Chapter 22 : “Tell me, do you deserve this belt?”

After washing her hands, Song Shiwei took the two children to sit down at the dining table and handed each of them a soft, sweet cornmeal pancake.  

This pancake was made with white flour, making the top soft while the bottom layer, which stuck to the edge of the pan, was crispy.  

It was the first time the two children had seen such a delicious pancake, and they couldn’t help but take a bite.  

Zhou Cheng and Zhou Lin were furious.  

“Third Brother!!”  

“Xinxin!!”  

Zhou Wei and Xinxin looked at them with some grievance.  

Xinxin said timidly, “Brother… this pancake is really delicious!”  

Zhou Cheng was so angry that it seemed like smoke was coming out of his head.  

He pointed at her and scolded, “You! You and third brother are traitors! I don’t care about you anymore. When this bad woman beats you, you’ll know!”  

Hearing his words, Zhou Wei was so frightened that he quickly put down the biscuit he had just taken a bite of.  

He hurriedly ran to them.  

When he looked at Song Shiwei again, his eyes were filled with fear.  

Because he remembered, his father had married a woman! And that woman was terrifying!!  

He could almost feel the pain of being abused by her, and his eyes instantly turned red.  

Song Shiwei felt a little helpless.  

It seemed like these two older ones weren’t just unused to her, they were treating her as a bad woman!  

“You two, don’t scare them. When have I ever hit you? Why are you so sure I’m going to hit him? If I were going to hit him, would I be giving him food I made?”  

But Zhou Cheng just stared at her with a sinister look in his eyes. Song Shiwei even felt like she was being stared at by a wolf cub.  

“You don’t have to smile at me. They say the prettier a person is, the more vicious they are! Who knows how many bad intentions you have!”  

Song Shiwei: “…….”  

Well, her kindness was completely taken for granted!  

She didn’t know where this little brat had heard such nonsense. Who was misleading these children?  

What did he mean by “the more beautiful a woman is, the more vicious she is”?  

Though she was a little pleased that he thought she was beautiful, being treated as an evil stepmother by these children was quite frustrating.  

Xinxin saw that Song Shiwei also looked unhappy, and her eyes suddenly turned red. But she looked at the pancake in her hand, then at her brother.  

Timidly, she walked over and held out the pancake to them.  

“Big Brother, try it. This pancake is really fragrant and delicious! You’ll know once you try it!”  

But Zhou Cheng slapped the pancake out of her hand!  

“I won’t eat anything made by this evil woman!”  

Xinxin watched as the sweet pancake rolled far away on the ground, covered in dirt.  

She didn’t know if it was out of heartbreak or fear, but she suddenly burst into tears.  

“Waahhh!!!”  

Song Shiwei was startled and quickly pulled her into her arms to comfort her.  

“Xinxin, don’t cry! Don’t cry!”  

Even though she felt sorry for the pancake that had fallen on the ground, she still took another one from the basket.  

“Mom still has some left. Can I give Xinxin a new one?”  

Just then, Zhou Tingyue came back. He looked at Song Shiwei, who was holding and soothing Xinxin.  

Then he looked at the boys standing at the door.  

“What happened? Why did you make your sister cry on your first day back?”

Seeing her father return, Xinxin immediately climbed down from Song Shiwei’s lap, crying as she ran to hug Zhou Tingyue’s leg.  

“Waaah! Dad, I just wanted my brother to taste the pancake Mom made, but he slapped it away!”  

Zhou Tingyue’s brows furrowed as he spotted the pancake on the ground not far away.  

“Zhou Cheng! Is that true?”  

As he spoke, he gently pushed Xinxin aside and began to unbuckle his belt.  

“What have I taught you? Picking a fight on the very first day your mother comes? Do you not want me to get married?!”  

Zhou Cheng lowered his head and remained silent, while Zhou Lin and Zhou Wei shrank their necks in fear.  

Who were they most afraid of? Of course, it was Zhou Tingyue!  

Seeing that he was about to lose his temper, Song Shiwei quickly stepped forward.  

Zhou Cheng thought she was trying to stop his father from hitting him, so he stiffened his neck and yelled, “I don’t need a vicious woman like you to be kind!”  

The moment Zhou Tingyue heard that, he immediately raised the belt in his hand and struck Zhou Cheng’s calf with a loud snap!  

“What did you just say?! Is this how you treat your elders?”  

The belt landed hard, making Zhou Cheng’s face turn red, but he clenched his teeth and glared at Zhou Tingyue with hatred.  

“They say if there’s a stepmother, there’s a stepfather! I think that’s absolutely right!”  

Seeing that he was still being stubborn, Zhou Tingyue was so enraged that his chest tightened. He lifted the belt again, ready to strike him once more.  

But before he could, Song Shiwei grabbed his hand from behind.  

Zhou Tingyue looked at his young wife in confusion.  

Song Shiwei shook her head at him.  

She might not know much about raising children, but she could tell that Zhou Cheng had a deep-seated grudge in his heart. That kind of resentment wouldn’t be resolved just by a few beatings.  

Wounds of the heart had to be healed with care, not force.  

She didn’t consider herself a great mother, but she certainly wasn’t a bad one either.  

She would try her best to treat them well. She believed that if she showed them true sincerity, one day, they would return that sincerity.  

Given time, they would come to see that she wasn’t a cruel woman. She wouldn’t let them go hungry, nor would she beat them. Instead, she would care for them.  

After all, even a stone could be warmed up eventually, right?  

But in Zhou Cheng’s eyes, her kindness seemed fake.  

“Bah! You don’t need to act all kind. If you really cared, why didn’t you stop my dad from whipping me the first time?”  

He scoffed coldly and turned his head away.  

Seeing Zhou Tingyue about to lash out again, Song Shiwei quickly stepped forward.  

This time, she wasn’t smiling. She spoke seriously, “Do you know why I didn’t stop your father the first time?”  

“Because you wasted food.”  

Zhou Cheng turned to her in surprise. She wasn’t scolding him for disrespecting her?  

Song Shiwei walked over to the table, picked up the pancake covered in dirt, and held it in front of him.  

“Do you know what this pancake is made of?”  

Zhou Cheng stared at it but said nothing.  

Song Shiwei continued, “It’s made from cornmeal and flour! Do you know how many families can’t afford to eat flour or cornmeal? Do you know how many children are still starving?”  

“In remote mountain villages, people are still dying of hunger! And yet, you have enough to eat not just any food, but cornmeal, white flour, and rice. Do you know how lucky you are? But just because of your anger, you threw it away!”  

“Now, tell me…don’t you think you deserve this punishment?”