Chapter 3
Yun Chuman frowned slightly. From the vast amount of information in her mind, she gleaned the conclusion that the original owner hadn't treated the two children well.
No wonder when she used her similar appearance to greet Yun Juan with a warm smile, she was met with shock.
Yun Chuman couldn't understand the original owner's behavior.
In her previous life, she was practically disabled, yet she was still the apple of her parents' and elder brother's eye. The two children before her were healthy and sensible; how could the original owner, as their mother, treat them badly?
Despite the absurdity, she had to admit that irresponsible parents did exist.
After all, parenthood was the easiest "profession" to enter, requiring no training or assessment.
Yun Chuman thought to herself as she turned and walked into the open kitchen next door. Pots and pans were all there, most unopened.
She walked to a corner, opened the small refrigerator, and found it empty except for a lonely bottle of mineral water lying on the shelf.
Yun Chuman, who had intended to find some other food, thought: ...
She walked helplessly towards the two children.
Yun Juan noticed her approach and looked up from his struggle with the fried dough twists. His chubby cheeks were still covered in crumbs.
His bright eyes pointed to the fried dough twists on the plate on the coffee table and he asked in a clear voice, "Mommy, do you want some?"
Yun Chuman suddenly felt a pang of sadness. No matter how the adults treated them, children were naturally closer to their parents.
She knelt down in front of the two children, looked up at them slightly, and gently took the fried dough twists from their hands.
The fried dough twists had been sitting there for who knows how long; no wonder Yun Juan's face had contorted from choking—they were as hard as walnuts.
Yun Juan looked at her in confusion. His sudden free little hands grasped at the air helplessly.
Yun Shu still kept her head down, keeping her face obscured. Her short legs had stopped kicking around, a clear sign of nervousness.
Yun Chuman took Yun Shu's hand; it was small and soft, with neatly trimmed nails.
The little girl's fingers twitched slightly before obediently let her do as she please.
Yun Chuman smiled and took out a tissue to gently wipe away the bits of dough from Yun Shu's hands.
Yun Shu was clearly very happy, her little feet tapping together slightly.
Yun Chuman looked at Yun Juan. Her gaze lingered on his hands.
The little boy paused for a moment, then nimbly jumped off the sofa, quickly pulled out a tissue, and wiped his hands clean. He even vigorously wiped his cheeks as if to say, "I can do it all myself."
Yun Chuman praised, "Good child. How about I take you out to eat today?"
Yun Juan looked surprised.
Yun Shu's chubby little hand, which she had been holding, suddenly flipped over and grasped her thumb.
Yun Chuman raised an eyebrow. This excited?
She scooped up the completely bewildered Yun Shu, who was still sitting on the sofa. The little girl was a tiny, soft bundle.
Yun Chuman's eyes lit up. She could feel a slight weight in her arms—the strength of a healthy body! She could easily lift a child!
Yun Shu gasped softly, wriggling her little body to wrap her arms around her neck and nestling her cheek against her shoulder.
Yun Chuman tried to hold her steadily with one arm, while patting Yun Juan's little head with her other hand: "It's decided then. I'll take little Shu to change her clothes. Little Juan, you wait for us obediently, okay?"
Yun Juan slowly nodded and obediently sat back down on the sofa.
Yun Chuman smiled and left with Yun Shu.
Catching a glimpse of the two entering the room, Yun Juan raised his arms, covering the spot where she had been touched with his little hands and giggling foolishly.
Yun Chuman instinctively went into the nearest bedroom, a small room that could only fit a single bed and a wardrobe.
She opened the wardrobe door and discovered this was the original owner's room. The wardrobe was filled with casual clothes in black, white, and gray.
Seeing there was nothing to choose from, she grabbed a set at random and carried Yun Shu to the next room.
Compared to the original owner's room, this one was much brighter and more spacious. There was some space between the two single beds with cartoon sheets, and in the corner, besides the large wardrobe, there were two study desks.
Yun Chuman walked to the wardrobe and opened the door, immediately dazzled by the colorful clothes.
All kinds of styles and colors of children's clothing were available, with two sets of each style.
She immediately spotted the overalls, the same style Yun Juan was currently wearing: "Little Shu, shall we wear the same as your brother?"
Yun Shu quickly turned her head to glance at it, turned back, and gently rubbed her cheek against Yun Chuman's neck: "Okay~"
So cute! Like a little kitten!
As Yun Chuman smiled and closed the wardrobe door, she suddenly felt something was amiss.
"Mommy, where are we going to change?" Yun Shu whispered in her ear.
Yun Chuman didn't have time to think and replied, "The restroom. There are no cameras there."
The two of them, one big and one small, carried the clothes into the restroom.
While Yun Chuman was helping Yun Shu change, the little girl still didn't look up. She couldn't help but wonder if the child's neck felt sore.
Looking at Yun Shu's neck, completely hidden by her hair, she suggested, "Little Shu, how about I tie your hair into two little buns? It'll look like Nezha's hairstyle, so cute."
Yun Shu took a step back, her little hands tightly gripping the long hair hanging down on either side, and shook her head after a long while.
Seeing that she was unwilling, Yun Chuman didn't force her, but said with some regret, "Okay, little Shu, just tell Mommy whenever you want your hair tied up."
"Okay!" Yun Shu nodded vigorously.
Before leaving, Yun Chuman found the original owner's phone. It looked good on the outside, but it was running very slowly, clearly having been used for a long time but was well-protected.
The original owner had about 10,000 yuan in her payment app.
Yun Chuman breathed a sigh of relief; that was enough for her to support her two children for a while.
Fortunately, she had a skill to rely on. Once the pilot episode was finished filming, she would go to work and earn money.
She created a spending log on her phone's notes app, planning to repay the amount used from the original owner's share later and not be a penny short.
Just then, the hem of her clothes was suddenly tugged.
Yun Chuman looked down and saw Yun Shu's round little head. She also vaguely saw the little girl's round belly.
Yun Shu was gently tugging at her hem with one hand, while tightly gripping her baby carrier strap with the other, looking very nervous.
A thought popped into Yun Chuman's mind: Did Yun Shu want to get closer to her?
She tentatively took the little girl's hand. The little girl stiffened for a moment before leaning closer to her and gently rubbing her head against the back of her hand.
She really did want to get closer to her!
Yun Chuman's eyes lit up and she confidently extended her other hand to Yun Juan beside her.
Yun Juan pursed his lips and made his face expressionless, turning his head away to refuse to look at her.
Yun Chuman didn't give up. Based on her experience of striking up conversations in various hospital wards in her past life, she knew Yun Juan was definitely a little tsundere.
She poked the little boy's shoulder with her finger, and when he glanced over, she beckoned him with her hand.
Yun Juan's cheeks flushed slightly, and seemingly reluctantly, he placed his hand in Yun Chuman's palm.
Yun Chuman immediately grasped his hand, smiling as she shook the two children's little arms: "Let's go! Let's go eat something delicious!"
The two children, one big and one small, walked out hand in hand. The production crew quickly had the accompanying director and cameraman follow to continue the live broadcast.
Old-style residential areas were generally quite quiet, and since it was dinnertime, the neighborhood was completely deserted when Yun Chuman went downstairs.
She excitedly looked around. Without glass obstructing her view, the scenery was so open, and the air felt exceptionally fresh. Yun Chuman took a deep breath, savoring the joy of a healthy body—light yet strong, unlike the heavy and powerless feeling she had before.
With her increasing happiness, her steps became more cheerful, skipping a few steps and then jumping slightly.
The children she was leading on either side of her were gradually influenced.
So the viewers in the live stream saw three figures, one big and two small, walking along when they suddenly jumped up and down in unison. Quite a joyful and heartwarming scene. At the same time, the number of comments on the screen increased.
—Ahhh, those two little bundles of joy are so chubby! Their whole bodies seem to jiggle when they jump.
—Is this really my Yun Juan, whose middle name is little tyrant? He's such a sweet and adorable little cutie in front of his mom!
—Yun Shu is like a clingy kitten, so cute!
—No more! I have to screenshot this and use it as my screensaver. It's so heartwarming!
Yun Chuman led the two children for nearly 500 meters before finding a food street.
Chain restaurants and street food stalls were everywhere, bustling with people.
Yun Chuman sniffed, trying to identify the different kinds of food in the air.
In her past life, she was frail. Although every meal was carefully prepared, the flavors were monotonous, bland, and oil-free.
She had never experienced the joy of rich, spicy food; she could only imagine and satisfy her cravings through recipes and food shows.
Yun Chuman's eyes lit up as she scanned the shops, her stomach rumbling. She wanted to eat everything!
However, she ultimately gave the decision to her two children: "Little Juan, little Shu, what do you want to eat?"
Yun Juan frowned, hesitatingly asking, "Aren't steamed buns cheaper?"
"Sweet steamed buns are cheaper, and they're delicious when they're hot," Yun Shu chuckled, her voice rising with delight.
Yun Chuman was taken aback. The two children were so frugal; it gave her the impression that the family was poor.
Logically, this shouldn't be the case. Although the original owner was a relatively unknown actress, she still had some income, not to mention Yun Juan was currently very popular and should have earned more.
But thinking about it carefully, the original owner's bank account didn't have much money… Where did all the money go?
Yun Chuman came from a wealthy family in her previous life and wasn't naturally frugal. Besides, she had already figured out how to make money and didn't want to skimp on her two children.
She crouched down, patting each child's head, and smiled, "Little Juan and little Shu are so well-behaved. Mommy is so happy."
Yun Shu was visibly shy; her little ears peeking out from her hair were red.
Yun Juan glanced awkwardly to the side. Though his face tense, his bright red ears betrayed him.
Yun Chuman continued, "But our family isn't so poor that we have to finely calculate with our food. You're still growing, you should eat whatever you want."
As soon as she finished speaking, she smelled the distinctive aroma of fried food.
Yun Chuman couldn't help but turn her head to follow the smell. Her eyes widened slightly when she saw a familiar sign.
Could this...this be the irresistible "fattiness happiness meal" that adults and children alike find hard to resist? A fried chicken chain!
She swallowed twice and held up a slender finger: "Like that."
The two children turned around.
Yun Juan clearly knew this shop. His little brows furrowed. "...It's expensive."
And it wasn’t healthy either.
Before he could finish his sentence, Yun Chuman interrupted, "It's okay if it's just once in a while. I'll go out and work to earn money later!"
Completely unaware that she was haggling with a child, she added enticingly, "And I heard that you get a toy with a kids' meal."
Yun Juan froze, clearly hesitant.
At this moment, Yun Shu stepped forward and tugged at his sleeve, her voice soft and sweet, "Elder Brother..."
Yun Juan looked at Mommy, then at his younger sister, and finally sighed helplessly. He raised his short, chubby index finger and stated seriously, "Just this once."
"Yay~ little Shu, Elder Brother agreed! We can go eat fried chicken and buy toys!"
Yun Chuman cheered and gave Yun Shu a high five.
The little girl was also excited, happily exclaiming, "Elder Brother is the best!"
After her initial joy, Yun Chuman was a little stunned. Wait, why did Yun Shu seem so familiar?
Before she could think about it further, she noticed out of the corner of her eye that the cameraman had moved to the side and slightly in front of her.
Realizing something was wrong, she looked in the direction the camera was shooting and saw that Yun Shu, perhaps because she was too happy, had actually raised her head!
Seeing the little girl's face, she froze on the spot.
She looked almost exactly like her, except Yun Shu had a small canine tooth and… a red mark lying horizontally on the bridge of her nose.
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