After a long day of running around, Shen Miao was exhausted.

When she got home, she couldn't even lift her arms. She just wanted to lie down and sleep. She only meant to lie down for a bit, but she fell asleep as she lay there.

She didn't know how long she had slept, but she was awakened by a fragrance.

She struggled to open her eyes and saw Qingchen standing in front of her, gazing down at her. The aroma was coming from the roasted meat she was holding.

"Who made the barbecue?" Shen Miao got up and rubbed her cheeks.

"I did it."

The words "light and airy" stunned Shen Miao.

She thought Qingchen had gone to rest like her, but it turned out he had gone to cook.

That's right. Right now, the four kids are asleep, and Jiu Ying went to chase after people and hasn't returned yet. The only one who can cook is Qing Chen.

Why didn't you go to rest?

"It's alright, not too tiring. If you get a good night's sleep, we'll get up and eat the barbecue," Qingchen urged.

Shen Miao got out of bed and washed her face. She was finally feeling less dizzy. She never dreamed that Qing Chen would cook for her.

Because it was so unexpected, she was now completely flattered.

"Why aren't you eating?" Shen Miao tore off a chicken leg and took a bite; it tasted pretty good.

They even used the seasonings she brought out.

Shen Miao restrained herself from wolfing down her food in front of Qing Chen, maintaining a ladylike demeanor and eating in small bites.

Qingchen said calmly, "I've already eaten."

"Oh." Shen Miao nodded and said, "Then I won't bother with you anymore."

No, I'd better eat big bites; small bites just won't fill me up.

Shen Miao was only half full when she realized that Qing Chen had been watching her the whole time. She instantly felt a little embarrassed. Qing Chen was also a little embarrassed because he hadn't expected her to look up so suddenly.

She looked away, coughed, and said, "Chen Miao, thank you for taking care of the children."

Shen Miao was a little surprised. "Why are you thanking me? These kids are my kids too. Isn't it only natural for me to be good to them? Is there anything I haven't done enough?"

Qingchen looked at her with complicated feelings, thinking to herself, "You didn't think or act this way before. You even thought the children were a burden and wanted to sell them."

However, he didn't bring up the past, and said in a low voice, "You're good, that's good enough."

"Do you like me even a little bit?" Shen Miao asked mischievously.

Qingchen didn't flinch, looking straight into her eyes: "You have to stay like this, don't change back."

The old Shen Miao was really terrible.

However, Shen Miao automatically interpreted this sentence as: I will like you as long as you are like this.

"When did Qingchen learn to say sweet words?" Shen Miao thought to herself, but her face remained expressionless.

Perhaps because it was the first time she had said something like that, Qingchen felt a little awkward after she finished speaking, so she stood up and left, leaving Shen Miao stunned on the spot.

After Qingchen left, she realized what had happened, tapped her head, and told herself: Don't overthink it, focus on raising the baby and working on your career.

After eating and drinking to their hearts' content, Jiu Ying returned. He looked exhausted and was panting heavily. Shen Miao poured him a glass of water and told him to take a break and not rush.

Jiuying finished the water in one gulp, then threw a bag of beast crystals on the table and said breathlessly, "We caught up with him. He ran too fast and was quite good at hiding. We almost missed him."

"You two started fighting?" Shen Miao asked.

Jiuying nodded: "Yes, he refused to return the beast crystal and wouldn't admit that he had cheated. I was so angry that I broke his hand as a lesson to him. If he dares to cheat again, he should think about what happened today."

Shen Miao felt that breaking only one of his hands was too lenient on him, and comforted Jiu Ying, saying, "You did the right thing. People like this shouldn't be tolerated."

Jiuying asked, "What should we do with the Gu? Should I go outside and look for someone? Maybe there will be an expert who can cure it."

Shen Miao took him to see the babies and said, "The problem has been solved."

Then he explained the method to remove the curse. Jiuying was very happy and pinched Dabao's chubby little feet tightly, saying, "Although you suffered, it's still cured."

As they were talking, the little boy kicked his foot and groggily opened his eyes. He was probably still half asleep and didn't quite understand what was going on. He scrambled up and called out in a soft, sweet voice, "Mother."

Shen Miao was overjoyed: "Da Bao, you're awake! How are you feeling now?"

"It hurts so much."

Upon hearing that it still hurt, Shen Miao immediately felt terrible. The next second, she heard Da Bao point to the bandaged area and say, "It hurts here, it hurts here too."

Upon hearing this, Shen Miao finally breathed a sigh of relief.

It's normal for the wound to hurt; as long as it's not caused by parasites, it's fine.

She comforted her, saying, "Don't be afraid, the pain will stop soon."

The other babies woke up too, calling for their mother in their babyish voices and saying they were hungry. Shen Miao quickly went to cook for them, with Jiu Ying helping out. Shen Miao told him to eat some too.

After finishing their work and settling the babies in, it was already past midnight. Everyone was exhausted from the day, and they all fell asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow.

Shen Miao felt as if she had fallen into a nightmare again, in which someone was staring at her menacingly. She wanted to open her eyes, but her body was too tired and she couldn't open them no matter what she did.

In his panic, he shouted, "Qingchen, save me!"

The shout woke her up, and she heard the sounds of fighting. Shen Miao quickly lit the candle by her bedside, and the light illuminated the scene in the room. She saw Qing Chen pinning a strange orc to the ground and kicking him hard.

With kick after kick, the orc was killed.

"What happened?" Shen Miao asked in surprise.

Looking towards the doorway, Jiuying and the other cubs were awake and standing there looking inside.

Qingchen threw the dead orc out, intending to deal with it at dawn. When he turned back, he said to Shen Miao, "It's nothing, just a bug."

Shen Miao glanced at the wide-open window. She had closed it before going to bed, but Qing Chen had just thrown her out, so the window was clearly wide open.

She guessed, "Did someone come in to assassinate me?"

Qingchen nodded, and Shen Miao couldn't help but feel a pang of regret. She was sleeping so soundly that she didn't even know someone had come in. If Qingchen hadn't been sleeping next door and heard the noise, she would probably be a corpse by now.

The children had completely different focuses, and instead of being afraid, they started complaining about Qingchen.

"Daddy is so violent, he kicked someone to death, tsk tsk."

"That's right, Father shouldn't have beaten him to death. He should have hung him up from a tree and not let him down. He should have starved him for days and nights until he was about to starve to death before letting him down."

"No, I think it's better to throw him in the river and let the piranhas eat him."

Shen Miao was speechless. These kids had the nerve to call Qing Chen violent? They were the ones who were more violent than the rest!