"The First Department Store? It's not like Xin Xin's, is it?" Zhou Yue was still skeptical.

"I'm more interested in the prime location on the first floor. Besides, we don't have the energy to get involved in Xin Xin's palace intrigue, do we?"

"What is a palace intrigue drama?" Zhou Yue didn't understand.

"It's just a bunch of women fighting tooth and nail over one man." Qin Xiaoyu thought this explanation was pretty good.

"Men are superfluous. Why would you want to rob them? I wouldn't want them even if they were given to me for free." Zhou Yue rolled her eyes. She had seen through the illusions of the world.

Qin Xiaoyu was away for a long time this time, and her family missed her terribly. She gave some instructions at the factory and then hurriedly returned to the Zhou family.

Commander Zhou and his mother listened carefully to her explanation of how she negotiated the cooperation, not missing a single detail. It's unclear whether they truly understood what she was saying, but after hearing that she had successfully negotiated the deal, they looked at each other with a relieved smile.

Qin Xiaoyu certainly couldn't mention the military region's guesthouse, much less A Lei.

"Little Fish is back?" Deng Jianyan walked in from outside.

"Brother Deng, how come you have time to come over?" Perhaps because Zhou Xing spent the last days of his life with Deng Jianyan, Qin Xiaoyu was particularly warm to him, and the Zhou family members unconsciously regarded him as family.

“I’m delivering medicine to Aunt Zhou. My husband said he was worried that Aunt Zhou wouldn’t be able to brew it properly, so he brewed a day’s worth first. She can just heat it up before drinking. She’ll bring it over every night from now on.” Deng Jianyan put down the small clay pot in her hand.

"Sister-in-law Deng has to go to work at the garment factory now, she doesn't have time to brew medicine, don't make her work too hard!" Qin Xiaoyu said hurriedly.

"She's happy now. She used to be cooped up at home all day, but now she's met a group of girlfriends and they gossip every day. Sigh, women." Deng sighed, while Commander Zhou smiled, a rare occurrence, probably because he sympathized with her.

Qin Xiaoyu took the medicine into the kitchen, poured it into a small bowl, warmed it with hot water, and brought it out for Zhou Xing's mother to drink.

"I'm just lazy now, and it makes me feel comfortable having my daughter take care of me." Zhou Xing's mother took the medicine bowl and frowned slightly. The younger sister quickly held up the rock sugar in her hand.

"Grandma, don't breathe, drink it in big gulps, here's some rock sugar for you."

"Good girl, look how experienced my granddaughter is." Zhou Xing's mother looked at her little sister with affection. The little girl had grown taller again, and her features looked even more like Zhou Xing's.

"Little Fish, Hanhan has her parent-teacher conference today. I told you you're too busy, so I'll go instead." Commander Zhou remembered something important.

"Big Brother, are you going?" Qin Xiaoyu was surprised that even something like this had to be taken away.

"Don't worry, I brought my notebook. I'll write everything down." Commander Zhou, fearing that Qin Xiaoyu might delay, had already dressed and was heading out with paper and pen.

“Let him go. He’s been looking forward to it ever since he heard the news yesterday. He kept saying that Xiaoyu won’t be back tomorrow, and even if he does, he won’t have time to go,” Zhou Xing’s mother said with a smile.

"I won't steal it, please go ahead, take your time!" Qin Xiaoyu said as she opened the door.

“Everyone is eager to attend Hanhan’s parent-teacher conferences, but no one wants to go to my son’s,” Deng Jianyan said, frowning.

"Is it because the child just transferred from the farm and can't keep up?" Qin Xiaoyu had heard a little that Lisheng's grades were not ideal and he was being ostracized by his classmates.

"Right? This child has always been introverted since he was little. I'm so busy all day that I don't have time to take care of him."

"A child's growth depends on the parents' company. Your work is much easier now, so spend more time with your child." That was all the advice Qin Xiaoyu could offer.

"Hurry up, get the first-aid kit!" Zhou Yue rushed in, dragging a boy by the arm and tightly covering his nose.

“Lisheng!” Deng Jianyan recognized him at a glance; this was his son.

Qin Xiaoyu had already run to get the first-aid kit. Upon closer inspection, she saw that Zhou Yue and Xiao Lisheng had both been injured.

Zhou Yue had a red, swollen bump on her hand, with a bloody cut, as if she had been bitten by something.

Lisheng's face was bruised and swollen, he had been beaten, and there were two bloody marks hanging under his nose. As soon as Zhou Yue let go, the blood gushed out again.

The family was in complete chaos, some stopping the bleeding, others disinfecting. When they heard a noise at the door, they looked over and saw that it was the younger sister who opened the door. Xiao Jin stood expressionless at the door, holding a pair of Zhou Yue's high heels in her hand.

Qin Xiaoyu then noticed that Zhou Yue had returned with one barefoot.

"What are you doing?" Zhou Xing's mother was both surprised and frightened, and her legs went weak.

“Those little bastards are bullying people!” Zhou Yue said, her mouth agape and her breath coming in gasps. Her hand had been bitten by Li Sheng’s classmate.

"Should we get a rabies shot?" Qin Xiaoyu thought she had asked the right question, but everyone looked at her strangely.

Does that mean that being bitten in the 1980s would give you immunity to the virus?

"Lisheng, did you get into trouble again?" Of course, Deng Jianyan had to use his own son as an example!

"Brother Deng! Your son is being bullied, and instead of helping him, you're scolding him. What kind of father are you!" Zhou Yue shouted, shattering Deng Jianyan's momentum.

"Xiao Jin, is your hand cut too? Let me see?" Qin Xiaoyu had sharp eyes and noticed that Xiao Jin's hand was hanging limply to the side, seemingly bleeding. This child was very withdrawn, rarely spoke, always kept to herself, and wasn't close to her parents or younger brother.

She watched the adults silently without saying a word. When Qin Xiaoyu asked her a question, she hid her hand behind her back.

Qin Xiaoyu went over and pulled her hand out. Her injuries were a bit strange; her palms were covered in abrasions.

"I'm going to your school tomorrow! There's no law at all!" Zhou Yue was still angry and said angrily.

"What exactly happened?" Zhou Xing's mother sighed anxiously.

“When I came home from get off work, I saw a group of boys surrounding Lisheng and beating him. Xiaojin was holding a tree branch and was desperately hitting them from behind, trying to stop them, but she was too weak, so I went up to help.”

Qin Xiaoyu suddenly remembered Zhou Yue's story about being subjected to emotional abuse by her classmates at the military guesthouse. Perhaps she was the one who could truly empathize with such experiences.

"Of course we need to take care of this, but going to the school won't do any good." Qin Xiaoyu was rational. Deng Jianyan, who had been worried that Zhou Yue would cause trouble at the school, was relieved to hear this.

Xiao Jin's face was gloomy, and a disdainful sneer appeared on her lips.

Qin Xiaoyu continued, "Let's ambush them after school tomorrow."

"Pfft." Zhou Yue had just taken a sip of water when she spat it all out. Even Xiao Jin couldn't sit still; she grinned in horror as she looked at Qin Xiaoyu.

"Ambush them after school? Beat them up?"

"Let's reason with them first. If that doesn't work, then beat them up. There's nothing wrong with that," Qin Xiaoyu said nonchalantly.

“You went and hit someone else’s child, isn’t that wrong?” Zhou Xing’s mother said worriedly, while Deng Jianyan was speechless.

Xiao Jin's face revealed a mischievous expression, as if she was about to play a prank.

"Is that a child? Look at this! This brat needs a tough adult to discipline him, we can't let him get away with this!" Qin Xiaoyu pulled Zhou Yue's hand up to show them, and Zhou Yue cried out in pain, kicking her hard.