Stepmom's Farm Life

Chapter 27: The Filial Son

After dinner, Liu Zhong sent Dalang and his three siblings back home and took a look at Liu Ji's situation.

Seeing that he was covered with a brand new quilt and drinking thick white rice porridge, I suddenly felt that I had worried in vain.

I wonder if the third brother saved a god's life in his previous life. Even though he is in such a bad condition, there are still people who give him good food and drink.

Looking at Liu Ji's crying and groaning expression, Liu Zhong felt so angry that his teeth were itching.

It's really frustrating to compare yourself to others!

When he came outside, he told Qin Yao in a nice voice that if anyone needed help, just come to the old house to find them, and then he went home.

Dalang and his four companions brought back a bowl full of dishes, half of which was meat.

After putting down the food, Dalang went into the house and glanced at his father. Seeing that he was still breathing, he came out.

Four little rascals squatted in front of Qin Yao and asked her what kind of beasts she had hunted in the mountains, where she had been, and whether the meat was delicious.

Seeing Qin Yao had rice grains stuck to the corners of her mouth, Si Niang immediately stretched out her soft little hands to help her remove the rice grains. Her eyes were sparkling, and her heart and eyes were filled with only her mother.

Liu Ji in the room waited and waited, but Erlang, Sanlang and Si Niang never came in to see him.

When Liu Ji heard the intimate voices of the four brothers and sisters and Qin Yao outside the house, his eyes widened. He couldn't believe it. In just a few days, Qin Yao had already won over everyone's hearts.

Perhaps he was injured or perhaps he was angry. Liu Ji felt chest tightness, shortness of breath and dizziness, and fell into a deep sleep.

When I woke up, it was already bright outside and my bladder exploded.

Liu Ji called out weakly: "Da Lang, Da Lang."

The door creaked open from the outside, and four small figures walked in like a string of candied haws.

The dazzling sunlight shines into the house, bringing light to the dim room.

When Liu Ji saw these four children dressed in new clothes, he almost didn't recognize them.

Last night, Qin Yao boiled several large pots of hot water and washed the brother and sister clean from head to toe, and then changed them into the old clothes she had bought.

Although the clothes and shoes were old, they had been starched and washed before being sold, and there was a faint scent of soapberries on the clothes.

Qin Yao gave each of the four brothers and sisters a headband and tied their hair. She also specially braided two small braids for Si Niang, which hung on both sides of her head, making her look cute and playful.

Liu Ji could see that the clothes and shoes on the four brothers and sisters were a little big, but they were made of thick cotton cloth, which was much better than the tattered linen clothes they had worn before.

Dalang walked forward and picked up the urinal under the bed, "Dad, do you want to pee?"

Liu Ji suppressed the envy in his heart and nodded.

Dalang asked Si Niang to go out, helped Liu Ji off the bed and released him.

Liu Ji felt better and lay back on the bed.

Dalang took the urinal to the slope in the back room and emptied it. He came back to scoop water, washed his hands and the urinal, cleaned it up, and then took it back to the room and placed it neatly under the bed.

When had Liu Ji ever seen his children be so particular?

In the past, when snot hung on the corner of his mouth, he would just lick it with his tongue, but now he has to wash his hands even when he is helping his own father to empty the urinal?

"Where is your stepmother?" Liu Ji asked tentatively. He had not heard any movement from the evil woman since he woke up, and he didn't know where she had gone.

Dalang opened the door completely to let in fresh air and sunlight, and replied, "I went to Xiahe Village."

"Where are you going? How long have you been gone?"

"I don't know." Dalang shook his head and said uncertainly, "I went there early in the morning, so it should be an hour."

Liu Ji looked at the familiar yet unfamiliar room in front of him.

He couldn't see clearly yesterday because it was dark, and only now did he realize that the house had changed.

There were six grain bags piled up under the wall at the head of the bed, and a low table on the open space at the foot of the bed, with a pile of bowls neatly stacked on the table. Although it was still the same shabby thatched hut, everything was clean and there was no strange smell. Instead, there was a scent of rice.

Liu Ji touched his stomach, and Dalang immediately asked, "Dad, are you hungry?"

Liu Ji nodded wildly, and thought of the white rice porridge he had eaten last night, and couldn't help swallowing his saliva.

Dalang asked him to wait, walked out of the door, came to the stove, took out the meat porridge that was warm on the stove, and gave it to Liu Ji.

Yesterday's white rice porridge had sugar in it, which Liu Ji already thought was a luxury, but he didn't expect that there would be minced meat in today's porridge.

"Oh my God! What kind of life do you women live? Qin Yao is a spendthrift woman. She just wants to spend as much money as she can. She doesn't know how to save money."

Liu Ji complained as he sat up against the wall. He happily reached out to take the bowl, but when he looked up, he found that Dalang's four siblings were standing on the bed, looking at him dimly.

Si Niang said angrily, "Dad, I'm going to tell Auntie that you said bad things about her!"

Sanlang was his sister's follower, and he shouted, "Tell Auntie!"

Liu Ji immediately saw the cold look of Qin Yao holding the knife on Lin Erbao's neck. He shuddered and said hurriedly:

"No, no, no! Dad is just joking. Sanlang and Si Niang, be obedient and don't dare to tell your stepmother, otherwise Dad will die."

Sanlang and Si Niang were afraid that their father would die if they told the truth, so they nodded.

Erlang glanced at his father and knew that he was just trying to scare the child. He remembered the meat porridge his stepmother had distributed to him in the morning and licked his lips. He was not full yet and tugged at the corner of his eldest brother's clothes.

Seeing his younger brothers and sisters staring at the bowl of porridge greedily, Dalang's heart softened and he told them, "Each of you take another sip, just one sip. Auntie said that eating too much will make your stomach bloated, so don't be greedy."

So, Liu Ji watched in amazement as Erlang and his two filial sons gathered together, each taking a mouthful of meat porridge, and drank the originally full bowl until only half a bowl was left before passing it to him.

Dalang said respectfully, "Dad, drink slowly."

Liu Ji was so angry that his lips trembled and he was speechless for a while.

But after a moment's thought, he came up with another idea.

He took the bowl of porridge, gobbled it up and licked the bottom of the bowl, then threw the empty bowl to Dalang. He waved his hand, motioning the four brothers and sisters to gather around him, looking like a father who was very sad for them, and asked with concern:

"You must have suffered these days when Dad is not at home. Tell Dad if you have any grievances. I will take care of it for you when I get better."

Erlang shook his head, not knowing what euphemism meant, and said directly, "No."

Sanlang held his sister's hand in ignorance, and the brother and sister said loudly and seriously: "Follow the stepmother and you will have meat to eat."

Dalang glanced at his father's petrified expression, turned his head away, and the corners of his mouth curled up, but he quickly suppressed it, turned around with a serious face, waved his hand, and drove his younger brothers and sisters out.

"Dad, you need to change the medicine." Dalang reminded.

Liu Ji covered his wounded heart and looked at Da Lang who was mixing herbs for him with satisfaction. He said with emotion:

"Son, Dad knows that you are the most filial."

Dalang didn't respond. He mixed the powder with water and boiled it into a paste. He climbed onto the bed and helped his father change the medicine on his face.

After finishing, I took a small stool and sat at the gate, watching my younger brothers and sisters play with stones.

Liu Ji couldn't help but be curious, "Da Lang, what are you doing sitting at the door? Come in and talk to Dad."

"No, Auntie told us to look after the house."

Housekeeping?

Liu Ji sneered. What's so good about this shabby house?

Oh, no, that evil woman brought back so much food and valuables, we have to keep a close eye on them to prevent them from being stolen.

We are all family, and he has a share of these things too.

"Yes, we need to watch it carefully." Liu Ji agreed.

Dalang glanced at his father and saw that he was relatively well behaved. He looked towards the road by the river and stayed at home, waiting for his stepmother to come back.

(End of this chapter)