Chapter 6: Parental Affection

Xiao Min cautiously glanced at the crowd outside the courtyard, who had already scattered like birds and beasts. She turned to look at the crude wooden hut, a thousand thoughts swirling in her mind.

Could it be that there were ghosts and spirits here? Or perhaps some great villain lived within? After turning the matter over in her mind a hundred times, she found herself standing close to the hut before she even realized it.

Xiao Min took a deep breath. Even if she encountered some ghost or monster, it would still be better than meeting that group of vicious brutes—not only would they gouge out her eyes, but they would also break her legs. They wouldn't even let her live.

With her heart in turmoil, she stood there frozen, when suddenly a "gurgling" sound rang out. Startled by her own heightened state of alertness, she jumped!

"Min'er, Min'er, are you here? You’ve made Mother search so hard!" A familiar voice suddenly sounded from behind her.

Xiao Min turned around and saw the middle-aged woman who had been calling her name ever since she woke up.

Looking at the woman before her, she wore simple clothing, yet it could not hide the air of nobility about her. Though she wore no rouge, her skin looked smooth, bright, and so supple that one felt like taking a bite just by looking at it.

She harbored some guesses about the woman's identity.

She never expected the woman to ignore her disheveled and dirty state, pulling her directly into an embrace. "My Min'er, my poor Min'er!" the woman cried, her voice filled with agitation, but even more so with profound sorrow.

Xiao Min never imagined that this seemingly delicate woman could be so fierce.

Before she could react, the woman had already pulled her into the hut. Stunned, Xiao Min watched as the woman stared at her with a pained expression, saying many things she couldn't understand, her face streaming with tears...

A few days later.

Xiao Min finally understood a few things from the woman.

It turned out that this woman seemed to have suffered some trauma; she kept calling her "daughter" because she had once lost her own.

Xiao Min sighed inwardly. Though she was suspicious, she couldn't bear to expose the truth.

Besides, her current situation didn't allow her to refuse this "mother."

Thinking this, she shook her head helplessly and glanced toward the courtyard gate again.

She calculated in her heart: although the woman before her wasn't quite right in the head, the fact that she had her own private courtyard in this large estate—and that even those arrogant siblings from the other day dared not provoke her—meant she was definitely no ordinary person.

If she could just lean on this big tree and live a leisurely life as a parasite, that would be just fine!

The more she thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. Looking at the woman who was constantly hovering around her, the smile that bloomed on Xiao Min's face was as sweet as could be. It didn't look like a pretense at all.

The woman possessed some unknown ability; in the blink of an eye, she had filled the simple wooden table with pastries.

Xiao Min, who was already starving, didn't care about her image. She grabbed an unknown pastry with one hand and stuffed it into her mouth, choking so hard she rolled her eyes.

Just like that, Xiao Min ate and drank well in the woman's hut, gradually realizing that she had truly, in a cliché fashion, transmigrated. When she asked the woman questions about this era, the woman seemed unable to answer anything.

Her once dirty body had also been carefully cleaned by the woman.

In this way, the two got along quite harmoniously. The woman’s courtyard had no maids or servants; these days, food was brought by servants who stood at the gate waiting for the woman to collect it. Seeing the trembling expressions of those people when they looked at the woman, it was clear she held quite a bit of prestige in this household.

Xiao Min pondered to herself. Although she understood the principle of "when in Rome, do as the Romans do," and she had no one to miss from her previous life, not understanding the situation was not a long-term solution.

One day, Xiao Min and her "mother" were taking a nap in the hut when voices suddenly came from outside the courtyard.

Xiao Min was about to get up, but the woman beside her pulled her back, looking at her with a pained expression, signaling her not to move.

Xiao Min looked at the woman's sincere face and suddenly felt a sense of closeness—perhaps because she had never felt a mother's care in her previous life, or perhaps she was simply moved.

Just then, the woman rose and headed toward the door. Xiao Min did a kip-up and tiptoed toward the door. Listening to the voices, she realized there were quite a few people. Peeking through a crack in the door, she was shocked!

It was the young lady from the other day who had wanted to gouge out her eyes at the slightest provocation. Beside her stood a woman who looked dignified and generous, meticulously dressed, with a rosy complexion.

It was the "First Madam" the servants had spoken of!

At this moment, she wore a bright red silk robe that set off her well-maintained skin, carrying an air of nobility. Compared to her own "mother" in simple plain clothes, they looked like people from two different worlds.

However—both had their own merits. While their beauty was on par, the natural, innate nobility of her mother was something this woman could never achieve through mere cultivation.

A group like this coming here surely meant no good! Could it be that they wouldn't stop until they gouged out her eyes?

She saw the woman in the red robe look at her "mother," the smile already on her face deepening, as if she were very close to her "mother."

She stepped forward affectionately and took her arm. Although the smile didn't reach her eyes, the surrounding servants couldn't help but admire the First Madam's magnanimity.

"Sister, how have you been lately?" Her face was full of smiles, yet her eyes were like bottomless pools of dark water! She looked at the woman before her with sincere-looking eyes, seemingly filled with genuine concern.

"Get out—all of you, get out!" However, it seemed her "mother" didn't buy it. Her voice was violent, and she didn't even put the woman in the red robe in her eyes.

It was clear at a glance that the woman in red was a master at killing without drawing blood. Just as Xiao Min was worrying for her "mother," she didn't expect her to glare at the woman in red with such clarity of mind.

This was perhaps the meaning of "if the conversation is not agreeable, three sentences are too many," Xiao Min sighed inwardly.

However, the violent tone caused the woman in red, who was used to being flattered and pampered, to pause. Her expression turned somewhat ugly, but she did not lash out at the woman in plain clothes before her!

Her heaving chest showed the anger in her heart, yet she still kept a warm smile on her face, about to say something.

"Hmph, a crazy woman, how dare you speak to my mother like that!" Xiao Ruoxue, standing to the side, had never seen her mother suffer such indignity.

Moreover, she had always lived a life where she was the center of attention. Unable to hold back any longer, she ignored her mother's usual teachings and shouted angrily.

Xiao Min looked at the arrogant girl, then worriedly at her calm "mother." What if they bullied them with numbers?

Although her "mother" wasn't wearing the fine silks and satins they were, she couldn't hide her imposing aura. For a moment, she didn't seem to be at a disadvantage at all.