“There are so many people coming and going in the shaved-ice shop. How could I possibly guess?” Xu Jinxin was a little disappointed when Duoduo didn’t follow her lead.
“Come on, take a guess!”
“You’re so clever. Maybe you’ll figure it out in one try!”
Duoduo shook her head with a beaming smile.
“No need to guess!”
“It’s written all over your face, Aunt Xu!”
Xu Jinxin touched her face, utterly baffled.
“Yingniang, is it really that obvious on your mother’s face?”
Yingniang shook her head in confusion. “There’s nothing written there.”
“I don’t see anything either.”
Xu Jinxin sighed and soothingly patted her daughter’s head.
“You can’t reason with these little geniuses.”
After saying that, Xu Jinxin deliberately tried to provoke Duoduo.
“Duoduo, you must have been bluffing just now, weren’t you?”
Duoduo pressed her lips together, smiling.
“Aunt Xu, was it Commandery Princess Funing who went to the shop?”
This time, Xu Jinxin was genuinely surprised.
“Duoduo, how did you guess that? Tell Aunt Xu!”
Duoduo answered with a radiant smile.
“It’s very simple!”
“First of all, Aunt Xu deliberately came over to share some gossip with me, so it must involve someone I know.”
“And it should be someone connected to me.”
“Besides, among the people I know, only a handful could go to the shaved-ice shop.”
“There’s one last point, and it’s the most important one.” Duoduo deliberately left them hanging and stopped speaking.
Xu Jinxin and Yingniang both gazed at her expectantly.
Duoduo’s eyes curved into crescents as she smiled.
“After hearing about it, Aunt Xu even forgot about something as important as what’s happening at the Li residence today.”
“That means this matter must be extraordinary.”
“Hmm, let me take a wild guess.” Duoduo propped her chin on her hand, her little mind racing.
“Aunt Xu, did Song Shuyu meet someone at the shaved-ice shop?”
“And that person is someone I know too!”
Xu Jinxin froze for a long while before giving Duoduo a thumbs-up.
“Impressive!”
“Duoduo, you’re amazing!”
If Li Jin or Xiao Yi had said those things, Xu Jinxin wouldn’t have found it surprising.
But how old was Duoduo?
In Xu Jinxin’s eyes, Duoduo was still just a child who ought to be in kindergarten!
Yet this little girl’s thoughts were so clear and well-ordered that even Xu Jinxin couldn’t help admiring her.
Duoduo smiled until her eyes curved.
“I told you, it’s because it was written all over your face, Aunt Xu!”
Xu Jinxin grew curious.
“Then take another guess. Who did Commandery Princess Funing meet?”
The smile slowly faded from Duoduo’s face.
Who else could Song Shuyu have met?
The answer was obvious.
It had to be someone from the Song family.
And Duoduo didn’t even need to guess. It was either Song Shuyu’s biological father or her mother.
“Who else could it be?” Duoduo said expressionlessly.
“Madam Song, of course!”
Xu Jinxin was shocked once again.
Suddenly, she recalled what Duoduo had been like when they first met.
Timid, insecure, and hesitant…
Was that child really the same Duoduo as the one standing before her now?
Xu Jinxin couldn’t help wondering.
Could Duoduo have transmigrated here too?
Or perhaps she had been reborn?
Otherwise, how could a child be so freakishly clever?
It was simply unbelievable!
Could someone really change so completely in just over half a year?
Still astonished and suspicious, Xu Jinxin scrutinized Duoduo.
“Duoduo, why did you guess that?”
Duoduo picked at her palm and lowered her eyes.
“A while ago, Song Shuzhou and his father came to the palace to look for me.”
“They said they wanted to pay for my freedom and take me home!”
This was the first time Xu Jinxin had heard about it, and she was astonished.
“What happened next?”
Duoduo raised her eyes, a sly smile dancing in them.
“The first time, they mistook Lüdou for me!”
“So I had them thrown out!”
“The second time, I had Qingliu and Lüdou dress exactly like me.”
“I made them identify their own daughter!”
“In the end, they still took Lüdou home!”
“Bravo!”
Xu Jinxin couldn’t help applauding. When she finished, she gave Duoduo another thumbs-up.
“Duoduo, you’re incredible!”
Duoduo stuck out her tongue.
“My teacher once told me, ‘When someone offers you a favor for no reason, they must have ulterior motives.’”
“If they truly wanted to pay for my freedom, they would have come sooner.”
“Why wait until now? They must have something to gain.”
“Actually, I wanted to see whether they really had me in their hearts.”
Duoduo didn’t dare tell anyone else this.
She was afraid her parents would be hurt if they heard her say it.
But she dared to tell Aunt Xu.
Because Duoduo believed that no matter what she said, Aunt Xu would understand her.
When Xu Jinxin saw Duoduo’s spirits sink, she stroked the girl’s head.
“You did the right thing!”
“No matter how badly they treated you, they were still the people who gave you life.”
“As the sages say, ‘To recognize one’s mistakes and mend one’s ways is the greatest virtue.’”
“However, parents who can’t even recognize their own daughter are hardly worth keeping!”
Hearing Aunt Xu’s comforting words, Duoduo immediately cheered up.
“Exactly! That’s what I think too, Aunt Xu!”
Xu Jinxin affectionately touched her forehead to Duoduo’s.
“Of course. Aunt Xu understands you best!”
After they finished laughing, Duoduo reminded Xu Jinxin, “Aunt Xu, you absolutely mustn’t tell anyone about this!”
“Especially not Father and Mother!”
“If they find out that I think this way, they’ll be terribly hurt!”
Looking at the sensible and obedient Duoduo, Xu Jinxin was deeply moved.
“If they knew, they wouldn’t be hurt.”
“They’d be extremely gratified to know that you’ve grown into such a sensible, good child!”
The fact that Duoduo could think this way only showed how kind her heart was.
If a child whose own biological parents had rejected her for no reason could still remain so forgiving, then she clearly wasn’t cold-hearted.
Otherwise, she would grow up to be an ungrateful wretch.
After hearing Xu Jinxin’s words, Duoduo broke into a brilliant smile.
Yingniang was still completely lost.
“Mother, didn’t you say you were going to share some gossip?”
Xu Jinxin and Duoduo exchanged a glance and smiled.
“That’s right!”
“Come on, let’s talk gossip!”
Gossip was good for both body and mind.
With her eyes shining, Xu Jinxin recounted everything the shop assistant had overheard, telling Duoduo the whole story from beginning to end.
After listening, Duoduo’s eyes flickered.
According to the information Liqing had given her, the Song family’s first branch had failed to complete the Crown Prince’s assignment and had consequently fallen out of favor with him.
Seeing this, the second branch of the Song family immediately found an excuse to drive the first branch out of the residence.
The Crown Prince then sent people to fan the flames and drive them out of the capital.
Unexpectedly, the Song family’s first branch had managed to evade the Crown Prince’s men and return to the capital.
How had they managed to get past the Crown Prince’s people?
Could Father have had a hand in it?
