Chapter 3: My Father Left a Dowry

The rain gradually lightened, and Lan Mo slowly climbed out of the ditch, vomiting profusely. She planned to go back down later to retrieve the bicycle.

Just then, Su Mei jumped off the bicycle’s rear seat, holding an umbrella.

“Momo, Momo, what happened to you? Zhiyuan, hurry, hurry! Help your younger sister pat her back, and go push the bicycle that fell into the ditch up.”

Su Mei closed her umbrella and hugged Lan Mo tightly, crying as she said, “Wuwuwu… my dear daughter, what happened to you? Where did you fall? Let Mom take a look quickly. Momo, let’s go back first to change clothes, then go to the hospital for a check-up.”

Looking at this unfamiliar woman before her, Lan Mo’s eyes reddened. She missed home, missed her parents. Were they doing well over there?

Since she had taken Lan Mo’s place and survived, did that mean Lan Mo was living her life in the twenty-first century?

“Boom!”

A clap of thunder rang out, and Lan Mo smiled as she looked up at the sky…

“It’s thundering again. Zhiyuan, hurry up. It’s going to pour soon—we need to get back quickly.”

“Mom, the rain has already lightened. It probably won’t pour again.”

“Silly child, it was just thundering. Quick, get on. Mom will take you back. Zhiyuan, clean your younger sister’s bicycle before riding it back.”

After pushing Lan Mo’s bicycle out of the ditch, Lan Zhiyuan forcefully adjusted the handlebars a few times and said earnestly, “Mom, let me take my younger sister back instead!”

The three of them returned home. After Lan Mo finished bathing and changing clothes, Su Mei used a towel to dry her hair. Seeing the large bump on her daughter’s forehead, Su Mei gently touched it, her heart aching. “Momo, Mom will take you to the hospital now.”

Lan Mo, being a doctor herself, knew what was wrong. She didn’t want to go to the hospital. If her colleagues found out that the usually aloof Doctor Lan had fallen into a filthy ditch while riding a bicycle, the original host’s impeccable reputation would be ruined.

The dirty water Lan Mo had choked on had been expelled by inducing vomiting, and she had repeated the process with clean water while bathing. Later, she would take some anti-inflammatory medicine to prevent a lung infection.

“Mom, I’m really fine. You go ahead and do what you need to.”

“Are you sure you’re not uncomfortable anywhere?”

“Mmm…”

“Alright then. Mom will go make you a cup of banlangen. Drink it when you get up later.”

“Thank you, Mom.”

Su Mei went off to busy herself. Lan Mo rummaged through the original host’s small medicine kit, found two anti-inflammatory pills, and swallowed them dry. She lay quietly on the bed, deep in thought.

Their entire family, young and old, held secure government jobs, which made them quite conspicuous. It was easy for others to become jealous or plot against them. How could they navigate the next ten years wisely and safely?

Never mind—she would deal with the immediate situation first!

“Knock, knock, knock!”

“Come in!”

Lan Zhiyuan walked in, holding a freshly brewed cup of banlangen. Lan Mo slowly sat up.

“Momo, come drink this banlangen water. Even though it’s hot now, we still need to prevent catching a cold.”

Although she had lived to twenty-eight in her previous life, she had spent most of her days in the Obstetrics Department and rarely interacted with men. Looking at her tall and handsome elder brother before her, Lan Mo didn’t know what to say.

Lan Mo gently thanked him, “Thank you, Elder Brother!”

Lan Zhiyuan thought of his biological younger sister, who had passed away from a high fever caused by a cold when she was just over a year old. Then he thought of this sister who had been with them for twenty years. His eyes reddened instantly.

“Momo, no matter who gave birth to you, you are my own younger sister. Listen to your brother and stop overthinking, okay?”

“Okay!”

Lan Zhiyuan reached out and ruffled Lan Mo’s hair twice, smiling as he said to her, “Momo is so good! Rest a bit more, I’ll come call you when it’s time to eat.”

“Thank you, brother…”

At dinner time, the whole family sat around the round table ready to eat. Su Mei brought over a bowl of brown sugar poached eggs and placed it in front of Lan Mo.

“Momo got caught in the rain today, have an egg to nourish yourself.”

Lan Mo looked at the bowl of brown sugar water with poached eggs in front of her, then glanced at the three dishes on the table: stir-fried Shanghai greens with pork lard cracklings, plain stir-fried shredded potatoes, and braised tofu.

Apart from the stir-fried greens with pork lard cracklings, there wasn’t a single piece of meat in sight.

Second brother Lan Jingmo wasn’t home, and with seven adults and one child—eight mouths in total—they only had these three dishes to share.

Su Mei and Lan Jingtian’s combined monthly wages added up to over a hundred yuan. The original host had also transitioned from an intern doctor to a full-time position, earning thirty-six yuan a month and contributing ten yuan for food expenses. Lan Zhiyuan and his wife would also contribute twenty yuan each month for food.

Logically, their family shouldn’t be short on money. So why was there no meat on the table?

Only then did Lan Mo remember that this era was marked by material shortages and insufficient supplies. Even though they all had jobs, the various ration tickets issued by their work units were limited. For example, the oil ration was only two liang per person per month.

Wasn’t there talk of a black market?

Lan Jingtian was the deputy director of the Dongcheng District Police Station. As his family members, they had to be extra cautious in everything they did—how could they dare buy things from the black market?

Still, their family’s situation was relatively good. Though they couldn’t eat meat every day, they could still have it a few times a month.

Lan Mo used a spoon to scoop the egg into her little nephew Lan Jiangli’s bowl. Everyone turned their eyes to Lan Mo.

“Momo, this egg is to nourish you. Why did you give it to Xiao Li’er? He already had a bowl of steamed egg custard at noon.”

“Mom, Xiao Li’er is at an age where he’s growing. Let him have it.”

If everyone hadn’t been staring at her, Lan Mo honestly wouldn’t have wanted to drink that bowl of brown sugar water either.

After finishing the brown sugar water, Lan Mo began to pick up food and eat, only to find that every dish had a hint of sweetness.

Lan Mo muttered softly, “Hah, after drinking the brown sugar water, even the dishes taste sweet. Did my sense of taste go wrong?”

Lan Jingtian looked at his daughter with an amused expression. “Silly child, there’s nothing wrong with your taste! Actually, your mom added a bit of white sugar to season these dishes.”

Stir-fried greens needed white sugar for seasoning?

Alright, she had forgotten that the original host was from Haishi.

After dinner, Su Mei called her daughter into her in-laws’ room, saying she had something to discuss with her.

Only then did Lan Mo learn the whole truth, including how the original host’s mother got together with her father, as well as the life her birth mother led after abandoning her daughter…

Lan Mo never expected that the birth mother of this body could be so spoiled and willful, discarding her child for the sake of her own happiness.

She only returned to Haishi once every two or three years. Each time she came back, she would buy a few packages of Jingshi pastries for the elderly couple, and when she left, she would squeeze money out of them, along with fabric, cotton… and other popular goods.

Ptooey! Heartless, like a vampire. Lan Mo felt that having such a birth mother was a great disgrace to the original host.

“Grandmother, Lan Ziwan will always be my aunt. That will never change in this lifetime.”

I think after all these years, she has never once said she is my mother. She probably doesn’t want to acknowledge me, right?

Now that I know she is my biological mother, I won’t acknowledge her either, so let’s all just pretend I don’t know about this!

If she finds out her biological daughter has become a doctor, she’ll definitely try to cling to me.

Every time she brings those twins over, aren’t they always dressed to the nines, trying to leech off me? Not a chance!

Old Mrs. Lin shook her head. Well, it’s fine if Momo doesn’t acknowledge her mother—it’ll save her from interfering with Momo’s marriage in the future.

Lan Guochang smiled and declared, “Alright, Ziwan is your aunt, and Momo, you will always be our granddaughter, not our grandniece.”

Lan Jingtian also chuckled, “Momo will always be Su Mei’s and my own daughter. No one can take her away from us!”

Seeing that everyone had made their stance clear, Old Mrs. Lin nudged Lan Guochang. “Old man, Momo is almost twenty now. Shouldn’t we return the dowry her father left for her?”

So that unseen biological father left a dowry for the original owner? That’s great! What could it be? Thinking about it, I feel a little excited!

Lan Guochang took a brass key from his pocket and handed it to Lan Jingtian. “Jingtian, take this key and open the large trunk in the corner. Bring over the small rosewood box at the very bottom.”

“Alright, I’ll go right away.”

Soon, a carved rosewood box was placed on the table. Lan Guochang then took a small key from under his pillow and handed it to Lan Mo.

“Good granddaughter, open it and take a look!”

Lan Mo took the key and carefully opened the box. Inside, she found a letter, a few photos, and several pieces of paper.

Wasn’t her biological father’s family medicinal herb merchants?

Where’s the gold? The antiques? Why is there nothing valuable here?

“Momo, those papers in your hand are property transfer documents. Your biological father actually left you a Western-style house. It’s not far from our Police Station. I’ll take you to see it tomorrow at noon.”

A Western-style house in Haishi?

Hmm, that’s not bad!

Currently, her family lives in a small single-story house with a courtyard. Even with one room per person, the total area, including the courtyard, is less than two hundred square meters.

Lan Mo carried the box back to her room, closed the door, and carefully examined the photos inside. The man in the picture had delicate features and was quite handsome. He was sitting in an armchair, holding a baby in one arm, with a hint of sorrow on his face.

Is this the original owner’s biological father?

The following photos were of the original owner’s grandmother, grandfather, and her father at different stages of his life.

Lan Mo opened the yellowed envelope: “My dear daughter, happy birthday! Please forgive your father for not being able to keep you by my side…”

As she read, Lan Mo’s tears began to fall. She wasn’t the original owner, so why was she crying? She must just be too sentimental.

By the end, Lan Mo was smiling again. The original owner’s biological father had actually left something for her in the Western-style house.

What could it be?

I really want to go see it right now!