Lady of Fortune, Jiao Niang

Chapter 167

At these words, Xu Bao immediately fell silent, staring wide-eyed at his little brother, while Ye Jiao and Qi Yun looked at each other in disbelief.

Their youngest son hadn't even called Father or Mother yet, but the first word out of his mouth was calling his big brother?

Counting it up, the twins were still less than two months away from their first birthday. Speaking wasn't unusual, and the couple and servants had taught them to call Father and Mother before, but they hadn't opened their mouths until now.

Yet Ning Bao spoke first, calling Xu Bao...

Ye Jiao's face immediately lit up with a smile, looking particularly happy for the children. Qi Yun smiled first, then seemed to think of something, looking at Xu Bao, then at Ning Bao, saying nothing, apparently calculating something in his mind.

But regardless of others' reactions, Xu Bao was now the happiest one.

This call of "Big Brother" reached straight to the little one's heart. Having always been the youngest, Xu Bao was being called big brother for the first time. The little chubby one smiled so much his eyes squinted, cupping his bun-like face and lying beside the small bed, looking eagerly inside, hoping Ning Bao would call him again.

But Ning Bao ignored him. Seeing that after he called Xu Bao, Xu Bao had quieted down and finally stopped bothering him, Ning Bao leaned to one side, lay back down, tightly hugged his yarn ball, closed his eyes, and soon fell into deep sleep.

Xu Bao was somewhat anxious. He had already forgotten about trying to convince his little brother to study, only wanting to hear his brother call him again. So he wanted to reach out and tug at him, but was picked up by Ye Jiao.

"Mother?" Xu Bao looked at Ye Jiao with some confusion, seemingly not understanding why Ye Jiao would stop him from being affectionate with his little brother.

Ye Jiao touched her son's head, which was a size larger than his peers, smiled and lowered her head to kiss his forehead.

Little Ginseng usually spent a lot of time with the twins, and now their personalities were already very clear. Ruyi was lively and cheerful, Ning Bao was clever and quiet. If she had to make a comparison, Ye Jiao felt Ning Bao's temperament was exactly like Qi Yun's.

She wouldn't speculate about people's hearts, but she understood her own husband clearly. He was the most stubborn person, and whatever he wanted to do, he would definitely see it through to completion.

Since Ning Bao wanted to sleep, let him sleep.

Qi Yun had long ago figured out the three children's personalities. Seeing the grievance on Xu Bao's face, he reached out to pinch the little one's chubby cheeks.

It was better not to disturb Ning Bao when he wanted to sleep now, otherwise if this child really held a grudge, his little chubby son would probably have to wait a long time before hearing that "big brother" again.

Ye Jiao smiled and said: "Xu Bao, what have you learned from Master Feng these past few days?"

Xu Bao then forgot what he had been upset about, just smiling as he reported his current learning progress to Ye Jiao, and even praised Little Shi Tou big brother and Liu Si. Though they learned different things and had different levels of comprehension, in Xu Bao's mouth everything was good.

As long as someone accompanied him to read books, he was happy.

Ning Bao finally had a chance to sleep well and didn't wake up until the carriage returned home.

However, for several consecutive days, Ning Bao didn't speak again, just like before, either eating or playing, or lying down sleeping, keeping himself round and plump, very content.

Even Ye Jiao thought Ning Bao's call of "big brother" was coincidentally spoken, and he probably didn't understand the meaning himself.

But Xu Bao didn't believe he didn't understand. He was very persistent, spending half an hour every day sitting face to face with Ning Bao, tirelessly teaching him to call big brother. Even when Ning Bao ignored him, Xu Bao didn't stop. Sometimes even Ruyi was bothered enough to open her mouth and nibble on Xu Bao, but Xu Bao remained unchanged.

Finally, when Ning Bao was bothered to the point of having no choice, he opened his mouth again and called "Big Brother."

This made Xu Bao proud. He ran on his short legs to the door of Ye Jiao and Qi Yun's room and started banging on it.

It was already nightfall, and the two people in the room were about to sleep. When hearing the knocking sound, Ye Jiao sat up and slightly lifted the bed curtain: "Who is it?"

Before anyone outside could speak, the lying Qi Yun opened his mouth: "It must be Xu Bao."

In this household, those who dared to knock on the door could be counted on one hand, and the one who could bang on the door so forcefully was only Xu Bao.

Sure enough, Xu Bao quickly pushed open the door, pattering in, proudly running into the inner room, standing in front of the bed with hands on his hips announcing: "Little brother called me, called big brother, little brother is smart!"

Hearing this, Ye Jiao immediately knew this child had probably pestered Ning Bao for a long time and was naturally excited to finally get a response.

Nanny Mo, who had hurriedly followed behind, was somewhat panicked, afraid they would say she hadn't watched Xu Bao well, so she said quietly: "Second Young Master, Second Young Mistress."

Ye Jiao waved her hand, not minding, smiling: "Go take care of those two, Xu Bao will sleep with us tonight." As she spoke, she picked up Xu Bao and had him sit properly on the bed table, then reached out to help him take off his small clothes.

Nanny Mo agreed and left quickly, carefully closing the door.

Xu Bao raised his head to let his mother unfasten his buttons, but his eyes were rolling around, looking at Ye Jiao, then at Qi Yun who had also sat up, grinning to show a big smile.

Ye Jiao couldn't help but pat his little belly: "What are you smiling about?"

Xu Bao's voice was soft: "Ning Bao must like me."

Hearing this, Qi Yun looked up slightly at Xu Bao, while Little Ginseng smiled and said: "Then tell me, what did little brother say to you just now?"

Xu Bao, who had been stripped down to just a small belly band and small pants, immediately became energetic. He got up from the bed table, quickly crawled between the two of them, burrowed under the blanket, and his chubby little arms and legs directly hugged Ye Jiao's arm, saying happily: "Ning Bao called me big brother."

Ye Jiao nodded: "And then?"

Xu Bao proudly raised his little chin: "Then he said I was noisy."

Qi Yun: ......

Ye Jiao: ......

Xu Bao didn't think there was anything wrong with this. Anyway, his little brother was close to him, which was enough. Otherwise, why would little brother only call him and not others?

Seeing him happy, Ye Jiao also smiled along, turning sideways to half-hug the chubby baby, reaching out to pat his back to help him sleep.

Xu Bao was young after all, and had just been active for a while, so he fell asleep soon.

After he closed his eyes and his breathing became steady, Qi Yun reached out to hold Xu Bao in his own arms.

Ye Jiao looked at him with some confusion, then heard Qi Yun say softly: "Xu Bao doesn't sleep well, don't let him disturb you. You sleep first, I'll watch him."

Little Ginseng blinked: "Should we carry him back?"

"No problem, after all, this isn't the first time I've taken care of him."

Only then did Ye Jiao remember that when Xu Bao was small, whether he needed to eat or relieve himself at night, Qi Yun would always pick him up. When the twins slept with them, Qi Yun wouldn't let others handle caring for the children.

The original intention was naturally to avoid tiring Ye Jiao, but after doing it for a while, Qi Yun's relationship with the children had always been very good.

This made the three children remain close to him even though they couldn't see Second Young Master Qi much during the day.

Ye Jiao felt relieved, nodded, leaned over to gently kiss the corner of Qi Yun's mouth, saying: "Thank you for your hard work, husband." Then she closed her eyes and fell into deep sleep.

So the room became quiet. Before they knew it, it was time when the moon rose above the willow branches, and Xu Bao opened his eyes.

His nighttime schedule was very regular, and he didn't need to call anyone, just turning over and getting out of bed by himself.

But this time when Xu Bao got up, he saw only his mother sleeping soundly on the bed, with Father nowhere to be seen.

Xu Bao immediately put on his small shoes and patted out the door.

Tie Zi, who was keeping watch outside, saw him and walked over, crouching down with a smile: "Young Master Xu, do you need help?"

Usually after Xu Bao got up at night, after using the chamber pot, he would reach out for Tie Zi to carry him for a stroll, then return.

But this time Xu Bao didn't reach out his hand, instead asking in his baby voice: "Where's Father?"

Tie Zi opened his mouth, about to answer, when he saw the door to the twins' side room open.

Qi Yun came out holding Ning Bao, skillfully taking the small chamber pot and placing it on the ground to help him relieve himself, but what he was muttering wasn't "shush shush" sounds, but slowly saying: "Ning Bao, call Father."

Ning Bao yawned and ignored him.

But Qi Yun persistently pinched his little chubby leg: "Call Father, and also, learn to call Mother."

Ning Bao raised his head to look at Qi Yun, tilted his head and fell asleep again.

Tie Zi standing opposite couldn't help but look away, thinking to himself no wonder Second Young Master had been proactively caring for the young master and young miss at night these days, it was for this purpose.

Xu Bao looked on eagerly, then suddenly became happy.

Indeed, little brother likes me the most.

So he walked back to the room with happy steps, put away the chamber pot, then climbed back onto the bed to sleep, his face smiling all the while.

After Qi Yun's efforts, the twins finally got the hang of it.

The two little ones learned to call Mother one after the other, then learned to call Father, and then could remember many words. After opening their mouths once, everything became much easier afterward.

Even though Ye Jiao had been happy for a while when Xu Bao called her Mother before, seeing them call her now, Ye Jiao was still delighted, hugging them on both sides, kissing each of their faces, smiling with curved eyes.

Qi Yun didn't mind at all that they called Mother first and Father second, instead feeling particularly gratified.

In Second Young Master Qi's eyes, Ye Jiao was the best person in the world. The two children agreed with his view, proving they were indeed his biological son and daughter.

Ye Jiao also gained a new interest: teaching the two babies to speak.

Xu Bao had an overly clever brain. Whatever he said or did, he never forgot anything. Basically, Ye Jiao only needed to say a word once and he could remember it, and remember it for a long time. Later, it wasn't Ye Jiao teaching him to speak, but rather having to cover the little one's ears when discussing topics he shouldn't hear.

The twins were different. They didn't have such extraordinary memory. Even though Ning Bao was clever, his memory couldn't compare to his big brother's.

Moreover, Ning Bao intentionally or unintentionally waited for Ruyi. He would only say words that Ruyi had learned to say. If Ruyi couldn't say it, he wouldn't speak, just staring at Ruyi.

Little Ruyi wasn't anxious at all, happily learning things but often forgetting this after learning that. But this was very interesting. When she couldn't remember, she would snuggle in Ye Jiao's arms acting cute, coaxing with "Mother, Ruyi is good" over and over, making Ye Jiao beam with joy every time, becoming particularly enthusiastic about accompanying them in learning to speak.

This day both Dong Shi and Princess Huaning came to the Qi household. Ye Jiao couldn't bear to leave the children, so she brought them along.

Now Princess Huaning was married and Dong Shi was divorced. Though one had achieved marriage and the other had parted ways, for both of them these were occasions worthy of setting off firecrackers.

With stable lives, their contact had increased.

Princess Huaning had always held princess status, dressed in fine clothes and eating delicacies, never having any worries from childhood to adulthood. Now having achieved her heart's desire, she was naturally happy every day.

Though Dong Shi was alone, being able to leave the Wen family cage was wonderful news. Her life was like being reborn, and thinking about the past now felt like a previous life.

Recently Princess Huaning and Dong Shi had made contact because Dong Shi's orchard business was doing well and had expanded somewhat. Outside, she had the Qi family's water routes as support, and inside, Princess Huaning provided backing for sales channels, so Dong Shi's money was increasing.

Actually, Dong Shi understood in her heart that Princess Huaning's kindness to her was mostly for Shi Tianrui's sake.

But so what? Having capable elder brother and sister-in-law was a good thing. As their younger sister, she was naturally happy for them. Princess Huaning's current attitude precisely proved that Shi Tianrui's future was limitless, and she was too happy to complain.

Today when Dong Shi came, she brought a basket of grapes, while Princess Huaning brought pastries. Seeing the sun was just right, they went to the flower garden and sat at the stone table, with the twins' small bed placed nearby, covered with thick cushions to prevent them from falling.

Now both Ning Bao and Ruyi could stand up, and could even take two wobbly steps, but they walked very unsteadily.

Usually they practiced walking on carpets, but other times the small bed still needed to be moved out to prevent them from hurting themselves.

While they were peeling grapes, Ruyi stood in the small bed, gripping the railing and looking on eagerly.

But Ning Bao sat up straight, reaching out to fiddle with his yarn ball, watching it roll from this side to that side and back again, playing happily by himself.

Ye Jiao put a grape in her mouth, and as soon as it entered, her mouth filled with sweet fragrance. She immediately smiled: "This is delicious, can children eat it?"

Dong Shi, who was using a silver pick to remove grape seeds, quickly said: "They can't eat it directly. These grapes are soft and slippery, and they're different sizes. If small children can't chew them properly and swallow them whole, they could easily choke."

Nanny Mo nearby also nodded repeatedly. Having cared for many children, she naturally knew these things.

Princess Huaning had an idea: "Then mash them up and feed with a spoon."

Ye Jiao nodded, and Little Su quickly had someone bring bowls and spoons.

Dong Shi put the complete grape flesh, with seeds removed, into Ye Jiao's plate, then picked up another one. But her eyes looked around and asked: "Why do I only see Ning Bao and Ruyi, where's Xu Bao?"

Ye Jiao ate the grape, then replied: "Xu Bao is studying. He should be over in a while."

Princess Huaning was somewhat surprised: "He's such a small child, how can he be studying already?"

But Ye Jiao didn't find it strange, smiling: "Xu Bao likes it, and he has companions for studying too. As long as he's content, it's fine."

Dong Shi, listening to this, couldn't help but smile, her eyes showing envy, but only envy.

Though she had never given birth, she had cared for children before.

When Sun Shi gave birth to her third son, she was weak after childbirth. Though Dong Shi didn't like Sun Shi, as the primary wife, she still had people take good care of Sun Shi and personally cared for Sun Shi's child for a while.

That child was thin and small, but after staying with her for only three months, he became plump and white.

Dong Shi raised him well and was very devoted, learning many things about caring for children. Later when Sun Shi took the child back, she was sad for a while. But when the child grew a bit older and called her a bad woman upon seeing her, Dong Shi didn't feel particularly hurt.

At the time, Dong Shi found it strange herself, wondering if she was cold-hearted.

Now seeing these two babies, she felt genuine joy from the heart. Thinking back to that incident, she realized it was just that she had already despaired of the Wen family then, having no affection left, which was why her heart could be cold as iron.

While Dong Shi was silent, Xu Bao had already run over.

Seeing Ye Jiao holding grapes in her hand, Xu Bao immediately let go of Nanny Mo's hand, ran over to Ye Jiao's side, reached out to tightly hug Ye Jiao's small leg, looked up eagerly with his soft voice: "Mother."

Ye Jiao looked down at him, smiling: "Has Xu Bao finished today's lessons?"

Xu Bao replied obediently: "All finished, I wrote three characters." As he spoke, he reached out to take the written large characters from Nanny Mo to show Ye Jiao.

Children his age usually couldn't write yet, or would practice in sand trays at most. But Xu Bao was clever, had learned to read early, was well-nourished, and had some strength in his body, so Master Feng taught him to use a brush.

However, writing was strenuous work, requiring proper posture in every way, which was also tiring. Master Feng only let Xu Bao write three characters each day, fearing that writing too much would harm the child's bones.

But when these three characters were displayed, Dong Shi and Princess Huaning praised them enthusiastically.

People always had infinite patience with children, and they were the same. Now seeing that Xu Bao had written characters, even though they were just simple "one," "person," and "day," barely recognizable, being able to pick up a brush was already excellent.

Only Ye Jiao pressed her lips together slightly and didn't speak for a long time.

Because she discovered that her son's characters were a bit... round...

Whether it was because he was too weak to hold the brush properly or had unintentionally written them this way, Ye Jiao felt the little chubby one's writing was somewhat similar to her own.

Little Ginseng was very puzzled. Why did Xu Bao's memory resemble his father's, but his writing couldn't be like his father's?

She thought she should discuss this with her husband tonight and have Master Feng specifically teach Xu Bao calligraphy in the future.

Just then, a rooster's crow came from the distance.

This was already a normal occurrence. Ye Jiao was used to it, and even the three children had no reaction. But Princess Huaning looked up with some surprise: "It's already afternoon, how can there still be a rooster crowing?"

Ye Jiao smiled, wiped her hands with a handkerchief, saying: "That's Little Black, a big rooster we brought from our hometown. He's very majestic, usually crows punctually in the morning, but he's a bit lively and will crow whenever he feels like it. It doesn't sound bad, so we just let him be."

Little Su nearby lowered her head slightly, feeling grateful for Ye Jiao's understanding in her heart.

Princess Huaning also remembered that black rooster, not because she had seen it, but because Ye Jiao's room had many items made from rooster feathers, like paper kites and shuttlecocks. Last time Princess Huaning had even received five or six feather shuttlecocks that Ye Jiao sent her.

She couldn't help but smile: "You've really raised this rooster well. The feathers are so bright, and I've been kicking those shuttlecocks for quite a while without losing any feathers."

Dong Shi was mashing grape flesh in a small bowl when she heard this and couldn't help asking: "How old is this Little Black?"

Ye Jiao hadn't calculated this, so she turned to look at Little Su.

Little Su quickly said: "About seven or eight years old."

Dong Shi made a sound of surprise. Having come from a poor background, she had raised chickens and ducks as a child, so she naturally understood these things: "Ordinary roosters only live three to five years, stronger ones five to six years. This one you've raised is truly long-lived."

Ye Jiao hadn't expected that besides Little Black's feathers growing like leeks, growing batch after batch when plucked, he could also live this long. It was truly miraculous.

If she hadn't never seen any spirits or demons here, she would really think this Little Black might become a spirit.

But Xu Bao, who had been ignored all along, was getting anxious.

He wasn't a noisy child, just hugged Ye Jiao's small leg and shook it a bit. When Ye Jiao looked over, he stared intently at the grape flesh beside Ye Jiao's hand, saying softly: "Mother, love Xu Bao."

Ye Jiao loved hearing these four words the most. Every time Xu Bao said them, she would agree to everything.

But remembering what Dong Shi had said, she broke the grape flesh into pieces and fed them bit by bit into Xu Bao's small mouth.

On the other side, Dong Shi had also mashed the grape flesh and was using a silver spoon to feed Ruyi, who had been watching for a while.

Ruyi smiled and opened her mouth waiting. Ning Bao saw this, also stood up, walked unsteadily to the railing, blinked his bright eyes, and opened his mouth waiting too.

So Dong Shi discovered that these two children were particularly coordinated. One would eat while the other waited. After feeding this one, there was still that one, always giving Dong Shi a strange sense of urgency.

But she enjoyed it, feeding while smiling, her smile particularly bright.

Originally Princess Huaning wanted to help, but seeing Dong Shi smile, she stopped the thought and just peeled grapes for herself to eat, saying nothing.

Perhaps initially Princess Huaning had approached Dong Shi because of Shi Tianrui's connection, but after all this interaction, she genuinely liked this person and felt sorry for her hardships.

Dong Shi was someone who could endure. She had survived in the Wen family by enduring, and by enduring, she had suppressed all her anger, not revealing anything to the Wen family, which was why she could smile watching the Wen family collapse after leaving.

This scheming was heavy and deep. Princess Huaning even knew that Dong Shi had privately added quite a bit of fuel to the fire that burned the Wen family.

But Princess Huaning, having grown up seeing life and death struggles in the harem, actually admired women who could plan for themselves.

Now seeing Dong Shi finally able to be happy, she felt gratified.

Indeed, small babies were medicine that could heal everything.

Dong Shi quickly became familiar with the twins. Now that Dong Shi's mindset had opened up, she no longer had the half-dead dejected appearance from before. She spoke gently, and the grapes were very sweet, so the twins naturally liked her.

Before leaving, they could already call Dong Shi "Auntie."

Dong Shi naturally couldn't bear to part with them, but she still needed to go check on the orchard, so she took her leave from the Qi household first.

After all, this was the industry she would depend on for survival in the future, so being nervous was normal.

Princess Huaning stayed at the Qi residence, preparing to chat with Ye Jiao about old times.

But just then, noisy sounds came from the distance.

Princess Huaning frowned slightly, her phoenix eyes looking toward the courtyard wall.

Ye Jiao was quite relaxed, eating pastries while saying: "No problem, the neighbors are probably making a scene again." Then Ye Jiao said to Nanny Mo: "Go find out what's happening. If there's trouble, tell my husband. If there's nothing, don't worry about it."

"Next door?" Princess Huaning was stunned, then remembered: "You mean the Wen family? Why haven't they moved away yet?"

Ye Jiao was completely unconcerned: "My husband says there's no rush, they'll leave sooner or later, no need to rush." Then she took another bite: "Princess Huaning, what kind of pastry is this? It's really delicious."

Princess Huaning stopped asking about the Wen family and smiled in reply: "Chestnut cake. If you like it, I'll have people make more and send them to you."

Ye Jiao immediately nodded: "Alright."

At this time, Nanny Mo walked over, bowed to Ye Jiao and said: "Second Young Mistress, I found out what happened."

Ye Jiao had chestnut cake in her mouth and couldn't speak properly. Princess Huaning conveniently picked up Xu Bao and placed him on her lap, helping Ye Jiao ask: "Good news or bad news?"

Nanny Mo couldn't judge: "It's the neighbors' business, so it can't be good news anyway."

Ye Jiao immediately looked at Xu Bao. Princess Huaning understood, knowing the little one was clever and remembered things quickly, so they couldn't let him hear these things. So Princess Huaning reached out to cover Xu Bao's little ears, then said: "Now it's fine, speak up, what happened?"

Nanny Mo immediately said: "The neighbors are discussing marriage arrangements, but Concubine Sun found out and made a fuss. In the commotion, she accidentally fell and lost the baby, which caused the chaos."