Unknowingly, Mu Jingzhe had become a popular figure in the village. In fact, in the eyes of many people in the outer village, marrying her meant marrying into money. Moreover, Mu Jingzhe was becoming more and more beautiful.

  This was especially so after she put on the dress she had bought in Ocean City. Li Zhaodi had been nagging her, so her hair had grown a lot as well. Although she still trimmed it from time to time, it wasn’t as short as before. The sparkle in Mu Jingzhe was unavoidably displayed, and many people felt increasingly tempted.

  Mu Xue was already engaged, so now the person the village was most concerned about was Mu Jingzhe.

  In the past, when they had seen Mu Jingzhe make up her mind to take care of those five kids, everyone had still been worried. Now, seeing that Shao Dong could earn money and the other four kids weren’t inferior either, they no longer felt that they were a burden. Instead, they felt that the kids were treasure basins and didn’t mind them anymore.

  It didn’t matter if they had a few more children. The kids could earn their own money and didn’t need them to provide for them. In fact, their future biological kids might even be able to lead a good life thanks to the five of them.

  After thinking it through, a lot of young men started showing up at Mu Jingzhe’s door. From time to time, they would come over and knock on the door. Mu Jingzhe didn’t notice anything at all. Later, when more young men started showing up, she simply thought that they were there for the young girls who had come to work at her house. She even sighed with emotion, thinking to herself what a wonderful thing youth was.

  She didn’t notice this, but the children were sensitive to it. Because of Shao Dong’s instructions, they didn’t sabotage or scheme in secret. They just couldn’t help being vigilant and observing.

  It couldn’t be helped. This matter was too important, and there were many implications. Besides, in their hearts, Mu Jingzhe was the most wonderful person in the world. To them, there were very few people worthy of her.

  One could see that, as Shao Xi didn’t even think Ji Buwang was good enough for her.

  However, they didn’t disqualify all these people right from the start. After all, they were from the same village. It was just that when they came into contact with them, they would subconsciously observe them. First, they would help their mother see if the person was good enough and if there was a possibility of them getting together in the future.

  The children used their own ways to work together and stealthily sized up those young men properly.

  Mu Jingzhe didn’t notice at all. After all, it simply seemed to her that the kids were chatting with a fellow villager. In the beginning, even the young men who were being observed didn’t notice. In fact, they were rather happy to see that the children were willing to talk to them. They were also aware of the benefits of having a good relationship with the children.

  Then, those young men were coaxed into revealing their backgrounds by the children while being completely oblivious to their intentions. Only after the children had eliminated them did they realize what had happened.

  \r \r \r

  Some of them were angry when they realized what had happened. Others felt terrible because they were aware of their own limitations.

  When these young men’s families offered to help them propose marriage, they shook their heads and refused, saying, “Even at my age, I can’t compare to those kids. I’m also not as knowledgeable as them. I only know how to farm. How can I be worthy of her?”

  Mu Jingzhe’s peach blossoms[1] had bloomed for a while without her knowledge. Before she knew it, they had been blown away by the children.

  The only trace left behind was a notebook that Shao Dong secretly kept, which Mu Jingzhe had never even seen.

  It was a detailed record of every young man they thought might want to be their stepfather. The name of each man was replaced, and the information about their height, body, and physical condition was basically complete. Shao Dong had even noted down their educational qualifications.

  Most of them had graduated from elementary school or junior high. Very few of them had finished junior high school. There were also a lot of details about their family situation. After all, this was a very important factor. What their parents and siblings were like, whether they were favored at home, whether their parents were easy to get along with, and how their lives were.

  Then, there was the analysis of their personality, hobbies, and interests. Those with bad personalities and those who liked to play cards or gamble were eliminated. Smoking and drinking at such a young age was frowned upon as well.

  Then, there was a section on their appearance and knowledge. The record was dense and comparable to that of a matchmaker, but it was also more detailed than that of a matchmaker.

  This was all because Little Bei had coincidentally bumped into a matchmaker on her way to propose marriage. She had followed the matchmaker out of curiosity and learned the things a matchmaker would say. She had told her brothers about all the factors that everyone considered important.

  After observing and considering all these factors, they weren’t very satisfied with any of them. Either the young man wasn’t eligible enough himself, or there was a problem with his family background.

  Although they wouldn’t stop Mu Jingzhe from getting married, she had to marry a good man. These young men might be considered a decent catch in the village, but they weren’t compatible with Mu Jingzhe right now.

  Due to the actions of the children, no one dared to really come to the door to propose marriage. However, there were also some people who didn’t want to give up.

  One of them was a villager called Li Hua. In the past, he had been Mu Xue’s classmate. He had graduated from junior high and was tall and well-built. He was doing okay in the village and was considered outstanding among his peers.

  In the past, Li Hua hadn’t taken Mu Jingzhe seriously. All he’d cared about was Mu Xue. He felt that only Mu Xue was worthy of him, and for this reason, he had quite disliked Mu Jingzhe.

  However, Mu Xue didn’t like him, and Li Hua didn’t think anyone else was good enough for him. Thus, he had remained single until Mu Jingzhe had changed and become better.

  It was impossible for anything to happen between him and Mu Xue. After Mu Jingzhe’s transformation, he’d increasingly felt that Mu Jingzhe would do. Thus, Li Hua had set his sights on her.

  After the children observed him, they felt that he wasn’t very capable. Alas, they hadn’t expected him to still come to their door to propose.

  Li Hua was quite sincere, for he really wanted Mu Jingzhe now. However, when he brought the matchmaker over, Mu Jingzhe refused without hesitation.

  This time, even Li Zhaodi and Mu Teng didn’t waver. Their standards had become higher. To put it bluntly, Mu Jingzhe hadn’t even said yes to that guy from the county, let alone someone from the same village.

  Li Hua had considered the possibility of rejection, but he hadn’t expected to be rejected in such an outright manner. He was a little displeased.

  “It won’t be that easy to succeed. If you’re sincere, you can go again,” the matchmaker quickly said. However, even she felt that it was a little difficult.

  After Mu Jingzhe refused, she heaved a sigh of relief. “Why did he suddenly come and propose marriage?”

  The children sighed in relief when they saw her turn the proposal down. “Because you’re beautiful and outstanding, Mommy.”

  “Little Bei, why are you so good at talking?” Mu Jingzhe laughed.

  “Mom, the school needs the parents to go and help out during the weekend. Are you free?” Shao Dong waited for them to finish speaking before he got down to business.

  “Our teacher also said that the school wants to build a cement field and needs the parents to help with manual labor. Each student has to send at least one parent.”

  Little Bei felt a little troubled because there was only one Mu Jingzhe and four of them who went to school. There wasn’t enough of her to go around. “Mommy, since you’re only one person, will they make you go for four days? Uncle has to go to work too.”

  If she has to go for four days, Mommy will be exhausted.

  “No. Everyone in the village knows that it’s just me. I’ll probably need to go for only one day. Plus, I’m strong, so I can do more work. I can handle four people’s work all by myself.” Mu Jingzhe was also troubled when she heard that the school was asking the parents to help out with manual labor.

  She had finally experienced what it was like to be a parent. In the past, she used to have colleagues who had children at home and had to complete all kinds of homework and handicraft assigned by the teacher. They’d ended up being busier than their children. She’d also heard that they had to go to their kids’ school to help with cleaning and stuff.

  Although she didn’t have to do the cleaning because the children knew how to do it themselves, there was other work she had to do.

  [1] potential love interests