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墨書 Inktalez
"Put it on."
Xu Li turned and left the room. "Get dressed and come to the living room for dinner. I’ll take you to stay in the village; from now on, you’ll be one of us."
Looking at the empty bedroom and the doorway, the woman glanced down at her daughter, a smile slowly forming on her lips. That uncle was right; she had won the bet!
"What’s your name?"
At the dining table, Xu Li served a piece of beef to Little One. The little girl timidly glanced at Xu Li and said, "I’m Natasha, and this is my sister, Katyusha."
What a rather dismissive name!
Gently patting Little One's head, Xu Li reassured her, "Don’t be afraid. You’ll be living in the village from now on. Later, Grandpa will take you to your new home where there are nice aunties who will like you."
"I want to stay with Mommy."
Natasha pushed her food away, setting down her fork as she tightly hugged her mother, fear evident in her big eyes. "Those bad uncles used to say the same thing to me. When my mom wouldn’t let them hold me, they hit her. Uncle, please don’t hit my mom!"
"Why would I hit your mother? Just eat your food."
He continued to serve the little girl more dishes. With the woman’s encouragement, Natasha finally lowered her guard and took small bites of the roasted meat. It had been a long time since she had eaten meat; every day she ate lava cakes like her mother. She wanted to eat meat too, but her mother didn’t have money to buy it.
"And you? What’s your name?"
The woman quickly replied, "I’m Lana Rasmus. I was adopted by an orphanage in Irkutsk when I was young."
"Got it. Let’s eat."
Xu Li nodded and noticed she wasn’t eating much of the vegetables, so he served her some more. "Eat up."
"Thank you."
After dinner, Xu Li gathered her belongings and led the three of them to Daria's yard. The women seemed to have just finished their meal as they sat in the study playing mahjong, while Marina lounged in a chair playing mobile games.
When they saw Xu Li bringing the woman and children over, they stopped playing mahjong and surrounded them with warm greetings. They then took them to a room that had just been tidied up that afternoon. The soft mattress was covered with clean sheets and blankets, and there was a thick layer of sheep wool carpet on the floor—comfortable to walk on barefoot.
Daria and Marina stayed in the room chatting with Lana while the other three women pulled Xu Li into the study and locked the door.
"Lana, how old are you? You look quite young."
A hint of bitterness crossed Lana's face as she replied, "I’m eleven this year; Natasha is not even three yet. I got married early, so I’m not that old."
Marina cut some watermelon for Natasha. The little girl happily munched on the sweet fruit, her big eyes squinting into crescent shapes with joy. Lana looked incredulous. "You still have watermelon at this time of year?"
"What’s so surprising about that? The Makarov family has plenty; if we run out, we can just get some from their place since we’re all family."
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