After returning to her room, Shen Meng went straight into her space. Her head was still throbbing, so she found some medicine and supplements, which she took, only then did she feel relieved. Her body has been very sticky since yesterday. Fortunately, Wang Guizhi wiped it off, otherwise it would have definitely smelled bad.

She filled the bathtub with hot water and took a long, thorough bath, scrubbing off layers of grime with a special exfoliating towel. People in the countryside didn’t pay much attention to hygiene, the dirt she washed off was so thick that it nearly made her gag. After scrubbing twice and soaking, she finally felt clean. As she removed her shower cap, she frowned—had her head not been in so much pain, she would’ve taken the time to thoroughly clean her hair as well.

While Shen Meng was washing up at home, Lu Mingyang and the other children had gone to the hillside to gather pigweed. Despite being young, Lu Mingkai still tried his best to help his brothers and sisters, his small hands red and sore from tugging on the grass without proper tools. As he glanced up and saw his siblings bent over and
working, he pouted. Other kids gathering pigweed had already gone home for lunch, yet there was still no one calling them to eat.

“Da Qing, Er Qing! Come on back for lunch, it’s getting hot out there!” a voice called out.

“Coming, Mom!” Da Qing tossed his bundle of grass into his basket and shouted to Lu Mingyang, “Hey, Mingyang, why hasn’t your grandma called you all for lunch yet? She didn’t call you yesterday, and she hasn’t today either. That old woman’s heart must be made of stone. I saw Yongqiang and Yongli already went home.”

Lu Mingyang kept his head down, continuing his work. “You two should hurry home. Your mom’s waiting for you,” he replied, his voice calm.

“You don’t want to come with us to eat? Your grandma is stingy and your mom is the same. Come over to our place for lunch instead. My mom wouldn’t mind, and she’d feel bad knowing you haven’t eaten.”

Da Qing, a cousin of Lu Mingyang, tried to persuade him, feeling sorry for him. Their moms were sisters-in-law, so they were technically family. Though their meals weren’t extravagant, they at least had enough to get by.

“No, thanks. I’ve already come over to your place a few times this month. Your mom’s been good to us, and I don’t want her getting scolded on our account. We’ll just go home.” Lu Mingyang mustered a weak smile as he spoke, urging Da Qing to leave.

After Da Qing and his brother finally left, Lu Mingyang’s face grew serious again.

“Big Brother, I’m hungry. Why hasn’t Grandma called us yet?” Lu Mingliang groaned, dropping his spade and sitting down in frustration.

“If they were planning to call us for lunch, they would’ve done it by now,” Lu Mingliang replied. “We’ll just finish gathering pigweed and go home. I even saved three pieces of that bad woman’s egg cake. We can share them.”

Lu Mingkai’s eyes lit up, his face breaking into a grin. He wanted to eat egg cake so badly.

Lu Mingfang picked up her spade and said hesitantly, “Big Brother, I think Mom might actually be trying to change. Grandma and Grandpa told her off this morning, and besides, she’s still sick. Let’s go home. If she’s really… you know, not okay, and something happens while she’s alone, what would we tell Dad when he comes back?”

They weren’t related by blood to the Lu family. Though life with their “bad mom” was hard, at least they got to sleep in a good room and occasionally had something nice to eat. But if they ended up in their grandma’s house, it would be a different story—barely enough food to keep them going, plus hard labor. Lu Mingfang remembered when Mingkai had trouble going to the bathroom after eating coarse black-bean bread there.

With a hardened look in his eyes, Lu Mingyang finally made up his mind. “Let’s go home.”

“Great!” said Lu Mingliang, his eyes shining. “Yesterday, Aunt Tian and Grandma Chen brought over some eggs. I saw Grandma stash them in the kitchen cabinet. If egg cakes don’t fill us up, we’ll cook those eggs. We can even make Mingfang some brown sugar water; girls love sweet things.”

As he spoke, he couldn’t help but swallow. He liked sweets too, but he thought it best to let his sister have some if they could sneak any.

Lu Mingliang said a lot, and Lu Mingkai was so greedy that he was drooling all the way.

Lu Mingyang’s expression darkened as he thought about how their grandma never treated them like real family. She’d fawn over them, calling them her “precious darlings,” yet never offered them good food like Yongqiang and Yongli. Even his own little brother Mingkai didn’t get any special treatment.

He had no expectations that things would be different with their mom, but he figured, with Grandma and Grandpa around, she might at least try to put on a good show for a few days.

---

Meanwhile, back in the old family house, everyone sat silently eating their meal. Xie Jinghao, watching the quiet scene, finally broke the silence, “Should we go call Mingyang and the others in for lunch? We should also bring some food to Eldest Sister-in-law.”

“Absolutely not,” barked Lu Jiahe, angrily biting into his cornbread. “That woman has her own rations now, doesn’t she? Let her and those kids eat that if they’re hungry. Not a single bite of ours will go to them.”

As he spoke, Liu Sanjin didn’t even look up, clearly sharing his opinion.

Xie Jinghao frowned, her discomfort evident. “Eldest Sister-in-law is injured, and the kids don’t know how to cook. If something goes wrong, we’ll have to answer to Eldest Brother when he returns.”

“Oh, you’re such a saint, aren’t you? Third sister-in-law, why don’t you save your own rations and give them to eldest sister-in-law and the others?” muttered Wu Xianglan with a roll of her eyes. “Trying to act all high and mighty…”

“Mother, Third Sister-in-law is right. Eldest Sister-in-law still has an injury on her head, and the children aren’t close to her. If something really goes wrong, it won’t look good on us. How about we take some food over to them? I…I’ll skip my meal so we can save some rations.”

“Nonsense. You barely ate yesterday, and if you skip today too, how will your body handle it? Don’t say things like that. I’ll save the food instead,” Lu Jiaxuan replied, setting his bowl down and standing up to grab some cornbread.

Liu Sanjin, seeing her youngest son stop eating, quickly said, “Don’t you dare go. You’re all too kindhearted! As if your mother would be a bad person. If your elder sister-in-law really wanted food, she’d have already sent Mingyang over. Maybe they’re not that hungry—just wait. They’ll come over asking for food soon, and I’m not planning to deny them. But whether or not they get it depends on your sister-in-law’s attitude.”

She’d been waiting all morning, hoping to hear bad news about Shen Meng. After eavesdropping by the door crack for a long time, all she heard was Wang’s wife saying Shen Meng’s health had improved, which left her fuming.

Since there’s no problem, if they want food, they’ll need to offer something in return. Otherwise, there’s no way they’ll get a single grain of rice from her.