“Big Sister, you eat some too,” Shen Danyue said, walking over to Shen Danyun’s side. She held up her skewer of candied hawthorns and nudged it toward her older sister’s lips.
“Big Sister already has one, you go ahead and eat yours.” Shen Danyun waved the skewer of candied hawthorns in her own hand.
“Ah, Girl Yun is back. Why don’t you all stay and eat dinner here before heading home?” Uncle Shitou said, walking over after finishing chopping firewood in the backyard.
“No need, Uncle. I bought some meat buns; this bag is for Goudan and the others to eat.” Shen Danyun handed the bag of buns over to Uncle Shitou.
“Take them back and eat them yourselves! You’ve already given them candied hawthorns, how can we take meat buns too?” Uncle Shitou refused to accept them.
“Uncle, there are more at home, and we won’t be able to finish them all anyway. The weather is hot, so they’ll go sour by tomorrow if left out. Also, take this skewer of candied hawthorns and give it to Aunt; I don’t really care for sweet treats,” Shen Danyun said, thrusting the meat buns and the skewer into his hands.
“Big Sister, candied hawthorns are so delicious, why don’t you like them?” Shen Wentao asked, completely bewildered. To him, candied hawthorns were the most delicious thing in the whole wide world; he couldn’t comprehend how anyone could dislike them.
“Everyone has different tastes and preferences. Your sister just doesn’t like sweet things,” Shen Danyun said with a smile—though, of course, bubble tea and sweet drinks were exceptions to her rule.
“If you don’t like them, save them for the two little ones. Your Aunt is already so old, why would she be eating this?” Uncle Shitou said.
Shen Wentao watched longingly while munching on his own skewer, his eyes practically begging, Give it to me!
Seeing this, Uncle Shitou held the skewer out to him and said, “Here, give it to Wentao. Our Wentao loves them.”
Shen Wentao’s face lit up with joy. Just as he was about to reach out and take it, Shen Danyun intervened. “Uncle, children shouldn’t eat too much sugar, or their teeth will rot. This skewer is strictly for Aunt.”
Turning to her siblings, she said, “Uncle, we’re heading out. And you—you little glutton!” Shen Danyun playfully tapped Shen Wentao’s forehead with her finger, took the two little ones by their hands, and turned around to head home.
“Big Sister, why do teeth rot if you eat sugar?” Shen Wentao’s endless stream of questions began to pour out.
Feeling a bit of a headache coming on, Shen Danyun explained, “If you eat too much sugar, bugs will grow in your teeth, and those bugs will eat your teeth away.”
Shen Wentao’s round eyes widened to the size of saucers, filled with utter disbelief and terror. He clamped his small hands over his mouth, his little face twisting into a miserable expression.
“Big Sister, I don’t want bugs growing in my teeth! If the bugs eat my teeth, what if they eat me too?
Waa-waa… Big Sister, then I won’t be able to see you anymore! Waa-waa…”
Uh-oh. She had spoken too harshly and traumatized her little brother’s fragile, innocent mind. What if this made him terrified of sugar forever? What was she supposed to do without any parenting experience?
After thinking it over, Shen Danyun could only comfort him by saying, “As long as you eat less of it and brush your teeth before going to bed at night, you won’t get any bugs.”
Shen Wentao’s eyes lit up, though he asked in confusion, “Big Sister, how do you brush your teeth? Teach me, I want to brush my teeth! I don’t want bugs!”
“Alright, Big Sister will teach both of you how to brush your teeth tonight.” Preventing cavities had to start from an early age. She had hoarded plenty of toothbrushes and toothpaste in her spatial dimension, so this was no trouble at all.
Once the three of them reached home, Shen Danyun fetched some water to wash their hands and faces before bringing them into the kitchen for dinner.
She pulled the dishes out from the multi-tiered food box. The first layer contained a plate of roast duck, the second layer was a plate of braised pork belly, and the third layer held a whole steamed sea bass.
Shen Danyun brought out the meat buns, and the three of them enjoyed a sumptuous feast. Shen Wentao took a bite of the roast duck, his eyes gleaming instantly. “Big Sister, this roast duck is so delicious!”
“Big Sister, this braised pork is amazing!”
“Big Sister, this fish is incredible!” The little guy’s mouth was slick with grease, yet he didn’t miss a beat in showering the food with praises.
“You call this delicious? One of these days, Big Sister will make roast duck for you myself. I guarantee that once you taste mine, you won’t think this restaurant duck is anything special anymore.”
“Big Sister, you know how to make roast duck?” Shen Wentao asked indistinctly, his mouth stuffed with food.
Shen Danyun placed a piece of duck onto Shen Danyue’s plate. “Eat more. It’ll spoil if we don’t finish it.” Her little sister was simply too quiet and sensible, not even daring to reach for the meat on her own, choosing instead to nibble slowly on her meat bun with both hands.
“Mmhmm. Big Sister, we have so many delicious things to eat now. In the past, I wouldn’t even dare dream of this. Just having a meat bun felt like pure bliss,” Shen Danyue said, her eyes turning slightly red.
“If only Father and Mother were here too…” Her final words were as quiet as a mosquito’s buzz, yet they reached the ears of all three siblings perfectly.
Little Wentao instantly felt that the meat in his mouth had lost its flavor. Dropping his head, he asked, “Big Sister, when is Mother coming back?”
Shen Danyun felt a pang of guilt; she had completely forgotten about the original host’s mother. She quickly comforted them, saying, “If you two are good and behave, Mother will be back very soon. Big Sister promises you.”
“Really?” Shen Danyue’s eyes flashed brilliantly, shining like black obsidian, even more captivating than the moon in the night sky.
“Mmhmm. Barring any unexpected complications, Big Sister will find Mother and bring her home within a month at most.”
If her deductions were correct, those two old, wretched things from the Liu family must have sold their mother off somewhere. Tonight, she would pay that old crone a visit, drag the truth out of her, and rescue their mother.
Late into the night, just as Shen Danyun was preparing to slip out of bed, Shen Wentao suddenly began to cry and thrash about in his sleep. “Mother! I want Mother! Waa-waa…”
It was heartbreaking to see a three-year-old toddler endure such immense suffering. With neither father nor mother around, he had been subjected to relentless beatings, verbal abuse, starvation, and freezing temperatures, leaving him as terrified as a startled bird.
If she hadn’t transmigrated into this body, what would have been the ultimate fate of these three children? Thinking of this, she felt that her previous actions against the Liu family had been far too merciful.
Shen Danyun held little Wentao tightly, patting his back to soothe him. “Taotao, be good. Don’t cry. If you are a good boy, Mother will be back very soon.”
Shen Danyue was also awoken by the commotion and joined in to comfort Wentao. “Stop crying now, okay? Mother will come back if you don’t cry.”
Gradually, the little guy finally drifted back to sleep. Shen Danyun breathed a silent sigh of relief as Shen Danyue also lay back down and slept. Once they were deeply asleep, Shen Danyun slipped out and headed straight for the Liu residence.
Following the itching powder incident, every member of the Liu family had scratched themselves until they were bloody and raw. They had only just managed to stop the itching, but now their entire bodies ached miserably; it felt as though they had lost half their lives.
Having suffered for days, Madam Liu-Chen was finally able to get a decent night’s sleep. Yet, in the dead of night, she was abruptly hauled out and dumped onto a desolate burial mound.
In her hazy state of consciousness, she thought she heard a voice calling out to her: “Madam Liu-Chen… Madam Liu-Chen… wake up at once…”
She struggled to open her eyes, but the sight before her caused her to shake violently with primal terror, a cold dread washing over her entire body.
She couldn’t comprehend why she was currently lying inside a coffin. Could it be Shen Chenzhi’s ghost coming back for her…?
In the distance, several eerie clusters of ghostly green fire flickered and drifted closer, creeping nearer and nearer… Madam Liu-Chen’s mouth fell open, her eyes widening to their absolute limits as her soul nearly left her body in sheer terror.
“GHOST!…” A piercing, blood-curdling shriek echoed across the desolate burial mound.
“Tch. Having such pathetic courage, yet you still dare to harm people.” Shen Danyun couldn’t bear to look at her. She needed to quickly find out where her mother was before this old crone literally frightened herself to death, rendering the whole trip pointless. She flicked a Truth Pill straight into Madam Liu-Chen’s mouth.
The moment the pill entered her throat, Madam Liu-Chen’s expression turned entirely blank and vacant.
“Madam Liu-Chen, where did you sell Zhang Guilan?”
“That cheap wrench Zhang Guilan actually dared to seduce my son! I sold her to Master Qian, the supposedly charitable owner of Juxian Restaurant, to be his concubine! That worthless bitch fought back tooth and nail; by now, who knows if she’s already been beaten to death by the Qian family,” Madam Liu-Chen said, her words dripping with pure malice even in her dazed state.
Shen Danyun ground her teeth in raw fury. “You had better pray to the heavens that she is still alive. Otherwise, I will make your entire family be buried alive with her.”