Mu Chen was furious but couldn’t do anything about the third rascal in front of everyone. From then on, he only felt a chilling gaze from time to time. He couldn’t relax at all.
In the evening, they had a birthday feast. Since Carlo, Professor Ryuren, Zhuan Zhen, Jing Sheng, and Noel cooked all together, it was a marvelous feast. Everyone enjoyed it.
The little rice balls love toys, so everyone gave them wonderful toys. No one gave them anything special or anything costly because Mu Lan forbade them to do so. Shintaro wanted to give them communication devices but those were taken by Mu Lan. She said that she would give it to them after they realize the true worth of those things.
Juan gave them picture books. Mark gave them Origami. Lazy priest Osiris gave them white small priest robes; he knew that others would give the kids toys, so he didn’t bother to look for any toy or anything special. Mu Lan could only shake her head helplessly thinking, ‘Is he trying to curse my rice balls to be single for the rest of their lives?’
Zhuan Zhen gave them knitted sweaters. Jing Sheng gave them knitted mufflers. Mu Jin and Mu Cheng wanted to give the boys four summer houses; Mu Lan took the papers politely but she won’t give the properties to her sons before they become self-independent.
Qi Ying made clothes for them. Yan Su gave them four girly toys and said, “Here are your girlfriends. Late good care of them.” Xue Lin and Lu Feng, Mu Feng, Mu Chen, Hugo, and The Cobra grandpas gave them small toys. The Cobra members gave them handmade toys made of wood, soil, bamboo, etc. And as for Xue Lin’s husband, the mysterious grey eyes man, he gave something to Mu Liang and Mu Liang hid it. No one knew what it was.
Ru Xin secretly called Mu Lan and gave her a will. Mu Lan opened the paper and read the content. Her eyes grew wide. “Big brother Xin, this is…” She didn’t know what to say.
She wanted to give it back to him but he gripped her hand. “Little Lan, don’t do this.”
Mu Lan couldn’t just accept it without any reason. “But big brother Xin. I cannot take it. It’s your castle. You can’t just give it to the rice balls. You will get married and have children and-“
Ru Xin interrupted her. “I’m not going to marry, little Lan. I can’t marry someone I don’t love.”
Mu Lan felt a loss of words. She knew very well whom he loved. But she couldn’t give what he wanted. She looked down.
Ru Xin smiled and pulled her closer to give her a warm hug. “Little Lan, I almost lost hope after you left. But the rice balls showed me how beautiful a life is; how wonderful it is to live. I’m grateful to them and I want to give them something in return. They became my world. Though they are not my children, I thank you from the bottom of my heart that you gave birth to them. Give them the castle when they grow up. And whenever you are free, bring them to me, please. I’ll be very happy if they come to visit me.”
Mu Lan felt a bit emotional. She nodded and said, “You have to promise that when you have free time, you will come to visit us as well.”
Ru Xin looked at her with a smile on his face. He gazed at her tenderly and agreed. “Alright, I will come to visit you all.”
Mu Lan stepped back a little and said, “And you can’t come empty-handed. You have to come with your handmade strawberry jam. I love it.”
Ru Xin chuckled. “I will make more in the future and send them to you. So, keep it.”
Mu Lan sighed and kept the paper to herself. She had to show it to her husband. She prayed that her husband wouldn’t drown in vinegar again.
At night, the rice balls drained all their energy. So, Mu Lan and Mu Liang put them to sleep. She smiled at them, “They are one year old now. It feels like it was just yesterday that I gave birth to them.”
“Time sure flies.” Mu Liang kissed the little foreheads. “They were happy today.”
Mu Lan rubbed their soft cheeks making them giggle in their dreams. “I always want them to laugh like that. And I also want our big family to enjoy their birthday every year.”
“Your wish will come true.” Mu Liang also prayed for the same thing. All they needed was a blissful, peaceful, harmonious life with their big family. They wished for nothing more.
Lu Feng also put his daughter into sleep. This little girl has a weird habit. She couldn’t sleep unless there was a handsome man right in front of her. He wanted to change her daughter’s habits. It would turn out to be a big problem in the future. He decided to ask for Xue Lin’s help.
After that, the men all joined together and drank beer in the living room. Professor Ryuren and Mu Jin ganged up. Mu Liang, Mu Feng, Lu Feng, and their mysterious friend were together. Hugo joined Luo Yicheng and Kilimanjaro. Mu Chen ganged up with Ru Xin, lazy priest Osiris, Mark, Altan Yul, and Shintaro. Juan, Pedro, Carlo, and grandpa Cheng became a group. And other Cobra members made another group. They usually don’t have free time to have fun. Now that they got a chance and the place was safe, they gossiped till it was two in the morning. Most of them became drunk and slept in the living room.
The women were drinking cocktails and talking till late night. When they went to visit their partners in the living room, they saw that most of them fell asleep. Others were talking in a low voice. Those who were awake, the girls took them to the bedroom and went to sleep.
The next day, everyone woke up with a headache. In the meantime, the kids were still sleeping peacefully.
Being a kid is the best thing in one’s life.
