Chapter 7

The sound of Little Radish crying filled her ears. Seeing that Little Radish couldn't control his younger sister and was about to cry as well, Mi Yao was so scared that she wanted to run away.

"Don't cry."

She crouched down to look at Little Radish's tear-streaked, dirty face. "Did I bully you?"

Upon seeing Mi Yao up close, Little Radish paused in her sobbing, looked at her through teary eyes, and shook her head after a moment.

"Since I didn't bully you, you shouldn't cry. Obedient children never cry for no reason."

Little Radish seemed to understand what she said, and stopped making a fuss by pursing her lips. But as soon as she stood up, Little Radish started sobbing again.

The sobs, one after another, sounded even more like someone who had been bullied than when they had just burst into tears.

Mi Yao: "..."

After taking Shuanghua's handkerchief, Miyao squatted down again. She originally wanted to hand it to Xiaoluobo so that she could wipe her tears herself, but Xiaoluobo didn't take it. Instead, she tilted her head back and waited for someone to wipe her tears for her.

Seeing her waiting obediently, Mi Yao, though unwilling, still wiped away the tears on her face with her own hands.

After wiping away her tears, Little Radish quickly hugged Mi Yao's arm, pressing her face tightly against Mi Yao's clothes, afraid that she would stand up and run away.

"This young lady."

Yu Xiu frowned, wanting to pick up the little radish, but before she could even touch her, the little radish raised its head and stared longingly at Mi Yao, its swollen eyes filled with tears.

To avoid getting her freshly wiped face dirty again, Mi Yao let the little radish stick to her: "What's your name?"

“Mother, my third sister can’t speak yet. Her name is Xiao Shan, Shan as in goodness. My second brother is Xiao Liang. My name is Xiao Yi, Yi as in bird’s wing.”

Big Radish is the oldest and seems to be the most calm and reliable among the siblings. Even though he is worried that his sister's actions will displease Mi Yao, he tries his best to remain calm.

She remembered that Xiao Chua's children were seven, five, and three years old respectively.

Three years old and still can't speak?

Meeting the round, moist eyes of the little radish with his round face, Mi Yao blinked: "Want some snacks?"

The little radish understood what it meant, opened its mouth, revealed its little white teeth, and nodded.

*

As a male protagonist in a male-oriented online novel, Xiao Chuan is somewhat of a "lone star destined for misfortune."

Her father and older brother both died on the battlefield at a young age. After learning of her husband's death, Xiao's sister-in-law died in childbirth. A year later, Xiao's mother also passed away due to illness.

Xiao Chuan has three children. His eldest son was found while he was stationed on the border, and the other two are his elder brother's bloodline registered under his name.

In the book, Xiao Chuan did not remarry or have children until he was forty years old, and only had an adopted son who was not related to him by blood.

Now she just hopes that Xiao Chu's widowhood is a plot device, not some inescapable fate. Even if she doesn't act recklessly like the original owner and target his child, the male lead is destined to have a weak family bond, making it impossible for her, his beloved wife, to escape her inevitable death.

"Thank you, Mother."

Seeing the snacks on the table, Xiao Yi didn't take any. He watched as Xiao Shan quickly grabbed one and put it in her mouth. He tightened his lips and thanked Mi Yao on behalf of his sister.

Compared to the youngest, Xiao Shan, Xiao Liang was his older brother's shadow.

Seeing the abundance of pastries, Xiao Liang swallowed hard, then forced himself to look away, mimicking his older brother by sitting upright on a small stool and refusing to look at the pretty snacks on the table.

Mi Yao didn't care whether they were suppressing their appetite or not, she just reminded them, "We haven't had a wedding yet, so I can't be considered your mother."

Although the marriage is practically a done deal, she still hopes to postpone becoming a mother for a few days.

"It was my recklessness that offended you, Madam."

Xiao Yi immediately got off the stool, bent down and admitted his mistake, while Xiao Liang followed suit, standing next to his brother and bowing his head: "I... bumped into you, Madam."

Xiao Liang couldn't understand what his brother was saying, so he couldn't imitate him correctly and could only follow along vaguely.

Hearing Yu Xiu's laughter beside him, he lowered his head even further, knowing that he must have done something wrong to make people laugh.

"My second brother is still young and has not yet learned anything, so he does not know the rules. Please do not blame him, Madam."

“They were already learning to behave at the age of five in the Yu family, how come they still don’t know the rules?”

When Yu Xiu heard Xiao Yi explain for Xiao Liang, she snorted, "You were reckless and offended your elder sister, but it's only because my elder sister is kind-hearted that she didn't punish you and even rewarded you with pastries."

Mi Yao's thoughts were still on how since they weren't married, she shouldn't be called "Madam" when she suddenly heard Yu Xiu angrily scolding Luo Botou.

Seeing that Xiao Liang's head was almost touching the ground, Mi Yao frowned: "Alright, what rules do you need to know in your own home? What does it have to do with my kindness if something that shouldn't be punished is not my fault?"

After glancing at Yu Xiu, who was staring at the group of children, Mi Yao understood why Yu Xiu in the book was able to cooperate with the original owner in torturing these children.

It's clear that Yu Xiu dislikes children, to the point of loathing them.

Even knowing that these kids were Xiao Xu's children, he still had the opportunity to unleash his malice upon them.

"If you have nothing to do, go and tidy up your things."

Fearing that Yu Xiu's mistakes would implicate her, Mi Yao's words were clearly biased. Yu Xiu immediately knew that she had done something wrong and displeased Mi Yao.

"Sister..."

Yu Xiu thought that Mi Yao also disliked these unruly children, but unexpectedly Mi Yao stood on their side, her eyes filled with grievance, "I misspoke, please don't blame me, Da Lang and Er Lang."

The young woman who was just a moment ago was now as docile as a rabbit, and even apologized to the children.

Upon hearing Yu Xiu address Mi Yao as "elder sister," Xiao Yi was momentarily at a loss for words. He first shook his head before speaking, "It's my second brother's fault, Aunt need not take it to heart."

After saying that, he remembered that Mi Yao had just said that she was not their mother yet, and he was afraid that the title of "aunt" would displease her, so he frowned again.

Compared to his two older brothers, Xiao Shan was completely at ease in the house. Holding Mi Yao's arm, he ate four pastries without a care in the world. When he choked and wanted some water, he shook Mi Yao's arm, tilted his round face covered in sesame seeds, and asked her to get him some water.

Afraid of soiling Mi Yao's clothes, Shuang Hua used a handkerchief to wipe away the food crumbs from Xiao Shan's face.

Eat slowly.

Mi Yao originally didn't want to pay attention to the little radish, planning to wait until she had hugged her arm enough before closing the door and saying goodbye to the three radish kids.

With the help of water, Xiao Shan ate even more happily, and soon finished the plate of snacks in front of him, then stretched out his little arms to attack the other plate.

Mi Yao was worried that Xiao Shan would overeat at her place, so after reminding her, she had Shuang Hua take away the snacks and leave only two for Xiao Shan.

"If you don't eat, I'll have someone take it away. The snacks will be left with you. If your sister wants some, give it to her. Make sure the wet nurse keeps an eye on the amount so she doesn't get a stomachache."

Fearing that Xiao Shan would cause trouble after receiving the snacks, Mi Yao gave him a special instruction.

Whether Xiao Shan understood that these things were all hers or was just good-natured and not possessive of her food, she didn't cry or make a fuss when she saw the remaining pastries being taken away. She quietly finished the thumb-sized rose pastry in front of her and then spread out her short, round hands.

Mi Yao thought she was asking if she wanted more food, but when she saw Shuang Hua wiping Xiao Shan's hands with a wet cloth and Xiao Shan obediently letting her wipe them, she realized that the radish-shaped hand was meant to be wiped.

"My little sister has disturbed you for too long, I'll take her away now."

Seeing that his younger sister had finished eating, and thinking that she should stop making a fuss now, Xiao Yi tried to pick her up, but as soon as he moved, Xiao Shan hugged Mi Yao tightly with both hands.

She tilted her head up and whimpered at Mi Yao, clearly trying to be affectionate and not wanting her brother to leave.

Looking at the little radish, Mi Yao suspected that there was something in the goat milk she used to bathe in that attracted children; otherwise, there was no way to explain why the little radish had become so attached to her.

She clearly didn't show any kindness.

Xiao Shan didn't want to leave, and Mi Yao didn't want to hear the child crying, so she reluctantly kept them there.

Fortunately, the little girl got sleepy after eating, and after Xiao Yi and the others had been gone for a while, she became like a little chick pecking at rice, nodding her head down incessantly.

Once she was sure the person was asleep, Mi Yao told Shuang Hua to quickly escort them out of the room.

"Brother, do you think Mother likes Shan'er? Although Shan'er didn't say anything and even cried, she wasn't angry and even gave Shan'er some snacks."

The two brothers were uneasy leaving Xiao Shan alone in Mi Yao's room. Fortunately, after a short while, Mi Yao's maid brought Xiao Shan back to them.

Xiao Liang lay by the bed, turning his head and eyes back and forth to make sure that his younger sister was no different from before, sleeping peacefully with her eyes closed. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief and ask his older brother.

"The lady doesn't seem like a bad person."

Xiao Yi recalled Mi Yao's attitude towards the three of them just now, and his heart calmed down a little. If Mi Yao showed dislike for them, he would feel uneasy. If she was too enthusiastic towards them, he would worry that she might be two-faced, pretending not to find them a burden, but secretly plotting against them.

Mi Yao wasn't affectionate towards them, but she would scold those around her if they were rude to them. Although she was clearly impatient with Xiao Shan's affection, she could still coax him with pastries instead of having the servants take her away directly.

Their future stepmother doesn't seem like a bad person, and she probably won't do what others say—get rid of them to make room for her child.

Hearing his elder brother say that Mi Yao wasn't a bad person, Xiao Liang smiled with relief: "That's good. Shan'er's favorite people are never bad people. Shan'er doesn't like Granny Ma."

He was so frightened by what Granny Ma said that he couldn't sleep for several nights. He was afraid that his mother, who was coming, would find them superfluous and annoying, and would beat and scold them. She was also afraid that his sister would not be able to speak and would prick his sister with needles when no one was looking.

His older brother told him that their father wouldn't marry a bad person who would bully them, and that he shouldn't listen to Granny Ma's scary words, so he wasn't so afraid.

Now that he sees Mi Yao, he is no longer afraid.

She looked so beautiful and smelled so nice. Even when her younger sister cried while hugging her, she didn't get angry and even gave her sister some snacks.

Thinking of the snacks, Xiao Liang looked at the fragrant food box on the table and swallowed hard: "Big brother, may I have a bite of my sister's snacks?"

"Eat as much as you want. Madam originally gave it to us to eat. Just leave some for Shan'er."

After Xiao Yi finished speaking, he reminded his younger brother: "Madam is not yet married to Father, so you cannot call her Mother. You can call her that in front of her, lest she think you don't know the rules."

"Uh-huh!"

With his mouth full of pastries, Xiao Liang covered his lips and nodded vigorously, afraid that crumbs would spray out if he opened his mouth to speak.

His mother is so beautiful and doesn't hit him, and she even gives them such delicious pastries. He will definitely behave well and not let his mother think he is an unnecessary burden. He will be a lovable and obedient child.