Upon reaching the village entrance, everyone disembarked from the oxcart and hurried home without even saying goodbye.

Xiao Yunying walked slowly home alone, carrying a basket on her back.

On the way, I kept thinking about what to eat while taking out ingredients.

I put the writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone in the supermarket to avoid them getting crushed. I took out the pork ribs, the lard I bought yesterday, two cabbages, two cucumbers, two tomatoes, and side dishes like scallions, ginger, and garlic.

Finally, place the writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone on top.

The bundle bulged visibly, and since no one was around, Xiao Yunying didn't need to worry about being seen.

From afar, Luo Li and Luo Xin, one big and one small, were sitting on the doorstep. Upon seeing her return, Luo Xin toddled over and hugged her leg.

"Mother, you're finally back."

Xiao Yunying wanted to pick her up, but the little girl twisted her body and wouldn't let her: "Mother has had a hard time coming to the city. Let Mother rest for a while, and then you can carry Xin'er when you're not tired anymore."

Oh my, what a sweet little girl!

"Is Xin'er being a good girl at home?"

Luo Xin nodded earnestly: "Xin'er is such a good girl, she waited for her mother at the door after finishing her meal."

Xiao Yunying paused in her steps: "Xin'er has been waiting for her mother at the door all morning?"

"Yes."

Why don't you go out and play?

Don't kids love playing with other kids the most?

Luo Xin blinked her big eyes, the joy she had felt upon seeing her mother just now had vanished: "They said that Xin'er is a bad child who has no father or mother and no one wants her. Xin'er doesn't want to go out to play, and you didn't let Xin'er go out to play before either, Mother."

Hearing these words, Xiao Yunying felt a pang of heartache. She glanced at Luo Li standing at the door, who also had her head down and looked aggrieved, and said softly:

"Who said you don't have a father or mother? Your father took your grandmother to get treatment. It seems that your grandmother's illness is quite serious, and the treatment has taken a long time. She will come back when she recovers."

Also, who said you didn't have a mother? A stepmother is still a mother. If anyone says you don't have a father or mother again, come back and tell me, and I'll go and confront them.

A stepmother is still a mother.

This wasn't the first time Luo Li had heard these words, but hearing them from this woman's mouth felt particularly different.

This wasn't the first time Luo Xin had heard the term "stepmother." Her third brother often referred to their mother as a stepmother: "Mother, what is a stepmother?"

Um... how should she explain this?

The little girl is young and has never been out much, has never spoken to those gossipy women, and doesn't understand what a stepmother is.

Should we just tell the little girl that her biological mother has passed away, that she wasn't born of us, and that we have no blood relation?

Isn't that a bit cruel?

"Xin'er".

Luo Li glanced at Xiao Yunying uneasily: "She's tired, let her rest for a while."

Luo Xin immediately put the problem out of her mind: "Mom, come quick, Xin'er will get you some water."

"good."

Luo Xin pulled Xiao Yunying's finger into the main room, ran to the kitchen to get a bowl, climbed onto a stool, hugged the earthenware pot, and poured a bowl of water with Luo Li's help.

"Mother, drink it quickly."

Xiao Yunying was indeed thirsty, so she drank it all in one gulp.

Luo Xin poured another bowl, and Xiao Yunying picked her up and sat her down: "You can drink it later. Xin'er, remember, you're not allowed to climb this high when there's no one else at home. If you need anything, call your mother or your brothers for help, okay?"

"Xin'er understands."

Xiao Yunying took a small sip of water and asked Luo Li, "Where are your eldest and second brothers?"

"The eldest brother went to the river to wash clothes, and the second brother went up the mountain to gather firewood."

Xiao Yunying put down the bowl. She had originally planned to do the laundry in the afternoon, but these two children were quite diligent.

"Mother, go put the things down first."

He went to the kitchen, put down the basket, peeked out to see that the two little ones hadn't followed, took a bag of laundry detergent from the supermarket, poured it into the bamboo tube, and put on the matching bamboo lid.

She recalled that at that time, clothes were washed with wooden mallets, relying on beating to clean them. She didn't know if they were clean or not, but she certainly wasn't used to it.

I quickly scanned the household goods section and picked up a wooden washboard.

I'm so grateful that I advocated for nature and environmental protection in my past life. Supermarkets use natural materials for everything that can be made. It would be really hard to take out anything made of plastic or other materials.

"Xin'er, Luo Li, I'm going to the river to find your older brother. I'll come back and cook for you after I finish washing the clothes. I bought some pork ribs, and I'll make sweet and sour pork ribs for you at noon."

"Okay, Mother, take your time. Xin'er is not in a hurry."

"Good girl."

Luo Li wanted to say something, but before she could open her mouth, Xiao Yunying had already left.

Luo Li felt a tightness in her chest again.

The first time this woman referred to herself as "mother" to him, it was after her younger sister's name.

Why is it that calling someone "little sister" is an affectionate way of addressing them, while calling them by their full name is a more formal way of addressing them.

That's unfair.

Xin'er sat on the stool, unaware that her brother was in a bad mood, and swung her little legs, saying, "Third brother, Mother said she would give us sweet and sour pork ribs, what are pork ribs?"

Luo Li's voice was muffled: "I don't know."

"Anything Mom makes is sure to be delicious. The meat Mom made yesterday was delicious, and the milk she made this morning was also very tasty."

"It's alright."

"Third brother, let me tell you a secret. This morning, Mother quietly told me that she bought it especially for me. She said that the brothers can drink it because of me. She also said that you are all grown up and don't know if it will be effective for you. But Mother doesn't want to be biased and only give it to me and not to you."

Luo Xin really didn't mean anything by it; she just wanted to show off to her brother how good their mother was to her. She had no idea how upset her brother was by her words.

Luo Li was speechless.

Look, my little sister is causing me trouble again with her innocent look.

She only got to drink that bowl of milk because of her younger sister. Does she think the three of them are less important than her younger sister?