The two little radish-heads were Huo Zhanting’s adopted sons, Huo Wenxi and Huo Wenjin.
“Big Brother, the noodles smell so good. I really want some…” Three-year-old Xiaoxi’s mouth watered as the fragrant aroma of tomato noodles drifted through the air.
Huo Wenjin was six years old. He looked rather mature for his age, with a stern little face that made him look like a tiny old man.
He could smell the tomato noodles too, and he wanted some just as badly, but he didn’t let his hunger show.
His little brows furrowed tightly. After a long moment, he finally walked over to Jiang Yan.
Xiaoxi followed behind him, staring at the bowl of tomato noodles in front of Jiang Yan with his mouth watering. His huge, protruding eyes looked as if they were about to stick themselves right into the basin.
Jiang Yan acted as if she didn’t notice.
Back in the apocalypse, she had long since grown accustomed to eating quickly no matter where she was. Even if there were a pile of corpses sitting across from her, she could still eat with relish.
She had no intention of sharing her food either.
Huo Wenjin looked at his little brother’s starving-cat expression, then at Jiang Yan, who was happily slurping down her noodles…
In the end, he gathered his courage and asked politely and cautiously, “Stepmother, could you give my little brother some of your noodles?”
At the word “stepmother,” Jiang Yan finally realized that these two little radish-heads were Huo Zhanting’s adopted sons. She finally lifted her head from the basin.
Jiang Yan looked the two little boys over.
Hadn’t the novel said these two brats were rotten to the core? That even as children, they had already been stealing chickens and dogs, killing people, and setting fires, and were nothing but trouble?
They seemed pretty polite to her!
Because they had gone hungry for so long, their arms and legs were barely thicker than stalks of hemp. Their heads looked disproportionately large, their eye sockets were sunken, and their eyeballs seemed ready to pop right out.
The younger brother was especially pitiful. He was so hungry that his eyes looked as if they were about to fall straight into the noodle basin.
Yet even though he desperately wanted the food, he hadn’t reached out to snatch it.
Polite and restrained!
This was completely different from the annoying little brats described in the novel—kids who were supposedly born starving, who would grab anything edible the moment they saw it, and, if they couldn’t get it, would deliberately cause trouble.
Jiang Yan had already been mentally preparing herself for a battle of wits with these little brats. She hadn’t expected them to be so obedient and sensible.
An unexpected bonus.
They would probably be living together for quite some time, so Jiang Yan gestured toward Huo Wenjin with her eyes.
“Go get some bowls from the kitchen.”
“Thank you, Stepmother!”
Huo Wenjin immediately dashed into the kitchen and came back carrying a bowl.
“You don’t want any?” Jiang Yan asked when she saw that Huo Wenjin had brought only one bowl.
“I’m not hungry yet…” Huo Wenjin was just saying that he wasn’t hungry when his stomach suddenly growled.
Grrrrrr…
His little face instantly flushed with embarrassment.
Jiang Yan found it amusing.
The little brat was actually pretty cute.
“Go get another bowl from the kitchen,” Jiang Yan said.
“Okay.”
Huo Wenjin shyly went back to the kitchen and brought out another bowl.
Jiang Yan divided the noodles between them, giving each boy a small bowl.
Soon, the main room filled with the alternating sounds of three people slurping noodles.
All three ate quickly, almost as if they were competing to see who could finish first, but their table manners weren’t bad.
The two little radish-heads quickly finished their small bowls of noodles.
Sniff, sniff…
They weren’t full.
They wanted more!
Xiaoxi rubbed his still-flat little belly and gazed longingly at the noodles in Jiang Yan’s basin.
There was still such a huge basinful left.
Stepmother probably couldn’t finish it all, right?
Well, he didn’t mind eating her leftovers. Once Stepmother was full, he could ask for the rest.
Xiaoxi happily imagined this as he stared at Jiang Yan slurping her noodles.
He even prayed silently for Stepmother to hurry up and get full.
But the little brat kept staring and waiting…
And waiting…
Until the basin was nearly empty, with barely any broth left.
Jiang Yan still hadn’t stopped.
“Waaaaah…”
The little boy’s heart shattered, and he burst into tears.
“Xiaoxi, don’t cry. Compared with the wild-vegetable dumplings we used to eat, being able to have a whole bowl of noodles is already really good. And aren’t tomato noodles much tastier than wild-vegetable dumplings?”
Huo Wenjin patiently comforted his little brother.
These two little brats used to eat nothing but wild-vegetable dumplings?
Given Huo Zhanting’s salary, that shouldn’t be possible, should it?
Were they deliberately playing the victim?
Jiang Yan looked at the two painfully skinny little boys. They didn’t seem to be putting on an act.
They really were miserable.
But whether they were genuinely miserable or deliberately playing pitiful, Jiang Yan had no intention of cooking another batch of noodles.
Giving them each a bowl had already been the limit.
After finishing her noodles, Jiang Yan stood up, intending to wash the dishes.
No—wash the basin.
“Stepmother, I’ll do it.”
Huo Wenjin snatched the basin from Jiang Yan’s hands and ran toward the kitchen.
“Stepmother, I can help wash them too!”
Huo Wenxi quickly wiped away his tears, picked up the bowls he and Huo Wenjin had used, and toddled after his brother into the kitchen.
Jiang Yan didn’t stop them.
Housework should be taught from a young age!
Jiang Yan followed them into the kitchen. Seeing the two little boys standing on stools and washing the dishes with surprising competence, she left them to it and went into the bedroom to make the bed and sleep.
There were two bedrooms in the small courtyard. One of them was empty, so Jiang Yan simply moved in.
She slept until mid-afternoon.
When Jiang Yan opened her eyes, she was immediately confronted by two little radish-heads, startling her badly.
“What are you two doing here?”
Jiang Yan was still shaken.
Huo Wenjin didn’t answer her question. Instead, he turned to his younger brother.
“Xiaoxi, go play in the courtyard for a while.”
“Oh…”
Xiaoxi obediently went outside to play with the mud.
Jiang Yan knew immediately that he had deliberately sent his little brother away.
What was he planning to do?
As Jiang Yan wondered about it, she heard Huo Wenjin speak.
“Stepmother, can I talk to you?”
This was Huo Wenjin’s first time negotiating with someone. He was a little nervous, so he deliberately put on a stern face to make himself look more mature.
Jiang Yan raised an eyebrow, intrigued.
“Sure. Go ahead.”
Huo Wenjin took a deep breath.
“Although I’m only six years old, I already know how to wash dishes and clothes, sweep the floor, and gather firewood. I can also learn how to cook… When I grow up, I’ll be able to do even more. And I’ll be filial to you, too.”
The first step in any negotiation was to demonstrate one’s advantages!
“So?” Jiang Yan prompted.
“So I hope you can tell Dad that you can take care of us, so we won’t need Auntie Zhao from the compound to look after us anymore!”
His father was often away on missions, so he had entrusted Auntie Zhao, who lived in the compound, with taking care of him and his younger brother.
That morning, Auntie Zhao had suddenly rushed back and told the two brothers that their father had found them a stepmother.
She had also said that their stepmother was a terrible woman who would abuse them and refuse to feed them.
She told them that once their father had a stepmother, he wouldn’t want them anymore, and ordered the brothers to drive their stepmother away!
Huo Wenjin hadn’t done it.
He didn’t know whether his stepmother would abuse them, but he was certain that Auntie Zhao would!
Their father clearly gave her money to support them, yet he and his little brother were constantly hungry. On top of that, they were bullied by Zhao Jinbao and beaten viciously by Auntie Zhao.
Auntie Zhao had even threatened them not to tell their father!
He didn’t want to cause trouble for his father, so he had never dared tell him the truth. He had simply struggled to survive under Auntie Zhao’s care while taking care of his little brother.
The sudden appearance of their stepmother had given him a glimpse of hope.
Hmph.
There was no way he was stupid enough to drive his stepmother away!
He had carefully observed her.
Although his stepmother could eat a lot, she had been willing to share her noodles with him and his brother. She was already much better than Auntie Zhao.
Still, Huo Wenjin was worried that his stepmother might refuse. His two little hands nervously clutched the corners of his clothes as he continued.
“Stepmother, my brother and I are really easy to raise. Just give us some food and we’ll be fine.”
After a pause, he continued, “Of course, if Stepmother could not hit me and my brother… No, that’s not necessary. You can hit me. It would be even better if you just didn’t hit my little brother!”
“And my brother and I will work hard, too. We promise we won’t tire you out or cause you any trouble. Is that okay?”
Huo Wenjin looked at Jiang Yan anxiously and cautiously.
His big, watery eyes were filled with longing.
Jiang Yan suddenly remembered how the novel described the two brothers’ fates.
When he was young, the younger brother stole and caused trouble. When he grew up, he became a street thug and eventually died violently on the streets.
The older brother joined the Green Gang after stripping off his military uniform to avenge his younger brother. Ruthless and vicious, with no hesitation when it came to killing, he quickly made a name for himself and became the venomous snake that struck fear into both the underworld and the legitimate world.
Who could have imagined that the venomous snake who would one day become such a powerful figure could be reduced to such utter humility over a bite of food when he was a child?
In the novel, it was Jiang Meng who married Huo Zhanting.
Had this little brat once begged Jiang Meng like this, too?
And if so, what had Jiang Meng done?