They were temporarily pulled away, but the atmosphere was getting increasingly tense.
“We have to kick Mu Jingzhe out today no matter what. We have to raise these children!”
“You want to touch the children? No way. I’ll oblige if you people want a fight today!” Mu Jingzhe refused to give in.
“And let you raise them instead? The hell we will. No matter what you say today, you have to return the children to us. If you don’t return them, I’ll sue you tomorrow. I’ll say that you abducted the children of the Shao Family!”
“Even if I’m a stepmother, I’m still their mother. If you sue me, I’ll sue you for child abuse!”
Mu Jingzhe didn’t give in at all, and Zhao Lan refused to back down. “Bah! You’re their mother? A mother who seduced her younger brother-in-law? Aren’t you afraid that you’ll lead the children astray?”
Zhao Lan looked at Shao Qiyang, who was standing beside Mu Jingzhe, and spat again. Shao Qiyang’s eyes were red. Now that things had come to this point, he really wanted to go all out and express his feelings. Yes, he liked Mu Jingzhe and he would raise the five kids with her.
Now that Zhao Lan had said this, everyone would gossip about Mu Jingzhe anyway. He might as well just say it! Shao Qiyang clutched the necklace in his hand and was about to speak when Shao Dong’s voice rang out first.
“Mommy didn’t. Mommy even said that she wanted to propose marriage on Young Uncle’s behalf. You’re not allowed to slander Mommy anymore!”
As soon as Shao Dong’s voice echoed, Li Fang and Li Zhaodi immediately supported him. “That’s right, shut up if you don’t know what you’re saying!”
Shao Qiyang’s words got stuck in his throat.
Zhao Lan glanced at Shao Qiyang and spat. “You still want to deny it even now? I’m not blind. You’re the ones who should shut up. Mu Jingzhe, get out. Stop shamelessly sticking around our house and snatching our children. If you have the guts, go ahead and give birth yourself!”
At some point, Zhao Lan had taken out a rock that she threw at Mu Jingzhe.
Mu Jingzhe’s head was struck by the rock with a dull smack, and the impact made her hurt.
Amid Li Zhaodi and everyone else’s screams, Mu Jingzhe looked at the rock on the ground. Her gaze darkened. She picked it up and threw it back at Zhao Lan without hesitation.
Zhao Lan was still feeling smug when she was hit on the head a second later.
Mu Jingzhe’s strength was no joke. Zhao Lan felt her head jerk for a moment before she fell heavily to the ground. One look at her head and everyone could see that a bump had immediately appeared.
Mu Jingzhe’s forehead was red, but Zhao Lan’s condition was even worse. In an instant, it turned red and green. Judging from the severity of the injury, it was more than three times worse than Mu Jingzhe’s. It was impossible to tell that it was the result of being hit by a rock.
Both had been hit by a rock, but the difference was like the one between heaven and earth.
Zhao Lan, who was sitting on the ground, was stunned for a moment before she reacted. She touched her aching head and screamed in pain.
“Murder!”
The scream pushed the conflict to the breaking point. “How can this be? Hit her back!”
“So be it!”
Seeing that the two sides were about to engage in a full-on fight, Mu Jingzhe pushed the children toward Li Fang and Li Zhaodi. As she moved her wrists and got ready to start a massacre, a shout suddenly came from the door. “Stop!”
The shout drowned out the noise and echoed in everyone’s ears. Zhao Lan was stunned when she heard the familiar voice. When she looked out along with everyone else, she saw the figure standing at the door.
The man had a tall, straight silhouette and a solemn expression. He was wearing a coat and had a huge suitcase by his feet. No one knew how long he had been standing outside the door.
His face was dark as he took a deep look at Mu Jingzhe. Finally, his gaze landed on Zhao Lan. “I’ll make myself clear. This is Mu Jingzhe’s home. No one can kick her out.”
Mu Jingzhe looked at the person speaking and frantically searched the original Mu Jingzhe’s memories. This person looked familiar… Wasn’t this the man called Shao Qihai in her memories?
Wasn’t Shao Qihai dead? Why was he alive in front of her? Could he be alive?
Mu Jingzhe rubbed her eyes and felt that she’d probably seen wrong. Or perhaps the original Mu Jingzhe had remembered wrong. At that moment, a scream suddenly rang out beside her.
“A ghost!”
The shout was earth-shattering and jolted everyone back to their senses.
It had come from the frightened Li Zhaodi.
However, the ones who were truly petrified were Zhao Lan and her gang. Zhao Lan let out a shriek and collapsed on the ground. She looked at Shao Qihai, who had suddenly appeared at the door. “Qihai, you…”
Her lips trembled, and she felt guilty and seized by fear. It was impossible for her not to be afraid. Just as she’d been plotting against Shao Qihai’s children, he had suddenly appeared.
Shao Qiyun’s legs went limp, and she fell to the ground. She was trembling so badly that she couldn’t say anything. She only repeated the same words. “Don’t come after me, Brother. Don’t come after me. It was Mom’s idea. You should go after Mom…”
She was used to shirking responsibility and no longer had the righteousness she’d shown just now.
It was strange enough for Shao Qiyun to be acting like this, but in the end, this was considered nothing, as others looked even more flustered than Shao Qiyun.
They were Eldest Brother Shao and Eldest Sister-In-Law Shao. Eldest Brother Shao, who had previously claimed that he was upright and wasn’t afraid of crooked shadows or ghosts knocking on his door, immediately knelt down. That wasn’t all. Soon, a puddle of water appeared underneath Eldest Brother Shao.
As a pungent smell filled the air, everyone realized that Eldest Brother Shao had peed his pants from fright.
Someone in the crowd exclaimed, “He peed his pants? Didn’t he say he wasn’t afraid?”
The people who had initially wanted to run away upon seeing a ghost in broad daylight resisted the urge to do so. After all, based on Eldest Brother Shao’s appearance, the ghost was probably here for him, not to come after them. They didn’t have to be afraid anymore.
Everyone discussed among themselves, but Eldest Brother Shao couldn’t hear anything. He had a guilty conscience and he liked to pretend, but at that moment, he revealed his true colors. After trembling, he began to kowtow and apologize incessantly.
“Second Brother, I was wrong. I shouldn’t have squeezed you and Third Brother dry by using my leg injury. It was Mom who kept insisting, and I had no choice but to agree.
“I didn’t mean to ignore your five kids either. Mom has been in charge of the kids all along. Don’t worry, I’ll make it up to them in the future. I definitely won’t harm them. I’ll return Shao Dong and his siblings the food and clothes given to Fu, Lu, Shou, and Xǐ. I won’t snatch the money meant for raising your children anymore. I’ll treat them well. You should leave now.”
Shao Qihai: “…”
It had been more than a year. Now that the matter had finally been resolved, he could at long last go home and recover his identity.
He could have informed them in advance, but he thought that it would be difficult to explain clearly. He might as well come straight back and give his family a surprise.
Now, it seemed more like a shock than a surprise.
He had never known that his honest older brother had actually done such a thing. If he hadn’t died, would he never have known or found out the truth?
Upon thinking of this, Shao Qihai sneered.
When Eldest Brother Shao heard his sneer, he was even more frightened. “I was really wrong. Second Brother, I was wrong in the past. I shouldn’t have despised them for being burdens after you died and left them to fend for themselves. I shouldn’t have, but after seeing them succeed, I couldn’t help joining Mom to plot and snatch them back so that they could earn money to support us. I was wrong. Please leave.”
Shao Qihai clenched his fists tightly, and his eyes slowly turned red.
He had already heard about this situation from Jiang Feng, but when he really heard all this with his own ears, he still suffered a huge blow. “You’re really my good brother.”
