Six people knelt on the ground for two hours. As dusk approached, Qiao Ci finally allowed them to rise.
By now, all six were dizzy with hunger and their legs had gone numb.
Upon standing, Shen Er glared at Qiao Ci with resentment, "Are you satisfied now? Hurry up and cook! If you starve us six siblings to death, my father won't let you off."
"Wuwuwu, so hungry, my legs still hurt, my stomach is empty, Daddy, Qing Yi, Xiao Wu need to eat." Shen Wu wiped her tears with her hands and cried sadly.
Shen Sisi quickly went to comfort Shen Wu, then looked up at Qiao Ci with the same hateful gaze, but dared not say much.
After kneeling for these hours, her legs felt like they were about to break. When Father returned, she would make Father beat this bad woman who dared to punish them by kneeling!
"Hungry?" Qiao Ci didn't know how to cook, let alone cook for these ungrateful brats. "If you're hungry, go to the kitchen and cook yourselves."
"A gentleman stays far from the kitchen. What reason is there for a man to enter the kitchen?" Shen Yi, unlike his father who wielded weapons, preferred to study the classics. Hearing this, he glanced at Qiao Ci disapprovingly.
"Then let your two sisters do it. They are not gentlemen, are they? Otherwise, you can continue to starve." Qiao Ci wasn't going to indulge his habits.
"My sister is only seven years old. How can she cook? We siblings were inconsiderate today and splashed water on you. You've scolded us, we've knelt, I advise you to know when to stop!" Shen Yi's eyes were filled with darkness as he looked at Qiao Ci, slightly regretting not learning martial arts from his father, otherwise, he would have taught this ungrateful stepmother a lesson today!
Shen Yi must be ten years old this year. At such a young age, he was quite overbearing, with a hint of a domineering CEO. However, he was still a child, and his emotions were evident in his expression.
"In the past, I tried my best to please and serve you, but it yielded no good. From now on, I will not serve you. After all, no matter how much I do, you will always call me a wicked stepmother."
"If you are hungry, find your own solutions. As for how old your sister is, what does that have to do with me? Didn't you help Lou Qing make egg pancakes the day before yesterday? Go and make them yourselves today."
After speaking, Qiao Ci lay down on the rattan chair in the courtyard. The rattan chair swayed back and forth, making her feel relaxed and at ease.
She wasn't hungry anyway.
"Aren't you afraid my father will come back and beat you?" Shen Lu was the youngest, only six years old, and he could already point at Qiao Ci and curse fiercely.
"I'll be waiting," Qiao Ci replied lazily, not looking at him at all.
"If you keep blabbering in front of me, you can continue kneeling there."
The faint voice startled Shen Yi, who was about to threaten Qiao Ci again. They were all just children and could not defeat Qiao Ci.
So, he glared fiercely at Qiao Ci and ordered his two sisters to make egg pancakes.
Qiao Ci watched him, a head taller than her sister, yet he bossily directed his two sisters to light the stove and cook. She curved her lips.
After studying for a few years, he learned the bad things thoroughly instead of the good ones. And "a gentleman stays far from the kitchen"? This broken courtyard was so small, how far could it be?
Knowing full well that his sister was young and it was difficult for her to reach the stove, he would rather move a stool to her feet and make her cook. He never thought of holding the spatula to help them. He was simply pedantic, selfish, and ridiculous.
He had read the classics to the dogs.
Shen Sisi indeed had a knack for cooking. Soon, the fresh aroma of eggs wafted from the kitchen.
A while later, the six of them brought egg pancakes to the dining table in the courtyard.
Shen Yi took an egg pancake and walked towards Qiao Ci, placing it in front of her. His voice was stern, "Yours."
Qiao Ci sat up, looked at the egg pancake, then at the condescending Shen Yi, "You eat it."
"Sisi made this specially for you, feeling bad for your hard work. Didn't you say we didn't treat you well? Should you be satisfied now?" Shen Yi glanced at Qiao Ci impatiently, "Are you going to eat it or not?"
"I said, you eat it," Qiao Ci found it quite amusing. She pointed to the egg pancake in his hand and chuckled maliciously, "If you don't eat this egg pancake, you and your younger siblings will kneel all night."
Shen Yi's expression was one of surprise. Could she have known?
He definitely couldn't eat this egg pancake, so he pretended to have a slip of the hand, and the egg pancake fell to the ground, sticking to a layer of dirt.
"Good intentions are mistaken for donkey's lungs! If you don't eat it, fine. It's on the ground now, and you can't eat it even if you want to." Saying this, he was about to walk back to the dining table.
"Pick it up!" Qiao Ci's voice was cold.
"If you want to eat it, can't you pick it up yourself?" Shen Yi retorted, sticking his neck out.
"I said, pick up the egg pancake from the ground and eat it, otherwise, none of you will eat today. If your younger siblings starve to death, it will be your fault." Qiao Ci got up and walked to the dining table, taking away the basket of egg pancakes. The siblings were all watching the show and hadn't eaten yet.
"Wuwuwu, give me back my egg pancake."
"I'm hungry, wuwuwu."
"Brother, I'm hungry, quickly tell her to give me back my egg pancake."
"Brother, you eat it. I'm so hungry. This stepmother has gone mad. She will really starve us to death."
"Wuwuwu, it's all your fault, Brother. You insisted on playing~"
Shen Yi clenched his fists, picked up the egg pancake with humiliation, and stuffed the egg pancake, dirt and all, into his mouth fiercely.
Qiao Ci was satisfied. She placed the egg pancake on the table, "Eat."
This time, the little ones were truly scared by Qiao Ci. They were hesitant to eat even with their stomachs empty.
Finally, after much hesitation, hunger overcame fear, and they devoured it ravenously.
In a corner where Qiao Ci couldn't see, Shen Yi stared at her intently, his gaze as if he wanted to tear her into a thousand pieces.
After eating, the six siblings obediently returned to their small rooms, eagerly anticipating their father's early return.
Qing Yi had gone to treat Father's leg ailment. Once she returned, they would have a capable father who would surely help them get revenge!
At night, the six siblings slept in one room.
Originally, they had four boys and two girls, each in their own room. However, when Lou Qing arrived, considering her princess status, they vacated the two girls' rooms for her.
Shen Sisi and Shen Wu were unwilling to sleep with their stepmother, Qiao Ci, so they set up a bed in their brothers' room to make do.
After blowing out the lamp, the six of them whispered to each other, and then the door was suddenly pushed open with a bang.
Immediately after, Qiao Ci entered with a lamp.
Shen Yi spread his arms to shield his younger siblings and looked at Qiao Ci vigilantly, "What do you want to do now?"
Qiao Ci's expression remained calm, and her voice did not fluctuate much, "What do I want to do? It's just what you did before, I will do the same. Now, you sleep with the wet quilts you splashed."
At this moment, everyone saw clearly that she was holding two quilts in her hands.