Free Web NovelChapter 95: Chapter 95: Touched
Tears streamed silently down Su Li’s face, and her hands, holding Little Tang Mo, trembled slightly.
"Mama?" Little Tang Mo called out, sensing something was wrong.
"Yes," Su Li replied, closing her eyes for a moment to steady her voice.
"What’s wrong?" Little Tang Mo asked cautiously, trying to push away from her to see her face.
Su Li held him tight to keep him from moving and wiped away her tears. "It’s nothing. I’m just so happy. Thank you, Little Mo. I’ll be sure to enjoy them."
"You’re welcome." Little Tang Mo suddenly became shy and leaned against Su Li with a bashful smile. "From now on, whenever I have something good to eat, I’ll save it for Mama."
Su Li blinked, forcing back the tears that welled up again. "Thank you, Little Mo, but you don’t have to do that."
She let go of Little Tang Mo and placed her hands on his small shoulders. "I get to eat things like this often, so you don’t need to save them especially for me, Little Mo."
"Mama always buys me tasty things and saves good food for me, so I want to save some for Mama too," Little Tang Mo said softly, pursing his lips.
He thought for a moment before adding, "Mama is good to me, so I have to be good to Mama too." ’He and his father had already agreed on this.’
’Mama is good to me, so I have to be good to Mama too.’
The simpler and purer the words, the more moving they were.
Initially, Su Li’s kindness toward Little Tang Mo was largely because of her past life.
She never expected to receive such a precious reward in return.
’You’re good to me, so I have to be good to you.’
’Tang Mo, it turns out that no matter if it was the last life or this one, whether you were the one who had suffered so much or the one who is so innocent now, you have always been so kind and wonderful.’
How could Su Li not be good to him, an angel sent from heaven?
The image of the earnest Little Tang Mo before her merged with the young man from the future, the one with a cool gaze who had said he believed in her. The feeling made Su Li’s nose tingle fiercely.
’Little Tang Mo, you treat me so well, and I will not let you down.’
’I promise, from now on, I will also do everything in my power to be good to you.’
Su Li vowed silently, ruffling Little Tang Mo’s hair. "Little Mo is such a good boy."
A boy like Little Tang Mo could melt even the hardest of hearts. How could Su Li possibly bring herself to say the word ’leave’?
Su Li and Little Tang Mo shared a few peanuts, split a piece of slightly dry sugarcane, and then each had a piece of fruit candy.
By the time they were done, dinner was ready.
After dinner, Su Li looked at her foot, found some white liquor, lit it, and massaged the injury.
"Mama, does it hurt?"
Little Tang Mo, who had been fraught with worry ever since seeing Su Li’s foot, crouched beside her and asked for the nth time, his little face scrunched up into a knot.
"It doesn’t hurt. I’m fine," Su Li answered for the nth time.
Su Li herself was fine after the massage, but it was Little Tang Mo who let out a huge sigh of relief.
"Little Mo." Su Li couldn’t help but laugh as she looked at him, poking his head gently. "How can you be so cute?"
"Mama is cute too," Little Tang Mo said shyly. ƒreewebηoveℓ.com
"PFFT..." Su Li burst into laughter. "Come on, let’s go to bed."
Once in the side room, the moment he lay down on the bed, Little Tang Mo let out a satisfied sigh like a little adult.
"I’m blowing out the lamp," Su Li said. She blew out the kerosene lamp and got into bed. Little Tang Mo’s small, warm body immediately snuggled close, and he took her hand.
"Mama..." he called out, his voice full of joy. "This is so nice... Mama."
"Go to sleep now," Su Li said, stroking his head.
"Mhm," Little Tang Mo agreed, finally falling silent.
But for the first time, he didn’t listen. After closing his eyes for a moment, he secretly opened them again, blinking as he watched Su Li in the darkness.
Su Li lay with her eyes closed for a moment, but she suddenly sensed something was off. In the faint moonlight filtering through the darkness, she reached a hand toward Little Tang Mo’s eyes.
Little Tang Mo let out a soft gasp and blinked hard twice. His eyelashes brushed against Su Li’s palm, tickling her.
"You little rascal. Still not asleep."
"I’m going to sleep now," Little Tang Mo said, dutifully closing his eyes. "I just wanted to look at Mama a little longer..."
This time, Little Tang Mo finally fell asleep for real. Only after confirming he was sound asleep did Su Li drift off as well.
After the sun rose the next morning, Little Tang Mo was still asleep, so Su Li got up first.
But when Little Tang Mo woke up and didn’t see Su Li, he panicked. He slid off the bed and ran out to find her without putting on any clothes or shoes.
Thankfully, Su Li was just outside the courtyard.
Su Li frowned when she saw him and hurried forward to scoop him up.
"I’m right here at home. You didn’t even put on clothes or shoes. What if you catch a cold?"
Little Tang Mo wrapped his arms around Su Li’s neck and called out placatingly, "Mama."
Su Li carried him back to the side room, helped him get dressed, and dusted off the bottoms of his feet, a helpless look on her face.
"Mama, I won’t do it again," Little Tang Mo promised.
Despite his promise, he still spent the rest of the day as Su Li’s little shadow.
After last night’s treatment, the swelling in Su Li’s ankle had gone down, and it didn’t hurt as much. Still, to be safe, Su Li didn’t go out to herd the cattle and stayed home for the day.
Little Tang Mo was all for this, raising both his hands and feet in approval. He followed her everywhere she went, clinging to her clothes and refusing to let go.
Su Li told him to go play, but he would keep coming to find her. Only after seeing her or hearing her voice would he feel at ease and continue playing.
Su Li felt both helpless and heartbroken.
After a busy morning, Su Li sat down with Little Tang Mo in the afternoon to write a letter to Tang Yuanxiao.
Mrs. Tang had broken bones in her arms and legs. Something this serious had to be communicated to Tang Yuanxiao. Although Mrs. Tang had told them not to tell him and make him worry, Su Li decided to write about it anyway.
In the afternoon, before starting her own studies, Su Li took out the primer she had bought for Little Tang Mo and began to study it carefully. freewebnσvel.cѳm
She was going to begin his early education. Before she started, she decided to review the book thoroughly herself and plan her approach before officially beginning.
Su Li wrote out a ’lesson plan’ as she read, looking very serious.
Su Li earnestly prepared her lesson plan while Little Tang Mo earnestly watched Su Li. The scene was surprisingly harmonious.
"Little Mo, I’m going to start teaching you tomorrow," Su Li told Little Tang Mo after she finished her lesson plan.
"Okay." Little Tang Mo would have agreed to anything.
The day passed just like that, with Su Li studying amidst the sound of Little Tang Mo’s childish chatter.
That evening, Su Li told Little Tang Mo the story of the Calabash Brothers again, and he only fell asleep, content, after she had finished.
Later that night, Little Tang Mo cried out in his sleep twice, but thankfully, he didn’t weep.
The next day, he opened his eyes to see Su Li right there, which made him so happy he couldn’t stop giggling to himself.
Seeing that Su Li was still asleep, he lay perfectly still, covering his little mouth to muffle his occasional giggles. He watched her without blinking and couldn’t resist reaching out a small hand to gently touch her face.
That one touch was enough to fill him with contentment.
When Su Li woke up, she was greeted by the sight of a beaming, energetic Little Tang Mo.
"Mama."
"Mhm, time to get up. Don’t you want to go find your Brother Gou Dan?"
At the mention of Brother Gou Dan, Little Tang Mo scrambled out of bed.
Perhaps because Su Li hadn’t left and was the first thing he saw when he woke up, a little of Little Tang Mo’s sense of security had returned. After washing his face, he happily ran out to find his Brother Gou Dan.
Half an hour later, a breathless Little Tang Mo ran back, having just shown off by retelling a third of the story.
That morning, Su Li began trying to teach Little Tang Mo. She only taught him the numbers one through ten, but Little Tang Mo fully lived up to his reputation as a genius. Although he couldn’t write them yet, he recognized them all.
After lunch, her ankle now fully recovered, Su Li once again went to herd the cattle with her books on her back.
Perhaps because they had tired themselves out running around the day before yesterday, the cattle were quite well-behaved today, even though they hadn’t left their enclosure at all yesterday.
Su Li herded them up the mountain, and seeing that they were quiet, she settled down to review her studies in peace.
The day passed smoothly, as did the next.
However, on the second day, at around three in the afternoon, Su Li was solving a problem in the shade of a tree when a shadow suddenly fell over her.
When she looked up, she saw Wu Sheng.
