Chapter 2 – Big Brat and Little Brat

Chu An took the two cubs on the bus back to the military island.

The unit Huo Zeye belonged to was stationed on an island called “Tutan Island.” and following the original owner’s memories, Chu An found the house that belonged to them.

As soon as she pushed the door open, she couldn’t help letting out a small sound of amazement.

The house was the local typical “stone house.” consisting of a porch, a front hall, a rear hall, side rooms, and other relatively independent yet interconnected sections. By the standards of the 1980s, it could be considered spacious.

The original owner had no real merits and had schemed her way into marrying Huo Zeye, a young regiment commander. As long as she had behaved herself and refrained from making trouble, life could have been quite comfortable.

Unfortunately, in the book, the original owner’s sole purpose was to push the plot forward as a brainless cannon fodder. By constantly flirting around, she had made Huo Zeye loathe her to the core and, through various obnoxious stunts, had also thoroughly offended the two villain cubs.

Speaking of the two villain cubs, Chu An couldn’t help sighing with a headache.

Other than the brief moment in the alley when they had lost control of their emotions, the two cubs had now returned to a state as if facing a great enemy, shrinking into a corner and watching Chu An warily.

Chu An was a lazy person who wouldn’t move unless poked, without the original owner’s habit of abusing cubs, and naturally she wasn’t inclined to deliberately curry favor with the little villains either. But—

She couldn’t ignore the fact that one of these unlucky children had an arm covered in terrifying bruises from being gripped too tightly, while the other was covered in bruises all over and still bore a swollen red palm print on the face. Who the hell could look at that and stay indifferent?

After glancing in their direction several times, Chu An finally couldn’t help speaking. “Do we have any medicine at home?”

The moment she spoke, Huo Ran gritted his teeth, stretched out his arm to shield Huo Mian behind him, and his expression became even more grim, as if facing some sort of ferocious beast.

But that attitude was understandable. In Chu An’s memories, the original owner had once, in a fit of bad temper, done the outrageous thing of forcing the two cubs to drink safflower oil straight from the bottle.

Cursing “beast” under her breath, she searched her memory and found that very bottle of safflower oil.

Seeing Chu An approaching with the safflower oil and a basin of cool water, Huo Mian trembled in fear, her eyes welling up with tears. But she still spoke bravely. “Sistah-in-law, you don’t hit my Big Brother, you can hit me instead, okay? I’ll help you vent your anger.”

“What nonsense are you saying?” Huo Ran’s face turned pale, but he still stood firmly in front of his sister, demanding: “What do you want to do?”

This false bravado successfully provoked the nasty streak in Chu An’s nerves.

She curled her lips, gripped Huo Ran’s shoulder to keep him from running. “What else could I be doing? Of course I’m—”

With the woman’s sinister tone and Huo Mian’s frightened, despairing cry of “Big Brother.” something cool brushed over the bruises on his arm, followed quickly by a warm, stinging sensation.

It was spicy-hot, but not the intense pain he had expected.

Huo Ran looked up in surprise and saw his sister-in-law, eyes lowered and silent, quickly cleaning the skin on his arm, then using her fingertips to gently rub the safflower oil into the injured area.

This restrained touch looked nothing like punishment or venting anger, and instead felt more like—

She was applying medicine.

Huo Ran blinked in disbelief.

Seeing her Big Brother’s odd expression, Huo Mian nervously clenched the hem of her clothes and asked anxiously: “Big Brother, what’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing… nothing.” Huo Ran decided to bide his time and continue observing the bad sister-in-law’s actions.

Chu An paid no attention to his scrutinizing gaze. After finishing with the more seriously injured Huo Ran, she pulled Huo Mian forward and did the same.

The moment the bad sister-in-law touched his younger sister, Huo Ran’s nerves, which had just relaxed a bit, instantly tensed again.

But before he could speak, with a soft smack, a towel flew through the air and landed directly on the cheek where the lame man had slapped him earlier.

“If you don’t want it to swell into a big pig’s head, keep that on.” Chu An said without even looking up.

About to protest, Huo Ran hesitated between ending up with a pig’s head or resisting the bad sister-in-law. In the end, he grudgingly shut his mouth.

Without Huo Ran’s interference, Chu An was able to focus entirely on treating Huo Mian’s bruises.

Compared to her restless and uneasy Big Brother, Huo Mian was clearly much more obedient. The girl stood quietly in front of Chu An, allowing her to clean the skin and apply medicine. Even when the bruises on her arm were being rubbed out, Huo Mian remained completely silent.

Chu An couldn’t help glancing at her a few more times, only to notice the girl’s small body trembling slightly—obviously terrified, yet forcing herself to endure it.

Chu An’s heart softened at once. After finishing the treatment, she gently patted the top of Huo Mian’s head. Then she put away the safflower oil, picked up the basin of water, and went to the backyard.

When Huo Ran removed the cold towel from his face, he saw his sister staring blankly ahead, both small hands placed on top of her head.

He asked nervously: “Did that person hit your head?”

Huo Mian shook her head slowly.

The snail-like movement made Huo Ran anxious. He pressed further: “Then did she pinch your head? Pull your hair?”

“No.” Huo Mian pursed her lips and, with innocent shyness, replied: “Sistah-in-law touched my head.”

The two children looked at each other for a moment, both feeling that today’s sister-in-law was acting very strange.

Huo Ran frowned and concluded: “That person is very scheming. She must be up to something bad again. Don’t let down your guard against her.”

Huo Mian touched her head again, biting her lower lip without replying.

Seeing his sister’s silence, Huo Ran was about to say more when a light flick landed on the top of his head.

“Ow!” Huo Ran instantly turned his head and found the bad sister-in-law looking at him with a half-smile.

“Not bad, Little Brat, talking bad about people behind their backs?” Chu An said, holding an armful of firewood.

Huo Ran covered his head guiltily and muttered in a low voice: “I’m not Little Brat.”

Chu An replied carelessly: “Oh, right, you’re Big Brat. Your sister is Little Brat.” With that, she carried the firewood into the kitchen.

Having just crossed over, and after experiencing a life-and-death race to snatch people from a human trafficker’s hands, then enduring a long, bumpy bus ride, Chu An was already so hungry her chest felt pressed against her back.

Holding her loudly growling stomach, she rummaged through the kitchen and found only a few eggs and some sweet potato starch.

Fortunately, Chu An had once been a frugal office worker who cooked at home after work to save money. This little amount of ingredients was still more than enough for her.

She sat by the clay stove, fussed with it for a while, and quickly got a fire going. Then she poured the sweet potato starch into a bowl, added some cool water, cracked in the eggs, and stirred until even. The mixture was poured along the edges of the big pot to make a local Fusheng specialty—egg swallows.

The egg mixture, coated with sweet potato starch and water, solidified into thin sheets upon contact with the pot’s edges. Chu An scooped up these sheets, heated water in the pot, and when it boiled, she added the formed egg swallows and a bit of seasoning.

Soon, steam wafted from the pot, carrying an irresistibly fragrant smell.

All the while, Huo Ran and Huo Mian had been secretly watching their sister-in-law, and they now smelled the aroma. Huo Ran pressed his fist against his stomach to stop it from growling.

Usually, the bad sister-in-law only let them eat some leftovers when she was in a good mood. Today, after she had overheard him speaking badly about her, she would surely punish him by making him go hungry.

“Mian Mian, let’s go. Tonight Big Brother will find you something to eat later.” Huo Ran whispered to his sister.

But Huo Mian was still a child who couldn’t hide her emotions well. Standing at the doorway, she quietly swallowed a big gulp of saliva and clung to her Big Brother’s shirt hem with reluctant fingers.

Seeing the two children lingering at the door without coming in, Chu An raised her brows and called out: “Dinner’s ready.”

Huo Mian stammered: “We… we can eat too?”

At those words, Chu An froze for a moment, then felt a surge of fury—these two children had never even had a proper full meal under the original owner’s care!

No wonder that woman had been destined to be cannon fodder.

Seeing the change in Chu An’s expression, Huo Mian, already used to watching people’s moods, curled in on herself in fear and whispered: “Sistah-in-law, don’t be angry. We won’t eat.”

She then restrained herself, licked her lips, and glanced wistfully at the steaming pot.

Huo Ran knew his sister had been hungry all day and her stomach must be aching. He clenched his small fists, then suddenly bent down and bowed to Chu An in a low, humble voice. “I’m sorry for speaking badly about you just now. If you have to punish someone by making them go hungry, can you punish only me?”

Seeing the proud little boy bow and humble himself so his sister could have a meal made Chu An’s eyes tremble slightly.

She stared at him for a long moment before suddenly saying: “Both of you can eat.”

Before the two children could react, Chu An went on: “From now on, if you have any thoughts, feelings, or needs, you don’t have to lower yourselves to beg me. We are equals. I will listen carefully to what you need, and we’ll try to find the best solution together.”

Huo Ran jerked his head up, staring at the woman before him in disbelief.

Huo Mian worked hard to understand her sister-in-law’s words and did her best to translate them into her own language. “So… we can… eat?”

“Yes.” Chu An nodded firmly again. Seeing the obvious joy bloom on Huo Mian’s soft face, she couldn’t help reaching out to pat the child’s head again.

She didn’t notice that, as she turned away, the dullness in Huo Mian’s eyes gradually brightened—

Until they sparkled.