Fu, Lu, Shou, and Xǐ were stunned by the sudden change in the villagers’ attitude. Previously, when they had found out that Shao Dong had gone to pick up trash, they had ridiculed him for it. Even the people who had gone with him had also been mocked, including their children. Now, everyone’s attitude had changed, and they were begging to tag along.

  However, this would all happen in the future, so let’s not talk about it for now.

  Although there really was money to be made from this, there were a lot of hardships involved. After running around for a few days, Shao Dong had shed quite a bit of weight, losing the flesh that Mu Jingzhe had painstakingly put on him.

  Mu Jingzhe and Shao Dong came back from the city and met up with Li Zhaodi and the rest. They rushed home and told them about Mu Han’s situation on the way.

  “Xiao Han is working very hard now. It’s really the hottest time of the year. The sun is scorching, but he runs around to collect trash every day. He has shed a layer of skin from the sun alone.”

  “He’s not young anymore. It’s time for him to give it his all. Otherwise, who would dare marry him in two years? Who doesn’t work hard to earn money? All of us farmers have worked hard to earn money.” Mu Teng kept a straight face, but there was a gratified look in his eyes.

  Their bun-selling business had been quite stable. However, in the summer, their business wasn’t so good anymore. Furthermore, in the summer, the food business wasn’t easy to sustain, for the food couldn’t be preserved overnight because it went bad easily.

  Li Zhaodi saw that ice popsicles were selling very well outside, so she planned to sell some popsicles too.

  She really had a head for business. Business was quite good. Later on, she saw that the villagers also liked to eat popsicles, so she decided to sell them in the village as well.

  When she was busy, she would take the ice popsicles to Mu Jingzhe’s house and ask the children to help her sell them. The remuneration of each person was eating an ice popsicle.

  Even though she called it remuneration, she was merely doting on the kids.

  More and more children came to the Shao Residence. People came and went. Mu Jingzhe didn’t know why, but ever since she had come back from the city, she had a feeling that someone was following her. However, every time she turned around, she didn’t see anything.

  In the end, she could only attribute it to her imagination.

  There was another problem. Mu Jingzhe realized that ever since she had come back from the city with Shao Xi, the child seemed to have wilted.

  He had originally been quite close to her, but all of a sudden, he went back to how he used to be in the beginning. He was no longer close to her and he even called her ‘Mommy’ less.

  Mu Jingzhe couldn’t figure it out no matter how much she thought about it. Logically speaking, they should have gotten closer after going through thick and thin together, so why was Shao Xi so distant?

  \r \r \r

  It wasn’t as if Mu Jingzhe hadn’t tried hard during this period, but she’d always failed.

  Back then, they had agreed to buy the newspaper that had published his article. Mu Jingzhe had bought it and had even gone around promoting it. However, Shao Xi remained uninterested. He was also uninterested when the school praised him.

  When he returned that day, Mu Jingzhe bought the newspaper that had published Chubby Boy’s article. After eating, she called Shao Xi over.

  “Come on, Shao Xi. We agreed to burn this for him.”

  Shao Xi didn’t refuse, but the process was silent. Mu Jingzhe held his hand, but he managed to break free.

  Mu Jingzhe felt that he couldn’t go on like this. When they got home, she called Shao Xi, “Little Xi, let’s talk.”

  Shao Xi’s hands intertwined for a moment before he lowered his head and sat in front of Mu Jingzhe.

  “Little Xi, look at me.” Mu Jingzhe raised her hand so Shao Xi would look up. “What’s wrong with you lately? Do you hate me? Did I say or do something wrong recently?”

  Shao Xi panicked. “No.”

  “Then why are you avoiding me? You don’t even want to look me in the eye. It’s as if you hate me.” Mu Jingzhe looked at him seriously. “At first, I thought that we should be closer after going through thick and thin together. But now, it seems that the opposite is happening.

  “If I have done something that you don’t like or you have something on your mind, you have to tell me so that I can change this, alright?”

  Shao Xi’s hands clenched into tight fists. “No. No. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “If I didn’t do anything wrong, why did you stop liking me?” Mu Jingzhe touched Shao Xi’s little hand. “Don’t use too much strength, or it’ll hurt.”

  Shao Xi listened to Mu Jingzhe’s words and felt the warmth of her concern. No matter how hard he tried to control it, he felt a stinging sensation in his nose. “This pain is nothing. Can you not be so concerned about me?”

  How did she waver him time and again?

  His siblings had noticed that something was wrong with him during this period and had privately asked him what was going on. Now, Mu Jingzhe was also trying to waver him like this.

  “Mom, leave me alone. I’m okay. I’m fine. I don’t hate you. I like you a lot. I just… Anyway, just leave me alone. And don’t get too close to me.”

  Shao Xi stood up, wanting to flee, but Mu Jingzhe quickly pulled him back and hugged him. “No, if you don’t make things clear today, you’re not allowed to leave. Why can’t I get too close to you?”

  Mu Jingzhe was very anxious. She had to find out what was going on today. Thinking that Shao Xi could be persuaded by reason but not coercion, she hugged him from behind and rubbed her face against his back as she spoke in a soft voice.

  “Little Xi, I feel terrible knowing that you’re ignoring me—”

  Shao Xi became even stiffer. Hearing that Mu Jingzhe was about to cry, he quickly turned around. “Don’t cry. I’m not ignoring you. I’m just afraid… afraid that I’ll implicate you.”

  Mu Jingzhe grabbed his hand. “What do you mean? Why are you afraid of implicating me?”

  When Shao Xi looked at Mu Jingzhe’s warm gaze, in combination with the pressure and pain he had endured recently, he finally couldn’t help but speak the truth.

  “I just think I’m unlucky. You being nice to me is going to hurt you…” Shao Xi finally revealed the reason.

  Mu Jingzhe hadn’t expected this to be the reason. She was both angry and heartbroken when she heard this. She couldn’t help but grab Shao Xi and spank his butt.

  “You child, you actually kept such a big thing to yourself and didn’t tell me. I kept saying that you have to tell me if you are facing trouble, but you didn’t heed my words, did you?”

  “I did. I’m scared.” Although she was hitting him, Shao Xi’s heart actually eased up. “Mom, I’m just afraid.”

  “What are you afraid of? That’s a superstition!” Mu Jingzhe, who had expected better from him, helped him wipe his tears. “Stop crying. If anyone should cry, that would be me.”

  She pinched Shao Xi’s cheek. “Silly, you’re such a little fool. You can’t be superstitious, you know? You’re a writer. How can you be superstitious?”

  Shao Xi squeezed himself in front of Mu Jingzhe, too embarrassed to let her see his face. He buried his head on her shoulder and greedily sniffed the familiar fragrance on Mu Jingzhe’s body. “I’m just afraid.”

  Xiao Wu popped his head in cautiously and asked, “Mommy, what’s wrong?”

  “It’s nothing. Your second brother just needs to be taught a lesson.” Mu Jingzhe looked at Shao Xi, who was leaning against her, and shook her head helplessly. She then turned to Xiao Wu and said, “Xiao Wu, go look for your eldest brother and ask him to bring over the book he borrowed from the library.”

  Xiao Wu turned around and didn’t say anything, but Mu Jingzhe heard footsteps. Shao Dong and the rest were probably following Xiao Wu.

  Shao Dong quickly brought all the books over. Xiao Wu and the others followed him. Mu Jingzhe simply let them be and rummaged through the books to find the one she wanted.

  “Come on, Shao Xi. Read this for me.” She pulled Shao Xi, who was still hugging her neck.

  Shao Xi rubbed his face against her shoulder twice and wiped away his tears. He didn’t dare raise his head to look at his brothers. He only asked softly, “Read what?”

  “Read this section.” Mu Jingzhe pointed.

  Shao Xi looked at the book and read what he was told. “When the heavens are about to confer a great responsibility on a person, they will first have to train their willpower, toil their muscles and bones, starve their skin and flesh, and empty their body. They will then be able to do whatever they want and benefit from what they previously could not.”