Chapter 623
**The Room in the Attic**
Ying Bing was awakened early in the morning, sitting at the head of her bed with a dazed expression, hugging her legs as if still caught between dreams and reality.
“Xiao Bing, you’re awake! Help me write something,” Shang Qin Qing said, handing her several stacks of red paper.
“What should I write?”
Ying Bing’s long legs rested on the soft couch. At her words, she nodded and pulled out a small table.
“Wedding invitations.”
“?”
Shang Qin Qing sat across from her, busily decorating the attic while chatting away.
“After so many years, it’s finally my turn to step out and host the engagement banquet!”
“Do you still handle engagements?”
“Engagements and weddings, it’s just a word apart. It’s reasonable for me to be involved in both.”
Shang Qin Qing’s logic might not be straightforward, but her confidence was unshakeable.
Ying Bing paused for a moment, but given Shang’s authoritative presence, she truly didn’t understand the difference or similarities between the two.
“What does an engagement involve?”
“First, the bride’s family must prepare the dowry, accompanied by family members, waiting at home for the groom to come and pick her up. Then, she sits in a flower palanquin and crosses over a fire basin…”
“.....”
Ying Bing listened for a while, her gaze dropping slightly, her fingers curling around the pen.
But she no longer had a family to prepare a dowry for her.
She had long grown accustomed to being alone.
Even before she came to Qing Yuan Sect, people in Qinghe County often whispered about her origins and the mysterious disappearance of the Ying family. Even the servants at the Li residence would look at her with pity.
She felt that gaze and pretended to ignore it.
Perhaps it was a refusal to accept what had happened, or a desire to hide her vulnerability from others, or maybe it was a combination of both—this was her way of protecting herself.
Over time, no one dared to speak to her under the cold, moonlit expression she wore, let alone cause her trouble.
Except for that certain immature little devil from Qinghe County...
In any case, gradually, she truly stopped caring about her origins.
But now, no one would prepare a dowry for her, no one would dress her up, and no one would take her hand and give her to that immature little devil...
“Shang Zuchang, be my family.”
Ying Bing suddenly lifted her head and said.
“I’d love to, but I can’t compete with others. I’ll just be the emcee instead.”
“Can’t compete?”
Just then, footsteps echoed from the attic door.
Ying Bing looked over in confusion and saw Gu Xueqin and Li Dalong entering with bags in hand, smiling warmly upon seeing her.
Shang Qin Qing rolled her eyes. “Look, your family has arrived.”
---
**Chapter 726: Ice Dumpling: “Mother...”**
Years ago at the Li residence.
Gu Xueqin entered the backyard with breakfast, the sunlight streaming down, the only sound being her footsteps in the quiet.
She approached the guest room but didn’t go in immediately. Instead, she peeked inside and saw the only surviving little girl from the Ying family curled up in bed.
“Xiao Bing hasn’t woken up yet?”
“Madam, this girl hasn’t slept all night. When I went in to persuade her to rest, she just stared at me without saying a word. It was quite frightening,” the maid said, still shaken.
“So she only just fell asleep this morning…”
“Madam, with so many people in the Ying family... she’s the only one left alive, and she feels so cold. Don’t you think something ominous has cursed her?”
The maid’s words trailed off as she noticed the usually gentle mistress’s expression growing stern.
“I don’t want to hear such talk in this house again.”
After sending the maid away, Gu Xueqin checked on little Ying Bing’s condition and, upon discovering she was ill, finally felt relieved.
Just as she was about to leave, she felt a cold touch in her hand.
She noticed the little girl’s face was pale, her lips tightly pressed together, and despite the chill radiating from her, sweat trickled down her furrowed brow.
“Mother, don’t leave me…”
“I’m here. Just sleep now.”
Later, Ying Bing often found herself grasping a warm hand in her dreams.
Time flew by.
That once pitiful little face gradually matured, her eyes losing their fear and worry, now shining brightly in the sunlight.
Gu Xueqin momentarily lost her focus.
The little girl who once needed so much care had blossomed into a graceful young woman, and she was about to get married.
“Did you sleep well last night?”
“Yeah, what brings you here?”
“I brought some things and came to take you to the house in Ziyang Mansion.”
Gu Xueqin sat by the bed, tidying the loose strands of hair around Ying Bing’s ear before opening the bags.
“To Ziyang Mansion?”
Ying Bing tilted her head.
“Let that little rascal come to your family to pick you up. How can he not come to our house for the engagement? It’s not like a bride should deliver herself to the groom; people would laugh at that,” Mrs. Gu said with a serious expression.
Ying Bing lowered her gaze. “But I don’t have family…”
As Gu Xueqin held her hand, she huffed, “Who dares say my Xiao Bing is without a mother? I won’t allow it. Old Li, what do you think?”
“Of course, of course.” Old Li, always concerned about appearances, now looked like a loyal dog to his wife.
Ying Bing was taken aback. The touch of Gu Xueqin’s hand felt so familiar.
She had never understood where this familiarity came from, but upon hearing that word, it suddenly felt real.
“Mother…”
The soft, dreamy voice echoed in the room, and for a moment, it felt as if a pin drop could be heard.
Though there were four people in the room, not a single breath could be heard.
Gu Xueqin’s expression turned incredulous as she opened her mouth. “Xiao Bing, what did you just call me?”
This time, Ying Bing lifted her head, gazing earnestly at Gu Xueqin for a long moment before softly repeating, “Mother.”
“Good, good, my dear daughter, let me do your hair.”
Gu Xueqin’s heart soared, and it took her several tries to steady the comb in her hand.
Old Li was at a loss, standing up and sitting down again, muttering about bringing his colleagues over to celebrate, even though he knew this was just an engagement banquet. He simply couldn’t contain his excitement.
Previously, when attending the celebratory feasts at his colleagues’ homes, he had been asked many times.
“When will your family add another member?”
“How are the two little ones doing? I thought you’d be the first to celebrate a wedding in the Li family.”
Every time he heard such questions, Old Li could only drink and smile without answering.
It gave the impression that everything was under control, but it wasn’t the right time to announce it to everyone.
“.....”
Shang Qin Qing’s expression was unexpectedly calm.
She seemed to act as if nothing had happened, silently walking out of the room.
“Hey? Qin Qing, where are you going?”
Qin Yuzhi, confused, was pulled into a corner of Qiushui Pavilion.
“Ha...” Shang Qin Qing collapsed to the ground, clutching her heart, gasping for breath as if she had asthma, taking deep breaths.
“What’s wrong? Tell me!”
“Just... just wait a moment.”
Shang Qin Qing noticed no one was paying attention to her, so she rolled around on the ground.
“Don’t scare me! What’s going on?”
“Xiao Bing called Gu Madam ‘Mother.’”
“Gasp…”
Qin Yuzhi leaned back slightly, as if struck by lightning.
And so...
The figure rolling on the ground transformed from one into two.
“...What’s wrong with them?” Shang Li asked, looking up.
Shang Wu yawned. “They’re having a fit, it’s called... oh, high blood sugar. They should eat less sugar, or you’ll end up like this too.”
“Got it, sister.” Shang Li nodded, frightened.
Li Mo searched for Shang Qin Qing for a long time, finally spotting her by the banyan tree. Before he could approach, he overheard her whispering with Qin Yuzhi.
“Gu Madam was so moved when she heard Xiao Bing call her ‘Mother.’”
“Damn, why wasn’t I there then?”
Li Mo: “!”
Ice Dumpling changed her way of addressing her?
Little Li crossed his arms, a serious expression on his face. Since she had already called his mom ‘Mother,’ she should start calling him something else too. No more ‘little devil,’ it had to be...
“Gu Madam was so emotional while doing Xiao Bing’s hair that she even cried.”
“Isn’t this a happy occasion?”
“She said that thinking about her daughter getting married made her feelings very complicated…”
“???”
Little Li’s forehead was filled with question marks, one after another.
If he remembered correctly, he was the only son in the Li family, right?
Li Mo, utterly confused, went upstairs but was stopped at the door by Old Li, who looked like a security guard.
“Speak at the door if you have something to say.”
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