The Comeback of the Cannon-Fodder Supporting Actress

Chapter 564 - 555: The Stepmother Who Refuses to Be a Stepping Stone 43

Several children woke up in the morning to find that Anning had already prepared breakfast.

She asked Li Jingyan to go upstairs and call Liu Qi and the others to come down to eat together.

With seven children dining at home, the table was really a bit too small.

Anning then set the meal on the coffee table, with each child sitting on a little stool beside it to eat.

For breakfast, Anning had steamed buns. She didn’t make the delicate, two-bite-sized buns, but rather substantial, large ones. The dough of the buns wasn’t overly soft either; instead, they were chewy with a springy texture when eaten.

The buns had two fillings: one with chives, egg, and shrimp, and the other with pork and green onions.

The buns were large with plentiful filling, exuding an appetizing fragrance, much more satisfying and filling than the small ones.

Besides the buns, Anning also cooked millet porridge and mixed some cucumbers with a few pickles.

The several children were at the grow-prone age, devouring the food without letting anyone else outpace them. Anning steamed several pots of buns, which the seven kids swiftly finished off.

Anning watched them and laughed, "It’s a good thing you’re not all from one family. If a family had to feed seven of you, just imagine how much food would have to be made every day. Just cooking alone would be overwhelming, not to mention affording you all a few years back."

This remark was made without particular intent, but it struck a chord with the listeners.

Having finished his bun, Li Jingyu started to ponder.

There were seven children sitting there now, but when Anning and Li Zhifang were still married, there were six children in the family, just one less than now. Those six children each grew rapidly, especially the three boys, who had astonishing appetites.

Anning prepared their daily meals, which must have been especially strenuous.

Moreover, when Anning cooked for them, she paid a lot of attention to nutrition, which surely meant significant daily expenses on food. Jingyu wondered how Anning managed to calculate the costs and live through each day over the years.

Thinking of this, Li Jingyu became even more reluctant to part with Anning.

To have someone who never uttered a single word of hardship or complaint in front of them, always facing them with a smile, yet quietly doing everything she could for them without seeking any credit. That silently nurturing presence, found in the details, was truly what it meant to be a mother who loved her children deep in her heart.

After breakfast, Anning first took Liu Yuzhen to her special class, then went shopping with a few of the children.

While shopping, Anning bought many workbooks for Li Jingyu and Li Jingyan, and also a pair of sports shoes for Li Jinghan.

She said to Li Jingyu, "Jinghan’s birthday is coming up soon. He had his eye on these sports shoes earlier, but they didn’t have his size at the time. Today, we found the right size for him, so you can take them back for him. Consider them my birthday gift to him."

After shopping and having lunch, and a round of clean-up, in the afternoon, Li Jingming and Li Jingdong drove Li Jingyu, Li Jingyan, along with Liu Qi and Liu Ming, away.

Anning finally got to rest for a while after sending off the children.

Right after that, she started buying embroidery fabric and threads, picking up the work of stitching bit by bit at home.

Anning had one lifetime where she started as an embroidery woman, and another where she began her journey providing for her family with her embroidery craft.

Now, she took advantage of the time before the children’s middle school exams to pick up this skill again.

For several days in a row, Anning was engrossed in her embroidery work.

At the Li family’s side, Li Zhiyuan told Li Zhicheng about the estrangement between Li Zhifang and the children.

Li Zhicheng was also particularly busy. Hearing that Li Zhifang had stirred up more trouble, he felt quite frustrated.

Li Zhicheng was clearly not in a good mood when he made the phone call.

He gave Li Zhifang a severe scolding, stating that since the property deeds were in his hands, Li Zhifang could forget about selling the house without his consent.

Li Zhifang was also fuming.

He had a huge fight with Li Zhicheng.

Wang Baozhu was pretty angry about this too.

It was just selling two properties; each of the Li brothers was so rich. If they were unwilling to let Li Zhifang sell, why not just lend him some money?

Also, were Fifth and Sixth really short on cash?

What a joke, they were doing it on purpose, deliberately making things difficult for others.

Wang Baozhu, in her anger, said to Li Zhifang, "If they won’t let us sell the house, fine, we don’t have money anyway, let’s just not repay the money we owe Fifth and Sixth."

Li Zhifang thought about it and felt she was right.

He really had been brainwashed by Wang Baozhu. He called up Fifth and Sixth, blustering, "I know I owe you money, and I want to repay it, but I’m really broke. What am I supposed to repay you with? If I could pay, I would. Life is all I have left, and I’m willing to sell the house to pay you, but the property deeds are with Third. If you keep asking for money, go ask Third for it, or just stop making a scene. If things turn ugly, how are we brothers supposed to carry on?"

His words really amounted to being shamelessly unreasonable, almost enraging Li Zhiping and Li Zhikang to death.

Later, when Li Jingyu and Li Jingyan found out about this, the sisters went together to visit their Fifth and Sixth uncles.

The sisters didn’t say much else when they arrived; they first offered a long apology, almost kneeling to their Fifth and Sixth uncles, continually saying their father was muddled. They asked not to take their father too seriously, promising that they would repay the debt and asking their uncles not to rush and get anxious. If their uncles became unwell over this, that would be their fault. They even personally wrote IOUs to their Fifth and Sixth uncles, saying all the right things, eventually calming them down.

In reality, Li Zhiping and Li Zhikang weren’t angry with the kids; they were upset by Li Zhifang’s attitude.

The children were truly good kids; how did they end up with such a foolish father?

After Li Jingyu and Li Jingyan left, Li Zhikang called Li Zhicheng, "Third Brother, how come the older Fourth gets, the more backward he seems to be? Other fathers strategize in every possible way for their children. They think twice before doing anything for the sake of their kids. But what about Fourth? He’s only making things harder for them, almost as if he wants to ensure his children’s path forward is as difficult as it can be. You don’t know; seeing my two nieces today really broke my heart. Those girls aren’t having an easy time."

After hanging up the phone, Li Zhicheng mentioned the situation to Liu Ru, "Fourth Sister knows how to raise children well, it’s a pity Fourth doesn’t realize the blessings he’s surrounded by."

Later on, Liu Ru relayed this to Anning, who didn’t badmouth Li Zhifang but simply expressed sympathy for the children.

Initially, everyone kept this from Zhang Fengfeng, but eventually, she heard about it and ended up feeling very upset.

After that, Zhang Fengfeng insisted that Li Jinghan stayed with her, refusing to let him go back home.

She was terrified that Li Zhifang and Wang Baozhu would lead Li Jinghan astray.

No matter how angry Zhang Fengfeng was with Li Zhifang, he was her biological son, and she was concerned for him; she too had to consider things for her child’s sake.

It was clear that Wang Baozhu was unreliable. There’s no telling what kind of suffering Li Zhifang might endure with her around.

If the three children were raised well, they could support Li Zhifang in his old age, ensuring he wouldn’t end up in a bad state.

But if he ended up raising the children poorly, then there was truly no hope.

Therefore, Zhang Fengfeng decided to take personal care of Li Jinghan, unwilling to let him have any contact with Wang Baozhu.

This made Wang Baozhu very angry.

When she had nothing to do, she’d wander around the village, spreading bad words about Anning and Zhang Fengfeng.