Aunt Chen quietly pushed the door open and came in with a small bowl of noodles. Seeing that she was fast asleep, she sighed inwardly. What was going on? Being pregnant was hard enough, and now she had to wander around the streets.

She walked forward and gently pushed Zhou Jiao, calling her softly: "Jiaojiao, wake up, go sleep next door."

Zhou Jiao was woken up in a daze. Seeing Aunt Chen's worried face, she smiled embarrassedly: "I accidentally fell asleep. What time is it?"

"I haven't slept for half an hour." Aunt Chen picked up the small bowl, "Hurry up and eat a few bites and go to your mother's room to continue sleeping."

Zhou Jiao shook her head: "I won't be able to sleep at night. Are my mother-in-law and the others chatting?"

The faint sounds outside were definitely them chatting. Aunt Chen nodded, secretly regretting waking the child up. She might as well have covered her with a quilt.

"Your mother-in-law told me not to prepare too much tonight, what do you think?"

"Listen to her. She wants to train those two."

Aunt Chen lowered her eyes in disapproval. "Training your daughter-in-law to go to the capital? You must be kidding. Sending her to the mountains is more appropriate." These people are just messing around.

However, she kept her identity in mind and knew it was not her turn to speak.

Zhou Jiao finished speaking and shook her head in amusement. "We just need to treat each other with courtesy. Auntie, when you have time, tell those two more about what's going on in the courtyard. For example, how someone's family became prisoners overnight, or what kind of wife accepted something they shouldn't have, or said something they shouldn't have, and which village the whole family is in now."

Aunt Chen smiled knowingly.

"That's what my mother-in-law meant. She's worried those two might cause trouble for the Zhang family."

"No wonder...it seems your mother-in-law is quite sensible. Okay, I'll definitely see to it."

Zhou Jiao slowly exhaled as she watched Aunt Chen happily leave the room. The more she thought about it, the more she felt that as the sister-in-law of her brother, it was not appropriate for her to be the villain. She decided to let others step forward to remind them, hoping that the two of them would listen.

"Sister, why don't you go shopping? You must be bored at home. Come over this morning and I'll make arrangements. You can have two days off. I'll go shopping with you."

"Official business is important. Don't let it interfere with your work..."

Zhou Jiao heard her mother's voice outside, raised her eyebrows, stood up and left the study.

As soon as Lin Lishan saw her daughter, she quickly asked, "Are you hungry? Do you want to eat something first?" Then, she smiled at Zhang's mother and said, "The doctor said Jiaojiao has a small appetite. For the sake of the child, it is recommended that she eat small and frequent meals."

"Give Jiaojiao more bone soup. Make it thick and let her drink it like water. When she was pregnant with Ping'an, she loved it. In the early years, when we didn't have any, I drank bone soup even when I was pregnant. All three of my sons grew up tall and strong. Later, it was Xiaowu who told me that bones can supplement calcium, and then I realized it was a good thing."

"Yeah?"

"Yes. Eat less meat and other things. If the baby gets too fat, Jiaojiao will suffer during childbirth. We'll nourish the baby after the confinement period. The child didn't rest well during the confinement period before, so we must nourish him this time so that he won't have any diseases when he gets older."

"That's great. Big sister, I don't understand any of this. You have to teach me something in the next two days."

"As long as you don't mind me being nagging, that's all. Big sister, I brought a lot of meat and bones, so you don't have to worry if they run out. Xiaomi will be going back and forth to the capital soon, and I asked her to take care of it."

Lin Lishan quickly shook her head: "Don't bother with that. You can buy meat bones here. It's too troublesome to ask for favors and owe them favors back home."

Mother Zhang smiled mysteriously: "Big sister, have you forgotten our old neighbors? The Wang family!"

"It's better not to trouble them. There's no way to get meat, but you can find meat bones here. Big sister, you've been asking the Wang family too much. If they ask you for help in the future, you'll be in trouble. Besides, Xiaomi is a delicate girl, so don't burden her."

Huang Xiaomi quickly said, "Auntie Shan, I'm fine. I'm looking forward to taking this opportunity to come over and have a bite."

"What nonsense! You can come over anytime you want. Don't listen to your aunt. Carrying such heavy bones here is exhausting, especially in the summer. You've just been transferred here, so you need to get along well with your colleagues first. If you bring too much, you'll take up space and smell something strange. How can they be happy?"

Huang Xiaomi smiled gratefully. She knew what was true and she hadn't expected her cousin's mother to be so kind.

"Do you have a partner?"

Seeing her mother gossiping more and more, Zhou Jiao pulled her aside and said, "Mom, I'm still a little girl. I'd be embarrassed."

Lin Lishan looked at Huang Xiaomi's red face and laughed with joy.

"It's okay, cousin. Aunt Shan, I don't want to get married yet."

Hearing this, Lin Lishan said disapprovingly: "Girls like you have had a hard time finding a partner in recent years. When you get older, all the good men are taken. If you don't believe me, ask your aunt."

Mother Zhang glared at her niece and agreed, "That's right. Besides Xiaomi, there's also Xiao He at home. These two girls really worry my two old sisters-in-law."

"So you still don't have a partner?"

Zhou Jiao smiled apologetically at Huang Xiaomi and pulled Lin Lishan over: "Mom, can you help me find Ping An's red jacket?"

Lin Lishan didn't care about gossip. She followed her strength and turned to say to Zhang's mother as she walked: "Sister, please sit for a while. I'll go change clothes and come back soon."

"Go ahead. I'll wait for you."

"Slow down, be careful with your body. Which red coat is that? Is it the one with the tiger or the pony? Where are our Xiaowu and Ping'an? Why can't I see them?"

After entering the bedroom, Zhou Jiao closed the door casually: "I don't know. They're not home when I come out. Mom, will it affect my leave?"

"No, I'm saving up my vacation time to wait for your confinement."

Hearing her say that, Zhou Jiao felt relieved. She collapsed on the bed and squinted her eyes comfortably.

"Are you exhausted? Are you in such a hurry to pull Mom in? Is there something wrong?"

Zhou Jiao patted the bed and said, "Mom, you lie down for a while too. We'll go out later."

"It's not good that your mother-in-law is here."

"Aren't you changing clothes?" Zhou Jiao turned over and whispered in her ear, "Mom, please don't be a matchmaker. Especially with Xiaowu's two cousins."

"Your mother is not stupid."

"Then do you know the reason?"

"You silly girl, you're saying your mother is stupid."

Zhou Jiao laughed and whispered, "I find it troublesome."

"How could I not know? It's okay if she married well, but if things don't go well, your mother-in-law will blame me. I'd be stupid to interfere. Even if your mother-in-law asked me for help, I would refuse."

"That's true. But my mother-in-law won't say anything. She won't embarrass you. I'm worried that those two will ask you to introduce them."

"Don't think too much. Leave it to Mom and just focus on taking care of the baby. Your dad told me last night that it's no problem for me to handle such a small matter. They're just sisters-in-law, not Xiaowu's parents."

Hearing this, Zhou Jiao had no idea what her father had said to her mother, but seeing her mother's cheerfulness, she decided not to ask. A daughter knows a father best. Given her father's personality, no matter how much he said, he would just tell her mother to keep it to herself and not be too generous. He probably wouldn't be able to embarrass her mother if he said more.

"You lie down for a while and wait for dinner to call you. Mom will go accompany your mother-in-law. Why did she bring her daughter-in-law here? I was planning to take her for a walk in the nearby city, but now that plan has been ruined."

Zhou Jiao burst out laughing. This is her mother!