After Shen Meng and the others left, they went straight to the kang (a heated brick bed) and lay down. She was very dizzy after talking for so long. Wang Guizhi was also quite tired, but even though her daughter was lying down, she couldn't rest. Looking at the few silent children, she pulled Lu Mingkai to her side.
“Xiaomeng, the children are probably still hungry. You have some steamed egg cakes in your cupboard. Why don’t you give them some to tide them over? After you move back, I’ll cook something for you. I’ll ask your father to go home and get some grain later.”
Shen Meng closed her eyes and said weakly, “Okay, Mother, go ahead. There’s some brown sugar in the cupboard. I can make some water for you all to drink. I’m not feeling well, and I’ve made you and Father tired. Don’t go back tonight. Have someone run a errand home and send a message. Go back tomorrow. Once the grain is distributed, we’ll have rice to cook.”
Hearing her daughter’s words, Wang Guizhi’s heart ached. She took the key to the cupboard, unlocked it, and gave each of Mingliang, Mingfang, and Mingkai a steamed egg cake. She also made a large mug of brown sugar water and placed it on the table for the children to drink.
The children, who were used to being beaten and scolded, were suddenly treated like this and didn't know what to do. Mingkai, being young, found the sponge cake in his hand very tempting. He glanced at his mother several times with his big eyes, but still didn't dare to eat it.
Mingliang and Mingfang didn't eat any either. One's eyes darted around, wanting another for her older brother, while the other was genuinely afraid. It wasn't that their mother hadn't given them some before, but she would regret it afterward and beat them. Just thinking about it made her bottom ache.
The little girl panicked and put the cloth she had been holding on the kang (a heated brick bed), and stuffed the sponge cake into Wang Guizhi's hands.
"Grandma, I'm not hungry, you eat, I..."
"Eat, Mingfang, Grandma's here. Your mother wouldn't dare hit you. She just said she'll never hit you again. She knows she was wrong. Grandma said 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 scared. Lu Mingliang grabbed the chicken cake from Wang Guizhi's hand and stuffed it into Mingfang's hand.
"Sister, you eat. Listen to Grandma and Mom. Mom is still sick. We need to eat well to take care of her!" Lu Mingliang finished speaking and smiled ingratiatingly at Wang Guizhi and Shen Meng. At
such a young age, he was very cunning. Shen Meng sighed. Even though he seemed to care about her a lot, the fear and indifference in the little boy's eyes were still impossible to hide.
Wang Guizhi reached out and hugged Lu Mingkai, coaxing him affectionately, and fed him warm brown sugar water little by little.
"Mingkai, be good, drink some sugar water, and eat the cake. Grandma will make something delicious for you and your brothers and sisters tonight."
Shen Meng smiled and said, "Yes, your grandma will make something delicious for you tonight. Didn't your fourth aunt say she'd give you brown sugar and eggs? Mom, make a pot of brown sugar and eggs tonight, one bowl for everyone in our family."
"Okay! Let's all have some nourishment." Originally, Wang Guizhi didn't want to waste anything, but looking at her thin child and her seriously injured daughter, she wanted to make them anything good to help them recover.
She held little Mingkai, and her hand touched a handful of painful bones. Alas, the child had suffered so much.
Lu Mingfang and Lu Mingliang chewed on the sweet chicken cake, occasionally taking a sip of brown sugar water. They felt like they were dreaming—no, they wouldn't dare to be so unrestrained even in their dreams. They were eating chicken cake from their mother's cupboard.
"Snatching food from a tiger's mouth! They're really something else!"
Lu Mingfang ate nervously, worried that Shen Meng would come after her once she recovered. She didn't dare eat any more after one. Lu Mingliang didn't care. He felt that Shen Meng was half-dead, so he might as well finish the chicken cake in his hand quickly. It would be best if he could have another one after finishing one, otherwise he wouldn't have the chance later.
He wasn't afraid of the bad woman beating him later. He was an adult now, and if she hit him, he would run away. Besides, she herself said that she didn't have long to live, so he wasn't afraid at all!
When he was about to take the third one, Shen Meng spoke up. These days, chicken cakes are very dry, and eating too many will make your stomach uncomfortable.
"Alright, Mingliang, there are a few left. Leave some for your older brother. Drink the sugar water in the teacup. Your grandma will make you something delicious tonight. Don't rush. Take Mingfang to see what's going on and pack your things. We'll move back to our own home later."
Lu Mingliang's hand holding the chicken cake paused slightly, and then he took all the chicken cakes away.
"Okay, Mom, I'll keep that chicken cake. I'll give it to my older brother when he comes back later, hehe. Mom, you rest. Mingfang and I are packing up."
"You're so sensible, good boy. Don't rush. If there's anything heavy you can't carry, just tell Grandma, and Grandma will get it for you!"
Lu Mingliang chuckled, hid the chicken cake, and then turned to Wang Guizhi, saying, "Okay, Grandma."
Shen Meng didn't take his scheming to heart; he was just afraid she wouldn't give it to him. This kid was a bit cunning, Shen Meng silently labeled him in her mind.
Liu Sanjin watched Lu Bangde and Zhang Hongfa weighing the grain, her eyes reddening with heartache. Her hands, gripping the doorframe, trembled. Zhou Jiaojiao and Lu Jiaxuan, who had come over carrying their bedding, also looked unwell. However, there were quite a few people peeking in to watch the commotion, so despite their reluctance, they still put on smiles.
Although no one knew the full story, they had just seen Shen Meng's mother run out of the Lu family home with disheveled hair and blood streaming down her face, saying that Shen Meng was about to die. They accused the old woman of being biased, refusing to call a doctor in order to give the eldest son's brick house. Considering that the fourth son of the Lu family had indeed been living in the eldest son's house for the past six months, and combined with Shen Meng's father's earlier visit to the doctor Lu Changhong, everyone felt a deep sense of sorrow.
They never expected that Granny Liu, who always claimed to treat her daughter-in-law like her own daughter, was so calculating. It seemed that a family without a man was truly incompatible; seeing Zhenping serving in the army, she bullied the mother and children.
Some of the younger wives, secretly tormented by their mothers-in-law, immediately burst into tears. They empathized, projecting their own experiences onto Shen Meng, imagining her life in the Lu family as a living hell, and almost forgetting the times Shen Meng had frequently beaten and scolded the children with a stick.
In the countryside, it's common to scold and beat children. A naughty child won't learn unless disciplined; beatings are a sign of affection, and scolding is a sign of love. How could a mother not want what's best for her child?
Shen Meng was unaware that her reputation had improved slightly. Looking at the bags of grain in front of her, the twelve yuan on the kang table, the brown sugar, and the eggs, she felt a deep sense of satisfaction.