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“Zhijun, I need to tell you…”

Zhang Xiangcao was about to mention Sang Zhilan’s presence, but she was interrupted by a child’s voice calling for its mother.

She quickly turned around and saw Sisi, holding her sister’s hand, walking toward her. Upon seeing her, Sisi’s little face lit up with a smile.

“Sisi!” Zhang Xiangcao tried sitting up abruptly, but was halted by the pain in her wound.

“Be careful,” Tang Zhijun hurriedly pushed her shoulder down.

Sisi ran over, kicked off her little shoes clumsily, and scampered onto the sickbed but sat still.

Zhang Xiangcao shook her head at Tang Zhijun, indicating that she was fine.

She then carefully sat up and laid her hand on Sisi’s chubby face. Sisi’s round and tender face was flushed, indicating good health, a stark contrast to the pitiful little monkey she used to look like.

She was bones and skin, without any flesh to soften her appearance.

Tang Yuxin came over and pulled gently at the little braids that were neatly combed on Sisi’s head.

“Sisi, didn’t we agree before? Mommy’s sick and needs to rest. Sisi needs to be good, right?”

Sisi turned her head to look at her sister, then stretched out her tiny hand for Tang Yuxin to hold.

Tang Yuxin picked up her little sister and gently stroked her head.

“She insisted on coming. Otherwise, she would have cried.”

Only then did she realize how inseparable a child really is from their mother. At first, they were able to trick Sisi, and the little one seemed aloof, carefree and able to enjoy her meals and sleep peacefully.

But by the third day, Sisi couldn’t take it anymore. She cried and screamed for her mother until she lost her voice. Left with no other choice, Tang Yuxin decided to bring her here to see Zhang Xiangcao, thinking that it had already been three days and that Zhang Xiangcao should have recovered from her minor surgery.

Yet things hadn’t gone as she planned.

Tang Zhijun lifted his daughter. A small child like her could easily be picked up single-handedly. While a mother’s love was important to a child, a father’s love was no less significant. Sisi has already begun to have little tantrums, most of which were spoiled by Tang Zhijun himself.

“Uncle Zhijun…” Tang Yuxin was a little confused and had questions to ask.

“What’s wrong?” Tang Zhijun freed one hand and flicked his niece’s forehead. He found it unbelievably how mature and serious she was. His cheerful and bright niece from the past had grown up so quickly that she no longer resembled a child.

“Uncle Zhijun, when I was a kid, did I also long for my mother?”

Tang Yuxin couldn’t remember much of her past life or her current one. Even her entire life seemed to have passed in the blink of an eye, ending before she had time to savor it.

“Of course, you did,” Tang Zhijun recalled. When Tang Yuxin was about Sisi’s age, every time her mother came back, she would want her attention. And every time her mother left, she would wail for an entire night. Even her father, who was a grown man, would cry with her. Hence, back then, he used to call her ‘little crybaby’.”

Which child could possibly not long for their mother’s love?

Tang Yuxin only smiled and didn’t say anything else.

When Sang Zhilan returned and saw the people in the room, she was startled, flushed and wished she could hide.

If everyone was present, did that mean Tang Zhinian was there too?

Tang Zhijun noticed Sang Zhilan. Instinctively, he shielded Tang Yuxin, not wanting her to see this woman. However, it was too late. What should have been seen has been seen, and what should be known has been known.

Tang Yuxin glanced dispassionately at Sang Zhilan. There was no trace of familial affection left in her for this woman who was her mother. She continued to brush Sisi’s hair, her long eyelashes casting shadows on her own cheeks.

“Yuxin!” Sang Zhilan abruptly called out, about to approach her. However, Tang Zhijun blocked her way.

Yuxin, I am your mother… But as soon as these words came to her lips, she thought of something and shot a fearful glance at the sickbed. She saw an old lady covering her face, her eyes rolling back in her head.

Her heart sank. She didn’t know if it was the fear of facing her mother-in-law or meeting Tang Yuxin.

“Sisi, let’s go home,” Tang Yuxin extended her hand to Sisi, ready to take her back home since there was no place for them to sleep at night.

“Good girl, Sisi, let’s go home with your sister.”

Zhang Xiangcao patted Sisi’s head and spoke to her.

Sisi was a good child and she understood right from wrong. She always listened to her mother and sister.

Tang Yuxin gripped Sisi’s tiny hand tightly. Tang Zhijun entered the room, picked up Sisi with one hand, and held his niece’s hand tightly with the other, preparing to see them off.

Tang Zhinian would come to pick up the children shortly.

Throughout this, Sang Zhilan did not acknowledge her daughter, and Tang Yuxin, although aware that this woman was Sang Zhilan, did not acknowledge her as her mother either.

“Who are you?”

Sang Zhilan couldn’t help asking after Tang Zhijun had left with the two children.

“I am Zhang Xiangcao. We’ve met before. I married Tang Zhijun early this year.” Zhang Xiangcao adjusted the blanket around her. She wasn’t interested in talking with Sang Zhilan, but since she was Tang Yuxin’s mother, she had to show her some respect.

Sang Zhilan chuckled awkwardly. She had actually been a bit jealous earlier, thinking that this woman was Tang Zhinian’s new wife.

“Is that girl Yuxin?”

She asked tentatively, though she was 100% sure that this girl was Tang Yuxin, her own daughter who she had never cared for since birth.

“Yes,” Zhang Xiangcao confirmed. “Let’s not beat around the bush. You don’t need to test me. I know who you are. We used to live in the same village. However, you probably don’t recognize me.”

Sang Zhilan’s expression became more awkward. She couldn’t remember who Zhang Xiangcao was. She was unwillingly married into Li Tang Village. Once she found a job in the city, she rarely returned to Li Tang Village. Naturally, she didn’t remember all the aunts and sisters in the village, nor did she pay attention to them, including Zhang Xiangcao.

So, she really couldn’t remember what kind of person Zhang Xiangcao was.