The green vegetables didn’t take long to stir-fry. Once Su Mian dished them out onto a tin plate and set it on the table, she turned to scoop rice for the two children.
When she finally sat down and saw them waiting so quietly at the table without touching their food, she couldn’t help but nod in deep satisfaction.
“Dabao, Xiaobao, time to eat.” Su Mian picked up her chopsticks and placed a bit of food into both of their bowls.
Though the two kids were still tiny, they held their big bowls with ease and immediately began scarfing down the food. It had been far too long since they had tasted rice, let alone a meal this delicious.
“Eat slowly, there’s plenty of food to go around. Don’t choke,” Su Mian cautioned gently.
At her words, both children obediently slowed down, pausing their frantic shoving of food into their mouths.
Su Mian smiled, picking up her chopsticks to serve them more. “Eat your rice, but make sure to eat your meat and vegetables too.”
Neither child was a picky eater; they ate whatever Su Mian put in front of them. Though their grip on their chopsticks was still a bit awkward, they were remarkably sensible and fed themselves without complaint.
After adjusting their grip on the chopsticks, Su Mian began eating her own meal. She was determined to lose weight and needed to watch her portions, so she stopped after just half a bowl, not daring to eat another bite. There were no shortcuts to losing weight—dietary control was the only way to shed the pounds.
Once they were finished, Su Mian cleared the table and washed the dishes. Turning around, she found both kids already fast asleep on the bed.
Looking at the dingy, stained bedsheet, she decided to head out once more to buy a new one. The old sheet was unbearable to look at, and the thought of sleeping on it tonight made her feel as though any bath she took would be completely wasted.
Ideally, she would have picked up bedsheets and clothes for the children at the trading market this morning. But after coming into such a large sum of cash, she had been terrified of attracting unwanted attention and felt compelled to leave in a hurry.
The shantytown had its own commercial street selling dirt-cheap goods. The fatal downside of cheap goods, however, was their terrible quality. After browsing through various stalls, Su Mian picked out a bedsheet and duvet cover set that felt the softest to the touch.
She then bought two sets of clothes for each of the children before heading home.
Because of her own heavy build, finding off-the-rack clothes for herself was tricky. Instead, she bought fabric, needles, and thread, deciding to sew her own clothes to avoid buying something that wouldn’t fit and couldn’t be returned.
Shoes were another necessity. The rubber sandals on the kids’ feet were filthy, falling apart, and no longer fit them properly. Fearing she might get the wrong size, Su Mian decided it was best to bring the children along next time so they could try them on in person.
Carrying the heavy load, Su Mian felt sweat drenching her back after just a short walk. The more I sweat, the better—it’ll help me shed the weight faster, she consoled herself.
Passing by a general store, she stopped to buy a padlock. Even though her most valuable possessions were safely tucked away in her spatial pocket, the front door still needed to be locked whenever she stepped out.
Returning home, Su Mian unlocked the door and breathed a quiet sigh of relief seeing both children still fast asleep.
However, as soon as she stepped inside, Xiaobao sat up on the bed and reached out her arms, silently asking for a hug. Unable to speak, she relied entirely on gestures.
Su Mian quickly set the bags at the foot of the bed and gathered her newly awakened daughter into her arms.
“Is Xiaobao awake? Mommy went out to buy you some new clothes—do you want to see?” Su Mian coaxed, desperate to make up for four years of missed motherly love.
In her memory, Xiaobao had been able to speak when she was a baby. Why was she completely unable to make a sound now?
Xiaobao clutched Su Mian’s sleeve tightly with her little hand, nodding eagerly to show she wanted to see her new clothes.
What child didn’t love getting new clothes? Besides, the rags they were wearing were filthy and long outgrown.
Su Mian pulled out a cute pink floral dress, holding it up against Xiaobao to measure it. “It’s definitely going to fit! You can wear your new dress tonight after your bath.”
This was Xiaobao’s very first dress. She reached out with her small hands, turning it over to admire it from every angle, before looking up and pressing a sweet kiss onto Su Mian’s cheek.
“Do you like it, Xiaobao?” Su Mian asked with a smile.
Xiaobao nodded enthusiastically, clutching the dress tightly to her chest, unwilling to let go.
By then, Dabao had woken up too, rubbing his eyes. “Mommy.”
Su Mian looked over at her son with a warm smile. “Dabao, look what Mommy bought for you! Here’s your new outfit.”
For her son, she had picked out a simple graphic T-shirt paired with elastic-waist shorts—a clean, practical outfit typical for boys their age.
Dabao stared at the new clothes, his eyes widening before he practically bounced in place. “Mommy, is this really for me?”
“Of course it’s for you! I bought a dress for your sister, so who else would this be for?” Su Mian teased gently.
Dabao immediately perked up, rushing forward to wrap his arms around her waist. “Thank you, Mommy!”
It was almost funny how easily two simple outfits had won over these sweet kids.
“There’s more,” Su Mian added, pulling out the second set of clothes she had bought for each of them.
“Wow!” Receiving two new outfits at once sent Dabao into absolute ecstasy.
Xiaobao’s second outfit wasn’t a dress, but she loved it just as much. She sat quietly in Su Mian’s lap, staring at the clothes in her hands, when tears suddenly began to fall from her eyes.
Feeling a sudden dampness on her skin, Su Mian looked down and realized Xiaobao’s tears were dripping onto her hand.
“Xiaobao, sweetie, why are you crying? Do you not like the shirt and pants? Tell you what, Mommy will buy you another dress next time, okay?” Su Mian soothed her gently.
She secretly regretted her choice—she had thought pants would be more practical for playing around, so she had opted for one dress and one pant set. Had she known, she would have just bought two dresses.
To her surprise, Xiaobao shook her head, burying herself tight against Su Mian in a display of total reliance.
“Mommy, Sister says she really, really likes the clothes you bought,” Dabao suddenly chimed in, acting as a translator.
Su Mian was taken aback. Turning to Dabao, she asked, “How do you know that?”
Dabao answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “Sister told me in my heart! She also said she’s only crying because Mommy suddenly became so nice, and she’s scared Mommy might disappear out of nowhere.”
Su Mian froze.
After a long pause, Su Mian asked slowly, “Can you… read your sister’s mind?”
Given that her own body had been taken over by a transmigrator, it didn’t seem entirely impossible for twins to share some sort of telepathic mind-reading connection.
However, Su Mian quickly realized she was overthinking it. While twins shared a strong bond, it wasn’t quite that supernatural.
Dabao shook his head. “Mommy, Sister can’t talk, but I can just feel what she’s thinking. That’s definitely what she means.”
Su Mian was left completely speechless.