Mu Jingzhe transmigrates into a book filled with sweet, doting love to become the useless supporting character who serves as a foil to the female lead. She also becomes the stepmom of five kids to her recently deceased husband. The five children are the sort that was bound to grow up to become villainous bigwigs. Right now though, these five bigwigs are still pitiful little kids. After weighing the pros and cons, Mu Jingzhe decides to stay for the time being to take care of them, only hoping that they wouldn’t seek revenge on her in the future. Unexpectedly, when she is about to leave, the five bigwigs cling to her and refuse to let her go.

A long time later, her supposedly dead husband, Shao Qihai, returns. The terrifying business bigshot, Shao Dong: “Thanks, Mom.” The famous author-and-media mogul, Shao Xi: Mom helped me.” The academic genius who two top universities are fighting over, Shao Nan: “Mom, help me choose.” The youngest winner of the Best Actress Award, Shao Bei: “Love Mom the most.” The globally-renowned musician, Shao Zhong: “This is for Mom.”

The five children only recognize their mother and have zero thoughts about their father. Their father’s dear brother turns into his rival in love, waiting to abduct his wife home. Shao Qihai: Hm?!! I’m not dead yet. I’m alive, and I’m back!

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’, ‘control freak’, 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, Zhong. The eldest and second eldest were twin boys, while the third and fourth were boy-girl twins. The last one, who had been brought back from somewhere else, was called Shao Zhong

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.

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.

“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?