Shen Meng mostly gave the children the dinner Zhou Jiaojiao brought over, two eggs for each child, half an egg for each, showing no favoritism based on age. She herself drank half a bowl of cornmeal soup.
Her actions touched Lu Mingkai and Lu Mingfang deeply. Lu Mingfang immediately placed her portion of egg in front of Shen Meng.
"Mom, you eat, I'm not hungry!"
"Mine is for Mom too, Xiaokai isn't hungry either."
"Xiaokai is so good, Mingfang, you eat. Mom drank mung bean soup this afternoon, so I'm not hungry at all. Your fourth uncle boiled hot water, so we can all wash in the bathtub tonight. Later, Mom will find a carpenter to make a bigger tub just for Mingfang."
Young girls need to pay attention to hygiene from a young age. It's fine if she didn't develop good habits before, but since she's here, she has to take good care of the little girl. If she doesn't raise her well when she's young, she'll suffer when she grows up.
"Mom, I'm not going to shower. You don't understand. This is a man's scent; it'll disappear if you wash it." Seeing that she was in a good mood and speaking kindly to her younger siblings, Lu Mingliang mustered up the courage to argue his case. He really didn't want to shower.
"No way! It's so hot. How can you sleep without a shower? Take a good sniff of yourself. Is that a man's scent? That's just body odor."
"Hehe, second brother stinks."
Lu Mingliang glared at Lu Mingkai, clearly unconvinced. He had heard from the workers that this was a man's scent, and he didn't find it smelly at all.
Seeing his defiance, Shen Meng stopped talking and turned her gaze to Lu Mingyang, who hadn't spoken.
"Mingyang will shower himself later. I'll shower Mingkai and Mingfang. As for this little man with the scent, you decide for yourself whether you want to shower or not."
Lu Mingliang was about to raise his voice to say he didn't need to when his foot was stomped on hard. Lu Mingyang turned and glared at him angrily. He'd only had one day of relaxation and he was already getting carried away. This little rascal had no memory.
“Mingliang, he’s talking nonsense.”
After his brother’s words, Lu Mingliang didn’t dare say anything more. Lu Mingyang thought to himself that whatever Shen Meng wanted to do, he would agree to it now. He needed to see what this bad woman was up to. If she really wanted to sell his younger siblings, he would think of a way to deal with it beforehand.
Lu Jiaxuan boiled the water and left without saying goodbye. Shen Meng didn’t mind. She prepared hot water for Lu Mingyang and Lu Mingliang, and also gave them a new towel and soap, telling them to scrub themselves thoroughly.
After he left for a while, the two children quickly washed themselves, helped Shen Meng change the water, and then ran to the west room. A proper scrubbing was out of the question; just kissing the water was already a good thing.
Shen Meng didn’t care. The two children were older; even if she wanted to bathe them, they would be embarrassed.
Lu Mingfang and Lu Kai were different. The two were scrubbing themselves so hard that they cried out. The kerosene lamp couldn’t illuminate the tub clearly, but Shen Meng knew that the bottom of the tub was probably full of noodles.
"Brother, listen! Mingkai and Mingfang must have been beaten really badly. They've never cried like this even when they're beaten before. Brother, what should we do?" Lu Mingliang panicked. He shouldn't have thought that this bad woman was going to change for the better just because of a little bit of kindness she showed him.
Lu Mingyang also didn't expect that the person who was just smiling a moment ago would turn around and start torturing his younger brother and sister. In an instant, he thought it was normal. This was the true face of a bad woman. How could she suddenly change for the better?
The two brothers were scared and quickly ran to the kitchen. They pushed open the door and saw Lu Mingfang wearing adult cloth shoes and a patched floral shirt. Her wet hair was covered with a towel. Lu Mingkai was sitting in the bathtub, his hands gripping the edge of the tub, his eyes looking aggrieved, and tears still clinging to his eyelashes.
"Big brother, second brother, waaaah, Mom's scrubbing hurts so much! Xiao Kai is covered in mud, he's so dirty!"
Lu Mingyang and Lu Mingliang were stunned, somewhat confused about the situation. Shen Meng glanced at them and said softly, "Quickly close the door, the wind will make you feel cold, you'll catch a cold."
"Mom, are you giving Xiao Kai and Mingfang a bath?" Lu Mingyang asked stiffly.
"Yes, I wanted you two to have a proper bath, but you didn't want to. Mingfang and Xiao Kai are too young, so I'm bathing them. You're here just in time, pour out the water. There's still some water in the pot, add it and wash them again, they'll be clean."
The two little ones exclaimed "Ah!" and then hurriedly helped lift the basin and pour out the water. The moon was bright today, and when Lu Mingliang saw the dirty water poured out of the bathtub and the mud stuck to the bottom, he almost vomited his dinner.
"Is this all the dirt that Mingkai and Mingfang rubbed off? Oh my god, it's so dirty! Brother, I want to rub myself off tomorrow night too."
"Don't you want to be manly anymore?"
"No, no, that's why I'm so itchy every day, it's all dirt, it's disgusting."
After bathing the two children, Shen Meng carried them into her room, carefully dried them off, and then took out a bottle of children's floral water from the cabinet and carefully applied it.
"This is what I bought before, but I haven't been willing to use it. You two are all so clean and fragrant today, and with this floral water, you'll definitely sleep well tonight."
Lu Mingfang was reluctant, but Shen Meng pulled her close.
"Don't be reluctant, it's such a big bottle. I'll apply it for you, and you can dry your hair yourself. You can only sleep with dry hair, wet hair will give you a headache. Your fourth aunt can wash your clothes, we don't need to worry about that."
Lu Mingfang gently dried her hair, her heart stirred slightly. The hands that roamed over her body were incredibly gentle, and her eyes welled up with tears.
"Mom, you're so good now."
"Silly child." Shen Meng didn't say much. It's only been one day, and she already seems better. This little girl still has a soft heart!
After comforting the children, she went to the kitchen, closed the door, and then went to her space. She quickly washed herself before coming out. While Shen Meng was taking a shower, Lu Mingyang and Lu Mingliang came to the east room to call them back to bed.
However, neither of the younger siblings wanted to go back, complaining that they hadn't showered properly. This was another blow to Lu Mingliang, who was determined to maintain his masculinity.
The next morning, when Zhou Jiaojiao and Lu Jiaxuan brought breakfast, they also took the children's and Shen Meng's dirty clothes to Old Lu's house. However, this time they left the gate open when they entered the yard, and those going to work naturally saw this scene.
Just as they were about to say something to Shen Meng, they saw her stagger out of the main room, looking weak and listless. This immediately silenced those who were about to speak. They had thought Shen Meng was feeling better, but she still looked like she was on the verge of death.