After a lively dinner, under everyone’s eager gazes, the five little ones pushed out the giant cake made by Ji Buwang.

  “Mommy, happy birthday. That day was hard on you, Grandma. Love you!”

  The five kids carefully expressed their blessings and gratitude to Li Zhaodi. Li Zhaodi ate her first slice of birthday cake ever and was overwhelmed by gifts.

  The gifts had been prepared by Mu Jingzhe and the five kids. They had given their presents to their mother first in the morning because they still had to give their maternal grandmother gifts at night. Their mother had said that their maternal grandmother was actually the one who had worked the hardest and was the most deserving of blessings and enjoyment.

  Ji Buwang had also prepared a gift for Li Zhaodi. Even Mu Teng had bought a gift thanks to Mu Jingzhe’s constant hints.

  Li Zhaodi laughed and cried. “My Jingzhe, why are you… Little Dong, you kids…”

  She had lived for so long and given birth to two children. When she had given birth to Jingzhe, Old Madam Mu had pulled a long face and called her useless for giving birth to a girl. The villagers had also expressed their regret that she hadn’t given birth to a son.

  Fortunately, Mu Teng hadn’t said anything. However, no one felt that it was hard on her after she risked her life to give birth to the child. They all felt that it was only right.

  Even so, she had never regretted it. However, after 21 years, she was suddenly being valued and thanked. What had she done to deserve such treatment?

  Too overwhelmed to speak, Li Zhaodi hugged Mu Jingzhe for a long time before finally saying, “It’s so worth it. Mom’s life is so worth it…”

  Li Zhaodi was certain that she would be the happiest mother in the future, as she was the only one in Great Eastern Village who received such treatment. She would fight with whoever competed with her for that title.

  Li Zhaodi took a big bite of the cake. “Everyone, eat! Hurry up and eat!”

  His forthright manner made them feel like they weren’t eating cake but having wine. Everyone laughed and ate at the same time.

  In this day and age, even sponge cakes were rare, let alone cream cakes. It wasn’t so bad for the children in the city, but countryside kids had no chance to eat these things.

  The little companions Shao Dong and his siblings brought back ate ravenously. The female workers also treasured the food.

  However, a woman stopped eating after taking a bite. When Mu Jingzhe realized this, she quickly asked if she didn’t like it.

  “No, I like it a lot.” The woman was a little embarrassed. “It’s just that I want to take it back for my children to eat it because it’s so delicious.”

  \r \r \r

  She couldn’t bear to eat it, as she wanted to leave it for her children to taste.

  “Go ahead and eat it. There’ll be more after you finish eating. You can bring it back to your children.” Ji Buwang interrupted. “I’ve prepared a lot.”

  Ji Buwang wanted to contact Uncle Li to think of a way to find some more cake, but Shao Qihai stopped him. “I’ve already asked someone to bring it over. Everyone in the village can eat it.”

  After saying that, he couldn’t help but glance at Mu Jingzhe and Li Zhaodi, frustration flashing across his eyes.

  He hadn’t made any preparations in the morning or given Mu Jingzhe a birthday present. Under the siege of Ji Buwang, Shao Qihai had racked his brains to urgently prepare a present for Mu Jingzhe. He had wanted to find an opportunity to give it to Mu Jingzhe at night, but in the end, no one had given presents to Mu Jingzhe at night. They’d all given presents to Li Zhaodi. He was… one step too late once again.

  What he had prepared for Mu Jingzhe was not suitable for Li Zhaodi, so… he had yet to give the gift.

  Li Zhaodi couldn’t bear to let go of Ji Buwang’s hand. Like a mother-in-law looking at her son-in-law, the more she looked at him, the more pleasing she found him to the eye. In contrast, she didn’t so much as cast a glance in Shao Qihai’s direction.

  Hoping to make up for his mistake, Shao Qihai had the cake sent over that very night. Shao Qihai also gave some cake to the people who came to the house to have fun. Most of the children in the village came to the house to eat cake.

  Because of this, Mu Jingzhe’s birthday, which was also Jingzhe[1], became the day that children looked forward to the most. Whenever they thought about this day, they thought about having cake to eat.

  After they ate cake, it started getting late. Li Zhaodi, Mu Jingzhe, and Shao Qiyang saw Ji Buwang out. Ji Buwang had come in an open and aboveboard manner, so no one said anything.

  After they left, Shao Qihai placed the gift in Mu Jingzhe’s room while no one was paying attention.

  Elsewhere, Ji Buwang also gave Mu Jingzhe the gift he had prepared. “A birthday gift for you.”

  “There’s even a birthday gift?”

  Mu Jingzhe thought that it was a rare enough birthday present that Ji Buwang had done so much.

  “There’s a secret to the gift. It will all depend on when you discover it.” Ji Buwang said this and drove away.

  “What is it? Hurry up and open it.” Li Zhaodi urged Mu Jingzhe.

  The gift was in a wooden box and wasn’t packaged, so Mu Jingzhe saw it the moment she opened it. “Eh…”

  Mu Jingzhe took it out and took a look. “It’s a set of Russian dolls.”

  “This little person looks like you. Look, her hair is short, and her small eyes look similar to yours too.” Li Zhaodi could tell at first glance.

  Mu Jingzhe took a look and realized that it really did look like her. “Where did he find this? To think it looks so much like me.”

  Mu Jingzhe didn’t expect that other than buying it, one could also draw one.

  Ji Buwang drove out and watched as Mu Jingzhe and Li Zhaodi’s flashlights went further and further away. “I hope you find out soon…”

  After he’d been driving for a while, a car suddenly appeared in front of him. The road was narrow, and the car didn’t give way to him. When Ji Buwang stopped the car, he saw Tang Moling.

  “Why are you here? Shouldn’t you be on a business trip?”

  “I came back today for Jingzhe’s birthday.” Tang Moling was fuming. “I knew you did it on purpose. You purposely sent me away so that you could come see Jingzhe and fawn over her. How can there be an uncle like you?”

  “Her birthday is over. Go back.”

  “I’m not going back. I must see Jingzhe today and make her leave that b*stard Shao Qihai!” Something suddenly occurred to Tang Moling. “Uncle, have you heard? I heard that Shao Qihai is still alive.”

  “Of course I heard. You learned the news too late.”

  “It’s all because of you!” Tang Moling gritted his teeth. “I’m going to meet Shao Qihai and tell him what’s good for him so he’ll give up on Jingzhe early. I’ve already bought a ring. I want to propose to Jingzhe…”

  Tang Moling wanted Ji Buwang to see his determination, but as soon as he finished speaking, he felt a sharp pain at the back of his neck and his vision darkened.

  Ji Buwang had immediately knocked Tang Moling out. “You’re proposing when even I haven’t done so? Don’t you know how to respect the old and love the young? Don’t you know what ‘first come, first served’ means?”

  After poking Tang Moling’s head and scolding him, Ji Buwang dragged Tang Moling to the passenger seat and left after meeting up with Uncle Li.

  When Tang Moling regained consciousness, it was the next day. By then, he was already at the airport. Right upon waking up, he was taken to the plane and sent away again.

  “Uncle… Ji Buwang, I’ll never forgive you!”

  After the liveliest birthday, Mu Jingzhe fell asleep a little late due to her excitement. The next day, she woke up to see Little Bei quietly sitting at the table and playing with the set of Russian dolls that Ji Buwang had gifted her.

  Because these dolls bore a great resemblance to Mu Jingzhe, Little Bei hugged, stroked, and kissed them, feeling very fond of them.

  Upon seeing Little Bei’s actions, Mu Jingzhe laughed. “You like them that much?” In that case, she’d give Little Bei one next time.

  “Mommy, you’re awake.” Little Bei pounced over with her arms wrapped around one of the dolls. “That’s right, I like the dolls because they look like Mommy.”

  It wasn’t only because the dolls were cute. More importantly, they resembled Mommy.

  “Can I take one with me wherever I go? This is like carrying Mommy with me. I can put her in my pocket and look at her whenever I want.”

  [1] the 3rd of the 24 solar terms in traditional Chinese calendars