Chapter 12: This Kid is a Bit Sly

After Shen Meng and the others left, she went straight to the kang and lay down. She had been talking for quite a while, and she felt very dizzy. Wang Guizhi was also exhausted, but since her daughter was lying down, she couldn't rest yet. Looking at the few silent children, she pulled Lu Mingkai over to her side.

"Xiao Meng, the children are probably still hungry. There’s still some sponge cake in your kang cabinet; why don't you give it to them to fill their stomachs? Once you move back, I’ll fire up the stove and make you something to eat. I’ll have your father go home and bring some grain over in a bit."

Shen Meng closed her eyes and said weakly, "Alright, Mother, you take it. There’s also some brown sugar in the cabinet; you can mix it with water, and you should all have some. My body is useless, and I’ve made you and Father work so hard. Don't worry about going back tonight; find someone to run an errand and send a message home, then go back tomorrow. Once the grain is divided, there will be rice for the pot at home."

Hearing her daughter's words, Wang Guizhi felt a pang of sorrow. She touched the key to the kang cabinet, unlocked it, and divided a piece of sponge cake each for Mingliang, Mingfang, and Mingkai. She then mixed a large tea mug of brown sugar water and placed it on the table for the children to drink.

The children, who were usually beaten and scolded, didn't know what to do when faced with such treatment. Mingkai was young, and the sponge cake in his hand smelled truly delicious. He stole several glances at his mother, but still didn't dare to eat it.

Mingliang and Mingfang didn't eat either. One had eyes darting around, wanting to save a piece for his older brother, while the other was genuinely terrified. It wasn't as if their mother hadn't given them things before, but she would always regret it after they ate and would catch them and beat them. Just thinking about it made their bottoms ache.

The little girl panicked, placed the cloth she had been holding onto the kang, and shoved the sponge cake in her hand into Wang Guizhi’s palm.

"Grandma, I'm not hungry. You eat it, I... I..."

"Eat it, Mingfang. Grandma is here; your mother won't dare to hit you. Your mother just said she won't hit you again in the future. She knows she was wrong. Grandma is saying this in front of your mother today: if she dares to hit you again, I won't acknowledge her as my daughter anymore."

Lu Mingfang was still afraid, but Lu Mingliang, standing beside her, grabbed the sponge cake from Wang Guizhi’s hand and shoved it into Mingfang’s.

"Eat it, sister. Listen to Grandma and Mother. Mother is still sick, we need to be full so we can take care of Mother!" After saying this, Lu Mingliang smiled ingratiatingly at Wang Guizhi and Shen Meng.

At such a young age, he was already very calculating. Shen Meng sighed inwardly; even though he acted like he cared about her, the child was so young, yet the fear and coldness in his eyes couldn't be hidden at all.

Wang Guizhi reached out and hugged Lu Mingkai, coaxing him affectionately and feeding him the warm brown sugar water bit by bit.

"Be good, Mingkai. Drink some sugar water, then eat the cake. Tonight, Grandma will make something delicious for you and your brother and sister."

Shen Meng also tugged at the corners of her mouth and smiled. "That's right, tonight your grandmother will make something delicious for you. Didn't your Fourth Aunt say she’d give us brown sugar and eggs? Mother, make a pot of brown sugar eggs tonight, one bowl for everyone in the family."

"Alright! Good, let's all get some nourishment." Wang Guizhi hadn't wanted to be so wasteful, but looking at the frail children and her severely injured daughter, she wanted to make everything good to help them recover.

As she held little Mingkai, her hand brushed against his protruding, bony frame. *Sigh*, the child had suffered too much.

Lu Mingfang and Lu Mingliang chewed on the sweet sponge cake, taking sips of brown sugar water from time to time, feeling as if they were dreaming. No, they wouldn't even dare to dream of something this extravagant. They were eating the sponge cake from their mother's kang cabinet.

This was like snatching food from a tiger's mouth; they were getting too bold.

Lu Mingfang ate with trepidation, fearing that once Shen Meng recovered, she would settle the score. After eating one, she didn't dare to eat any more. Lu Mingliang didn't care; he felt that since Shen Meng was half-dead anyway, he might as well eat the sponge cake in his hand quickly. If he could eat one, he’d eat another—otherwise, he might not get the chance later.

He wasn't afraid of the bad woman beating him later. He was older now; if she hit him, he’d run. Besides, she had said it herself that she wouldn't live long. He wasn't afraid at all!

When he reached for the third one, Shen Meng spoke up. Sponge cake in this day and age was quite dry, and eating too much would upset their stomachs.

"Alright, Mingliang, leave the rest for your older brother. Drink the sugar water in the mug. Your grandmother will make you something delicious tonight, so don't rush. You and Mingfang go look around and pack up your things. We’ll move back to our own house later."

Lu Mingliang’s hand paused slightly, then he gathered up all the remaining sponge cake.

"Alright, Mother. I'll keep the sponge cake safe. When Big Brother comes back, I'll give it to him. Hehe, Mother, you rest. Mingfang and I will go pack."

"How sensible. Good children. Don't rush; if there's anything heavy you can't carry, tell Grandma, and Grandma will carry it for you!"

Lu Mingliang gave a cheeky grin, hid the sponge cake, and then turned to look at Wang Guizhi. "Alright, Grandma."

Shen Meng didn't mind his calculating nature; it was just fear that she wouldn't let them have it. This kid was a bit slippery. Shen Meng silently labeled him in her heart.

Liu Sanjin watched as Lu Bangde and Zhang Hongfa weighed the grain, her heart aching so much her eyes turned red. Her hands, gripping the door frame, were trembling. Nearby, Zhou Jiaojiao and Lu Jiaxuan, who were carrying their own bedding, looked equally displeased. However, there were many people peeking and gossiping outside, so despite their reluctance, they forced smiles onto their faces.

Although everyone didn't know the full situation, they had just seen Shen Meng’s mother run out of the Lu house with messy hair and blood on her face, saying that Shen Meng was about to die and that the old woman of the Lu family was biased, refusing to hire a doctor because she wanted the eldest branch's brick house for her youngest son. Thinking about how the Lu family's fourth son had indeed been living in the eldest branch's house for the past six months, and combined with Shen Meng’s father running to find the doctor Lu Changhong, everyone couldn't help but sigh.

They really hadn't expected that Mother Liu, who always claimed to treat her daughter-in-law like her own child, was so deep-hearted. It really was impossible to manage a household without a man. Seeing that Zhenping was away serving in the army, she bullied his wife and children.

Some young wives who were secretly mistreated by their mothers-in-law began to cry on the spot. They empathized, putting themselves in her shoes, imagining Shen Meng’s life in the Lu family as a living hell, and almost forgetting that Shen Meng used to frequently beat and scold her children with a stick.

Come to think of it, beating and scolding children was common in the countryside. If a mischievous monkey wasn't beaten, it wouldn't learn. A beating is a sign of care, and a scolding is a sign of love. How could a mother not want what's best for her children?

Shen Meng didn't know that her reputation had improved slightly. She looked at the few bags of grain placed in front of her, as well as the twelve yuan, brown sugar, and eggs on the kang table, and felt quite pleased.