Chapter 24: This is Masculinity

Chapter 24: This is Manliness

Shen Meng mostly gave the dinner sent by Zhou Jiaojiao to the children. She gave each child two eggs and half an egg, showing no favoritism regardless of who was older or younger. For herself, she only had half a bowl of cornmeal soup.

Her actions made Lu Mingkai and Lu Mingfang feel incredibly distressed for her. Lu Mingfang directly placed her portion of eggs in front of Shen Meng.

"Mother, you eat it. I'm not hungry!"

"Give mine to Mother too, Xiaokai isn't hungry either."

"Xiaokai is such a good boy. Mingfang, you two eat. Mother had some mung bean soup this afternoon, so I'm not hungry at all right now. Your Fourth Uncle boiled hot water; use the washbasin to bathe tonight. Later, I'll find a carpenter to make a larger basin specifically for Mingfang."

Young girls needed to pay attention to hygiene from an early age. If they hadn't formed the habit before, that was one thing, but since she was here now, she had to take good care of the little girl. If she wasn't raised well while young, she would suffer once she grew into a young lady.

"Mother, I'm not washing. You don't understand, this is manliness. If I wash, it'll be gone." Seeing that she was in a good mood and speaking kindly to his siblings, Lu Mingliang took a bold risk to argue for himself. He truly did not want to bathe.

"No way. In this sweltering heat, how can you sleep without bathing? Take a good sniff of yourself—is that manliness? That's the smell of sweat."

"Hehe, Second Brother is stinky."

Lu Mingliang glared at Lu Mingkai, clearly dissatisfied. He had heard the workers in the fields say that this was "manliness," and he didn't think it smelled bad at all.

Seeing his defiance, Shen Meng said no more and turned her gaze toward Lu Mingyang, who had remained silent.

"Mingyang, you can wash yourself in a bit. I'll wash Mingkai and Mingfang. As for this little man with his 'manliness,' you decide for yourself if you want to wash or not."

Just as Lu Mingliang was about to loudly proclaim that he didn't need to, his foot was stepped on heavily. Lu Mingyang turned to glare at him angrily. They had only had one day of easy living, and already he was getting ahead of himself; the little monkey had no sense of caution.

"Mingliang will wash. He's talking nonsense."

Having been called out by his brother, Lu Mingliang didn't dare say anything more. Lu Mingyang thought to himself that no matter what Shen Meng planned to do, he would agree to her for now. He wanted to see what the bad woman was up to; if she really intended to sell his younger siblings, he would have to find a way to prevent it.

Lu Jiaxuan had left after boiling the hot water without saying a word. Shen Meng didn't mind; she diluted the hot water for Lu Mingyang and Lu Mingliang and even brought out a new towel and soap, telling them to scrub themselves well.

After he left, the two boys quickly finished their baths, helped Shen Meng change the water, and ran off to stay in the west room. "Scrubbing well" was out of the question; just getting into the water was enough for them.

Shen Meng didn't mind. The boys were getting older; even if she wanted to wash them, they would feel embarrassed.

Lu Mingfang and Lu Kai were different. The two of them were wailing as Shen Meng scrubbed them. The kerosene lamp didn't provide much light, but Shen Meng knew in her heart that the bottom of the washbasin was likely covered in "noodles" of dirt.

"Brother, listen. Mingkai and Mingfang must have been beaten hard. Usually, even when they get hit, they don't cry like this. Brother, what should we do?" Lu Mingliang felt panicked. He shouldn't have thought this person was becoming better just because of a little kindness from the bad woman.

Lu Mingyang also hadn't expected that the person who was smiling just a moment ago would turn around and start tormenting his siblings, though in an instant, he felt it was normal. This was the true face of a bad woman; how could she suddenly become good?

Fearful, the two brothers rushed to the kitchen and pushed the door open. They saw Lu Mingfang wearing a pair of adult cloth shoes and a patched floral blouse, with a towel perched on her wet hair. Meanwhile, Lu Mingkai was sitting in the washbasin, gripping the edges with his hands, his eyes filled with grievance and tears clinging to his eyelashes.

"Big Brother, Second Brother, *waaaah*... Mother's scrubbing hurts too much! Xiaokai's body is covered in mud, it's so dirty!"

Lu Mingyang and Lu Mingliang froze, confused by the situation. Shen Meng glanced at them and said softly, "Quick, close the door. The wind will make you cold, and you'll catch a cold."

"Mother, are you bathing Xiaokai and Mingfang?" Lu Mingyang asked stiffly.

"Yes. I wanted you two to have a good wash, but since you weren't willing, and Mingfang and Xiaokai are young, I'll do it for them. You've come at the right time; help me pour out the water. There's still some water in the pot; once we dilute it, we can wash again to make it clean."

The two little ones let out an "Ah!" and then hurriedly and clumsily helped lift the basin to pour out the water. The moon was large tonight. As Lu Mingliang looked at the dirty water being poured out and the clumps of mud sticking to the bottom of the basin, he nearly vomited his dinner.

"Is... is all this mud from Mingkai and Mingfang's bodies? Oh my goodness, it's so dirty! Brother, I want to be scrubbed tomorrow night too."

"Don't you want your manliness anymore?"

"I don't! I don't! No wonder my body has been so itchy every day; it was all mud. It's disgusting."

After bathing the two children, Shen Meng carried them into her own room. She carefully dried them off and took a bottle of specially formulated children's floral water from the cupboard, applying it thoroughly.

"Mother bought this a while ago but hasn't been willing to use it. You two are clean and fragrant today; once we apply the floral water, you'll surely sleep well tonight."

Lu Mingfang was hesitant to use it, but Shen Meng pulled her close.

"Don't be stingy. It's a big bottle. Mother will apply it for you. You dry your own hair; you can only sleep once it's dry. Sleeping with wet hair will give you a headache. As for the clothes, just wait for your Fourth Aunt to wash them; we don't need to worry about it."

As Lu Mingfang gently dried her hair, her heart stirred. The hands moving over her body were incredibly gentle, and her eyes grew moist.

"Mother, you are so good now."

"Silly child." Shen Meng didn't say much. To think she felt better after just one day—the little girl's heart was still so soft!

After coaxing the children to sleep, she went back to the kitchen. Once the door was closed, she entered her space to take a quick rinse before coming out. While Shen Meng was bathing, Lu Mingyang and Lu Mingliang came to the east room to call everyone back to sleep.

As it turned out, the two younger siblings refused to go back, complaining that they hadn't been washed properly. This dealt another blow to Lu Mingliang, who was still determined to preserve his manliness.

The next morning, when Zhou Jiaojiao and Lu Jiaxuan came to deliver breakfast, they took the dirty clothes of the children and Shen Meng to the Lu family home. However, this time they left the main gate open when entering the courtyard, and the workers passing by naturally saw this.

Just as they were about to gossip about Shen Meng, they saw her stumble out of the main room, looking weak and listless. This instantly silenced those who wanted to speak. They had thought Shen Meng had improved, but it seemed she was still in a state of near-death.