Transmigrated as a Stepmother: Time to Bring the Family to Prosper!-Chapter 35 - 34: No Morals

Chapter 35: Chapter 34: No Morals
Qin Yao washed her hands clean, wiped her face, and finally sat down inside the room.
Seeing the large plate of greasy stir-fried pork belly on the dining table, along with the white rice with crispy crust, Qin Yao frowned slightly but said nothing.
Picking up the bowl and chopsticks, "Let’s eat."
As soon as Qin Yao called for dinner, the chopsticks of the father and his four sons immediately reached for the meat.
Liu Ji fried all the meat, a total of four pounds, without any vegetables to accompany it, which looked very greasy.
Without expecting much, Qin Yao ate a piece, her eyes lit up, it actually tasted good!
After surviving the apocalypse for over a decade, daily food was either dry rations or instant noodles. Qin Yao wasn’t picky at all; as long as the food was tasty, she considered it good enough.
A piece of meat and two large mouthfuls of rice, she didn’t feel greasy at all, and the crispy crust rice was very fragrant.
Qin Yao ate five bowls before putting down the bowl and chopsticks, contently wiped the corners of her mouth, and said to Liu Ji:
"Nutritional balance needs to be maintained, next time include some vegetables."
Liu Ji felt relieved having passed the test and agreed.
The rice cooked was white rice, and the four children only ate half a bowl before they were too full to eat more.
Liu Ji ate a bit more, one and a half bowls, but was also stuffed.
Looking again at Qin Yao’s appetite, it was four times their total, the father and his four sons were stunned.
Only then did Da Lang and Second Lang realize, the stepmother had been restraining her appetite before.
Now that there was food at home, she couldn’t hold back anymore and ate openly. After all, she did a lot of physical labor during the day, eating more while also consuming a lot.
After the meal, Qin Yao tilted her chin towards the oblivious Liu Ji, asking him to tidy up the table, and instructed, "Boil more hot water, I want to soak my feet."
Liu Ji’s eyes widened; does he have to serve her for foot washing too?
Qin Yao was in a good mood having just eaten her fill, and asked in confusion, "Don’t you even know how to boil water?"
Liu Ji dared not speak out, and while feeling a bit indignant, got up to tidy up the bowls and chopsticks, grudgingly went to boil water.
Da Lang voluntarily helped, worried that his father might really not even be able to boil water.
Before leaving, he handed the twenty-five coins earned from selling straw sandals to Qin Yao and then went out.
Second Lang asked Qin Yao if she could teach him and Liu Jinbao how to catch fish.
The fish in the river were more agile than the rabbits on land. They could often see the fish but couldn’t catch even a scale.
Today, Liu Jinbao witnessed Qin Yao catching several fish in the river while carrying stones, and the children were craving it too.
Unfortunately, whenever they approached, the fish would run away, even though the water in the dry season wasn’t deep, they couldn’t catch those fish.
But he was a bit afraid of Qin Yao, dared not say it directly, and let Second Lang probe Qin Yao’s intentions for him.
"You want to catch fish to eat?" Qin Yao asked.
Second Lang nodded vigorously.
Qin Yao agreed, "I’ll teach you during a free moment tomorrow."
"But let me be clear, I can teach you to catch fish, but you must not go into the river to catch fish on your own, you must be accompanied by an adult, otherwise I won’t teach you."
Now it’s the dry season, and the reduced water volume poses no danger, plus there are always people by the river now.
But during the spring and summer flood seasons, it would be too dangerous.
Thinking of how people here are quite superstitious, Qin Yao added, "You have to swear to the heavens, just agreeing verbally isn’t enough."
Second Lang initially didn’t take it seriously, but seeing Qin Yao mention swearing, he realized she was very serious.
He hurriedly replied, "Okay, I’ll tell Brother Jinbao."
The hot water was ready, Liu Ji shouted from the kitchen.
Qin Yao got up, called over the three children beside her, and together went to the kitchen to wash faces and soak feet.
There were two basins at home, Qin Yao naturally used one by herself.
Da Lang and Second Lang took care of their younger siblings; Qin Yao helped them pour hot water, and the remaining four siblings managed themselves.
Liu Ji watched as his four children lined up in order to wash faces and soak feet, as if watching something extraordinary, clicking his tongue.
Qin Yao glanced at him, noticing his messy long hair, sincerely suggested, "You better wash your hair."
It’s not too cold yet; if it were later, with such long hair not blow-dried immediately, it’s easy to catch cold.
It’s not out of concern, just frugal about money.
Qin Yao touched the large mass of long hair coiled atop her head, dry and frizzy, poor hair quality, considering cutting it and starting fresh.
Once the decision was made, she used the foot cloth made from old clothes to dry her feet, poured out the water, and placed the basin under the eaves, rose and entered the side room, and rummaged through the pile of miscellaneous items she previously bought to find a pair of scissors.
"Snap snap," without any hesitation, she cut off her dry long hair, almost reaching her calves, leaving it just below her shoulders.
She threw the cut hair into the stove and burned it with fire!
With a whoosh, flames shot up, father and sons stepped back several steps, looking at Qin Yao’s medium-long hair, feeling greatly shocked inside.
It is said that body, hair, and skin are all gifts from parents, if offspring easily damage it, it is a great disrespect!
After cutting her own hair, she waved them over, trying to have them join her.
Qin Yao asked in confusion, "Don’t you want to cut yours too?"
Father and sons appeared terrified, do we look like we want to?
Qin Yao shrugged, "Suit yourselves."
Anyway, now she feels comfortable.
It was getting late, and after a day of manual labor, even iron-like Qin Yao was tired, she smiled slightly at Da Lang and his siblings, "Goodnight."
Turned back into the room, closed her eyes, and fell into a deep sleep.
Liu Ji immediately boiled another pot of hot water, washed his hair thoroughly.
Seems like this way, Qin Yao wouldn’t target him for having dirty and messy hair.
There were two portions of medicine brought from the doctor, Liu Ji washed his head, using the residual heat from the stove to dry his hair while applying medicine on his face by feel.
Da Lang soothed his siblings to sleep, quietly came out from the side room, squatted in front of Liu Ji, curiously asked:
"Dad, why did they only hit your face?"
"...It’s a long story, we’ll talk about it next time," Liu Ji hesitated a bit, unwilling to share.
Da Lang could only respond with an ’oh,’ helped him apply the herbs evenly, providing Liu Ji some comfort to his badly bruised heart.
Father and son cleaned their hands, returned to their rooms to sleep.
Thinking about getting up to make breakfast for Qin Yao in the morning, Liu Ji tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
He feared he wouldn’t wake up, and feared he might wake up, that he’d become a house husband without any status.
But if he left, he didn’t know where to go, with only three hundred copper coins which wouldn’t last long.
Moreover, now there was white rice and meat every meal at home, this lifestyle he was indeed a bit reluctant to leave.
If every meal was at this standard, then being slightly wronged at home cooking wasn’t a big deal.
After all, it’s better than farming in the field!
Liu Ji was a person whose moral standards lacked morality, decisively chose to drop himself from the moral baseline.
Pulled the quilt, closed his eyes to sleep.
Only someone who used to sleep until the sun was high, driven by survival instincts, woke up at the fifth crowing of the rooster.
The wicked woman Qin Yao said she wanted soft food in the morning, there was flour at home, Liu Ji decided to steam buns.