Twenty years!
For over seven thousand days and nights, she hadn't spent a single one away from the Buddha's altar. She had knelt and begged the Heavenly Gods and buddhas to let her find her daughter. She had waited a full twenty years, waited until she had one foot in the grave, and finally, she had this result.
Her Suying, her daughter, had returned!
Tears streaming down her face, the old woman reached out to grasp her flesh and blood. Halfway there, she tripped over a raised bluestone slab and nearly fell to the ground.
Xu Shiling and Chen Song were frantic. They rushed forward to catch her, but Xu Su Ying beat everyone to it, throwing herself at the old woman's feet.
"Mother, Mother! Mother, I'm back. Look at me, Mother. I'm your Suying," she cried.
Xu Su Ying wept loudly. Gone was the ease and poise she had shown while playing a ghost to catch a "thief" in the dead of night.
