Shao Qihai instantly coughed and choked upon being startled.

  “Where are you going?”

  “I’m not going anywhere. I’m just going out for a while.” Afraid that they would see his red and swollen eyes, Shao Qihai lowered his head and walked out.

  ‘What should I do? How did Jingzhe pick up the binoculars? Could she know I was the one crying?’

  At the thought of Mu Jingzhe looking at him strangely, Shao Qihai felt like breaking down.

  Fortunately, based on his observation, Mu Jingzhe didn’t seem to have realized that it was him, which made Shao Qihai heave a sigh of relief.

  Little Bei’s movie was screened for three days. Every day, the place was packed with people. There were people from other villages who came over, as well as people from their own village. They watched it for three consecutive days again and again.

  They didn’t get sick of watching it for three days, because if they did, they could still reveal spoilers to the people from other villages who hadn’t watched it before. Seeing those people’s shocked expressions was their proudest moment.

  Everyone was still immersed in Little Bei’s movie, but after Mu Jingzhe discussed it with Little Bei and the kids, they decided what Little Bei’s next movie would be.

  Little Bei was young. Previously, scripts had been sent over to her, but there were rarely any offers for leading roles. This was normal. She was too young, and there weren’t many shows with children as the main leads.

  It wasn’t like she had to play a leading role, but this concerned Little Bei’s future, so they were very cautious. So far, they had only chosen a supporting role in a movie, but there weren’t many scenes with Little Bei in it. She could just film it over a weekend.

  This time, Little Bei was still considered the female lead. However, the real protagonists were another Best Actor and a new actor. Basically, they were all good at acting. Everything, from the director to the actors, the script, and the production team, was just right. That was why they’d decided to accept the role after careful consideration.

  During the process, Shao Qihai hadn’t felt like he’d participated much, as he didn’t know much about these things. Even Shao Qiyang and Ji Buwang could make some suggestions, but he didn’t have the chance to speak.

  \r \r \r

  Although the script had been finalized, the official shooting process would have to wait. This was even better for Little Bei. She could focus on her studies and film it later.

  This was fine, actually. What made Mu Jingzhe feel concerned was her relationship with Shao Qihai.

  Thinking back on it, she realized Shao Qihai had been back for more than two weeks. During this time, the two of them had grown a little more familiar than before.

  Shao Qihai was also busy. His transport convoy seemed to have been restored to its original state. He would also go out to handle work-related matters, but he knew that he had been absent too much previously, so his main focus was still his family.

  As he had promised, he’d taken over the expenses of the children, including the fees for the kids’ enrichment classes and the books that the kids wanted. He had also bought the things that the professor had suggested Shao Nan buy, as well as the musical instruments that Xiao Wu wanted. He had never said a word of complaint.

  He tried his best to get closer to Mu Jingzhe, but Mu Jingzhe was busy herself and whatever free time she had was basically occupied by the children. Thus, he didn’t have many opportunities to talk to Mu Jingzhe. When they did speak, their conversations revolved around the children.

  After counting, Shao Qihai realized that he and Mu Jingzhe had been alone for more than three minutes only a handful of times. Forget about nurturing their relationship.

  His original room was now occupied by Mu Jingzhe. The children said that it wasn’t suitable for him to sleep in the same room with her, so he could only pack up his things and sleep with the boys.

  As long as the children were around, he was busy and basically surrounded by housework and all sorts of chores.

  Every day, he would carry a basket of clothes to wash them, clean the house, cook, and do all the housework. He was basically kept busy all the time.

  Although the children were a little vengeful at first, that was no longer the case later on. They liked to be clean and were all sensible. In the past, in order to prevent Mu Jingzhe from washing clothes every day, they’d specifically paid attention to avoid dirtying their clothes.

  The other children were like mud monkeys, but they were very careful. However, now that Shao Qihai was back, they no longer paid so much attention. These days, they played and jumped whenever they wanted.

  Anyway, Shao Qihai was there to wash the clothes. He had already become a scenic sight in the village. Every day, when he went to wash clothes, he was mocked by others.

  Zhao Lan had mocked him before, saying that she was the one who had helped Shao Qihai wash his clothes in the past. Now, he had to wash the clothes himself.

  Shao Qihai didn’t care, and the five kids didn’t take the villagers’ gossip to heart either. On the other hand, after hearing the villagers gossip a few times, Mu Xue found this unjust for Shao Qihai.

  When the five kids finished school that day, Mu Xue hesitated for a moment before calling their names to stop them in their tracks.

  “Shao Dong, I want to speak with you about something.”

  “Go ahead, Teacher Mu.” Shao Dong’s voice was polite, but his expression was very indifferent.

  Mu Xue didn’t notice this change. Although she often heard news about the children, they were still young and she was a teacher, so she continued treating them like children out of habit.

  “I heard some gossip recently that your father often goes to wash clothes and has become a laughing stock in the village. There are no other men in the village washing clothes. Isn’t this a tad inappropriate?” Mu Xue felt indignant on Shao Qihai’s behalf.

  What Shao Qihai had done couldn’t be publicized, but she knew that he had done a good deed. Such a person deserved respect. In her opinion, since Shao Qihai had returned, Mu Jingzhe shouldn’t have stayed in contact with Ji Buwang and the others.

  It was one thing for her to not know that he was still alive, but it wasn’t appropriate for her to be doing this now. She’d felt that Mu Jingzhe wasn’t doing a good job to begin with, so when she heard that Shao Qihai washed clothes every day, Mu Xue felt even more indignant.

  Although Mu Xue didn’t mention Mu Jingzhe, her expression and words revealed her true thoughts. Rather than making this about Shao Qihai, she was implying that Mu Jingzhe should be the one washing the clothes instead.

  The kids weren’t fools, so they knew what she was hinting at right away.

  Shao Dong’s expression became even colder. “Why would anyone laugh at someone for washing clothes? We’ve washed our own clothes in the past. Besides, he hasn’t washed them in a long time. Compared to what Mommy has washed, what he’s washed is nothing.”

  Mu Xue paused and belatedly detected Shao Dong’s coldness. Just as she was about to say something, Shao Xi tilted his head and said curiously, “Teacher Mu, my mother is your cousin. She washed many of our clothes in the past. Why have you never felt heartache for her?”

  Mu Xue was stunned. Had Mu Jingzhe washed them before? She hadn’t noticed…

  Shao Nan observed her expression and smiled as he hit Shao Xi. “Second Brother, don’t you know? Teacher Mu has never washed clothes. As a teacher, she can’t suffer such hardships. She’s also afraid that washing clothes will hurt her hands. Didn’t Grandma say that in the past, she would have Mommy wash her clothes? Grandma made a fuss for a long time before Mommy finally no longer had to wash them for her. Since then, Teacher Mu’s mother has been washing them for her.”

  Mu Xue’s face instantly turned red. In the past, Old Lady Mu hadn’t been able to bear to see her suffer. Her clothes had indeed been given to Mu Jingzhe to wash by Old Lady Mu, but it hadn’t been for that long. It had only been for a year or two.

  Later on, when Li Zhaodi had found out, she’d kicked up a fuss. Then, she had stopped. Why would Li Zhaodi even tell the children something like this?

  Mu Xue wanted to say something else, but Little Bei asked curiously, “Would washing clothes hurt your hands? Why aren’t our hands damaged? Doesn’t Teacher Mu know how to wash clothes?”

  “I do.” Mu Xue blushed and answered quickly.

  “That’s good. Otherwise, Teacher Mu’s mother would be too pitiful. You’re already so big, yet she still has to wash your clothes.” Little Bei heaved a sigh of relief like a little adult. “Besides, Teacher Mu, what if you get married? No one will wash your clothes for you anymore.”