Once everyone had left, Shen Meng lay down on the kang bed, feeling a dizzy from all the talking. Wang Guizhi was also visibly tired but couldn’t rest just yet. With her daughter lying down, she took Lu Mingkai over to her side, looking at the children standing quietly nearby.

“Meng, the kids must still be hungry. I saw some cakes in your bedside cabinet. Why don’t we give them some to fill their stomachs? Once you’re all settled in your own place, I’ll cook something more filling, and your father can bring over some food.”

Shen Meng closed her eyes for a moment, then nodded weakly. “All right, Mom, go ahead and take it. There’s some brown sugar in there too—make some sweet water for everyone. I’m sorry my health has put such a strain on you and Dad. No need to go home tonight. Send a message to the family and stay here. With the grain we’ll be getting, we’ll have rice to cook tomorrow.”

Wang Guizhi’s heart ached as she listened to her daughter’s words. Taking the key to the cabinet, she unlocked it, giving the cake to Mingliang, Mingfang, and Mingkai, and poured a large mug of brown sugar water, placing it on the table for them.

Unaccustomed to such treatment, the children hesitated. Little Mingkai, still clutching his cake, looked longingly at his mother a few times but didn’t dare eat it. Mingliang and Mingfang, though also holding their cakes, didn’t take a bite either. Mingliang seemed to be considering if he could take one more to give his older brother, while Mingfang was simply scared, recalling the times her mother had given her treats only to punish her afterward. The memory made her nervous, even causing her to feel a phantom pain in her rear.

Panicked, the little girl placed her bundle on the bed and handed the cake back to Wang Guizhi. “Grandma, I’m not hungry… You eat it.”

“Eat up, Mingfang,” Wang Guizhi urged. “Grandma’s here, and your mom won’t hit you. She promised that she won’t ever hurt you again. If she does, I’ll disown her.”

Despite her grandmother’s assurances, Mingfang was still hesitant, but Mingliang took the cake from Wang Guizhi’s hand and quickly pushed it back to his sister.

“Eat, sister,” he insisted. “Listen to Grandma and Mom. Mom’s still sick. We need to eat so we can help take care of her!” He shot a polite smile toward Wang Guizhi and Shen Meng.

Such cleverness for a child so young, Shen Meng mused with a sigh. Despite his words of care, the fear and wariness in Mingliang’s eyes were impossible to miss.

Wang Guizhi took little Lu Mingkai into her arms, gently comforting him as she held him close. She picked up the warm brown sugar water and fed him slowly, a little at a time.

“Be good, Mingkai. Drink some sugar water and eat the cake. Grandma will make delicious food for you and your brothers and sisters tonight.”

“Mingkai, be good. Drink some sugar water, and then eat your cake. Tonight, Grandma will make something delicious for you and your siblings tonight.”

Shen Meng smiled and added, “Yes, that’s right. Tonight your grandma will make something nice for you all. Didn’t your Fourth Aunt say she would bring over brown sugar and eggs? Mom, why don’t you make a pot of brown sugar eggs tonight? A bowl for everyone in the family.”

“Yes, good idea.” Originally, Wang Guizhi hadn’t wanted to use up all their supplies so lavishly, but seeing her daughter’s serious injuries and the children looking so thin and frail, she was willing to prepare anything to help them build up strength.

As she hugged little Mingkai, she couldn’t help but notice how bony he felt. She sighed deeply, thinking of how hard it had been on the kids.

Lu Mingfang and Lu Mingliang were savoring the sweet sponge cake, occasionally sipping on brown sugar water. It felt like a dream—no, even in their dreams, they hadn’t dared to indulge this much. They were eating cake, straight from their mother’s storage cabinet! It was like snatching food from a tiger’s mouth—they couldn’t believe their luck.

Mingfang ate carefully, feeling anxious that once Shen Meng recovered, she might hold this against her. She ate just one piece, then stopped. Mingliang, on the other hand, didn’t care—he thought Shen Meng was half-dead anyway, so he might as well eat as much cake as he could now, in case he never got another chance. He wasn’t afraid of that wicked woman coming after him later. After all, he was older now; if she tried to hit him, he would just run. Besides, she had already said she wasn’t going to live much longer. He wasn’t scared at all!

Just as he was about to reach for a third piece, Shen Meng spoke up. Sponge cakes in these times were quite dry, and eating too many could be hard on the stomach.

“That’s enough, Mingliang. Leave the rest for your big brother. Drink the sugar water in the cup, and remember that your grandma will make something nice for you all tonight. No rush—you and Mingfang can go gather your things and get ready. We’ll be moving back to our own house later.”

Mingliang’s hand froze as he reached for more cake, but then he quickly grabbed all of them.

“Got it, Mom! I’ll keep the cakes for Big Brother for when he gets back. Hehe. Mom, you rest now; Mingfang and I will get everything ready.”

“Such sensible children. No rush, alright? If there’s anything heavy you can’t manage, just tell Grandma. She’ll help carry it for you.”

Mingliang gave a cheeky grin, hid the cakes, and then turned to Wang Guizhi, saying, “Thanks, Grandma.”

Shen Meng didn’t mind his little tricks. She knew he was only worried she wouldn’t let him keep the cakes. The boy had a bit of a crafty side, she noted to herself, mentally tagging him as a bit of a slippery one.

Meanwhile, Liu Sanjin was watching Lu Debang and Zhang Hongfa weigh and measure the family’s grain, her eyes red with distress, clutching the doorframe so tightly her hands were shaking. Over on the other side, Zhou Jiaojiao and Lu Jiaxuan were both looking displeased as they carried their bedding. Despite their frustration, they forced themselves to smile in front of the onlookers who were peeking in to watch the commotion.

Although no one really knew what was going on, they had all seen Shen Meng’s mother earlier—hair disheveled, blood trickling down her face—as she stumbled out of the Lu household, claiming Shen Meng was on the verge of death. She had accused old lady liu of playing favorites by refusing to call a doctor, all to claim the family’s brick house for her younger son. And sure enough, for the past half-year, it had indeed been the Lu family’s fourth son living in that house. Recalling how Shen Meng’s father had even gone to get Doctor Lu Zhanghong, the villagers could only shake their heads in sympathy.

No one had expected Liu Sanjin, who always boasted about treating her daughters-in-law like her own daughters, to have such dark intentions. It turns out, without a man in the family, they were indeed taken advantage of. They saw how, with Zhenping away serving in the army, the Lu family had bullied the mother and her children.

Some young wives, secretly mistreated by their own mothers-in-law, started to tear up, feeling Shen Meng’s pain as if it were their own. They imagined her suffering in the Lu family home, erasing any memories of times Shen Meng had harshly scolded her own children with a stick.

After all, in the countryside, scolding and spanking kids was common. A child too mischievous to learn otherwise often needed a strong hand to remember. “Discipline means love,” they thought; no mother would ever intentionally harm her own kids.

Meanwhile, Shen Meng, unaware that her reputation had taken a slight turn for the better, simply looked at the several bags of grain and twelve yuan in cash on the table, along with the brown sugar and eggs. Her heart was filled with satisfaction.