Chapter 7  : Have to Get a Check-Up

She had made them because it was expensive to buy them?

The answer stunned Shao Xi for a moment. He had thought that Mu Jingzhe would at least say something to make them feel grateful, but it turned out to be that simple?

Mu Jingzhe glanced at him. If not, what?

She stopped talking and frowned as if something was bothering her.

After dinner, Shao Dong hesitated for a moment before asking in a low voice, “Is there… something wrong?”

Mu Jingzhe looked at Shao Dong in surprise. After a moment of hesitation, she nodded. “There is something indeed. I’ll tell you about it after I give it some thought.”

In the morning, Shao Zhong had been afraid of dirtying his clothes, so he’d sat obediently on the chair without moving, his eyes following Mu Jingzhe as she’d busied herself.

He’d only gone out to pick up Shao Dong and the others when their class had been about to end.

Unexpectedly, when Mu Jingzhe had come out again, she had seen Shao Zhong climbing up the apricot tree, swaying unsteadily with his arms wrapped around the tree trunk.

If Mu Jingzhe had come out a little later, his arms would have given way and he would have fallen off.

If he’d fallen from such a height, he might have broken his limbs or even died.

In the end, Mu Jingzhe had carried him down the ladder.

She had felt so startled that she’d broken out in a cold sweat. The apricots weren’t ripe yet, and Shao Zhong wasn’t a mischievous kid. He should have some reason for climbing up the tree, but even if she asked him, he wouldn’t answer.

Earlier on, he’d nearly been unable to hold on and had found himself in a perilous situation. Because he couldn’t make a sound, something terrible had nearly happened.

After Shao Zhong gave her that scare, Mu Jingzhe had to change her plans.

As Mu Jingzhe thought about this matter, someone came to the door.

It was a woman from the same village that rarely visited.

“Sister, please take a seat.”

“Jingzhe, don’t stand on ceremony.” The woman reluctantly retracted her gaze from the children. “My Little Yue said that your children’s clothes are really nice. I thought it was strange and thought she was exaggerating, but I’ve never seen such clothes on the street before.”

“I made them.”

“Really? No wonder.” The woman’s eyes lit up when she heard this. She then said, sounding a little embarrassed, “I just heard that Little Bei’s hair ornament was made by you too. I wanted to ask if you could help me make a pair for my girl.”

She was too embarrassed to ask for it directly, so she pulled five eggs out of her pocket. “I don’t have anything else in my house that’s good enough. Just…”

Eggs?

Mu Jingzhe raised her eyebrows and nodded readily. “Alright, I’ll make the ornaments for you in the afternoon and bring them over.”

Exchanging two hair ornaments for five eggs wasn’t a bad deal. The five children would each get one.

After that woman came another old woman. She was also there because of the hair ornament.

She took out fifty cents instead of eggs.

Ornaments were sold at about the same price outside, just like five eggs.

When it came to prices, most of the villagers were well-versed.

Mu Jingzhe hadn’t expected that the hair ornament she had made casually would become so popular.

Since business came knocking on her door, there was no reason for her to refuse. Mu Jingzhe accepted it without any hesitation.

The third guest soon arrived. This one didn’t want a hair ornament. She wanted Mu Jingzhe to braid her hair.

The little girl was in Little Bei’s class. In the morning, everyone had been envious of Little Bei and even asked her if she could get Mu Jingzhe to braid their hair for them.

Although Little Bei was a little hesitant, she had agreed because she wanted to save face.

Upon seeing that her classmate had really shown up, Little Bei nervously looked at Mu Jingzhe, afraid that she wouldn’t agree. She didn’t expect Mu Jingzhe to smile and nod.

“Sure.”

Mu Jingzhe was easy to talk to and finished braiding the little girl’s hair after a few strokes. The hairstyle was beautiful and completely different from Little Bei’s.

Soon, Little Bei and the little girl started playing together. The little girl’s mother gave Mu Jingzhe a bunch of vegetables to thank her.

This was how the village worked—the villagers helped each other and reciprocated. Mu Jingzhe accepted it.

After a while, when Shao Dong and the others were about to go to school, Zhao Lan arrived.

Shao Dong and his siblings had been in the limelight at school that day. Shao Fu and his siblings had also set their sights on their clothes and bag. Just like they usually did, they asked their grandma to help them get them.

They were used to snatching things from Shao Dong and his siblings.

Shao Dong and his siblings, who looked like they had been reborn, made Zhao Lan involuntarily think of the daughter-in-law who looked down on her, and her expression became even uglier.

“Do you think you’re from the city? Is that why you’re dressing like this? You don’t look like village kids at all. Hurry up and take these off.”

Shao Dong’s face was cold, and he didn’t speak or move. When Shao Zhong saw Shao Xǐ, he clenched his hands tightly and his eyes turned slightly red. Shao Xǐ had lied to him again.

Shao Xǐ had seen Shao Zhong the moment he’d gone out in the morning. Upon seeing him in those new clothes, she’d wanted him to take them off. He had refused to give in and ended up getting hit a few times.

Later on, Shao Xǐ had forced him to pluck apricots for her. She had threatened to get Zhao Lan to come over to snatch his clothes if he didn’t.

In the past, Shao Xǐ had frequently bullied Shao Zhong because he didn’t know how to speak. In order to protect his clothes, Shao Zhong had plucked the apricots for her. However, Shao Xǐ had directly moved the stool away and left Shao Zhong on the tree.

Now, Grandma was here to snatch their clothes.

Besides Shao Zhong, the other children were also unhappy. No one made a sound or moved.

“Didn’t you hear me? Take them off quickly.”

Zhao Lan grabbed Shao Dong impatiently, ready to hit him.

“What are you doing?”

Mu Jingzhe stood expressionlessly at the kitchen door.

Her tone was neither hurried nor impatient, nor did she deliberately raise her voice, but Zhao Lan somehow detected a hint of danger.

Recalling that she was at the door, she calmed down and retracted her hand. “Where did you get these clothes?”

“I made them.” Mu Jingzhe slowly walked over. “If granny had bought clothes for them, I wouldn’t have had to make them. But since you refused to buy them, I had no choice but to make clothes.”

“They can just wear Shao Fu and his siblings’ clothes. What kind of child doesn’t wear older kids’ clothes?”

Zhao Lan coughed and gestured with her chin. “It’s enough that they wore these for half a day. Take them off and let Shao Fu and the others wear them. They can wear them after Shao Fu and the rest are done with them. It’s always been like this in the past.”

Mu Jingzhe shook her head. “That won’t do. These clothes were made according to their sizes. They fit perfectly, so they won’t fit Shao Fu and the rest.”

Zhao Lan had not thought of this problem before. She had been focused on snatching the clothes.

It was only now that she realized this was true.

“Well… why don’t you make a set for each of them then?” Zhao Lan immediately changed her mind.

She was afraid that Mu Jingzhe would refuse and wanted to force her to agree. She didn’t expect Mu Jingzhe to be so easy to talk to or nod without hesitation.

“Sure.” She hadn’t been a professional fashion designer in the past, but she had been involved in this field. She could make clothes, no problem.

Shao Bei pouted unhappily. Zhao Lan, who was surprised, was about to laugh when Mu Jingzhe added, “Since we’re relatives, I’ll charge you eight yuan per set. Do you want a set for each of these four kids? Pay me a 20-yuan deposit first.”

Zhao Lan gasped. “Eight yuan per set? Why don’t you just rob me?”

“I’m not robbing you. Eight yuan is the market price. You’re not asking me to do it for free, are you?” Mu Jingzhe gave her a surprised look.

“We’re a family. How dare you mention money!”

With a seemingly convinced expression, Mu Jingzhe said, “Mom, you’re right, we’re family. My bad. I won’t talk about money then. If they buy the fabric, I’ll make clothes for them for free. Can you also fork out the money for Little Zhong to see the doctor?”

Zhao Lan wasn’t happy to hear Mu Jingzhe ask her to buy the fabric herself. And when she heard that last line, she pulled a long face. “What doctor?”

“He hasn’t said a word all this time. I think we’d better go to the hospital and let him undergo a proper checkup. He might be cured. We have to do it before it’s too late. This can’t go on any longer.”

“I don’t have much money on hand right now, so can you come with me, Mom? Or you can just give the money to me. Shao Qihai said that he gave you quite a bit of money back then and you’ve been saving it up on his behalf.”