It was impossible for Shao Qihai to care about Zhao Lan. Regardless of whether Zhao Lan was alive or dead in reality, she was already dead in his heart.

  By the time Zhao Lan was treated, they had already returned to the house next door.

  Little Bei was crying uncontrollably, feeling sorry for Bai Lu. Shao Qihai hugged Little Bei and comforted her, but in the end, he cried even harder than her.

  His tear glands were particularly sensitive, and he also wanted to vent.

  In the end, Little Bei couldn’t help but burp and ask Shao Qihai a question. Hadn’t he told them that men should shed blood and sweat but never tears? Shao Qihai didn’t know how to react to that.

  Mu Jingzhe was already in a somber mood, but when she heard Little Bei’s question, she almost laughed out loud. Who had asked Shao Qihai to teach the children that nonsense previously? It had come back to bite him now, hadn’t it?

  This was also the first time the five kids had seen Shao Qihai cry. For a moment, they found it a little weird. In the past, they might have laughed at him, but this time, they couldn’t bring themselves to laugh.

  Today was a Saturday, and there were classes on Saturday morning. Seeing that Little Bei and the rest couldn’t go to school anymore, Mu Jingzhe could only go to school and apply for leave on their behalf. Fortunately, the teacher didn’t say anything because they already knew about this.

  “It’s fine. Let them adjust and prepare for the final exam.”

  “Alright, thank you, Teacher.”

  That day, the Shao Family was in a constant state of low spirits. Everyone in the village was discussing this matter and basically all the criticism aimed at Zhao Lan.

  Zhao Lan had said that most of the villagers gave birth at home. This was a fact. Every family gave birth at home. The mother-in-law would deliver the baby if she knew how to do it; otherwise, they’d simply hire a midwife.

  There were also cases of people dying during difficult labor. This was unavoidable, but generally speaking, if the labor was difficult, everyone would think of a way to take the pregnant woman to the hospital, unlike Zhao Lan.

  Shao Dong and the rest didn’t have the energy to listen to the villagers’ criticism.

  \r \r \r

  As for whether they should let Zhao Lan off, there was still a small disagreement between Shao Xi and Shao Nan. Shao Xi hated Zhao Lan too much. He also remembered Bai Lu. Shao Xi felt that grudges should be avenged, that they shouldn’t let Zhao Lan off, and that even if she died, she’d deserve it.

  In any case, if Zhao Lan died, it wasn’t as if anyone would have personally killed her. It would serve her right even if she did die. It was only right that she paid with her life for causing Bai Lu’s death.

  However, although Shao Nan said that they thought that way, if this continued, the villagers would go from criticizing Zhao Lan to accusing them and Shao Qihai of being heartless, and so on. This was human nature. People tended to be biased toward the party that appeared more weak and pitiful.

  No matter what, Shao Qihai would definitely be responsible for doing this. There would also be problems.

  “Murder isn’t the only way to take revenge. Zhao Lan has also suffered retribution. Just look at her. She’s not doing well now. Stop saying such things.”

  Shao Nan and Little Bei felt the same way. They didn’t want Shao Qihai to feel terrible either. They also felt that reputation was sometimes quite important.

  Shao Xi and Shao Nan disagreed with each other’s views, but thanks to Shao Dong’s mediation, the two of them stopped arguing. However, neither of them spoke after that.

  Because they didn’t argue, the day passed just like that. Mu Jingzhe told them not to think too much. That night, she brought Little Bei to sleep on the floor with them again.

  Because Shao Nan’s countenance was very dark, Mu Jingzhe hugged Shao Nan and slept with Little Bei. Thus, the two of them were the closest to Mu Jingzhe. Xiao Wu was very sensible and didn’t vie with his siblings, squeezing himself between Shao Dong and Shao Xi instead.

  “This matter will end today. Don’t think too much about it in the future. Your mother definitely wants you to be happy too. Your happiness is the best way to repay her, so let’s bid farewell to our sorrow tonight. You have to buck up tomorrow.”

  Shao Nan was patted on the back by Mu Jingzhe. As he smelled the faint fragrance on Mu Jingzhe’s body, he felt his entire body warm up. He silently thanked the heavens that even though they had taken away Mommy Bai Lu, they had sent Mommy Jingzhe over.

  Shao Nan and Little Bei were the first to fall asleep after being coaxed by Mu Jingzhe. Shao Xi slept a little late. He looked at Shao Nan, who was happily leaning against Mu Jingzhe, and curled his lips.

  In the end, Shao Xi and Shao Dong also fell asleep. Perhaps it was because their troubles had been resolved, but even though they kept thinking about Bai Lu before they fell asleep, they didn’t dream about her again. From then on, they also stopped dreaming about those cries.

  Although they had said that they were going to return to normal, their art school lessons the next day were canceled.

  In order to make them feel better, Mu Jingzhe woke up early in the morning to make them some beautiful steamed buns. She had seen all sorts of beautiful steamed buns in the modern era, and many children liked them.

  However, over here, she didn’t have so many colors and designs. Still, even though there were only white steamed buns, they could also be made into various shapes.

  Mu Jingzhe made many different designs. There were flowers, small circles, rabbits, small fish, little kittens, and finally, a little hedgehog.

  After she finished making them, only seven turned out successful. The failures were eaten by Mu Jingzhe on the spot. After finishing four unsuccessful ones, she was quite full.

  Just as she was making the eyes with brown sugar, the five kids woke up. “Mom, what are you doing?”

  “I’m making steamed buns. Go wash your faces first.”

  The five kids went obediently, but in the end, when they washed their faces, a little incident occurred. It was said that Shao Nan had accidentally splashed water on Shao Xi.

  “You did it on purpose!”

  “I really didn’t do it on purpose.” Shao Nan was a little aggrieved. In the past, this wouldn’t have been a problem at all, but Shao Xi refused to let it go today.

  Not wanting Mu Jingzhe to worry, Shao Nan still apologized first. Only then was Shao Xi satisfied. In the end, he was happy for a moment before he realized that Mu Jingzhe was standing at the door.

  Shao Xi glared at Shao Nan fiercely. “You did it on purpose. You wanted to make Mommy’s heart ache like this. I knew you were the worst!”

  After saying that, Shao Xi ruthlessly bumped into Shao Nan and rushed into the kitchen.

  “What’s wrong?” Mu Jingzhe was a little confused. The five children used to have a good relationship and would occasionally have some conflicts, but they would reconcile soon. This was the first time she saw Shao Xi so angry.

  “It’s alright, Mommy, you don’t have to worry.” Shao Nan quickly explained with a smile, “I accidentally splashed water on Second Brother. Second Brother is a little angry.”

  Mu Jingzhe nodded and didn’t say anything. Because it wasn’t easy to be fair to all five kids, a careless sentence could make a child sad. Clearly, she didn’t mean it that way, but it would indeed hurt them. Therefore, if it was a small conflict that they could resolve themselves, Mu Jingzhe wouldn’t interfere.

  “There’s a surprise for breakfast today.” Mu Jingzhe smiled mysteriously.

  Little Bei eagerly lifted the lid and, at the sight of so much cuteness, instantly beamed. “Ahhh, little flowers, little bunnies… I like them so much.”

  Shao Dong and the others were also pleasantly surprised. “There’s also a little kitten, a little piggy, and a hedgehog.”

  “I like the little circles and little fish!” Xiao Wu shouted.

  “There is a total of seven of them. That’s nice, one each.” Shao Nan counted.

  “The five of you can split them among yourselves. I don’t want any.” Mu Jingzhe had already eaten her fill just now, and she wasn’t a child. “Shao Qihai probably doesn’t like them either. You don’t have to care about him.”

  At this point, Mu Jingzhe realized that Shao Qihai wasn’t around. She had wanted Shao Dong to call him over, but seeing that he was also looking at the buns with shining eyes, she thought for a moment and decided to call him over herself.