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Finally, Lady became anxious. She looked around but didn’t see anyone, so she reached out to push Susu. To her surprise, she pushed at nothing and her body lurched onto the icy surface, her face slamming down hard, squishing her nose to the side.

Susu, delighted, took a couple of steps forward, successfully avoiding Lady’s push. Seeing Lady lying on the ice, she squatted down, staring at her with curiosity.

Lady’s face hurt so much it was numb. Looking at the cold ice, she felt relieved that it hadn’t cracked; otherwise, she would have fallen into the lake.

When she saw Susu squatting down, pointing at her with chubby fingers and laughing while saying, "Crawl, crawl,"

Susu thought Lady was lying there because she wanted to crawl, as that’s what she did when lying on the ground.

Lady rolled her eyes and was just about to get up by propping herself on the ice when she heard a sharp "crack," which scared her pale.

That was the sound of the ice cracking.

Lady saw the fissure where the ice had split and, putting everything else aside, she called out, "Huai Xiang, come and save me."

Lady was almost crying in panic, but Huai Xiang was nowhere to be seen.

Dabai noticed something was amiss and bit Susu’s sleeve, leading her away slowly, careful not to make Susu fall.

Just as Susu was being led away by Dabai, "crack" went the ice, cracking open in several places, and Lady fell into the freezing lake unexpectedly.

"Help, help me!"

Huai Xiang, who was on lookout, heard the cry for help and turned to see Lady falling into the lake, which frightened her into running over quickly.

"Little Master, how did you fall into the lake?"

"Save me, quick, save..." Lady tried desperately to paddle the water, but when the icy lake water washed over her head, she swallowed several gulps of the cold water.

Dabai led Susu away by biting on her sleeve.

Xuetuan, carrying a sparrow in its mouth, saw someone had fallen into the water. It looked around the shore before seeing Susu standing safely to the side, then it ran over with the sparrow in mouth.

The sparrow, already injured, thought it was going to be a cat’s meal when it was picked up by Xuetuan, and fainted from fear.

Seeing Xuetuan with the sparrow, Susu took the bird from its mouth, poked the sparrow’s head with her little hand, and blew on it: "Hoo, hoo..."

Unfortunately, the sparrow that had fainted couldn’t respond to Susu’s actions.

Susu’s attention was completely captured by the sparrow, forgetting all about Lady. Holding the sparrow in one hand and a Fur ball in the other, she followed Xuetuan to look for Mama.

Lady was rescued by a passing guard. When they pulled her up, her consciousness was blurry, and her body cold. When she was taken back to Xinlan Hall, her high fever wouldn’t subside.

*

Shen Chuwei looked at the poultry farm, chickens laying eggs from which more chickens hatched, ducks doing the same; after so many cycles, there were over a hundred birds, and the coop was packed full. In winter, it was fine as the crowdedness made it warmer,

but in summer, with so many chickens and ducks crowded together, they would swelter.

"Little Guizi," Chun Xi said, "when spring comes, build another duck house next to this one, and we’ll separate the chickens and ducks."

"Master, I’ve noted it down," Little Guizi replied cheerfully.

After inspecting the poultry farm, Shen Chuwei visited the Vegetable Garden, where the vegetables in the greenhouse were growing well. In ancient times, there were fewer insects, and no need for pesticides, so the vegetables were truly organic.

Susu followed Xuetuan for quite some time before arriving at Xiaoxiang Pavilion, where only Little Guizi and Gui Xiang were in charge. The vast Xiaoxiang Pavilion seemed empty.

Xuetuan leapt in with ease and headed straight for the small Vegetable Garden.

Susu propped against the doorframe, lifted her little short legs over the threshold, and as expected, sat down on the threshold due to her short legs. Susu had grown accustomed to this.

After entering, Susu chased after Xuetuan with her little short legs.

Dabai and Yuan Gungun hopped over the doorstep like two bodyguards, their movements in perfect unison.

Passing by the chicken coop, Susu heard a "cluck cluck" sound, paused with curiosity, and then heard a "quack quack."

Susu, drawn by the sound, ran over with her two little short legs, leaned against the fence, and peered through the gaps to see many chickens and ducks inside. It was like seeing some new and wondrous toys, and she couldn’t bear to leave the fence.

Dabai stood beside Susu, eyeing the chickens and ducks inside and nearly drooling with desire.

After Yuan Gungun came in, he darted straight into the Vegetable Garden, saw a big cabbage, ran over nimble-footedly, and started munching.

Shen Chuwei came out of the greenhouse and instructed Chun Xi, "Bring back some eggs too, to make egg custard for the babies."

Chun Xi, carrying a bamboo basket filled with fresh vegetables, joyfully replied, "This servant will go get the eggs right away."

The eggs were delivered daily to Hehuan Hall by Little Guizi, and today, since she was here, she would take some back with her.

Chun Xi walked briskly to get the eggs.

After walking only a short distance, Shen Chuwei saw Xuetuan running towards her and immediately had a bad feeling. Xuetuan had been following Susu all day. If Xuetuan had come, wouldn’t Susu have come along too?

Just as the thought crossed her mind, she heard Chun Xi shouting, "Master, come quickly."

Shen Chuwei lifted her skirt and ran over, only to see a small pink figure standing by the chicken coop, staring intently at the chickens and ducks—or more accurately, at the chicks and ducklings.

When Susu saw Shen Chuwei, she ran happily towards her, "Mommy, mommy hold."

Chen Chuwei squatted in front of Susu, "Susu, how did you get here?"

Susu pointed at Xuetuan, cooing, "Tuantuan, followed Tuantuan."

Xuetuan hung her head down and retreated next to Dabai, trying to make herself less noticeable.

Actually, Shen Chuwei knew even without Susu saying so that it was Xuetuan who had brought her.

Susu raised the sparrow in her hand for Shen Chuwei to see, "Mommy, Fur ball, Fur ball."

Shen Chuwei looked at the sparrow in Susu’s hand, wondering where her precious daughter had found it. She took it and examined it, and found it wasn’t dead.

Her daughter probably wanted her to save the sparrow.

Naturally, she couldn’t let her daughter be disappointed. She took a silver needle, and under her medical skills, the sparrow immediately woke up, and in the next second, it spread its wings and flew away.

The sparrow’s wings weren’t injured; it initially couldn’t fly because it was frozen stiff. Susu had warmed it up with her embrace along the way, and it flew off because it was afraid of being eaten by Xuetuan.

Susu’s eyes widened as she watched the sparrow flap its wings and fly towards the sky, "Mommy, it flew away."

Shen Chuwei smiled and praised her, "My darling saved the sparrow’s life; that’s great."

Susu reached out for a hug, "Mommy, hug."

Shen Chuwei picked up her daughter and saw Dabai still eyeing the chicken coop, saliva nearly dripping.

"Not now, you can’t eat them."

Dabai looked so aggrieved, "Ow ow."