Late at night, after the old lady of the Cheng family and her mother-in-law and daughter-in-law left, Zhou Jiao arranged for her two sisters-in-law and cousin to go into the west wing to rest, and also arranged for her mother-in-law and son to go back to their rooms to rest.

After a busy day, she returned to the bedroom and looked at the hot water the man had poured for her. She smiled and conveyed Zhang's mother's words to Zhang Guoqing.

"How was it? A surprise, right?"

Zhang Guoqing looked at her speechlessly, gloating over her misfortune. What a silly girl! How could he, as a brother-in-law, take his two sisters-in-law around to visit relatives and go shopping?

Thinking of his wife's pregnancy and the hardships she was going through, he frowned deeply. "Was it really Dad's idea? How could he forget that you're having trouble moving around right now?"

"Don't doubt it. It's absolutely true! Maybe godfather reminded him to pay attention to something. Dad was unsure, so he had to come to you. Besides, a woman's pregnancy is not a big deal in the village. It's understandable that he, an old man, didn't notice these details. You didn't see mom and didn't mention this."

This is indeed the case in rural areas. Even women with bound feet and young girls who couldn't work in the fields had to earn work points, let alone a pregnant woman with a baby on the way? Everyone kept having two children in three years, and some elders even advised them to work in the fields more after the first three months so that the baby would be born smoothly.

Zhang Guoqing didn't know what to feel for a moment. Could his wife compare to those people?

"Well, don't overthink it. The people are here. Besides, if there's really no other way, I'll talk to my aunt. She's the best at ideological work, so there's no problem."

Zhang Guoqing knew who to target without waiting for her prompting. But... seeing Zhou Jiao's nonchalant expression, he knew she hadn't thought through the crucial point.

"It'll only be a few days. When we start school, Mom will definitely make arrangements to go back home. I'll stay with my aunt and the others these days. I just need to be careful. It's just that I can't take them out to play fully in this heavy snow."

"What are you playing for? Dad wants the sisters-in-law to understand the risks outside. If you let them go out and have fun, it will backfire."

Zhou Jiao yawned and rubbed her eyes. "It's hard to grasp the right balance. Let's talk about it later."

Zhang Guoqing picked her up with a distressed look, put her on the kang, and put the quilt in her place: "Let it be, nothing is more important than you. Be good, don't think about it, let's go to sleep first."

Zhou Jiao was so sleepy that she let out a soft "hmm" and quickly fell asleep.

Zhang Guoqing, who was lying on the kang, couldn't sleep. He hugged Zhou Jiao tightly, thinking about his own problems. In his opinion, his father's actions were really unnecessary.

What does it mean to split up a family?

Brothers have their own families, so how can they have the time to care about their two sisters-in-law? When the crisis comes, they naturally take care of their own families.

And he used the Zhou family as a testing ground to train the two daughters-in-law of the Zhang family, and even let his own daughter-in-law train them? If my father-in-law knew about this tomorrow, he would probably feel alienated.

Normally, his father-in-law is afraid that his precious daughter will be too thoughtful and would like her to not have to worry about anything. Now, if he finds out that the pregnant Zhou Jiao has to take the trouble to train her two sisters-in-law, he will probably be furious.

No matter how you look at it, it makes you think too much.

His father forgot that this was the Zhou family, not the old Zhang family. Even though the only daughter of the Zhou family was his daughter-in-law, apart from himself, the Zhang family really had nothing to do with them.

In the dark night, Zhang Guoqing smiled wryly, shook his head, and sighed softly. It's always better to consider your surroundings first. I hope I'm just overthinking it.

When Zhou Jiao woke up in the morning, she felt around and found that Zhang Guoqing had gone out to exercise early again, as she expected. Thinking that Zhang's mother and others were at home, she quickly got up.

After Zhou Xiaozheng finished his exercise, he brought his son-in-law in. He saw his daughter busy in the kitchen and laughter in the living room. He glanced at his son-in-law who was frowning beside him.

Without saying another word, he walked out of the kitchen and waved to Zhou Jiao.

"dad?"

"Well, I'll be leaving soon. Come here and help Dad pack up." Zhou Xiaozheng looked at his daughter's wet hands meaningfully.

Zhou Jiao smiled at him ingratiatingly, winked at Zhang Guoqing, and followed him into the study.

"Xiao Wu told me about your father-in-law's plan. While you're both here, I'll give you some advice. We're all relatives, so treat the guests well and send them off properly."

Hearing the implication of the words, Zhou Jiao restrained her smile and looked at Zhang Guoqing - her father didn't want her and her husband to offend others by being villains.

Zhang Guoqing nodded. "I've thought about it for a long time, and it's really not appropriate for us to be the bad guys. There's no need to do thankless things for outsiders."

"Then Dad..."

Zhang Guoqing frowned: "No need to say it, he will understand."

Seeing this, Zhou Jiao looked at her father. The father and daughter exchanged a glance, and she immediately smiled and said, "That's great. I'll give them some pointers occasionally when I get the chance. I wonder if they'll understand. I can't do anything about it. I'll focus on spending the next few days with Mom, and I won't be able to go home once school starts."

Zhang Guoqing looked at her beaming face, then smiled along with her, jokingly saying, "I thought you and Mom had reached a consensus. You seemed so excited last night."

Zhou Jiao put her hands behind her back and smiled awkwardly. Could she say that the little man inside her had been stirring for a long time? Being controlled by them and not allowed to do anything must be boring, okay?

Zhou Xiaozheng came to his daughter's rescue in time: "Okay, go to the kitchen and see if Aunt Chen is ready. I have to leave when Secretary Chen comes."

Zhang Guoqing looked at her red hands from the cold and quickly grabbed his wife who was about to leave: "I'll go, and you go over and do it again. Didn't I tell you not to go to the kitchen?"

"It's okay, I'm wearing gloves."

"Auntie, please forgive me. You are two people now. What if you catch a cold? Be good and go and find out what to prepare for Dad to take with him."

Zhou Xiaozheng waited for his son-in-law to leave, then turned and looked at his daughter.

Zhou Jiao blinked, tilted her head to look at him, and blinked again.

Seeing this, Zhou Xiaozheng laughed: "Do you know you are wrong?"

Zhou Jiao nodded repeatedly.

"What's wrong?"

"have a finger in the pie."

"Don't be stingy with money if you're filial. Give them any amount of money. But remember, your parents-in-law have more than just Xiaowu as their son."

After saying that, Zhou Xiaozheng picked up a pen and wrote the word "Zhou" on a piece of paper, pointing at it and nodding: "Do you know what this means?"

Zhou Jiao nodded seriously. Her last name was Zhou, so she didn't need to be controlled by the Zhang family.

Zhou Xiaozheng glanced at her and continued writing: "Gu family concubine, Zhou family concubine, why are people so greedy? Be more cautious in everything, and don't allow your heart to soften."

Zhou Jiao looked at it and her eyes narrowed immediately. She took the pen and wrote on it: Dad, are you worried that Xiaowu’s father will have some bad thoughts?

Zhou Xiaozheng glanced at the door, shook his head, and said softly, "Not at the moment, but your behavior and words cannot give others any impression. Especially Xiaowu and his two brothers, you have to make them understand. Our Zhou family is only our Zhou family. Even if there is a Zhang family involved in the future, it can only be your children with the surname Zhang. As for the others..."

Zhou Xiaozheng shook his head decisively.

Zhou Jiao smiled sarcastically, "That's a nice thought! Better not to harbor any evil intentions, or I'll show them what it means to have the surname Zhou."

"Your parents-in-law are good people, but they can't help but be ungrateful. You have to make them understand that other than being filial to them, no other demands can be fulfilled. While they are still sensible, leave more ways to escape. If you don't control them and let their appetites get bigger, you'll be in trouble in the future."

Zhou Jiao sighed, "Human nature is so complicated. Dad, if I can't even trust such a kind old man, what do you think I should do in the future?"

Zhou Xiaozheng touched his daughter's head and patted her comfortingly: "So they are good, but you must learn to control the rhythm and adjust as soon as there are signs of something wrong."