I Became a Vicious Supporting Role in the '70s-Chapter 14: Eat First, Talk Later

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Shen Meng didn't understand why the relatives of the two village officials had come to visit her. She suspected that these two families must be seeking something, though what they wanted from Shen Meng specifically, she didn't know and deemed unimportant. It definitely didn't seem like they were asking for her help.

Wang Guizhi stir-fried some shredded potatoes, cooked a pot of flatbread, and also boiled a pot of brown sugar eggs, using all ten eggs that Zhou Jiaojiao had given her. Today, whether it was the elderly couple or Little Meng's mother, everyone needed a good nourishment.

She saw that the two women who had come to visit Shen Meng hadn't left, so after some thought, she washed the dishes and scooped up two bowls of brown sugar water. As she was about to serve the last spoonful, a playful egg white slipped into the spoon. Wang Guizhi hurriedly scooped it out, deciding that just the brown sugar water was good enough - the eggs were better saved for her own family.

"Old man, you start the meal with the kids. I'll bring some sugar water to the guests inside. I just heard they're the village chief's elder sister-in-law and the Secretary's mother. I'll speak nicely, so that once we're gone, our daughter might have someone to look out for her."

"Alright, you go ahead. I'll heat some water; let everyone wash up."

Wang Guizhi walked towards the door but then stopped. Turning to Shen Fugui, who was getting up from near the stove, she said, "Just heat the water until it's warm, no need to boil it. Saves firewood."

"Okay!"

After she left, Shen Fugui moved the short kitchen table closer to the door. It was getting late, and they had to hurry and eat by the light. If it got later, they would need to light the kerosene lamp.

"Mingyang, Ming Liang, quickly bring your little brothers and sisters over for dinner. Eat up, wash up, and head straight to bed. Soon it'll be too dark to see," Shen Fugui called out, then began to serve the food himself.

Meanwhile, in the other room, Ming Liang sprang up from the kang (a traditional Chinese heated bed).

"Brother, did you hear that? Grandpa is calling us for dinner. Hurry up, let's go."

Ming Kai, who had eaten an egg cake today and with grandparents at home felt braver, also started to move his short legs as his older brother got off the kang.

"Hurry up, let's go."

Lu Mingyang didn't move. He grabbed Lu Mingliang's arm and said, "Don't go. If you eat now, once grandpa and grandma leave, that bad woman will surely beat us heavily. We are older, and we can run away if she hits us, but what about our little brother? He can't run fast, he will be caught before he even lifts his legs."

Lu Mingyang's voice was cold, and his brows were furrowed as he looked at Lu Mingliang. To him, his stepmother's words seemed purposefully spoken for the village chief and the Secretary to hear, just so she could move back into the brick house. And he noticed that his stepmother seemed to be in quite good spirits, nowhere near death.

It wasn't just his grandmother and Fourth Uncle and Fourth Aunt, even the village chief and the Secretary had been deceived.

She managed to get back not only the house and the grain but also made his grandmother and the village chief compensate her with money. This wasn't like before when she was as foolish as a pig. Lu Mingyang glanced at the stone in the corner. Maybe hitting her head changed her brain, making her smart.

"Second brother, I think eldest brother is right. What if she beats us later? Her beatings hurt so much, the last time she hit my butt, I still tremble seeing her calves. We often skip dinner anyway, so it's fine. Let's just not go, and the little brother shouldn't go either."

Lu Mingliang didn't listen to them, grabbed Lu Mingkai who was trying to shrink back on the kang.

"Let's go, why wouldn't we? There's brown sugar eggs tonight, and flatbread smeared with lard made by grandma - it smells so good. Let her beat us, at least our stomachs will be full first."

He didn't even wait to put on his shoes but ran barefoot, holding Lu Mingkai, who was only three years old, wobbling as if they might fall any moment. Lu Mingyang, alarmed, quickly got off the kang and rushed over, grabbing Lu Mingkai from him.

"Be careful, watch out for the little brother."

"Hehe... elder brother, I've got strength in my hands!"

Already running to the courtyard, Shen Fugui had already seen them, pointing towards the washbasin at the kitchen door.

"Wash your hands and hurry up to eat, grandpa has boiled some hot water, later we will wash up and sleep together, Ming Fang, come quickly, your grandma made a lot, eat full and then sleep."

"Okay, thank you grandpa," Lu Mingyang hurriedly said, then turned his head to shout towards the west side of the house, and Lu Mingfang came running with her shoes on, her little belly also famished, she would be scared to eat alone, but she isn't scared when her brothers eat with her.

The fragrant scallion pancakes, sweet brown sugar eggs, and a big bowl of shredded potatoes, although bland, were incomparable to their food in the past and seemed incredibly delicious.

The children squinted their eyes as they ate, and Ming Kai cried while eating, frightening Shen Fugui, who quickly placed the pancake in the basket.

"What's wrong, Xiao Kai, why are you crying?"

Lu Mingkai looked at Shen Fugui with teary eyes, grasping the corner of his shirt.

"Grandpa, wuu wuu, Xiao Kai doesn't want you to leave, can you stay, and grandma too, when you leave, mom hits people, hits elder brother and sister, and hits me too, wuu wuu, I'm scared."

Shen Fugui, seeing his own flesh and blood in such a state, sighed deeply.

"Don't be scared, Xiao Kai, your mom said she will change. Grandma and grandpa will come to see you often in the future, and if your mom messes up again, grandpa won't recognize her as his daughter."

Lu Mingkai fiercely shook his hand upon hearing this.

"No, no, keep recognizing mom, if you don't, then grandma and grandpa won't come to see Xiao Kai."

Shen Fugui felt a deep ache in his heart, he rubbed Lu Mingkai's hair, thinking that he must have a good talk with Shen Meng tomorrow before leaving. The child is still so little, you can't keep disciplining with scolding and hitting, it hurts the mother-child relationship!

Lu Mingyang glanced at his grandfather, then lowered his gaze.

Change? Change my ass, he doesn't believe that wicked woman would change!

In the east side room, Tian Guihua and Chen Jinling each held a bowl of brown sugar water, sipping timidly, occasionally responding to Wang Guizhi's words.

"Eldest sister, tomorrow my old man and I will go back, there's a bunch of things at home, the situation with Little Meng, who knows when it will get better, we'd have to trouble you more on regular days to help out!"

Chen Jinling immediately said: "What help? From now on, Little Meng's matters are my old woman's matters. Speaking of which, today is also my family's stinky boy's fault, he's only been Secretary for over two years, usually very busy, heard from Mrs. Lu that Little Meng was okay, and hurried to get busy, ah, after all, they are young, don't know that some people's hearts are like a hornet's nest."

She, as a mother-in-law, could not be unaware of Liu Sanjin's tricks, sweet on the face but bitter in the heart, a single sentence twisting eighteen turns, it was like that when young, didn't expect it to be the same when old.

"There's also me, aunt, rest assured, for anything concerning Little Meng in the future, just go to the sister-in-law, if there's a hand to lend, sister-in-law will definitely not refuse."

Shen Meng cheerfully agreed, one being the village chief's elder sister-in-law, the other being the Secretary's mother, building a good relationship with these two people meant stacking up buffs for oneself.