“Just buy another scarf and change into a different pair of shoes. This outfit will look good with your sneakers.”

  Mu Jingzhe became interested. While Shao Nan was buying these things for her, she looked for something for the children. She imagined the family of six going out wearing woolen shirts and coats. It would be really cool.

  “Little Nan, let’s buy them all. They’ll be matching outfits then.”

  Other people’s parent-child attire just consisted of one parent matching with at most one or two children. As for her, she had five children. The lineup was completely different.

  Although this was the first time Shao Nan had heard the words “parent-child matching outfit”, he instantly understood. He thought for a while and immediately nodded. “Okay.”

  After discussing it, the two of them immediately started shopping for woolen shirts, coats, matching scarves, and shoes. Scarves were also a fashionable element.

  They were so focused on picking that they didn’t notice Shao Qihai, who had his back facing them.

  Shao Qihai had overheard a small part of their conversation. Although he hadn’t heard about the parent-child attire, he had heard them say that they were putting together an outfit and that the six of them needed to wear similar clothes.

  Shao Qihai was shamelessly tempted. He also wanted to wear the same clothes as them. If nothing went wrong, he would only need to capture the last two culprits before he could go home for good.

  When that time came, he would be able to wear the exact same clothes as them. One look and anyone would be able to tell that they were a family.

  Shao Qihai quickly picked out a woolen shirt and coat for himself before following her.

  Mu Jingzhe looked at the leather shoes and tried them on with Shao Nan but she didn’t buy them, as she felt that they had an average matching effect with the rest of the outfit. She only bought them for Li Zhaodi and Mu Teng, feeling that she and the children should go buy sports shoes instead.

  Shao Qihai, who was following them, saw that they had tried the shoes on but didn’t buy them. When he looked at the price again, he thought that it was because of the steep price tag. His heart ached. He thought for a while and asked the shop assistant to sell him the shoes that Mu Jingzhe and Shao Nan had tried. He also bought them for himself and the other four kids, bringing all the pairs with him.

  He imagined the delighted looks on the faces of Mu Jingzhe and the kids when he brought them back. With this thought in mind, he felt happy to be carrying so many shoes.

  After Mu Jingzhe bought the sports shoes, Shao Qihai looked at the price and felt that his guess had been right. He didn’t regret buying the leather shoes either. However, he also bought a pair of sports shoes for himself that was very similar to Mu Jingzhe’s. He felt that since they were a married couple—ahem, a family—they should wear identical outfits.

  \r \r \r

  Mu Jingzhe and Shao Nan went to buy scarves. Shao Qihai looked around and bought a similar one for himself. He bought all of them.

  Later on, when Mu Jingzhe passed by other shops, she would subconsciously observe shops that sold hair ornaments. Upon coming across particularly good-looking or ugly ones, she would try them on to see the effect. Wherever she went, she would observe the market, working hard for her hair ornament business.

  When Shao Qihai saw that Mu Jingzhe only looked at things and didn’t buy them, he thought that she couldn’t bear to part with the money. Later on, he asked the shop owner about the items Mu Jingzhe had tried and bought them all. He planned to give Mu Jingzhe a surprise when he returned.

  Of course, he didn’t forget to buy the same things for Little Bei.

  Just like that, Shao Qihai followed Mu Jingzhe and Shao Nan around. Although he couldn’t go up to them and reunite with them, this still felt like a family shopping trip to him.

  He was extremely glad that Ji Buwang wasn’t around. Shopping like this was very extravagant for him.

  In the end, because Shao Qihai had bought too many things, he wound up carrying a large bag and it got a little heavy. However, to Shao Qihai, this was a sweet burden. When he thought about Mu Jingzhe and the children being pleasantly surprised when he returned to bring these things back, he didn’t feel that the bag was heavy at all.

  However, while looking at Mu Jingzhe, who had been shopping along the way, who was carrying bags bigger than his own, and whom even Shao Nan was helping out, Shao Qihai also felt a certain amount of pressure. Or rather, the pressure of raising a family.

  He had to work hard to earn money in the future. Otherwise, he definitely wouldn’t have the chance to go on a shopping spree like this.

  Now, Mu Jingzhe was capable and could earn money herself. The children were also capable, but as a man, he couldn’t spend his wife and children’s money, let alone be inferior to them.

  He still had to support his family when he returned.

  While Mu Jingzhe enthusiastically went on her shopping spree, she didn’t notice Shao Qihai behind her at all, nor was she aware that he was thinking so much.

  In the past, whenever she saw parent-child outfits on the streets, she would look at them enviously. Now that she could wear them too, she felt pleased just thinking about it.

  In the end, Mu Jingzhe almost couldn’t carry all the things she had bought. Luckily, Mu Han came looking for her.

  Mu Han helped her carry her things back to her place. Mu Jingzhe took out the woolen shirt she had bought for Mu Han and had him change into it. “Try it on and see if it suits you. If it suits you, you can wear it. I’ve bought one for Mom and Dad too.”

  “Sister, why are you still buying things for me? I’m grown up now and I can earn my own money.”

  “But you’re still my younger brother. Just accept it since I’ve already bought it for you. Stop nagging.”

  After Mu Han put it on, Mu Jingzhe forbade him to take it off. “Just wear it and go eat. We’re heading back after eating.”

  Ji Buwang hadn’t been coming over. Mu Jingzhe thought that he might be busy, so she called to get someone to inform him that they were going back first. She then embarked on the journey back with Shao Nan.

  It wasn’t easy to buy a plane ticket at this time, so she took the train instead of the plane. Then, her retribution for going on that shopping spree came. Thanks to that enormous bag of things, she almost got stuck at the train door.

  Shao Qihai experienced a similar frustration. It wasn’t easy for him to make it back on the same train as Mu Jingzhe, as he was carrying a conspicuous large bag.

  One should know that in the past, he’d basically gone everywhere with the bare minimum luggage. This was the first time he was carrying such a big bag, but it was impossible for him to throw all those things away.

  Mu Jingzhe wanted to buy sleeper tickets, but she couldn’t. She only managed to buy a seat. The journey was long and a little difficult.

  “Are you tired? I’ll help you massage your legs. You can’t let your legs swell.” Mu Jingzhe massaged Shao Nan’s legs.

  “I’m not tired. Is Mommy tired?” Shao Nan was actually fine. He quite liked the feeling of being alone with his mother.

  “I’m fine, but it’s not easy to sleep at night. Little Nan, if you’re tired, go to sleep. I’ll carry you.”

  “I’ll just lie on the small table.” Shao Nan didn’t want to tire Mu Jingzhe out.

  Fortunately, when Shao Nan started to doze off, a sleeper bunk became available, so they could go over.

  Mu Jingzhe quickly carried Shao Nan there. Although there was only one sleeper bunk and it was quite cramped with the two of them, it was still better than sitting down.

  It was late at night, and Mu Jingzhe quickly fell asleep with Shao Nan.

  Shao Qihai waited for them to fall asleep before keeping guard at the door for them for a while. A satisfied smile appeared on his face.

  This sleeper bunk naturally hadn’t appeared out of nowhere. Instead, Shao Qihai had felt sorry for them and had tried his best to get it for them. He’d only managed to buy a seat ticket for himself, but it didn’t matter to him. After all, he had been in all kinds of arduous environments.

  However, that wouldn’t do for Mu Jingzhe and Shao Nan. For the first time, Shao Qihai used his connections and favors to think of a way to get them sleeper tickets.

  Shao Qihai was sitting on the ground outside. Amid the rumbling sounds of the train, he had closed his eyes to rest and was guarding them to prevent ignorant people from sneaking in.

  Shao Qihai’s worries weren’t unfounded. At present, there were some people around who specialized in stealing on trains, and a widow-and-child pair like Mu Jingzhe and Shao Nan was more likely to be targeted by them.

  Besides, Mu Jingzhe and Shao Nan were dressed quite well and had large parcels with them. It was obvious at a glance that they had come back after making a major purchase. Someone had been eyeing these fat sheep since they’d boarded the train.