Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The kids indeed didn’t believe it. Who would believe such an explanation? Maybe Shao Qihai had also given the same explanation to his new wife and children, denying his relationship with the five of them completely.
Shao Qihai felt very helpless. “It’s true. Little Dong, you have to believe me. I was only there to protect and transfer them to another place. I can’t say much about their identities and circumstances, but what I’ve said is true.”
He wasn’t lying. He had indeed transferred the wife and children of a man who had died in the line of duty. In order to avoid revenge on his remaining children, he had transferred them away.
Although he had transferred them to a place where no one knew them, they had also changed their names. He had to completely forget their appearance and address.
At the time, Shao Qihai had been in a heavy mood and had admired the senior who had sacrificed himself. He had thought that no matter what, he couldn’t let anything happen to his widow and children. Now that he thought about it, he did seem to recall hearing someone call him ‘Daddy’ while he’d escorted them to the night market. That voice had also been very familiar.
However, he’d had no time to listen at the time. He’d turned around and seen nothing, so he had then turned around and left. He hadn’t expected it to really be Shao Xi and the others.
At that moment, Shao Qihai finally understood why the children were treating him with such an attitude. It turned out that they had always known that he was alive and had only misunderstood him.
Shao Qihai diligently explained everything that he could think of, thinking that it would be fine as long as he explained it clearly.
However, after hearing his explanation, the children were still very cold. They were even skeptical of what he said, and their attitudes didn’t change much.
Shao Qihai was a little hesitant, but he thought that he needed to give them time to digest and accept this, so he said, “In the future, you’ll know that I’m not lying. Daddy let you down for the past year or so. I’ll make it up to you in the future. This won’t happen again.”
Shao Xi scoffed. “The most difficult and helpless period of our lives has passed. We don’t need it anymore.”
After abandoning them for more than a year, had he returned to collect their corpses? If they hadn’t been lucky enough to meet their mother, perhaps not even their bones would have remained. To think he claimed he would make it up to them. What a joke. Was this something they could be compensated for?
At the time, they had despaired because of his departure. Later on, they had suffered very much. Little Bei had even been sent away by Zhao Lan. If Mommy hadn’t found her, who knew if she would have lived or died?
Now that they had overcome so many difficulties and everything was finally fine, he was saying that he wanted to make it up to them? Too late for that. They didn’t need him anymore.
Shao Xi didn’t say much. His tone was quite calm, but the fact that a child had said such a thing and had such an expression was already sarcastic enough.
If words could become a sharp weapon, at the moment, Shao Xi’s words would have already stabbed a big hole into Shao Qihai.
“I’m sorry. Daddy has let the five of you down.” Shao Qihai’s expression was gloomy, and he felt extremely guilty. “I won’t do this again. Believe me. I’ll really be responsible and treat you well.”
However, the children still didn’t have much of a reaction. Shao Xi was even a little impatient. He opened his mouth to say that there was no need, but Shao Nan suddenly held him back.
Shao Nan looked at Shao Qihai and said out of the blue, “You are our father and have the obligation to raise us. You should indeed be responsible.”
Shao Xi glared at Shao Nan and pulled him aside. He then asked him in a low voice, “You still want to accept his stinky money? We can earn our own money now. We don’t need him to—”
Shao Nan pulled Shao Xi further away. He even beckoned for Shao Dong and the others to come over, shooting Shao Qihai a look so he would not come over.
The five children started to discuss this with their heads huddled together. Shao Nan was mostly the one speaking.
“I know you all hate him and don’t want to spend his money. I agree with your thoughts, guys, but we have to calm down and think about this.
“We can allow him to give us money. This is his duty anyway. It’s what he ought to do. If we refuse, the money will be used elsewhere. It will either be used on Zhao Lan, Fu, Lu, Shou, Xǐ, or his new wife and children.”
Shao Nan couldn’t take that lying down. “In that case, why don’t we just take it? Anyway, I don’t want the money that should have been spent on us to be used to raise Fu, Lu, Shou, and Xǐ. Our money and Mommy’s money was earned painstakingly, not scraped over by the wind, so why don’t we use his?”
When Shao Nan said this, the other four kids calmed down. Meanwhile, their hearts simultaneously ached for Mu Jingzhe. The villagers only saw Mu Jingzhe earning money, but they didn’t know about the hardships she suffered.
They had been watching Mu Jingzhe ride her bicycle under the sun and wind on the bumpy road. Come wind or rain, she would transport the goods back and forth in the winter and summer to earn money.
It wasn’t just physical hardships that she had to endure either. Mu Jingzhe also had to put up with a horrible attitude that the people of Great Eastern Village would never be able to imagine.
The money had been earned painstakingly by their mother, and it hadn’t been easy for them to earn money either. They had also gone through a lot of hardships. For instance, Shao Dong’s money had been made bit by bit by rummaging through garbage. Therefore, why shouldn’t they use Shao Qihai’s money?
Shao Dong pondered it for a moment. “Little Nan is right. I hadn’t fully considered the situation this time. Little Nan, continue.”
Shao Nan’s face relaxed as he summarized this. “He gave birth to us, so he should be raising us in the first place. We’ll be losing out by not letting him raise us. Anyway, I don’t think we should be spiteful.”
“You’re right. In any case, his money can’t be used to raise those four pigs anymore.” Shao Xi was direct.
Shao Nan nodded. “Yes, that’s one aspect. On the other hand, we should consider reality and the future. Although we’re still young, he’s not dead. We should consider our responsibility to provide for him in his old age in the future.”
Shao Xi had a constipated look on his face. “Provide for him in his old age?”
Shao Dong lowered his head, Little Bei pouted, and Xiao Wu pursed his lips to express his displeasure.
Shao Nan sighed like a little adult. “That’s right. Who asked him to be our biological father? As long as he keeps acknowledging us, even if we don’t spend his money now, when he gets old in the future, we’ll still be responsible for supporting him. We can’t just leave him be.”
This was a principle taught to them by their mother. They would definitely listen to Mommy and do what she said. It was also their responsibility.
“In that case, it would be a waste if we didn’t accept his money now.”
As soon as Shao Nan finished speaking, Shao Xi nodded. That was true. If they didn’t accept it now and still had to support him in the future, they would be extremely aggrieved.
Shao Dong patted Shao Nan. “So, Little Nan, you’re stopping us now to reduce our anger in the future. In that case, why should we be spiteful? Whatever he gives us, we’ll accept, no matter how much it is. We can use the money to eat and drink. Otherwise, we can also use it to help others.”
Shao Xi nodded. “Big Brother is right. We’ll accept the money then. Let’s not let him get away with it just like that, or he might cry hypocritically and not do anything. In the end, we’ll still have to provide for him. Let’s take it then. We must take it!”
The five children looked at each other and approached Shao Qihai again. Shao Xi told the nervous Shao Qihai, “Do as Little Nan said just now. You can compensate us in accordance with your guilt. The more, the better. We won’t refuse.”
Shao Qihai: “…”
