The Female Cannon Fodder With Boundless Merits-Chapter 1357 - 1370: The Eldest Sister as Mother (14)

Chapter 1357: Chapter 1370: The Eldest Sister as Mother (14)

"This child... doesn’t seem to be from our village, does he..."

Someone knowledgeable thought for a moment, patted their head, and said, "I know who this child is..."

"He’s the boy from the Yuan Family in Banmu Village next door."

"Ah, it’s him... Why did he come to our village?"

"Probably couldn’t take another beating from his dad... so he ran over here..."

"But I heard, this boy is really rebellious, acting tough and fierce at such a young age, defying his dad several times. No wonder the Yuan Family beats him so badly."

"Wasn’t someone from the Yuan Family once a well-regarded young man in these ten miles, until that educated mom of his messed him up... They had four kids, yet she left nothing behind. Went to the city and never came back, no one can handle that."

"I guess the Yuan boy takes after his mom too, such a hard heart... Everyone knows how well his dad treated him before, treated him like a little prince."

The gossip outside floated in through the crack of the door, making Yuan Qi pause in his actions, a little lost as he looked towards Su Li.

Su Li: "What’s wrong?"

Yuan Qi quickly withdrew his gaze, murmuring, "Don’t listen to them... I’m not like what they say..."

"Sister, my brother isn’t like that, he’s very good... he’s only defying dad to protect us..."

A childish voice anxiously explained, even making the meat in its mouth lose its taste.

Su Li casually patted the little girl’s bun, "Don’t worry, sister knows."

If the wooden door was opened, people outside would discover that this small cabin surprisingly held quite a few people inside.

Besides Su Li and Yuan Qi, there were two skinny little girls and a malnourished-looking boy.

"Hurry up and eat."

Su Li glanced towards the wooden door, subtly hinting, causing Yuan Qi and the others to hastily shove meat into their mouths.

Even the weakest little boy was gulping down the soup.

Yuan Qi quickly finished the food in his bowl, and didn’t forget to carefully tear the meat into small strips for his youngest brother, making it easier to eat.

Just looking at little Yuan Le made Yuan Qi’s eyes sting.

Yuan Le was clearly four years old, yet he looked like a two-year-old kid, big head with a small body, even nibbling food in small bites.

Though rural children mostly appeared malnourished, Yuan Le looked like a sickly one who couldn’t survive.

Just earlier, he had glanced casually and knew that the first few kids in that group were Su Sister’s siblings.

Especially the twins, also four years old, but they looked several times bigger than Yuan Le.

Yuan Qi’s eyes darkened, his grip on the earthen bowl tightened.

Su Sister’s siblings have come looking, does that mean she will... make them leave...

"What are you thinking? Yuan Le’s little mouth has been open waiting for you for a long time."

Su Li said casually, "Eat quickly, wash the dishes after, and chop wood... Oh, Yuan Wei and Yuan Zhi are girls, they can share a room with me. Yuan Qi, you and Yuan Le, since you’re boys, I won’t worry about you two. Later make sure to reinforce your thatched hut, because tonight you’re sleeping in your own rooms outside."

"Oh, and I want spicy fried pork offals tonight... and a soup."

Su Li, with a crossed leg like a lady from a landlord’s family, lazily ordered her workers what to do.

Despite seeming like a totally unreasonable demand, Yuan Qi didn’t even blink, and even appeared somewhat relieved and happy as he agreed to everything.

Once little Yuan Le finished eating, without needing any instructions, Yuan Wei and Yuan Zhi promptly got busy.

As the wooden door opened, everyone outside could see the scene unfolding inside the cabin.

It had only been a short while since Yuan Qi had entered with the pot, yet everyone’s focus was on the stewing meat.

They searched around, but other than the empty pot, there wasn’t a trace of meat in sight.

Is it really all gone so quickly?

Everyone’s gaze naturally settled on the round bellies of the kids.

Except for pregnant women, in the countryside, whose bellies aren’t usually shriveled all year round? How come these little ghosts have bellies round and full, like swollen balloons.

Just thinking of those bellies filled with grease makes some people feel unbalanced.

Kiddos eating so much, isn’t that just wasting... they don’t even work in the fields.

With several pairs of eyes glaring, little Yuan Zhi grew anxious, couldn’t help but let out a belch.

"Burp~" The little girl nervously covered her mouth, stammering, "Sorry... I, I ate too much...."

Everyone present: "....."

Better not to speak, saying that just makes people more resentful.

Ate too much? How outrageous.

Yuan Zhi trembled, ducking behind her big brother.

The looks from these people are so frightening, they’re scaring the kids....

Yuan Qi: "Alright, quickly go do your chores, don’t disturb Sister Su’s rest...."

"Okay."

Then, witnessed by the villagers of Su Family Village, they were fortunate enough to see the strange encounter between a capitalist’s lady and the exploited workers.

The two girls, shorter than an adult’s thigh, washed dishes, boiled water, swept the floor, and wiped the tables.

The younger boy held a cup of cool boiled water, softly asking, "Sister Su, would you like some water? The weather is hot and dry, I added some refreshing and detoxifying wild herbs to the cool boiled water, which I dried by myself."

Su Li lay on a wooden lounge chair, hands resting on the armrests on either side, casually saying, "Just set it aside, I’ll drink it in a bit."

The little boy happily set down the cup, soon came over to massage Su Li’s legs and back.

Unbelievable... That big girl from the Su Family shamelessly ordering these little kids around, feeling so justified.

Someone couldn’t stand it and said to Yuan Qi, "Are you just going to watch your younger siblings like this? You’re the big brother...."

Yuan Qi ignored it, instead turned to Su Li and softly said, "Sister, I noticed you didn’t eat much and might not have much of an appetite.... How about I catch some small miscellaneous fish from the mountain stream for soup this afternoon? Although those little fish have lots of bones, the soup is delicious and appetizing."

There’s a stream in the mountains, everyone in Su Family Village knows.

However, catching those small fish is as if they have become spirits, incredibly difficult to catch, most people can’t catch them, otherwise... they’d long have been eaten out of existence by the villagers.

Everyone: "....."

They almost saw Su Li transform into an Empress Dowager, while the Yuan kids turned into palace maid and eunuch.

I must say, this scenario fits perfectly without any awkwardness.

The way Yuan Family boy behaves as a lackey is too obvious.

"Yuan Family boy, aren’t you worried about your dad beating you guys with an iron rod when you work your siblings this hard?"

Just as those words were said, Yuan sisters, carrying the newly washed earthen pot back in, timidly approached Su Li and agreeably said, "Sister Su, one dish with meat tonight is enough, we won’t be able to eat any more than that."

Su Li: "I’ll prepare a bone broth for Yuan Le." 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

The villager, covering their burning face: Face hurts so much.

He wanted to shout: Let go of these poor kids, let me do it, I can...