I Became a Vicious Supporting Role in the '70s-Chapter 12: This Kid Is a Bit Sly

After Shen Meng and the others left, she lay down on the bed. Speaking for a while had made her dizzy, and Wang Guizhi was quite tired as well, but even with her daughter lying down, she couldn't rest. Looking at the silent children, she pulled Lu Mingkai over to her side.

"Xiao Meng, the children must still be hungry. There are some egg cakes in your bed-cabinet. How about giving them some to fill their stomachs? When you move back, I'll cook something for you. I'll have your father bring some grain over later."

Shen Meng closed her eyes, weakly saying, "Okay, mother, please take them. There's also some brown sugar in the cabinet. It'll be good to mix with water. Everyone, have a drink. My body is so weak; I've caused you and father so much trouble. Don't go back tonight. Find someone to take a message home; we'll go back tomorrow. Once we've divided the grain, we'll have rice to cook at home."

Hearing her daughter's words, Wang Guizhi's heart soured. She took the key, unlocked the cabinet, and gave Ming Liang, Ming Fang, and Ming Kai an egg cake each, then made a large bowl of brown sugar water and put it on the table for the children to drink.

The children, who were used to being scolded and hit, didn't know how to react to such treatment. The youngest, Ming Kai, with his big eyes, glanced at his mother several times sneakily, but still dared not eat.

Both Ming Liang and Ming Fang did not eat either. One's eyes kept darting around, thinking of asking for another cake for his elder brother. The other was genuinely afraid, since whenever their mother had given them food in the past, she would regret it later and end up hitting them. Just the thought of it made their butts hurt.

Little Ming Fang panicked, placed the cloth she had been holding on the bed, and pushed the egg cake into Wang Guizhi's hands.

"Grandma, I'm not hungry. You eat it. I...I..."

"Eat, Ming Fang. Your grandmother is here. Your mother doesn't dare to hit you. Just now, your mother said that she would never hit you again. She's realized her mistake. Today, in front of your mother, I say: if she dares to hit you again, I'll no longer acknowledge her as my daughter."

Even after hearing this, Lu Mingfang was still scared. Lu Mingliang took the egg cake from Wang Guizhi's hand and stuffed it into Ming Fang's hand.

"Sister, eat. Listen to grandmother and mother. Mother is sick; we need to eat well to take care of her!" Lu Mingliang then smiled pleasingly at Wang Guizhi and Shen Meng.

Despite his young age, he was very cunning. Shen Meng could only sigh as she watched; even though he seemed very concerned about her, the fear and indifference in his eyes were impossible to hide.

Wang Guizhi took Lu Mingkai in her arms, lovingly cooing to him, and fed him the warm brown sugar water little by little.

"Good boy, Ming Kai, have some sugar water, then eat your cake. Tonight, grandma will make something tasty for you and your brother and sister."

Shen Meng also managed a smile and said, "Yes, tonight your grandma will make something tasty for all of you. Didn't your Fourth Aunt say she would give you brown sugar and eggs? Mother, let's make a pot of brown sugar and eggs tonight; everyone in our family should have a bowl."

"Yes! Okay, it's all to replenish your strength." Although Wang Guizhi was reluctant to be so extravagant, seeing her thin, weak children and her seriously injured daughter, she felt like making all the best things to nourish them.

Holding the tiny Ming Kai, she felt a handful of sharp bones. Ah, the children have suffered too much.

Lu Mingfang and Lu Mingliang were chewing on the delicious egg cakes, occasionally sipping on brown sugar water, feeling as if they were dreaming. No, not even in their dreams would they dare to indulge like this, for they were eating the egg cakes from their mother's kang cabinet.

To snatch food from the jaws of a tiger, oh how they had grown up.

Lu Mingfang ate with trepidation, fearing Shen Meng would come after her when she got better. After eating one, she didn't dare to have another. Lu Mingliang didn't care; he felt that with Shen Meng barely holding onto life, he might as well eat as many egg cakes as he could now. After all, there may be no chance later.

He wasn't afraid of that wicked woman beating him after the fact. He was older now; if she hit him, he would run, and besides, she had already said she wasn't going to live much longer. He wasn't afraid at all!!!

When he reached for the third one, Shen Meng spoke up, saying that the egg cakes these days were quite dry, and eating too many could upset the stomach.

"Alright, Mingliang, keep a few for your elder brother; finish the sugar water in the teacup. Tonight, your grandma will make you some tasty food, so no rush. Take care of Mingfang, and pack up your things. Later on, we'll move back to our own house."

Lu Mingliang paused briefly as he grabbed the egg cake but then took away all of them.

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"Alright, mom, I'll keep the egg cakes. When elder brother returns, I'll give them to him. Heh heh, you rest, mom. Mingfang and I will start packing."

"What a sensible child, my good kid. No rush, if there's anything too heavy to move, tell your grandma, she'll help you carry it!"

Lu Mingliang chuckled, stashed the egg cakes properly, then turned to Wang Guizhi and said, "Alright, grandma."

Shen Meng didn't mind his little schemes, after all, it was just that he feared she wouldn't take them out again. She silently labeled him as a bit sly in her heart.

Liu Sanjin watched as Lu Bangde and Zhang Hongfa weighed out the grains, her eyes reddening with distress, hands trembling on the door frame. Over there, Zhou Jiaojiao and Lu Jiaxuan were carrying their bedding, also with grim expressions. However, the outsiders peeking at the commotion were plenty, and though they were reluctant, they forced smiles on their faces.

The onlookers didn't know the full story, but they had seen Shen Meng's mother, hair in disarray and blood on her face, running out of the Lu Family house, saying Shen Meng was about to die. They believed the Lu Family matriarch favored the younger son, refusing to call a doctor in hopes of inheriting the brick house for him. Reflecting on the past six months, indeed it had been the younger Lu, Lao Si, living in the larger house. Piecing together the previous scene of Shen Meng's father looking for the doctor Lu Changhong, everyone sighed.

It was unexpected that Mrs. Liu, who always spoke of her daughter-in-law as her own daughter, had such deep thoughts. Indeed, a household without a man was not adequate; they pitied how they bullied the mother and her children with Zhenping serving as a soldier away from home.

Some daughters-in-law, who were abused behind closed doors by their mothers-in-law, began to cry on the spot. They empathized, imagining themselves in the situation, conjuring up a dire and desperate image of Shen Meng's life in the Lu Family, almost forgetting how Shen Meng often chased and scolded the children with a stick.

After all, in the countryside, it's common for children to be beaten and scolded – without a spanking, they don't learn; it's out of pain that one scolds, and out of love that one beats. Could a mother not want the best for her child?

Shen Meng was oblivious to the slight improvement in her reputation. She looked at the few bags of grain in front of her, the US$ 12 on the kang table, the brown sugar, and the eggs, her heart swelling with joy.