Hu Jiumei shouted: âStop your nonsense. Why are you saying that it wasnât me who bought this? Do you have any evidence that it was not bought by me?â
Bai Zhi laughed: âOf course, I have evidence.â Then, she pointed her finger to the handmade doll and said: âAll the dollâs clothes in the toy shop are designed by me. I have painted this dollâs clothes design only once. So it can be said that there is only one copy of this in the whole world. I remember it clearly. This doll is included in the batch order of a merchant from the capital. The merchant said that the dolls will be sold in the capital, and it will at least cost 5 silver coins.â
Bai Zhi paused. Seeing Hu Jiumeiâs complexion drastically changed, she continued to say: âCan you afford to buy this doll for 5 silver coins?â
âReally? Since you are so generous with your child, why doesnât the child have decent clothes? She may not be even wearing her own clothes! This doll belongs to this child, but you didnât buy it. Your not this childâs mother, nor stepmother. Say, where did you abduct this child?â
Hu Jiumeiâs legs soften. Her pale face turned green.
At this time, the little girl lying on the table woke up. As soon as she heard Hu Jiumeiâs cry, her body began to tremble. Her small face was full of horror, as tears rolled out in her eyes. But she bit her lips and didnât dare to cry out loud.
Bai Zhi hugged her: âDonât be afraid. Itâs okay, youâre okay now.â
Bai Zhi hugged the little girl for a while and waited for her emotions to calm down before asking: âWhatâs your name?â
The little girl was about to open her mouth, but she saw Hu Jiumeiâs fierce face. She hurriedly buried her head into Bai Zhiâs arms and refused to speak.
Bai Zhi caressed her back and whispered: âDonât be afraid, this sister already knows that you are not her child and she hurts you. You see, she has been arrested now. If you want to escape from her, you should tell me who you are, where you came from, so that we can help you find your family.â
The little girl was 5 years old. She can understand every word that Bai Zhi said. She looked at Hu Jiumei again. When she saw that she was tied up, the fear in her heart dissipated a lot, so she said: âMy name is Xianâer.â
âXianâer, whatâs your surname?â
Xianâer thought for a moment and said, âThey call me Ke Xianya.â
âIt turns out that your surname is Ke, who else is there in your family?â She asked.
Xianâer immediately became excited: âThere are father, mother, second aunt, third aunt, fourth aunt, as well as elder brothers, elder sister, grandmother, Li Mama, the maidservants are Qingâer, Baoâer⦠â¦â
She said a series of family members in a row, which proved that she came from a big family. Bai Zhi asked another question: âWhat does Qingâer call you?â
Xianâer replied: âQingâer calls me Miss. She is as big as you. I tried calling her sister, but she refused. She said she is just a maidservant. I donât understand.â