The little girl leading the way was thin and sallow, obviously malnourished. Her yellowish hair framed a timid face as she looked nervously at Li Tingyun.
“Mom… my brother and I finished gathering pig grass,” she said softly.
Li Tingyun glanced at the little boy.
He looked no better than his sister—frail and skinny, nothing like a healthy four-year-old child.
She had never had children before and didn’t know how to interact with them.
Li Tingyun stiffly forced a smile and reached out, wanting to pat Eldest Baby’s head.
Unexpectedly, the moment she raised her hand, fear flashed through the little girl’s eyes. She instinctively shrank back and dodged.
Looking at Second Baby, he looked equally terrified, his tiny body trembling slightly.
Li Tingyun immediately understood.
The original owner had been dissatisfied with her marriage to Yi Yang, and as a result, she also disliked the three children.
She frequently beat and scolded Eldest and Second Baby, to the point where they had developed a conditioned reflex: whenever they saw her raise her hand, they would dodge.
Yet whenever they tried to avoid her blows, the original owner would become even angrier and beat them harder.
Children are naturally attached to their mothers.
Even though Eldest and Second Baby were afraid, they still couldn’t help approaching the original owner.
But they never received any affection in return.
Despite being so young, Eldest Baby was already very sensible. Early every morning, she took her younger brother out to gather pig fodder, earning one work point a day.
Li Tingyun’s heart ached.
She withdrew her hand and said gently, “Eldest Baby, take your brother to wash your hands.”
The two children were filthy from head to toe. Their clothes were so dirty their original color could barely be seen.
Eldest Baby obediently answered, “Okay,” and led Second Baby to the well to pump water and wash up.
Aside from the inheritance left by her parents, the original owner also had Yi Yang’s salary and now the compensation money after his death.
Truthfully, they weren’t lacking food or clothing.
But the original owner had always wanted to return to the city with her childhood sweetheart, so she was unwilling to spend any money on the children.
Watching Eldest Baby lead Second Baby away to wash their hands, Li Tingyun saw that Third Baby had fallen asleep again and gently laid him down on the bed.
Then she headed to the kitchen and examined the surroundings.
The kitchen was just like the bedroom—bare and empty.
There wasn’t any food in sight.
The floor was greasy, the water jar was full of dust, and the stove was coated with black grime of unknown origin.
She had originally planned to cook, but seeing the state of the kitchen, Li Tingyun sighed.
Better to make do with something simple for lunch today. She could clean the house in the afternoon before properly using the kitchen.
From her space, she took out sweet-and-sour pork ribs, sautéed lettuce, seaweed egg drop soup, and three bowls of rice from the rice cooker.
After placing everything on the table in the main room, Li Tingyun called outside:
“Time to eat!”
The dishes had actually been cooked several days ago, but they still looked steaming hot, as if freshly made, and smelled delicious.
She waited for a while but still didn’t see Eldest or Second Baby come in, which felt strange.
When she stepped outside to look, she found the two children standing in the hallway, staring at her with wide eyes, not daring to move.
Then she suddenly remembered—
The original owner never allowed the children to appear while she was eating.
They could only eat after she herself had finished.
Li Tingyun sighed.
She hadn’t expected the original owner to truly despise her own children this much.
But she wasn’t the original owner.
She would never treat Eldest and Second Baby like that.
Softening her voice, she asked, “Did you two wash your hands properly?”
Eldest Baby froze for a moment, then stretched out her palms.
Second Baby copied her and held out his hands too.
Their palms, roughened from constantly gathering pig grass, were stained faint green.
In a tiny voice, Eldest Baby said, “Mom, I washed them clean.”
Second Baby added quickly, “Mom, mine are clean too.”
Although children of this era commonly followed older kids to gather pig grass and earn work points, these two children now belonged to her.
Seeing how cautious they were even around their own mother made her heart ache.
“Mhm, Mom saw,” Li Tingyun said.
She gently placed a hand on each child’s shoulder and led them into the room.
The moment they sat at the table and saw the fragrant dishes, both children’s eyes lit up brightly, practically drooling.
Li Tingyun placed chopsticks into their hands and smiled.
“Go ahead and eat. Careful, it’s hot.”
Second Baby grabbed the chopsticks and immediately buried his head in the food without another word.
In no time, his cheeks were stuffed full, puffed up adorably.
Unlike carefree Second Baby, Eldest Baby matured early.
Even though she was only two years older, she already understood that their mother disliked her and her brothers.
Holding her chopsticks, she looked uneasy and hesitant.
She didn’t understand why her mother had suddenly changed today.
In the past, her mother never allowed them to sit at the table to eat.
Today’s behavior…
Nervously, Eldest Baby looked toward Li Tingyun.
Li Tingyun picked up a piece of meat and placed it into her bowl.
“Eldest Baby, what’s wrong?” she asked softly. “Aren’t you hungry?”
Eldest Baby hurriedly shook her head.
After gathering pig grass all morning, her stomach was practically empty.
“Then hurry and eat,” Li Tingyun urged.
Eldest Baby nodded.
“Thank you, Mom.”
She lowered her head and started eating in small bites, but soon couldn’t resist the delicious food and began wolfing it down.
Watching the child’s cautious behavior, Li Tingyun was speechless.
Just look at how badly the original owner had oppressed these children.
A six-year-old child already knew how to carefully read people’s moods.
She was even being overly polite to her own mother.
Just being allowed to eat at the table and treated a little kindly was enough to make her repeatedly say “Thank you, Mom.”
Second Baby, meanwhile, noticed none of this.
Although only four years old, he ate extremely quickly. Before long, he had already finished an entire large bowl of rice.
Looking up with sparkling eyes, he praised happily:
“Mom’s cooking is so delicious!”
Li Tingyun smiled and ladled him another bowl of soup.
“If you like it, then eat more in the future.”
Second Baby became even happier.
Did that mean he could eat delicious meals cooked by Mom every day from now on?!
That was wonderful!
Eldest Baby still had food in her mouth as she asked indistinctly,
“Mom, can our family really eat food this good every day from now on?”
In the past, their meals were mostly vegetables.
Today was the first time she had ever seen such a rich meal.
There was meat and eggs.
She had never known meat and eggs could taste this amazing.
“Of course,” Li Tingyun promised them. “Mom guarantees that from now on, our meals will never be worse than today’s.”
Eldest and Second Baby immediately cheered with excitement.
That was great!
From now on, they could eat delicious meals every day!
Both children drank an entire bowl of soup, their little stomachs becoming round and full.
After they finished eating, Li Tingyun told them to wipe their mouths clean and clean off the oil around their lips.
As for herself, she quickly began eating too.
For some reason, ever since transmigrating into this body, she constantly felt extremely hungry.