After Descending the Mountain, Seven Big Brothers Spoil Me

As soon as Zhouzhou heard this, she immediately became unhappy.

She looked up, her gaze turning even more resentful. She puffed up her cheeks and said angrily, "Uncle!"

Is this how you talk about your own niece?

Her uncle had changed ever since they went on a mission together last time. He no longer treated her with the same affection.

Hmph!

Sure enough, Brother Dafu was right—men's hearts are like needles at the bottom of the sea. None of them can be trusted!

Xi Mo glanced at her sideways, rubbing his smooth, bald head, thinking that she still had the nerve to say that.

Did she even reflect on what she had done?

"Alright," Zhouzhou poked her finger at him, trying to please him with a smile. She linked her arm with his and said coquettishly, "It's not my fault, Uncle. It was Mr. Divine Thunder who struck you with lightning and made all your hair fall out. I was only trying to help you."

"Besides, I even gave you hair growth tonic! If you use it, your hair will grow back soon. I haven't charged you a single penny. Look at how good I am to you."

Xi Mo thought for a moment. Back then, she had actually charged Ye Lingfeng for the same thing, and he was her biological father.

With that thought, he felt a lot better inside.

"Okay, I'm not joking anymore. I came to talk to you about something serious." His expression turned a bit more serious as he glanced around. "Let's go somewhere else to talk."

"Alright," Zhouzhou nodded, waving at Li Yuxin. "Yuxin, you should go back to class."

Li Yuxin, noticing they had something serious to discuss, wisely left without hesitation.

Shao Shanshan was still there, about to leave, when Zhouzhou suddenly called out to her, "Wait a minute, Second Sister-in-law."

She turned around, looking puzzled.

Then Zhouzhou pulled out a talisman and handed it to her. "Second Sister-in-law, you should take care of your health. Don't stay up too late, or it'll harm the baby in your womb."

"What?"

Shao Shanshan's hand froze as she reached for the talisman. She widened her eyes in disbelief, staring at Zhouzhou.

Her hand went to her belly as she murmured, "Baby, a baby?"

"Yes," Zhouzhou nodded. "Second Sister-in-law, your maternal line is glowing upwards. This means you have a little one on the way."

To confirm, Zhouzhou felt her pulse.

It was still early, and the pulse was faint, but she could definitely feel it.

There was no mistake.

"Where's Brother Dafu? Should I call him to come pick you up?"

Mentioning Qin Er, Shao Shanshan's expression became hesitant. She touched her belly, looking conflicted.

She wasn't sure if Qin Er would even want this child.

She knew that his feelings for her were nothing more than a passing tolerance. They didn't have any romantic love.

He married her largely because of the dowry she provided.

According to what he said before, he didn't want to get married, believing that adding another person would increase his expenses.

Would he even look forward to the arrival of a child?

She wasn't sure at all.

Seeing Zhouzhou about to make the call, she hurriedly said, "Zhouzhou, don't call him yet."

When Zhouzhou looked at her in confusion, she forced herself to calm down and explained, "He's busy. It's better not to disturb him right now. I want to tell him about this myself."

That made sense.

Zhouzhou's eyes lit up, and she said with excitement, "Then Second Sister-in-law, go ahead and tell him! This is great news, and I'm sure Brother Dafu will be even happier to hear it from you."

Would he be that happy?

Shao Shanshan wasn't sure and didn't even want to think about it.

Avoiding Zhouzhou's gaze, she said, "Alright, I'll go now. You carry on with what you were doing."

"Okay, Second Sister-in-law, goodbye."

"Bye."

As she watched Shao Shanshan's figure disappear, Zhouzhou furrowed her brow slightly, feeling a bit confused. "Why does it seem like Second Sister-in-law isn't that happy? Doesn't she want the baby?"

Xi Mo also noticed.

But since he didn't know the details, he didn't comment.

Zhouzhou didn't ask any further. If Second Sister-in-law was unhappy, then let Brother Dafu handle it.

"Let's go," Xi Mo said.

He led Zhouzhou to the car and handed her a file.

Zhouzhou opened it, glanced at the contents, and slowly read out loud, "The World Mercenary Competition?"

"Yes," Xi Mo nodded. "Has Director Zhao not mentioned this to you?"

Zhouzhou shook her head. "No, the last time I contacted Uncle Zhao was when we went to rescue you."

Saying this, her gaze inadvertently fell on his bald head.

Xi Mo didn't even flinch, not wanting to give her the chance to mock him.

Seeing this, Zhouzhou pouted and sighed, a little uninterested, and went back to reading.

Then she suddenly asked, "Wait, Uncle, why are you showing me this? I remember the Fourth Bureau doesn't participate in this competition. We handle assassination missions that can't be made public."

Xi Mo nodded. "That's true, so you'll be going in as part of the army."

"Look at page nine."

Zhouzhou quickly flipped to page nine. It contained only one photo and a name.

When she saw the person, her eyes narrowed. "Is this... Augusta?"

"Yes, your father's archenemy."

"This is the reason I'm showing you this. This person is extremely powerful—he's someone even I can't defeat. Only Ye Lingfeng could possibly go head-to-head with him."

At this point, he pursed his lips. Though it displeased him, he had to admit Ye Lingfeng was indeed more powerful than him.

He was a natural-born talent. Even though he entered the field late, he quickly surpassed Xi Mo.

"In the past, he didn't participate. But this year, he's entered and openly declared that he plans to wipe out our team. To be safe, we're adding you to the team to increase our chances."

Zhouzhou nodded, then scoffed. "Who does he think he is? If he wants to take us down, fine—let him try."

Xi Mo fell silent for a moment. "He's definitely got blood on his hands. He's killed a number of our teammates."

Upon hearing this, Zhouzhou's eyes turned cold, and a murderous intent flashed across her face.

Her expression grew serious. "Don't worry, I'll avenge them."

"Mm," Xi Mo agreed, rubbing Zhouzhou's head. "This time, we'll make sure he regrets it."

"Of course!" Then Zhouzhou suddenly asked, "By the way, if we win the competition, is there a prize? Why would Augusta participate in this?"

Someone of her father's caliber wouldn't normally care about such competitions. If he was entering, there must be a hidden reason.

Xi Mo couldn't help but admire Zhouzhou's quick thinking. She was becoming more and more perceptive.

"Actually, the physical prizes are the usual—money, trophies, and so on. But those don't matter. What's important is that Country A has been acting up recently, and we need an opportunity to show them a lesson."

Hearing this, Zhouzhou understood.

Just like with unruly kids, sometimes you had to give them a good beating, or they wouldn't learn.

However, there was one thing she had to correct. "Uncle, the prize money is also important."

She knew she would say that.

Xi Mo shot her a look. "You've earned quite a bit from missions over the years. Why are you still so obsessed with money?"

Speaking of money, that reminded Zhouzhou of a sad topic.

"Those earnings are just for looking at. I can't spend any of it!"

Is there anyone else in the world more unfortunate than her?

Why was her life so hard?