The five kids ran back to their room. A few minutes later, Shao Qiyang asked Mu Jingzhe to go to the courtyard. There, they were greeted by the sight of the five little ones rushing out of their room and lining up, wearing pajamas that Shao Qihai had never seen before.

  When Shao Qiyang pressed the switch of the tape recorder, the five little ones started singing and dancing. “Happy birthday, Mommy…”

  The melody was joyful and simple, and the dance movements weren’t complicated, but there were also changes in the formation. The five little ones jumped out, looking absolutely adorable.

  Mu Jingzhe was so overwhelmed by their cuteness that she almost cried. It was her first birthday in two lifetimes, yet a big fuss was being made. It was as if she had made up for the dozens of missed birthdays in an instant.

  Among the five children, the one who danced the best and most freely was undoubtedly Little Bei. She was also at the center, looking oh-so-adorable. The second best dancer was Shao Nan. He copied Little Bei strictly, and even his smile was identical to hers. As for Xiao Wu, he had short limbs and was mostly responsible for being cute.

  Shao Xi and Shao Dong were the ones dancing the most earnestly. Shao Xi was fine, but his expression was forceful, or rather, it was more forceful than his body’s movements.

  Shao Dong was the clumsiest among them. He was usually the steadiest and felt like he could learn everything quickly. For the first time in his life, he discovered he had two shortcomings—singing and dancing.

  His actions were all appropriate, but no matter how one looked at it, he looked clumsy and funny, especially since he was wearing those cartoon pajamas that made him look silly in an adorable way.

  When he finally finished dancing, Shao Dong heaved a not-so-inconspicuous sigh of relief.

  After the dance, Little Bei bounced over to Mu Jingzhe. “How was that, Mommy? Did you like it? Are you surprised?”

  Shao Nan was helpless. “How can you ask her that?” Although he said that, his eyes were sparkling as he looked at Mu Jingzhe, also waiting for her to praise him.

  “Of course I liked it. I liked it very much. I had no idea you kids secretly prepared this.”

  Little Bei raised her hand. “We started practicing early. Mommy, this was my idea. I said I would dance for you. I choreographed the dance myself. I even taught my brothers. Oh, you have no idea how dumb they were, especially Big Brother.”

  Shao Dong: “…”

  He then touched his nose. “This is my first time singing and dancing.”

  \r \r \r

  “No, Little Dong danced very well. He looked particularly good and adorable.”

  “Mommy, praise me too. I composed the song.” Xiao Wu was anxious.

  “Of course. Xiao Wu, you are the best.”

  Mu Jingzhe looked at Shao Nan and Shao Xi and said, “You two must have contributed ideas too, right? Let me guess. It was Little Xi’s idea to learn a few foreign languages, right? Unless I’m mistaken, six versions of ‘Happy Birthday, Mommy’ were used in the song, right?”

  Shao Xi puffed out his chest and grunted. “Yes.”

  He didn’t like praising himself, but he couldn’t help it. He chuckled and said, “We specifically learned different versions of ‘Happy Birthday, Mommy’ and combined them into one song.”

  “How are you so creative?” Mu Jingzhe looked at Shao Nan. “Looks like the clothes were your idea. I was wondering why you suddenly asked for these pajamas.”

  Inspired by the parent-child outfits, Mu Jingzhe had suddenly thought of modern cartoon pajamas, in which children looked the cutest. Mu Jingzhe’s heart had stirred, and she had drawn out the design. When Shao Nan had seen it, he’d said that he wanted it and asked Mu Jingzhe to make it for them.

  Mu Jingzhe had made them cartoon pajamas when she was free at night. She wanted them to wear them while they were still young and looked cute.

  After Mu Jingzhe handed the pajamas to them, she couldn’t wait to get them to change into them. She had even prepared a camera to take photos of them wearing them, but the children had refused to wear them after receiving them, making up all sorts of excuses.

  Mu Jingzhe had been very disappointed, thinking that they didn’t like them. In the end, they had been waiting to wear them now.

  “Did you like it, Mommy?” Shao Nan asked. Even though he asked, his tone was affirmative. Shao Nan had long known that Mu Jingzhe was defenseless against cuteness, so he was certain that she’d like it.

  “I did. Of course I did.”

  Mu Jingzhe liked it so much that she hugged them one by one. She was so excited that she didn’t see the villagers peeking around the door.

  When the villagers had heard the commotion, they had come over out of curiosity. After seeing the big gift the children had prepared for Mu Jingzhe, they were touched by their cuteness. Then, they looked at their own children, and regardless of their age, they started to find them an eyesore.

  That day, many children suffered misfortune and were inexplicably scolded for being heartless and unfilial. This was only the first wave, as the five little ones hadn’t just prepared a dance.

  After the dance, the five little ones delivered their meticulously-prepared birthday presents as though they were conjuring magic. Even though Shao Qiyang hesitated for a moment, he still handed over the necklace that he had prepared.

  Initially, when he had seen Shao Qihai return, Shao Qiyang had felt that his intention toward her should have changed no matter what. However, in the end, he still reluctantly gave the necklace to her.

  This was probably the last time he gave a gift with such a mentality, so he decided he might as well just give the present to her. He would consider it his last act of courage.

  Shao Qiyang’s gift wasn’t very eye-catching among the presents the five little ones gave her. Mu Jingzhe, who didn’t know that it was a necklace, only thanked them all before being urged to open and put on the presents by the children.

  Shao Qihai: “…”

  The children had all given her gifts, and so had Shao Qiyang. All the presents had their own merits, but he hadn’t prepared anything for her.

  At that moment, even Shao Qihai was ashamed of himself.

  After the excitement passed and the birthday surprises were given, the children reluctantly went to change clothes. Shao Qihai ran after them in a hurry and absent-mindedly praised them for being awesome.

  The birthday song had been really amazing. Other than the first sentence, which he had understood, he hadn’t understood anything else. However, that didn’t stop Shao Qihai from feeling proud of them. “It was amazing.”

  He was wondering how he was going to make up for his lack of a birthday gift, but he didn’t realize that the five children had frozen for a moment.

  The five of them went to school obediently. On the way, upon recalling Shao Qihai’s praise, Shao Xi sighed. “We accidentally revealed our prowess again.”

  Shao Dong shook his head. “Just… Just be impressive for now. Let Mommy be happy on her birthday. We’ll talk about the rest afterward.”

  “That’s true.”

  Seeing that they had gone to school, Shao Qihai wanted to say a few words to Mu Jingzhe. However, people kept coming and going at home, and there were people around Mu Jingzhe too. There was no room for him to interrupt.

  The few girls who came to work knew that today was Jingzhe’s birthday, so they all brought her gifts.

  One of them, who had made her shoe soles and cloth shoes, said that the soft material made them really comfortable to wear at home. Another girl gave her a scarf with Jingzhe’s name embroidered on it. Another gave her boiled eggs, saying that they ate boiled eggs on their birthdays.

  They weren’t expensive gifts, but it was the thought that counted. Mu Jingzhe was touched.

  Due to the commotion caused by the children, everyone in the village knew that Mu Jingzhe was celebrating her birthday today. Li Zhaodi had also prepared noodles and eggs. Upon hearing what everyone said, she knew that Mu Jingzhe had already eaten some. After thinking for a moment, she didn’t serve them to Mu Jingzhe and instead ate the noodles in one go carefully, muttering the words ‘Jingzhe will live to a ripe old age’.

  Not long after she finished eating, Mu Jingzhe came over and snatched the bowl from her to wash it. She said that Li Zhaodi wasn’t allowed to wash the dishes laboriously today and that she had to rest properly.

  “It’s your birthday today. You’re not allowed to wash them either.” Li Zhaodi’s heart ached for Mu Jingzhe too.

  In the end, Mu Teng went to wash the dishes without saying a word. “You two don’t have to wash them. I’ll do it.”