My Taoist nun girlfriend is from the Republic of China era, 1942.

Chapter 171 Calling for Mom

As soon as I entered the house on the seventh day of the Lunar New Year, the idiot went wild, running and spinning around the living room.

Chen Xiaomiao took off her heavy coat, let out a long sigh, and sat down on the familiar sofa with her son in her arms, finally relaxing.

"It's still more comfortable at home."

During her stay in the capital, she enjoyed top-notch food, clothing, and daily necessities, with butlers and servants attending to her every need. Yet, she always felt uncomfortable and awkward.

Lu Yuan placed the suitcase in the entryway, walked over, ruffled her hair, and didn't say much.

In the afternoon, our home welcomed its first wave of guests of the new year.

Zhao Qiang carried some local specialties, followed by Qi Lili, who was holding her daughter. The family of three happily went to pay New Year's visits.

"Yuanzi, sister-in-law, Happy New Year!" Zhao Qiang said in a loud voice as he strode into the house.

"Jasmine, quickly call them godfather and godmother." Qi Lili put her daughter, who was wrapped up like a pink ball in her arms, on the ground and pushed her forward a bit.

One and a half years old, Zhao Moli can already walk steadily.

The little girl was beautiful and lovely, with big, bright eyes that looked just like Qi Lili.

She blinked, looked at Lu Yuan, then turned to Chen Xiaomiao and called out in a childish voice, "God...godmother..."

"Oh, my dear daughter!"

Chen Xiaomiao's heart almost melted. She bent down, picked up the child, and kissed her soft cheek: "Our Jasmine looks so smart!"

Upon hearing this, Qi Lili sighed deeply: "What's so smart about it? Don't even mention it, I've been worried sick about it lately."

What are you worried about?

Chen Xiaomiao held Xiao Moli and asked, puzzled.

Qi Lili gestured for Chen Xiaomiao to put the child down, and then took out a small plush rabbit from her bag.

As soon as Zhao Moli was placed on the carpet, her eyes were immediately drawn to a cartoon cat pillow on the sofa not far away. She wobbled over, grabbed it, and wouldn't let go.

"Jasmine, look here at Mommy."

Qi Lili held the plush rabbit and waved it in front of her daughter.

The little girl seemed not to hear, burying her head in the soft belly of the cat-shaped pillow, intently picking at the embroidered eyes on the pillow with her little hands, completely ignoring her mother's calls behind her.

Qi Lili walked around to her, squatted down, and brought her face close to hers: "Moli, look at Mommy, look up at Mommy."

Zhao Moli remained oblivious, stubbornly fiddling with the pillow in her little hands, not even bothering to lift her eyelids, showing absolutely no eye contact whatsoever that a normal child would have.

The atmosphere in the living room gradually became somewhat stagnant as the little girl fell silent.

Qi Lili straightened up, her face full of worry: "Look at her, this child is already a year and a half old. Except when she is held in someone's arms and they teach her a sentence, she learns it. Otherwise, when you talk to her, it's like she can't hear you."

I don't know if it's because I can't understand or because I'm slow to react.

She prefers to play by herself, and if you give her something, she can fiddle with it for hours. She never interacts with adults.

You have to chase after her to feed her, otherwise she'll play with a bowl of rice until it's completely cold..."

Chen Xiaomiao looked at the small figure immersed in her own world, and her heart clenched.

It was her first time being a mother, so she could only offer comforting words: "Lily, don't worry, the baby is still young, maybe he's just a little slow to understand things, take it slow."

"Jasmine!"

Qi Lili was unwilling to give up, so she raised her voice and shouted again.

The little figure on the carpet remained unresponsive.

"Xiao Miao, I'm really worried now. Could it be that my daughter is..."

"What is it?!"

Zhao Qiang, who had been silent for a while, suddenly interrupted, his tone stiff: "You're scaring yourself. Your daughter is fine! She's just quiet and doesn't like to talk to people!"

Lu Yuan patted Zhao Qiang on the shoulder and softened his voice: "Don't worry, after the New Year, I'll arrange for our daughter to have a comprehensive cognitive examination and have an expert take a look."

Maybe our daughter is a little genius, and her thoughts are different from ours.

His words, half comforting and half teasing, finally eased Qi Lili's tense nerves a little.

As they were talking, a muffled cry suddenly came from the bedroom, followed by a clear but brief syllable.

"Well...ma...ma..."

Lu Yuan and Chen Xiaomiao exchanged a sudden glance, both seeing surprise in each other's eyes.

"Did I just... hear Yangyang speaking?" Chen Xiaomiao asked incredulously.

"It seems so." The two rushed into the bedroom. Little Lu Yang in the cradle had already opened his eyes, his little mouth opening and closing, as if he was preparing something.

Chen Xiaomiao bent down, leaned close to her son, and coaxed him softly, "Yangyang, be good, call me again, call me Mom."

Lu Yang stared at his mother with his big eyes, his little mouth moved as he tried to speak, and another clear call came out.

"Ma...Mom!"

"Hey!"

Chen Xiaomiao smiled broadly and picked up her son from the cradle.

Zhao Qiang and Qi Lili also came over, their faces full of amazement as they looked at the babbling little one in Chen Xiaomiao's arms.

"Holy crap, sister-in-law, Yangyang is only six months old and he can already talk?"

"Shouting nonsense, shouting nonsense..."

Chen Xiaomiao was modest, but now that she was a mother, she couldn't hide her pride, and a silly smile appeared on her face.

She simply carried Lu Yang back to the living room and carefully placed him next to Zhao Moli.

"Come on, Yangyang, play with your sister Jasmine."

Zhao Moli, who was concentrating on picking out a cushion, seemed to sense the movement beside her, stopped what she was doing, and slowly turned her head.

When she saw the baby next to her, who was a size smaller than herself, a big smile suddenly bloomed on her usually expressionless face.

"Ah... ah ah..."

She tossed aside the cat-shaped pillow she had been hugging for a while, crawled over to Lu Yang on all fours, and carefully touched his cheek with her chubby little hand.

Lu Yang wasn't shy at all; when she touched him, he just giggled.

"Hey, what a heartless little thing!" Zhao Qiang muttered sourly, as if jealous: "Her own parents were standing in front of her for ages, and she didn't even acknowledge them, but when she saw your son, she was all smiles."

Looking at the two little heads huddled together, Lu Yuan smiled and said, "Isn't this great? It means our son and daughter are destined to be together."

The thought of my son getting freebies from my brother's daughter is hilarious.

Qi Lili slowly squatted down and asked softly, "Jasmine...Jasmine, you like your little brother, don't you?"

Zhao Moli rarely responded to her mother's question. She nodded heavily, her little hand still resting on Lu Yang, as if protecting her own precious child.

This nod gave Qi Lili a boost of confidence, allowing her to breathe a sigh of relief.

This at least proves that her daughter is not developing in the direction she feared, and that she can understand what she is saying.

"Xiao Miao, could you let Jasmine come and play with Yangyang more often in the future? I noticed that she seems to be more normal when she's with Yangyang."

"No problem at all!" Chen Xiaomiao readily agreed: "Come anytime, I welcome you anytime! Kids should play with kids more often, and everything will get better as they play!"

In her simple understanding, most of a child's problems are caused by being kept quiet and suppressed.

Lu Yuan added, "Xiao Miao is right, it's good for the child to have more contact with the outside world, but we should still arrange a check-up for our daughter after the New Year, just to put our minds at ease."

Regardless of the outcome, we need to know the root cause in order to find the right solution.

Zhao Qiang nodded, acknowledging Lu Yuan's arrangement.

He'd do anything as long as his daughter gets better.

When Zhao Qiang's family left, Zhao Moli was crying as she was carried into the car.

The little girl clung tightly to the car door, gazing longingly at Lu Yang, who was being held in Chen Xiaomiao's arms. Her little mouth was pouting, and tears streamed down her face like a broken string of pearls.

This was the first time she had shown such intense emotions because of "separation".

Qi Lili held her daughter, feeling both heartache and relief, and kept coaxing her, "Don't cry, Jasmine. We'll come to play with your little brother again tomorrow... okay?"

The faint crying could not be heard until the car drove away.

Chen Xiaomiao held her son and let out a long breath.

"What kind of situation is this...?"

She lowered her head and rubbed her cheek against Lu Yang's warm forehead: "Such a little thing, you've become someone else's medicinal ingredient."

Lu Yang seemed to understand the praise, and danced around in her arms, making indistinct "ma-ma" sounds.

"Oh, my dear child."

Chen Xiaomiao smiled so hard her eyes narrowed into slits.

(End of this chapter)