After Mr. Qi Sr.'s long speech, Mrs. Qi's melancholy vanished instantly, and she laughed repeatedly, saying, "Yes, yes, that's exactly how it is! Your mother-in-law's distant relatives couldn't manage, so they passed the child on to you. Remember?"
"Mom, what if this child accidentally belongs to someone else? Wouldn't they be very anxious?"
Yi Meng felt relieved not mentioning the lost child, but thinking of just picking up a child to be a daughter, she felt it was too casual.
She also liked this chubby little baby, but being a mother herself, she thought if her child was lost, her heart would ache terribly.
Mrs. Qi thought for a moment: "That's true. But it doesn't matter, this child doesn't remember to whom she belongs now, so let's keep her in our family for the time being. Tomorrow morning, you should go to the county and inquire whether any child is missing."
"We'll inquire for three days, and if there's no news at all, it means this child is meant to be our family's child."
Mrs. Qi made the final decision.
Qi Quanjin and Yi Meng exchanged glances, knowing this was the best solution for now.
Just then, Mr. Qi Sr. suddenly exclaimed, "Oh, she's waking up!"
The other three quickly looked towards the bed, seeing the little baby, who had been sleeping sweetly, blinking her dazed eyes at them.
Seeing Mrs. Qi, the baby's eyes suddenly brightened, her little mouth opened, and she sweetly called out, "Grandma!"
"Oh, my sweet little treasure!"
Mrs. Qi's heart instantly melted, and she quickly scooped the little one into her arms, giving a smooch on her chubby cheek.
The little one hugged Mrs. Qi's neck, mimicking her and giving a smooch on Mrs. Qi's face.
This scene made the other three a bit jealous.
Round and chubby granddaughter, I want to hold her too.
Soft little daughter, I want to hold her too.
Mrs. Qi cuddled the little one lovingly and then softly asked, "Little girl, do you really not remember who you are?"
"Grandma, I am your granddaughter!"
The little one said crisply, with such certainty that you'd think she really was a Qi Family child.
Mrs. Qi's heart melted again: "Alright, alright, you are grandma's granddaughter. But you can't remember your name, so let grandma give you a new one, okay?"
With her head tilted, the little one tapped her chubby finger on her chin before replying: "Okay, but grandma, can you give me a nice name? I don't want flowery or grassy names, they don't sound good."
Not knowing why she disliked flowery or grassy names, she just didn't like them from the bottom of her heart.
"Tsk, tsk, you have requests already!"
Mrs. Qi tapped the little one's nose and smiled, "Alright then, I'll name you Manman, meaning full of blessings, wealth, and longevity. How about it?"
"Qi Manman? That's a nice name!"
Mr. Qi Sr. smacked his lips: "Wife, from now on, our grandchildren's names are for you to decide! Your names sound better than mine."
"Dream on! I'm only naming the soft granddaughter, those noisy boys can be called whatever, even poop or pee, it has nothing to do with me!"
Mrs. Qi rolled her eyes at her old man and then smiled at the little baby in her arms: "You'll be Qi Manman, our family's Manbao, okay?"
"Okay!"
Qi Manman repeated her new name, nodding happily.
...
At dawn, Qi Quanjin went to the county.
Although he wanted a soft little daughter, he didn't want to pretend to sell sheep and sell dog meat.
Earnestly inquiring around the county for three days, revisiting the place where Manbao was found several times but found no clues or news.
Upon hearing this news, Mrs. Qi was so overjoyed she wanted to beat gongs and drums to announce to the entire village that their family had gained a new milk-scented little granddaughter.
No one in the family found it bad; instead, they all looked at the fourth house with envy.
"Fourth sister-in-law is really fortunate! She just went to Prefecture City with the fourth brother, and a relative actively sent them a daughter, and such a lovable little girl at that."
In the second brother's room, Qu Laodi kicked her husband beside her, scolding, "How come I don't have such kind-hearted distant relatives? If Manbao was my daughter, wouldn't mom be more partial to our family?"
"Your family doesn't have such distant relatives, go ask your parents, why are you kicking me?"
Qi Ercai grumpily pulled the quilt away, moving to the side.
He was upset too!
Why does fourth sister-in-law have such luck and his wife doesn't? If there were such good relatives to give a daughter, he'd even bow his head in gratitude!
Qu Laodi was also upset, wrapping the quilt around herself.
But being upset was useless.
Not to mention her family having no such relatives, even if they did, she wouldn't dare bring someone else's daughter back.
The old lady said Manbao was sent by heaven, if it were someone else's daughter, not only would they not adopt her, they'd also give her, as a daughter-in-law, a thorough scolding.
Lying beside her new mother, swinging her little feet, Qi Manman didn't know her new second uncle and second aunt almost quarreled because of her.
She was currently gazing with bright eyes at her new mom: "Mom, are these clothes made for me?"
"Yes, they're for you. Your grandma said all your clothes would be replaced with new ones from top to bottom, are you happy?"
Yi Meng smiled dotingly, scraping her head with a needle, and continued, "Manbao, listen, if anyone asks where you're from, say you're Dad's daughter adopted for Mom, okay?"
"Uh-huh, I know!"
Qi Manman nodded vigorously: "Mom, now you are my mom, I will work hard to grow up and earn money to let you live in a big house!"
"Okay, then Mom will wait for Manbao to let Mom live in a big house."
Yi Meng's smile grew more gentle.
Having a daughter is nice, she knows to earn money for her mom, who has just officially become her mom for a day, to live in a big house.
Looking at her husband's other side, the three boys, Yi Meng thought those noisy boys were truly annoying.
The three brothers, sleeping soundly, completely unaware their mother was now finding them tiresome.
They were busy the past three days.
With a new sister suddenly, they were so excited, they picked wildflowers on the mountains to braid a wreath for their sister in the morning.
By afternoon, they were at the river fishing and catching shrimp, just wanting to let the sister, who was hard to come by, taste some good food.
After eating the good food, the sister wouldn't want to leave the Qi Family and rush off to be someone else's sister.