Mu Jingzhe had said that they would return on Sunday. Seeing that they hadn’t returned, Shao Qiyang knew that they must have been delayed by something.

  He was afraid that they would have to travel back during the night, so he had come to pick them up.

  When Mu Jingzhe saw Shao Qiyang, she was pleasantly surprised but couldn’t help but say, “If we didn’t plan on coming back, wouldn’t you have wasted a trip?”

  Those days, there were no cell phones, and it was particularly inconvenient to contact people.

  Shao Qiyang smiled. “Well, I didn’t make a wasted trip, did I?”

  Although Mu Jingzhe was strong, he was still worried, as she was a woman carrying five children. He was glad that he had come to pick them up.

  “We nearly spent the night in the county.”

  “That’s good too. If you guys don’t want to come back, I’ll just go to town. I’ll consider that an early departure. I have to work too.”

  Shao Qiyang had borrowed a bicycle from the village. Even if he hadn’t managed to meet them, he would still have had to return the bicycle, yet he spoke in a breezy manner.

  With Shao Qiyang around to share the load, it was much easier for Mu Jingzhe, and her speed increased.

  At around 10 p.m, they finally returned home.

  Everyone in Great Eastern Village was asleep, and it was extremely quiet. Xiao Wu, who was on Mu Jingzhe’s back, was also asleep.

  When they got home, she woke Xiao Wu up and asked him to go to the toilet before carrying him back to coax him back to sleep.

  Xiao Wu was in a daze and refused to let go of Mu Jingzhe. “Mommy… I want to call you ‘Mommy’ too. Can I also call you ‘Mommy’?”

  Half-asleep, Xiao Wu asked the question that he had been pondering.

  When he’d heard Little Bei call her that, he had wanted to follow suit.

  Mu Jingzhe: “Sure, go ahead.”

  Since Little Bei had already set a precedent, she might as well also let Xiao Wu call her that.

  It made no difference if one kid called her ‘Mommy’ or two kids did.

  Xiao Wu grinned and fell asleep with peace of mind.

  Mu Jingzhe couldn’t help but smile.

  Shao Qiyang had cooked for them before going to fetch them. After the meal, Mu Jingzhe took out the money Little Bei had earned while Shao Qiyang was around.

  “This is the money Little Bei received for dancing and shooting the commercial. There’s only a small subsidy for dancing. However, there’s quite a lot of money for the commercial. At least a hundred yuan.”

  \r \r \r

  A hundred yuan was a lot of money in that era.

  “Little Bei is amazing.” Shao Qiyang was very happy. “She can even shoot commercials.”

  “I’ll appear on TV in the future. Uncle, you have to remember to watch out for me.”

  “Okay.”

  “I’m going to have to earn more money and then buy a TV so we can watch it at home.”

  Owning a television was something to be proud of, a blissful event for the village kids. Even in her sleep, Little Bei dreamt of buying a television.

  Now that she had been praised for earning money, her first reaction was wanting to buy a television.

  “Alright, buy a television in the future.”

  After buying a bicycle, they wanted to buy a television. Indeed, a person’s wants and needs were never-ending.

  Mu Jingzhe supported Little Bei’s idea. “In that case, I’ll save this money for you so that you can buy a television in the future. Should we hand it over to your brother for safekeeping?”

  Mu Jingzhe didn’t mention Shao Qiyang. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust him, but she was afraid that Zhao Lan would come to steal his money or demand to have it again.

  Little Bei looked at her older brother, then at Mu Jingzhe, and thought for a moment. “No, Mommy can help me keep it safe.”

  “Yes, you can keep the money for her. You spent quite a bit of money this time.” Shao Dong nodded in agreement.

  Mu Jingzhe thought for a moment. “Then you can safeguard your money yourself, Little Bei. Next time, when we go to the county city, I’ll take you to the bank to open an account.”

  She wouldn’t use the money earned by Little Bei, nor would she use any money earned by the children unless she absolutely had no other alternative.

  After all, she was still capable of earning money herself.

  “Let’s save Shao Xi’s money too. From now on, I’ll save up all your royalties. The same goes for the rest of you. I’ll save up your money for you.”

  She didn’t need the children to earn money to support the family.

  Mu Jingzhe made a decision and asked them to go to sleep.

  Meanwhile, Shao Qiyang waited for Mu Jingzhe to hand her the living expenses.

  “I have delivered a lot of letters ever since I got the bicycle. This is my bonus.”

  “You have to save some money too. Don’t go hungry.”

  “Yes, I will. I remember what you’ve always told me. Good health is a prerequisite for work.”

  Shao Qiyang was delighted to hear Mu Jingzhe’s concerned reminders.

  His heart was warm and full.

  Now that Mu Jingzhe and the children were back, this home felt like a home again. Two days ago, when they hadn’t been around, he had felt very empty, and his heart had also felt vacant.

  “I’ll be back tomorrow night if nothing goes wrong, Jingzhe,” Shao Qiyang informed her.

  In the past, he’d had complicated feelings about home. Whenever he returned, he would feel tired. He’d still have to face Zhao Lan’s nagging and criticism every day, as well as the pressure she put on him. Alas, he had no choice but to return. Every time, he would drag his feet there, never once looking forward to it.

  However, ever since they’d split up the family assets, he had started to look forward to returning home. This was because there was piping hot food and laughter waiting for him at home.

  This was the life he had dreamed of. This was his most ideal home. When he returned home, it was as if all his exhaustion vanished. He felt driven and motivated, and he wanted to give them more and strive hard for the future.

  His colleagues and leaders said that he was currently completely different from before. Shao Qiyang hoped that things would stay this way.

  He wasn’t even willing to call Mu Jingzhe ‘Second Sister-In-Law’ anymore. He had subconsciously started calling her by her name a while back.

  It seemed as if this would slowly dilute their relationship as brother-in-law and sister-in-law.

  Shao Qiyang felt that Mu Jingzhe probably understood his feelings too…

  Mu Jingzhe… didn’t understand.

  Compared to being addressed as Second Sister-In-Law, she preferred to have him call her by her name. She hadn’t noticed that anything was amiss and only thought that Shao Qiyang was unwilling to call her Second Sister-In-Law because of the original Mu Jingzhe’s actions.

  She nodded and took this opportunity to tell Shao Qiyang about Shao Xi seeing Shao Qihai.

  “Shao Xi saw him at the night market. There were a lot of people around, and I didn’t see him, but Shao Xi was crying really hard. He said that he saw him with his own eyes. He was very upset and even said that his father didn’t want them anymore.”

  Shao Qiyang hadn’t expected such a thing to happen. “Second Brother? Was it really Second Brother?”

  “I’m not sure, but I think he probably saw wrong.”

  Shao Qiyang nodded. “Mm, he must have seen wrong. If he was alive, Second Brother wouldn’t have left his kids behind.”

  Second Brother wasn’t such an irresponsible person.

  Speaking of Second Brother, Shao Qiyang glanced at Mu Jingzhe to see how she was feeling.

  Mu Jingzhe was also looking at Shao Qiyang. As she observed his flawless face, she couldn’t help but nod.

  He was really handsome. No wonder many ladies in the village had a crush on him.

  Shao Qiyang was good-looking, had a nice personality, was kind-hearted, responsible, and had a good job. Although he wasn’t an official employee, it was better than being a farmer.

  He was really quite eligible. Therefore, previously, people used to always come to inquire openly and covertly, asking Shao Qiyang what he thought and if he was keen on proposing marriage.

  In the past, Mu Jingzhe had felt that it wasn’t appropriate for her to meddle in the affairs of her younger brother-in-law and that they ought to ask him in person.

  However, everyone had said that the Eldest Sister-In-Law was like a mother. Since Zhao Lan and Eldest Sister-In-Law Shao couldn’t be bothered and Mu Jingzhe had yet to leave, she was the only one who could help make it happen and therefore shouldn’t wash her hands off of this.

  Now that the kids called her ‘Mommy’, Mu Jingzhe might have to stay with the Shao Family for an extended period. In that case, she couldn’t ignore everything anymore.

  The main reason was that her younger brother-in-law, Shao Qiyang, was really not bad.

  Since they were discussing this topic, Mu Jingzhe probed. “Shao Qiyang, have you met any suitable girls recently? Do you have any thoughts on this matter?”

  In other words, it was time for him to find a marriage partner.