Shao Qihai was different from Zhao Lan and the others. She could resolve Zhao Lan’s issue simply by using force. However, with Shao Qihai there, she couldn’t, as he was the children’s biological father.

  The word ‘biological’ was about to become Mu Jingzhe’s taboo after being through so much today and hearing the words ‘biological mother’ and ‘stepmother’ get constantly mentioned. Great, their biological father was now back.

  It hadn’t been easy for her to raise the five children well and develop feelings for them. In the end, he had come back to snatch the children away. But on what grounds?!

  Mu Jingzhe glared at Shao Qihai fiercely. He was their biological father, so the children would definitely have to follow him in the future. Also, the children had deep feelings for him and were close to him. As she thought of all this, she was overwhelmed by anger, and her eyes were filled with a murderous warning.

  Shao Qihai was a little stunned. Mu Jingzhe kept looking at him, making him feel rather uncomfortable.

  Shao Qiyang, who was looking at them staring ‘passionately’ at each other, was speechless.

  This was probably one of the most dramatic days of Shao Qiyang’s life.

  He had finally decided to confess. In the end, Zhao Lan and the others had ruined his meticulous preparations. Now, Shao Qihai had actually returned.

  Shao Qiyang felt like he was having a dream. His hand subconsciously gripped the necklace in his pocket while he was left in a daze. He didn’t come back to his senses for a long time.

  He had wanted to ignore everything and confess his feelings earlier on, but now, it had turned out that Second Brother hadn’t died and had come back alive…

  Shao Qiyang kept repeating in his mind the words ‘Second Brother hasn’t died and he just returned’. Only one feeling filled his heart: Heaven just didn’t like him and was toying with him on purpose.

  Shao Qiyang was in a daze. The word ‘miserable’ would not be enough to describe his current state.

  The miserable Shao Qiyang didn’t know if he should be glad that he hadn’t confessed yet or hate the heavens for playing such a joke on him.

  He should have been delighted that his biological brother, Shao Qihai, hadn’t died and had returned. However, all he felt was confusion.

  Shao Qihai glanced at Shao Qiyang. Seeing that he was in a daze, he thought that Shao Qiyang was still digesting the news. He patted Shao Qiyang’s shoulder and silently thanked him for taking care of the children over the past year.

  \r \r \r

  Shao Qihai’s gaze finally landed on the five kids. Seeing that they had all grown quite a bit, he felt both guilty and comforted. He smiled and opened his arms, waiting for the children to pounce on him.

  However, even though he kept his arms spread for a long time, the children still hid behind Mu Jingzhe and gripped her hand and clothes, refusing to go over.

  Their appearance was very similar to when he used to come back to visit during his time in the army. However, at the time, they used to surround Shao Dong and tug at his clothes, looking at him timidly. This time, they were holding onto Mu Jingzhe.

  Every time they seemed not to believe that he had returned and would only get familiar with him after a while. As he thought of the past, Shao Qihai’s eyes stung.

  Previously, he’d had no choice but to fake his death. The children would definitely be flustered and sad when they heard that he’d returned.

  At the thought of this, Shao Qihai moved his awkward arms. After squatting down, he clapped his hands and said, “Why aren’t you coming over? Were you frightened too? Don’t be afraid. I’m not a ghost. Daddy is still alive. Come over quickly.”

  The five kids remained indifferent and didn’t even move their feet. Fortunately, they finally replied.

  “We know you’re not a ghost.” They’d always known he was alive, but they hadn’t expected him to have the nerve to come back.

  They would rather he was a ghost. That would be best. Too bad that wasn’t the case.

  Shao Qihai looked at the five kids’ expressions and awkwardly retracted his arms. Then, he looked at Mu Jingzhe and Shao Qiyang, as well as Li Zhaodi and Mu Teng. The latter two had left and returned to secretly peek outside the door. Shao Qihai had to admit that they didn’t seem to be happy or delighted about his return.

  This was completely different from what he had imagined. But why?

  Shao Qihai couldn’t figure it out no matter how hard he thought about it. However, his attention was soon focused on the children. If they didn’t come over, he would take the initiative to go over.

  “I’m sorry. Little Dong, Little Xi, Little Nan, Little Bei, Little Zhong… It’s my fault for lying to you, but I won’t lie to you again.”

  As Shao Qihai approached, Mu Jingzhe quickly nudged the children, wanting to retreat.

  In the end, the children also retreated with her, grabbing her hand and clothes even more tightly. Xiao Wu was so anxious that he almost pulled Mu Jingzhe’s pants down.

  Mu Jingzhe was so shocked that she almost broke out in a cold sweat. She quickly pulled up her pants. It would be awkward if her pants were pulled down the very first time she met Shao Qihai.

  Previously, whenever the children saw her, they used to subconsciously tug at her. Occasionally, when they were careless, Mu Jingzhe felt like her pants were about to fall.

  This wasn’t a joke. Mu Jingzhe had personally seen a young mother in the village get her pants pulled down because her son liked her too much and was very enthusiastic.

  It had been extremely awkward for the mother. Fortunately, there had been very few people present at the time, so it wasn’t too bad. However, there was another instance of a father of two kids going to someone’s place to have dinner and being embarrassed in public.

  The two children had been playing hide and seek around their father at the time. They had tugged at his pants several times, and in the end, the kids had probably used too much force and accidentally pulled his pants down.

  At the time, there had been people everywhere, so it had been really awkward. Mu Jingzhe, who hadn’t been far away, had seen his red underwear. The father’s face had turned red from embarrassment, and he hadn’t even shown up for dinner.

  Ever since Mu Jingzhe had seen that, she had been truly afraid. In order to avoid the embarrassment of accidentally having her pants pulled down, she, who usually liked to wear loose pants, had started to habitually tie a belt around her waist. She’d also emphasized to the children several times that they should not tug at her pants in the future.

  It was one thing to wear hot pants and quite another to have one’s pants completely yanked off like this.

  The children were sensible and knew that their mommy would be mocked if they pulled her pants down. They’d specifically noted this in their minds from then on. Unexpectedly, Shao Qihai had suddenly come back and scared Xiao Wu into making this mistake again.

  When Mu Jingzhe moved, Xiao Wu sensed it and quickly let go. To make up for his mistake, he even tiptoed and helped Mu Jingzhe pull up her pants a little.

  The lift was quite accurate but a tad too high, causing one of her trouser legs to be high and the other to be low.

  Mu Jingzhe lowered her head and glanced at her pants.

  “…”

  Forget it. It would be fine as long as her pants weren’t pulled down.

  Shao Qihai wasn’t blind, so how could he not see what was going on? When he saw that Mu Jingzhe was startled, his heart jumped to his throat.

  He didn’t even dare imagine what would have happened if Mu Jingzhe’s pants had been pulled down on the spot. When he saw that Mu Jingzhe was fine, he also heaved a sigh of relief, but his face inevitably turned red.

  When he saw Xiao Wu’s actions, Shao Qihai couldn’t bear to look at Mu Jingzhe any longer. He could only forcefully shift his attention to the children.

  He looked from Shao Dong to Shao Zhong, scanning the kids one by one. When he thought of the fact that Shao Zhong could now speak, his eyes were filled with gratitude. “You’ve all grown bigger and taller. Little Zhong has also grown up quite a bit.”

  When the five kids heard this, their expressions became better. They quickly added with some pride, “Mommy raised us well.”

  Xiao Wu pursed his lips and finally said, “I’m Xiao Wu.”

  Xiao Wu had never really liked the name Shao Zhong. He kept feeling that it was different from his siblings’ names. It was as if he didn’t share the same biological mother as them. To him, it didn’t sound nice at all.

  Ever since Mu Jingzhe had arrived, she’d started calling him Xiao Wu. Because she always sounded happy and fond of him when she called his name, he had grown to like the name Xiao Wu. Also, it made him feel closer to his siblings. He liked being called Xiao Wu.