Mu Jingzhe regained consciousness and found herself lying in a simple courtyard.
The low earthen walls and the mud-brick yard and house were all very unfamiliar.
Mu Jingzhe got up and rubbed the back of her aching head. She then looked at the flashlight in her hand and frowned.
Nowadays, flashlights could be charged. She hadn't seen this kind of battery torchlight in more than ten years.
"Don't think that just because I call you Second Sister-In-Law and let you continue staying here, my family can't do without you. If you continue to push your luck, you can scram back to the Mu Family. Any random nanny I hire will take better care of the children than you."
A deep male voice filled with rage came from behind the door.
Mu Jingzhe was confused. She was about to speak when a memory appeared in her mind.
She had transmigrated into a book she had read two days ago about sweet, doting love.
The female protagonist, Mu Xue, was a fan favorite, while Mu Jingzhe, who shared the same name with her, was the most annoying supporting character in the book. The keywords used to describe her were 'stupid', 'foil', and 'the one who always snatches Mu Xue's things'.
Mu Xue's first love, Shao Qihai, had been snatched away by her.
Shao Qihai, who had been a soldier for several years, had retired from the army after suffering an injury. He had two pairs of twins—three sons and one daughter. His wife had gone through a difficult labor and passed away.
Although he had been married before, he was completely different from the younger generation in the village. Mu Xue had a good impression of him and didn't mind that he had been previously married. She was also kind and she had said that she would treat his children as her own.
In the end, just as the two of them had been about to get engaged, Shao Qihai had suddenly come back with a child in his arms. He had said that it was his child, but the mother of the child was a mystery.
Because of this child, the two of them had been at odds for a long time. Seeing that their engagement was about to fail, Mu Jingzhe had jumped out and claimed that he was going to marry her. Rumors had then started to spread in the village.
Shao Qihai wouldn't be able to bear it if Mu Xue's reputation was damaged, and the five children indeed needed someone to take care of them, so he silently agreed to this marriage.
When the two of them got married, Mu Xue, who was heartbroken, completely gave up.
Mu Jingzhe had snatched Mu Xue's man, but she wasn't happy for long before Shao Qihai died.
Right now, Mu Jingzhe had transmigrated three months after Shao Qihai's death. In the middle of the night, she had tried to seduce her younger brother-in-law, Shao Qiyang, but failed. She had tried her best to open the locked door, only to suffer the consequences and fall down and hit her head.
Her husband had only been dead for three months, yet she was already really eager to seduce her younger brother-in-law. This was indeed the work of a useless supporting character.
Mu Jingzhe tried hard to digest the extra memories. She looked at the closed door and smiled awkwardly. "Shao Qiyang, you've misunderstood. I called you because… Little Bei is sick. She has a fever."
Shao Qiyang sneered, not believing a single word. If that was indeed the case, why hadn't she said anything just now?
She was just trying to trick him into opening the door.
There was no way he would fall for it.
Shao Qiyang had never met such a shameless, disgusting woman before.
This time, he decided that he couldn't let this person live there any longer. He would kick her out when the sun rose no matter what.
Although he didn't say anything, Mu Jingzhe's expression grew solemn.
She wasn't joking. The night when the original Mu Jingzhe had been thinking about ways to make love to Shao Qiyang, Shao Qihai's only daughter, Shao Bei, had gone deaf due to a high fever.
"I'm telling the truth. Little Bei has a fever."
Knowing the dangers of a fever, Mu Jingzhe was afraid that the delay would affect Shao Bei's condition. Thus, she quickly said something and returned to the east room.
The decoration in the east room was quite nice. There were still traces of the wedding celebration. With no time to look around, Mu Jingzhe went to see Shao Bei first.
Shao Bei was only five years old. Her three older brothers doted on her and would offer her all the good food, so her little face was round and chubby.
At the moment, she was lying quietly on the bed. Her delicate brows were furrowed, and her body was burning up.
Mu Jingzhe's heart sank. She packed up her stuff and covered Shao Bei with her blanket before rushing out.
She almost bumped into Shao Dong at the door.
The names of Shao Qihai's five children were easy to remember—Dong, Nan, Xi, Bei,
The eldest, Shao Dong, was seven years old and acted like a little adult. His eyes, which resembled Shao Qihai's, seemed to be able to see through people's hearts.
He was the most protective of his younger brothers and sister and would look at people with ferocious eyes. Even the original Mu Jingzhe had been afraid of Shao Dong.
"Little Dong, Little Bei's fever is quite bad. We have to go to the hospital."
Shao Dong silently stretched out his hands. He was worried about letting Mu Jingzhe take his younger sister away.
"Little Bei is really having a fever. If you don't believe me, look…" Mu Jingzhe squatted down and let him see for himself.
At that moment, there was a click. Shao Qiyang, who hadn't opened the door this whole time, strode over in a cotton shirt.
Although he had woken up in the middle of the night and hadn't put on his clothes properly, this couldn't conceal Shao Qiyang's elegance.
He was tall and handsome. His style was different from his older brother's, Shao Qihai, but it was undeniable that he was dazzling. No wonder the original Mu Jingzhe had been so unscrupulous.
Shao Qiyang frowned. "Is she really having a fever?"
Shao Dong nodded.
Shao Qiyang touched her forehead with the back of his hand and his expression changed. He looked at Mu Jingzhe with cold eyes. "Her fever is really bad. Why did you only tell me now?"
After saying that, he picked up Shao Bei and left.
Mu Jingzhe stopped Shao Dong, who was about to follow him. "Shao Dong, I'll go with your uncle. You stay at home and watch over everything. If nothing goes wrong, we'll be back tomorrow."
Mu Jingzhe took the child's backpack and chased after him.
Shao Dong stood in the courtyard and watched as the light of the torchlight outside the courtyard disappeared.
He didn't speak because he had been born with a stutter he couldn't overcome. After being teased repeatedly, he had stopped talking.
Even though he was a little stutterer now, he would one day become the most ruthless bigshot in the business world.
Well, actually, the five kids—Dong, Nan, Xi, Bei, and Zhong—wouldn't be simple when they grew up. You could say they turned out to be bigshots, but… they were all villains.
The stepmother—the original Mu Jingzhe—was responsible for this.
To be honest, Mu Jingzhe was under a lot of pressure. After all, she had suddenly transmigrated into this bizarre character and become associated with these five children. She was quite averse to it, but since she had already transmigrated, she could only deal with things as they came.
Mu Jingzhe caught up to Shao Qiyang.
When she did, she knew that nothing she said would be pleasing to hear, so she chose not to say anything and only silently illuminated the road ahead for Shao Qiyang.
Shao Qiyang wanted to take his niece to the hospital as quickly as possible, but it was difficult to walk at night. Holding the child in his arms made walking even more difficult. Soon, both his hands were trembling.
"Let me carry her for a while," Mu Jingzhe said.
Great Eastern Village was quite far from town, and it would take about two hours to get there on foot.
"No need." Shao Qiyang gritted his teeth and refused.
He took a deep breath and continued walking forward. However, he was really tired and accidentally lost his footing, sliding down the road as a result.
Mu Jingzhe swiftly grabbed Shao Bei.
After getting hold of Shao Bei, Mu Jingzhe didn't think much of it. She simply grabbed Shao Qiyang's collar and lifted him.
She then placed him on the road. "Did you hurt yourself?"
With his collar still raised, Shao Qiyang answered subconsciously, "No."
Still in a daze, he gazed at Mu Jingzhe. Had Mu Jingzhe just lifted him up?
On the other side, swift Mu Jingzhe had already set off with Shao Bei on her back.
It took them more than an hour to reach the town hospital, and by the time they got there, their foreheads were covered in perspiration.
"She's running a high fever—40 degrees Celsius. It would have been too late if you'd brought her here any later."
Mu Jingzhe was glad that it wasn't too late.
She and Shao Qiyang stayed by her bedside and changed the towels from time to time. When the sun rose, Shao Bei's fever subsided and she finally woke up.
"Little Bei, can you hear me?"
Mu Jingzhe immediately checked if Little Bei's hearing was fine.
Shao Bei lay on the bed, looking listless. It had only been a night, yet her chubby face seemed to have lost some weight. The little girl, who used to be full of life, now appeared lethargic.
She looked at Mu Jingzhe but didn't respond to her words.
Mu Jingzhe's heart skipped a beat.