Zhang Xuemei couldn't keep things to herself, and as soon as her husband returned, she immediately pulled him back to the room and started talking.

"What exactly does Li Xiufen mean? Could it be that she really..."

Zhang Xuemei did not want this outcome. After all, with another rebirth, their secret would risk being exposed. Although not everyone would believe it, it would cause some unnecessary trouble, and she was genuinely worried.

Xu Minghan squinted and pondered for a moment before saying helplessly:

"There's no use thinking about it now. Just don't let her in if she comes again. In any case, Li Xiufen has nothing to do with our family now."

"Just in case—and I mean just in case—she really is like us, we absolutely refuse to admit it. If all else fails, we'll blame it on a parallel universe. Wasn't there a parallel universe in the movie Panpan was watching? Who says every timeline has to develop the same way?"

"Yes, I was really scared by her, I didn't think of her for a moment." Zhang Xuemei patted her chest, and only after hearing her husband say that did she truly feel relieved.

Seeing his wife's worried expression, Xu Minghan smiled and comforted her, "Don't think so much. Just treat this as a parallel universe. We're just living our lives according to the normal trajectory. We haven't done anything to wrong anyone, so what are we worried about?"

That's just how it is. Is it their fault that Li Xiufen and her fourth brother Minghe didn't end up together? Obviously not. Li Xiufen rejected Minghe first, so no one else is to blame.

Zhang Xuemei nodded, then suddenly remembered something and reminded her husband, "Don't talk about Li Xiufen with Mom and Minghe. I'm afraid Yanhong will feel uncomfortable if she finds out."

"Why would I say that? Don't worry, I definitely won't tell."

...

Le Rong gently touched her belly, looking at her husband beside her with a smile in her eyes, and asked softly, "Xue Shan, should we tell Mom and Dad that we had an ultrasound?"

Zhang Xueshan chuckled and helped her sit down on the sofa. "Of course I'll tell her. This is my son. Wait, I'll call Mom right away." With that, he opened the door and ran straight to the convenience store.

Le Rong touched her belly and smiled contentedly. Once she gave birth to her son, she would have even more weight in her in-laws' hearts.

"Mom, Xiaorong is seven months pregnant. When are you coming to help?" Zhang Xueshan asked anxiously as soon as the call connected. His wife's belly was getting bigger and bigger, and someone needed to take care of her.

Liu Taohua felt uncomfortable upon hearing this. It was as if he had forgotten his mother after marrying a wife, and now he wanted her to serve others.

So she said in a very unpleasant tone, "What's wrong with seven months? When I was pregnant with you all, I was still working in the fields until the day I gave birth. Tell Xiaorong to hold on for a few more days, and I'll come over when she's close to giving birth..."

"No, Mom, Xiaorong is having a boy. We're just inexperienced, so we're scared~" Zhang Xueshan was smart enough to know that his mother was making excuses, so he dropped the bombshell.

"What? A son? Really? He hasn't even been born yet and you already know? You're not trying to fool me, are you?"

Liu Taohua was quite happy when she first heard it, but the more she thought about it, the more suspicious she became. How could someone tell anything from inside a woman's belly?

"No, Mom, you don't understand. Now big hospitals have ultrasound machines. They can tell whether it's a boy or a girl just by looking at the belly. We went today, and the doctor said it's a boy."

"Can the doctor tell you?" Liu Taohua thought that if there was such a good machine, why didn't Xuemei get it done back then?

At this point, Zhang Xuefeng's voice lowered, "Mom, we didn't get it done at the hospital, we went to a private clinic. They have that machine too, and lots of people are lining up to see them. It's very accurate. If you don't believe me, ask my third sister; she definitely knows about that machine."

Liu Taohua was also swayed by his words and hesitated, saying, "How about we wait a couple more days and settle things at home before we go?"

"Okay, Mom, you need to hurry. I'm not going to let Xiaorong go to work now. I'm worried about leaving her home alone."

"Okay, okay, you're so nervous." Liu Taohua hung up the phone and hurried home, thinking she still needed to discuss with her husband whether or not to go.

Zhang Xueshan then notified several of his older siblings, and Zhang Xuemei could feel his joy even through the phone. However, she was still happy for her younger brother.

"Then I'll just give Xiaorong a leave of absence. She's quite far along in her pregnancy, so she should rest at home. What did Mom say? Should she come and take care of Xiaorong?"

“I told Mom, and she said she’ll come in a few days. This is her grandson, how could she not come to take care of him?” Zhang Xueshan said matter-of-factly. Didn’t Mom take care of his sister-in-law when she was pregnant? Of course, he should treat them equally now.

"Alright, Mom's here. Just take care of yourselves these next few days. I'll get you some things from the store. Take them home after get off work tomorrow. They're useful for both adults and children." Luckily, my family owns a maternity and baby store, so we have everything we need.

Zhang Xueshan happily agreed, thinking that this would save him a lot of money.

Le Rong couldn't help but call home, thinking of telling her parents the good news. But she was shocked by another piece of news as soon as she opened her mouth.

"Mom, what do you mean by that? My older brother doesn't want the baby anymore? He and my sister-in-law begged me to give birth to it, and now they're saying they don't want it anymore? What am I supposed to do? I have a family now..."

Fortunately, Le Rong found a public phone booth this time, where no one could hear her talking while she was inside. She was anxiously shuffling her toes along the ground, feeling both angry and anxious.

"Don't blame your older brother and sister-in-law. It's just that your sister-in-law is pregnant. This pregnancy is difficult for her, and they had someone do a fortune telling, who said that she and Yuanyuan are incompatible. Your older brother and sister-in-law have only had one child in so many years, so they're worried..."

Le's mother was still trying her best to make amends for her eldest son. Although she also felt that this was inappropriate, she couldn't really let something happen to the baby in her eldest daughter-in-law's belly, so she could only feel sorry for Yuanyuan.

Le Rong took a deep breath. "So, my brother and sister-in-law are determined not to raise Yuan Yuan?"

"It's not that I don't want to raise them, it's just that I have no other choice..."

"Mom, no need to say so much. Since you really don't want to raise the child, then you can raise it for me for now, and I'll send you money every month." After thinking it over, Le Rong could only trouble her mother for now, since it wasn't appropriate for her to take the child over to raise in her current situation.

“Xiao Rong,” Mother Le said with some difficulty, “It’s not that I don’t want to help you, it’s just that I have to take care of your sister-in-law, so…”

"Mom, I'm your daughter too. Can't you feel sorry for me? Yuanyuan has called you 'Grandma' for years. Don't you feel sorry for her at all? If you knew this would happen, why did you ask me to give birth to her in the first place?"

Le Rong felt a pang of sorrow, both for herself and for the child Yuan Yuan.