The Tender Beauty is Sweetly Doted in the 20th Century Novel!-Chapter 212 - 211: Mom’s Oranges and Lilacs

Liu Rulan couldn’t speak complete sentences, just clutched the iron door with both hands, staring intently at Ye Manman with tears streaming down her face. Her eyes were frighteningly bright, completely different from the zombie-like expression she had moments ago.

The room was very quiet, no one spoke, only Liu Rulan’s hoarse cries rang out—it sounded like a wild animal calling for its lost child, piercing and urgent.

Yanghua had seen her like this before, so naturally, he didn’t dare let Ye Manman get any closer. He was afraid Ye Manman might be scared of Liu Rulan and wouldn’t acknowledge her.

After all, Liu Rulan had been insane for over a decade. Before, she would rush over to any little girl calling for her daughter, and now she would call to any young girl. No one knew how she recognized them or if she was even rational.

But how could a complete lunatic still calculate her child’s age? No one could understand.

At this moment, everyone’s hearts felt uncomfortable.

But everyone silently waited for Ye Manman to make a decision.

Today, the choice of whether to acknowledge this relationship or not was hers to make.

If she didn’t want a mother who only gave birth to her but didn’t raise her and had a mental illness, the Liu Family wouldn’t hold it against her.

They had waited so many days before coming to find Ye Manman, having actually held several family meetings at home to reach this decision. Old Mr. Liu and Liu Gaoyuan had said that even if Ye Manman didn’t acknowledge Liu Rulan or the Liu Family, they should compensate her in secret.

This child had already suffered, suffered for so many years, and after finally finding her mother, only to find her mother is mentally ill—not accepting, not willing to recognize her is very normal.

However, Ye Manman did not think this way.

Liu Rulan stared at her, and she looked at Liu Rulan. For no apparent reason, despite everyone saying Liu Rulan was insane, she felt a clarity in Liu Rulan’s eyes, just unable to speak.

Moreover, the intense motherly love shook her deeply inside.

Her modern-day mother looked almost identical to Liu Rulan, but her mother was a strong woman, dressed stylishly, spoke concisely, with an expression that was always indifferent.

Looking at the fragile and insane Liu Rulan, Ye Manman felt as if the missing part of her familial bond had been overwhelmingly filled.

She stepped forward, preparing to get a bit closer to Liu Rulan.

Even though He Chen also believed Liu Rulan was a good person, he prioritized Ye Manman’s safety and immediately grabbed her.

Just as he grabbed Ye Manman, Liu Rulan, who had been looking at Ye Manman and was somewhat calm, suddenly emitted a piercing scream.

"Ah!!!"

She suddenly reached out to grab, eyes red and wide open, mouth constantly screaming, seemingly reckless, her whole face pressed against the iron door, desperately wanting to snatch Ye Manman from He Chen’s grasp.

The situation startled everyone, especially He Chen.

He dared not move.

Ye Manman rubbed her ears and signaled for He Chen to let go.

After He Chen obediently released her, Liu Rulan’s screams suddenly stopped.

She began calling Ye Manman’s name again, but this time her calls were more urgent and much more coherent, even occasionally managing to say "my daughter" without pausing.

This change was unexpected by the Liu Family; they all assumed Liu Rulan was merely getting mad upon seeing young girls, not recognizing Ye Manman. But now the situation was very different from before.

Previously, whenever Liu Rulan saw young girls, she would simply cling to the door trying to pull them in or grab them. Though her expressions were agitated, her voice piercing, she had no control and had injured several people before.

But today, upon seeing Ye Manman, not only did Liu Rulan not attempt to grab her, she was so anxious that she spoke complete short sentences, and her expression seemed different from before, as if retaining some rationality.

After Liu Rulan calmed down a bit, Ye Manman took another half-step forward.

This distance was dangerous—as long as Liu Rulan tried to grab her, she would definitely be injured.

Everyone’s hearts jumped into their throats, and He Chen focused on Liu Rulan’s hands, ready to pull Ye Manman back the moment Liu Rulan lost control.

But to everyone’s surprise, Liu Rulan trembled, reaching out her hand wanting to hold Ye Manman’s hand.

Ye Manman wasn’t scared; she took the initiative to clasp Liu Rulan’s hand, marked with old scars, feeling moved, and her mouth worked a step faster than her mind, calling out "Mom."

This call of "Mom" directly made Liu Rulan burst into tears.

She seemed not crazy at all, sobbing while tremblingly touching Ye Manman’s face, murmuring, "my daughter, my daughter..."

She seemed to want to say more, but years of mental disorder had made Liu Rulan forget how to speak; she continued calling "daughter, Manman," sometimes opening her mouth unable to speak, just shedding tears.

This scene brought tears to the eyes of the Liu Family; Old Mr. Liu’s beard quivered, he turned around silently at the back, not daring to watch, secretly wiping his tears.

Yanghua’s eyes were blurred with tears. He grabbed his wife’s hand, unable to contain his excitement, saying, "Is my sister recovering? Is she recovering?"

Zhou Jing held her husband’s hand, sharing the sorrow, "She’ll get better, definitely get better."

She had two children too, who were in boarding school now.

Even so, she felt sad every week when sending her children off, so she could hardly imagine what kind of feeling Liu Rulan had as a mother thinking of her child all these years.

Zhou Jing thought, if she were Liu Rulan, she would have gone crazy too.

"Manman..."

Liu Rulan seemed never to get enough of watching her daughter, constantly calling her name, her supposed vacant eyes filled with overwhelming motherly love.

Ye Manman’s heart hurt terribly, watching her like this, her distress made her cry.

Liu Rulan panicked immediately upon seeing her tears.

She patted Ye Manman’s hand and quickly turned to run back into the yard, picking two oranges from the tree, half turned yellow, then swiftly plucked a cluster of lavender she had carefully tended, turning back to run to the iron door, passing them through to Ye Manman’s hands like treasures.

"Manman, eat."

She watched the orange tree and lavender daily, picking the largest, fastest-turning yellow oranges and choosing the prettiest blooming cluster to take back and put directly into the vase.

She uttered the fifth word, which nobody expected.

Ye Manman grasped the two round oranges and lavender, tears pouring down even more fiercely.

It wasn’t just two oranges and a cluster of flowers, but a mother’s heavy love—for Liu Rulan looked at her so earnestly, Ye Manman trembled as she peeled one orange, pried open a segment, and popped it into her mouth.

The oranges were still sour at this time, but Liu Rulan chose the largest, brightest ones, with plenty of juice—though still sour, with some sweetness, not unpleasant to eat.

Ye Manman ate a segment, tried to smile out loud, "Delicious!"

"Mom, you eat too."

She then tore off a segment and placed it at Liu Rulan’s mouth, but Liu Rulan shook her head, refused, saying "Manman, eat."

In Liu Rulan’s world, these oranges, which she’d watched grow the biggest, were probably the best she could offer.

She couldn’t bear to eat them, wanting to leave them for her daughter.

Ye Manman felt a warmth in her heart, almost burst out crying, "Okay."

She ate the oranges segment by segment, watching Liu Rulan’s relieved and happy expression, forcefully holding back tears, pulling out a big smile.

"I really love oranges; thank you, Mom."