The day before, he told Song Lan that they were both brave children, and asked Song Lan to bring him cookies the next day.
When they met again, the little brat cried his eyes out.
She ran this way, crying, "My star mommy is gone! I don't have a mommy anymore! What should I do? My star mommy is gone..."
He's still young and his speech isn't very clear to begin with. When he gets anxious and cries, his speech becomes even more unclear.
What Song Lan heard was. "!@#￥%...&&*"
Seeing the little boy crying and stumbling, Song Lan took a few steps forward, picked him up, and asked, "What's wrong?"
Jiang Mingxi cried and hiccuped, repeating the words seven or eight times before Song Lan finally understood him through his snot-bubbly sobs. "Mommy's lost, gone! I don't have any stars anymore!"
Was that stone lost?
Song Lan hugged him and coaxed him, "Stand here and don't move, I'll go find you another one."
Jiang Mingxi cried, kicking her legs wildly, her face filled with angry despair. "That's different! Each child only has one mother! Waaaaah, my mother is lost! Lost!"
Song Lan tried to comfort him, "She's not lost, she's really not lost, your mother..." After a long pause, she finally managed to say, "Your mother must have gone to the river to bathe. I'll go to the river and retrieve her for you."
Jiang Mingxi blinked, hiccuped, stopped crying, and looked at Song Lan with her round eyes, sniffling, "Really?"
Song Lan immediately assured her, "Really."
After saying that, she picked up the child and walked towards the river.
He was left by the river, and Song Lan took off his shoes and went into the river to look for him.
After searching for a while, Song Lan found a smooth, round little stone and immediately presented it to Jiang Mingxi. But before he could even speak, Jiang Mingxi slapped the stone away from his hand. "Not this one! My star mom has stripes on it, this one doesn't!"
Song Lan turned around and went to look for it again.
After searching for a while, I found another piece. "What about this one?"
Jiang Mingxi shook her head decisively, "That's not it either. My star mom has a tiny dent on it, tiny!"
Song Lan could only turn around and look for it again.
They searched in the river for almost three hours but couldn't find a single piece. Jiang Mingxi nodded and said yes.
Exhausted, Song Lan plopped down on the riverbank. She wanted to say, "No two stones are exactly alike," but looking at the little boy's pitiful eyes, she sighed, pinched his cheek, and said, "Don't cry, brother will help you find some more later. Are you thirsty? Do you want some water?"
Jiang Mingxi pouted her little mouth, pouted, pouted... "Wah!" and burst into tears.
Is my mother really missing?
Song Lan quickly got up, knelt on the ground to wipe away his tears, and comforted him.
But Jiang Mingxi was crying so hard she couldn't catch her breath, and nothing could soothe her.
Not far away.
Every time Jiang Mingxi "sneaks out," A-Wang would quietly follow behind him. Since he was only out for about ten minutes, A-Wang treated it as a chance to get some fresh air.
Behind A-Wang, there will be a teacher from the orphanage quietly watching over them, just making sure the two children don't get into any trouble.
The new child may have been traumatized before arriving, making him highly sensitive, prone to crying, and extremely insecure. The orphanage staff are at their wits' end, unsure how to comfort him.
He finally managed to "sneak out" these past few days and managed to calm himself down. Every day when he returns to the orphanage, he eats and sleeps obediently. The teachers are happy with this outcome.
Why are you crying like this again?
Fearing that Jiang Mingxi would cry herself hoarse, the teacher couldn't help but step forward.
Suddenly she stopped crying.
Riverside.
Song Lan was at her wit's end trying to coax the child. Having run out of ideas, Song Lan said to the child, "Okay, I promise I'll find you a mother. If I can't, I'll be your mother, okay?"
Jiang Mingxi's wailing stopped abruptly.
She looked at the older boy in front of her with a puzzled expression, then wiped the snot that was about to drip into her mouth with her sleeve. "You're going to be my mom?"
Song Lan nodded emphatically, "Yes, I'll be your mother."
Jiang Mingxi pouted, hesitated for a moment, then suddenly rushed towards Song Lan, crying, "Mommy!"
He raised his hand, his chubby little arms wrapping around her neck.
"Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!"
Song Lan was nearly knocked backward by his sudden lunge, but she managed to brace herself with her hands and quickly caught him, saying, "Mmm."
Jiang Mingxi wiped her nose on Song Lan's clothes, giggling, tears still clinging to her cheeks. She held Song Lan's face in her hands, her voice still childish, "Mommy!"
From that day on, every day when Jiang Mingxi went to the riverbank to look for Song Lan, she would call out "Mom."
Song Lan's purple clay pottery project was thus postponed time and time again.
After all, he's not alone anymore, so he can't just die easily. If he dies, this child will cry his heart out.
Sigh~
What a burden!
"Based on Xiaoxi's accent and his description of his home environment, I found a neighborhood in Yun City that fits the description quite well. I'll take him there today, just in case we can find his family."
Since Jiang Mingxi came to the orphanage, he has insisted that his parents are still alive, that he has an older brother, that there is a cook, a driver, a beautiful garden, and a butler who carries him around... The orphanage director has been searching for a place that matches Jiang Mingxi's description.
The children in the orphanage suffer.
As long as there's a glimmer of hope, as the dean, she'll still take the child and give it a try.
What if!
She didn't want to leave any child with even the slightest regret or missed opportunity.
Early in the morning, Jiang Mingxi, clutching his tattered doll, climbed into the director's car.
As Jiang Mingxi's roommate, A-Wang used the excuse of taking care of his younger brother to get on the bus as well.
Hehe~
It's been so long since I've gone on a long trip!
"Brother A-Wang! I'm about to find my mother!"
"Brother A-Wang, my brother is so nice!"
"Brother A-Wang, wait for me to give you some osmanthus cake. My family's osmanthus cake is so delicious!"
"Oh dear, I forgot to tell the mother by the river that when I find my mother, I'll take him with me. He doesn't have a mother, so I'll give him my mother."
"Brother A-Wang, rub my leg, I hurt it!"
Sitting in the back seat of the car, Jiang Mingxi kept laughing, talking, and moving around excitedly.
A-Wang was so annoyed he wanted to give the child a good beating, but the headmistress was in the car, so he couldn't hit the kid. He could only massage the child's legs despite his frustration.
The car sped from Rongcheng to Yun City, arriving at the residential area that the director's mother had found.
It's a villa.
As soon as they arrived at the villa's gate, Jiang Mingxi clapped her hands excitedly, "Jiajia! It's Xiaoxi Jiajia! Mommy's here! Mommy's here!"
Everyone in the car breathed a sigh of relief at Jiang Mingxi's reaction.
This is the right choice.
The headmistress smiled and asked him, " Xiaoxi, do you remember how to get to each house?"
Jiang Mingxi hugged his tattered rag doll and nodded, "I remember!"