Chapter 136 - 128: Forever Your Daughter

Chapter 136: Chapter 128: Forever Your Daughter

A good potato harvest could yield as much as ten thousand jin per mu. In contrast, green wheat, even with a bumper crop, would only yield a few hundred jin.

’The only question is whether I can find potatoes here.’

’I guess I’ll have to check the market in town tomorrow.’

That evening, after dinner, Bai Zhi and Zhao Lan returned to their cabin. They had just washed up and gotten into bed when Zhao Lan scooted closer and asked, "Zhi’er, what was that other crop you told the village chief you wanted to plant today?"

Bai Zhi yawned. "Let me keep you in suspense for a little longer. You’ll find out tomorrow."

Zhao Lan pinched her small cheek and huffed, "Keeping secrets from your own mother? You’re a heartless one."

Bai Zhi chuckled, turning on her side to snuggle up to Zhao Lan. She took a deep breath. "You smell so nice."

Zhao Lan shot her a look, but she couldn’t suppress a smile. "Such a flatterer."

Looking at Zhi’er’s sweet face, she remembered the Jade Pendant she had seen hanging around Old Mrs. Bai’s neck that day. She hesitated. ’Should I tell Zhi’er about this?’

’If I tell her, she might impulsively run to the Bai Family to demand the Jade Pendant. Wouldn’t that just cause more trouble?’

"Mom, what’s wrong? Is there something you want to tell me?"

Zhao Lan thought it over and decided she had to tell her. After all, the object was hers, it might be related to her birth, and she had the right to know.

"Zhi’er, I’ve never hidden the truth about your origins from you."

Bai Zhi nodded. "I know. Dad found me in the mountains. You and Dad gave me a home."

Zhao Lan said, "Zhi’er, today at the Bai Family’s house... when Old Mrs. Bai was getting the key, did you see that Jade Pendant hanging from her neck?"

Bai Zhi nodded. "I saw it. It looked quite valuable. What about it?"

Zhao Lan sighed, her mind drifting back to a memory from twelve years ago. Bai Zhi had been just a baby then, not even six months old. She was so small, so lovely, yet someone had heartlessly abandoned her in the wilderness. If Sanzhu hadn’t happened to be passing by, the child would have surely been devoured by wild beasts.

He had found her near a patch of *bai zhi* plants, so Sanzhu named her Bai Zhi.

Tucked into her swaddling clothes was a Jade Pendant. Sanzhu could tell it wasn’t something an ordinary family would own. Afraid that the Bai family members would get greedy if they saw it, he secretly hid it away. Even I didn’t know where.

Later, when Sanzhu was injured in a fall, we initially thought it wasn’t serious, so he didn’t say anything to me about it. Who could have known his injury would suddenly worsen? He passed away before he had a chance to tell me anything.

Zhao Lan’s eyes filled with tears as she recounted these past events. Even after so many years, she still hadn’t forgotten her husband.

The man who would save his last mouthful of food for her and Zhi’er.

He may have been poor and had no say in the family, but he was a good husband and a good father. She had always hated herself for not being able to bear him a child. Fortunately, Zhi’er came into their lives, and their home was gradually filled with laughter... but that laughter didn’t last long.

These precious memories were what had given her the strength to carry on through all these difficult years.

Bai Zhi’s eyes welled up with tears. ’It must be because I was a doctor in my past life and saved so many people,’ she thought. ’That has to be why I was able to come here and meet parents like them.’

She hugged her mother tightly, swallowing her tears. Her voice was thick with emotion as she said, "Mom, thank you. Thank you and Dad. You gave me hope to live, you gave me a home, you let me experience what real family love feels like. Mom, I’ll always be your daughter. As for that Jade Pendant, if the Bai family wants it, let them take it. Why should I go looking for the family that abandoned me in the first place? Having you is more than enough for me."