Chapter 36: Eldest Maternal Uncle, Mo Tang

Lin Motang, Jiaoyue’s eldest maternal uncle, felt his gaze tighten as he looked at her. It had been a month; although he had not yet reached the Meng family estate, he had already heard many rumors about his little niece.

At first, he had dismissed them, thinking the Meng family had waited centuries for a daughter and were simply doting on her to the point of exaggeration. But when he heard that his niece had managed to avoid two separate poisoning attempts, he realized the situation was not so simple. Recently, there were even rumors that the child could understand speech and react to it only days after birth.

Things were taking a strange turn.

The Meng family were not people who sought attention; if they had not permitted information about their young niece to leak, it would have been impossible for it to spread. There must be a reason for it. Most importantly, why would someone repeatedly try to poison an infant?

He could not ask the Meng family directly about matters they chose not to disclose—after all, this was not the Lin household. Thus, he had been desperate to see his niece for himself and determine if the rumors were true.

Now, with the month-old infant in his arms, she felt remarkably sturdy—that could be attributed to good care at home. However, the piercing, intelligent look in her eyes, which seemed to see right through him, made Lin Motang believe the rumors to be at least eighty or ninety percent true.

His little niece had an extraordinary background.

"Yueya looks so much like your mother; seeing you is like seeing your mother when she was a child."

Lin Motang spoke the truth. He and Lin Yuntang were born of the same parents, though twelve years apart. He had practically raised his younger sister from the time she was born until she married, so he was intimately familiar with her childhood appearance. His little niece looked exactly as his sister had.

As he spoke, he took a discreet glance at his sister. Seeing her complexion rosy, her figure slightly fuller, and her spirit vibrant—looking even better than she had before giving birth—with the same radiant smile she had worn as a girl at home, it was clear that she was living well with the Meng family.

His heart grew even more satisfied with the Mengs. He thought to himself: The Meng family is indeed decent. It seems my sister chose her husband well. Since the Meng family treats her so kindly and dotes on her child so much, the Lin family would not mind offering them a bit more protection.

At that moment, Jiaoyue was using her spiritual perception to observe her uncle’s fortune, and upon hearing his inner thoughts, she felt a wave of emotion. It seemed her mother was indeed very cherished at home. In fact, one could tell just by her name; typically, girls in the family were not named according to the generation character used for the men, yet her mother’s name followed the "Tang" generation character of the Lin men.

Jiaoyue’s large eyes looked up at the top of her uncle’s head. There, the black and white figures stood clearly on either side: thirty-eight percent black and sixty-two percent white.

Looking at his glabella, it was bright and shimmering, intermingled with hints of orange—a classic sign of thriving wealth.

As expected of a merchant family, their fortune was exceptionally good. Usually, the eldest son is the heir, and his fortune reflects the future financial prospects of the entire clan. With such luck, as long as her uncle lived, the Lin family’s wealth would surely flourish.

"Little Yueya, your big uncle has come to take you and your mother to your maternal grandparents' home. Are you happy?" Lin Motang asked softly.

"Ah," Jiaoyue replied immediately. Thinking of how her mother had talked incessantly about her uncle along the way, she knew her mother must be homesick. Besides, this was a rare chance for her to leave; otherwise, at such a young age, she couldn't even leave the courtyard of the Seventh Branch, let alone the gates of the Meng estate.

A flicker of shock passed through Lin Motang’s eyes. Though he remained calm on the surface, he exclaimed inwardly: *My goodness, the little girl really can understand me! She means she wants to go, right? That’s what she means? Can she really understand, or is it just a coincidence?*

Hearing her uncle’s internal monologue, Jiaoyue felt quite helpless. She quickly gave him a bright, toothless smile to show her willingness.

Seeing her smile, Lin Motang was even more shocked. He thought to himself: *Not only is this child not afraid of strangers, but she didn’t cry when I held her, and she’s even communicating with me. She truly is a little genius.*

The "little genius" Jiaoyue wanted to roll her eyes at his thoughts, but she refrained, not wanting to frighten her uncle further.

"Little sister, how is your recovery?" Although he could see she was doing well, he asked out of concern.

Lin Yuntang walked to her brother’s side and pouted playfully, "I’ve recovered perfectly. I thought that now that you have Yueya, you’d forgotten all about your sister."

Lin Motang doted on her, saying, "You’re a mother now, yet you’re still so bossy, even getting jealous of your own daughter." Though it sounded like a reprimand, the indulgence in his tone was undisguised.

"Big Brother," Meng Wenxuan called out at the right moment.

"Thank you for taking care of Yuntang," Lin Motang said in a gentle tone. As long as he continued to treat his sister this well, he wouldn't hold a grudge over the schemes Meng had used to whisk her away back then. Meng Wenxuan felt pleasantly surprised, experiencing his brother-in-law’s goodwill for the first time.

"Little Yueya, we’re going to shave your birth hair now. I’ll have it made into a calligraphy brush, and keep a lock for your mother to sew into a pouch," Lin Motang said, carrying Jiaoyue into the living room of Haitang Court.

The living room was vast, easily accommodating dozens of people. At this moment, the Head of the Meng family, his wife, the other six brothers and their wives, and the grandchildren were all waiting expectantly. With the servants present, the room was quite crowded. The Head of the Meng family had specifically invited the best barber in Hanmo Town to shave his little granddaughter’s birth hair.

Jiaoyue’s hair was thick and of excellent quality. She had no idea what shaving her birth hair entailed. When her uncle held her and let the barber begin, she belatedly remembered the hairstyle common for month-old babies.

She froze. She did not think she could accept that look.

Just as she was about to protest, the shaving was already finished. She was stunned; the barber’s speed was simply too fast. With her large eyes, she watched her own hair being placed into a tray, her expression one of utter resignation.

However, after a moment, she adjusted her mindset. Shaving a baby’s hair at one month old symbolized shedding the "birth energy" of the past and welcoming a new beginning. The shaved hair could be made into a brush or placed in a pouch to hang by the bed, signifying the warding off of evil and disaster.

Her uncle held her while her eldest uncle stood nearby. Jiaoyue realized she hadn't checked her eldest uncle’s fortune yet. Seizing this opportunity, she decided to take a look so she could go to her grandparents' home with peace of mind.

The two families lived quite far apart; she estimated that once she went, she wouldn't be back until after her hundredth day—unlike typical visits where a month-old baby would return after a few days.

Meng Wenxi was the eldest son of the Meng family, and like her maternal uncle who carried the financial fortune of the Lin family, he was supposed to carry the fortune of the Meng family. By looking at him, she could predict the next fifty years of the Meng family’s fate.

But as Jiaoyue focused her spiritual energy on her eldest uncle, she was suddenly startled. *How could it be like this?*