Transmigrated as a Stepmother: Time to Bring the Family to Prosper!-Chapter 274 - 273: The Next Second, I Was Wrong

Da Lang and Second Lang, along with Fourth Sister, exchanged glances, sensing a hint of oddity at the dining table. Meanwhile, Mother ate heartily, her gaze firmly fixed on Ah Wang, who sat with his head bowed.

Father seemed absent-minded and nearly fed himself through the nose.

Only Sanlang was oblivious, slurping down half a bowl of egg-fried vegetable soup rice.

Fourth Sister shook her head helplessly, mumbling quietly, "What a fool."

"Frog?" Sanlang misheard, thinking his sister was mimicking a frog, and chuckled, "Ribbit!" he croaked.

Fourth Sister: "..."

Being a sister, she playfully patted her brother’s head and smiled, "It’s nothing, little brother, go on eating."

Sanlang beamed at his sister, then picked up a big piece of scrambled egg and placed it in Fourth Sister’s bowl, saying, "Fourth Sister, you eat too. The eggs are tasty."

Then he stood up, serving Qin Yao and Liu Ji a piece each.

Liu Ji looked at the child with satisfaction, secretly observing while shifting his gaze between Ah Wang and Qin Yao.

Qin Yao, no block of wood, noticed this, glared at Liu Ji, then slightly raised her hand, prompting someone to behave.

After devouring five bowls of white rice and two bowls of soup, Qin Yao finally set down her chopsticks.

She realized the dishes on the table were exactly the portion her family of six usually had in one meal. True to Ah Wang’s word, he only sought a bit of leftover rice.

But whose portion should be left? Her portion, at least, was finished.

Liu Ji felt like the parasite inside a vicious woman’s stomach, understanding her thoughts completely, which made him feel like banging his head against a wall.

"Come here, the master is rewarding you with some food." Liu Ji called out harshly towards the door.

Ah Wang acted as though he couldn’t hear the harsh words, respectfully walking over and lifting his empty bowl with both hands to Liu Ji, gratefully saying, "Thank you, Master! Thank you, Mistress! Thank you, young masters and mistresses!"

This endless chain of thanks caused Liu Ji’s skin to crawl with goosebumps, hastily signaling him to stop. Next time, just say thanks to the master.

Ah Wang complied, "Thank you, Master."

Liu Ji gave him a sidelong glance, suddenly finding him a bit terrifying.

Even a clay idol has a temper, yet is there truly someone in this world completely without temper, pride, or shame?

Yet, he couldn’t resist doing something even more excessive.

Sneaking a glance at Qin Yao, who was resting against her chair, Liu Ji ultimately didn’t proceed further, dumping his unfinished rice into Ah Wang’s bowl and dividing the leftover eggs and vegetable soup among the four children, giving the rest to him.

Receiving the food, Ah Wang immediately took it outside, devouring it ravenously, finishing in just a few mouthfuls.

Liu Ji’s heart trembled, asking him, "Are you full?"

Ah Wang confessedly shook his head, not full for sure.

Seeing him like that, Liu Ji thought of those starving refugees at the city gates who looked like they’d devour people, promptly instructing him to help himself to some mixed grain porridge from the kitchen.

Otherwise, he feared waking up at night to find his hand chopped off and boiled.

Ah Wang was obviously taken aback by the kindness from the previously harsh master, glancing hesitantly toward Qin Yao.

At Qin Yao’s nod, he expressed his surprise and gratitude, immediately heading to the kitchen to make mixed grain porridge for himself.

The rice vat was there in the kitchen, with nobody else in the house. Liu Ji prided himself on being different from the village’s old snags, never locking the kitchen to guard against sons and daughters-in-law.

White rice, millet, sorghum—all cleanly hulled and spotless.

Ah Wang scooped a small half-bowl of millet to cook porridge.

Qin Yao reminded from the hall, "Boil more hot water, and clean yourself thoroughly." She couldn’t stand the smell.

This brought to mind that Liu Ji, having brought Ah Wang back, was also reeking, and Qin Yao couldn’t tolerate it one bit, urging him to keep his distance and fetch his old clothes for Ah Wang.

Ah Wang was similar in height to Liu Ji, both being tall, so he could wear Liu Ji’s clothes as well.

Liu Ji had an old hemp outfit, one he wore when he first lived here with Qin Yao, patched up several times, too worn to clean, for fear of it falling apart.

Yet it was far better than the strips of clothes on Ah Wang, which could crumble to black mud when rubbed.

Liu Ji, feeling particularly kind, even found a pair of straw sandals. After Ah Wang filled his stomach, he led him to the river, undressed himself completely, "plop," diving into the water and resurfacing, signaling with a finger:

"Ah Wang, come down!"

Ah Wang hesitated for a moment before removing his tattered robes and entering the river.

To save firewood, Liu Ji was quite resourceful, using the river water, still warm from the sun, to wash away all the dirt before going home for a soap scrub, saving several tubs of water this way.

He thought Qin Yao was just being finicky, needing a hot bath. Dialing down to the river in summer was so much more refreshing.

Seeing Da Lang and his brothers frequently glancing toward the river with restless eagerness, Qin Yao sternly instructed:

"No sneaking into the river for a bath, do you hear?"

In summer, the river, just over a meter deep, appeared shallow but could drown one or two village kids every year.

Hearing Qin Yao’s words, the eager brothers calmed down and obediently went into the shower room for hot baths.

It was already completely dark. After Qin Yao and Fourth Sister took turns washing for the second round, Liu Ji was up next, and finally Ah Wang.

Assuming the hosts were asleep, Ah Wang didn’t expect to find Qin Yao and her husband with their long hair loose, sitting in the hall doorway, facing the main door and enjoying the breeze.

Hearing the shower room door, the couple looked over simultaneously.

"Hmm?" Liu Ji raised an eyebrow in surprise, "Ah Wang, why didn’t you wash your face? Didn’t I tell you to clip and clean up your beard?"

Even his messy hair wasn’t trimmed; his face was unrecognizable.

Qin Yao playfully asked, "Is your face unpresentable?"

Her playful question left Ah Wang frozen for a moment before responding that he forgot and would clean himself up.

Perhaps he didn’t expect someone in these times to care about a slave’s cleanliness.

Caught off guard, Ah Wang slowly took up scissors, working cautiously on his bangs and beard.

A quarter of an hour later, a rather forgettable face emerged before the couple.

Liu Ji incredulously called him closer, still unable to retain any details.

All he could remember was the thumbnail-wide scar on Ah Wang’s jawline, not frightening, seemingly from years ago, lighter than his skin, and barely noticeable without close inspection.

Curious, Liu Ji asked how he got the scar, to which Ah Wang replied, "I accidentally cut myself with a hatchet when chopping wood in the mountains with my father as a child."

"Oh." Liu Ji nodded. He didn’t believe that at all!

Once they sent Ah Wang to the attic and were alone, Liu Ji closed the windows, dramatically sliding to Qin Yao’s feet!

He hugged her legs tightly, urgently whispering, "Wife, I was wrong! Wife, tell me the truth, did I bring a fugitive home?"

"When bathing in the river, despite the dark, I noticed numerous scars over him, deep and shallow, clearly from knife fights, new ones over old ones...."