"Who said my man can't have children? I'm going to slap him across the face!"

Ling Huanwu hugged his waist, gave his abs a hard squeeze, and said through gritted teeth, "They're just sour grapes!"

Zhou Jiuzhen was amused by her, so he grabbed her armpits and lifted her up like pulling up a scallion from dry land.

"That's right, it must be some aunt or girl who has a crush on me, Er Gou, who slanders me, trying to make you lose interest in me and run away so that she can take your place. No way! I will never die without an heir. Whether I live or die, I will only have Ling Huanwu as my woman!"

"Don't talk nonsense, don't talk about dying..."

Zhou Jiuzhen spoke with great conviction, and Ling Huanwu hurriedly reached out to cover his mouth, but he retorted by kissing her palm.

"It's good not having a baby. This way, my husband and I can sleep whenever we want, unlike Shuyao who still takes his wife to the threshing machine..."

As he spoke, he couldn't help but chuckle. "Look at the wife of Platoon Leader Li in the next house in our family compound. She's already given birth to seven babies. The house is full of little ones, there's not even room for them to stand. And she's pregnant with another one. How much suffering she must be going through. I don't want you to suffer!"

Ling Huanwu was held by him and looked at him at eye level, but she could clearly see the disappointment hidden in his eyes.

Nowadays, even the poorest families would love to have seven or eight children.

A family that can't have children will be the subject of gossip and criticism.

"Jiuzhen, how about I go see a traditional Chinese medicine doctor to get some treatment another day?"

Zhou Jiuzhen flicked her forehead and said self-deprecatingly, "What are you talking about? It must be my problem. Our mother used to say that you have a big butt and you can definitely have babies. It must be me who can't."

"I have a big butt?"

Ling Huanwu was utterly speechless. She cupped his face and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Don't talk nonsense. Do you think I don't know whether my man is good or not? I think Aunt Chu is right. We need to hurry up and try to have a baby to shut them up!"

Her eyes glanced towards the corner of the warehouse, where there was a large bed that had been moved from Boss Lai's place.

Zhou Jiuzhen looked somewhat embarrassed at the parrot eating an apple on the bird stand, "But there's another bird here..."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than the bright green parrot snatched the big apple and flew away as if fleeing for its life. "Ugh, so noisy, you two!"

Ling Huanwu glared at Zhou Jiuzhen as she got off him, furious and about to chase after him to pluck the bird's feathers, but Zhou Jiuzhen held her back tightly. "What are you so angry about? It's just a child."

"But where did this huge bed come from?"

Zhou Jiuzhen's questioning gaze swept over the large huanghuali wood bed, a faint smile playing on his lips, full of meaning.

Ling Huanwu belatedly realized that she felt a little disgusted; who knows how many victimized girls that Boss Lai had slept on this bed.

She felt extremely unsafe outside the warehouse.

After much thought, she decided to go back to her stone house.

"Aunt Chu is probably asleep too, let's go back to sleep."

Zhou Jiuzhen nodded; he still preferred familiar places, because that's where he felt the connection.

When the two returned to their room, the moonlight had just spilled through the windowpane. Ling Huanwu held her breath and could clearly hear the even breathing sounds coming from the bed beside her.

She nudged Zhou Jiuzhen beside her, "Is your mother asleep? Or should we go back to the space?"

Zhou Jiuzhen was still cautiously exploring when Ling Huanwu's back was so tense that she was practically hunched over. She whispered in his ear, "I knew what you were up to. Did you deliberately come back to sleep? You just want someone standing next to you."

“What nonsense are you talking about? She’s been asleep for ages,” Zhou Jiuzhen said in a very low voice. “Listen to her snoring.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the bed next to him suddenly went silent.

The two of them froze instantly, like two wooden stakes, even their breathing stopped for a beat.

Just as Ling Huanwu thought it was an illusion and was about to breathe a sigh of relief, a clear female voice suddenly rang out in the darkness, carrying a hint of disappointment, "Ergou, why are you still as well-behaved as when you were a child! Hold on a little longer, otherwise your energy will dissipate, how can you get pregnant with a boy!"

Ling Huanwu was so startled she almost rolled off the bed, while Zhou Jiuzhen frantically shrank back under the covers, stammering, "Aunt Chu, why aren't you asleep yet?"

"Sleep?! I'm sweating with worry after listening to you two making such a racket!"

As Chu Mei spoke, she turned over, making her voice clearer, "Xiao Ling, don't be stiff. Turn your body to the side, facing the head of the bed. There's an old saying: sleeping facing east helps you have a baby! And Er Gou, don't just think about yourself. Massage Xiao Ling's waist more often. Only when the blood is flowing smoothly can the pregnancy be saved!"

In the darkness, Ling Huanwu's face was so hot it could fry an egg; she wished she could disappear into a crack in the ground.

Zhou Jiuzhen coughed, trying to smooth things over, "Aunt Chu, you don't need to worry about this..."

"Why shouldn't I worry? I'm still waiting to hold my grandson!" Chu Mei's tone became even more urgent. "Let me tell you, your father had you because he listened to me! If you two do as I say, I guarantee you'll hear from him next month!"

Ling Huanwu buried her face in Zhou Jiuzhen's arms, her shoulders trembling from the suffocation.

Zhou Jiuzhen patted her back, both amused and exasperated, and called out to the side of the bed, "Okay, go to sleep, we...we'll do as you say..."

Only when the snoring from the bed next to her resumed did Ling Huanwu dare to raise her head and whisper in Zhou Jiuzhen's ear, "Your mother is... way too direct!"

Zhou Jiuzhen pinched her cheek and chuckled in a low voice, "Let's ignore her and do things our own way."

But no sooner had he finished speaking than another voice came from the bed next to him, "Stop talking! Hurry up! I'm waiting to hear what's going on!"

The two exchanged a glance and fell completely silent, leaving only an awkward silence in the room, and the moonlight that secretly slipped in from outside the window, illuminating their two stiff figures.

*

"I won't go. I don't want to be Gou Cuihua. Can't you help me find a wealthy family to impersonate?"

Qin Zhizhi clung to the small boat, refusing to get off, and cried uncontrollably, "I want to go back to Hong Kong. It looks so dark here, I don't want to live here."

Guard Ma squatted on the beach, trying to persuade her, "Miss, we're not staying on the island forever. Your brother said that as soon as we get your sister-in-law, we'll immediately go abroad..."

Qin Jinshen, standing to the side, was furious and slapped him on the head. "Can't you speak properly? What do you mean by 'bent your sister-in-law'? Do I, Qin Jinshen, need to be lured to have my woman?"

Seeing Ma, the guard, being beaten, Qin Zhizhi jumped three feet high, "Why did you hit him? Hu Zi is right. Why did you bring us along when you were trying to seduce your wife? We're not going to suffer here with you!"

"Tiger, let's go, let's go to the city and stay at a guesthouse!"

Qin Zhizhi grabbed Ma Huwei's hand and turned to climb back onto the boat.

Qin Jinshen, however, remained calm and lit a cigarette while standing still.

The guard was frantic, pacing back and forth as he tried to pull at the young lady's trouser leg as she climbed onto the boat. "Young lady, you can't go to the city. Don't you know how chaotic the city is right now? This is the safest place."

As the two were struggling, a loud shout suddenly came from afar, "What are you doing? Having an affair in the middle of the night?"