After resting, Shen Miao began to think about making a small pond behind the house. She used a stick to mark out a general location on the open ground.

Then they started conscripting men, bringing Qingchen and Jiuying over to dig a pond for her.

Jiuying had no objections and did whatever was asked. Qingchen was quite annoyed, but didn't say anything. He took the stone spear and dug out most of it in a few strokes. Shenmiao then asked Xuanfeng to carry the mud away. Xuelang also wanted to help, but since it had just suffered the pain of the Blood Moon, Shenmiao didn't dare to let it overwork.

With the help of several adult orcs, the pond was dug in less than a morning. Shen Miao found some pebbles and laid them on the bottom of the pond, then poured in fresh water. Once it was almost full, she went to find some aquatic plants and put them in.

I must say, these aquatic plants floating on the clear water are quite pretty.

The orcs here are still struggling to make ends meet and haven't developed such sophisticated aesthetics, but that doesn't stop them from finding it beautiful.

Even Qingchen, who initially thought she was just messing around, couldn't help but look at her with new respect.

Shen Miao was smug. "Isn't it beautiful? I'll put a few more ornamental fish in, and I guarantee you'll like it even more."

She took the ornamental fish from her online space, selecting the most beautiful ones in various colors. As soon as they entered the water, the fish swayed their tails and swam happily.

A few lazy ones hid under the aquatic plants, their golden fish contrasting beautifully with the green vegetation.

Shen Miao felt that this was even more luxurious than an indoor bathtub, and that she would be a fishkeeper from now on.

While happily thinking about it, Shen Miao had no idea that in a few days, these fish would become Xiao Sibao's delicious meal.

Here's what happened: Xiao Sibao didn't know that Shen Miao was raising ornamental fish. She thought they were just ordinary fish that Shen Miao was raising to eat. So, when Shen Miao wasn't around and she was feeling hungry, she scooped up the fish and grilled them.

The ornamental fish are plump and well-cared for. The little four fish can't eat that much, so they generously called over their older brothers. The little ones gathered around the fire, eating with their mouths full of oil.

When Shen Miao returned, she couldn't find the children, so she went to check on her fish behind the house. Before she even got close, she smelled a burnt fish smell, and she immediately had a bad feeling. Shen Miao quickened her pace.

When Shen Miao saw that each of the children was holding a golden fish, she almost fainted.

He roared, "What are you doing?"

The children were startled at first, but then happily shared with Shen Miao, "Mommy, this fish is so delicious! There's another one here, it's for you."

Shen Miao walked to the edge of the pond. The huge pond was now empty except for a few water plants.

Shen Miao felt a throbbing pain in her temples. She turned around and looked at the children with a sinister gaze. The children realized that Shen Miao was angry and didn't dare to breathe.

"Who said they wanted grilled fish?" Shen Miao squeezed out a few words through gritted teeth.

The kids looked at each other, then took a step back in unison, leaving only Sibao standing there, dumbfounded.

How could this happen? My brothers are so disloyal.

They ate together, but when it came time to be punished, she was the only one left to suffer.

Little Sibao's eyes darted around, and he said defiantly, "Mommy, Dabao, Erbao, and Sanbao also ate it. They said it was delicious and they want to eat it again."

The children exclaimed in terror, "Sibao, don't talk nonsense, we didn't say that!"

“I told you, I heard it with my own ears,” Xiao Sibao retorted, not to be outdone.

Shen Miao's face darkened. Had these kids forgotten what the situation was? They hadn't even resolved the external problems, and they were already busy fighting amongst themselves. This was truly astounding.

"Wait, wait, wait, what are you all arguing about?"

The children fell silent, obediently looking up at Shen Miao with innocent and pure expressions.

If she didn't know what they had done, Shen Miao would have been fooled by their appearance.

"Okay, we just learned from your own confessions that you were all involved in this grilled fish, right?"

Erbao chimed in, "Mommy, the grilled fish is delicious, but not as good as yours. Xiaosibao even burned it. You can grill it for us next time."

Shen Miao angrily said, "Erbao, shut up! No one is allowed to interrupt me when I'm speaking."

"oh."

Someone muttered "dictator" under their breath, which Shen Miao overheard. She narrowed her eyes and said in a sinister tone, "Who just said 'dictator'?"

The children snorted, "You won't even let us eat the fish! You didn't scold us when we caught fish in the river before, so why won't you let us eat this one?"

Shen Miao pinched her philtrum, afraid that she would die of anger.

"These are ornamental fish. Ornamental fish are not for eating, understand? Do you think your mother went through all that trouble to build this pond just for you to raise fish?"

"Isn't that right?" Sanbao asked cutely.

Shen Miao felt like she needed to breathe oxygen.

The problem is, Sanbao's question seems to be fine; he does raise fish, but not fish for food.

Shen Miao knew they didn't understand the concept of ornamental fish, so she simply stopped arguing about it and said directly, "Anyway, you ate the fish in the pond without permission today, which was wrong. Do you know you were wrong?"

"We did nothing wrong," the children said in unison.

Shen Miao raised an eyebrow. "What did you say? Say it again?"

The kids still insisted, "We did nothing wrong."

Shen Miao was so angry at these kids that her blood pressure was about to spike. She casually broke off a tree branch, waved it in front of the kids, and threatened, "Anyone who still says they're right, come here and get your stir-fried meat."

The kids refused to admit their mistakes, but none of them wanted to eat the stir-fried meat. In a fit of anger, Shen Miao grabbed them and slapped each of them a few times.

This was the first time she had ever hit a baby since she transmigrated.

It didn't hurt that much, but the babies cried as if the sky had fallen, sobbing uncontrollably.

After Shen Miao finished hitting him, she asked, "Who's still crying? If anyone cries, hit them a few more times."

The children, holding back their tears, cursed, "Bad mother!"

Then they all ran away.

Shen Miao sighed, rubbing her forehead. Raising a child is really not easy.

Especially the four of them, they were simply exhausting.

Shen Miao sat by her pond, no longer in the mood to lament the fish, and just stared blankly at the water plants with melancholy.

Suddenly, footsteps came from behind her. Shen Miao didn't turn around. Anyway, there were only a few people in the family, either Qingchen or Jiuying. She didn't have the time to pay attention to anyone else.

"You hit the baby?" Qingchen's voice came calmly.

Shen Miao turned and glanced at him, then said in a defiant tone, "Yeah, I even made them cry. Are you here to seek justice for them? Come on, how are you going to criticize me now?"

Qingchen didn't say anything, but instead walked to the rock next to her and sat down.