After so many years, the five kids finally realized that children who cried got sweets to eat. It was only then that they learned the wrong method that many children used to attract their parents’ attention, something many children learned without being taught.

  They had learned it, and Shao Qihai was truly paying attention to them. But now, they already had a mother and no longer needed him.

  It was too late. Regardless of whether it was revenge or venting, the five kids still acted on the idea that they had previously thought of, pretending to be lousy and playful and spending a lot of money in front of Shao Qihai. They even observed the children who were famous for being mischievous in the village and performed in front of Shao Qihai after learning.

  Coincidentally, Mu Jingzhe went out to deliver goods the next day, and Shao Qihai officially took over the job of taking care of them.

  Breakfast was fine, as Mu Jingzhe was still there. When Mu Jingzhe left, the children instantly revealed their mischievous side. When they were told to go to school, they pretended not to hear and continued fake-fighting with rods.

  It wasn’t easy for Shao Qihai to finally send them to school, but when they returned at noon, the five children had turned into mud monkeys. Even Shao Dong had.

  After a lot of difficulty, he finally managed to get them to change clothes and clean up before sitting them down to eat. However, they refused to eat properly and ran around. After a great deal of effort, he finally managed to get them to go back to the dining table, but they started playing at the dining table as well. Two of the bowls were overturned, and the soup was spilled. They carelessly picked up food with their chopsticks and dropped food all over the table. Xiao Wu even had oil and rice all over his face.

  Little Bei quietly washed her hands, threw down her chopsticks, and started eating rice with her bare hands.

  Shao Dong frowned and pickily criticized the food for tasting awful, either complaining that it was too salty or too bland. He was unwilling to eat.

  As he looked at the messy kitchen, Shao Qihai started to doubt his life. He felt that the warmth and good times he had experienced when Mu Jingzhe was around seemed to have turned into a dream. The children had transformed from little angels into little devils.

  But they hadn’t been like this before. Why was it that this time…

  Shao Qihai didn’t know what the children were thinking and almost couldn’t hold back his anger. However, when he thought of the debt he owed them, he felt that the children might be doing it on purpose, so he endured it.

  After the meal, the kitchen looked like a battlefield. The kids were all dirty and had changed into a second set of clothes. Due to this change, their bedroom also became a battlefield. Shao Qihai was sweating profusely.

  \r \r \r

  After clearing away their dirty clothes without a word of complaint, Shao Qihai prepared to take them to school. However, when he got out, he saw Xiao Wu playing with water. There was water everywhere in the courtyard, and most of the water that he had fetched had been wasted.

  In just half a day, Shao Qihai felt both physically and mentally exhausted.

  After sending them away with difficulty, Shao Qihai returned home with abnormally heavy footsteps.

  Shao Dong turned around the corner and glanced at Shao Qihai. His eyes were extremely calm. There was no trace of guilt or joy in them.

  There was indeed nothing to be happy about. Taking care of five children was difficult and tiring to begin with. This was how their mother used to live. No matter how obedient they were and how much they didn’t want to trouble their mother, the process of taking care of them was still very tiring for their mother. They had seen Mu Jingzhe secretly massage her back several times.

  After Shao Qihai washed the dishes and cleaned the kitchen, he went to wash the clothes. A long time passed, and soon, it was time for the children to return from school. It was about time for him to prepare dinner once more.

  Shao Qihai felt like his entire body had been hollowed out, but he had no choice but to perk up and wait for the children to come back from school. As Mu Jingzhe had instructed, he would ask them to eat some fruit and then watch them do their homework.

  When he was done making all these preparations, the five kids still hadn’t returned.

  It was only when Shao Qihai found his way to school that he realized it was empty. He didn’t find the five kids. Instead, he saw Mu Xue.

  Shao Qihai turned to leave at the sight of Mu Xue. Gritting her teeth, the latter caught up to him. “Brother Qihai, you don’t even want to see me now?”

  Shao Qihai had a headache. “No, I was busy looking for my kids. They didn’t come home.”

  “Maybe they went somewhere to play. They’re sensible and won’t run away easily.” Mu Xue walked up to Shao Qihai. “Brother Qihai, let’s have a nice talk.”

  “What do you want to talk about?” Shao Qihai didn’t think that he had anything to talk to Mu Xue about.

  Seeing Shao Qihai’s cold gaze, Mu Xue bit her lips. “Brother Qihai, do you mind that I was engaged previously?”

  “I don’t. I give you my blessing,” Shao Qihai said helplessly.

  Mu Xue didn’t believe him. “You don’t have to mind. I’ve already suffered through retribution and have become the laughing stock of the entire village. Brother Qihai… I wished you were still alive. When I found out that you were dead, I was shocked and regretful and even blamed myself for being willful. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have died.”

  Mu Xue knew that Shao Qihai had gone out to work not long after his marriage because he had been too sad. “Brother Qihai, thank you for still being alive.”

  “Thank you.” Shao Qihai looked at Mu Xue, feeling complicated. This was because he suddenly realized that Mu Xue was the only one who was happy that he had returned alive.

  As the two of them spoke, they didn’t see Shao Dong stick his head in around the school gate. When he saw this scene, he quickly left.

  They deliberately hadn’t gone home on time as usual because they wanted to see if Shao Qihai would come looking for them. In the end, Shao Qihai had come, but they no longer knew who he was looking for.

  Shao Qihai didn’t notice. He looked at Mu Xue and paused for a moment before saying, “You don’t have to feel so bad. The villagers just casually said a few words. You don’t have to worry about it. When fate comes, it will come. You will also find happiness.”

  This was his wish for her.

  Mu Xue looked at Shao Qihai and smiled. “Thank you.” After she thanked him, Mu Xue’s expression became complicated.

  “Brother Qihai, what about you? Are you happy?” In the year that Shao Qihai had been gone, Tang Moling and Shao Qiyang had surrounded Mu Jingzhe and been attracted to her. Ji Buwang had even come to provoke him repeatedly. How had Shao Qihai endured it?

  Mu Xue was furious on Shao Qihai’s behalf.

  Shao Qihai stiffened for a moment. “I’m fine.”

  “If you think it’s fine… that’s good.” Mu Xue lowered her head, revealing a fair, slender neck.

  Because of their height advantage, Shao Qihai saw it immediately. For a moment, he felt a little uncomfortable and strange. He was afraid that others would see him talking to Mu Xue and Mu Jingzhe would get the wrong idea. He didn’t dare say much and quickly bade her farewell before continuing to look for the kids.

  However, he searched the entire village for places they could possibly have gone to and didn’t find them anywhere. All five of the children were missing. When he asked their classmates, some said that they had gone to the mountain, while others claimed they had seen them going to the river.

  The five kids had been obedient since they were young, and such a situation was unprecedented. When Shao Qihai heard that they could be by the river or on the mountain, he became anxious and quickly searched everywhere. When the villagers heard this, they also helped him look for the kids, but to no avail.

  When Mu Jingzhe returned, the first person she saw was Shao Qihai, who was sweating profusely. When she heard that the kids had disappeared, she also became anxious and joined the search.

  Mu Jingzhe even thought of the last time Little Bei had disappeared. At the time, Little Bei had been given away by Zhao Lan. Could those people be up to no good again?