Becoming the Stepmother: Transforming the Liew Family’s Fate

Lester Liew had just finished savoring a bite of crispy, spicy sparrow meat—pure heaven—when he looked up and saw four pairs of eyes locked onto him, bowls of plain porridge in hand, silently gulping.

Oh, right. He'd almost forgotten. Clara had banned the kids from eating meat tonight as punishment. The moment their chopsticks reached out earlier, Clara smacked them away and ordered them to eat only vegetables.

Lester clicked his tongue in sympathy—"Tsk tsk~"—then happily dug into his dinner.

He'd initially thought that one small bowl of sparrow meat wouldn't be enough to go around and taste like anything, but to his surprise, only he and the "fierce woman" Clara got to eat it.

Half a bowl each? Fine by him. He wasn't greedy. Lester thought with smug satisfaction.

Clara found the meal unusually flavorful too. One bite after another, it brought her straight back to her college days before the apocalypse hit—winter break, arriving home, and her parents cooking up a whole table of delicious dishes just for her. Full of color, aroma, and taste.

After that… stir-fried dishes became a luxury.

Adam and his siblings, meanwhile, sipped their thick white porridge and nibbled on crunchy greens. Normally, that would be a fine dinner, but now it tasted bland and joyless.

Ben thought bitterly that it was all their stepmother's fault for feeding them too well. Now they had the nerve to feel like pampered young masters from some landlord's house, spoiled enough to be picky about eating plain porridge and vegetables!

As the kids stared at him with eyes shining like light bulbs, brimming with yearning, Lester felt… well, not much guilt. Maybe a faint tickle of conscience, enough to consider letting them each try a tiny piece.

After all, he'd nailed the seasoning tonight—it would be such a waste if no one appreciated it!

But just as he lifted a piece of meat with his chopsticks, Clara's chilly gaze swept over.

"You not hungry anymore?"

She shoved her bowl toward him. "If you're done, I'll take it."

Before he could react, Clara reached out and neatly scooped the last five pieces of sparrow meat from his bowl into hers. One bite per piece—crunch, chew, bliss.

Lester scowled and shot the kids a look. See what you've done? Even your old man didn't get a second helping!

The kids, still biting their chopsticks, let all hope drain from their eyes.

Chad and Deb were so desperate for a taste they'd started to tear up. These two little crybabies sniffled their way through dinner, choking down porridge and greens, knowing they were being punished and not daring to protest.

Even Lester, heart of stone though he might be, started to feel a pang of guilt.

He glanced at Clara. She was still chomping away happily. A little pile of bones formed in front of her as she polished off her bowl of porridge—three times over—then finally set her chopsticks down with deep satisfaction.

Ben couldn't hold it in anymore. In a pitiful voice, he asked, "Auntie Clara… can I suck on one of the bones?"

Clara's eyes widened. Ben Liew… you little rascal, don't push your luck!

"No!" she said, swiftly sweeping all the bones into a bowl and handing it to Lester. "Take them to the kitchen and toss them in the fire."

Ben could only watch, devastated, as the bones vanished into the stove's flames. With a dejected "Oh," he gave up entirely.

On the bright side, now that all the meat was gone, there was nothing left to drool over.

Once the four kids finished their plain dinner, their energy came flooding back, and the house was soon filled with the sound of them giggling and playing silly games in the main hall.

Clara waited until Lester returned from washing the dishes and cleaning up the kitchen before speaking.

"On the way home today, I heard someone say the county office is auctioning off their cattle on the fifteenth. I want to buy some cow tendons, and we might as well stock up on charcoal and some New Year goods while we're at it. Let's go into town together that day. You'll have to get up early."

"Go to town?" Lester's eyes lit up. "Sure, sure!"

He loved going to town!

The four noisy kids quieted down instantly.

Adam looked up curiously. "Dad, is the county town far?"

Ben added, "Is it fun there?"

Lester replied proudly, "Of course it's far! From our village to Willowridge County Town, it's over two hours on foot. We'll need to leave before dawn."

"But the county's got loads of fun stuff—restaurants, gambling dens, brothel —"

Ben's eyes sparkled. "What's a brothel? Do they sell bottles? Have you been there, Dad?"

Lester burst out laughing. "Silly kid, brothel don't sell bottles. They sell meat."

Then he realized what he'd almost said and coughed awkwardly, abruptly cutting himself off. "Ahem… nothing, nothing. Nothing much to see in town anyway."

But it sounded like there was a lot to see… Adam was now very intrigued.

Ben, still curious, asked again, "Dad, have you ever bought bottles at a brothel?"

Lester panicked and shot Clara a glance, waving frantically for Ben to hush. "Go boil some water with me!"

But Clara, clearly amused, asked with interest, "So… have you or haven't you?"

"Of course not!" Lester lowered his head and shook his empty sleeves. With his looks and lack of coin, even the gatekeeper would kick him out.

Meanwhile, the four kids were still dreaming about the fabled "brothel" vowing that when they grew up and got the chance to visit town, they had to check it out.

They were eager to go, of course, but knowing their little legs couldn't keep up, none of them dared ask to come along. They just trailed after Lester, pestering him about what the county town was like.

Clara thought for a moment—should they all go together?

Willowridge County wasn't very big. It only had two to three thousand residents, but considering the Sheng Empire's current population of sixty million, it was already a bustling hub.

Before Sheng, war and chaos had ravaged the land for decades. The constant fighting had decimated the population, and people were only just beginning to recover. These days, it wasn't unusual to go a long time without seeing anyone on the road.

The day Clara arrived in Willowridge County was still the most people she'd seen since waking up in this world.

Many in the village had never even left their hometown. For them, the county town was the farthest they'd ever traveled—usually during war or famine, forced to flee for survival.

With that in mind, Clara realized that for the four kids, a trip to town would be a really big deal.

And if they couldn't walk that far… well, there was always a bull cart.

It wouldn't be a bad thing to let them see the world a little.

So after Lester and the kids came back from bathing, Clara said:

"Lester, go ask the village chief if we can borrow the bull cart. On the fifteenth, our whole family's going into town. Let's take the kids to see it."

The four children froze, stunned by the wave of joy that hit them.

Even Lester blinked a few times before realizing what she'd just said. He hadn't expected Clara to make such a generous decision.

For once, the usually flippant man sobered up. He gave Clara a long look, then nodded earnestly. "Alright."

The kids were so thrilled they couldn't sleep a wink that night. All four squeezed onto one bed, whispering in the dark about their grand plans for Willowridge County Town.

Eventually, they reached a pact: when they got there, they'd use the copper coins they scraped off their tight-fisted dad to buy a skewer of candied hawthorn berries to share.

They had to find out if it really was as delicious as Ryder said.

Deb solemnly added, "We have to save one for Mom. She's the one taking us to town."

The unspoken message: don't forget to thank your benefactor.

Adam, Ben, and Chad all nodded in agreement. And just like that, the four siblings sealed the deal.

They finally drifted off to sleep, long after midnight, their dreams full of sugar and adventure.

(End of Chapter)

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