Chapter 35: You Have One Too

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She also sent her mother a great many nourishing supplements.

During Lin Yuntang’s pregnancy, she had already sent quite a lot, and before the birth she had sent even more. They had not yet finished consuming them, and now another huge shipment had arrived. Lin Yuntang’s private storehouse held enough supplements to open a shop.

It could be said that, among the seven daughters-in-law of the Meng family, her mother was the wealthiest—without a doubt.

Jiaoyue heard her father say that her grandfather intended to celebrate her hundredth day in grand fashion. Relatives, friends, and all the prominent families would receive invitations, and that would also be Jiaoyue’s formal debut before the world.

Therefore, the third-day bathing ceremony and the one-month celebration were merely occasions for the family to gather and make merry.

Since her maternal grandparents lived far away, they had decided to come for her hundredth-day celebration. But after receiving the Meng family’s announcement of her birth, they immediately sent the gifts they had prepared long ago, delivered personally by her eldest maternal uncle.

The journey was long, and the carriage carrying the gifts could not travel very quickly, so they did not arrive until the day of her one-month celebration.

Her uncle had come with another task as well: to preside over the cutting of her birth hair and then carry out the “nest transfer”—in other words, to take mother and daughter back to her mother’s family home.

Her uncle did not enter the rear courtyard. Following proper etiquette, he went to pay his respects to the head of the Meng household and his wife.

Her father placed all the gifts her maternal grandfather had prepared for her in the storeroom of the courtyard set aside for her, intending to let her look through them herself when she grew older.

The happiest person on the day of the celebration was Jiaoyue’s beautiful mother, who had been cooped up for an entire month. She could finally leave the house.

She no longer had to remain confined indoors. Although she had often sneaked out of bed to walk around the room, she had not been allowed outside.

So even strolling around her own courtyard was enough to make her excited.

Carrying Jiaoyue, she paced happily around the courtyard, refusing to return indoors no matter how many times Meng Wenxuan called her.

Fortunately, it was already April, and Orchid Mountain was warm. Many flowers had bloomed in the courtyard, so there was no need to worry about Jiaoyue catching a chill.

After a month, Jiaoyue felt that her tiny body had grown much sturdier. She could lift her head, lie on her stomach for a while, and had even put on some weight.

Her father had specially kept a record of her weight in a notebook, weighing her once every ten days. In one month, she had gained ten pounds. She was now a round, chubby little girl who looked even more lovable.

She could also be held upright, giving her a much wider view.

Thus, Jiaoyue waved her little hands in response to her mother, and the mother and daughter played together in high spirits.

Leaning against a veranda pillar, Meng Wenxuan watched them with a smile, his own spirits lifting as well.

When Lin Yuntang carried her daughter back inside, Meng Wenxuan took out a box and handed it to her.

“Yuntang, see if you like it.”

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“What is it?” Lin Yuntang asked as she placed her daughter on the bed.

When Jiaoyue saw the brocade box, she thought to herself that her father truly loved her mother. Even after her mother had completed her postpartum confinement, he was still giving her gifts. What an exceptionally wonderful man.

Lin Yuntang opened the box and saw a white jade hairpin lying inside. Its quality was exquisite, and its lustrous translucence was superb.

A magnolia blossom had been carved into the hairpin, just like the magnolias blooming on the branches in the courtyard. It was astonishingly lifelike.

Delighted, Lin Yuntang picked up the hairpin.

“It’s beautiful. I love it.”

Jiaoyue looked at the hairpin in her mother’s hand, then immediately turned her gaze toward her father. Could this white jade hairpin have been carved by her father himself?

He had only been studying under Zhao Chengye for ten days. Had he already reached this level?

Lin Yuntang immediately took Meng Wenxuan’s hand and stroked the fine cuts covering his fingers.

Jiaoyue also noticed the countless tiny wounds on her father’s fingers. So that was why he had not been pinching her cheeks lately. She had thought his mother had finally scolded him into behaving, but it turned out that his fingers were covered in wounds and he had been afraid of hurting her.

Ah, her parents truly loved each other. She could not help feeling envious.

“These were caused by carving, weren’t they?” Lin Yuntang asked, her heart aching.

Meng Wenxuan hurried to comfort his wife. “At first, I wasn’t used to handling the carving knife. After a few days, it got better.”

With that, he personally placed the white jade hairpin in his wife’s hair. The married couple lingered affectionately together for quite some time.

Then Jiaoyue saw her father take out another box. From it, he removed a jade ruyi made of the same material as her mother’s white jade hairpin.

“You have one too, Little Sprout. Your father carved it himself. I hope my little Yueya grows up healthy and safe, with a smooth and fortunate life.”

With that, he carefully slipped the jade ruyi around her neck and laid it against her chest.

Jiaoyue froze. Her large eyes grew moist.

In both her former life and this one, it was the first time anyone had given her such a precious gift—and her father had carved it with his own hands.

Once again, Jiaoyue experienced what it felt like to be cherished in the palm of someone’s hand.

Seeing his daughter’s glistening eyes, Meng Wenxuan’s heart ached.

He thought, What kind of life did my daughter endure in her previous existence? A single gift has moved her this deeply. If he could choose, he would rather she drink Granny Meng’s potion of oblivion before being reborn. Then she could grow up happily beneath the protection of the two of us.

Hearing her father’s thoughts, Jiaoyue felt even more like crying.

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Even knowing that she possessed such extraordinary abilities, her father could still think this way. That proved she was the person he cared about most.

“Ah, ah, ah.”

Jiaoyue desperately wanted to call out to her father, but she still could not do it.

Meng Wenxuan picked up his daughter and kissed her tender little cheek.

“There’s no need to hurry. Grow slowly. It won’t be long before Yueya can speak.”

How could she not hurry? She was anxious every single day!

Jiaoyue babbled at her father, trying to tell him so.

Lin Yuntang watched the familiar scene with a smile. For the past month, whenever their daughter was awake, Meng Wenxuan had been the one to coax her. She had seen the father and daughter chatting like this countless times.

“Seventh Master, Seventh Young Madam, the rites to Heaven and the ancestors have been completed. Madam asks that you bring the young lady over,” Qingguo came to report.

As for Seventh Master’s indulgence toward the young lady, she had grown accustomed to it over the past month.

The couple had already prepared themselves. Meng Wenxuan carried Jiaoyue while Lin Yuntang walked beside him, and the family of three headed toward Begonia Garden.

As they walked, Lin Yuntang continued speaking to Jiaoyue.

“Yueya, you’ll be able to see your eldest maternal uncle in a little while. When I was young, I followed him everywhere like his shadow. I met your father because I went out with your eldest uncle. Apart from your maternal grandfather and grandmother, he is the one who loves me most.”

As her mother spoke all the way there about her childhood and her eldest uncle, Jiaoyue understood that her mother was missing home.

They soon arrived at Begonia Garden.

Begonia Garden was where the Meng family held its banquets. Nearly every variety of begonia had been gathered throughout the courtyard.

Jiaoyue was held upright in her father’s arms, his large hand resting lightly against her back and supporting her securely.

She leaned against his shoulder. With his support, she did not have to strain herself, and her view was much wider.

Begonia Garden truly lived up to its name. Many begonias were in full bloom, displaying every shade imaginable. Combined with the tasteful pavilions and raised terraces in the courtyard, the entire place exuded the refined atmosphere of a cultured scholarly household.

Before they even reached the entrance to the main hall, a man in a silvery-white brocade robe hurried out to greet them.

“Little Sprout, let Uncle hold you.”

His voice was bright and hearty.

Jiaoyue was resting on her father’s shoulder with her face turned away from the man. She heard the voice and wanted to turn around, but she still could not manage it.

Before she could even see her uncle, she felt herself being lifted from her father’s arms and transferred into her uncle’s embrace.

Then Jiaoyue found herself face-to-face with a handsome man whose features closely resembled her mother’s, his face lit by a frank and cheerful smile.

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