The sunflower was a little big, and there wasn’t a big enough beverage bottle to contain it. Xiao Wu found a jar that was frequently used in the countryside and put it in. When it was placed in that jar, it exuded a unique vibe.

  Xiao Wu insisted on having the sunflower facing her, saying that she was the sun. Previously, when they’d been talking about sunflowers, Xiao Wu and the others had been curious to know if they really constantly turned to face the sun. Mu Jingzhe had specifically taken them to observe sunflowers for a while.

  Because of this, she had created a growth observation diary and taken many photos. Mu Jingzhe was actually very curious to know the answer to this question. In the past, she had seen many answers on the Internet. Some said that it wasn’t true, and some said it was.

  She wasn’t sure either, so she didn’t dare give an answer. In the end, she decided to observe it for herself. This was the best way to come to a conclusion. Coincidentally, she was also very curious.

  The final conclusion was that at the initial stage of the sunflower’s growth, which was the blooming stage, the sunflower would really rotate along with the sun. Not just the kids, but even Mu Jingzhe was amazed by the conclusion and felt that sunflowers were very magical.

  However, this was only true in the beginning. When the sunflowers fully bloomed and grew sturdier, they wouldn’t rotate with the sun anymore. This was also normal. The flower disc was too big and heavy, so much so that the stem couldn’t even stand straight anymore, let alone rotate. Some of them even hung their heads. However, in this phase, the sunflowers were still very good-looking.

  “Xiao Wu, it looks good like this too. It doesn’t necessarily have to face me. Can you tell me where you picked it?”

  Mu Jingzhe understood Xiao Wu’s intentions, but unless it had come from Li Zhaodi’s field, she’d still have to apologize. “Was this planted by Grandma?”

  “No, but don’t worry, Mommy. I didn’t steal it.”

  When Li Fang came to refund Xiao Wu’s money, Mu Jingzhe realized that Xiao Wu had bought it. She laughed and asked Li Fang to keep the money. As it turned out, Xiao Wu had bought a sunflower for her.

  Perhaps Mu Jingzhe’s attitude encouraged Xiao Wu, but the next day, Xiao Wu returned with some pea flowers, saying that the white, red, and purple pea flowers were gorgeous too.

  Li Fang didn’t know whether to laugh or cry and came to look for Mu Jingzhe, saying that Xiao Wu had given her money again.

  “You’re specifically targeting Li Fang’s house, huh? You can’t do this from this day onward, understand?”

  “Alright.” Xiao Wu nodded. “I just want Mommy to be happy.”

  “I’m very happy now.” Xiao Wu was afraid that she would be lonely, so every day, he would coax her, play songs on his flute for her, and give her flowers. He also stuck by her side when sleeping at night. How could she be unhappy?

  \r \r \r

  Xiao Wu was satisfied. He missed his siblings too, but he was also happy to be alone with Mu Jingzhe. He was envious at the thought of Little Bei sleeping with Mu Jingzhe every day.

  “Your older siblings should be able to return tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.” Although Shao Dong and the rest weren’t around, Bai Lu’s memorial tablet was still there. Mu Jingzhe prepared offerings for her, just like before.

  Mu Jingzhe and Xiao Wu were going to sleep after dinner. They didn’t expect Shao Qihai to bring Shao Dong and the rest back.

  In the room, Mu Jingzhe heard the sound of a car outside. She thought that she had heard wrong, but as it turned out, they had really come back.

  “Mommy!”

  “Mommy!” The moment Shao Dong and the rest came back, they went to look for Mu Jingzhe. Only then did she realize that she wasn’t dreaming. “Why are you back?” Wasn’t their mother’s death anniversary today?

  “They came straight back after paying their respects,” Shao Qihai replied. “They’ve been missing you for the past two days.”

  It wasn’t just Mu Jingzhe who had missed them. Shao Dong and the rest had also missed Mu Jingzhe. Although she’d supported them and told them to go and pay their respects, perhaps because she hadn’t gone with them, they’d missed her a lot and simply come back.

  “It’s rare for you guys to make a trip there. You could’ve stayed for two more days. Coincidentally, tomorrow is Saturday, and then it’s Sunday.” Now, kids only had half a day of school on Saturday.

  “We’ve seen what we should see and we know where it is. We’ll just go again in the future,” Shao Dong answered as the representative. “Mommy, we’re hungry.”

  “Yeah, I’m hungry.”

  “Mommy, let’s have longevity noodles. I want to eat the longevity noodles you make,” Little Bei said directly.

  Since they were clamoring for food, Mu Jingzhe naturally had to make them some. Noodles were cooked quickly, and Shao Nan and Little Bei’s birthdays weren’t over yet, so she made them longevity noodles.

  Mu Jingzhe went to the kitchen, and they followed her. They surrounded Mu Jingzhe and chattered away. Xiao Wu also joined in the fun and showed them his flowers, making Mu Jingzhe’s head ache.

  Previously, when they hadn’t been around, she’d felt that the house was too quiet and she hadn’t been used to it. But now that they were back… Mu Jingzhe felt a little disdainful.

  In the past, she had seen parents look forward to seeing their kids come back for summer vacation and then merrily send the kids off. She finally understood how those parents felt. Fortunately, the children hadn’t been so noisy previously. Otherwise, she might have run away long ago.

  However, other families with many children seemed to be bombarded with noise like this every day. Mu Jingzhe had seen many noisy children in the village before, and it was also very obvious at school.

  Previously, she had thought that the five kids were fantastic and not at all noisy, but today, they demonstrated to her that they were perfectly capable of making noise.

  “Alright, alright, stop arguing. Tell me one by one.” Mu Jingzhe felt that if this continued, she would go deaf.

  “He he… Mommy thinks you’re noisy.” Xiao Wu helped Mu Jingzhe translate.

  “Xiao Wu, you’re getting bolder and bolder.” Shao Xi hugged Xiao Wu and dragged him out. Mu Jingzhe’s ears finally got some peace.

  “Did everything go smoothly in the past two days?”

  “Everything went quite smoothly.” Shao Dong nodded. “There were no problems with the car on the way. We arrived smoothly and saw Grandpa Bai and the others.” In order to distinguish the two maternal grandfathers, Shao Dong called him Grandpa Bai.

  Because it wasn’t convenient to take the four children on a train or car, Shao Qihai had been afraid that he would be overwhelmed. Coincidentally, a vehicle had been available, so Shao Qihai had driven there directly. He had been afraid that he would be delayed on the way and had wanted to make preparations in advance, so he had gone there two days early.

  “Are your maternal grandparents in good health? They must have been happy to see you, huh?” Mu Jingzhe asked.

  Unexpectedly, Shao Dong shook his head. “They’re in rather good health, just not particularly happy.”

  Mu Jingzhe paused and looked at Shao Qihai, who was preparing water for the children to wash up. “What’s going on?”

  Shao Qihai smiled awkwardly. “It’s been a few years since we last met, so it felt a little distant.”

  Shao Dong pursed his lips, clearly disapproving of this, but he didn’t say anything.

  Mu Jingzhe was busy preparing the noodles, so she didn’t ask anything else. The others had ordinary noodles, but Mu Jingzhe had made longevity noodles for Shao Nan and Little Bei. There was an egg on the noodles and two pieces of spring onions on the eggs, arranged to form the number ‘7’.

  “Seven, we’re seven this year!” Little Bei jumped up and hit Shao Nan. “I knew Mommy would definitely arrange it for us.”

  “Yes, you’re seven years old this year.”

  “Thank you, Mommy. Mommy, you must keep making the number for us in the future.”

  “Alright, now that you’re seven years old, it means that you’re all grown up. You’ll definitely be particularly inspired and smart this year.”

  “Mm, I’ll be smarter!” Little Bei held her face and almost jumped up.

  “Alright, eat quickly.” Mu Jingzhe laughed and didn’t see Shao Qihai looking at her. So this was how she celebrated their birthdays. If it were him, he would also be eager to come back.