CHAPTER 298: CHAPTER 295: NAMING THE CHILDREN

"Let me see, let me have a look too!" Lin Wanwan was holding the little baby, and Qingyu rushed over in a hurry, stretching her neck to see, "Wow, he’s so small. Is he a little brother?"

"Yes, you were just as small when you were little. Isn’t that interesting?" Lin Wanwan said with a smile.

Qingyu couldn’t believe her ears and confirmed repeatedly, "Really, was I really as small as him when I was a baby? How small was I then?"

Lin Wanwan laughed and replied, "You were just as small as the little brother when you were just born."

Qingyu looked at the baby, then at Lin Wanwan, utterly bewildered.

Everyone in the room was amused by Qingyu’s expression. After chatting around the baby for a while, Lin Wanwan returned the baby to Lin Juhua and asked if they had named him.

"Not yet, we aren’t very literate, and we’re wondering if cousin Wanwan can give him a name?" Lin Juhua spoke shyly.

Lin Wanwan hadn’t expected this request from them. She thought for a moment, then agreed and asked Xu Dada, "Your surname is Xu, right? Does your clan have any generational names?"

Xu Dada scratched his head with a silly grin and said, "We’re just folks from a poor mountain valley, never had much education, can’t even recognize a big character, and for generations, we’ve been hunters and farmers, no one used generational names. They’d just pick random lowly names. This boy’s life was saved by Village Lady, so we trouble the Village Lady to randomly give him a name, to let him remember this life-saving grace."

Lin Wanwan said with a gentle smile, "As a physician, one is like a parent. Juhua is part of my clan, saving her is both a duty of a doctor and something I should do as a clan elder sister. No need to worry. Let’s see, I’ll give him the school name Xu Qian’an, wishing him a lifetime of peace and joy. How about that?"

Lin Juhua and Xu Dada exchanged a glance and then both knelt down: "Thank you, cousin/Village Lady, for giving the name!"

Their daughter saw both parents kneeling, and she quickly followed suit.

"Get up quickly, come over here to auntie, I have some delicious treats."

Lin Wanwan smiled gently, looking at the thin little girl with pity in her eyes.

This child’s hair was dry and yellow, her face was sallow and skinny, clearly underclothed and underfed, more so than even the little maid Rongrong had been, but those bright eyes were just like Lin Juhua’s, unafraid to meet others’ gaze.

The people of Lin Family Manor mostly had big eyes.

The little girl’s clothes were very old and washed until pale, obviously made from altered adult clothes, although without patches. Since she wore them as a guest, it must have been her best outfit.

Looking at her face and fingers, they were clean and tidy, unlike ordinary farm children, who were often dirty.

When Lin Wanwan first came to Lin Family Manor, eight out of ten kids had blackened hands with dirt embedded in their long and dirty nails.

It seems that although the Xu family is poor, the young couple does not mistreat their daughter. Just from her clean hands, you can tell. Although her face was sallow and skinny, it might just be that the family is truly poor. Probably everyone, young and old, is underclothed and underfed.

The little girl saw Lin Wanwan reaching out to her, hesitated, and looked back at her mother. Lin Juhua smiled and gently pushed her forward with one hand, saying, "Big niece, cousin Wanwan is calling you, go, let your cousin have a good look at you."

Upon hearing this, the little girl finally got up, slowly moving in front of Lin Wanwan, her small face frequently turning toward Lin Juhua.

Lin Wanwan picked up a handful of candied fruit from the small tray brought by Hong Yan and placed it in her little hand, saying, "Here, have some candied fruit; it’s new, made by your Aunt Hua Nong, sweet and sour, very tasty. Try it."

The little girl first looked at Lin Juhua, who nodded lightly. Only then did she take the candied fruit, and instead of eating it, she carefully held it like a treasure.

Qingyu was quick to take a piece of candied fruit from the bowl and pop it into the little girl’s mouth, saying in a clear child’s voice, "Sister, eat this, it’s delicious."

Lin Wanwan said to Qingyu, "Little Yuer, take your sister to play in your playroom. Mama will talk to Auntie Juhua and Uncle."

Qingyu had long grown impatient in the room; upon hearing this, she stood up immediately, pulling the little girl along, "Sister, come, I’ll show you my dolls and toy house."

As the little girl looked back at her mother, guarding her candied fruit, she stumbled after Qingyu. Yun Shang and little maid Rongrong softly got up, bowed, and followed along.

Lin Wanwan watched with a smile as Qingyu led them into the playroom filled with toys in the back left. Then she said, "Now you have both a son and a daughter; it’s enviable. Right, how old is the little girl, does she have a name?"

Lin Juhua replied, "Country girls don’t get names. At home, she’s the oldest, so we just call her Big Niece."

Lin Wanwan pondered and said, "No name, eh? Since I named her brother, how about I name her too? This child’s eyes are beautiful. I liked them at first glance."

Lin Juhua was delighted upon hearing this: "If cousin is willing to name her, that’s wonderful."

"Yes, yes." Xu Dada agreed foolishly.

Lin Wanwan was straightforward, thinking for a moment, she said, "The little girl’s eyes are clear and captivating, like a lotus emerging from the water. How about we call her Xu Fu?"

The couple knelt to thank her again, and Lin Wanwan quickly helped them up: "Please don’t kneel, what’s all this ceremony for? I don’t like these formalities."

As they talked, movement came from the basket at the door. Lin Wanwan looked over, and Xu Dada explained, "I caught a lost little black muntjac while hunting in the mountains a few days ago. I brought it here for the young lady to play with."

"A black muntjac?" Lin Wanwan quickly recalled, thinking it must be a protected species, though unsure of its protection level. She gestured for Hong Yan to bring the basket over.

As expected, inside the basket was a little brown creature, not quite a deer, with big round eyes full of fear, emotions distinctly showing, and pale yellow circular spots on its body.

So cute!

Lin Wanwan’s heart melted right away. This timid little animal was so endearing, instantly arousing her protective instincts. She reached into the basket and untied the hemp rope binding its limbs, then took it out, feeling its little body trembling in her hands —such a timid creature.

Lin Wanwan laughed, looking up to Hua Nong: "Go pick some tender leaves to feed this little one."

"Okay!" Hua Nong responded and left.

Since Qingyu raised an animal army at home, the backyard was not planted with flowers but filled with food for their herbivorous little animals.