Chapter 32

Su Ruo held An'an in her arms, covered her ears with her hand, then said: "This little girl, after experiencing yesterday's events, seems to have forgotten many things; I want to ask about her family situation."

Women's Director looked at An'an, her eyes involuntarily filled with a bit more pity: "To say the Xu Family is also pitiful, the Xu couple married for over ten years and had no children; they finally adopted this little girl, and the whole family doted on her as if she were their own flesh and blood."

An'an was also well-behaved and cute; the neighbors all praised her, and it seemed life was about to get back on track, yet unexpectedly she suffered such a great disaster.

When the house collapsed, An'an's grandparents died on the spot; her parents desperately shielded her beneath them, and only then did this child manage to survive by a stroke of luck.

Now, of this family of five, only she remains; who could have imagined that a perfectly fine family would end up like this……」.

As the Women's Director spoke, her eyes reddened; Su Ruo asked somewhat surprised: "Is An'an adopted?"

The Women's Director sniffed, nodded: "En, this child was picked up by the Xu couple when they went to the hospital to see a doctor, at the hospital gate."

It was also fate that this child and the Xu Family were meant to be; that couple had tried for ten years to conceive, but had been ready to give up, yet they found her at the hospital gate, which could be considered heaven's will.

I heard that the Small Blanket wrapped around An'an at the time was of very good quality, and she also had a Small Gold Lock on her; it seems her birth parents' circumstances were not poor, yet I don't know how they could have abandoned the child.

But these are chaotic times, and An'an is a girl—anything could happen; who knows? 」.

"Can An'an's Small Blanket and Golden Lock still be found?"

Intuition told Su Ruo that these two items were important; if An'an had been abandoned under other circumstances back then, these two items would be the key evidence for her later reunion with her birth parents.

"I'm afraid it won't be easy; so much time has passed, who knows whether the Xu couple sold the items, and besides, the Xu Old Residence has completely collapsed, making it probably difficult to search."

"Now everyone is busy rescuing people; when things calm down, I'll have someone go look."

Although the Women's Director said that, Su Ruo knew the hope of retrieving the items was slim.

Moreover, the Golden Lock is so valuable that even if it were truly found, the searcher might not be able to resist greed; still, she nodded and thanked the Women's Director.

Putting the search for the items aside for now, Su Ruo asked again: "Does An'an have any other relatives?"

"An'an still has an aunt, named Xu Honghua." After saying that, the Women's Director's expression became hard to describe.

"That aunt of An'an's! She's not a good one; when she was young, all she wanted was to marry into the city and become a city person."

Later she found a rascal; her family opposed it, but she was determined to marry into the city to eat city grain, and to force her family's agreement she actually got pregnant out of wedlock, her belly enlarged by that rascal.

The elderly Xu couple had no choice but to marry off their daughter.

But after Xu Honghua married into the city, her life was not good; that rascal loafed about all day, wandering the streets aimlessly, and her mother‑in‑law was also difficult to get along with.

After marrying, Xu Honghua gave birth to three daughters in succession, loathed by her in‑laws to the point of death, the household was constant chaos with chickens flying and dogs jumping, and there was not a single peaceful day.

The rascal earned no money, Xu Honghua almost every month returned to her natal home to mooch off her parents; fortunately An'an's parents were honest and easy‑going, otherwise this family would not have known how to cause trouble.

Even so, Xu Honghua was still unsatisfied; in short, raising An'an this little girl is useless; it would be better to keep the family's money for her own daughters, at least they are her own blood.

The Women's Director's expression grew increasingly grim; she knew that given Xu Honghua's in‑laws' situation, giving An'an to her would be tantamount to pushing the child into a fire pit.

Moreover, even if she were willing to give, Xu Honghua probably would not be willing to take her in.

After all, after the Xu Family met with disaster, they had sent a message to Xu Honghua, but the messenger has not returned to this day, showing her attitude.

You say Xu Honghua has no feeling for An'an; indeed, even though her birth parents died, she didn't come back to take a look—truly heartless.

Not wanting to mention Xu Honghua any further, the Women's Director also began to worry about An'an's placement.

If An'an were a boy, it would still be fine; families in the village without children would generally be willing to take one in, but unfortunately she is a girl.

If it really cannot be done, the only option would be to send her to an orphanage.

In these times, sending someone to an orphanage is known to be unpleasant, but there is no alternative.

After the Women's Director finished speaking, she left; she still had many matters to attend to.

Su Ruo looked at An'an, her brow involuntarily furrowed; she knew how difficult it is for a helpless little girl to live in this world.

An'an did not know whether it was the influence of the surrounding atmosphere, but she grew increasingly uneasy, clutching Su Ruo's clothes with greater force.

Su Ruo rubbed An'an's head; she didn't know how to handle children, nor how to comfort An'an.

At that moment, a wounded person was brought over; the wounded person's leg had been cut with a large gash and was still bleeding.

Su Ruo hurriedly had the wounded person carried into the small partition, preparing to suture the wound.

Li Zhaodi saw this and quickly came in, saying: "An'an, Mom needs to treat the patient; shall we go out first?"

An'an shook her head vigorously: "I don't want to; I just want Mom!"

Upon hearing the sound, Su Ruo turned back and realized that An'an had been following her all along.

She patiently urged: "First go out with your sister; Mom will come find you later, okay?"

Who would have thought An'an would shake her head desperately, big tears dropping down: "I don't want to; I don't want to leave Mom……"

The situation was urgent; Su Ruo had no time to soothe the child, she sank her face and said: "Take her out!"

Upon hearing that, Li Zhaodi no longer paid attention to An'an's resistance, picked her up and walked out.

An'an struggled desperately in Li Zhaodi's arms, but as a small child she could not overpower an adult, and Li Zhaodi carried her out.

But as Li Zhaodi moved, An'an, who had never cried before, suddenly burst into heart‑rending sobs; even when Li Zhaodi carried An'an into the Courtyard, the sound remained clearly audible.

Su Ruo, vexed and distracted by the crying, finally could not hold out, and told Li Zhaodi: "Bring her back in!"

"But……" Li Zhaodi hesitated a little, but seeing An'an's little face flushed red from crying, she also felt distressed; moreover, she feared that if An'an kept crying like this she might faint later.

In the end, with no alternative, Li Zhaodi gritted her teeth and brought An'an back.

Upon seeing Su Ruo, An'an immediately stopped crying, only her little nose twitching as she kept hiccuping; she looked so pitiable that Su Ruo felt helpless, indeed both annoyed and amused.

"If she gets scared later, you can take her out again."

Su Ruo gave that instruction, then paid no more attention to Li Zhaodi and An'an, and began to focus on preparing the surgery.

Su Ruo originally thought that as soon as she began, she would frighten An'an into running away; after all, when Gou Dan'er and Chou Zi, two big men, first saw her perform surgery, they were so scared they went straight outside to vomit.

It would be strange if a little child like An'an weren't afraid.

But when Su Ruo finished the surgery, turned around and looked back, she discovered An'an sitting quietly on a small stool, gazing at her.

Su Ruo was instantly startled; knowing that this surgery had taken two or three hours, had this child really been staying here keeping her company the whole time?

She could hardly imagine that a five‑ or six‑year‑old child could sit in one place for several hours without crying or fussing.

Of course, what shocked Su Ruo even more was not An'an's composure, but that in such a bloody scene, An'an was actually not afraid?

Thinking this, Su Ruo walked up to An'an, she crouched down, looking into An'an's eyes and asked: "An'an, aren't you afraid of Mom's surgery?"

An'an stretched out her little hand, touched Su Ruo's face, and said: "Mom is saving people, An'an isn't afraid!"

Su Ruo's heart was instantly overcome by tumultuous waves; she felt that if this child grew up and studied medicine, relying solely on this disposition, they would surely achieve something.

I'm going live on the shelves! Starting tomorrow, I'll be making money; I hope that in 2023 my new book becomes a hit and I get rich overnight.

I also hope that the little cuties who see the book will be happy every day, smooth sailing, and blessed by the God of Wealth...