"The stars in the sky..."
The villager who asked the question smiled obligingly and said, "Wow, that name is so lovely. From now on, you must really cherish this little one in the palm of your hands!"
Shen Wenru grinned with delight and said, "Indeed, haven't we been blessed by the heavens with this little treasure? She is meant to be cherished by us, to become the happiest child in this world."
"Hahaha, this child has landed in a fortunate home..."
Shen Wenru and Li Xiuxia greeted the villagers with smiles all the way back to the entrance of their courtyard. From a distance, they could see Shen Wenru's sister-in-law, Ma Hongying, carrying a basin of dirty water outside. She was about to spill it on the gravel path at the entrance, a way to prevent dust from rising near their home.
Ma Hongying looked up, spotted Shen Wenru and Li Xiuxia returning, and called out to them with a smile, "I guessed you'd be back in a day or two. Why didn't you call your brother at the brigade to let him know you were coming? He could have come to pick you up!"
Hearing his sister-in-law Ma Hongying's words, Shen Wenru replied with a simple smile, "Nowadays, transportation is so convenient, there's no need to trouble my brother to come out. Look, we just took the bus back."
Ma Hongying laughed heartily and said, "That's true. You better hurry inside and tidy up. I've already cleaned everything up for you. Once you've rested, come over to our place for dinner. By the way, where did this child come from?"
Seeing Ma Hongying's attention shift to little Tianxing in Li Xiuxia's arms, Shen Wenru explained, "This child, we found her abandoned at the side of the road. We don't have kids of our own, so we decided to adopt her as if she were our biological child."
Ma Hongying uncovered the blanket wrapped around little Tianxing, and seeing the sweetly sleeping child nestled in Li Xiuxia's arms, who was quite pretty and adorable, she couldn't help but wonder what kind of mentality the family that abandoned this child had. It was just too cruel!
Ma Hongying, full of compassion, said, "Now that you've brought her back, take good care of her. It turns out to be perfect timing; all of our families only have boys and no girls. Now with this child, we finally have a girl to dote on in our families, don't we?"
"Yes, yes, yes..."
The Shen Family, to which Shen Wenru belonged, was the most prestigious and populous in the whole Xiaoshu Village, with many branches and notables among them.
Shen Wenru's branch remained in the village.
The family traditions of the Shen Family were very good, strict and disciplined towards their own, supportive towards clan members, affable in their dealings, and extremely united and harmonious among siblings—a rarity. Thus, the Shen clan continued to thrive.
Shen Wenru's father was the current patriarch of the Shen Family.
Brother Shen Wenjun was the current village chief of Xiaoshu Village.
Shen Wenzheng, the second brother, worked at the Public Security Bureau in Suzhou.
As for Shen Wenru, who enjoyed the pastoral life, he leased some land at home to grow vegetables and also maintained a fishpond to raise fish. Working together with his wife, their life was quite pleasant.
The only regret was that, after many years of marriage, the couple had no children.
Shen Wenjun, the eldest brother, had three sons.
Shen Wenzheng, the second brother, had two sons.
As for the other branches of the Shen Family, almost all of them had more sons than daughters—the number of daughters was quite small.
Everyone said it was due to the good feng shui of the Shen Family, which made the family prosperous.
But now, there was the exception of this couple—a unique case.
It wasn't just Shen Wenru and Li Xiuxia who were anxious about not being able to have children; even the relatives from the Shen Family were extremely anxious for them, coming up with many solutions for the couple.
Shen Wenru and Li Xiuxia first went to the local hospital for checkups, but the results showed that there were no issues with either of them!
They were puzzled in their hearts. If there was no problem, why couldn't they conceive?
Even the doctors didn't have an answer to this question when they asked.
The doctor vaguely said, "There are many factors involved in infertility. Perhaps the two of you are too anxious, which is why you can't conceive. Relax, let nature take its course, and who knows, you might get pregnant any day."
With no other options, with the help of others, they tried countless folk remedies, to no avail. After such torment, many more years went by.
Fortunately, the Shen family had a good family tradition; even if the couple couldn't have children, the old master wouldn't make Shen Wenru divorce and remarry.
The old master simply said to Shen Wenru, "If it truly doesn't work out, you two should adopt a child instead."
This time, their trip to the Capital City was because they had heard of a very skillful traditional Chinese medicine practitioner. It was his renowned expertise that they sought.
However, that old practitioner had left for a journey to visit friends in different places, with no certain return date.
After waiting two days, Shen Wenru and Li Xiuxia thought of the matters at home that couldn't be neglected, realizing they couldn't stay out for long, they had no choice but to return home.
Little did Shen Wenru and Li Xiuxia expect that after arriving in the Capital City, simply getting in touch with a distant relative, Sister Lin, chatting and catching up, and casually mentioning their futile medical pilgrimage, they were immensely disappointed with the trip. In the end, Sister Lin unexpectedly brought them such a huge surprise.
With Little Tianxing, even if they could never have children again, they needn't ponder over it anymore. As long as they had this child with them, they would be satisfied.
Shen Wenru, carrying the luggage, and Li Xiuxia, holding Little Tianxing, entered the house.
They glanced around the room and indeed, Sister Lin had kept it tidy and clean, as if someone had been living there all along.
Shen Wenru said to Li Xiuxia, "Axia, you go put Little Tianxing to bed first; you're tired too. Take a rest, have a drink of water, and later we'll go eat at Brother Shen Wenjun's place."
Grandpa Shen and Grandma Shen lived with the eldest son, Shen Wenjun.
Li Xiuxia responded with a "Okay," and carried Little Tianxing into their bedroom.
Little Tianxing, who was sound asleep, suddenly felt a cold and gloomy breath infiltrate her body, causing her to shiver.
She abruptly opened her eyes, and a chilly glint flashed through her dark, bright pupils.
There was Yin Energy here!!!
Shen Tianxing wanted to see clearly what was going on.
But her vision was obscured by the small blanket wrapped around her.
This body she was in was no longer the powerful immortal body she had before, but a fragile human flesh with no Spiritual Power. The small amount of innate Spiritual Power she was born with had already been used to seal the Eye of the Sky God.
Thinking back to her days in the Fairy Realm, where she, the Little Fortune Teller, was pampered by her master, having everything she desired, and now having nothing, starting all over again, she felt a profound sense of helplessness and frustration.
But the care and cautiousness that Shen Wenru and Li Xiuxia had shown her along the way, and the genuine affection they had for her, had already made Shen Tianxing wholeheartedly accept these kind-hearted parents.
Now that there was something wrong with the place they were living in, could she just ignore it?