Shao Xi was very supportive of Shao Dong’s suggestion to buy a present. “Sure, I have the royalties. We can buy it with my royalties.”

  “No need. Everything is going smoothly on Uncle’s end. I have money now. You can keep your royalties.” Shao Dong shook his head.

  Shao Nan didn’t vie to pay for it because he had yet to earn money. Only then did he realize that he was the only one who hadn’t earned money among the five of them.

  After Shao Dong finished his discussion with Shao Xi and Shao Nan, they went to the department store to buy gifts before going to the Ji Residence.

  Mu Jingzhe was hesitating because she did not know what to buy, but Shao Dong was already done with his purchase.

  “You thought of buying him a gift? You didn’t even need me to remind you, nor did you tell me about it.” Mu Jingzhe knew that Shao Dong was used to being the head of the household when she wasn’t at home. Hence, she merely marveled and said nothing else afterward.

  When it was time, they went to the Ji Residence as agreed.

  The Ji Residence’s door opened, and they were welcomed warmly. “Come in quickly.”

  “Here’s a little something from the kids. I hope you like it.” Mu Jingzhe presented the gift.

  In that era, there weren’t all kinds of packaging like in the future, so it was easy to see what the gift was.

  The moment Ji Buwang took it, he realized that it was a man’s wallet. His heart skipped a beat when he saw it. A wallet…

  When a girl gave a gift to a guy she liked, it was usually a wallet, a tie, a watch, or stuff like that. Ji Buwang guessed that it was actually from Jingzhe and she only claimed that it was from the kids because she was shy.

  That meant that Jingzhe also…

  Ji Buwang’s heart skipped a beat before he heard Shao Dong say, “Teacher Ji, I chose this color because I didn’t know which color you like. If you like any other colors, you can exchange it.”

  Ji Buwang: “Oh, ah, I like this color.”

  So this wallet had been really bought by the kids and not Mu Jingzhe?

  Judging by Mu Jingzhe’s proud look as she gazed at Shao Dong, that was likely it.

  Ji Buwang felt momentarily dejected, but he quickly pulled himself together. No matter what, he and Jingzhe were getting closer.

  “Quick, have a seat. There are several flavors of soda to choose from. There are also snacks and candy. You can choose what you like.”

  Ji Buwang had clearly made preparations beforehand and was very attentive.

  The kids also felt his sincerity. “Thank you, Teacher Ji. Can we go take a look at the books first?”

  “Sure, they’re in the study. Feel free to take a look.”

  Afraid that they wouldn’t be able to reach the bookshelves, he had moved the books that were on the higher shelves to the table.

  The Ji Family’s book collection was no joke. It was comparable to the county’s library. There were many different types of books, and there were even many comic books.

  \r \r \r

  “I read these when I was young. You can borrow them if you like.”

  “Wow, thank you, Teacher Ji.”

  Upon seeing the comic books, the children smiled and couldn’t wait to flip through them.

  Mu Jingzhe took a look, and her attention was attracted by two rows of books. The colors of these books were slightly different, and they had an ancient feel to them. However, it could be seen that they were well preserved.

  “Are these ancient books?”

  “Yes, that’s all the ancient books we have here.”

  “I’ve got to tell them not to touch these.” Mu Jingzhe immediately warned the children.

  “It’s fine to take a look.” Ji Buwang trusted the children.

  “If you don’t tell them, what if they accidentally borrowed one and dirtied it or damaged it?”

  The children obeyed and didn’t touch those books. To them, the other books were already a sea of joy.

  As there was a limit to borrowing books from the county library, they could only borrow two books at a time. Most of the time, they would read the books borrowed by their siblings after finishing the two they had borrowed. Ji Buwang was very generous and allowed them to borrow quite a few books at once, and they could exchange them for new ones after they were done with them. This made the children very happy.

  Actually, Ji Buwang could have lent them all at once or even given them all the books. However, after thinking for a while, he realized that if he did that, he wouldn’t have the chance to interact with Mu Jingzhe and the children at his house in the future. Therefore, he cleverly lent out a few books and let them exchange them frequently. This way, he could build a relationship with them.

  The kids were picking out the books happily, and even Mu Jingzhe was browsing through the collection with enthusiasm. Seeing that, Ji Buwang cast a smug look at Uncle Li, who was standing at the door.

  Uncle Li: “…”

  A week ago, Ji Buwang had come back and told him that Mu Jingzhe and the five children would be coming to his place.

  Uncle Li, who had been tormented by Ji Buwang and had accompanied him while he’d mulled for several days over what kind of presents to give the kids, could only helplessly get busy again.

  After cleaning and shopping for two days, he’d finally found out that Mu Jingzhe and the kids were only coming over during the weekend.

  Uncle Li wished that he could shake Ji Buwang awake so that he would stop doing all this.

  But what could he do? In the end, he could only accept it.

  After making so many blunders, he still had the cheek to look so smug?

  Uncle Li didn’t look at him, but Ji Buwang didn’t let him off. “Uncle Li, why aren’t you speaking? See, I told you that reading books is useful. It gives you something to talk about with other people.”

  The last time Ji Buwang had asked a parent about raising children, he had suffered a setback. However, he hadn’t given up. Instead of asking ordinary people, he had now turned to studying.

  He really had found books on how to raise children and how to get close to them. This was the result of his studies.

  Upon hearing this, Uncle Li felt even less like talking.

  He couldn’t understand why Young Master was so bent on becoming a stepfather.

  It was difficult to be a stepmother, and it was also difficult to be a stepfather. Mu Jingzhe was already a stepmother, but Young Master insisted on becoming a stepfather.

  How would a stepmother and a stepfather look like together?

  The Old Master didn’t know this for the time being. It was about time to slowly reveal some information to him and let him know.

  Mu Jingzhe turned around and saw Uncle Li’s frustrated, complicated expression.

  Uh… This butler, Uncle Lee, had such rich facial expressions. It was as if she could see a new expression on his face each time she looked at him.

  However, he probably wasn’t too crazy about them showing up like that.

  Mu Jingzhe urged the children to hurry up and choose. Then, she quickly bade them farewell. She didn’t stay for a meal like Ji Buwang had invited them to.

  Ji Buwang could only wait for next weekend.

  However, next weekend, when Shao Dong, Shao Xi, and Shao Nan came, Mu Jingzhe didn’t come.

  Mu Jingzhe and Little Bei had gone to Ocean City to film.

  The final part of the movie was supposed to be filmed in Ocean City. Director Lu had informed them before and had gone there to prepare for the shoot.

  As the entire film crew was waiting, Mu Jingzhe took a week off from school on behalf of Little Bei and prepared to return after filming. Luckily, Little Bei was a quick learner.

  Mu Jingzhe had visited Ocean City quite a few times in the modern era. She had even stayed there for two years. However, she hadn’t been to the Ocean City of this era in this novel’s world.

  Ocean City was a big city, so Little Bei was very happy to be able to go there. The boys also looked forward to going there, but considering that Little Bei would be busy filming, Mu Jingzhe didn’t bring them along. They agreed to go there next time if they had the chance.

  Mu Jingzhe and Little Bei took the train to Ocean City. Shao Qiyang had bought them sleeper tickets through his connections. They boarded the train during the day and slept the whole night before arriving the next day.

  “This way.”

  Director Lu had sent someone to pick them up and bring them to the set.

  It was only then that Mu Jingzhe found out that Tian Xiaoxiao was from Ocean City. Mother Tian had helped a lot this time. Even the guesthouse had been arranged by her, and she’d managed to get them cheaper rates.

  The location of the guesthouse was not bad. It was also quite clean and new. Mother Tian had put in a lot of effort this time.

  Since she was so sincere, Director Lu and the crew changed their attitude toward her. They specifically talked to Mu Jingzhe and Little Bei, hoping that they could improve their relationship, saying that harmony brought wealth.

  “I really got to thank them for going through all that trouble.” Mu Jingzhe understood this logic, so she replied with a smile.

  On the same day, Little Bei entered the filming set. Although she was exhausted from the journey, she still got into character very quickly after filming started. Director Lu was very satisfied.

  Considering that Little Bei was also tired, they didn’t work overtime that day and even had a meal together. Mother Tian also came. She shook hands with Mu Jingzhe to reconcile with her and asked her to tell her if she wasn’t satisfied with the food and accommodation, for she was familiar with the boss of the guesthouse.

  When they returned to their room, Mu Jingzhe and Little Bei were both tired.

  The room in the guesthouse was quite clean. By the time Mu Jingzhe washed her face and came out, Little Bei had already fallen asleep before she’d even gotten to drink the cool water on the bed.

  “You must be tired.” Mu Jingzhe knew that she was tired and covered her with a blanket.

  After drinking a cup of water, Mu Jingzhe quickly fell sound asleep.

  Little Bei woke up choking. When she woke up, she saw that the bedside lamp was switched on. What was even more glaring than the light were the burning window curtains. Flames were shooting everywhere.

  The room was on fire!