Sweet Girl rembered how Gu Jiaojiao had been disgusted by her dirty hands touching her money, so she imdiately struggled to get up.
Gu Jiaojiao noticed Sweet Girl staring at her, wide-eyed, her face a mask of caution and unease. She couldn’t help but soften her voice.
"Don’t move. You just fell in the water, so you’re very weak. I’m going to carry you ho now, so don’t be afraid!"
Sweet Girl wondered if sothing was wrong with her ears. ’Otherwise, why would Gu Jiaojiao be speaking to so gently?’
Especially the look in her eyes—it was full of gentleness, without the slightest hint of disgust.
Sweet Girl looked at the coat wrapped around her. She could tell at a glance that it was expensive; it didn’t have a single patch and looked brand new.
She was a little afraid. "Big Sister, I’m dirty. I’ll get your coat dirty."
Gu Jiaojiao looked at Sweet Girl with compassion. "It’s alright. If it gets dirty, we can just wash it. You just fell in the water and can’t afford to catch a chill, or you’ll get sick."
’Getting sick in tis like these could be a death sentence.’
Sweet Girl froze.
Her gaze fell to the sweat beading on Gu Jiaojiao’s forehead. She pursed her lips, an indescribable emotion welling up inside her.
’Ever since her parents passed away, no one had cared about her.’
’Sure, an auntie in the village might occasionally take pity on her and her brother when they had no food, giving them a stead bun or a handful of greens, but no one had ever held her.’
Sweet Girl thought this embrace was so warm, just like when her mother used to hold her, making her want to snuggle in even closer.
With this thought, Sweet Girl snuggled a little deeper into Gu Jiaojiao’s embrace.
Gu Jiaojiao soon arrived ho with Sweet Girl in her arms.
Once inside, she set Sweet Girl down on the bed, but the little girl took one look at the clean, soft quilt and imdiately struggled to get off.
"Sweet Girl, get onto the bed."
But this ti, Sweet Girl was adamant. "No, I can’t. I’ll get it dirty."
Gu Jiaojiao tried to explain, but Sweet Girl was firm. "I’m dirty anyway, so I’ll just stand on the floor!"
Resigned, Gu Jiaojiao could only let Sweet Girl stand on the floor, still wrapped in her coat.
She had Chen Erniu help her boil so water, into which she sliced so ginger. She also made a hot drink with brown sugar and ginger.
In a rural village, this was considered a luxury.
Sweet Girl refused to drink it, and in the end, Gu Jiaojiao had to make her drink it down.
After a cup of the hot, sweet ginger drink, so color finally returned to Sweet Girl’s pale face.
Gu Jiaojiao told Sweet Girl to take a bath.
She even gave Sweet Girl the bath soap she had made herself.
While she waited, Gu Jiaojiao opened her wardrobe, looking for sothing for Sweet Girl to wear.
After searching for a long ti, she couldn’t find anything suitable.
All of her clothes were much too large.
Just then, Chen Erniu spoke up.
"Sister-in-law, I have so of my old, smaller clothes at ho. Sweet Girl should be able to wear them. I’ll go get them for her."
And with that, she ran off.
Gu Jiaojiao didn’t even have ti to stop her.
’In tis like these, every scrap of cloth was incredibly important. When an adult’s clothes got torn, they’d cut a piece from the smaller garnts to patch it up.’
’Gu Jiaojiao had decided to help Sweet Girl on her own; it wasn’t right to trouble Chen Erniu for clothes.’
But Chen Erniu had run off too quickly.
When Gu Jiaojiao walked into the inner room, she found Sweet Girl still standing in place, not having taken a bath.
She couldn’t help but ask.
"Sweet Girl, what’s wrong?"
Sweet Girl glanced at Gu Jiaojiao, then hung her head low.
"I can just go ho and wash up. I’m too dirty."
Hearing this, Gu Jiaojiao knew. ’The words my predecessor spoke must have deeply hurt Sweet Girl.’
She knelt, bringing herself eye-to-eye with Sweet Girl.
"Sweet Girl, I did sothing wrong before, and I want to apologize."
"When you found my money last ti and returned it to , that was an amazing thing to do. I should have thanked you, but I was in a bad mood that day and said so awful things to you. I need to give you a proper apology."
"Sweet Girl, I’m so sorry."
"Besides, you’re not dirty at all. You’re very cute and very pretty. Last ti was all my fault."
Hearing this, Sweet Girl’s eyes couldn’t help but well up with tears.
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