That evening, Sun Zhengguo and his wife brought their child to the hospital to visit him.

After some polite exchanges, Sun Zhengguo and his wife offered their blessings upon learning that Li Xiuxiu had given birth to another son.

Sha Zhu then remembered his son's name and, fearing it might be a mismatch with some historical figure, humbly sought his advice.

"Zhengguo, my second son is named He Chaoyang. You're well-educated, could you please take a look and see if he shares the same name with anyone else?"

"He Chaoyang?"

Sun Zhengguo thought for a moment but couldn't come up with any useful information, so he shook his head.

"I haven't thought of anything yet, but this name is good and has a good meaning, so it's perfectly usable."

Hearing that even Sun Zhengguo was praising him, Sha Zhu was very happy, and He Daqing was even happier.

After all, he chose the name himself, and he felt proud to receive the recognition of cultured people.

After a few words, He Yushui and his wife arrived, followed by neighbors from the compound who also came to visit.

Sun Zhengguo did not stay long and took the opportunity to bid farewell and leave.

Not long after he left, Xu Damao also arrived at the hospital, but he was in a bad mood and only glanced at it from afar, considering it a mission accomplished.

Then Qin Huairu also pretended to come and visit. Her situation was similar to Xu Damao's. After glancing at him from afar, she didn't say anything more.

On the way back, the other neighbors chatted and laughed ahead, but Qin Huairu was far behind, looking preoccupied.

Back home, Qin Huairu still held a sliver of hope, but after rummaging through drawers and cabinets, she finally gave up.

"Oh dear! What should we do?"

Looking at the judgment in her hand, with the date clearly written on it, Qin Huairu realized that her mother-in-law would be released from prison the day after tomorrow. She fell into deep thought.

"Mom, what are you doing?" Her two daughters, who were still awake, came over together.

Looking at her two well-behaved daughters, Qin Huairu reached out and stroked their cheeks.

"Xiao Dang, Huaihua, your grandma is coming back."

"grandmother!?"

What an unfamiliar and distant name! Not to mention locust flower, even Xiao Dang had no impression of it at all.

Where did Grandma go? Will she be kind to us?

When asked by her daughter, Qin Huairu shook her head. "I don't know either."

Does she really not know? She just can't answer.

"Stop asking, you guys go to sleep!"

...

It was late at night, and Qin Huairu was still tossing and turning on the kang (a heated brick bed), thinking about how to face her mother-in-law who was about to return.

The mother-in-law knew about Jia Dongxu's death, and she couldn't find any fault with that.

But her mother-in-law doesn't know that Bang Geng is in jail yet. What should she do about her messy affair with Yi Zhonghai?

I'm so worried!

at the same time.

More than 20 miles away from the courtyard house, in a suburban women's prison, Jia Zhangshi also tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

However, unlike Qin Huairu, she was too excited to sleep.

Thinking back on these past few years, due to my lack of initiative in various aspects, I haven't had a single day of reduced sentence. But now, I've finally made it through.

I'll finally be able to leave this awful place the day after tomorrow.

Although her son is no longer here, she still has her grandson, a house, and a job. It's better than this place.

The only downside is that her daughter-in-law is no pushover either; she hasn't visited her in years. This time when she goes back, she wants to get under her thumb, and she must not repeat the same mistake.

After all, prisons aren't charities; you can't just eat two cornbread buns a day and still have to do a lot of work.

However, Jia Zhangshi was unaware that it would have been better if she hadn't gone back; once she did, one good show after another awaited her.

I reckon there will be a huge commotion then.

...

Two days later, the morning was no different from any other day. Wisps of smoke rose from the chimneys in the courtyard as everyone busied themselves with preparing breakfast.

After Qin Huairu finished making breakfast, she called the children to eat, and after they finished eating, she arranged for them to go to school.

It was supposed to be going to school, but it was really just a change of scenery for fun. However, Qin Huairu didn't care at all and treated it as taking care of the child for free.

After thinking about it for the past two days, she has come to terms with it. Since things have already turned ugly, she doesn't need to maintain any persona anymore.

If you can get along with your mother-in-law after she comes home, great; if not, she can get lost. Nobody will tolerate her.

A little after eight in the morning, everyone in the compound went about their business, leaving only some elderly people and children.

At that very moment, outside the gates of a women's prison in the suburbs, Jia Zhangshi stood looking completely bewildered.

"Why isn't anyone here to pick me up? What kind of person is Qin Huairu?"

After waiting a while longer, still no one appeared, and Jia Zhangshi knew she couldn't wait any longer.

Otherwise, the two cornbread buns I ate in the morning might not be enough to get me home.

"That bitch, I'll settle the score with her when we get back."

Then she started grumbling and reluctantly walked home…

Just after lunchtime, after finishing their chores, a group of middle-aged women and young wives, having nothing to do, gathered at the gate of the courtyard and began to chat idly about this and that.

At this moment, a thin, wrinkled woman with slightly gray hair, carrying a tattered cloth bag, walked towards this side.

However, her steps were extremely slow, clearly indicating that she had little strength.

This situation immediately caught the attention of those who were interested, and Aunt Yan stood up and looked at it again and again.

"Hey ladies, there's someone coming this way from over there. He looks familiar, but I just can't remember who he is?"

Actually, it's not that she has poor eyesight; it's just that the person in front of her is aging too quickly, making it hard to associate her with Jia Zhangshi.

"Oh! Let me see."

At this moment, Aunt Er also stood up, looking every bit the big sister in the courtyard.

She looked at it carefully for a few moments, then rubbed her eyes, and finally let out a gasp.

"My God! That person is Jia Zhangshi, no doubt about it, it must be her."

"It's true, how did you get so old?" Aunt Yan recognized him at this moment, but she still couldn't believe it.

"This is going to be interesting!"

"The compound is going to be lively again."

...

The remaining middle-aged women wore gloating expressions and had already prepared their small stools, ready to watch the drama unfold.

By this time, Jia Zhangshi had made it to the door with difficulty. When she saw these old acquaintances, a rare smile appeared on her face.

"Finally home! It wasn't easy!"

"The aunties are all here! I'm back."

There was no welcoming ceremony, no warm greetings, only a perfunctory reply from Aunt Erda.

"Oh! It's Aunt Jia! I didn't recognize her earlier, please don't take it to heart. How have you been these past few years?"

When the other people at the door heard Auntie Er's question, they all held back their laughter.

Isn't that obvious?

Look at Zhang Xiaohua's appearance, no wonder she looks terrible; she must have suffered a lot!

However, Madam Jia did not feel anything was wrong, and instead replied cheerfully.

"It's fine, it's fine."

...