"Zhao Shuning?"
Lady Xiang was stunned.
She wasn't unfamiliar with this name. She had thought about it countless times. She always wondered what the little girl with this name looked like now.
She was Min'er's child, her granddaughter, a little girl who shared the same blood with her.
But when she saw her today and yesterday, she didn't recognize her immediately. Even when the girl wore Min'er's clothes just now, Lady Xiang only thought that the little girl bore a slight resemblance to Min'er when she was a child.
"You said your name is Zhao Shuning?"
Zhao Shuning nodded.
"The child from the Zhao family in Qinghui Town, the child of Zhao Zheng and Min'er?"
"Yes."
Seeing Lady Xiang's expression, Zhao Shuning knew she was about to cry again.
She quickly reached out her hand and said, "Stop."
Really, Zhao Shuning couldn't stand people with a timid and gentle personality. It wasn't that she disliked them. It was just that if someone showed such timidity towards her, she would surely get goosebumps.
Just like now.
Lady Xiang's eyes were filled with tears. Then she stretched out her slender fingers and gently held Zhao Shuning's small hand. The moment Lady Xiang's hand grasped hers, Zhao Shuning felt all the hairs on her body stand up.
Zhao Shuning wanted to pull her hand back, but Lady Xiang held it too tightly. Being small in stature, she seemed quite helpless for a moment.
"Lady Xiang."
"Shh—"
Lady Xiang raised her index finger and placed it on Zhao Shuning's lips. She looked around and then said, "Call me grandmother or granny."
It was killing her!
Zhao Shuning felt as if all the pores on her body had suddenly opened.
She simply couldn't stand Lady Xiang's behavior.
Then, things got even worse.
Lady Xiang gently squatted down, hugged Zhao Shuning, and murmured, "I knew you looked so much like Min'er. But your personality is really lively. This way, it's easy to attract the dissatisfaction of others."
"Lady Xiang."
"Xiaoningning, are you blaming me?"
Zhao Shuning looked at her with a questioning look on her face.
Seeing that Zhao Shuning didn't deny it, Lady Xiang's tears were about to flood again.
"No, don't cry first. Just say what you want to say. Don't cry at every turn."
Zhao Shuning came to discuss something with her, but Lady Xiang's overly emotional actions were really unbearable for her.
Lady Xiang sobbed and said, "I knew you were blaming me. Now you won't even call me granny. Since you saw me yesterday, you've always addressed me as Lady Xiang. What I said before was really wrong. Maybe it hurt our Xiaoningning's heart. But I was just stating the facts. Granny really wanted to see Xiaoningning. Xiaoningning, don't blame me, okay?"
Zhao Shuning regretted it!
She regretted it so much that her intestines turned green.
Zhao Shuning now seriously suspected that her head had been kicked by a donkey before. Otherwise, why did she confess her identity to Lady Xiang?
Now she kept calling her Xiaoningning. Even her mother had never called her like this. Zhao Shuning only felt the discomfort in her heart increasing.
"Lady Xiang, you—"
"Xiaoningning."
Zhao Shuning took a deep breath and told herself to be patient. She had been through so many difficulties. Couldn't she even stand this woman's gentle voice?
But—it was really difficult.
"Granny?"
"Yes."
Zhao Shuning shivered all over. Then, with a straight face, she said, "Don't you want to be yourself again? I heard from mother before that you liked horse - racing very much when you were young."
"Horse - racing? That was a long time ago. Later, your grandfather didn't like it. He thought it wasn't proper for a woman to be so lively, so he asked me not to touch horse - racing anymore."
Hearing Lady Xiang say that Lin Feng was her grandfather, Zhao Shuning really wanted to slap that so - called grandfather. He was just a hypocrite. Just because he was a bit related to Zhao Shuning in this life, he wasn't qualified to be her relative.
"And then? You just gave up?"
"Yes."
"You're really 'understanding'."
"Xiaoningning, you don't understand. When you grow up and have someone you like in the future, you'll know how I feel now."
Someone she liked? The image of her master unconsciously appeared in Zhao Shuning's mind.
She shook her head vigorously. Her master would never be like this!
No matter what she did, as long as it was something she liked, her master would support her. He would never build his own happiness on others.
Zhao Shuning added, "But there has been a horse - racing event in the Qianyuan competition in recent years."
"I just sit below and watch. Even when others invite me to participate, I never go. I'm afraid the master will be unhappy. But I don't know why. I've always been obedient to the master, but why is he treating me worse and worse?"
"What's so surprising about this?"
Zhao Shuning looked as if she understood everything about this.
"Xiaoningning, what do you think?"
"Men like to conquer women. Maybe your initial docility gave him a good impression and made him feel the desire to protect you. But there are so many submissive people. In Lin Feng's, cough cough cough, in the eyes of the head of the Lin family, you seem so dull. Look at the favored Beauty Xiao. Is she a gentle person? In the eyes of everyone in the Lin Mansion, she is arrogant. But so what? That Lin Feng, cough cough cough, the head of the Lin family, still dotes on her the most, doesn't he?"
Lady Xiang listened attentively.
She even asked stupidly,
"What should I do then?"
"You should have your own ideas and do what you're good at. Women should have their own shining points to win others' respect. You should make the head of the Lin family feel something when he sees you, instead of feeling like looking at a stagnant pool of water."
Lady Xiang was so engrossed in listening that she kept nodding.
No one noticed how strange this scene was.
A nearly nine - year - old girl was standing on a chair, teaching a woman in her forties the art of handling a husband. The most important thing was that the woman was listening intently.
After a long speech, when Zhao Shuning looked at Lady Xiang again, she nodded as if she understood but also didn't fully understand.
Then Zhao Shuning slapped her head and just remembered the purpose of her visit.
She quickly straightened her attitude and said, "I want to talk to you about tomorrow's Qianyuan competition."
"Xiaoningning, I feel you're so amazing. At your age, granny would even suspect that you have a lot of experience in this regard."
Zhao Shuning was speechless.
How could she understand? She just read a lot of books and applied the tactics in the books to the relationship between men and women.
Maybe she was just empty - talking on paper, a paper tiger.