In a blink of an eye, it was time to separate. After sending Zhou Jiao away early in the morning, Zhang Guoqing suddenly felt at a loss. Holding his son, he temporarily lost interest in returning to school.

All along, he has been able to feel at ease and integrate smoothly into this strange time and space. The biggest reason is that his only concern is always by his side.

He was said to be protecting Zhou Jiao, but Zhou Jiao had also been supporting him. Now that she was gone, his fighting spirit seemed to have died with her.

"Dad, I still want to do horse stance and boxing."

Zhang Guoqing regained consciousness and put the child down. With nothing else to do, he joined his son in horse stance. The difference was that his thoughts were swirling, his mind restless.

Ping An finished his horse stance and a set of boxing techniques. After finishing, he stood aside curiously, observing Zhang Guoqing. He wondered why his father kept doing horse stance all the time. Wasn't he tired?

When he walked around to Zhang Guoqing, he saw Ping An chuckling. His dad was so funny, he could even get distracted while doing horse stance.

"Dad, it's time for breakfast."

Zhang Guoqing was jolted awake by his son's push, and only then did he feel his legs go numb. He shook his head and laughed. This won't work! In two or three months, he'll probably go crazy. He needs to find something else to do.

"Are you hungry? I still have to box."

"Dad, the sun is coming out."

Zhang Guoqing understood what his son meant, but he couldn't bear to embarrass himself in front of his son.

He stretched his arms and legs and said with a smile, "Yes, this set of boxing must wait until the sun comes out and absorbs the Yang energy, in order to be considered successful."

Ping An looked at him suspiciously and asked uncertainly, "Really?"

"What do you think?"

Ping An immediately rushed over after hearing this, hugged his legs, and quickly jumped up. Zhang Guoqing caught him and held him up. He laughed with joy - his father could also lie.

Zhang Guoqing finished breakfast with his son and personally took him to the nursery. After watching the child wave happily as he entered, he turned and left the compound and boarded the bus.

Two stops away, not far from a guesthouse, a dark and thin child ran out of the alley and looked at him.

Zhang Guoqing looked at his watch. It was only a little after eight o'clock. He walked into the alley and said, "Heizi, why are you here so early? Did you not sleep last night?"

"This is close to my home. It's been less than half an hour since I finished eating."

After saying that, Heizi lowered his voice and said, "That person just came back this morning. He's still inside now. He's such a bad guy! Do you want me to watch over him at night?"

Zhang Guoqing shook his head. "You should come over sooner or later and then go to school. Go to class now. If you're late, you'll get scolded."

"No. They make us work all day long, I know everything I need to learn. I'll go over later and say I have a stomachache, and it'll be fine if I just say yes. I'll still keep an eye on this, this guy is definitely a bad guy."

Zhang Guoqing didn't say much, but asked about Zhou Xiaocun's daily life in the past two days. He learned that he was completely different from the previous few days, leaving home early and returning late, with a gloomy face every day.

He glanced thoughtfully at the entrance to the guesthouse. It looked like something had changed. He hadn't inquired about Lin Liying's situation in the past two days, and wondered if the talks had broken down.

Thinking of this, Zhang Guoqing whispered a few instructions and turned to leave.

After running for half a day, he had a general understanding that the old bastard Zhou Xiaocun must have made some excessive demands, which scared Lin Liying and her husband so much that they slipped back to their hometown.

The thought of this made him laugh. Gu Ruyi's old daughter was finally about to die. Should he add fuel to the fire? Unfortunately, he didn't know if this would have much to do with his wife. It was really a headache!

Before heading home, Zhang Guoqing passed by Fang Fei's workplace. He decided to stop by. He hadn't seen him in a while, and wondered how he was doing as a soon-to-be father.

Fang Fei looked at him in surprise. "I thought I heard you coming here wrongly. What? You want to come over for a free meal?"

Zhang Guoqing sat down next to him, said hello to the others, and then replied, "I have nowhere to go at noon, so I thought I'd come and have lunch with you."

"Good brother, you finally remembered me. I'll treat you to a meal. Isn't that brotherly?"

Zhang Guoqing glanced at the other people in the room and shook his head. "Let's just eat in the cafeteria. I'll leave you some money to buy milk powder."

Fang Fei took out his lunch box and said to his colleagues, "Xiao Wu and I will go to the cafeteria first. If the boss comes, please help me."

"Go ahead. If there's any meat today, remember to help me get it."

"You guys go line up first, my watch has already reached the time."

After leaving the office, Fang Fei looked around and saw no one. He said, "My wife has had a weird appetite lately. It's been really annoying. If you don't come find me, I'll come find you."

Zhang Guoqing rolled his eyes at him. What was he talking about? As if he was the culprit.

"I'm starting to regret having kids so early. Being a man is so tiring. When she says she wants to eat sour dates, I have to run out to find them. When she says she wants hot and sour soup in the middle of the night, I have to stay up all night in the kitchen. Lately, she's been craving braised pork, braised pork elbow, all meat. Well, now I don't dare to respond."

"Where's pork on the market at this time of year? Take her to expensive restaurants a few times, and I guarantee she won't crave meat."

"I don't understand this. She's such a weird person. She ordered something there, ate a few bites, then said she had no appetite. And the food she brought back wouldn't stay for a few days in this weather. It's really a hassle."

Zhang Guoqing patted him on the shoulder, laughing happily. Different expectations for children, different feelings about being a father. He hadn't considered these things at first, only worrying that Jiaojiao wouldn't eat, and that mother and child wouldn't get enough nutrition.

"Alas, she got pregnant by herself, and both families followed her around. I've been wondering lately if it would be better to marry a village girl. You see, she's not that troubled."

"Be more understanding. After all, she's giving birth to a child for you. She should be more calm by the time she gets used to it and has another child."

Fang Fei nodded cheerfully, "That's the only way I can comfort myself. Now I'm just looking forward to the baby coming out soon. By the way, your son is so smart, did he eat something good? You can get some for me, too."

"Yes, Jiaojiao and Ping'an ate the most steamed bread—all kinds of steamed bread. Do you want some? Life was very poor back then. I'm not afraid of you laughing at me. We couldn't even have a bite of rice. My mother said the baby was too big to give birth to, so she didn't dare give her the meat. She could only boil the bones for her to drink. How about you try it?"

Fang Fei nodded seriously. "You know what? Bone soup can supplement calcium. It might really be useful. What's more, the bones you boiled must not be ordinary domesticated ones. Look at how agile the wild animals in the mountains are. They run away at the slightest movement. They must be nutritious. I have to make some for her to drink."

"Okay, go look for it first. If you can't find one, borrow a car and I'll go up the mountain with you. I can't guarantee the results, so why not ask the elderly at home first?"

"No need to ask, it must be effective. You still remember the wolf king skin you gave to Old Lin. His rheumatism has been cured in recent years, and my grandfather wanted to borrow it. I didn't expect him to give it away. I heard it really works."

Zhang Guoqing's eyes flickered, and he didn't ask who it was sent to. Fang Fei was very kind to reveal this little bit of information.

He smiled and said, "Why didn't you tell me? I don't have any wolf king skins, but I still have some ordinary ones. I'll make do with them for now. When I go back home, I'll go and ask around."

Fang Fei smiled and shook his head, saying, "My grandfather has ordinary wolf skins. Keep yours for now. If you tell anyone about it, you won't be able to keep a single hair, and someone will come after you."

"Okay, come to me if you need any help."

The two chatted all the way to the cafeteria for lunch. After the meal, Zhang Guoqing sat for a while and then said goodbye and left.

Thinking of Mr. Lin's recent movements, Zhang Guoqing frowned. He was really old and confused. He didn't even know there was a fire in the backyard, and he was still fighting in the front.

Before leaving get off work, Zhang Guoqing picked up his son and took a detour to pick up Zhou Xiaozheng.

After returning home, he followed Zhou Xiaozheng into the study.

"Sit down, do you have something to say?"

Zhang Guoqing took one look at his father-in-law's expression and asked, "Dad, do you know about Mr. Lin's situation? Has he already reached an agreement with the other party?"

Zhou Xiaozheng smiled and said, "I've gained something after just one round. Not bad. Don't worry about these things. Dad is here to take care of things. Just watch the show. The little devils in front of the guesthouse have been cleared away."

Zhang Guoqing was not surprised at all that his father-in-law knew about Mr. Lin's movements, but how did he know that Zhou Xiaocun came to Beijing? The only explanation was that he had been keeping an eye on these people.

An idea suddenly flashed through his mind, and he blurted out, "Dad, it was you who arranged Jiaojiao's trip, right?"

Zhou Xiaozheng glanced at him sideways. Why should some things be said out loud?

"Is there anything I can be needed for?"

Seeing his son-in-law's eyes shining and rubbing his hands eagerly, Zhou Xiaozheng couldn't help but laugh. "Someone will take care of this matter. You can go to class tomorrow. You'll have something to do after graduation."

Zhang Guoqing looked at him hesitantly and finally nodded.

He wanted to ask what evidence the other party had, whether it involved his family. But seeing the smile on his father-in-law's face, he thought better of it. If he brought up sad things, without his wife at home, he probably wouldn't have anyone to comfort him.