Shao Xi thought about many things and curled into a ball. His thoughts were complicated.

  Mu Jingzhe didn’t know that Shao Xi was thinking so much. She merely thought that Shao Xi was frightened.

  It was already sunset when they returned home.

  When she got home, she saw a bunch of children playing the game ‘Jump Over the Goat[1]’.

  One by one, they lined up to jump. After jumping, they would line up to be the goat. Little Bei was amongst them.

  At the sight of her children, she felt her heart calm down. But when she saw them jump, she couldn’t help but raise her eyebrows.

  She had played this game before when she was young. It was called “Vaulting” in the Olympic Gymnastics Program. It had been popular for a long time and was known throughout the country. Almost all the children in the country were experts at it.

  However, looking at it now, Mu Jingzhe thought that it was very dangerous.

  Seeing that it was almost Little Bei’s turn to jump, Mu Jingzhe quickly called out, “Little Bei!”

  “Mommy, why are you back so late?” Little Bei saw Mu Jingzhe and didn’t care about the game anymore.

  The return of Mu Jingzhe and Shao Xi caused Shao Dong and the others to heave a sigh of relief. Shao Dong was sensitive to this abnormal atmosphere. Although Mu Jingzhe didn’t want to worry them and didn’t say much, he still asked Shao Xi privately what had happened.

  Shao Xi didn’t hide anything from Shao Dong and told him everything that had happened on this trip.

  Shao Dong hadn’t expected that they would encounter so many incidents when he was supposed to just participate in a competition.

  However, he wasn’t very surprised. This was because the five siblings had encountered all sorts of difficulties since they were born.

  They were already used to it, but now, they had a mother, and they were implicating her and causing her to suffer as well.

  “I’m glad nothing happened—”

  “It’ll be too late if something happens.” Shao Xi didn’t dare to tell Mu Jingzhe this, but he couldn’t help but tell his big brother, whom he had trusted since he was young, what was on his mind. “Brother, do you think it’s because we implicated Mommy that she has to suffer like this?”

  “Before this, I always wanted parents who treated us well. Now, I’m a little scared…”

  \r \r \r

  Shao Dong also felt lingering fear when he heard that, but he still consoled Shao Xi. “Don’t think too much about it. We’ll try our best to be careful in the future and avoid any danger.”

  Speaking of that, it was quite contradictory. In the past, they had been touched by how well Mu Jingzhe treated them. However, now, they suddenly wished that Mu Jingzhe would not treat them so well.

  At least not so well that she would risk her life to save them.

  This was because Shao Dong and Shao Xi thought the same thing. If something really happened to Mu Jingzhe while she was trying to save them, that would be…

  “Let’s protect Mommy more in the future.” Shao Dong thought for a while. “I’ll find a chance to talk to Mommy too.”

  “Mm.”

  Shao Dong wanted to find an opportunity to talk to Mu Jingzhe, but he couldn’t find an opportunity before nightfall.

  Too many people came to look for Mu Jingzhe, and there were many things to do to keep busy. This person came to find her, that person came to find her, but… why was Uncle Tang there too?

  Even though many villagers came to look for Mu Jingzhe, Tang Moling’s presence still stuck out like a sore thumb.

  The five kids gazed at Tang Moling curiously. Tang Moling was feeling uncomfortable to begin with because of his rash decision to come. Upon thinking back to when he had been held down by Mu Jingzhe in the Shao Family’s courtyard, he felt even more uncomfortable being stared at.

  He almost turned around and left, but he held himself back and snapped at the five kids, “What are you looking at? I’m here regarding an important matter.”

  Tang Moling really had a purpose for coming over. Previously, he had accidentally told Mu Jingzhe about his job, and she had suggested solutions to him that had proved to be really effective. Ever since, whenever he’d encountered any problems or couldn’t make a decision, he couldn’t help but come over to ask Mu Jingzhe for her opinion.

  Mu Jingzhe hadn’t been around for the past two days, and he wasn’t used to it. Therefore upon hearing that she was back, he couldn’t resist the urge to come over.

  When Mu Jingzhe heard Tang Moling’s question, she was silent for a moment before answering. Then, she couldn’t help but think that since Tang Moling kept asking her for her opinion, she should perhaps start charging him some consultation fees.

  Although she was tempted, Mu Jingzhe held herself back.

  Tang Moling felt relieved after receiving an answer. He couldn’t help but chat a little more with Mu Jingzhe, and his heart relaxed.

  He felt good talking to Mu Jingzhe. She understood everything he said. It felt like they were from the same world.

  Before he realized it, Tang Moling was leaning toward Mu Jingzhe. He wanted to continue, but Mu Jingzhe ruthlessly kicked him out.

  “I have to cook. It’s getting dark.”

  Tang Moling: “See you next time then…”

  After dinner, Shao Dong finally had a chance to have a private chat with Mu Jingzhe and told her that he already knew what had happened. He then said that safety was the most important thing and asked Mu Jingzhe to protect herself.

  “Why are you saying the same thing as Little Xi? Don’t worry, I’m strong enough to protect myself,” Mu Jingzhe said while patting her chest.

  Shao Dong: “Mom, being strong doesn’t mean you’re invincible. Don’t be careless.”

  “Okay, okay, I understand.” Mu Jingzhe agreed and then asked, “Little Dong, how is your recycling venture coming along?”

  Shao Dong’s eyes lit up. “Not bad. Uncle and I figured out the situation in the past two days.”

  Shao Dong himself was still a child. Although he was smart, it wasn’t convenient for him to do a lot of things. When others saw that they were dealing with a child, he was oftentimes at a disadvantage.

  Mu Jingzhe was also busy and didn’t have the time to follow Shao Dong around. Her younger brother, Mu Han, had been dragged out just like that and had started going around with Shao Dong.

  Ever since Li Zhaodi and Mu Teng had started selling steamed buns, Mu Jingzhe had actually wanted to make arrangements for her younger brother, Mu Han. She wanted him to continue studying, but Mu Han didn’t want to because he simply wasn’t cut out for studying.

  Since that was the case, she’d told him to learn some skills, but she hadn’t managed to find a suitable opportunity yet, so Mu Han had first gone to help out Li Zhaodi and Mu Teng.

  Shao Dong needed manpower, so Mu Jingzhe had thought of Mu Han and asked him to help without hesitation.

  There’d be meat to eat if he followed the big boss. Although it might be a little tough in the early stages, it would not be bad for Mu Han. There would be plenty of opportunities for him to learn in the future.

  Li Zhaodi and Mu Teng didn’t have any objections. Since the kids were already addressing them as Grandpa, Grandma, and Uncle, they had to help.

  Mu Han had originally thought that Shao Dong, who was a child, wasn’t capable of doing much. When he had seen Mu Jingzhe give him money for this venture, he’d only found it ridiculous. However, after these two days of going around with Shao Dong, those feelings had been replaced with admiration.

  The two of them, who had initially been strangers, quickly became familiar with each other. Mu Han started to have a better opinion of Shao Dong and kept saying that Shao Dong was smart. Now, he had no qualms about working for Shao Dong.

  When Shao Dong heard Mu Han praising him, it was similar to the way Mu Jingzhe had praised him before. He also felt close to this uncle of his.

  “Mommy, can Uncle always help me in the future? He is willing too.”

  “Of course.” Mu Jingzhe nodded affirmatively as she listened to Shao Dong talk about his experiences during the course of the past few days, as well as his plans.

  Now that the economy in the country was developing rapidly, everyone’s lives had improved greatly. The same applied to the county.

  Though the development of the county city wasn’t yet obvious, Shao Dong had felt it clearly the last time he had gone to the city.

  As residents of the city who enjoyed all kinds of conveniences, they would discard things at home that were old or useless. To them, this was trash, but many things could actually be exchanged for money. Although those items might look cheap, they were worth quite a decent sum of money when they accumulated.

  Furthermore, there were many things that weren’t just trash and merely required repair. Some things might not even need to be repaired. When sold to people who needed them, they could be turned into money.

  Just like that, Shao Dong formulated a plan to turn trash into treasure.

  [1] one person will bend over to be a goat, and the other players will run some distance to build up momentum before jumping over the ‘goat’