Liu screamed with itchiness as she walked. The white powder on her prison uniform fell off, leaving a winding white streak on the muddy ground. The inmates on the farm all lay on the ridges and laughed. Some mischievous ones even picked up croton pods and threw them at her, saying, "Teacher, take care! Remember to come back and teach us how to eat powder!"
"Mom, that auntie is so miserable," Wawa pulled Shen Weiwan's skirt, her little brows furrowed like a little old woman, "even more miserable than the cat that fell into the water tank last winter."
"Who told her to always think about harming others?" Shen Weiwan squatted down and straightened her daughter's crooked hairband. "Remember, if you want to cheat others in the future, you should be like your mother—"
"Use itching powder to deal with the bad guys like mom does!" Kenkeng rushed to answer, and his chubby little hands gestured as if sprinkling powder.
"Yes!" Shen Weiwan gave a thumbs up, "but it can only be used against bad guys. If you dare to practice on your sister, I will beat your ass into pieces."
Xiao Yu watched the mother and her two children laughing together on the edge of the croton field. The sunlight shone on the croton flowers in Shen Weiwan's hair, making her eyes sparkle. He sighed helplessly, but couldn't help but curl his lips. "Let's go. If we don't leave now, your aunt's screams will ripen the entire croton field."
On the way back, Chun Tao looked at the croton powder sachet swaying on Shen Weiwan's waist and couldn't help asking: "Miss, are those students really undercover agents arranged by the Ministry of Justice?"
"What else do you think?" Shen Weiwan raised her eyebrows and rubbed the word "pit" on the sachet with her fingertips. "I specially asked the Ministry of Justice to pick out a few smart ones, saying that they could reduce their sentences if they performed well. Each one of them is smarter than a monkey."
That night, the sweet aroma of osmanthus and croton cakes drifted through the warm room of the Prince's Mansion. Shen Weiwan lay on the soft couch, writing in her diary, while Xiao Yu sat beside her, reviewing memorials. Keng Keng and Wa Wa were already snoring behind the screen.
"Your Highness, how do you think my aunt will be punished this time?" Shen Weiwan bit the pen and laughed again when she thought of the scene during the day.
Xiao Yu put down his wolf hair brush and walked over to cover her with the fur coat. "The Minister of Justice said he intends to have her emptied the croton dung pond three baskets a day, euphemistically calling it 'deep transformation.'"
"Pfft..." Shen Weiwan laughed so hard that she fell on the table, ink splattering on the diary paper, forming a crooked "shit" character. "Doesn't that mean she lives with shit every day? Maybe she can even research a new formula for fertilizing with croton shit."
"Hmm," Xiao Yu's fingertips brushed across the corners of her eyes, which were filled with tears of laughter, "It's still her favorite croton flavor, as much as you can get."
The two smiled at each other. The moonlight outside the window was gentle, gilding the sycamore leaves of the Prince's Mansion with a silver edge. Shen Weiwan knew that Liu's suicidal path was far from over, but this was no longer a cause for fear. She now had Xiao Yu's warm embrace and the joy of having children around her. What could be more precious than this?
The next morning, news arrived from the Croton fields: Liu had slipped while cleaning the manure pit and fallen headfirst into the croton dung. When the guards fished her out, she was covered in dark green feces, even her triangular eyes were caked with croton dregs, and she had fainted three times from the fumes.
When Shen Weiwan heard the news, she was teaching Wawa how to make a croton powder figurine. She laughed so hard that she scattered the icing sugar all over the table: "It seems that God is disgusted by her tricks and has personally come out to trick her."
"Alright, alright," Xiao Yu handed her the handkerchief, "If you keep laughing, this croton cake will swell with your laughter."
"No, I have to write this down." Shen Weiwan opened her diary and wrote solemnly: "Famous scene of my aunt's social death: Immersive experience in the croton dung pond."
Kengkeng and Wawa came over to watch, their little faces full of excitement: "Mom, next time we can secretly watch Auntie clean out the feces?"
"Go to hell!" Shen Weiwan scratched her son's nose. "That kind of eye-catching scene will give children nightmares."
However, curiosity is a seed that cannot be hidden. When Shen Weiwan and Xiao Yu arrived at the croton field in the afternoon, they saw Kenkeng standing by the manure pit, holding a long stick with a net bag tied to it, poking into the manure pile: "Auntie! Let me help you fish out the croton!"
Muffled curses came from the dung heap: "Little bastard! If you poke me again, I'll pull you down too!"
Wa Wa stood three steps away, pinching his nose, and called out in a baby voice, "Auntie, the croton excrement on your body is more fragrant than the croton cakes my mother made!"
Shen Weiwan held her forehead and looked at Xiao Yu, only to see him shaking his head helplessly and lovingly: "See, it turns out that he is your biological child. The principle of cheating people should be learned from childhood, and he will learn it without being taught."
Sunlight shone on the greasy manure pit, reflecting Liu's disheveled figure, covered in feces, and the helpless laughter and tears of Shen Weiwan's family not far away. Perhaps in this magical croton field, some people are destined to live with feces, while others are destined to live a prosperous life amidst laughter and joy—this is the best ending.
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