The kids couldn’t bear to say anything to Mu Jingzhe, though. When they heard that it had been bought by their young uncle, they couldn’t help but tell Shao Qiyang, “Uncle, you don’t have to buy this for us anymore.”

  Shao Qiyang thought to himself,?I didn’t buy it for you! Hmph!

  He didn’t know why something so simple for others was so difficult for him?

  Shao Qiyang refused to believe it. He gritted his teeth and went to the department store to buy a watch. He thought to himself that she’d surely understand his feelings for her if he even went to the extent of buying her a watch. Nowadays, for most people, watches were big-ticket items that were bought only for spouses.

  The watch that Mu Jingzhe was wearing had been bought when she and Shao Qihai had gotten married. Li Zhaodi had sat outside the department store and kicked up a huge fuss, forcing Shao Qihai to buy it. As Mu Jingzhe had gone through too many hardships previously, the surface of the watch had been scratched, and one side had cracked. One even had to half-guess the time.

  He wanted to get her a new one, secretly hoping that she would take off the watch his older brother had given her.

  Shao Qiyang handed the watch to Mu Jingzhe. Mu Jingzhe glanced at it but didn’t accept it. “Shao Qiyang, why didn’t you tell me before you bought it? It is almost too heavy. You should give it to Little Dong yourself. Little Dong needs a watch now, and I was just thinking of getting one for him. I didn’t expect you to buy it for him.”

  Shao Qiyang: “…”

  Couldn’t she see that this was a design for women? Wasn’t this very obvious?

  There was no children’s version. If Shao Dong wanted to wear a watch, it seemed that it would indeed be more suitable to buy the women’s version. However, this wasn’t for Shao Dong. If Shao Dong needed it, he would buy one for him specifically.

  As Shao Qiyang was struggling to say something, Mu Jingzhe asked, “Is your company progressing smoothly? Have the previous issues been resolved? You’ve even earned some money now and bought Little Dong a watch.”

  Shao Qiyang was helpless. Actually, the company was still in development and hadn’t started earning money. This watch had been bought with his savings, as he had been living frugally.

  \r \r \r

  The speed at which one earned money could never match the speed at which one spent money. Previously, they had agreed to buy another bicycle, and Mu Jingzhe had bought it after earning money. Shao Qiyang had paid for half of it, just like they had agreed. Now that they had two bicycles at home, his pockets were really empty, and he had even taken out a loan.

  Shao Qiyang wanted to earn money quickly and return the loan. Usually, he would avoid spending money if possible and he was only willing to spend money on his nephews, niece, and Mu Jingzhe.

  In terms of family background and other aspects, he couldn’t compare to Ji Buwang. All he had was a sincere heart and his willingness to give every dollar he had to Mu Jingzhe. Take this watch for example. It was actually the cheapest watch in the department store, but it was everything he could offer.

  Mu Jingzhe found it strange that Shao Qiyang was so dazed that he wasn’t moving. She was about to ask what was wrong when she heard Shao Dong’s voice. “Uncle, did you buy me a watch?”

  Shao Qiyang turned around and saw Shao Dong’s surprised gaze. As he faced Shao Dong, Shao Qiyang swallowed his words of denial.

  Ever since Shao Dong had started earning money, he had bought many things for Shao Qiyang, which had really warmed up Shao Qiyang’s heart. When he saw Shao Dong’s delighted gaze, how could he bear to say that the watch wasn’t for him?

  In the end, the watch was put on the wrist of Shao Dong, who in turn reciprocated with a suit and a pair of leather shoes for Shao Qiyang. He said that as a future big boss, he would look grand in this suit.

  Shao Dong had bought an old-style suit. It was wide and big and it actually didn’t look very good. However, when it came to clothes, sometimes it really depended on the individual. Other people wouldn’t be able to pull off the wide suit, but Shao Qiyang looked good in it.

  Mu Jingzhe thought to herself that it was indeed about looks. She walked in a circle around Shao Qiyang and said, “It will look even better after a small alteration.”

  “Mommy, are you going to help Uncle alter it?” Shao Dong’s eyes lit up as he asked this. Even now, the children’s favorite clothes were still clothes personally made by Mu Jingzhe. If they bought new clothes that didn’t suit them, they would fit well and look beautiful after Mommy altered them.

  In the kids’ eyes, Mu Jingzhe’s hands seemed able to conjure magic. Other women used a sewing machine normally, whereas their mother could create magic with it. They loved watching their mother use a sewing machine.

  Mu Jingzhe looked at their expectant gazes and then at Shao Qiyang, whose eyes were also sparkling. She stroked her chin and nodded. “Sure. After an alteration, the suit will fit you better and make you look more energetic.”

  “Thank you, Jingzhe.” Shao Qiyang’s eyes lit up. He could finally wear the clothes made by Mu Jingzhe. Altering something was almost the same as making it.

  When Shao Qiyang wore the suit that Mu Jingzhe had finished altering, he felt completely different. It fit him better and made his figure appear tall and straight. When the villagers saw him, they all said that he looked energetic.

  Shao Qiyang got to work in the altered suit. When he passed by the county movie theater, he saw a new romance movie being screened. Many young people, especially couples, would watch it.

  Shao Qiyang was tempted and plucked up the courage to ask Mu Jingzhe to watch a movie this time. Mu Jingzhe agreed readily, but when they arrived, she brought the children with her. “Your uncle invited you to watch a movie, and I’m also benefiting from it. Shao Qiyang, have you bought the tickets?”

  Mu Jingzhe’s gaze landed on another movie that was suitable for children.

  Shao Qiyang quietly placed the movie tickets he had bought in his bag. He said that he hadn’t bought them and queued up to buy new movie tickets.

  While watching the movie, Shao Qiyang was separated from Mu Jingzhe by the five children, his face numb.

  Perhaps he was used to it, but he actually accepted it very calmly this time. He wasn’t as disappointed as before… No, that wasn’t true. He was even angrier and more disappointed.

  One shouldn’t do something more than thrice, but this was already way past his third attempt. At this point, while watching the movie, Shao Qiyang resolved not to drop hints again.

  It was useless to drop hints for a straight woman[1] like Mu Jingzhe. It was also useless to send her gifts to hint at his feelings. He had to confess his feelings to her in a straightforward manner.

  After a few failures, Shao Qiyang finally comprehended what Ji Buwang had understood long ago. He was finally ready to take action.

  If he didn’t confess soon, he was afraid that it would be too late. He was afraid that he would regret it. Even though he would risk being rejected, as well as completely shattering the peace in the house, he wanted to make his feelings for her clear.

  Shao Qiyang prepared himself mentally and looked at Mu Jingzhe. Shao Nan, who was sitting next to him, asked quietly, “Uncle, you also saw that person looking at Little Bei, right? I think he recognized her.”

  Shao Qiyang: “Ah, who?”

  “The uncle with the hat. He keeps looking at Little Bei. So does his son.”

  Ever since the movie had been released, many people had gone to watch it. It wasn’t obvious in the countryside, but it was more obvious in the county city. When Little Bei went out, many people stared at her and found her familiar. Some people even called her Xiao Jiu.

  According to Director Lu, more people watched movies in big cities. In the future, as the movie screened in theaters longer and started playing on TV, more and more people would recognize Little Bei. It would only be a matter of time before Little Bei became a household name as a child star.

  Now that they had come to the county city, it felt particularly obvious.

  Mu Jingzhe also noticed that there were more and more gazes on them, so she had no choice but to leave with Little Bei.

  [1] In this case, a straight man/woman refers to someone who is dense when it comes to love cues