Shumei even walked to the door to check, and only locked the gate after making sure that the mother and child had gone far away. She turned around and squatted in front of the two children, hugged the two poor children in her arms, and caressed them.

"I'm sorry, kids. I'm sorry. Does it hurt?"

Her tears finally burst out, and all the sadness and helplessness were finally released.

"Mom, it's really not my brother's fault. They crushed all the shrimps he caught on the ground." Little Shuangning explained to Shumei while sobbing.

Xiao Youchen added, "Mom, they really went too far. Not only that, they also scolded us and called my sister a vixen and a bastard."

Shumei pushed the two children out of her arms, looked at the two poor children, listened to them explain the cause of the matter, and she gently stroked the two children's faces.

"Youchen, your mother hit you, do you hate her?"

Xiao Youchen lowered his head and thought for a moment, then whispered, "The grace of raising a child is greater than heaven. In my eyes, my mother will always be a good mother."

Xiao Youchen's words moved Shumei to tears. She lifted the two men up from the ground, undressed them, and checked their injuries.

"Ningning, Youchen, since Daddy is away, we've already been ostracized by the villagers. Remember, try not to provoke others in the future, so that you can live a worry-free life in the village."

…

"That's just how they are. They only argue over these noisy and trivial matters. Your ambitions don't lie in this. You should have a longer-term vision instead of a short-term one."

…

"Mom doesn't have the ability to protect you right now, so you have to be patient and study hard. When you have a bright future, they won't be able to bully you anymore."

…

Shumei spoke to the two children intermittently. She didn't know whether the children could understand what she said. Anyway, Shumei had only one goal, which was for them to understand and tolerate.

She looked at the injuries on the children's bodies and felt heartbroken, blaming herself for having been so harsh.

As expected, Xiao Shuangning didn't understand. She stopped Shumei in confusion and said, "Mom, is there no right or wrong? If they bully us, should we put up with it?"

"Ningning, Mom is right. I'm a weak person, so of course I can't withstand the power of everyone. You and I are still young and can't help at all. The only thing we can do is endure humiliation and slowly make ourselves stronger. When we are strong, others will not dare to bully us anymore. This is what Goujian meant by sleeping on firewood and tasting gall before he could return to his homeland. Didn't I tell you a story like this before?"

Xiao Youchen explained it in detail to Xiao Shuangning. Xiao Youchen, who likes to read widely, has already understood such a simple truth thoroughly in the library.

Xiao Shuangning is usually playful and would never think about such boring things, so she naturally doesn't know.

Although Xiao Youchen explained it this way, she didn't seem to understand such a big truth, "I——"

Xiao Youchen's words surprised Shumei. She didn't expect Xiao Youchen to say such profound words.

"Youchen, did your teacher teach you all this?"

Xiao Shuangning grumbled and rushed back, "No way! Otherwise, how could I not know? He took the time to go to the school library to read it."

Shumei was surprised. This little Youchen was much more sensible than she knew. "Youchen, is this true?"

"Mom, it's true. Don't I want to learn more? There's no harm in learning more and knowing more, there's only benefit, right?"

"Yeah, yeah! That's right! Ningning, you have to learn this from Youchen. You are such good kids. Being your mother is a blessing I earned in my previous life. It's great. God has been kind to me."

After all, Xiao Youchen is not her biological son. She originally thought that since she beat Xiao Youchen like that, Xiao Youchen should hate her, but now it seems that she underestimated Xiao Youchen.

Seeing Shumei crying, Xiao Youchen tried to comfort her, "Mom, don't be sad. Ningning and I will be good and obedient in the future. We will study hard and get into a key middle school. Then Dad will come back. With Dad around, we don't have to grow up, and they won't dare bully us anymore."

The three of them hugged each other tightly, and Shumei cried sadly. The two children were fine, but they were hugged too tightly by Shumei, so they could not breathe and their faces turned red.

"Mom, I can't breathe!" Xiao Shuangning squeezed out these words.

Shumei then let the two of them go, and the three of them smiled at each other, forgetting all the unpleasantness that had just happened.