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nTranslator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

nThe reason why the man’s family had been able to make a name for themselves was because they had managed to curry favor with someone. However, the person they had sucked up to had a son who was a fool.

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nThe fool would go crazy from time to time, and no one was willing to play with him. The family was worried that if they were gone in the future, no one would care about the fool, so they wanted to find a girl for their son.

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nWhen she was young, she would be his playmate. When she grew up, she would be his wife.

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nJust like raising a child bride, as long as she was taught well from a young age, everything would be fine.

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nThis family happened to have a daughter, so they had asked if they’d be willing to send their daughter to them.

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nOf course, they were unwilling to do so. What future would their daughter have if she got together with that fool? Because they couldn’t bear to part with their own daughter, they had come up with the idea of adopting a new daughter. This way, they could gain benefits and not have to let their own daughter suffer the grievance of such an arrangement.

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nLittle Bei had been born beautiful, and her age and qualities were suitable. They just hadn’t expected her to be so smart and disobedient.

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nIf a girl Little Bei was sent to the fool’s place, it would be bad if she was disobedient and provoked the fool.

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nThey had thus decided to train Little Bei to behave properly. They had even used the dog cage that they’d previously used for their dog.

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nAfraid that the commotion would be too big, they had even planned to go to the countryside to train her.

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nIf Mu Jingzhe had come any later, it would have been even harder to find Little Bei. Little Bei would definitely have had to suffer.

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nUpon hearing their plans, Mu Jingzhe felt so angry that she almost froze.

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nSince they wanted face, Mu Jingzhe wouldn’t give them any.

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nShe carried Little Bei and went out to call the neighbors. She publicized what this family had done and told everyone to pay attention to their own children lest they did such an evil deed again in the future.

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nBesides, this family would be criticized even more in the future, and the man would find it hard to come out of the cage.

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nMu Jingzhe hugged Little Bei and left with Shao Qiyang, who had rushed over to meet them.

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nWhile Mu Jingzhe wasn’t paying attention, Tang Moling, who was among the crowd, pursed his lips and then left with his head lowered.

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nHe had chased her all the way here and almost lost Mu Jingzhe. When he had rushed over, he had happened to see Mu Jingzhe confronting the man.

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nTang Moling had originally thought that since Shao Qiyang wasn’t around, Mu Jingzhe wouldn’t continue acting as a good stepmother.

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nUnexpectedly, what had happened next had completely shattered his self-righteousness.

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nMu Jingzhe wasn’t acting. She had really gone there to find her stepdaughter.

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nHe had stood at the entrance and had almost run in to help when he had seen the man attacking Mu Jingzhe with a crowbar.

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nHowever, Mu Jingzhe had taken care of everything herself.

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nHe had seen and heard Mu Jingzhe’s actions, witnessed Little Bei’s misery, heard her wailing, and heard her call her mommy.

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nTang Moling’s countenance was ugly.

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nWhy was Mu Jingzhe completely different from what he had heard about her?

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nWhy was this stepmother different from other stepmothers?

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nWhy… hadn’t he met such a stepmother before?

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nTang Moling also had a stepmother.

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nHe hated Mu Jingzhe. Other than hating her because of Mu Xue, he also hated her because he was prejudiced against stepmothers.

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nHe didn’t want to recall the past. Anyway, if he hadn’t been brought home by his maternal grandfather later on, he might have been tortured to death or killed that woman and become a murderer.

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nHe knew that Mu Jingzhe had become a stepmother and treated the five children badly.

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nOn the other hand, Mu Xue felt that the children were innocent under the circumstances. Seeing how pitiful they were, she would even give them food.

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nIf Mu Xue had done this today, he wouldn’t have found it strange. However, he hadn’t expected Mu Jingzhe to do all this.

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nTang Moling felt like he had been slapped in the face.

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n*****

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nWhen Little Bei saw Mu Jingzhe driving, she widened her eyes in surprise and kept praising her.

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nUnlike during the trip there, Mu Jingzhe was in a good mood this time. Now that she managed to relax, she even teased Little Bei.

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nAlthough she was talking, it didn’t affect her driving at all. Her posture was much more relaxed than that of other drivers.

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nShao Qiyang had seen some drivers drive, but most of them hadn’t been like Mu Jingzhe.

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nHe couldn’t help but look at her.

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nHe couldn’t quite put his finger on it. He just felt that the way she held the steering wheel was strangely suave, which made him want to look at her again and again.

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nPreviously, when he had seen his second brother, Shao Qihai, drive, he had felt that his brother was extremely impressive.

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nNow that he looked at Mu Jingzhe, Shao Qiyang felt that she was more impressive and… better-looking.

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nHe didn’t know that, according to a saying in the pugilistic world, men had nothing on a woman who looked suave while driving.

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nFrightened and tired, Little Bei fell asleep in no time and the car was plunged into silence.

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nMu Jingzhe sensed that Shao Qiyang kept looking at her and thought that something had happened.

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n“What’s wrong?”

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n“Nothing,” Shao Qiyang immediately replied before looking out of the window.

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nHis heart was racing.

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nSoon, they returned to the county.

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nMu Jingzhe had formed a plan on the road. When she passed by the gas station, she filled the car with oil. When she reached the county, she washed the car.

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nShe did all that before returning the car to Tang Moling.

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n“Thank you for lending us your car. You really helped us this time. If you need anything in the future, just let me know. I’ll do what I can.”

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nTang Moling took the car and looked at Mu Jingzhe’s serious expression, nodding without saying a word.

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nIf he hadn’t followed her today, he would have mocked Mu Jingzhe for thinking too highly of herself.

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nTang Moling didn’t say a word, but he looked grumpy. Mu Jingzhe didn’t dare say anything else and just left after returning the car.

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nActually, Tang Moling was just feeling awkward. It was impossible for him to apologize, but he was still curious to know why Mu Jingzhe knew how to drive. He had a few other questions too.

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nIn the end… she had just run away like that?

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nWhen he saw Mu Jingzhe leave without looking back, Tang Moling’s countenance turned even uglier.

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n“You call that thanking someone? Just saying a few words? Do you think I lend my car so easily?”

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nAfter saying that, he noticed that the car had been washed. Even the interior had been cleaned, and the tank had been filled with oil.

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nTang Moling felt a tad embarrassed and uncomfortable.

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nMeanwhile, Shao Qiyang and Mu Jingzhe returned to town.

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nShao Qiyang had been supposed to only have a day off yesterday. He was supposed to go to work today, but he’d forcibly applied for leave. The moment they got back, he rushed off to work.

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n“I’ll try my best to come back tomorrow.”

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n“Okay.”

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nIt was inevitable that Shao Qiyang would be reprimanded. He listened absent-mindedly, wondering if Mu Jingzhe would get into a fight with Zhao Lan again when she got back.

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nHe then wondered why Mu Jingzhe knew how to drive.

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nAs his thoughts ran wild, his colleague came and told him that someone was looking for him.

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nWhen Shao Qiyang came out, he saw Mu Jingzhe.

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nMu Jingzhe handed three buns to Shao Qiyang.

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n“If you’re going to work late, you can eat these when you get hungry.”

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nShe had been about to leave, but when she’d passed by the bun shop, she had realized that she was starving.

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nAfter running for an entire day and night, it would be strange if she wasn’t hungry.

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nLittle Bei’s stomach was growling too. Naturally, she’d had to buy the buns. On top of that, she had also bought three for Shao Qiyang.

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nThere was a high chance that Shao Qiyang didn’t have any money on him.

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nHe had yet to receive his salary and had already spent all the money he had earned previously.

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nMu Jingzhe sighed. Today, she had spent almost all the money she had earned.

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nShe had to work hard to earn money. She was too poor.

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nShao Qiyang looked at the piping hot steamed buns and touched his stomach, which had shriveled from hunger. He then whispered, “Thank you.”

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nIt felt good to know that someone cared about him.

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nHe didn’t know if it was because the steamed buns were too hot, but his eyes were also feeling a little warm.

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n“You’re welcome. I’m leaving.”

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nAs Shao Qiyang watched her leave, his colleague nudged him.

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n“Is this girl your girlfriend? She even brought you food?”

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nHe was hungry too, but no one had brought him any food.

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nShao Qiyang shook his head. “No.”

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nAlthough he said that she wasn’t his girlfriend, for some reason, he didn’t want to say that Mu Jingzhe was his second sister-in-law.

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n“Not yet, but she will be soon. I get it.”

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nHis colleague winked at him. Shao Qiyang took a big bite out of the huge bun and left without explaining anything.

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