As she turned her head and saw the little antagonist in the corner, her brows furrowed again, saying, "It's another pitiable sight, he must be eight years old already, I remember he's born the same year as the eighth boy, how come he's still not as tall as my Jiaojiao, look how thin he is." Shaking her head, her face expressed deep sorrow.
Life is tough these days, but it's far from being so poor that we can't afford to eat; as long as one is slightly diligent, it's possible to scrape by with enough for basic needs.
But looking at this child, he looks half the size of her Jiaojiao because of hunger, truly a sin.
She remembered when his birth mother was alive, he was also a beautiful child.
Which is why Liu Mei, as a stepmother, really lacks morality.
"Mom, isn't the rice cooked? Serve him a bowl," Ruan Jianguo also felt pity for the child and said to the Ruanlin Family as he approached Ruan Jiaojiao.
The Ruanlin Family nodded. Although she usually disdained Liu Mei, she still felt sympathy for the child. But with such a troublesome Liu Mei, even with her sympathy, she had never thought of doing anything.
This time, after Ruan Jiaojiao's narrow escape from death, intending to gather good karma for her, she went to the kitchen and served a big bowl of sweet potato rice, even pressing it down firmly several times.
Ruan Jiaojiao was sitting in Jianguo's arms, watching the Ruanlin Family hand over the bowl to the little antagonist, who at first resisted and was hesitant, but perhaps it was just too hard to bear the hunger, he grabbed the bowl and wolfed it down, as if he hadn't eaten for decades.
Within a minute, a big bowl of sweet potato rice was completely devoured by him.
The people of the Ruan Family sighed once more, and just as the Ruanlin Family was about to ask if he wanted more, she saw him stuff the bowl into her arms and run off without even a word of thanks.
"..." The Ruanlin Family stood there, holding the bowl that was licked cleaner than a dog's would be, silently sighed, and turned to look at Ruan Jiaojiao, smilingly asking, "Jiaojiao, are you full? Do you want grandma to steam you an egg custard?"
Ruan Jiaojiao, rubbing her round little belly, shook her head: "I'm full."
The Ruanlin Family chuckled, patted her little head, and called the three of them into the back kitchen to eat.
The weather was still a bit chilly in early April, and having a meal huddled in the kitchen by the stove felt quite warm.
Since Little Fatty's parents had not yet returned, he also joined them in the main room for the meal today; the four of them circled the small round table, with Jiaojiao sitting on the side, watching everyone eat, and listening to their conversation.
Through their talk, she came to understand a bit more about the little antagonist.
The little antagonist's real name was Xiu Xi; his mother was a 'sent-down youth', who died of childbirth complications six years ago when having a second child, and half a year later, his father married the current Mrs. Liu, who gave birth to a boy that same year.
They say with a stepmother comes a stepfather, and this saying couldn't be more true for Little Antagonist.
After Mrs. Liu entered the Xiu Family's home, she started abusing her stepson. After having her own child, the beatings happened more frequently, as if she wished for nothing more than to beat him to death. For Little Antagonist to have survived up to the age of eight in such an environment was fairly remarkable.
However, from their conversation, Ruan Jiaojiao could tell that this little antagonist was a very timid person, probably because he'd been beaten so much that he'd become numb to it and never tried to run away. Today was actually the first time he had run off to their home.
Ruan Jiaojiao thought about the little antagonist she had seen before, with his green eyes, and couldn't believe he had a timid personality; he seemed more like the wolf she had occasionally seen in her previous life, with ruthless eyes, uncharacteristic for a child of his age.