Transmigrated into a vicious stepmother, striving to raise the little villain

A knock on the door suddenly sounded, and Su Nuohan was so startled that she covered her mouth tightly with her hand to prevent the scream that was about to escape her lips. The three boys reacted quickly, instantly forming a protective stance and surrounding Su Nuohan.

The four of them huddled together, taking each step with utmost care, as if the slightest misstep would disturb the "unknown" outside the door, as they slowly moved toward the entrance.

The group exchanged tense glances, and after a moment of silent communication, decided that Li Ziang would respond. Li Ziang swallowed hard, deliberately lowering his voice, "Who?"

Soon, a response came from outside the door, "Young Master, Madam asked me to bring you some fruit. Please open the door."

Li Ziang looked at his younger brother for help, his eyes silently asking how to respond. Jiang Yan'an leaned close to his ear and whispered, "Tell him I'm studying and not eating, and you can go and thank Mom for me."

Li Zi'ang did as instructed, and the footsteps outside the door gradually faded away.

As soon as the person left, the children's tense nerves instantly relaxed, and they slumped to the ground. Su Nuohan took out tissues from her small bag and handed them out, saying with lingering fear, "That scared me to death! Who could have been outside just now?"

Jiang Yan'an frowned and analyzed, "He calls this little boy 'Young Master,' so he might be the family's butler." Xie Yifan nodded in agreement and added, "The boy's schedule says he can't do anything else while studying, so maybe this butler was sent by his mother to check."

Li Zi'ang then suddenly realized, "That's why they made me say those things."

“Let’s take a closer look at what’s on there; maybe there are other clues,” Su Nuohan said, pointing to the desk. The four of them gathered around the desk again, this time examining it with extra care, turning each page of every book.

Su Nuohan seemed to have inherited Lin Yunyuan's lucky streak; every book she touched always contained clues. Sure enough, she found several pages of a diary in an English book.

“I don’t like studying, but my mom forces me to study and even hits me. She says if I don’t study hard, she’ll get me a different mom. If I could get a different mom, I want my aunt to be my mom.” Su Nuohan read aloud word by word.

"My aunt gave me two pieces of candy today. She gave me one, and said the other one had to be given to my mom. I wanted to eat both, but my aunt wouldn't let me. It's so strange."

"Mom hit me again today. She vomited blood after hitting her. Dad said that Mom is sick and can't see me anymore. That's great, no one will take care of me now."

"Today Dad asked me if my aunt could be my mom. I really wanted to say yes, but I already have a mom. Dad is so strange." The rest of the text was torn to shreds and thrown into the trash can.

The more Su Nuohan read, the more chills ran down the spines of her friends. Li Ziang couldn't help but ask, "Why is this person's diary so strange? Why did Mom suddenly vomit blood?" Jiang Yan'an shook his head. Right now, the clues were scattered. He had been focused on finding his mother, but now it seemed he had to clear the secret room first.

After discussing it, Su Nuohan stayed at the desk to sort through the fragments of the diary, while the other three began searching around the room.

The viewers in front of the screen were stunned when they saw this.

[Director, aren't you going a bit too far? This escape room is incredibly difficult; can the kids handle it?]

Let's take a look first.

Jiang Yan'an found an iron box in the boy's wardrobe. There was a note on the box that read: "The password is a secret that Dad will never know. It is the safest secret."

Jiang Yan'an shook the box, and a sound came from inside, indicating that it contained a crucial clue. He placed the box in the middle of the bedroom, then rummaged through the wardrobe and pulled out a group photo.

There are four people in the photo: two ladies, one gentleman, and a child, who is presumably the little owner of the room.

The names of several people were written on the back of the photo: Diana, Nan Hong, Nan Yunna, and Nan Shaotian.

Jiang Yan'an put the photos and the tin box together and turned to help Su Nuohan piece together the diary. The diary was badly torn; Jiang Yan'an felt it was more tiring on the eyes than watching ten episodes of a TV series in a row. Fortunately, the four children worked together and finally managed to put it back together.

Su Nuohan continued reading:

“I haven’t seen my mom for three days. My aunt came to visit me, but she was acting strange today. She looked at me like I was a puppy.”

"Wangwang? A dog?" Li Ziang interjected. Jiang Yan'an nodded, "Probably."

“My aunt came to see me again today and brought soup. I asked her what kind of meat the soup was made with, and she said it was meat that’s good to me.”

"My aunt brought meat soup again today. I've been drinking it for three days in a row, and I'm so tired of it that I don't want to drink it anymore. I refused my aunt, and she seemed unhappy."

"I searched for Wangwang in the garden for a long time today, but I couldn't find it. My aunt said Wangwang is in my belly. I thought of the soup from a few days ago and I threw up." After reading this, Su Nuohan couldn't continue. She handed the paper to Xie Yifan and covered her mouth to dry heave.

Xie Yifan continued reading:

"My aunt has changed. Ever since she found out that Wangwang was killed, she has become so scary. I miss my mom."

"My aunt pinched me today, and it turned big red. I went to tell my dad, but he didn't believe me. I miss my mom. If she were here, she would never let me be bullied."

"I went to see my mom today..."

"I...I don't have a mother anymore..."

"I'm going to find my mom..."

The diary entry ended abruptly. After Xie Yifan finished reading, everyone fell into a silent understanding. Finally, Li Ziang broke the oppressive atmosphere, saying, "That last sentence...it couldn't possibly mean that, could it?"

Jiang Yan'an nodded solemnly, "It must be that this boy discovered that his mother is no longer alive."

The atmosphere grew heavy. After all, they were just young children, none of whom had ever truly faced life and death. Even Jiang Yan'an's memories of life and death were only vague fragments.

Jiang Yan'an clapped his hands and pointed to the small iron box on the ground, saying, "Let's crack this code first."

After fiddling around for a long time, they still had no clue. Jiang Yan'an lowered his head and pondered. If Mo Jingyu were here, he would definitely marvel at the similarity between him and Jiang Zhiyan, even if they were directly related by blood.

Jiang Yan'an suddenly had a bright idea and suggested, "Could the secret Dad doesn't know be his birthday?"

Xie Yifan retorted, "That's unlikely, isn't it? What father wouldn't remember his child's birthday?"

Jiang Yan'an wagged his finger in rebuttal, "I used to watch TV dramas with my mom. Some fathers don't like their children, so they don't remember their birthdays." Li Zi'ang chimed in, saying he had also seen similar storylines.

"Then where can we find the birthday?" Su Nuohan suddenly had a bright idea. She ran to her desk, opened a drawer, and took out a small booklet. "It seems to be written in this student handbook. Let me see... I've got it! March 8th!"

Jiang Yan'an reached out and pulled down the combination lock. With a "click," the lock opened.

Inside the box was a key and a note. The note read: "If you go to Dad, you can find Mom."

"It seems we need to find a door that matches this key," Xie Yifan analyzed.

Jiang Yan'an put the key back in the box and asked, "Did you find anything else?" Li Zi'ang shook his head helplessly. He had turned his box upside down, but there was nothing there.

Xie Yifan took out a map and spread it out in the open space in the middle of everyone: "I guess this is a map of the secret room. Maybe we can use it to find Mom."

Upon hearing that they were looking for his mother, Jiang Yan'an immediately focused intently on studying the map. He quickly found a place with a layout similar to his room and pointed to a small opening, saying, "This might be the door that comes with the key."

The group used the map to roughly locate the area and began to explore. Jiang Yan'an noticed a cut in the floor and looked up to find a keyhole obscured by a nightlight. He called Xie Yifan, the tallest member of the group, to unlock it.

The key was inserted and slowly turned, and the hidden door in the wall opened as intended. The interior was pitch black, and the size of the space was impossible to discern.

Jiang Yan'an and the other two quickly shielded Su Nuohan in the middle and walked inside closely together.

As soon as everyone went inside, Li Ziang tried to move forward, but his head slammed against the wall with a "bang." Immediately afterward, the sound of a mechanism activating came from behind. Jiang Yan'an sensed something was wrong and was about to call everyone out when the ground beneath their feet suddenly cracked open.

"Ahhhhhhhh"