Time-Travel: The Tragic Cannon Fodder Female Supporting Character Makes a Comeback

CHAPTER 129: The 1980s Villain’s Biological Mother (22)

　　When Mu Shuhui returned from the south, Auntie Zhang immediately started telling her about the neighbors.

　　“That woman has such shifty eyes. They’re always darting around, and she kept trying to fish information out of me. She doesn’t look like a good person at all.”

　　“Those two children take after their mother too. The boy is pretty polite, but he’s also a little schemer. That girl is so fussy. When she saw our Youran wearing new clothes, she deliberately said they looked ugly. She’s so young, yet she already has so many tricks up her sleeve…”

　　Mu Shuhui didn’t pay much attention to that family. Even though they often ran into each other, they rarely spoke.

　　After hearing Auntie Zhang’s complaints, she frowned.

　　She called her daughter over and gently asked, “Youran, has that Xia Duoduo from across the hall been bullying you?”

　　Mu Youran was playing with the gifts her mother had brought back for her. She smiled and said, “She always says mean things whenever she sees me at school, but I don’t want to bother with her. Then she said some really nasty things, and Brother gave her a good scolding. He grabbed her braid and almost pushed her head into the dirty water in the toilet. She got so scared that she cried, and now she stays far away from me whenever she sees me at school.”

　　After saying that, Mu Youran sighed. “Everything was fine, but these past two days, she got a new uncle, and now she’s back to her old ways. She says something mean about whatever I’m wearing. Yesterday, Grandma Zhang heard her and gave her a good scolding. She cried and went home to complain. Then her mom came over with that uncle I don’t know and knocked on our door, but Grandma Zhang scolded them all the way back home.”

　　After finishing, Mu Youran burst out laughing. “They couldn’t win an argument with Grandma Zhang at all!”

　　Hearing her daughter explain everything so clearly, Mu Shuhui felt a pang of guilt and gently stroked her head.

　　“I’m sorry, sweetheart. Mom didn’t notice what was happening. I’m sorry you had to put up with that.”

　　Mu Youran hugged her mother and shook her head. “Youran was brave too. I scolded her, but she’s just so annoying and never stops talking. I don’t want to bother with her. It’s not Mom’s fault.”

　　Mu Shuhui kissed the top of her daughter’s head. “All right. It’s not our fault. She’s the one being annoying. If you run into trouble, just let Mom handle it.”

　　Auntie Zhang watched the warm scene between mother and daughter and sighed. “Some people are just born with that kind of personality. That girl has those shifty-looking eyes, and you can tell she’s a mean one. Even if you leave her alone, she’ll come looking for trouble. Youran, if she bothers you again, just give her a good beating. She’ll learn her lesson after taking a few hits.”

　　Mu Youran nodded seriously. “Okay, Grandma Zhang. I understand.”

　　Just then, Mu Rufeng came back with his basketball, his hair and forehead drenched in sweat from playing.

　　Auntie Zhang let out a gasp. “Oh, you little rascal! You’re covered in sweat. Don’t go catching a chill after getting hit by the cold wind.”

　　She hurried to get a towel and wipe him down. Mu Rufeng, meanwhile, spotted his mother and happily ran over to give her a hug.

　　“Mom, you’re back!”

　　Mu Shuhui rubbed his head. “Mm. I’m not going anywhere else this year. I’ve already bought everything we need for the New Year.”

　　The moment Mu Youran heard that, she bounced around and clapped happily. “Yay! Mom can tell Youran stories again!”

　　Grandma Zhang was very kind too, but with her mother away, she had still missed her terribly.

　　Mu Rufeng didn’t say it outright, but he clearly depended on his mother too. He smiled and said, “When we’re on break, I’ll go help Mom at the shop too.”

　　“I want to help too, I want to help too…”

　　Auntie Zhang wiped the sweat from his face and told him to go change his clothes.

　　In the end, she cooked a meal for the family and then headed home. Mu Shuhui invited her to stay and eat with them, but Auntie Zhang refused. So Mu Shuhui secretly slipped a large red envelope into her cloth bag as a thank-you.

　　The mother and her two children were happily sitting down to eat together when suddenly, someone knocked on the door.

　　Mu Youran thought Grandma Zhang must have forgotten something, so she ran over to open the door.

　　Instead, she found the family from across the hall standing there with an unfamiliar man.

　　The man angrily shoved the child out of the way and barged straight inside, shouting, “Come out here! You beat my kid until his nose was bleeding! Have you gone completely wild?!”

　　Mu Youran stumbled from the shove and fell hard onto the floor, her eyes immediately turning red.

　　Mu Rufeng rushed out first. He kicked the man with all his strength and yelled, “How dare you bully my sister! I’ll kill you!”

　　Mu Shuhui followed right behind him, only to see the man scrambling back to his feet and grabbing a stool, clearly intending to smash it over her son’s head.

　　She hurried forward and kicked him hard. The force sent both the man and the stool flying toward the doorway, knocking the three members of the Xia family behind him off balance and sending them tumbling to the floor.    

　　Mu Shuhui’s expression darkened. What kind of scum barged into her home and bullied two little kids?

　　She stepped forward and kicked him twice more, right in the butt, then grabbed him by the hair and slapped him hard several times.

　　“You piece of shit! Who the hell do you think you are, daring to lay a hand on my children?!”

　　Mu Rufeng held his sister in his arms and comforted her. Seeing his mother go after the man like that, he felt incredibly satisfied.

　　“Mu Shuhui! What are you doing? Let go of my man right now!”

　　Xia Li shrieked as she crawled over and tried to shove her.

　　Mu Shuhui saw her practically begging to get hit, so she slapped her across the face.

　　“I’ll beat you too! Having the misfortune of running into your whole family is enough to ruin eight lifetimes of good luck!”

　　Xia Li let out a wail and clutched her cheek in disbelief. “You, you actually hit me!”

　　The two children were frightened into tears as well.

　　“So what if I hit you? Keep running your mouth, and I’ll rip it right off your face!”

　　Mu Shuhui’s gaze shifted to the little girl hiding behind them.

　　“And you, you little brat! If you bully our Youran again, I won’t hit you. I’ll hit your mother instead, and I’ll beat the hell out of her! Got it?!”

　　Tears and snot streamed down Xia Duoduo’s face as she scrambled backward in fear. Clearly, seeing Mu Youran’s mother beat someone up had scared her into keeping her distance.

　　“I’m calling the police! I’m calling the police, you crazy woman!”

　　The man started shouting again, so Mu Shuhui slapped him twice across the forehead.

　　“You trespassed into my home and bullied my son and daughter, and you still think you’re in the right?!”

　　Mu Shuhui slapped him several times in quick succession and snapped, “Apologize to my daughter, or I’ll beat you until you have a concussion today!”

　　The man couldn’t even dodge the blows. His head was spinning, and he was terrified that this crazy woman would seriously hurt him. He hurriedly said, “I’m, I’m sorry! I’ll apologize. I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”

　　Mu Youran had still been feeling a little wronged, but seeing him like that suddenly made her burst out laughing.

　　Seeing that her daughter was finally feeling better, Mu Shuhui shook out her sore hand, got to her feet, and kicked the group away from the doorway before shutting the door.

　　The brother and sister looked at their mother as if she were a great hero, their bright, clear eyes practically sparkling with admiration.

　　Even while Mu Shuhui went to wash her hands, the two children kept praising her.

　　After seeing how fiercely their mother had protected them that day, both children felt even more secure. As long as Mom was around, they felt like there was nothing in the world they had to be afraid of.

　　The next day.

　　The police still came knocking to investigate.

　　They said it was the Xia family who had called the police. They claimed Mu Rufeng had deliberately beaten up their son, so they had come over to demand an explanation, only to end up getting beaten themselves.

　　Mu Shuhui truthfully explained that they had been the ones to barge into her home and start provoking them, and that they had even attacked the children first. She had only fought back to protect her children.

　　When the police checked Mu Shuhui’s background, they learned that her husband had died in battle and that her children were the descendants of a hero. She was raising the children alone, so their expressions immediately turned serious.

　　This wasn’t just some petty little fight. It involved the mistreatment of the children of a fallen soldier and a military widow, both of whom were protected under national laws.

　　The Xia family had called the police thinking they could make a fuss, but in the end, they only made things worse for themselves. Not only was the man arrested, but the mother and her two children were also given a stern reprimand and educated by the authorities.

　　Meanwhile, Mu Shuhui and her two children didn’t suffer so much as a scratch. A community leader even came by to check on them and ask if they needed any help.

　　After that, the Xia family finally settled down.

　　Xia Li was no longer as aggressive as before, and whenever her two children saw Mu Youran and Mu Rufeng at school, they would avoid them.

　　Before long, the children were on winter break.

　　Business at the shop was absolutely booming. The clothes were selling like hotcakes, and the accessories, hats, scarves, and underwear Mu Shuhui had brought back were also incredibly popular. Some of the styles weren’t even available at the department store, so once word got around, everyone came rushing over.

　　The shop was busy from morning till night. Auntie Zhang even called her husband over, and the two of them brought stools and sat by the entrance every day to keep an eye on things and prevent anyone from taking advantage of the crowds to steal.

　　Inside the shop, Mu Shuhui, Wang Qin, and Zhang Hong were all extremely busy. Mu Rufeng was good at arithmetic, so he slung a bag over his shoulder and helped collect money and keep track of the payments.

　　Mu Youran was still too young to be much help, and with so many customers around, there was no one free to keep an eye on her anyway. So she went to play with Auntie Zhang’s grandsons instead.

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