Chapter 158: Something is wrong with her; the onset must have been very recent.

Once Bai Yan had finished tidying up, Madam Zhao had already finished frying the mantou slices.

The little girl washed her hands, sat down at the small, dilapidated table, and happily slurped her porridge while munching on the crispy bread.

"Child, this Madam Shen wants to take you in as her adoptive daughter. Would you like to say yes?" Madam Zhao patted the little girl's head and asked.

Bai Yan puffed out her cheeks, raised her head, and looked curiously at Madam Rong.

After thinking for a moment, she shook her head.

"Why is that?" Madam Rong asked with a hint of surprise.

The little girl looked so soft and sweet; she should have been the easiest person to persuade.

"No, I already have an adoptive mother," Bai Yan said in a soft, childish voice before continuing to nibble on her mantou slice.

Hearing Bai Yan's words, Madam Zhao suddenly remembered.

Indeed, she already had an adoptive mother. Back when she and Jiang Chengyan got married, Jiang Chengyan had her acknowledge a widow in the village as her adoptive mother.

"Having two mothers is already wonderful," Bai Yan shook her head.

"Madam Shen, since the child has put it this way, please don't force the matter," Madam Zhao said quite bluntly. "Although your Shen family is wealthy and powerful, we truly do not expect anything. As long as the young couple lives happily, that's all that matters."

Madam Rong, seeing that there was truly no room for negotiation, could only let out a sigh. Insisting on leaving the gifts behind, she departed with a look of regret.

Not long after Madam Rong left, when Jiang Chengyan emerged from the back, he saw Bai Yan tugging at Madam Zhao's sleeve and holding out her little hand toward her.

With an exasperated expression, Madam Zhao slapped a small silver ingot into the little paw, saying in a tone full of disdain, "You see money and your eyes light up."

Happily, Bai Yan tucked the ten-tael silver ingot into her little pouch, then skipped merrily back to the dining table to finish her goat's milk.

"Mother, why did you make her refuse?" Jiang Chengyan looked at Madam Zhao.

If Madam Rong had truly adopted Bai Yan as her daughter, it would have nipped Shen Dongliang's schemes in the bud right at the source.

And he saw it clearly: the reason Bai Yan had just asked Madam Zhao for the silver ingot was because she had agreed to Madam Zhao's request to reject Madam Rong.

This transaction had taken place completely in silence.

"Come inside, and by the way, bring your wife's goat's milk in with you," Madam Zhao said, casting a calm glance at Jiang Chengyan.

With one hand holding the bowl of goat's milk and the other holding Bai Yan's hand, Jiang Chengyan walked into the house.

Madam Zhao closed the inner door securely. Bai Yan scrambled up onto the heated brick bed in one fluid motion, and as Jiang Chengyan handed her the small bowl, she blinked her wide eyes at both of them.

"Whether it's you or this little girl, stay far away from Madam Shen from now on. No, to be precise, stay far away from the Shen family," Madam Zhao said in a stern tone.

"Madam Shen seems like a very nice person, though," Bai Yan muttered.

"No matter what kind of person she is, just stay away. I won't allow you to go near her." When Madam Zhao turned serious, she looked quite fierce.

Bai Yan sat there in a daze.

Thinking she had frightened the little girl, Madam Zhao quickly massaged her tense face and coaxed, "Be a good girl now, Mother isn't trying to scare you."

"Is there something wrong with her?" For Madam Zhao to react so strongly, she surely had her reasons—reasons that he himself was unaware of.

Jiang Chengyan looked at Madam Zhao with a rare, serious expression.

"Stay away from her. She has a venereal disease," Madam Zhao finally said, looking at her son and the little girl.

Bai Yan continued sipping her milk in a daze, but Jiang Chengyan's gaze shifted slightly.

"It must have just broken out," Madam Zhao replied, recalling that today she had only noticed faint red marks on Madam Rong's wrists.