After returning home, life returned to normal. The ups and downs of the outside world were blocked by Zhou Xiaozheng, a father who loved his daughter deeply, and there was no disturbance at all.

Zhou Jiao always remembered her father's words, and watched the flowers bloom and fall in the courtyard, and the clouds roll and unfold in the sky.

——Yes... She is in confinement now, so she needs to cultivate her body and mind.

With two more sons, things seemed much busier, but with Zhang's mother-in-law and the arrival of Aunt Sun, who was in her fifties, not to mention Zhou Jiao, even Aunt Chen felt much more relaxed and could concentrate on researching confinement meals.

When Yi Shumin brought her chubby daughter to visit, she couldn't help but feel jealous when she saw Zhou Jiao spending her confinement period in an orderly and leisurely manner.

"I'm already overwhelmed with just one child, how come you're living such a comfortable life? It's true that comparing people makes you dreadful, and comparing goods makes you throw them away. There really is no comparison."

Hearing this, Zhou Jiao covered her mouth and laughed.

"How about letting Yueyaer stay in your house too?"

"What nonsense are you talking about? Yueya'er is so well-behaved, and her smile is so beautiful. Hurry up and sit down and let the child play on the kang. How come you have time to come here today?"

"It's time to take a break." Yi Shumin sat down without actually putting the baby down properly. Besides being slow to speak, the girl also crawled very fast. It would be so embarrassing if she accidentally hurt the twins.

"Have you chosen a name yet?"

Zhou Jiao couldn't help laughing when she heard that.

"What's wrong?"

"The full name hasn't been chosen yet. Ping An decided on a nickname last night, but the kid said he needs another day to think about it and make a final decision tonight."

Yi Shumin thought of that clever little thing and laughed happily: "Can you tell me what names you gave to the little things?"

"It's just childish talk, just listening." Zhou Jiao avoided the topic and looked at Yueyaer. "This red bellyband looks good, especially in summer. You don't have to worry about getting cold."

"So you're lucky. If you were in confinement in the middle of winter, you'd be crying just for the twins' diapers. Oh, and don't give away all your baby's clothes. Leave some for me."

Zhou Jiao couldn't help but laugh out loud. She covered her stomach and rolled her eyes at her. "That's enough! You're considered an educated person, but you really believe this?"

"Just want peace of mind."

"Don't worry! I'll save all the best for you. If you don't mind, I'll even save the diapers for you."

"Good sisters!"

Seeing her teeth bared in joy, Zhou Jiao felt strangely sad. It turned out there was so much pressure on having a firstborn daughter. Even the Fang family treasured Yueya like this, so imagine what it would be like in families that prioritized sons over daughters. Being a woman wasn't easy. Working with a big belly and bearing the pressure.

"There's food on the counter, help yourself." Zhou Jiao pointed somewhere. "Has Brother Xiaofei been busy lately? Why haven't I seen him?"

"He's on a business trip and will be back next month. Do you have something to talk to him about?"

"It's nothing serious. It's just that Brother Zhou is getting married on Bayi, and Xiaowu is worried that he doesn't know."

Yi Shumin knew Xiao Zhou, of course. They had a lot of interactions, and he was considered a good friend of Xiao Fei, Zhang Guoqing, and the others. She even sent two packets of milk powder for her own Yueya's birth.

"Brother Zhou, you're 28 now, right? You're finally married now. Who's the bride? Do you know her?"

"Brother Zhou brought her here yesterday. She's about 1.6 meters tall and very thin. I heard she's his comrade-in-arms' sister, from the suburbs of Beijing. She has a nice last name—Shi, which means time, and Xinglan, which means happy, and Lan, which means blue."

Yi Shumin nodded thoughtfully. "She must be quite favored at home. This name seems to be from the family tree. It's not an orchid, but blue. It seems her parents aren't illiterate peasants."

Zhou Jiao wasn't surprised by this person's analysis. She had long noticed that Yi Shumin was very cautious in her words. Raised by Old Madam Yi, how could she really be a little white rabbit?

Thinking of Old Lady Yi, she suddenly thought of the other person's father, Yi Ming. Now this person suddenly wants to apply for transfer back, I wonder if he has another plan?

"Is your mother still at your brother's? She's been gone for quite a while, hasn't she?"

Thinking about the call from her mother, it was really difficult for every family to have its own problems. I never thought that my sister-in-law was a workaholic, so busy that she couldn't even take care of her husband and son.

Yi Shumin was helpless about this: "That's right, she can't let go of her grandson, and she can't let go of my dad. Maybe after this summer she will take her grandson home and take care of him herself."

Zhou Jiao glanced at her and said, "Your mother's plan is very good. If we must bring our grandson back, we really have to go back to the Northeast as soon as summer is over. Otherwise, when the weather gets cold, the child is too young to be safe."

Yi Shumin smiled bitterly and shook her head: "How can my mother take care of a child? She still has to rely on my grandmother for guidance. From what she said, my father might be transferred back, and she doesn't plan to go back to Northeast China."

Hearing this, Zhou Jiao lowered her eyes and said nonchalantly, "That's great. It's always different to have your parents around. Wait until they return to the compound, and they'll be closer to you."

"My family is different from Xiaofei's. My mom has already asked my dad to prepare the yard, and they won't come to live here. At most, they will come to accompany the old man during holidays."

"That's convenient. Your dad can't live in the suburbs. It's quite far away, and you can stay there for a couple of days. It's so comfortable, like a vacation."

"Do you think everyone treats your dad the same? If I go back often, my dad will definitely turn me away. My dad is a bit patriarchal, and he's always busy, so our father-daughter relationship isn't as good as yours and Uncle Zhou's."

Zhou Jiao was a little surprised at this. Could it be that the Smiling Fox was still old-fashioned?

"Shocked, right? If I don't tell you, no one will know. Logically, my family has a daughter like this, so she should be favored, but besides my grandmother, even my mother likes my brothers."

Zhou Jiao didn't know how to comfort her for a moment.

No wonder the Northeast rarely sent anything to the Fang family when Yi Shumin was pregnant. She had previously thought Yi Ming was being low-key and had let Old Man Yi sell it privately.

"Now you know why I like going to Jiefang's house so much? My uncle and his wife don't have any daughters, and they love us cousins ​​very much, so we also like going to his house."

"Aunt Yi is kind, warm and straightforward. Even I like going to her house. She has a very similar personality to my aunt. I see that their courtyard and her family get along very well."

Upon hearing this, Yi Shumin smiled and nodded repeatedly: "Whenever she returns to her hometown, the house is always full. My grandmother said that she is not at all a waste of talent to be the director of the women's department."

Zhou Jiao agreed with her, smiling broadly, feeling certain that old Yi Ming would be transferred back. She tried to recall what major events would happen in 1963 and 1964.

During her pregnancy, she had a lot of free time, so she read a lot of newspapers and read a lot of information. It seemed that before the change of circumstances, many people with ulterior motives were already gearing up for action.

Yi Family...Yi Ming...

Zhou Jiao had forgotten her father's advice. As the saying goes, it's easy to change a country, but hard to change one's nature. No matter how hard she tried to calmly observe the chess game without getting upset, she still couldn't forget her habit of pondering.