Chapter 3

Hearing this, the three little ones exchanged glances again. A-Liang was the first to shout:

“Daddy!”

Tingting glared at him. “A-Liang, you betrayed Mom!”

Little glutton A-Liang stuck out his tongue. “But he has tasty food!”

Zhan Tingxu immediately filled a bowl of congee and handed it to A-Liang. “Good boy. What about you two?” He looked toward A-Ming and Tingting.

Watching A-Liang eat so happily, A-Ming swallowed hard and obediently called him “Daddy.”

Zhan Tingxu gave him a bowl too, and A-Ming started eating with delight.

Finally, Zhan Tingxu turned to stubborn little Tingting, who sat there with her lips tightly pursed. He couldn’t help but laugh at her determined refusal.

Tingting raised her chin defiantly. “Mom says you’re a stranger. If Mom says you’re a stranger, then you’re a stranger! You’ll never be our dad!”

In the end, Zhan Tingxu couldn’t bear to let her go hungry either. He filled a bowl for her too.

“Our Tingting has such backbone—here, this is your reward.”

Even the iron-willed Tingting couldn’t resist and started eating eagerly.

When Meng Yingying came out of the room, she saw this warm scene. She felt a little upset—these three kids called him “Dad” so quickly? At least Tingting stayed loyal; all that pampering hadn’t gone to waste.

As soon as Zhan Tingxu saw her, he hurried to help her. “Yingying, you’re up? Come eat breakfast.”

Meng Yingying tried to push him away, but he still guided her to the table.

A-Liang chirped in his clear childish voice: “Mom, hurry and eat. Uncle’s congee is so good!”

Everyone froze at that.

Zhan Tingxu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. So quickly back to calling him “Uncle”? A-Liang sure knew how to size people up.

Zhan Tingxu diligently served Meng Yingying a bowl. “Yingying, eat more.”

She didn’t refuse—no need to argue with food, and besides, she was hungry. She began to eat.

It really was delicious—better than hers. No wonder the three kids surrendered so fast.

Seeing her eat eased Zhan Tingxu’s worried heart. Looks like tempting her with good food worked.

After breakfast, Meng Yingying took the three children onto an ox cart, planning to go to Baicai Village, dozens of kilometers away—her hometown.

When Zhan Tingxu saw this, he rushed after them, afraid she was running away with the kids.

“Yingying, where are you going?”

Meng Yingying lifted her eyes and glanced at him. Though she didn’t want to respond, she still said, “To Baicai Village.”

Zhan Tingxu grew even more anxious. “You’re not planning to leave and never come back, are you?”

Meng Yingying almost laughed. “I didn’t even pack anything.”

Looking closely, Zhan Tingxu realized she carried no luggage—she wasn’t running away.

“Then I’ll go with you.”

But Meng Yingying didn’t want his company. “No need. You stay here.”

Just then, Old Luo, who was driving the ox cart, called out, “Ah-Xu, are you getting on or not?”

Before Zhan Tingxu could answer, Meng Yingying said, “He’s not coming. Let’s go.”

And so Old Luo flicked the whip, and the ox cart rumbled away.

When they arrived in Baicai Village, Meng Yingying told Old Luo to wait at the spot for her return, paid him, and then took the three children to her mother’s house.

From what she remembered of the original novel, her relatives would arrive today to fight over her late father’s house and property.

Since her father had only one child—her—the relatives wanted to seize everything.

In the original story, the transmigrated heroine snatched back the house and over five hundred yuan, then used it as her business startup fund.

Of course, that heroine had even more money—when divorcing Zhan Tingxu, she’d extorted him, forcing him to leave with nothing, and got over two thousand yuan in settlement.

Meng Yingying arrived at the house holding her children’s hands and heard arguing from afar.

“I put so much effort into helping their family. I even arranged Yingying’s dad’s funeral. Why shouldn’t the house and land go to me?” That was her eldest uncle’s voice.

“If you want the house and land, then the five hundred yuan should be mine!” That was her second uncle.

The eldest uncle objected, “No way. I want half the money too. I spent hundreds on that funeral!”

“Liar! That funeral was so simple—it didn’t cost hundreds at all!”

“Cough… cough…”

A soft, weak cough interrupted them. The noisy room immediately fell silent as everyone turned toward the doorway, where Meng Yingying stood.

Her eldest aunt hurried to pull her inside, muttering, “Oh Yingying, why are you here? I heard you’re ill—how could you come yourself?”

“I heard… cough, cough…”

As soon as she sat down, Meng Yingying began coughing violently. Everyone’s heart jumped to their throats.

She coughed harder and harder, covering her mouth with a white handkerchief—until she coughed up blood.

The sight of blood sent the relatives into a panic. They rushed forward.

“What’s happening? Is it serious? Should we take her to the hospital?”

“Oh my! If you’re sick, you shouldn’t come out. Just call, and we’d come to you!”

When her coughing finally stopped, Meng Yingying spoke in a frail voice. “I just heard you were dividing up the inheritance, so I came.”

At her words, the relatives all fell silent in embarrassment.

The three little ones cried pitifully, “Mommy! Mommy’s so sick the hospital even issued a critical condition notice. Do you really have to treat her like this?”

Hearing that, the relatives stayed quiet.

Meng Yingying sighed in self-pity. “This body won’t last much longer. Once I’m gone, the house will be yours anyway. Why fight over it now?”

As soon as she finished, the three children wailed in perfect unison.

“Mommy, don’t die! We don’t want you to die!”

“If Mommy dies, when we grow up, we’ll definitely take revenge!”

They glared fiercely at the relatives.

The relatives were speechless—and now terrified of her dying in the house, which would be terribly unlucky.

Thinking it over, they realized she was right. If she looked that close to death, they could just wait until she passed to claim the property.

The eldest uncle forced a laugh. “Don’t say such unlucky things. Of course your father’s house and money are yours.”

With him taking the lead, the other relatives had no choice but to agree.

Meng Yingying successfully received the deed to the house and farmland, the land-use certificate, and five hundred yuan in cash.

The family had five acres of land—enough to plant grain and vegetables, or to rent out if she didn’t want to farm. Either way, she wouldn’t starve.

With the money secured, Meng Yingying went to town, treated the children to a hearty meal, bought rice, flour, and cooking oil, then stopped by the Civil Affairs Bureau to pick up her divorce papers—before heading home.