Chapter 23 : Do you know how difficult it is to get water on the island?

Zhou Cheng’s face instantly turned red. He bit his lower lip, his expression full of regret. But he was still young and not a bad person by nature. After a moment, he nodded and admitted his mistake.  

“It’s my fault! I shouldn’t have wasted food!”  

Seeing that he had admitted it, Song Shiwei smiled.  

“As for the second whip, do you know why I stopped it? It’s because you accused me of being a vicious person who would hit you and your brother! Now, I want to ask you which eye of yours saw me hitting Zhou Wei and Xinxin?”  

Zhou Cheng’s eyes widened, and he opened his mouth to argue, but after thinking about it, he realized she hadn’t actually done anything.  

Still, he muttered stubbornly, “Of course, you wouldn’t do it now, but I believe that one day, your true colors will show!”  

Zhou Tingyue immediately roared in anger, “Nonsense!”  

But Song Shiwei simply smiled brightly. “Alright, I welcome your supervision. If I ever hit you or your siblings, then you can call me a vicious person! Because time will prove everything, right?”  

Zhou Cheng pursed his lips and lowered his head.  

What she said… kind of made sense.  

With that, the conflict came to an end. The scolding had been done, the lesson had been taught.  

If they kept arguing, the food she had worked so hard to prepare would get cold.  

It was time to eat.  

Zhou Tingyue shot a fierce glare at Zhou Cheng and Zhou Lin.  

Zhou Cheng had no choice but to sit down obediently.  

Seeing this, Zhou Wei and Xinxin immediately brightened up, happily grabbing their chopsticks and digging in.  

The rich aroma of the food filled the air, making their already hungry stomachs rumble with anticipation!  

At first, Zhou Lin was just as reluctant as Zhou Cheng. But after taking a bite of the pancake and trying the side dishes, he instantly forgot all his complaints.  

Meanwhile, Song Shiwei noticed that Zhou Cheng was only nibbling at the bread and sipping rice soup. He didn’t touch the food at all, but she didn’t say anything.  

After all, who would feel comfortable eating after being whipped with a belt?  

This child had his own thoughts and grudges. It would take time for him to truly change.  

Right now, he disliked her, and no matter what she did, he would try to go against her.  

But that was fine. There was still plenty of time.  

After dinner, Zhou Cheng obediently took his younger siblings to wash the dishes.  

Zhou Tingyue watched his son’s retreating figure, his brows furrowing.  

He hadn’t expected his marriage to cause such a strong reaction from the children.  

It made him feel a little guilty.  

On one hand, he had been too naive, not communicating with the children enough beforehand.  

On the other hand, he felt guilty toward Song Shiwei. His situation wasn’t ideal to begin with, and now his children didn’t even accept her.  

From Zhou Cheng’s attitude, it was clear how much he resisted him in his heart.  

Zhou Tingyue was a rough man, a soldier all his life. Though this wasn’t his first marriage, he had never encountered a situation like this before.  

Raising these kids had been like crossing a river by feeling the stones each step uncertain, each lesson learned through trial and error.  

He wasn’t sure if he had done everything right, but at least he had managed to keep them safe and raise them properly.  

He had done his best to teach them right from wrong.  

If they did something right, he encouraged them. If they did something wrong, he punished them.  

That’s why, before dinner, when he saw Zhou Cheng not only wasting food but also insulting Song Shiwei, his fury had been real.  

It even made him question himself, had he failed as a father?  

How did things end up like this?  

But Song Shiwei didn’t seem too bothered.  

Instead, she focused on Xinxin, growing increasingly fond of the little girl.

This little girl was absolutely adorable.  

Since Zhou Tingyue was a rough man, and Xinxin was just a little girl, he had never properly bathed her before.  

A ring of dust had formed around her neck.  

So, Song Shiwei boiled some water, closed the door, and carefully helped her wash up.  

She even used the White Cat brand soap she had brought back from Beijing.  

Zhou Xinxin was overjoyed, it was the first time she had ever taken such a fragrant bath!  

After washing, her skin felt fresh and smooth!  

Seeing the little girl change into clean clothes, Song Shiwei felt incredibly happy.  

Zhou Xinxin ran out excitedly.  

“Dad, Brother, can you smell me? Do I smell nice? Mom washed me with scented soap! I smell so good!”  

Hearing this, Zhou Wei immediately ran over curiously and sniffed her.  

“It really does smell good! I want to take a bath that smells this nice too!”  

Zhou Lin, who was standing nearby, immediately kicked him.  

“Why do you need to bathe? You’re a boy, not a little girl! Why do you need to smell good?”  

Zhou Wei, rubbing his sore backside, pouted.  

“What’s wrong with boys? Boys can be clean and smell nice too!”  

Hearing this, Song Shiwei chuckled.  

“Zhou Wei is right! Both boys and girls need to stay clean. If you stay dirty all the time, not only will other kids avoid you, but you’ll also feel uncomfortable. Your whole body will be covered in bacteria!”  

Zhou Wei nodded eagerly.  

“That’s right! That’s right!”  

Since there were three boys, the responsibility of bathing them naturally fell on Zhou Tingyue.  

And of course, Zhou Tingyue always listened to his wife!  

“Alright, time for a bath! I’m going to scrub you all clean! Look at how filthy you are!”  

After his command, Zhou Cheng and Zhou Lin reluctantly went to bathe, despite their resistance.  

Once they were done, the children emerged fresh and clean.  

Zhou Wei was thrilled.  

He kept sniffing himself. “I smell so nice!”  

“It smells so good! From now on, I’m going to take a bath every day!”  

Just as he finished speaking, his second brother smacked the back of his head.  

“Bath, bath, bath what are you bathing for? Do you even know how hard it is to get water on this island?”  

There was only one well in the family compound on the island, and everyone had to fetch their own water and carry it home.  

Usually, it was Zhou Tingyue who fetched water for their family.  

To fill a single tank, he had to make four or five trips.  

Hearing his second brother’s words, Zhou Wei fell silent, his face turning red with embarrassment.  

Song Shiwei hadn’t thought of that. No wonder the children preferred to stay dirty instead of washing up, it was to make things easier for their father!  

Realizing this, she suddenly felt a pang of sympathy for Zhou Tingyue.  

Just today, between cooking and bathing, she had already used up half a tank of water!  

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know getting water was so difficult here…”  

Zhou Cheng and Zhou Lin were the most surprised by her apology. They hadn’t expected her to admit her “mistake” so easily. She was different from what they had imagined!  

Zhou Cheng had assumed she made them bathe simply because she thought they were dirty, completely ignoring the effort it took for his father to fetch water.  

He never expected that she hadn’t even realized how scarce water was on the island!  

But Zhou Tingyue quickly waved his hand.  

“It’s not a big deal! It’s just a few extra buckets of water. This is way easier than my usual training! It’s really no trouble at all! Use as much as you need, I’ll fetch more if we run out!”  

Even so, Song Shiwei still felt embarrassed.  

So that night, before bed, she only dared to take a small basin of water and do a quick wash.  

After all, she had spent an entire day traveling by train and boat, and the smell of cooking fumes still clung to her.