The village chief, who was forced into labor, and his wife and son, were quite satisfied to start processing that wild boar under Jian Yue’s force… no, compensation.
Jian Yue rubbed her sore arm. In the past, she would have habitually wanted to go back to sleep for a bit.
But as she turned around, she saw one, two, three, four, five little ones… all staring at her with eager eyes!
Jian Yue: …
Forget it, what sleep? Didn’t she see her five newly acquired little ones?
“Go wash up yourselves, don’t stare at me.”
All five little ones were looking at her, soft, adorable, and tiny, which was enough to make her heart race.
So hard.
Jian Yue showed little expression on the surface, and no one knew her lively inner thoughts.
She sensed a little one following her, and getting a bit too close. Jian Yue instinctively quickened her pace to create distance, hastily saying.
“Don’t follow me either.”
So small, one by one—if she wasn’t careful, she might step on a few of them. If they got hurt…
Jian Yue shuddered, frightened by her own thoughts.
Indeed, little ones were fragile beings.
“Mother…” Little Four, Ye Xiqi, trembled instinctively at Jian Yue’s words.
Just a moment ago, she thought her mother was actually quite nice, but now that her mother’s expression changed, Ye Xiqi looked like she was about to cry.
“…” Jian Yue was expressionless.
Little One, Ye Xixing, noticed the slight change in Jian Yue’s expression and quickly stepped forward, speaking with some urgency:
“Mother, sister isn’t trying to follow you, it’s just… just.”
At that, Ye Xixing paused, as if he was wary of something.
Jian Yue took a deep breath, softening her expression.
“Just what?”
“Today’s breakfast… hasn’t been made yet. Sister was going to the kitchen to cook, not meaning to follow Mother. Did Mother forget?” In the past, the stepmother made them cook while also being wary of them cooking.
She would usually watch them cook, guarding against them stealing food.
So Ye Xiqi following Jian Yue wasn’t a problem in itself.
The problem was the stepmother…
Ye Xixing didn’t know if today’s stepmother was the same one as yesterday’s.
So he was still tense, testing the waters.
Ye Xixing shielded his sister behind him, waiting for the result, ready to bear everything whether good or bad.
“I haven’t forgotten.”
Jian Yue looked at Little One, who didn’t even reach her chest. With a child’s innocence, some emotional changes were easy to read.
This little one was testing her.
Impressive, really.
“Is Mother angry?” Ye Xixing couldn’t read the current stepmother, so he could only probe carefully, to give himself some peace of mind.
“I’m not angry.”
As Jian Yue spoke, her gaze fell on the tiny Ye Xiqi. At six years old, she looked like a child of four or five.
Jian Yue’s heart softened a little. She reluctantly crouched down to meet her eyes and said, “You don’t need to cook anymore from now on. I’ll handle it. You and your brothers and sister go wash up and just wait to eat.”
Jian Yue thought that speaking so gently would be enough to soothe this red-eyed little girl.
But she never expected—
The moment her words fell, Little Four burst into tears with a wail.
Jian Yue’s face stiffened.
Before she could ask what was wrong, the frail little girl lunged forward trying to hug her. Jian Yue reflexively stepped back to avoid it.
That only made the crying worse.
“…I didn’t mean—” Jian Yue tried to explain, but the little girl was already sobbing and babbling between tears.
“Mother, Mother don’t—Qi’er, Qi’er can do well, Qi’er already knows how to light the fire and cook, and I’ll cook Mother’s food properly too. Mother can’t abandon Qi’er, waaah, waaah, Qi’er can do even better, Qi’er is still small, when Qi’er grows a bit bigger, I can do even better.”
“Sister.” Little Four Ye Xiqi’s crying drew Little One, Little Two, and Little Three over to comfort her.
Even Little Five, still confused, came over to tug at Ye Xiqi’s clothes and call out: “Sister.”
But Ye Xiqi still couldn’t stop crying, mumbling about how she’d be obedient, work hard, and not to sell her.
“…” Jian Yue’s head ached, and she remembered.
The original owner made the kids work—Old One and Old Two had to go out at dawn to gather firewood and find food, and Little Five, being too small, was often carried along by Old Two.
That left only the twins at home. They had the most contact with the original owner and bore the brunt of her exploitation. Washing clothes and cooking were all on these two. At first, they were too young to know how to do any of it.
The original owner would say that if they couldn’t do it well, she’d sell them. She said it so often that they became terrified.
Now, by not making her work, Jian Yue had made Little Four think she was being let go because she couldn’t do the chores well—that she was going to be sold?!
Looking at the little girl crying so hard she could barely catch her breath.
“…”
Thinking about it, Jian Yue felt even more of a headache.
“Little One, calm your sister down. Tell her—no selling, no hitting, no scolding.” Jian Yue dropped that one line and walked away.
Sure enough, she still couldn’t quite get used to children.
Ye Xixing was taken aback, watching Jian Yue as she walked into the kitchen. It took him a moment to process—had those words really come from his stepmother’s mouth?
Was she truly not going to sell them, beat them, or scold them anymore?
He looked at his second brother, Ye Xihua.
Ye Xihua also shook his head, equally unable to make sense of their new stepmother now.
“Qi’er, stop crying. Stepmother doesn’t want to sell us…”
The older brothers, still comforting Ye Xiqi, suddenly heard their youngest brother—a bit simple-minded—clap his little hands and say:
“Changed, pretty.”
“What did you say, Little Five?” Ye Xihua was the one looking after Little Five, Ye Xile, their three-year-old brother who could barely speak. He was still completely clueless, seemingly only able to say simple things like “hold me,” “sister,” “hungry,” “eat.”
Everyone noticed Little Five’s gesture, and even crying Ye Xiqi forgot her tears, staring at her only younger brother.
“What did you just say, little brother?” Ye Xiqi asked, her voice still thick with sobs.
“Mother, pretty!” Being watched by his older siblings, Ye Xile’s round eyes seemed to glisten even more. He clapped his hands and pointed toward the mother who had already disappeared into the kitchen.
Little Five Ye Xile’s words left his older siblings utterly bewildered.
While his brothers and sisters were distracted, he trotted off on his short little legs toward the kitchen.
“Little Five!” Ye Xixing saw him and hurriedly tried to bring his brother back, but Ye Xihua pulled him back.
“Second brother.” Ye Xixing felt a flicker of tension.
“Big brother, let’s… wait and see.” Ye Xihua clenched his fists, as if he had just barely managed to make some kind of decision.
“But…”
“Big brother wants to know if she’s really changed, doesn’t he? We’ll follow behind. If anything seems off, we’ll bring Little Five back.”
“…” Ye Xixing lowered his head and silently acquiesced.
But he absolutely would not let Little Five out of his sight.