A pair of timid eyes peeked out at Li Feng as their owner secretly chewed on the meat.
A powerful sense of satisfaction welled up inside Li Feng.
His sweet daughter was finally willing to eat food he’d given her.
Seizing the moment, Li Feng fed An’an another piece.
Growing bolder, An’an stood in front of him and ate more than a dozen pieces of meat.
Her thin little face was now stuffed so full her cheeks bulged. Li Feng’s eyes shone with startling brightness.
He tried feeding Xiaoze, too. With his hands behind his back, Xiaoze turned his face away. “I’m not eating!”
“The meat smells delicious. You really don’t want to try it?” Li Feng coaxed his son.
An’an tipped up her little head and tugged at her brother’s clothes. “The meat’s so yummy. You should eat some too, Big Brother.”
Xiaoze gave a huff, stubbornly insisting, “I don’t even like meat, and I definitely won’t eat this man’s meat!”
He hadn’t forgotten how Dad had thrown him into the wall for eating his food.
Li Feng was about to persuade him when Lin Qingxue’s furious, startled shout rang out. “What are you doing?!”
The next moment, Lin Qingxue rushed into the room, pulled the two children behind her, and shielded them. She stared at Li Feng, tense from head to toe. “If the children eat your food, I’ll buy it back from you. You can’t hit them.”
Li Feng knew she’d misunderstood again and hurried to explain. “No, no. I just saw that the children were malnourished, so I wanted to buy them some meat to help build them up.”
But Lin Qingxue didn’t believe him. “You never cared about the children before. Are you planning to sell them to loan sharks to pay off your debts?”
As she said this, panic filled her beautiful eyes.
Since last night, Li Feng had been acting completely differently. He’d suddenly started speaking gently and treating her and the children with such tenderness. It was as if he’d become a different person. She couldn’t shake the feeling that he was plotting something.
Li Feng steadied himself and looked Lin Qingxue in the eye. “I used to be a piece of shit. I put you and the children through a lot. Now I just want to make it up to you. Qingxue, I earned 4,000 yuan today, and I’ll earn more. Before long, we’ll have paid off all our debts, and you’ll have meat every day and soup with every meal. We’ll finally be able to live comfortably.”
Lin Qingxue froze.
Was… was she dreaming?
Li Feng, who had always cared only about himself, was actually concerned about her and the children—and had even promised to give them a better life?
In a daze, she felt her clothes being tugged twice. Looking down, she saw An’an gazing up at her hopefully. “Mom, the meat’s yummy.”
Lin Qingxue’s eyes grew hot.
At New Year, the house had been full of people coming to collect debts. She’d been so busy pleading with them that the children hadn’t even gotten a bite of meat…
Li Feng took the opportunity to hold the plate of pork stir-fried with green peppers in front of Lin Qingxue and urged her, “An’an wants some meat. You feed her.”
Lin Qingxue hesitated, then took the plate, still unsure whether to trust him.
Li Feng urged her on. “Go on, give An’an some.”
Gritting her teeth, Lin Qingxue picked up a piece of meat and fed it to An’an. Then she immediately turned to look at Li Feng. When she saw that he hadn’t moved, she finally relaxed and fed both children.
Seeing that Xiaoze was willing to eat too, Li Feng brightened. He even urged Lin Qingxue, “You should have some meat too. You need to build yourself up.”
Lin Qingxue’s eyes reddened. She murmured, “Mm,” then said, “You eat some too.”
Li Feng patted his big belly and declared boldly, “I’m losing weight, so I’ll pass.”
At two hundred pounds, his body was far too inconvenient. He was definitely going to lose weight.
He served four bowls of rice and set them on the table, then called his wife and children over to eat. He himself wolfed down a big bowl of rice with the plate of pickled radish at home, then went to tidy up the house.
Lin Qingxue watched him bustling about, so astonished she forgot to eat.
He was actually cleaning the house?!
“You… really earned 4,000 yuan?”