Chapter 2  : Reborn

“Little Bei, can you hear me? If you can, can you answer me?”

Mu Jingzhe was afraid that she had been too late after all and Shao Bei’s ears had ended up getting damaged from the fever, just like what had happened in the book. Hence, she forced a smile and asked her again.

Shao Bei licked her lips and looked at Shao Qiyang instead of Mu Jingzhe.

Shao Qiyang glanced at her and quickly gave her water.

Meanwhile, Mu Jingzhe had already rushed out of the ward. “Doctor, please take a look again. I don’t think she can hear us.”

Shao Qiyang, who was giving Shao Bei water in the ward, trembled. “Little Bei, you can’t hear anything?”

The doctor was just about to leave. His night shift had just ended when he heard Mu Jingzhe say that. He immediately put his white coat back on and followed Mu Jingzhe to the ward.

However, he heard Shao Bei’s hoarse but clear voice when he reached the door.

“I can hear you.”

The old doctor glared at Mu Jingzhe before turning to leave.

Shao Qiyang thought that Mu Jingzhe would scold Little Bei or lose her temper, but Mu Jingzhe only heaved a sigh of relief.

“I’m glad you’re okay. You scared me. I thought you couldn’t hear anymore.”

Fortunately, they had gotten her there in time. The first tragedy had been avoided.

It was just that the child didn’t want to talk to her.

Mu Jingzhe didn’t mind, but she instantly felt tired now that she had managed to relax.

She didn’t step forward again. “You take care of her. I’ll go to the doctor to thank him and apologize. Then, I’ll go out and see if there’s anything to eat.”

After thanking the doctor, Mu Jingzhe went to the washroom. When she saw the mirror, she stopped and took a look. She still didn’t know what she looked like.

She was shocked by what she saw.

The person in the mirror had short hair that reached her ears. There was no hairstyling to speak of. The hair was uneven, as if it had been bitten by a dog.

It had been cut to look like Mu Xue’s hair. The villagers praised Mu Xue for her beauty, so she had used a pair of scissors to cut her waist-length braids.

Under her horrible hair were eyebrows as thick as two caterpillars and a big red mouth that was dry and chapped.

This was also a result of emulating Mu Xue. She didn’t have the money to buy an eyebrow pencil or lipstick, so she had replaced them with charcoal and red paper…

After washing herself clean, Mu Jingzhe finally saw the original owner’s face.

When she saw it, she was stunned for a moment. This face was 70% to 80% similar to hers.

Her facial features were delicate and pretty, and her eyebrows were thick and black. However, they were a little messy. She just needed to slightly fix the shape of her eyebrows. There was no need to draw them at all.

Although her lips were dry and chapped, upon closer inspection, the color of her lips was quite beautiful. It was a very nice cherry-pink color, so she didn’t need to paint them into large red lips at all.

In summary, the original Mu Jingzhe had made herself look ugly. Her looks wouldn’t have been inferior to Mu Xue’s if she had simply done nothing. However, she’d had to imitate Mu Xue, and she had done a terrible job of it. She was a 7-8 in terms of attractiveness, but she had made herself into a negative number on a scale of 1 to 10.

After Mu Jingzhe washed herself clean, she found herself much more pleasing to the eye. The only exception was… her hair.

After walking out of the town hospital, she found a haircut stall a short distance away.

Mu Jingzhe glanced around before sitting down. “Boss, please cut my hair.”

The old barber said, “Lady, this is a barbershop for men.”

“I know, just act like you’re cutting a guy’s hair.” Mu Jingzhe pointed at the male celebrity poster on the ground that had yet to be pasted on the wall. “Just cut my hair like that.”

When Mu Jingzhe returned to the ward, she was carrying a bowl of noodles, a bowl of dumplings, and three steamed buns.

“Let’s eat some noodles first. We’ll go back after eating.”

When Shao Qiyang saw that she had come back with food, his countenance got better. However, when he looked up, he was as dumbstruck as Shao Bei.

“You… Your hair.”

Mu Jingzhe set down the noodles. “Mm, I just had my hair cut by an old barber.”

Seeing that Shao Qiyang and Shao Bei were in a daze, she raised her eyebrows. “What’s wrong? I think it looks alright.”

Shao Qiyang looked at Mu Jingzhe, who had changed into another person after going out for a while. It could even be said that Mu Jingzhe had been reborn. He was momentarily speechless.

In the past, he had found Mu Jingzhe an eyesore. Why was she acting weird today? When she had raised her eyebrows just now, Shao Qiyang had even felt like he was looking at one of those male movie stars.

He was startled.

However, he had to admit that although she was beyond recognition, she was much more pleasing to the eye and looked way neater than before.

This haircut was much better than the short hair she had sported previously.

It was even kind of stunning.

This was the charm of hairstyling. In modern times, many female celebrities who looked ordinary with long hair appeared stunning with short hair. Mu Jingzhe belonged in this category.

Her facial features were well-defined, but her jawline was a little strong, so short hair suited her better, making her look energetic and beautiful.

Mu Jingzhe was eating a steamed bun when she noticed someone looking at her. She looked over and saw Shao Bei staring at her.

She had regained her energy, so the little girl’s eyes were watery, bright, big, and black. Her eyelashes were long and curly, and her tiny mouth was pink and soft.

In summary, she was pretty and adorable and she even had a pair of eyes that could talk.

No wonder she would one day become Movie Queen Grand Slam, the big boss of the entertainment industry.

In the end, she would be swallowed up by that industry. Even though she had great acting skills, her bad personality would lead her to make too many enemies. Later on, she would commit suicide because of a relationship issue and would even be stripped naked after she died.

As for the cause of this tragedy, it was that her ears had been damaged from a high fever when she was young, causing her to suffer from hearing loss for a few years.

Fortunately, the tragedy had been avoided this time.

On the way back, Shao Qiyang insisted on piggybacking Shao Bei. Mu Jingzhe didn’t argue with him and followed him from a distance, pondering her future.

Now that her husband was dead, she didn’t have to worry about getting a divorce or anything. Otherwise, it would be difficult to settle things in this day and age.

She couldn’t very well return to her parents’ home either.

Firstly, the female protagonist, Mu Xue, was staying with the Mu Family. It wouldn’t be a good idea for her to go back.

Secondly, if a married lady returned to her family, she wouldn’t be allowed to stay for long. In the end, she would definitely have to find someone else to marry.

This was her second marriage. Besides, given her reputation, how could she possibly marry a good person?

Instead, she might as well keep staying with the Shao Family.

Unfortunately, because of her actions, the Shao Family didn’t like her. She had offended everyone, and the children and her younger brother-in-law were all very wary of her.

However… this was better than going back to her parents’ home and remarrying. She hadn’t gotten married in her previous lifetime, and she didn’t want to do it in this lifetime either.

She had to get used to the environment first. As a modern woman, she had to use this opportunity to walk out and fight for her career.

Why not just walk out now? Of course, it wouldn’t be easy.

There was currently a barrier between the villages and cities that wasn’t so easy to break through.

There was a limited amount of work in the city too. With so many people in the city waiting to get jobs, it would be difficult for her to find work. Even lodging and food would be a problem. Thus, the best solution was to stay and plan this slowly.

However, by choosing to stay, it was unavoidable that she would have to bear the responsibility of taking care of those five children.

It took a lot of effort to raise a child. Raising one was hard enough, let alone five.

An ordinary person would definitely cower, especially someone who had never been married or raised any children. However, this wasn’t a problem for Mu Jingzhe.

She didn’t know how to be a mother, but she knew how to be an elder sister and take care of a child.

Ever since she was young, the first thing she had learned was to take care of children.

As an orphan who had grown up in an orphanage, she had taken care of countless younger children there. As she had grown up, her ability to take care of them had improved.

Even after she had entered society, this hadn’t stopped. It had gone on intermittently. Including the ones closest to her, she had helped raise more than 30 younger children at the orphanage in total. These five absolutely wouldn’t be a problem.

Anyway, kids grew up fast, and before one knew it, they were all grown up. She had brought up batch after batch of little kids, so taking care of five children wouldn’t be difficult for her. The two older ones were already seven years old. They would grow up in no time.

The only problem was that they were really smart and would become villains when they grew up.

Could she lead them down the right path?