Wen Jingwan had no idea what her husband and Ning Hao had been talking about in their daughter's room, or why they hadn't come out yet after so long.

She was anxious and wanted to know what Ning Hao was thinking. Actually, she liked this child quite a bit, but her daughter's behavior made her, as a mother, feel conflicted.

She wouldn't feel comfortable leaving her child with anyone, but if she missed out on Ning Hao, she didn't know if her daughter would blame them if she ever woke up.

With a sigh, Stone, who had just woken up, jumped up. "Mom, why are you sighing?"

Wen Jingwan walked to the kang (a heated brick bed) and dressed her son. "Mom is worried. When will your sister get better? Don't let her miss out on the best years of her life."

"Stone, remember this: if Mom and Dad are gone, you must take good care of your sister."

The little one didn't understand, blinked his eyes, and asked, "Mommy, what does 'gone' mean?"

Wen Jingwan patted her son's head and said, "You'll understand when Shitou grows up."

The little boy felt his mother was being somewhat perfunctory. "Mom, the stone has grown up—"

Wen Jingwan kissed her son. "Our Shitou is a little man now, but he still needs to grow up to be like your father to be considered a real man. Your sister will need your protection in the future. Come on, Mom will take you to see your sister."

The little one struggled to get down on his own, pointing to the snacks on the cabinet, "Mommy, give these to my sister."

Wen Jingwan pinched her son's little face. "Our Shitou isn't stingy at all. Come on, let's go see your sister."

Just as I reached the door, I saw Gu Hanting and the others carrying things in. The old men had finished eating, went out for a walk, and bought some things on the way back.

"Dad, Uncle, aren't you cold? Come inside and warm up. Ning Hao is here; he's with Zheng Feng in Jiang Qiao's room."

Qiao Jie sighed, "Well, this child is quite thoughtful. Let's go see him. We haven't seen him in a long time. I guess he heard about Qiao'er's situation and rushed back specifically for this."

Stone was anxious, fidgeting with his legs and stretching out his arms to Gu Hanting, "Grandpa, Grandpa, hug me, hug me—"

Gu Hanting handed the things in his hands to his daughter-in-law, and picked up his grandson with a smile. "Oh, has our Shitou eaten too much again? Why does he seem so much heavier in Grandpa's arms?"

The little guy turned his head away shyly, "It didn't sink—"

With his grandson entertaining him, the old man's mood improved considerably.

"Come on, Grandpa will take our Stone to see his sister."

Inside the room, Gu Zhengfeng had finished talking with Ning Hao. Although he had said everything he needed to say, the boy was really stubborn, and he couldn't get him to give up his ideas.

Seeing Ning Hao's injuries and hearing his concerns, Gu Zhengfeng sighed deeply.

"Ning Hao, I understand how you feel. But listen to me, go back home after your holiday. You've seen Jiang Qiao's situation; she can't run away or leave. If she knew how you feel, she would probably be moved. But I can't make the decision for her."

So, let's talk about everything after Jiang Qiao recovers, okay?

Uncle still says the same thing: I don't agree with your career change. Getting a new job might not be as easy as you think. It's better to do the work you're familiar with.

If you don't like doing it anymore, then we'll talk about it another way. If you like it, then keep waiting, I won't object. Your uncle and aunt don't want to lose such a good son-in-law. Let's go back and rest first, and come see Jiang Qiao again tomorrow.”

When the old men came in, Ning Hao was just turning to leave. Qiao Jie pulled Ning Hao into their room and talked to him for a while, since they knew Ning Hao's feelings.

"Since you can't forget, then remember that there's still a Jiang Qiao waiting for you at home. Work hard from now on and don't let bad people bully my granddaughter again."

As for your aunt, we'll try to find someone else to help her. She can't handle it all on her own.

No sooner had he finished speaking than Hou Diankui arrived at the door with a couple carrying gifts.

It was Zhou Yu and his wife who, after settling in, were eager to come and see Jiang Qiao.

They never expected that Jiang Qiao would encounter such a situation, and they certainly didn't expect that she would still think of making arrangements for the two of them after she was in such a predicament. It would be a lie to say that they weren't moved. Through this incident, they could feel Jiang Qiao's kindness towards them.

"Old friends, let me introduce you. This is Zhou Yu, and this is his wife Jian Ling. They've both come over and are staying with me temporarily. As soon as they settled in, they wanted to come and see Jiang Qiao."

The couple quickly greeted the old men on the kang (a heated brick bed), "Uncle, shall we go see Jiang Qiao first?"

Although Wen Jingwan didn't know what the relationship was between these two people and her daughter, she had heard Gu Zhengfeng mention it briefly.

"Uncle, please sit down first, I'll take them over."

When they went in, Gu Zhengfeng was holding his daughter's hand and speaking softly to her.

"Zhengfeng, Qiao'er's friends have come to see the child. This is Zhou Yu and Jian Ling, they are a married couple."

Gu Zhengfeng stood up and invited the two people inside to sit down. "Jingwan, pour two cups of tea for the guests."

Taking advantage of this moment, Jian Ling brought up the matter of coming over to help take care of Jiang Qiao again.

"As you can see, it's really tiring for your wife to do it all by herself. Anyone would have to work that hard in the long run. We don't want the little one to get better and then the adult to collapse from exhaustion. That would be a huge loss."

Comrade Gu, I have no other thoughts. It's fate that I met Jiang Qiao. Really, our relationship is quite strange, even to ourselves. We became friends who can rely on each other after only two meetings. Perhaps this is fate from a past life.

So, Jiang Qiao, I just wanted to do my part, to help your husband and me take care of the child, so that everyone could have an easier time. I could also take care of my husband, Mr. Zhou, and Grandpa Hou. It wouldn't take much effort, since I'd be doing this anyway.

Gu Zhengfeng didn't listen to anything else Jian Ling said, but he was worried about his wife's health. In such a short time, Wen Jingwan had been taking care of the child day and night, and she had already lost a lot of weight. If this continued for a long time, he really couldn't guarantee what would happen.

He hesitated for a long time before finally making up his mind when Wen Jingwan pushed the door open and came in.

"Jingwan, how about Comrade Jianling helps you take care of your daughter from now on? She can lend a hand during the day so you can get more rest, and you can take care of the child more at night."

Wen Jingwan put down her teacup and looked Jian Ling up and down. "This, this isn't quite right. She's Qiao'er's friend, and she's busy too."

Jian Ling stood up with a smile. "Comrade Wen, I don't have a job either, so I'm just sitting around doing nothing. If you feel bad about it, could you pay me two less months' salary each month, just enough for me to eat? We can talk about other things after Jiang Qiao gets better, okay?"

Although Wen Jingwan hesitated, she also knew that taking care of someone was not a matter of a day or two. She still had her grandfather to take care of at home, and her son was still young. Her energy was really limited. Of course, it would be good if someone could lend a hand.

Especially since her husband had already agreed, it meant that Gu Zhengfeng had already thought it through.

"Alright, then I'll have to trouble you from now on, Comrade Jian. Paying me wages is the least I can do, and it will make things easier for me in the future."