While looking at the snake corpses on the ground, everyone felt their hair stand on end. Their expressions as they looked at Mu Jingzhe also changed several times. This was a ruthless person.

  Upon hearing that Shao Dong had tried to suck the venomous blood out for Mu Jingzhe, everyone was filled with emotions. Even their own son might not have done this. Even though Mu Jingzhe and Shao Dong weren’t related by blood, they were more protective of each other than those that were. No wonder Mu Jingzhe had chosen to come back.

  Zhao Lan was in the crowd. When she saw that Mu Jingzhe was fine, the corner of her mouth twitched. She was somewhat dissatisfied, but after casting a stealthy glance at Shao Dong, she didn’t dare make a sound.

  It would be a lie to say that she wasn’t angry. After being raised for so many years, even a dog would be grateful to its master. In the end, because of what had happened last time, he now completely refused to acknowledge them.

  He had even wanted to hit her for Mu Jingzhe. If she had been unlucky, she would have been beaten to death.

  To think they felt more affection for Mu Jingzhe, despite the fact that she had only raised them for half a year, compared to her, the grandmother who had raised them for five to six years prior to that. Seriously…

  Zhao Lan secretly spat and muttered as she left. “Why wasn’t she bitten to death?”

  Seeing that Mu Jingzhe hadn’t died, Old Lady Mu also left. Meanwhile, the bravest men in the village cleaned up the snake corpses in the yard.

  Upon seeing the door that Mu Jingzhe had smashed, the people who were tidying up the courtyard fell silent. It could only be said that it was fortunate that a snake had crawled in and not a human. Otherwise, said human might not even have been an intact corpse.

  Mu Jingzhe didn’t notice everyone’s gazes. She watched as the snakes were taken away. Although there were still traces left behind, she was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief. Her numb brain finally started working.

  So, these snakes weren’t the doing of a man? Mu Jingzhe recalled the feeling that someone had been following her all this time. Could she have offended someone who was now seeking revenge?

  But who could it be? A really vicious and terrifying method had been used. If she had woken up a little later, or if the snakes had acted at night, they might have been bitten in their sleep. If they were unlucky, they might have been bitten by a venomous snake, and that would have been it for them.

  Even if the five kids weren’t bitten, without an adult around, they might not have been able to escape.

  How big of a grudge was this? This person wanted to exterminate them directly and had even chosen a time when Shao Qiyang was not at home.

  Mu Jingzhe felt lingering fear just thinking about it. She felt like he was being targeted by a venomous snake that could bite her from the back at any moment.

  However, Mu Jingzhe soon heard that there were also snakes crawling into the other houses in the village. The snakes that crawled in were all abnormal, for they seemed to be directly attacking humans. It was just that there weren’t as many of them.

  So they hadn’t been specifically targeted?

  \r \r \r

  After hearing the latest news, the villagers cleaned up the bodies and left. Li Fang and the female workers boldly looked through Mu Jingzhe’s room and the entire house to make sure that no snakes had slipped through the net.

  Finally, when Mu Jingzhe and the kids had a chance to speak calmly, Mu Jingzhe immediately criticized Shao Dong.

  “Shao Dong, you’re not allowed to do such a foolish thing again. If this was a venomous snake, you might have died too.”

  Where was that cold, calm business tycoon she had read about in the novel? His image had been ruined.

  Shao Dong pursed his lips. “You are the one who was foolish first.” She was the one who was foolish enough to always want to protect them and did not care about her own safety.

  Shao Dong paused, took a deep breath, and said, “Mommy, I hope you can treat us a little worse in the future, especially when your life is in danger. I hope you can protect yourself first.

  “If something happens to you or if you die while protecting us, then we won’t have peace for the rest of our lives. We… can’t handle too much kindness from you, especially if it endangers your life.”

  They didn’t want this moving kinship anymore. More than that, they wanted her to be safe. They would rather be in danger themselves.

  Mu Jingzhe was stunned, but upon thinking about it from their perspective, she could understand them.

  “I will. And… I’m not really risking my life just for the two of you. It’s just a matter of convenience. I didn’t think that much about it. You don’t have to be so stressed.”

  According to the dramas on TV, they should have been moved to tears by now, but instead, they were discussing this question.

  “It’s settled then.” Shao Dong concluded. The other four kids nodded vigorously.

  “I don’t want Mommy to be in danger either.” Little Bei hugged Mu Jingzhe, still feeling afraid.

  “I’ll protect Mommy from now on.” Xiao Wu refused to lag behind.

  Mu Jingzhe: “None of you want me to protect you, but you have the cheek to want to protect me in the future?”

  The five kids: “…”

  Geez.

  The five of them looked at each other helplessly. Luckily, Mu Jingzhe had forced them to memorize “Born in Woes and Died in Peace” last night.

  Otherwise, after encountering something like this again today, they would probably have overthought things.

  Shao Dong coughed as he looked at the room without a door and changed the topic. “Mom, are we going to order a custom-made door, or are we going to buy an iron door outside?”

  “I think we should get an iron door. Then Mommy won’t break it again. It’s safer too,” Shao Dong suggested.

  Little Bei raised her hand. “Mommy will smash the metal door until it becomes uneven. That’s what happened when Mommy saved me last time. It won’t look good after that.”

  Mu Jingzhe: “…”

  Shao Dong: “In that case, we’d better go for a wooden door. Shao Xi, you go.”

  After Shao Xi left, Shao Dong fetched some water and cleaned up the traces on the ground. Mu Jingzhe wanted to help, but she was stopped.

  “Although it was not a venomous snake, you should still rest properly, Mom.”

  Shao Dong asked Xiao Wu to accompany Mu Jingzhe and took Shao Nan and Little Bei to clear up the traces on the ground. He threw away the stool that had been used to smash the snake and asked Shao Xi to customize a few stools as well.

  Shao Dong even suggested, “If you feel scared, recite ‘Born in Woes and Die in Peace’.”

  Little Bei and the rest thought it might work, so they recited it while they busied themselves.

  Mu Jingzhe, who had been asked to rest, found Shao Dong’s arrangement very reliable and adorable.

  As she listened to them recite poems while busying themselves, she increasingly felt that Shao Dong was capable. To be honest, she felt extremely unlucky to have experienced this today.

  Thankfully, she had the foresight to make the kids memorize this poem. Indeed, it proved to be of use at a time like this. As she listened to them recite the poem, she felt a lot more comforted. It reminded her that she had encountered so many twists and turns because the heavens were toughening her up for future success.

  She felt much better at that thought.

  Mu Jingzhe felt a lot better, and everyone also felt comforted. After experiencing all of this, as long as they could endure it, they would be one step closer to success.

  After he was done with his work, Shao Dong still wanted to cook but was stopped by Mu Jingzhe. “Let me do it. I can still cook. I’m already much better.”

  Fortunately, the snakes hadn’t gone into the kitchen. Otherwise, they would have felt especially unsafe. Speaking of that, the tables outside should be disinfected before usage.

  While Mu Jingzhe was cooking, Shao Dong went to find the village doctor and took some snake repellent powder from him. They scattered it around the perimeter of the house. Then, still feeling worried, they also scattered it in the courtyard.

  At first, because of this incident, every family wanted to scatter some snake repellent powder in their homes. However, the village doctor’s snake repellent powder had been taken by Shao Dong, so everyone could only go and get it elsewhere.

  After sprinkling the snake repellent powder, they felt more secure.

  However, the aftereffects were still left behind. Even the slightest noise would make Mu Jingzhe immediately take a look, afraid that it was a snake. Even seeing a leaf blown by the wind would make her jump in fright.