“Heh. Still dare to threaten people? Looks like those few hits just now were too light. I’ll have to add a few more.”
As Chen Yuan raised her hand, the chubby boy yelped in fright and immediately ran off as fast as his legs could carry him. Before leaving, he threw back one last threat: “Just you wait! I won’t let you off!”
The Shen brothers finally came back to their senses. Their faces were covered in snot and tears, making them look like little dirty-faced kittens. Standing a few steps away, they stared helplessly at Chen Yuan.
The two children were feeling very conflicted. They were also strangely afraid of this second aunt, who was completely different from before. After all, just yesterday, as soon as she arrived, she had thrown their quilts out of their room and made them sleep in the freezing living room for the night. The memory was still fresh.
Now that Second Aunt had easily beaten Gao Wen, their hearts grew even more uneasy. Dabao and Erbao wondered if it was their turn next. Getting spanked hurt. If they offered their bottoms first, maybe she would hit them more lightly.
Shen Dabao wiped away his tears and stood in front of Erbao, saying to Chen Yuan, “Second Aunt, it’s all my fault. If you want to hit someone, hit me. Don’t bully my little brother. He can’t take a beating.”
Erbao hurried over too. “It has nothing to do with my brother. Hit me instead.”
“…”
Chen Yuan had never seen anyone fight over being beaten before. She said nothing and walked straight toward the two children.
Dabao and Erbao instinctively wanted to hide, but the beating they imagined never came. Instead, their two little hands were firmly held by a pair of long, warm hands. A gentle warmth swept over their bodies.
As the woman held their hands and led them back, she said, “Why are you so cowardly? If he bullies you again, hit him back. Then he won’t dare act so arrogantly next time.”
The two little radishes froze completely. They had never been treated so gently before. The last time their mother had given them warmth was so long ago they could no longer remember it clearly. The only thing they remembered was that this feeling was truly warm—so warm that even having it once felt like a luxury.
Auntie’s hands were so warm.
What they found unbelievable was that after causing trouble, not only had she not scolded them, she had even helped them vent their anger. It felt like they were living in a dream. Dazed, the children followed Chen Yuan home.
Chen Yuan felt a familiar force coming from Erbao’s little hand. The happiness panel displayed: [Shen Yaohui +10].
On the other side, Dabao’s increase was barely noticeable. Sure enough, his happiness had only gone up by 1 point. Still, Erbao’s increase satisfied her. She hadn’t expected such a small effort to raise his score so quickly. The points automatically converted into energy, and her mental state instantly felt better.
The Shen elders and their children lived in several houses nearby. Shen Huai’s house had been allocated to him by his work unit. Before he married, it had always been empty.
Dabao and Erbao’s father had died early. In the side story, the protagonists’ mother remarried a wealthy businessman and went abroad with him. The businessman refused to accept the three Shen children, so she sent them back to the Shen family.
The Shen family situation was complicated. Shen Huai’s father had remarried. He had three sons of his own, while his new wife had brought two children from her previous marriage. Later, the couple had another daughter together. In total, there were six children.
Shen Huai was the second son. His eldest brother had died of illness. His third brother had cerebral palsy and struggled in daily life, but through relatives he had been arranged as an apprentice in a carpentry factory. His stepmother’s daughter from her previous marriage had changed her surname to Shen and was called Shen Xiu. She was a Women’s Federation cadre. Her son, Shen Cheng, worked at a state-owned factory and usually stayed in the dormitory. The youngest daughter, born to Shen Huai’s father and stepmother, had failed to get into the local high school and was studying elsewhere.
Now that Shen eldest’s children had returned to the Shen family, Father Shen believed they had brought misfortune and caused the death of his eldest son, so he disliked them. Their days in the Shen family were often neglected. The only one who treated them well was their second uncle, but he was away on missions all year round.
Originally, he had hired a nanny to look after the children, but for some unknown reason, she had been dismissed. Now, his stepmother was taking care of the three children—on the condition that Shen Huai paid her 40 yuan a month in labour fees, covered the family’s food expenses, and paid the children’s school and living costs separately.
When Chen Yuan entered the small alley, she saw a tiny little girl standing outside the door. Her short legs stumbled as she walked, her body swaying unsteadily, making her look worrying to watch. Her eyes were round like two black grapes, and her adorable little face looked like a child from a New Year painting.
When the little girl saw Dabao and Erbao, her eyes lit up. Her short legs pattered over. “Brother, brother, Niuniu hungry.”
As she spoke, she rubbed her flat little stomach.
Dabao immediately picked her up and looked at his younger sister. “Be good, Niuniu. There’ll be food when we get home. Where’s Grandma?”
Niuniu pouted. “Grandma… Auntie’s house. No food.”
“When did she leave? How long have you gone without eating?”
“Morning. Niuniu drank mush. Hungry.”
When Dabao and Erbao heard this, they were furious. It was already evening, meaning their little sister had only had a bit of porridge all day and nothing else. She was only a little over three years old. How could she bear being hungry? What if she starved herself sick? Grandma was too much.
A progress bar also appeared above the little girl’s head. Her name was [Shen Rou], and her starting value was -130, but it was still steadily dropping.
“Brother, Niuniu hungry.” Every time Niuniu called out, -1 symbols floated above her head.
Hearing Niuniu’s pitiful voice, Dabao and Erbao also started showing [-1] above their heads. The three children stared at one another, and then someone’s stomach growled.
Chen Yuan confirmed that if the characters remained hungry, their values would keep falling. They needed food immediately.
“Where are the things your second uncle had sent back yesterday?”
“Grandma hid them all in the storeroom,” Dabao and Erbao said weakly.
After a moment, Niuniu added from the side, “Grandma also gave some to Auntie.”
After hearing this, Chen Yuan understood everything. She remembered that although Shen Huai had left in a hurry yesterday, he hadn’t forgotten the three children’s situation in the Shen family. He had entrusted someone to buy fabric, daily necessities, firewood, rice, oil, salt, milk powder, pork, and all kinds of food, sending everything to the Shen family’s old residence.
He had also sent a message to his stepmother, hoping she would take better care of the three children and not let them lack nutrition.
But unexpectedly, not only had his stepmother hidden the things he sent and refused to give them to his own nephews and niece, she had even secretly given them to her own daughter. Shen Huai probably never imagined that his three biological nephews and niece were starving in the Shen family, one thinner and more sallow than the next.
As Dabao and Erbao sighed, they heard Second Aunt say, “Let’s go get back the things your second uncle bought.”
Erbao was a little afraid. “But… but…”
Chen Yuan snorted. “If you don’t take them, don’t eat the stewed meat tonight.”
“…”
At the mention of meat, Erbao’s eyes almost glowed blue. His lunchbox had been smashed by Gao Wen at school that afternoon, so he had no choice but to share Dabao’s lunch. Two growing children could usually eat two portions and still not be full. One portion today had barely lined their stomachs. In truth, they had been hungry for a long time and had only been enduring it.
Thinking that they could eat meat, even if they were beaten afterwards, it would be worth it.
Dabao looked at Chen Yuan in surprise and naturally agreed with both hands. Why should the things his second uncle bought be eaten by Grandma and Auntie? Grandma and Auntie didn’t treat them well at all. If it weren’t for Erbao and Niuniu, he would have wanted to take those things back long ago.
With the help of the three children, Chen Yuan successfully retrieved the spare key hidden under the eaves and opened the door to the Shen family’s old house. The main room and north room were locked, and from the outside, there didn’t seem to be anything valuable.
At this time, Father Shen had not yet returned from work, and the stepmother had gone to her daughter’s house, leaving Niuniu alone at a neighbour’s to be watched. But the fact that Niuniu could walk out by herself showed that no one was watching her properly at all.
A three-year-old child could run off the moment she got outside. No wonder the book said the child had gone missing in childhood and was never found again. Speaking of which, most of the responsibility for her disappearance lay with the Shen family.
When the storeroom was opened, it was piled with lots of rice and flour. Some of it was coarse grain, mainly cornmeal and sorghum rice, while the fine grains—white rice and white flour—made up half each. There were also two barrels of lard, as well as plenty of daily necessities, fabric, and nutritional supplements.
Chen Yuan swept her gaze around and immediately launched a full-scale raid. Leading the three children, she loaded the wooden handcart in the storeroom. Anything edible or usable was taken away.
Besides rice and flour, Chen Yuan also discovered a wooden barrel filled with ice. Inside, half a pig had been chilled. There were signs that some of it had already been cut away, probably taken by Shen Huai’s stepmother to her daughter’s house.
Dabao said their eldest aunt was pregnant, and over the past two months, Grandma often went to take care of her. She would leave Niuniu at Old Madam Sun’s house next door. Old Madam Sun was a widow whose children were not around, and she rarely came out herself. Besides, she had no relation to Niuniu. How could she possibly watch her carefully?
Since the stepmother was taking Shen Huai’s labour fees, she should have been properly caring for Niuniu. Instead, she wasn’t acting like a decent person at all. If this were the Federation, she would have been fired by her employer long ago.
So Chen Yuan was not polite at all. She took what should be taken. These were bought by the children’s own uncle. Even taking everything was only right.
After the raid, the children returned with a full load. Dabao and Erbao had never been so excited before. Their little faces were flushed, their eyes shining brightly. When had they ever seen so much food?
Today was like New Year.
No, there was even pork to eat—it was happier than New Year.
Erbao thought, *Auntie is so good. Auntie might be the best person he has ever met besides Second Uncle.*
Dabao, however, followed Chen Yuan closely into the kitchen, staring unblinkingly at what she was doing. The tiny bit of goodwill that had just appeared in his heart was immediately suppressed by vigilance.
No one knew that some time ago, before Second Uncle returned, Dabao had had a terrifying dream. The scenes in the dream had been extremely realistic. In it, his second uncle returned with a woman, and that woman treated them terribly. Whenever she was dissatisfied, she would beat and scold them, abusing him, Erbao, and Niuniu. With her in the Shen family, their lives became even more miserable than before.
In the dream, they never had enough to eat. The woman refused to give them food and even hid their school fees, saying they were useless and not allowing them to attend school. She cursed Third Uncle as a fool and a cripple, humiliated him, mixed sand into his food, and forced him to eat it.
Everything in the dream had been like a nightmare—terrifyingly real.
At first, Dabao did not believe it. But later, he dreamed of several small events, such as Second Uncle asking someone to bring things back, going away on a mission and temporarily being unable to return home, and flooding in the south requiring disaster relief.
All of those things had come true.
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