“You…” Mu Jingzhe was at a loss for words. Then, she looked up and saw that Li Zhaodi had returned. “Mom!”

  With sharp eyes and agile hands, she took the things the boss handed her. Without even turning her head, she shouted at Ji Buwang to pay, then pulled Li Zhaodi, who wanted to greet Ji Buwang, away.

  If she stayed any longer, she wouldn’t be able to take it anymore. Ji Buwang’s disposition was good, and he was too handsome. As a woman, she would get flustered.

  Ji Buwang looked at Mu Jingzhe’s back and laughed. “You’re scared very easily.”

  Mu Jingzhe brought Li Zhaodi back to Great Eastern Village. Li Zhaodi’s curly hair and large sunglasses instantly became the focus of the villagers.

  Seeing that Li Zhaodi was satisfied and started to joke around with the villagers, Mu Jingzhe shook her head and returned home.

  As soon as she got home, she realized that Shao Qiyang had cooked a lot of food that she and the children loved.

  When Shao Qiyang saw that Mu Jingzhe had returned right on time for the meal, he heaved a sigh of relief. Seeing that there was still time, he even cleaned up and changed into new clothes.

  He carefully put the necklace in his pocket and silently prayed that he would succeed. Then, Shao Qiyang went to call Mu Jingzhe and the others over for dinner. However, before he could sit down, Zhao Lan arrived.

  She hadn’t come alone. Shao Qiyun was also there, followed by Eldest Brother Shao and Eldest Sister-In-Law Shao.

  Zhao Lan and the others had arrived without a warning. The moment they arrived, they came with fierce momentum. As soon as they entered, Shao Qiyang sensed that something was wrong.

  “Why are you here?”

  \r \r \r

  Zhao Lan glanced at Shao Qiyang. “We’re not here for you today. Go get Mu Jingzhe to come out.”

  “What do you want again?” Shao Qiyang gritted his teeth and looked at Shao Qiyun. “Shao Qiyun, every time we see you, you’re up to no good. What did you encourage Mom to do this time? Have you forgotten my warning? Aren’t you afraid of getting beaten up again?”

  “Shao Qiyang, what are you shouting for? How dare you scold your younger sister? You ungrateful thing. Didn’t you say that you wouldn’t acknowledge me as your mother? Why do you care so much now?”

  Zhao Lan was furious when she saw Shao Qiyang. However, Shao Qiyang wasn’t important now. She would pretend that she had never given birth to this son of hers. Zhao Lan pushed Shao Qiyang away and looked at Mu Jingzhe, who was walking out.

  “I’m here to find Mu Jingzhe.”

  Mu Jingzhe raised her chin. “What do you want to say to me? You even brought so many people with you?”

  “It’s still about the same matter as last time. Return the five kids to me. You’re not allowed to bring them along when you remarry.”

  “You brought so many people just to snatch the kids?”

  As expected, Mu Jingzhe thought to herself. “I want to say something first. No matter how many times you come and how many people you bring, I’ll say the same thing: No way.”

  “You’re not their biological mother, so why can’t you just let go of the five children? Today, we’re here to get them back no matter what.”

  Shao Qiyun spoke from the side with a domineering tone. She looked at the kids behind Mu Jingzhe with sparkling eyes.

  Previously, Shao Qiyun hadn’t bothered paying attention to Mu Jingzhe and the rest, nor had she bothered listening to Zhao Lan’s nagging. That was until she’d seen Little Bei’s movie at the movie theater and then Little Bei’s commercial on TV.

  It was only then that she’d realized that even Shao Nan had appeared on TV and participated in a show. She had heard from Zhao Lan that some teachers from the Imperial University also frequently wrote letters and sent books to Shao Nan, vying to be his teacher.

  Shao Qiyun had also seen Shao Dong buy a silver bracelet. Based on his conversation with the salesperson, it seemed that he had bought it for his mother.

  He was such a young child, yet he could actually buy a silver bracelet that even she couldn’t afford. What did this mean? It meant that his factory was earning money. In addition, during the last interview, she had seen that Little Bei and even Xiao Wu had become successful, so not a single one of the five children was lagging behind. She couldn’t help but have designs on them.

  She had asked Zhao Lan in detail, and the more she’d asked, the more shocked she had been. Just as Zhao Lan had said, these golden dolls were right beside them. Why not snatch them back? If she had the children in her hands and used them to earn money, she wouldn’t have to wash dishes anymore. It would be her wearing the silver bracelet instead.

  In terms of kinship, Mu Jingzhe, their stepmother, wasn’t as close to them as her, their biological aunt. Logically speaking, unlike her, Mu Jingzhe wasn’t fit to wear a silver bracelet.

  After washing dishes for some time, her hands had already become rough. She would also frequently be teased by some senseless men. She wouldn’t meet any rich men in such a small shop either. She had wanted to quit for a long time.

  However, it would be different if she had the children in her hands. She could use them to earn money, get a few commercials for Little Bei, and make her film movies. The money she earned would be much more than she’d make if she washed dishes. It would be easy to live a good life.

  Besides, with her beauty, it wouldn’t be impossible for her to become a celebrity. When the time came, she would have the chance to get to know rich men. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to get to know a celebrity. Celebrities were rich too.

  After Shao Qiyun had made up her mind, she and Zhao Lan had discussed how to snatch the children back. Zhao Lan had fearfully told her what Shao Nan had threatened them with.

  However, Shao Qiyun hadn’t taken it seriously. She’d only said that they didn’t have to be afraid, for he was just making empty threats. The oldest, Shao Nan and Shao Xi, were only 8 years old and were still far from turning 18. They weren’t adults yet. As guardians, the custody rights were in their hands. They, the adults, would be the ones to call the shots.

  Unlike Zhao Lan, Shao Qiyun planned meticulously and only fought battles when she was prepared. When she returned to Great Eastern Village, the first thing she did was bring gifts with Zhao Lan and directly go to the prestigious elders in the village, as well as the families that didn’t get along with Mu Jingzhe, to ask them to uphold justice.

  Mu Jingzhe was currently popular in Great Eastern Village. Many people liked her and depended on her to make a living, but there were also people who disliked her or had been offended by her.

  Everything went quite smoothly. Considering that Mu Jingzhe had a lot of supporters, Shao Qiyun was afraid that they’d have too few people on their side, so she had asked Zhao Lan to get her maternal family to come over as well. Only then did they come together to demand an explanation.

  Shao Qiyun had come prepared. She kept harping on about the fact that Mu Jingzhe wasn’t their biological mother and there were suspicions that she was getting married, trying to force Mu Jingzhe to let go.

  Previously, they had discarded Shao Dong and his siblings very easily. Now that they were promising, they wanted to snatch them again. How could Mu Jingzhe let them go? The children were also furious.

  However, the so-called ‘virtuous and respected’ elders who had come with Zhao Lan still felt that this made sense. Their family values were important, and they had a traditional mindset. They would repeat some variation of this over and over again: “As children and grandchildren, no matter what, we can’t be unfilial to our parents and grandparents. The children should go back. It wasn’t easy for Zhao Lan to raise them.”

  Compared to maternal kindness and filial piety, they cared more about the children’s filial piety. In their opinion, now that the five kids had made something of themselves, no matter how Zhao Lan had raised them in the past, since she had raised them, they couldn’t be ungrateful.

  “We’ve already split up the family assets. We can live by ourselves now. We don’t need her to raise us. How can we forcibly unsplit a family when we’ve already split up the family assets? I’ve never heard of that.”

  Shao Dong was now much more confident. Although he hadn’t overcome his stutter yet, he was no longer afraid of speaking. It didn’t matter if there were a lot of people around. He paused for a moment and then explained the situation clearly. “We’re doing very well with our mother now. We don’t need outsiders to take charge.”

  “Mu Jingzhe is a shameless woman. She’s entangled in a messy relationship with a man and will get married soon. How is that considered doing very well?” Shao Qiyun said earnestly. “Shao Dong, you have to consider this from a long-term perspective. Your grandma and aunt are doing this for your own good.”