Lu Jinwen was chased all the way to the courtyard gate by Shen Man, who brandished a broom the entire time. As she left, Lu was still cursing and swearing, wailing that Shen Man was too arrogant and would surely meet a terrible end.
Next door, Auntie Li and Auntie Zhang witnessed the entire scene and couldn't help but applaud the performance. Peering over the fence, they looked at Shen Man with clear approval.
"Comrade Shen, you're the real deal! I’ve been annoyed with Lu Jinwen for a long time. A grown woman, running over to the house of a man who is clearly engaged and has children every single day—she has no shame, and I feel embarrassed for her!"
"Exactly! I tried to advise her not to keep coming over, and she actually accused me of being a busybody. I truly don't know what that girl has in her head. She doesn't worry about the consequences, but Commander Huo certainly should! Thank goodness you came and chased her away; otherwise, I’d be terrified that the higher-ups would pin some ‘moral conduct’ issue on the Commander because of her."
"Again? What do you mean by ‘again’?"
Shen Man paused as she was about to head inside, looking curious. "Auntie Zhang, has Huo Changzheng had trouble with this before?"
Apart from the novel’s descriptions of him being hopelessly infatuated with the female lead, she knew almost nothing about Huo Changzheng.
Auntie Zhang realized she had let something slip and instinctively tapped her own mouth. But then, thinking of how Shen Man treated the children—unlike Lu Jinwen, who acted nice on the surface but played dirty tricks behind their backs to drive them away—she felt safe enough to speak.
"I’m just repeating what I heard from my husband. Last year, in order to win custody of Huo Lin and the others, your Changzheng beat up some distant relatives on their biological father's side. If it weren't for that, he wouldn't have been slapped with a major disciplinary record and transferred here. The higher-ups also gave him a final warning: if he causes any more trouble, he’ll be demoted or even stripped of his rank entirely."
Auntie Li, clearly familiar with the situation, sighed heavily.
"Sigh, that’s exactly why I say Lu Jinwen is out of line. There’s nothing wrong with pursuing a man, but you shouldn't ruin someone's life in the process. Your Changzheng is already married; if she keeps hounding him like this, something bad is bound to happen sooner or later."
The two aunts had spoken from the heart. Shen Man took their words to heart and gifted them a plate of peanuts as a token of thanks.
Seeing the peanuts, Huo Lin and Huo Zhi immediately dropped their toys and ran over, shouting shamelessly, "Mom, we want to eat peanuts too!"
"Sure, if you want to eat them, shell them yourselves."
Shen Man respected their wishes, but she wasn't about to prepare the food for them herself. The peanuts she had just given away had been shelled by Yang Fangyun for Shen Jianye to eat with his drinks; she was merely using someone else’s generosity to make a gesture.
"Huh? We have to shell them ourselves? Then I don’t want any."
"Me neither."
Huo Zhi had been about to reach for them, but seeing his older brother back down, he decided not to bother either.
"Fine. You can shell them whenever you feel like eating them later."
Shen Man didn't coddle their laziness and immediately put the peanuts away without another word.
Huo Lin was confused. "Mom, we’ve already acknowledged you as our mother. Shouldn't you make whatever we want to eat?"
"If you wanted to eat dung, would you expect me to go to the outhouse and scoop some up for you?" Shen Man hooked her index finger and flicked him on the forehead. "Stop thinking about getting something for nothing. I’m your mother, not your servant. You aren't paying me a salary, so don't expect me to slave away for you. Understand?"
Huo Lin was only half-convinced, feeling that things shouldn't be playing out like this.
He thought for a moment and countered, "But other people's moms do that. Why won't you?"
"Well, other people's sons do their own laundry, cook, do chores, and study. Why don't you?"
Huo Lin was successfully silenced by Shen Man’s retort.
He fell into a deep contemplation. One moment he felt Shen Man wasn't doing enough; the next, he felt she made a fair point, as he really hadn't done anything for her.
He was lost in a jumble of thoughts, but Huo Zhi was direct; he simply pulled the bag of peanuts back out.
"Mom, I’ll shell them. If I shell them, will you cook them for me?"
"Of course! Xiaozhi is truly the best-behaved child in this house, so sensible. Later, I’ll reward you with a special bowl of steamed egg custard! Want that?"
Shen Man never missed an opportunity to create a sense of competition. She not only praised Huo Zhi right in front of Huo Lin but even provided a tangible reward.
Huo Zhi was overjoyed, his little buckteeth showing as he beamed. "I want it! Mom is the best! Hehe!"
Huo Lin knew his younger brother was just that kind of simple-minded person—he could forget everything for the sake of a tasty treat.
But watching this scene made him feel uncomfortable.
He had also called her "Mom," yet just because he hadn't shelled the peanuts, why did Shen Man only praise Huo Zhi?
Was he really inferior to Huo Zhi?
After Shen Man left, Huo Lin stared at the foolish-looking Huo Zhi for several minutes, then reached a conclusion.
No, he couldn't possibly be worse than Huo Zhi.
If he wanted to, he could be even better behaved and more likable than Huo Zhi!
With that, he started rummaging through the kitchen and successfully found a small bag of dusty potatoes.
***
"Knock, knock, knock~ Is Huo Li in? Mom is here to deliver some warmth! I'm coming in now~"
Shen Man walked to the master bedroom and knocked, deciding to apply the same strategy of "courtesy before force" to Huo Li.
As expected, Huo Li ignored her completely.
So, Shen Man didn't stand on ceremony and pushed the door open.
"Hi~"
Seeing her greet him with such uninvited familiarity and then sit down on the edge of his bed, Huo Li turned his head away, his brows knitted tightly, his expression as disgusted as if he had eaten excrement.
"Who told you to come in! Get out!"
"Why are you so rude? I did knock."
Shen Man flicked his forehead without mercy. Though she controlled her strength, a red mark appeared on Huo Li's forehead almost instantly.
"Wow, are you really that fragile? You get injured from a light tap?"
She was stunned, leaning in to examine the red mark on his forehead, and clicked her tongue in wonder. "Amazing. A congenital porcelain doll physique. At this rate, are you going to be bedridden for the rest of your life?"
Huo Li had assumed she came to curry favor with him. He hadn't expected that instead of flattery, his pride and self-esteem would be shredded to pieces by her words.
He took a deep breath, his face flushing red with anger as he started to cough.
"Don't worry about whether I’m fragile or not! Get out of here! I don't want to see you! And I will never accept you as my mother! *Cough, cough*... Give up on that idea! Get out!"
His pale, thin face had gained a faint pink flush from his anger, which actually made him look more lively than his usual half-dead state.
Shen Man said "Oh," looking neither dejected nor angry, just a bit regretful.
"Fine, then. Since you dislike me so much and don't want me to be responsible for you, when elementary school starts, I’ll only take Xiaolin and Xiaozhi to sign up. Anyway, looking at you like this, I don't think you'd be able to go to school anyway."
"..."
At these words, Huo Li’s expression stiffened noticeably.
But he quickly recovered, responding with composure.
"So what if you don't take me? My dad can take me."
Huo Li was confident because Huo Changzheng had said he married a wife to have an extra person to take care of them, so the three brothers’ status was definitely above that of a stepmother, and she had no right to stop him from going to school.
If the stepmother actually tried to stop him, Huo Changzheng would be furious when he found out—he might even divorce her and kick her out.
He was practically hoping Shen Man would do something that stupid.
But reality slapped him in the face soon enough.
Shen Man pulled out a bankbook and several ten-yuan bills, waving them before his eyes with an incredibly smug smile.
"Is that so? Take a look at what this is. Your dad gave me all his subsidies and savings. I don't think he has any money left to take you to sign up, does he?"
"!"