Her stomach was absolutely starving. Just after wiping a single table, she had already digested the eggs she’d eaten. Sitting by the door, Lin Zhi secretly unwrapped two packets of biscuits she had “borrowed” from the general store.
Most of the store’s customers were elderly, and they weren’t interested in novel or modern products, so the goods it stocked had a distinctly old-fashioned feel. The biscuits she held were a perfect example: double-layered orange-flavored cookies, far older than her previous life.
Such cookies didn’t exist in the current supply-and-marketing cooperative—they probably hadn’t even been invented yet—but that didn’t matter. She could spin a little story and then feed them to the twins without raising suspicion.
After finishing the biscuits, she returned to the kitchen, swapped for a clean big pot, and began boiling water.
Once she placed two large logs into the stove, she didn’t need to check again. Carrying two bowls of porridge, she set them on the freshly cleaned table and went to get the kids.
Ignoring the wary looks in their eyes and their instinctive resistance, Lin Zhi simply picked up the twins—one in each hand—and carried them out.
The children were four years old, probably not even twenty pounds each. She couldn’t estimate their weight, but she knew that lifting one in each hand was surprisingly easy.
She set them in front of the table and nodded at the porridge. “Eat,” she urged.
The plain rice porridge gave off a comforting fragrance. The twins’ mouths watered, but they didn’t dare touch it.
They didn’t understand what had gotten into Lin Zhi. Earlier, she had given them eggs without hitting them. Now, she was giving them plain rice porridge as well.
Plain rice was precious—something they only occasionally got when their father was home. After he left on missions, the original owner would not only refuse to let them touch it but would also yell if they even looked at it.
If it weren’t for the concern that the children might die and she’d have to answer for it, He Ze would have had no doubt the original owner could have killed them outright.
The twins were still apprehensive.
Even after Lin Zhi spoke gently several times, they didn’t dare move.
To avoid seeming too different and raising suspicion, Lin Zhi took a deep breath and suddenly yelled, “You won’t eat when I give you food? Do you know what people outside are saying about me?”
“They say I have a cruel heart. They say I can’t compare to the stepmother next door. They say that if I stay like this, your father will divorce me. Are you refusing to eat just to starve yourselves so outsiders will think I’m terrible?”
“They say the stepmother spoils the kids with good food and care, so why should I, their real mother, let you starve? The food is here already! Don’t be ungrateful—otherwise, my stick isn’t just for firewood!”
She had gone from gentle to furious in an instant. The twins shrank into themselves, scared, but they understood the meaning behind her words.
So she was giving them food just to avoid gossip. They didn’t understand why she had changed, but having food was a good thing.
Fearing she might change her mind again, He Ze didn’t even sit down. He shoved a spoon into his brother’s hand and began eating.
Lin Zhi stood with hands on her hips, watching them take one bite after another, silently congratulating herself on her cleverness.
She had shouted so loudly that the neighbors on both sides had surely heard. Now, giving the twins food wouldn’t seem so strange.
As long as she didn’t suddenly change temperament again, no one would suspect the body had a new consciousness. Even if they did, she could just deny it—the body was still the same, after all.
Since the twins could feed themselves, Lin Zhi didn’t linger. After finishing her own bowl, she went to clean up the rooms.
The rooms were filthy, and she didn’t know where to start.
Finally, she grabbed a broom and cleaned the floors, wiping them several times with water until they looked presentable.
The walls were too grimy to scrub, so she decided to cover them with old newspapers another day.
The clothes and bedding she found were stacked in the yard. There were no replacements. Lin Zhi thought for a moment, then went to the twins’ room.
The twins’ room had a small cabinet containing He Ting’s bedding and one set of clothes.
The original owner had never used this bedding. At first, she had dismissed it for being too patched and worn; later, she was simply too lazy to touch it.
Her laziness had worked out in Lin Zhi’s favor. That night, there would be no worry about the kids having nothing to cover themselves with.
Although it belonged to someone else, that “someone else” was now the husband of this body, so Lin Zhi felt no guilt carrying it.
Her own shop had a few quilts, but they were one-piece blankets with no covers, so she hadn’t dared use them.
Though the twins were small, the book said they had excellent memories. If He Ting returned and they mentioned anything, her “secret identity” would be exposed immediately.
She laid out the bedding, replaced whatever she could in the room, and finally secured a proper place to rest for the night. Lin Zhi let out a dark, satisfied sigh.
Next, she filled a large basin with hot water, set it on the stove to heat further, and summoned the twins.
Having eaten, the twins were braver. Still wary, they approached a little more quickly than before.
“Take off your clothes,” she said. “I’ll give you a bath, so no one can say I mistreat you or treat you like dogs.”
Her tone was still sharp, but the impatience was gone, replaced with a show of strict care.
He Ze didn’t notice the change, but He Run, usually silent, looked at her several times.
The twins hadn’t bathed in days. Their clothes were caked with dirt, and their bodies were gray and grimy.
Lin Zhi washed them with soap several times, changing the water twice, until the twins were finally clean and white.
With no extra clothes, she wrapped them in blankets. Fortunately, the weather wasn’t too cold, so they wouldn’t freeze sleeping naked.
The military’s electricity was on at 6 p.m. and off at 9 p.m. By then, darkness had fallen. Using the dim light, Lin Zhi inspected the twins.
They had inherited their father’s features. Though now emaciated, they still had a certain cuteness.
Lin Zhi, who in her previous life had turned twenty-eight without ever holding a man’s hand, suddenly had two children. She found being a mother with no pregnancy pain absolutely wonderful.
She had never liked the hardships of pregnancy, but she loved calm, pretty children. She had even considered asking a friend for a child in her thirties or forties.
Now, she didn’t need to wait. She had children already—cute, calm, and good-looking ones.
“Our clothes?”
He Ze twisted in the blankets, uncomfortable being naked.
“The clothes are too dirty. I’ll wash them and let them dry before you wear them again.”
He Ze glared at her. With her lazy reputation, he didn’t believe she would wash the clothes, and didn’t even think to check how dirty she herself was.
Even if she did wash them, it wouldn’t be until tomorrow. Realizing that meant he had to go without clothes today and tomorrow, He Ze felt completely defeated.