Mu Jingzhe laughed out of fury.

  “Shao Qiyun, don’t be ridiculous. In this day and age, you have no right to arrange my marriage. It’s illegal to force a marriage.”

  “Don’t say that, Boss Mu.” Yang Qing and the three men surrounded her, and he said with a smile, “I genuinely want to marry you. I’ll treat you well. Look, I’m a businessman too. After we get married, we can work together.”

  “No, I refuse.” Mu Jingzhe looked at Shao Qiyun. “Did you arrange all this? To think your second brother treated you so well. Is this how you repay him?”

  “What’s wrong with me? Second Brother liked Mu Xue, not you. He had no choice but to marry you because he was forced to. He wouldn’t give a damn if you remarried.”

  Shao Qiyun snorted. “Be a good girl and do as we say. The person I found for you is quite a catch.”

  This was why Shao Qiyun had come back.

  The last time Shao Qiyun had come back was because Yang Qing had gone to her to inquire about Mu Jingzhe, as she and Shao Qiyun were both from Great Eastern Village. He had said that her hair ornaments were selling extremely well and he wanted to collaborate with her.

  She hadn’t believed it at first. It was only when she’d come back that she had found out it was true.

  At first, they had it all planned out and wanted to use this opportunity to earn money. They hadn’t expected Mu Jingzhe to be so uncooperative. Ever since they’d split up the family assets, she had been earning money by herself and hadn’t cared about the eldest branch.

  Shao Qiyun felt that Mu Jingzhe had gone overboard. Even though they had split up the family assets, they were still a family. It wasn’t right of her to do this.

  If they couldn’t earn money together, what use was it for Mu Jingzhe to earn money?

  The eldest branch and Mu Jingzhe had been at odds for a long time and would scold Mu Jingzhe whenever they spoke of her. However, they couldn’t do anything to Mu Jingzhe. She was strong, and the fence-sitters in the village were on her side. No one helped them.

  Shao Qiyun wondered, ‘Since Mu Jingzhe isn’t cooperating, why not get rid of her?’

  How could they get rid of her? It was simple. They could simply marry her off. Why not do that?

  Since they loathed her this badly, they could just marry her off.

  Zhao Lan had still been hesitant, feeling that they probably weren’t capable of making such a decision. After all, Mu Jingzhe had even turned down a great marriage proposal previously.

  Shao Qiyun had taken on the responsibility and made all the arrangements today.

  “Mu Jingzhe, don’t blame us for not discussing this with you. Who asked you to be so selfish? You ate meat yourself, yet you didn’t even allow us to drink the soup. In that case, we can only marry you off.”

  \r \r \r

  “You have no right to marry me off.” Mu Jingzhe emphasized this. “It’s against the law to force someone into marriage. Arranged marriage has long been outlawed. If I call the police, you’ll have to go to jail.”

  “Who are you trying to scare? You and Boss Yang now answer to your parents and the matchmaker. It’s legal.”

  Shao Qiyun wasn’t afraid. “Since you’ve married into the Shao Family, we’re a family. Why can’t we make the decision?”

  Zhao Lan nodded vigorously. “That’s right. Once you marry into the Shao Family, dead or alive, you belong to the Shao Family. We call the shots.”

  “You’re crazy.” Mu Jingzhe couldn’t understand at all. “Shao Qiyun, you’ve been in junior high and are even working at a school now. Are you really that ignorant?”

  “What am I ignoring?” Shao Qiyun told her the story of the biological sister of a student from the county’s No.1 Middle School.

  When she’d passed away after getting married, her in-laws had arranged a posthumous marriage for her sister. The biological sister’s birth character was good, and she had died at a good time. When someone had come to their door, the in-laws had agreed and even accepted the betrothal money, preparing to get their son a second wife.

  If they could even make a decision for someone’s afterlife, how could they not make a decision when the person was still alive?

  Zhao Lan kept nodding from the side and added, “We could have sold someone like you for money in the past. Now, we’re merely marrying you off. We did absolutely nothing wrong.”

  They had merely accepted a considerable amount of betrothal money, that was all.

  Two days ago, Shao Qiyun had gone out to look for Yang Qing to discuss the betrothal gift.

  Rather than doing business with Mu Jingzhe, why not marry her and earn money at the same time?

  Yang Qing was a businessman and knew how impressive Mu Jingzhe was, so he agreed. As for the betrothal gifts, he felt that he could earn back the money through the profit Mu Jingzhe would make in the future.

  Yang Qing emphasized again that he genuinely wanted to marry her.

  “Genuinely? You have the nerve to act genuine!” Mu Jingzhe sneered. “I’ll cut to the chase. A marriage is impossible. If you don’t want to die, get lost.”

  Zhao Lan felt her hair stand on end upon seeing Mu Jingzhe act so ruthlessly, but Shao Qiyun’s face fell.

  “You refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit. Mu Jingzhe, did you think we wouldn’t be prepared at all?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Why do you think the kids never returned? They’re in my hands! If you want them to be safe, listen to me and cooperate. Don’t even think about resisting.”

  “You actually took them? They’re your nephews!”

  “I have many nephews. It doesn’t matter if one or two go missing.” When Shao Qiyun had heard that Mu Jingzhe had been treating the five kids well, she’d felt that this was a godsend opportunity.

  She had been afraid that Mu Jingzhe would have no weakness.

  “As long as you’re obedient, nothing will happen to them.” Shao Qiyun smiled. “I’ve brought you the bridal clothes. Hurry up and change into them. It’s that red dress I brought you earlier.”

  She had it all planned out. First, she had brought the red dress and a bowl of brown sugar eggs.

  Logically speaking, Mu Jingzhe should have eaten the brown sugar eggs and changed into that red dress. After all, Mu Jingzhe used to be vain and greedy. She definitely wouldn’t be able to resist the temptation.

  She had calculated it quite well. When Mu Jingzhe woke up, everything would be settled.

  Unexpectedly, what she had anticipated hadn’t happened. Mu Jingzhe hadn’t fainted after eating the brown sugar eggs, nor had she put on that red dress.

  Fortunately, even heaven was helping them. It was raining.

  It was pouring so heavily that the rain perfectly masked all sounds and movements.

  Thrilled at the thought of being able to use Mu Jingzhe’s betrothal money to buy a watch and leather shoes, Shao Qiyun couldn’t help but urge her. “Hurry up. My patience is limited.”

  “Where did you take the children? I want to see them first.”

  Mu Jingzhe gritted her teeth as she glared at Zhao Lan and Shao Qiyun. No matter how much she disliked them, they were still their biological grandchildren, nephews, and niece. However, they only cared about money.

  She had read the novel and knew how horribly they’d treated the five kids, so she knew that they were absolutely capable of those heinous acts.

  She had to ensure the safety of the children first.

  “Be good. You’ll see them tomorrow morning. Go change clothes first.”

  Mu Jingzhe looked around the room. “Alright, I’ll change, but I have to go back to my room to change.”

  Yang Qing didn’t want his two ‘brothers’ to see Mu Jingzhe change clothes on the spot, so he nodded in agreement.

  Shao Qiyun took the knife and followed Mu Jingzhe back to her room, keeping an eye on her constantly.

  When the rain stopped, the sky turned much brighter. Shao Qiyun looked at the drawings in the room and sneered.

  “What are these drawings? They’re a mess.”

  Mu Jingzhe had bought some crayons for the children. They liked them very much, but their drawing skills were indeed average. The drawings were filled with matchstick figures.

  However, Mu Jingzhe didn’t mind. She had pasted their drawings in the room, in case they felt that she was too biased.

  Mu Jingzhe ignored her snide remark and slowly changed clothes.

  Shao Qiyun quickly caught sight of Little Bei and Xiao Wu’s drawings, which were pasted side by side. Upon seeing the word ‘Mommy’ written above the matchstick figure with the short hair, she knew at a glance that it was Mu Jingzhe. Her gaze darkened.