Perhaps it was because she had gotten used to bullying her children since they were young and had always had control over their life and death, but although Zhao Lan might be afraid of Mu Jingzhe, she had never taken those five kids seriously. After all, these children had been raised by her.

  Anyway, she was their biological grandmother. What could they do to her?

  At that moment, Zhao Lan knew that they could really do anything to her. They might even kill her.

  She was furious, but fear still prevailed. She took two steps back, turned around, and ran.

  The woman who had come in with Zhao Lan looked at Mu Jingzhe with worry in her eyes. “I’ll go get help.”

  The village doctor had medicine that might be of use here. If the medicine didn’t work, they’d have to consider taking her to the hospital, even though those who were bitten by snakes usually died by the time they reached the hospital.

  She turned around and ran to call for help and inform Mu Teng and Li Zhaodi at the Mu Residence. If the medicine didn’t work, they could still see her one last time.

  The courtyard quietened down. Shao Dong looked at Mu Jingzhe, closed his eyes, and calmed down. “Xiao Wu, go get help. Little Bei, go find some clothes or anything else. We have to bandage the wound.”

  When Shao Dong heard that the woman was going off to call for help, he believed her. However, he still wanted to send Xiao Wu away so that he would not be traumatized when he saw all of this. After all, he was still young.

  Shao Dong thought of many things in an instant, but Xiao Wu didn’t listen to him this time. He also knew that someone had already gone to call for help, so he wanted to stay by Mu Jingzhe’s side.

  Shao Dong saw that he hadn’t moved, but there was nothing he could do about it. There was no time to waste. He hadn’t seen anyone in the village being bitten by a snake with his own eyes, but he had seen it on television before.

  Shao Dong looked at Mu Jingzhe’s wound. Without much hesitation, he made a decision and lowered his head to suck out the venom.

  “Brother, you can’t do it. I’ll do it!” Shao Xi knew what Shao Dong wanted to do and stopped him. “You can’t have an accident.”

  “Then who?” Shao Dong avoided Shao Xi’s hand. “I’ll do it. If anything happens to me, I’ll leave everything to you.”

  After saying that, Shao Dong lowered his head and sucked out as much venom as he could.

  Little Bei’s face was full of tears, but she didn’t dare cry out loud. As she wiped her tears, she retrieved the cloth.

  Shao Nan’s hands trembled as he bound Mu Jingzhe’s legs based on his understanding to prevent the poison from spreading.

  Seeing that Shao Dong was still sucking and Mu Jingzhe was still not awake, Shao Nan clenched his hand bit by bit. “It’s all my fault. Mommy might have been bitten while saving me.”

  \r \r \r

  “No, she got bitten afterward when she was saving me. The person bitten should have been me.”

  At first, Shao Dong hadn’t thought much about it. However, now that he thought about it, he could feel that something was amiss. At that moment, he finally understood the feeling that Shao Xi had mentioned earlier.

  This was the first time he was gripped by such fear. He was afraid that he had caused Mu Jingzhe’s death. He was afraid of this heavy emotion and didn’t dare think about what he would do if something happened to Mu Jingzhe.

  At that moment, he even thought that if Mu Jingzhe was gone, the heavens should just take him away as well.

  He was used to shouldering responsibility since he was young, but at that moment, he suddenly couldn’t hold on anymore. He couldn’t bear it any longer.

  Therefore, if she had to die, they might as well die together.

  He was really tired. If Mu Jingzhe was gone, he really wouldn’t be able to hold on. He’d have to… abandon his younger siblings.

  “I’m sorry…”

  Shao Dong apologized to Mu Jingzhe and his younger siblings.

  When Mu Jingzhe woke up, she felt faint pain in her ankle. In a daze, she opened her eyes and saw Shao Xi and Little Bei’s tearful faces, while Shao Dong was lying on the ground sucking on her ankle.

  All those memories instantly returned to her mind—the terrifying snakes and the pain in her ankle. Mu Jingzhe’s expression changed, and she immediately stood up to dodge Shao Dong.

  “Shao Dong, are you crazy? How dare you suck out the blood? Do you want to die?!”

  “Mom!”

  Shao Dong and Shao Xi were overjoyed. “You’re awake. How do you feel?”

  How did she feel? Mu Jingzhe still felt a little dizzy and weak, but she didn’t dare say anything. “Quick, rinse Shao Dong’s mouth and call the doctor!”

  Seeing that Mu Jingzhe was awake, Xiao Wu quickly went to get some water.

  Mu Jingzhe looked at the wound and thought to herself, ‘So it wasn’t an illusion. How unlucky.’

  She didn’t know what exactly had happened when the venom had acted up, but her hand felt a little numb. She felt like the poison was spreading, so she quickly said her last words.

  “In the future, you’re not allowed to use your mouth to suck blood. You’re not allowed to learn from television either. Otherwise, two lives might be lost instead of one!

  “Little Bei, do you know where I hid the money? When the time comes, you can use it. Also, your grandparents… They will definitely be very sad. Keep them company and help me support them in their old age!”

  Mu Jingzhe hadn’t expected that she would be killed by a venomous snake. This had happened so suddenly that she didn’t know what to say. She could only think that at least Shao Dong was starting to earn money and these kids were in a better situation than before.

  Although it was a little thick-skinned of her, if she really were to die now, it would probably be best if she left the children a few missions.

  “Shao Dong, the pension that you kids said you were going to give me can go to my mother instead. They might take their anger out on you. I have to make sure they don’t blame you for—”

  Mu Jingzhe thought of using her cell phone to record a video, but she didn’t have one. “Little Bei, quick, get a pen and paper. I’ll tell them not to blame the five of you.”

  After Mu Jingzhe instructed them what to do if she were to die, Xiao Wu and Little Bei, who was already crying, started to wail.

  “You’ll be fine, Mommy.”

  Shao Dong’s expression also changed drastically. For the first time, he shouted at Mu Jingzhe, “What kind of nonsense are you talking about? You can take care of them yourself. If you leave like this, I won’t take care of them.”

  How could he support them in their old age when he didn’t even want to live anymore?

  “Don’t get worked up. I’ll calm down!” Mu Jingzhe pressed Shao Dong down. “You might have absorbed the venom as well. If you get agitated, the venom will spread faster. Don’t get worked up!”

  “I’ll live if you live.” Shao Dong exhaled. “You’ll live. I’ll definitely make sure you live!”

  The Shao Family was gloomy. Meanwhile, after the auntie left, she immediately called for help and went to the village doctor.

  Village doctors were barefooted doctors in the village. Their skills had been passed down for generations, and they did have certain capabilities.

  After the auntie called the village doctor, she immediately rushed to the Mu Family’s house. She shouted along the way and told the villagers to quickly go to the Mu Residence. If the doctor couldn’t do anything about it, they’d have to take her to the hospital.

  When she arrived at the Mu Residence, they heard her before they even saw her. “Mu Jingzhe has been bitten by a snake. Mu Teng, Li Zhaodi, go quickly.”

  Behind her were also people who had come over after hearing the news. “Mu Jingzhe was bitten to death by a snake. Come quickly…”

  The news of Mu Jingzhe being bitten by a snake was spread by that auntie, whereas the news of her being bitten to death was spread by Zhao Lan.

  Two pieces of news simultaneously reached the Mu Residence. Unfortunately, Mu Han had already gone out to scavenge. Mu Teng and Li Zhaodi had gone to sell buns and weren’t at home. Old Lady Mu and the rest were shocked when they heard that. “What?”

  Tang Moling was even more shocked than Old Lady Mu.

  Tang Moling was at the Mu Residence early in the morning because he had caught a cold. Old Lady Mu was worried about him going back, so she had asked him to stay at the Mu Residence for a night to take care of him.

  Mu Xue was washing her face with warm water when she suddenly heard this news.

  Mu Jingzhe had been bitten to death by a snake? She was dead?

  The washbasin in her hand fell to the ground with a loud thud. Tang Moling’s body swayed, and he rushed out without a care.