Transmigrated as a Stepmother: Time to Bring the Family to Prosper!-Chapter 238 - 237: Forgetting the Pain After Eating

Chapter 238: Chapter 237: Forgetting the Pain After Eating

The dragon boat race concluded, and the crowd by the riverbank gradually dispersed.

The sky grew darker, and racks made of bamboo poles were set up on the streets. The staff of the taverns and shops, which planned to host the lantern riddle events, hung out the lanterns they had prepared.

They would wait for the sky to darken completely before lighting them all.

In the narrow alley, the occasional sounds of men wailing could be heard.

The curious passersby frequently glanced over, only to have their view blocked by four children standing at the alley’s entrance.

Among them, the two smallest ones looked exactly the same, their round cheeks as adorable as the children depicted in New Year’s paintings.

Of the slightly older two, one stood at the entrance as immovable as a mountain, while the other occasionally looked back into the alley where the cries emanated, clicking his tongue and gloating.

When they noticed passersby stopping curiously, the girl who looked like she came out of a New Year’s painting put her hands on her hips, tilted her head, and asked with big eyes, "What are you looking at? Don’t you need to go home for dinner?" 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Well, she is quite formidable.

The passersby were eager to take a few more glances at the cute little girl, but the eldest one immediately stepped forward and vigilantly stared at them.

The young boy appeared to be about ten years old, but his dark eyes were fiercer than those of wolves in the mountains.

The passersby, startled by his glare, dispersed quickly.

After about the time it takes for half an incense stick to burn, the wailing inside finally stopped.

Qin Yao flicked her wrist and, with a stretch of her shoulders, walked out of the dim alley, looking refreshed.

Behind her followed a staggering figure, wincing with each step—it was Liu Ji, who had just taken a beating.

"Mother!"

Upon seeing their mother come out, Sanlang and Si Niang immediately gathered around her, asking with concern if she was hungry, sparing not even a glance for their biological father trailing behind her.

Qin Yao patted the heads of the Dragon and Phoenix Twins, tapped the warm silver Miss He had just given her in her chest, and grandly waved her hand, "Let’s go get some good food!"

"Da Lang, Second Lang, support him a little." Qin Yao nodded backward, and after receiving a knowing response from Da Lang and Second Lang, she led the Dragon and Phoenix Twins ahead.

The two brothers watched their stepmother take their younger siblings away, then turned back to look at Liu Ji, who was leaning against the wall, staring blankly at the sky.

"Dad, are you alright?"

Da Lang stepped forward and noticed that his father’s face was still as handsome as ever, with a touch of red at the corners of his eyes from the exertion, adding a bit of allure.

His face hadn’t been hit—Aunt Yao seemed to have held back.

But just as he reached out to take Liu Ji’s arm, Liu Ji let out a yelp.

Da Lang was startled and quickly lifted his father’s sleeve to check, only to find no bruises at all. He asked suspiciously, "Dad, why are you yelling? There are no injuries."

Liu Ji, sucking in a breath, cast a glare at his two sons, "Don’t touch me!"

Seeing Qin Yao and the three children almost out of sight, Liu Ji awkwardly spurred himself into motion, "Let’s go, let’s go—any later, and there’ll be no dinner left for us!"

Da Lang and Second Lang exchanged glances, wanting to offer support but seeing him moving along just fine, they decided against inviting any unnecessary trouble.

Liu Ji, seemingly intact, was under close scrutiny by Second Lang, who followed him, scratching his head, "Big brother, did Dad really get a beating?"

Just earlier, he had clearly heard those horrifying screams, scaring him into covering his ears and thanking the heavens that Mother never hit the kids, lest he would suffer too.

Da Lang reclined his head thoughtfully, "It must be an internal injury, the kind that can’t be seen on the outside but hurts to the bone. Such a method would be at a master’s level, ordinary people couldn’t manage it, but for our Aunt Yao, it’s a breeze."

"Huh?" Second Lang clicked his tongue as he looked at their father’s back, shaking his head, "What about the exams in a few days?"

With such injuries, how will he hold a pen to write?

Da Lang gave a light smile to his brother, "That’s something you don’t understand. By the time of the exams, it’ll be healed, not affecting them at all; Aunt Yao knows what she’s doing..."

"What are you muttering about now!"

Just as the two brothers were chatting, someone rudely shouted at them in exasperation, urging them to quickly come over and lend a hand.

Second Lang: "Dad, didn’t you just tell us not to touch you?"

Liu Ji took a deep breath, almost fainting from the insubordination of these unfilial kids, gritting his teeth as he said:

"Adults tell you to do something, you just do it—why do kids talk so much? Come here!"

Da Lang and Second Lang shrugged, each lending an arm to lightly support their father, who looked fine but was probably half-crippled, as they hurried to catch up with their stepmother and younger siblings.

After the dragon boat race ended, Liu Li and Da Zhuang returned to the inn first; they wouldn’t be joining the evening lantern riddle event.

It wasn’t due to a lack of interest, but they had exhausted their energy watching the dragon boat race during the day and couldn’t sustain any more excitement.

Qin Yao smiled in understanding, and the two families went their separate ways.

Once separated, her smile vanished instantly as she grabbed the fleeing Liu Ji and dragged him into a dark alley for a thorough beating.

She also forced him to confess how much silver he had bet on the White Flag.

Liu Ji dared not hide anything, confessing everything: after deducting last night’s dinner and this morning’s vegetable money, the remaining four maces and his own 600 cents of secret savings amounted to one whole tael, all bet together.

Upon hearing this, Qin Yao felt a flush of embarrassment; just yesterday, she told Second Lang they would fly a kite, and today Liu Ji sprang a ’surprise’ on her, prompting her to kick him again immediately.

Quickly calculating in her mind—today, she earned two taels; after deducting one tael, she still made one tael in profit.

Additionally, Liu Ji received a scroll of Qi Xian’s writings, which he sold to a wealthy merchant on the spot for five taels of silver, totaling six taels, which kept her from beating him to death on the spot.

"Next time you secretly embezzle funds, I’ll cut off your hands!" Qin Yao warned him.

Liu Ji, crouching on the ground with his head in his hands, tearfully promised never to dare again.

Yet she hadn’t forbidden him from keeping secret savings, so, perhaps, some could still be stashed secretly?

The family of six arrived at a goose noodle stall for a meal.

Liu Ji dared not utter a word, silently helping to serve the noodles and add ingredients, his cautious demeanor making Qin Yao frown.

"Eat your food; I don’t need anyone to serve me," Qin Yao said with disdain.

"Okay," Liu Ji forced a smile, squatting in a corner with his noodles, his once-soaring spirit plummeting back to rock bottom, no longer daring to act out.

But how could Qin Yao not know him?

This man only remembered the taste of the punishment, not the lesson from it.

However, seeing him behave himself for now, she said nothing further.

After finishing their delicious bowl of goose noodles, the atmosphere between the couple eased up a bit.

The lanterns were all lit up, with colorful lanterns hanging in front of the riverside shops, from which small bamboo tubes with riddles hung.

At the shop entrances, prizes were displayed—rouge, powder, jewelry, and toys—daunting in their variety.

The lanterns were not free; small ones cost ten cents each, while large ones ranged from twenty to fifty cents.

And those ultra-luxurious ones cost ten taels of silver, with ten riddles in a row; answering six or more correctly entitles one to choose a prize.

The prizes over there were impressive: jade ornaments, ceramic vases, glazed lamps, and exquisite gold hairpins and silverware.