Li's mother's words alerted Bai Jiaojiao.

"Really, Auntie? What should we do then?"

We can't just make Su Zhigao cry on purpose to let him vent his frustration.

Li's mother sighed, "The child is probably too young and hasn't realized it yet. Alright, I have to go help on the way. You two sisters can talk."

"Okay, Auntie, you can rest assured that my sister is with me."

"I'm definitely not worried."

Li's mother smiled, gave Su Zhigao one last look, and then went out.

Bai Shiqing patted Su Zhigao's head and asked Bai Jiaojiao, "What are you thinking? Are you going to keep taking care of him from now on?"

Bai Jiaojiao shook her head: "Let him stay here for a couple of days, what else can we do? Have his two uncles returned yet?"

“My dad sent Shu to call him first, and he should be able to come back with him this afternoon.”

"Zhigao, shall I carry you to sleep for a while?"

The adults had some things to discuss, and Bai Jiaojiao didn't want Su Zhigao to hear them. Although he was young, he might still understand.

Su Zhigao nodded obediently.

He wasn't sleepy, but he was very obedient; he did whatever Bai Jiaojiao said.

Bai Jiaojiao carried him to the side room. When they returned to the room, Bai Shiqing asked, "Where did he sleep last night?"

"Yeah, if he sleeps with us, Heng-ge will probably have a problem with it."

Bai Shiqing paused, then asked somewhat cryptically, "Little sister, if anything happens, just tell me. Don't keep it to yourself. We're sisters, you should trust me."

"ah?"

Bai Jiaojiao was completely baffled by what Bai Shiqing said.

"Oh dear, stop trying to hide it from me. How old are you two? You're already in such a hurry to bring a child home to raise. Is it that neither of you is capable?" Bai Shiqing was almost driven crazy by Bai Jiaojiao.

The two have been married for half a year, and Bai Jiaojiao's belly shows no signs of pregnancy. The couple's relationship is not bad, so what could be wrong with it?

Bai Shiqing was worried. If it was Bai Jiaojiao's problem, she was afraid that Shen Heng would eventually dislike her. But if it was Shen Heng's problem, wouldn't that be too unfair to her beautiful younger sister?

Bai Jiaojiao never expected to be misunderstood like this: "Neither of us has any problems!"

"If there's no problem, why did you bring Su Zhigao back? It's not like he's unattended."

Although Su Zhigao's two uncles were inhumane, he was still considered a relative by both reason and emotion.

"Putting aside whether his two uncles are willing to take care of him, they weren't in the village last night. Are they supposed to leave Zhigao, a child, to live alone with Old Lady Su in that cold house?"

Bai Shiqing said, "I didn't know you were so kind-hearted."

Bai Shiqing considers herself a good person, but not so good that she's not afraid of trouble.

“I didn’t think that much about it, I just felt sorry for him, such a young child.”

Bai Shiqing gave her a heads-up: "If the two sons of the Su family come back this afternoon, they might give you a hard time."

"Why are you trying to pull this on me? I'm looking after their child. They can't possibly pin this on me, right? But I'm just about to confront them. They definitely won't raise Zhigao. If they send him away, we villagers have to keep an eye on where they send him."

“You’re still keeping an eye on things? That’s what I’m talking about,” Bai Shiqing said, feeling that Bai Jiaojiao, despite living here for so many years, still didn’t understand the people here. “Now that you’re showing that you want to support Su Zhigao, his two uncles are eager to kick him out. Do you think they’ll let such a good opportunity slip by? I’m afraid they’ll ask you for money.”

“I don’t plan to keep adopting him indefinitely…” Bai Jiaojiao didn’t know what to say.

She knew in her heart that even if she fell out with Su Zhigao's two uncles, she could still keep Su Zhigao at home until spring, giving him a warm roof over his head for a few months. Bai Jiaojiao could still manage that.

Bai Shiqing became even more excited upon hearing this: "Then you can just watch them sell Zhigao!"

Her tone was a bit high, and Bai Jiaojiao patted her. Bai Shiqing looked towards Su Zhigao's room and lowered her voice: "If they take advantage of your kind heart, they'll easily extort money from you. They'll deliberately find you a bad family and force you to pay. What can you do? They're your uncle; they don't have the same say as you."

Bai Jiaojiao said, "Human trafficking is illegal."

"If someone adopts another child and pays them a small nutritional fee, is that considered human trafficking?"

It's hard to say about this. After all, they are relatives. Su Zhigao is now an orphan, so it's normal for his uncle to send him away. Even if he went to the police station, Bai Jiaojiao wouldn't listen.

“I know all that, but…”

"Oh, I just came to remind you. But we've watched this child grow up. If his uncle really does something inhuman, the villagers will all speak up for him. The brigade leader is also very concerned about the grandfather and grandson, and he will help you."

“I just want to find him a good family. I’ll bring him back first, and then we can choose one slowly. I don’t mean anything else.”

Bai Shiqing nodded: "You're right to think that way. If I had your resources, I'd probably do the same. If he can really find a good place, he'll be grateful to you for the rest of his life."

“But,” Bai Jiaojiao looked at Bai Shiqing, both amused and exasperated, “you’re not the only one in our village who thinks that Heng-ge and I brought Zhigao home because one of us is impotent, are you?”

"The whole village is talking about it! I think you should hurry up and get pregnant, then there won't be such rumors."

After hearing Bai Jiaojiao's explanation, Bai Shiqing also found it a little funny that she had been so anxious all morning.

However, this is not difficult to clarify, since apart from extremely close relatives like sisters, no one else would mention such speculation in front of the person involved.

“I don’t go out much these days. All the people I knew when I was a girl have married into other villages, so I can’t spread the word for you. Why don’t you ask your brother-in-law to talk to your older brother and ask him to help explain if he hears anyone spreading rumors?”

"OK."

Bai Jiaojiao nodded with a smile.

When Shen Heng returned at noon, he saw Bai Shiqing there and gave her a perfunctory nod.

Li's mother arrived right after him: "Shiqing, let's go home?"

"Okay, Mom."

Shen Heng is back, and Bai Shiqing should leave too.

Bai Jiaojiao smiled when she saw that Shen Heng seemed completely unaware of anything.

Shen Heng raised an eyebrow: "What mischief are you plotting now?"

"Heng-ge, why are you saying this about me!"

Shen Heng smiled and asked, "What exactly happened?"

He could detect even the slightest emotional fluctuation in Bai Jiaojiao, and he didn't believe that Bai Jiaojiao's smile at him just now had no other meaning.

Bai Jiaojiao said, "People outside are guessing that one of us is no good, which is why we brought a child back at such a young age."

Shen Heng said helplessly, "My reputation is completely ruined, Bai Jiaojiao, don't you have to make it up to me?"

Shen Heng was surprisingly calm, seemingly unconcerned, and even had a "what's the use" attitude.

"Will having Heng's child be enough to make up for it?"

Bai Jiaojiao smiled at Chen Heng.

"What kind of compensation is this? Get on the kang (heated brick bed), and I'll tell you what I want."