Before school started, Mu Jingzhe finished making the little gown and tuxedo. The night before school started, Little Bei and Xiao Wu tried them on and then couldn’t bear to take them off.
“They’re lovely. Mommy, we really like them.”
“That’s good.”
Shao Dong, Shao Xi, and Shao Nan were staring at them with some envy in their eyes. Xiao Wu’s little suit and bow tie were really nice.
They all kind of wanted the same outfit, but they were embarrassed to say so because they didn’t seem like they would be attending an award ceremony.
They didn’t say anything, but Mu Jingzhe wasn’t blind. She could see that they liked the outfit. “Do you like it? If you do, I’ll make it for you too. Come on, Shao Dong, let’s measure your size again.”
Shao Dong’s feet moved, but he said, “There’s no need for that, right?”
“Come over here quickly. I’ll speed up and get it done before the award ceremony. When the time comes, we’ll go together to participate in the most important moment in Little Bei and Xiao Wu’s lives and witness their glory.”
Shao Dong immediately stood obediently in front of Mu Jingzhe.
The next day was the 1st of March, the first day of school. The four children insisted on skipping a grade and forcibly skipped another grade. When school reopened, Shao Dong and Shao Xi directly jumped to the fifth grade, while Little Bei and Shao Nan jumped straight to the fourth grade.
Xiao Wu was still not old enough to enroll in school, but he had already gone to sit in on second-grade classes.
After all, he had basically already learned the first-grade curriculum.
Xiao Wu was likable, so everyone in the village liked him, including the teachers. They allowed him to sit in on the class just because he wanted to.
When school reopened, the children became the most eye-catching existences again. However, Fu, Lu, Shou, and Xǐ next door were in trouble. This was because Shao Dong and his siblings had skipped a grade and were now in the same grade as them.
Regardless of whether Dong, Xi, Nan, or Bei were in the same grade as them, Fu, Lu, and Shou’s grades were inferior to them. The teacher told them to learn from their younger cousins and even asked why there was such a big difference between them when they were all from the Shao Family.
Never mind the fact that their appearances were vastly different, their brains were also poles apart.
Fu, Lu, Shou, and Xǐ, who weren’t interested in learning at all, were basically in last place. Zhao Lan and their parents didn’t care much either. Even now, they still didn’t know how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide. When the math teacher saw the results as he handed out the exam paper on the first day of school and commented on them, he couldn’t help but ask Shao Fu and Shao Lu if their heads contained tofu instead.
Then, they became famous. After class ended, their classmates all called them ‘tofu brains’.
In the past, Fu, Lu, and Shou had never thought that there was anything wrong with their grades being poor. However, when he saw Shao Dong, Shao Xi, and the others surrounded by praise and noticed how well they were dressed and how clean they looked, they looked at themselves…
Slowly, Fu, Lu, and Shou developed a concept of beauty and ugliness and felt shameful, sad, and inferior. They went back home crying and asked Eldest Brother Shao and Eldest Sister-In-Law Shao why they had been born like this, why they weren’t good-looking, and why their brains weren’t smart.
The three questions, rapidly asked one after the other, left Eldest Sister Shao and Zhao Lan speechless. They didn’t wish for things to be like this either.
They couldn’t answer Fu, Lu, Shou, and Xǐ’s questions, but they knew that their children were being bullied. They went to the school and made a fuss, even scolding the math teacher.
They wanted to avenge their children, but in the end, they became an even bigger joke. Thanks to the fuss they made in school, everyone in the village now knew that Fu, Lu, and Shou had been called ‘tofu brains’.
When Mu Jingzhe heard that, she burst out laughing. “Ha ha, this is too funny. This math teacher is really talented. Why doesn’t he teach Chinese?”
Shao Qiyang also couldn’t help but laugh when he heard that. He had finally mustered up the courage to confess his feelings, but Mu Jingzhe had been extremely busy these days. He had also been busy, so things had dragged on until now.
Still… this wouldn’t drag on any longer. It would be Jingzhe’s birthday in a few days. He would definitely seize the opportunity to express his feelings then.
For the past two days, Shao Qiyang had been pondering over what birthday gift to get her. In the past year, other than Shao Nan and Little Bei’s birthdays, when they could only eat a bowl of longevity noodles because they fell on a special day, she had put in a great deal of effort to prepare for Shao Dong, Shao Xi, and Xiao Wu’s birthdays.
As for Shao Qiyang’s birthday, she had also specifically made longevity noodles for him. She had even killed chickens and celebrated his birthday with him and the children.
In this day and age, there were very few people who celebrated their birthdays. Being able to eat an egg on one’s birthday was already considered very good. Like Shao Qihai, Shao Qiyang had never celebrated his birthday or eaten an egg.
Zhao Lan had never once remembered their birthdays, only Eldest Brother Shao’s and Shao Qiyun’s. Although Shao Qiyang didn’t say it out loud, he was actually envious of his eldest brother and younger sister.
Because of Mu Jingzhe, for the first time in his life ever, he’d gotten to celebrate his birthday.
Now that it was her birthday, he would also prepare a gift attentively.
Then, Shao Qiyang realized that the kids had the same thought as him. The children had already started to secretly prepare gifts. They were afraid that they would buy too expensive a gift and even secretly held a meeting. Shao Qiyang accidentally heard them and hurriedly eavesdropped, afraid that he too would buy too expensive a gift.
“I want to give Mommy a song.” This was Xiao Wu’s idea.
“I bought a watch for Mommy. Her watch is scratched. It doesn’t look good.” This was Shao Xi.
“I was going to buy her one. When I found out that you bought it, I bought her a silver bracelet instead. We have agreed to let Mommy wear gold and silver. I’ll get Mommy a silver bracelet for now and change it to a gold bracelet in the future.” This was Shao Dong.
“Then we’ll buy it together when the time comes,” Shao Xi immediately added.
“I wanted to give Mommy a car the most, but I don’t have enough money, so I could only settle for the next best option and buy Mommy a perfume that smelled nice.” This was Little Bei.
“My gift is different from yours, guys. I bought a stove, an air blower, and ordered some coal. From now on, Mommy’s eyes won’t sting because of the smoke anymore. She won’t have to choke while blowing on a blowtorch either, Uncle won’t have to go up the mountain to cut firewood, and we won’t have to fight with wit and courage with Mom to go up the mountain to pick up pine cones and dried firewood.”
Shao Nan was quite particular about practicality, so he had bought practical gifts.
Shao Dong nodded. “Little Nan, well done.” They had helped Mu Jingzhe burn firewood and blow the blowtorch before, so they knew just how hard it was for her.
Sometimes, when it was raining and she was too busy to gather firewood, even if she blew until her cheeks turned red and hurt, it wouldn’t necessarily work. She might even choke on the thick smoke and cough non-stop as tears streamed down her face.
The children’s discussion came to an end and turned into a discussion about blowing on a blowtorch.
Shao Qiyang left quietly. He suddenly felt that the gifts he had thought of were far inferior to those of the children. Little Nan had thought of buying a stove, coal, and an air blower, and Little Bei had even dared to think of buying a car. Unfortunately, they weren’t just daydreaming. They might really buy these in the near future.
In order not to get the same gifts as them, Shao Qiyang made a lot of effort before finally deciding to get her a necklace.
He chose a silver necklace after thinking about it for a long time. In the end, he ran into Ji Buwang after buying it. Ji Buwang was also there to buy things, but he hadn’t seen him.
Shao Qiyang wanted to pretend that he hadn’t seen him and leave, but he then heard the person beside Ji Buwang ask him something.
“Buwang, are you really going to learn how to make a cake yourself? You can just leave it to the kitchen or order one.”
“No, it’s better to do it personally. There’s still time. I’ll learn.”
Shao Qiyang frowned when he heard that. To think Ji Buwang wanted to make a cake himself. If he personally prepared the cake, Jingzhe would definitely be touched.
Shao Qiyang, who had originally planned to confess his feelings on her birthday, was a little anxious. What if Ji Buwang also came to meddle that day? What if he didn’t get a chance in the end? What if Jingzhe reciprocated Ji Buwang’s feelings ahead of time?
