying goodbye to Xiao Xing, Jiang Yunsui ran over to Ji Yan’an.

And was promptly caught by him to practice writing.

Little Mushroom pouted. She did not resist learning characters as much as before, because she wanted to read storybooks by herself.

When everyone else was away, no one could read storybooks to her. If she could not recognize the words, she could not understand them.

“Ji Yan’an, let me tell you, today I went to see Xiao Xing…”

Lying sprawled on the bed, Jiang Yunsui’s little mouth went on and on as she told Ji Yan’an all the gossip she had heard that day.

At first, Ji Yan’an did not take it seriously, but as he listened, his expression began shifting along with the story.

By the end, even Ji Yan’an did not know what to say.

Call that man foolish? He still knew to think about his own future.

Call him smart? He had casually picked someone up and started supporting her, and willingly at that-supporting both the adult and the children.

Ji Yan’an pressed a hand down on her little head. “Listen to less of this sort of thing in the future.”

Jiang Yunsui gave an obedient “oh,” but the way her big eyes kept rolling around made it clear she would still go around listening everywhere in the future.

Once Ji Yan’an’s health improved a little, he started going out again.

Nanshu and the others were busy too. Sometimes, when Jiang Yunsui was alone, she would take her picture book and squat beside the charcoal brazier to read.

Little Mushroom knew quite a few characters now, though of course, plenty of them were still half-guessed and half-inferred.

Winter came earlier in Mobei than anywhere else, and it was colder too.

The first snowfall arrived without the slightest warning.

After sleeping for just one night, Jiang Yunsui woke to find that the snow outside had already piled up to her calves.

It was the first time she had ever seen such heavy snow.

She was a little mushroom from the south, and the place where she lived was like spring all year round. There was snow in winter too, but the forest was dense with tall trees. What little snow there was usually landed on the treetops, with very little reaching the ground.

Even if some did, it quickly melted away.

She was rather excited. She got up even earlier than usual, slipped on her shoes, and ran outside.

Ji Yan’an said, “Stop-”

He did not even manage to finish the two words before the little thing was already pumping her short legs and sprinting away.

Jiang Yunsui ran to the doorway and opened the door.

Then the cold stunned her silly.

She shivered. Outside, everything was a vast expanse of white. It was indeed beautiful, but she could not stand it.

Little Mushroom closed the door again and ran back in, trembling all over.

Once she returned to the warm room, she plunged headfirst into the blankets and stopped moving.

Ji Yan’an raised an eyebrow. He was already dressed. Because it had snowed, Nanshu had bundled him up in even more layers.

“Enough. I’m a person, not a bear.”

Seeing Nanshu take out yet another greatcloak, clearly intending to wrap it around him, Ji Yan’an shot him a glare.

“This is already the third one.”

Nanshu said, “But Young Master, you’ll be cold.”

Ji Yan’an replied, “I’m not cold at all right now.”

“Where’s the wheelchair?”

Nanshu hugged the greatcloak. “I’ll go call Nanmo in right away.”

With that, he ran off.

Once the wheelchair arrived, Ji Yan’an sat down in it directly.

It was not that he was so weak he could no longer walk. It was purely that walking was too tiring.

He hated winter. Layer after layer of clothing was piled onto him until he could hardly lift his arms or legs.

Jiang Yunsui finally crawled out from under the blankets and quickly put on her clothes.

She also put on the scarf Cook Chen had made for her before.

And a hat too.

Nanny Zhou came over to do her hair, arranging the little braids on top of her head into a bow-shaped bun, complete with pretty hair ribbons.
Overall, she looked fluffy and festive.

Add in her chubby little build, her delicate, doll-like features, and that adorable face, and she was practically a little good-luck charm come to life.

The kind that made people want to pinch her soft, round cheeks.

She definitely was not dressed as thickly as Ji Yan’an, but once she was warm again, she ran right back out to look at the snow.

“Wow…”

Everything was white as far as the eye could see.

Someone had come to clear the snow in the courtyard, sweeping a path that led outside.

Jiang Yunsui ran into the piled snow, blew on her hands, and started building a snowman.

Her enthusiasm was through the roof.

She was going to build a Ji Yan’an.

Ji Yan’an was inside handling official documents.

After piling up a fat, round snowman, Jiang Yunsui stroked her little chin and pondered. Something was still missing.

It had no eyes.

Black eyes… She had it.

She ran back into the room and sneakily took Ji Yan’an’s Go stones.

The black stones from the Go set would be perfect for eyes.

And a mouth too.

Once that was done, she built a tiny snowman beside it.

Jiang Yunsui huffed and puffed outside as she worked. Whenever her hands got cold, she ran back inside to warm them by the charcoal brazier.

Once she was warm, she ran out again.

In and out, in and out. Ji Yan’an glanced at her several times.

“Hahaha… I did it!”

“Ji Yan’an, Ji Yan’an, hurry and come look!”

Ji Yan’an happened to be taking a break to stretch, so at her words, he had Nanshu push his wheelchair over.

Then he saw the two ugly snowmen placed by the doorway.

“What are these things?”

Jiang Yunsui gave him a reproachful little look.

“I won’t allow you to talk about yourself like that.”

Ji Yan’an: “…”

Everyone else: “…”

Ji Yan’an glared at a certain child through gritted teeth.

“Jiang Yunsui, are you asking for trouble?”

Jiang Yunsui ran off with a giggle.

But she had only taken a few steps before Zuozuo Youyou, who had been running after her, tripped her up.

Her whole body plunged into the snow, leaving behind a huge human-shaped print.

Nanshu burst out laughing. “Serves you right. That’s what you get for running your mouth.”

Jiang Yunsui lifted her head from the snow. Her face and body were covered in it. She scrambled up, patted the snow off herself, and was full of energy again.

“It doesn’t hurt. It doesn’t hurt at all. Bleh, bleh, bleh…”

She even grabbed a snowball and hurled it at Nanshu.

Nanshu rolled up his sleeves. “Oh, so you dare hit me? Take this!”

“Zuozuo Youyou, hurry and stop him!”

The two of them started horsing around in the courtyard, and every so often, their snowballs hit other people too.

As they threw wildly, one snowball suddenly flew toward Ji Yan’an.

Jiang Yunsui: Oh no!

Nanshu bit his finger: Oh no!

Fortunately, Nanmo acted in time, knocking the snowball down with the sword in his hand.

Seeing that, the two of them let out a breath at the same time.

Hehe. Carry on.

The courtyard was lively and noisy, and a faint smile tugged at the corners of Ji Yan’an’s mouth.

Song Jin and Shen Qingzhu walked in together, only to be greeted by several snowballs flying straight at them.

“Take this, take this! Si Si, hurry and make snowballs for me. Make lots of them!”

“Hmph, don’t think you’re the only one with helpers.”

Nanshu also called over two guards to help him make snowballs.

The two of them were only responsible for throwing, while Zuozuo Youyou and Heiwa added to the chaos.

The two people who had just entered were the unlucky victims.

They did not dodge in time and were hit squarely.

Chilly snow slid down their collars, and it was freezing.

Song Jin took the snowball off his head. “What are you all doing?”

Jiang Yunsui’s eyes lit up when she saw them. “Song Jin, Shen Qingzhu, hurry and help me fight him!”

Song Jin said, “Childish.”

But after being accidentally hit twice in a row, he eventually joined this childish snowball fight after all. He helped no one, instead pelting both of them equally.

The three of them threw snowballs at one another, and before long, Jiang Yunsui was tired. Shen Qingzhu picked her up by the back of her collar and took her to drink ginger soup.

It smelled spicy just from a sniff. Little Mushroom did not want to drink it.

“Can I…”

“No.”

Shen Qingzhu said the most coldhearted, ruthless words in the gentlest voice possible.