Huan Qiu and Female Doctor Dou bowed their bodies from afar to Cai Wei, as Lady Du was so emotionally stirred up at the moment, it didn’t seem right to approach her to pay their respects. So they simply bowed and then rose, standing quietly aside.
Lady Du cried for a while, and once she had cried enough, she took her daughter’s hand, leading her into the room while examining her with red eyes. "Look at you," she said, "making people worry so much. You’ve only been gone a few days and you’ve lost so much weight, your chin is even pointier. You’re an adult, you should know how to take care of yourself when you’re away..."
Flattering her, Cai Wei said: "It’s not that I didn’t take care of myself, but that I missed you so much, Mother, without you, I couldn’t even think about eating or drinking tea, so I lost weight!"
Lady Du laughed and affectionately poked her head, chiding, "You’re already grownup, still talking nonsense to your mother. Without me, you forgot to eat and drink. When you marry in the future and can’t see me for a year or half a year, won’t you starve to death?"
Cai Wei felt a bit awkward. She didn’t want to bring up the topic of getting married in front of Huo Yuan. Even without looking back, she could sense the hurt in his eyes, so she deliberately avoided this topic, took her mother’s arm, and cooed low, "Mother, let’s not talk about these things. You said I lost weight, right? Shouldn’t you cook something delicious to nourish me? I haven’t even had a meal since this morning..."
"What? You still haven’t eaten?"
Lady Du suddenly raised her voice as if it was a heinous crime for her daughter not to eat.
"You’re really making me worry too much. How can you still not eat breakfast at this time? Your stomach... well, I’ll go and order them to kill a chicken and make some chicken soup for you later..."
Grumbling in dissatisfaction, Lady Du quickly went to the kitchen. Cai Wei looked at her hurried back with a soft smile and went straight into the room.
Since her mother was working for her, she felt at ease. To a mother, being able to care for her children, whether it’s making a delicious meal or washing a piece of clothing, is a kind of happiness. She would not deprive her mother of this joy, so she let her go...
Wu’er and Wen’er watched Cai Wei walk in wide-eyed, hardly daring to believe their eyes. After a while, Wen’er came forward and murmured, "Older sister, is that you? They all say a tiger took you away and ate you..."
After he spoke, his little mouth was set in a line, his bright eyes welling up with tears.
Wu’er also looked up at Cai Wei with his big eyes as black as grapes, tilting his little head and speaking softly, "Older sister, were you bitten by the tiger? Does it hurt? Wu’er can blow on it for you."
At the words of the two children, Cai Wei’s heart melted. She squatted down and took the two children into her arms, one on each side, kissed their cheeks, and said softly, "Look, isn’t your sister well? Nothing happened to me, don’t worry!"
While speaking, her eyes fell on the large scar on Wen’er’s forehead. It looked terrifying and ghastly on his chubby, pale forehead!
Cai Wei’s heart contracted at the sight of the scar. The thought of little Wen’er being brutally beaten made her face turn cold, and her voice was as icy as well, "Wen’er, who hit you?"
Wen’er touched the scar on his forehead and pouted, "It was Du Baocai who hit me. He also scolded Wu’er and me. He called us thieves and scolded mother for not observing the duties of a woman. He said older sister deserved to be eaten by a tiger..."