Jiang Xingheng's dark eyes snapped wide open.
This little brother of his was an idiot—just because their mother was being a little nice to him, he was already over the moon. What if this kindness was only to lull them into obedience, to make it easier to sell them off?
He Xiaoman didn't notice the wariness churning in his eyes. She smiled and pinched the younger boy's soft, chubby cheek. "You're the best behaved."
With that, she crossed her arms and looked at the stubborn older brother. "If you want to wash yourself, you'd better do a proper job. I'm not sleeping with a dirty kid."
She turned around, grabbed her pajamas, and was leading the bouncing Jiang Xingci out the door when she caught a glimpse of Jiang Xingheng still standing in place, his little brows knitted tightly, his nose twitching as he sniffed at himself.
Perhaps catching the smell of his own sweat, a hint of panic actually flickered across his small face.
He Xiaoman asked Li Chunyan to boil two more pots of water and poured them into the large wooden tub. Jiang Xingci obediently spread his arms and let her strip off his clothes. His little body stood in the tub, his thin ribs jutting out like a row of bony firewood—it made her heart clench.
No matter what kind of life these two kids had lived before, now that she was here, she was going to raise them plump and healthy. Otherwise, she'd be wasting her own excellent cooking skills!
She sat beside the wooden tub, one hand scooping water with a ladle, the other scrubbing the younger boy with a washcloth.
The moment the towel pressed against his back, the little one burst into a fit of "giggle-giggle" laughter from the ticklish sensation, squirming around like a happy little loach, splashing water everywhere.
A soft rustling sound came from the doorway. He Xiaoman glanced over and saw Jiang Xingheng shrinking behind the door, his dark, glossy eyes fixed intently on his brother in the tub, unable to hide the envy in them.
"Jiang Xingheng, come here." She called out.
The boy stiffened, recoiling like a small animal whose tail had been stepped on.
Jiang Xingci wiped the water droplets from his face with his little hand and called out in his babyish voice, "Come on, big brother! Mommy's washing feels super nice!"
The skinny little figure shuffled forward a step, but his heels stayed planted firmly on the ground, hesitating.
It wasn't that he didn't want to wash—it was that he didn't want to be fooled by her sugar-coated tactics.
But then he thought about how if he didn't get clean, he'd have to sleep in the small bed by himself tonight…
"Fine, I'll wash. Who's afraid of who?" He gave a soft huff and finally walked toward the wooden tub.
He Xiaoman smiled and added more hot water to the tub, letting the two little ones stand side by side in it.
Jiang Xingheng kept his face taut at first, but after getting splashed in the face by his brother, he couldn't help scooping up water and dousing him back. Soon the two kids were horsing around in the water, their giggles ringing out like silver bells.
He Xiaoman scrubbed Jiang Xingci's back first. A thick layer of grime had built up on his skin, so she had to use more force. When it was Jiang Xingheng's turn, she slowed down.
The boy's back was a patchwork of old and new bruises—some purple-blue, others fading to yellow. According to the original owner's memories, half of these injuries were from Liu Cuifen's beatings, and the other half were the original owner's own doing.
Whenever they took their anger out on the kids, the older brother would always step in to shield his younger sibling, so the injuries all landed on Jiang Xingheng instead.
He Xiaoman now understood why the older brother was more distant and guarded toward her than the younger one.
"Does it still hurt?" She gently touched one of the bruises and asked softly.
Jiang Xingheng froze for a moment, then shook his head, but the tips of his ears quietly turned red.
He'd meant to stay tense, but her hand was gently rubbing his arm, and his brother's cheerful laughter filled the air beside him. Before he knew it, his guard had loosened.
He felt like the mother in front of him was a little different now.
Before, she never really bathed them, and even when she did, she'd keep her face tight and say nothing, like a block of ice.
But today's mother was so nice. She took them to eat braised pork, hit the grandmother and uncle who usually bullied them, and now she was smiling while helping him bathe.
Mother's smile was really pretty. If only she could always be like this.
Just as he was thinking that, a warm washcloth suddenly moved toward his lower body.
Jiang Xingheng immediately reached down to cover his little pepper, but He Xiaoman pressed his hand away. "What's there to be shy about at your age? Hurry up and get clean, or you're sleeping in the small bed by yourself tonight."
The boy's face flushed red, his lips pressed together in silence, but he obediently let go.
When she fished both kids out of the tub and wrapped them in a big towel to dry them off, she realized that once the grime was washed away, their little faces had turned fair and clean.
These weren't dark-skinned boys at all—they were clearly two adorable, jade-carved dolls.
Back in the room, He Xiaoman applied medicine to both brothers.
The two little ones couldn't wait to lie down on their mother's bed, feeling the soft mattress and breathing in the faint scent of soap from the quilt. They both stared up at the ceiling, as if in a dream.
Jiang Xingci rolled around on the bed, his heart stuffed full of sweetness, and looked at He Xiaoman with a beaming smile. "Mommy…"
He Xiaoman responded, "What is it?"
Jiang Xingci giggled, not saying anything, just calling "Mommy" a few more times.
Jiang Xingheng couldn't help but smack his shoulder. "Go to sleep, idiot!"
Jiang Xingci rubbed the spot where he'd been hit and grinned foolishly.
"Sleep now." He Xiaoman pulled the thin quilt over the brothers. "Anyone who talks again can go sleep in the small bed by themselves."
Hearing this, Jiang Xingci, who had been grinning foolishly, immediately raised his hand to cover his mouth and shook his head like a rattle-drum.
Having walked all day and made a fuss all day, the two brothers fell asleep as soon as they lay down on the bed, without needing He Xiaoman to coax them.
After the children were sound asleep, He Xiaoman also fetched some water and went to the washroom to bathe.
There was a mirror by the window. She picked it up and took a look, only to discover that the original owner's face was actually seventy to eighty percent similar to her real-life appearance, just much thinner.
After bathing and returning to the room, she took out the jade pendant and, unable to wait, found a needle and pricked her finger with it.
This was the experience she had summarized from reading novels—spatial dimensions usually required a blood drop to recognize their master.
The moment the drop of blood landed on the jade pendant, it suddenly emitted a dazzling, multicolored glow, followed by a strange force swirling around her.
He Xiaoman subconsciously closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she found herself standing in an unfamiliar area, and the jade pendant in her hand had disappeared.
She was stunned. The jade pendant was just gone like that?
This was the evidence and clue to the original owner's identity.
While she was still dazed, she suddenly felt a burning pain on the inside of her right arm. Turning her arm to look, she saw that the pink heart-shaped birthmark, originally the size of her pinky finger, had become even more crimson.
She blew on the birthmark and subconsciously let out a sigh of relief.
Forget it. If there was no jade pendant, a birthmark would do. Although this birthmark was a bit hidden, its color was deep—anyone would recognize it at a glance.
He Xiaoman set aside her thoughts and looked around. The spatial dimension was so vast that its boundaries were hard to discern. As far as the eye could see, there were dark, fertile fields. Not far away was a small stream, and beside it stood a large bamboo grove and a spacious wooden cabin.
That stream must be the Spirit Spring!
He Xiaoman ran over, cupped her hands to drink some water, and a sweet taste instantly spread across her tongue. The pain in her fingertip disappeared, and even her body felt lighter.
What surprised her even more was that this spatial dimension could actually see what was happening outside.
She tried taking a few steps, and her vision could still penetrate the spatial barrier. She could even move within a few meters in any direction using her willpower.
She looked at the water cup on the table in the room outside. Her mind turned, and she closed her eyes, silently chanting, "Bring the cup in." When she opened her eyes again, the cup had already landed at her feet.
Afterward, she left the spatial dimension and silently thought of Spirit Spring Water. In just a moment, a cup of Spirit Spring Water appeared on the table.
"This is way too convenient!" He Xiaoman couldn't help but exclaim. With this thing, before they left for the military camp, she was determined to strip the Jiang family of everything valuable!
However, since they were going to follow the army, Liu Cuifen and Jiang Fugui would definitely try to obstruct them—after all, they would be losing two laborers and one small one.
She needed to think of a way to make Liu Cuifen willingly let them go.