If you keep making noise, I won’t stand it anymore!

Er Gouzi, who changed his name to Meiying, settled down in Liu's house. He was busy sweeping the floor, fetching water, and chopping wood every day. He imitated Meixiang and helped to wash, dry, and prepare the herbs he dug. With his diligence and ability, he gradually gained recognition and acceptance from everyone.

"People really cannot stand being praised." Later, Meixiang sighed countlessly at the wisdom of her predecessors. The ancients were not deceiving her.

One morning half a month later, Meixiang was preparing to go to the back mountain as usual. When she opened the gate, she was shocked to see sixteen little heads kneeling outside the door. The oldest was no more than eleven or twelve years old, and the youngest could not even kneel steadily.

Seeing Meixiang opening the door, they all said, "Hello, Miss!" They greeted each other in unison, and it was obvious that this gesture had been rehearsed more than once.

"Don't scream, don't scream," Meixiang, who thought she had seen the world, was also shocked and waved her hands repeatedly: "I don't know you, who allowed you to scream?"

"It's my eldest brother, Ergouzi." A childish voice interrupted, and the little girl next to her hurriedly covered her mouth, but it was obviously too late.

"Er Gouzi? Er Gouzi, get over here quickly!" Meixiang shouted harshly into the yard.

Er Gouzi, who was hiding in the house, was frightened by the sound and trembled all over. He hid even tighter in the corner of the house.

"Er Gouzi, if you don't come out I will sell you out. No, I will kill you with my own hands!" Meixiang shouted even more angrily when she saw no movement in the yard.

The sharp voice brought out the beautiful woman and Nanny Chen: "What's wrong? What happened?"

When the two saw Meixiang, whose eyes were red with anger, and then saw the sixteen children outside, they couldn't help but be stunned.

"This is?"

"Ergouzi, you bastard, get here now!" Seeing that Ergouzi didn't move, Meixiang shouted into the yard again.

Seeing that he couldn't bear it any longer, Er Gouzi took one step forward and two steps back and came out slowly like a little ostrich.

Meixiang saw him, rushed over and pulled him to the door, pointed at the sixteen children kneeling outside the door, and asked, "What's going on?"

The youngest children, seeing Er Gouzi, could no longer hold back their tears as if they had seen their backbone. The older ones also couldn't help sobbing and wiping away their tears.

Suddenly, there was a cry outside the Liu Mansion, which attracted all the neighbors. The smart ones ran to inform the village chief as soon as possible.

"Madam, this, this..." Village Chief Liu didn't know what to say when he saw this scene.

The beautiful woman quickly regained her composure: "Village Chief Liu, let's hear what Mei Ying has to say first?"

Mei Ying looked at the beautiful woman, the village chief, Mei Xiang, and then at the sixteen pairs of eager eyes outside the door. She gritted her teeth secretly and knelt down with a plop. "These are my brothers and sisters. Some of them have lost their parents, and some have been abandoned by their parents. Before entering the mansion, we lived together in the Bodhisattva Temple five miles outside the city. I am the tallest, so I became the eldest. I rolled down the hillside that day to collect herbs for my seventeenth sister who had a high fever. My seventeenth sister had a fever for six days, but she managed to survive. Otherwise, I would have..."

"When I go back, everyone will be so envious of my situation when they hear about it. I know this is my way out, and it's also everyone else's way to survive. It's a rare opportunity, and maybe it will only come once in a lifetime. I can't just watch it go to waste, so..." Mei Ying couldn't hold back her tears any longer.

The children outside were crying and hugging each other.

Even ants try to survive, let alone these children struggling in troubled times. The beautiful woman sighed secretly. Although the people in the capital have tried very hard, it seems that it is still far from enough. Thinking of this, the beautiful woman glanced at Meixiang, then turned to look at Village Chief Liu.

"Village Chief Liu, look at this..."

"Madam, this is the first time I've encountered such a situation. Since they followed Meiying here, if we drive them away, I'm afraid many of them won't survive. Other families don't have such a big place to take them in. Look... Of course, we won't just sit there and watch. I'll take care of their household registration, and the rest of you can share some of the food, clothing, and other things you have at home, and help these children together. How do you think?"

Although everyone's family is not well off now, they all nodded after hearing the village chief's words.

"Xiang'er, look?" The beautiful woman looked at Meixiang.

"Damn it, if I adopt one person, do I have to adopt all his ancestors as well?" Meixiang glared at Ergouzi angrily. Meixiang was very unhappy about being plotted against, but when she looked at the hungry and cold children outside, and thought about the many places she would need to use people in the future, she glared at Meiying fiercely and nodded reluctantly.

"Keep an eye on your people. If anything goes wrong, watch out for your skin!" Meixiang said viciously to Meiying, then turned around and followed her mother into the house.

Mei Ying shrank her neck when she heard that, turned around and quietly gestured to her friends behind her, asking them to follow her in. The sixteen children cheered immediately, but after being glared at by Mei Ying, they immediately lined up quietly from youngest to oldest and entered the room.

The youngest sister, Seventeen, saw the beautiful woman sitting on the chair in the main room and rushed over fearlessly. She grabbed her trouser leg, tilted her head and said "Mom" in a crisp voice, which frightened everyone and made them break out in cold sweats.

Mei Ying quickly hugged her back and said, "You can't call me mother, you have to call me Madam, remember?"

"No, Seventeen wants to call me mother. Seventeen also wants to have a mother."

Seeing that Seventeenth Sister was about to cry again, Mei Ying had to show his authority as an older brother: "Seventeenth Sister, if you don't listen, I will send you back to the Bodhisattva Temple alone!"

Xiao Shiqi curled his lips, looked at the others and didn't dare to say anything.

"Madam, Miss, Xiao Shiqi used to be very obedient and sensible. Maybe because she was sick a few days ago, everyone pampered her a little, so... I promise to take good care of her! Please be sure to take her in." Mei Ying explained carefully.

"She's still young, just teach her the rules slowly."

"Yes, ma'am, let's follow the original rules. They should all sign a death contract." Mei Ying glanced at her younger brothers and sisters. The sensible older children nodded their heads, and the younger ones also nodded when they saw this.

"You have the final say? Do you know what a death contract means?" Meixiang asked seriously.

"Yes, compared to working for the master for a lifetime, it is better than starving to death or dying of illness now. We have had enough of living in fear and uncertainty. We don't ask for much. It is enough to have a place to settle down. Moreover, I believe that the master is a generous person and will not treat his servants badly." Mei Ying said with a firm look in his eyes.

Meixiang nodded, glanced at the beautiful woman, turned around and told Nanny Chen to take out a stack of deed papers.

Sixteen children put their fingerprints on the contract one by one.