Chapter 3

Chapter 3.1

Yan Xue couldn’t help but seethe with resentment. This profligate, vicious Book Yan Xue…

The book clearly stated that the male lead would send back a considerable amount of money and goods through someone every month. Even though they had only been in the countryside for three months and the male lead had only returned once, that money should have been enough to feed the three of them well.

There was no point in thinking too much about it now. Yan Xue searched where the original Yan Xue had hidden the money, according to the book.

After searching for a long time, she only found a hundred yuan. Clutching the hundred yuan, she first rinsed the rice and put it in the large pot to steam. The icy cold water made her shiver.

The firewood was neatly stacked nearby. The original Yan Xue must have had the two little ones prepare it earlier.

She wondered how many cuts and scrapes the two little ones had on their hands and bodies…

Once the fire was lit, the narrow, cold kitchen gradually warmed. She bundled her clothes tighter and quickly walked into the room.

The two little ones were still timidly huddled by the bed, not daring to get on it or move around freely. When they saw her enter, their first reaction was to open their eyes wide in fright and shrink back into the corner.

Seeing such a scene, Yan Xue felt both heartbroken and heavy.

Who wouldn’t like two children so pretty, cute, and obedient?

“You two go to the kitchen…” Her words were cut short.

The two little ones exchanged a glance, then simultaneously looked at the cartoon alarm clock on the table before scurrying toward the kitchen as if escaping.

Once they reached the kitchen, seeing the lit fire and the rice already in the large black pot, the two little ones exchanged confused glances again.

“Brother, what’s going on today?”

Normally, they were the ones who cooked, and if they didn’t do it well, they would be scolded and beaten. What was happening today?

Wei Siao also frowned. He didn’t understand either. Was the bad woman trying some new trick again?

It had been like this last time too. That afternoon, the bad woman hadn’t made them cook, but had let them eat the prepared meal.

The bad woman’s cooking was indeed terrible, but for them, who were hungry every day, it was still a delicacy.

That night, the brothers ate too much and felt like throwing up. He heard the bad woman call dad later that night, saying she had no money. The bad woman even made them talk to dad when they were feeling unwell. When dad asked what was wrong, the brothers naturally didn’t lie and said they had eaten too much today and felt like throwing up.

Dad told them to eat small portions multiple times, not too much at once, but who knew they would only get this one full meal?

The bad woman snatched the phone away quickly.

In the end, the money naturally went into the bad woman’s pocket, and the two of them really did throw up in the middle of the night. The bad woman found them dirty and made them roll onto the kitchen floor to sleep.

After that, the brothers caught a cold and fever for almost a week. With no medicine, they just had to tough it out. His brother’s forehead was so hot you could fry an egg on it.

But no matter how he begged the rotten woman, she refused to take them to see a doctor or buy medicine.

Thinking of this, clear hatred resurfaced in Wei Siao’s eyes.

When Yan Xue entered the kitchen, she met Wei Siao’s gaze, seeing that the little guy likely hated her to the core.

She secretly sighed, then instructed, “It’s not that cold in here. You two sit by the fire to warm up for now. I’ll get the heater set up in your room when I get back.”

With that, she left, not bothering with the two little ones’ greatly astonished expressions behind her.

This bitterly cold winter was hard for her to adapt to, let alone for two pampered children who had been spoiled since birth.

Their tender skin was practically turning into two red behinds.

Yan Xue hadn’t been to this area before. She walked for a while before she saw a shop that looked like a small convenience store.

Entering through the thick cotton-padded door curtain led to a dimly lit room. The owner was cracking melon seeds and watching a small television. When she entered, his hand, tucked inside his thick cotton jacket, didn’t come out. He just tilted his head, motioning for her to take whatever she needed.

Yan Xue nodded awkwardly and looked into the glass cabinet for a long time but couldn’t find what she needed.

“Boss, do you have any medicine for skin injuries or external wounds here?”

The female boss glanced at her, a strange look in her eyes. After a moment, she took out a tube of ointment from a cabinet behind her.

Yan Xue wasn’t eloquent, so she bought the ointment and a can of candy she spotted nearby, paid, and left.

The sky was still bright on the way back. The neighbors she passed seemed to be looking at her from across their yards with strange and disdainful eyes.

The book hadn’t explained why, or maybe she hadn’t noticed it, but Yan Xue didn’t care about it now. She needed to rush back to make dinner for the two little ones. After all this time, her own stomach was rumbling with hunger.

Yan Xue entered the house and went straight to the kitchen. The two little ones weren’t idle either; they had washed the cabbage and were now cutting it.

Seeing her enter, the two little ones instinctively flinched backward but didn’t put down the vegetables in their hands. Wei Siao’s hand, holding the iron chopper, trembled from the cold, while Wei Sixiang carefully held the cabbage, constantly blowing warm air on it.

The children didn’t understand that the outermost frozen layers of cabbage couldn’t be eaten. They just earnestly chopped away.

“Put that down, you two. Come sit over here,” Yan Xue said, dragging two small stools to the stove for them.

The two little ones seemed to glance at her, hesitating, not daring to let go.

Finally, Wei Sixiang was the first to let go of the cabbage and asked, “Mom… Mom, we really don’t know how to do anything else, but we’ll learn. Please don’t…”

His voice was anxious; after all, he didn’t even know if he should call her mom.

Because sometimes calling her mom resulted in a beating, and sometimes not calling her mom resulted in a beating. His tiny brain couldn’t figure out why this was.

Yan Xue paused, a hint of soreness in her eyes. In the end, she said nothing, but firmly pulled the two little ones to sit by the stove to warm up, then popped a piece of candy into each of their mouths.

She had never raised children, but she had raised a small black dog. Both were pure-hearted, so the difference shouldn’t be too great. She just needed to give them a lot of love, Yan Xue thought.

A sweet sensation melted on their tongues, surprising the two little ones so much they couldn’t speak. They both stood there, mouths slightly agape, eyes wide, completely stunned.

It wasn’t that they had never eaten good things. They used to be spoiled by their father. Born into a wealthy family, what delicious food hadn’t they tasted?

But those times seemed long gone now. They had almost forgotten the taste of sweetness.

The last time they had tasted sugar was probably just white sugar in seasonings.

This was clearly different. This candy was soft and had a sweet and sour filling.

As Wei Siao ate, he suddenly frowned and glanced at Yan Xue. He was a little scared. Was this bad woman trying to poison them?

But it was too late to spit it out now. It had been too long since he’d eaten candy, and his body reacted faster than his brain. He had already swallowed half of it.

Thinking this, he looked glumly at his brother. His brother had already happily swallowed his, his twinkling big eyes now mere slits.

One adult and two children stayed quietly in the kitchen like that.

Yan Xue rolled up her sleeves, discarded the outermost frozen skin of the cabbage, chopped the rest, and then picked out two relatively good tomatoes from the basket.