It’s Chen Shuifen.

Why is Chen Shuifen here? Lin Tao was a little surprised, but she quickly opened the door.

There is a path between the living room door and the courtyard gate, but a roof was built on it last year. At that time, Li Chengxi wanted Lin Tao to enjoy the cool underneath. The flowers were also planted underneath for fear that they would be killed by strong winds and heavy rains. Now that it is raining, it is just right to walk under the roof.

Lin Tao opened the door and saw Chen Shuifen also holding a flashlight and wearing a raincoat.

"Sister, why are you here so late at night? Come in quickly and see if you are wet." After Lin Tao locked the gate again, she quickly took Chen Shuifen into the house.

Chen Shuifen took off her raincoat. Except for a tuft of hair on her forehead that was a little wet, the rest of her hair was fine. The two houses were not far apart, so it wouldn't be that wet.

"Hongxing wanted to pee at night, and it was thundering and raining today, so he didn't dare get out of bed. I only knew there was thunder when he woke me up. I was a little worried about you, and then I heard you shout, so I thought something had happened, so I hurried over to check." Chen Shuifen said.

There was concern in his words: "Teacher Lin, are you okay?"

Lin Tao felt quite embarrassed when she heard this. She had never expected that her scream in her nightmare would make Chen Shuifen mistakenly think that something had happened to her and that she would come to see her in the heavy rain.

She shook her head: "I'm fine, I just had a nightmare and woke up."

As he said this, he went to get a dry towel for Chen Shuifen and asked her to use it to wipe her wet hair.

Chen Shuifen refused and said she would do it herself later. Lin Tao said nothing and took the initiative to wipe her hair. Chen Shuifen then quickly took the towel and went over.

How could she bear to let Lin Tao wipe her hair?

"What a terrible day! The sun was on during the day, but it was so stormy at night." Chen Shuifen grumbled, "Teacher Lin, you must be scared to be home alone, right? I won't be going back later. I'll sleep with you tonight. You won't be so scared if someone is with you. When Captain Li leaves, ask me to take care of you."

Lin Tao asked: "What about the child?"

Chen Shuifen waved her hands: "The kids are fine with their dad. And after he found out, he asked me to come and see you. We'll be relieved if you're okay."

Having just had such a heart-wrenching dream, and with strong winds and heavy rain outside, Lin Tao felt a little uneasy.

Since Chen Shuifen said so, Lin Tao didn't say anything else.

Lin Tao didn't sleep well in the second half of the night. She was groggy and half asleep. But with Chen Shuifen by her side, she felt more at ease.

It was around five in the morning when Lin Tao fell asleep.

It was only when Chen Shuifen made breakfast and brought it to her that she woke up and realized it was already late. Chen Shuifen came to sleep with her last night and brought her breakfast in the morning. Lin Tao felt really embarrassed.

Chen Shuifen thought it was nothing, and said loudly: "It's nothing, we are neighbors and friends, we should take care of each other. You usually feed those two guys a lot, and I know you didn't sleep well last night, so what's wrong with me bringing you some breakfast? Eat these two cakes quickly, you have to go to school later."

"Thank you, big sister." Lin Tao hurriedly thanked her.

Chen Shuifen waved her hands: "Why thank you? You are becoming more and more distant. Okay, then, Teacher Lin, I will leave first. I have to go to work."

Today is not Lin Tao's morning self-study class, so it's okay for Lin Tao to go a little later.

Get up, wash up, and eat the cakes that Chen Shuifen brought over. The cakes made by Chen Shuifen are especially fragrant, and Lin Tao likes them very much. I don't know if Zheng Hongxing ate too much, but he actually felt that the food cooked by his mother was not delicious.

When they arrived at school, Xu Yuting had just finished a class. When she saw Lin Tao, she asked with concern, "Tao, it rained so hard last night and there was thunder. Are you okay? Are you scared to be alone?"

If she hadn't been pregnant, she would have wanted to go accompany Lin Tao last night.

Lin Tao shook her head and told Xu Yuting that Chen Shuifen had slept with her last night.

Xu Yuting breathed a sigh of relief: "That's fine. Fortunately, Chen Shuifen lives next door to you, so she can take care of you. Why don't you come to my house for lunch later? Wang Yuanliang said that the army cafeteria will be cooking braised pork at noon today, so I asked him to bring some back."

Lin Tao opened her mouth to refuse, but couldn't persuade Xu Yuting, so she went back with her to have lunch.

On the way back, she met Yang Aidan. Yang Aidan looked at Lin Tao's belly and said with a smile, "Your belly is growing really fast. How many months was Teacher Xu ahead of you?"

"Four months."

"Your belly is almost as big as hers. You'll give birth to a big fat boy."

"That's hard to say, maybe she's a fat lady."

"It's all right. It's the same whether you have a boy or a girl. Xiao Li is not as patriarchal as others who favor boys over girls. He will definitely love you just as much if you give birth to a girl." Yang Ai Dang smiled and said, "It was windy and rainy last night. You were home alone. Are you okay?"

After going out, several people cared about her, and Lin Tao felt warm in her heart.

I told Yang Aidang what happened last night again, and that was it.

When she was about to leave, Yang Aidang sent her something, saying it was white fungus, which her daughter in the countryside had sent to her, saying that drinking it was good for the skin.

Lin Tao accepted it and quickly thanked him.

Yang Ai Dang smiled and said, "What's there to thank me for? I ate a lot of your chopped chili peppers."

The rainstorm lasted for four days. Lin Tao only let Chen Shuifen accompany her for one night. She could go alone after that. Actually, she was not that weak. It was mainly because she had a nightmare the night before that made her scared.

On the fifth day, Li Chengxi did not come back as scheduled, although Yang Aidang told her about it and said that it was normal to delay coming back on such a day.

The rain was getting heavier, and Lin Tao was getting nervous.

She was worried about Li Chengxi who was out at sea for inspection. Even fishermen would not go out to sea to fish on days with strong winds and heavy rains, and she didn't know if their fleet would be in any danger.

On the sixth day, Li Chengxi still hadn't returned.

Lin Tao was preoccupied with something and was a little distracted. She didn't expect that something would go wrong during class.

When she was teaching ancient poetry today, she wrote the poet Wang Wei's name as Li Chengxi. She didn't know what happened, her mind was in a mess, and she was thinking about Li Chengxi, so she wrote it like this.

However, the students all knew that Lin Tao was worried about Captain Li. When they saw that Lin Tao made a mistake in writing, instead of laughing, they all comforted her, saying that Captain Li would be fine.

Lin Tao looked at these children with sincere expressions and smiled: "Thank you."

After class, Lin Tao returned to the office. Coincidentally, Xu Yuting and Zhong Jing had also finished class. The three of them walked to the door of the office and nodded to each other.

Lin Tao's condition was obviously much worse than before.

There is a hint of blue under the eyes. Her skin used to be fair, rosy and shiny, but now it still looks fair, but with a hint of paleness.

Xu Yuting felt distressed when she saw this. She walked to Lin Tao, held her hand, and said with concern: "Tao, it is common for the fleet to be delayed due to weather during inspections. This does not mean that something has happened. You are still pregnant, so you should pay more attention to rest and keep a good mood. Look at you, your eyes are red from staying up late. You must have been worried about Captain Li and couldn't sleep last night, right?"

Yesterday was supposed to be the day Li Chengxi returned, but the fleet did not return as scheduled.

Lin Tao couldn't fall asleep despite listening to the sound of wind and rain outside.

Even if I fell asleep later, I could be easily awakened by the slightest noise.

Seeing this, Zhong Jing also said, "Teacher Lin, I can understand your feelings. Last year, my husband went out to sea to fish and encountered a storm. I was just like you at that time. I was worried all night and couldn't sleep all night, but he finally came back safe and sound."

"Teacher Lin, you have also seen their fishing boats. Such boats can be fine in the wind and waves, not to mention Captain Li's fleet. Our navy's fleet is getting stronger and stronger. How can we get into trouble just because of a little wind and waves?"

At this point, Zhong Jing smiled and said, "Teacher Lin, what do you think?"

It must be said that Zhong Jing is a person who is very good at comforting people. She knows where to start in order to find the point that will make Lin Tao feel at ease.

After listening to Zhong Jing's words, Lin Tao did feel better.

She smiled at Xu Yuting and Zhong Jing. Although her smile was a little weak, it was at least much better than before.

"Xu Yuting, Teacher Zhong, thank you for comforting me. This is the first time I've encountered such a situation. Ultimately, it's because I'm not mentally strong enough. I tend to get stuck in a rut when something happens." Lin Tao said.

"I should have believed in our fleet, and believed that Cheng Kei would come back."

Yang Ai Dang also came to talk to her about this matter, and his words were similar to what Zhong Jing said, which was to let Lin Tao relax and that it was nothing serious.

Lin Tao felt much more relaxed than the previous two days. Even though Li Chengxi still hadn't returned on the seventh day, Lin Tao would eat well and rest well despite her worry.

She is pregnant now and Li Chengxi is not around, so she should really take care of herself.

The wind and waves are strong recently, and the fishermen are resting instead of going out to fish. The amount of seafood in the food factory has dropped sharply. Lin Tao bought some pork and planned to make meatballs to eat when she got home. Although chili is delicious, eating too much will cause internal heat, so it is time to switch to something lighter occasionally.

After buying the pork, Lin Tao went to the dry goods stall and bought some dried mushrooms and vermicelli.

The dry goods saleswoman was a woman in her thirties who already knew Lin Tao and would chat with her from time to time.

Seeing Lin Tao coming alone to buy vegetables, and it was raining, he couldn't help wondering: "Teacher Lin, why are you buying vegetables alone today? Captain Li, are you sure you can come alone on a rainy day?"

Lin Tao knew that this person didn't know that Li Chengxi had gone out on a mission and had not returned for several days, so after hearing this, she just smiled and didn't say much.

After Lin Tao left, another salesperson said speechlessly: "Xiao Pei, I winked at you for so long just now, didn't you see it? Captain Li went on a mission and hasn't been back for several days. Lin Tao is feeling bad. You still bring this up. Aren't you deliberately trying to make her feel uncomfortable?"

This person's child is studying in Lin Tao's class. His child likes Teacher Lin very much and would tell others what Teacher Lin said today as soon as he got home.

As parents, we are naturally happy that our children have a good teacher. You know, the Chinese teacher in the past would beat students!

The child's grades did not improve, and he was beaten a lot. Although the parents said that it was okay to beat the child to death if he did not obey, but everyone loves their own children, and they still felt sorry for him in their hearts, but they could not say it.

Now it's Lin Tao's turn. Not only does she not punish students, but she also teaches well in class. It's so easy to improve the children's enthusiasm for studying, and their grades have also improved. Everyone is happy.

It can be said that there is no parent of the students in Lin Tao's class who does not like Lin Tao.

This parent is the same. Every time Li Chengxi comes to buy groceries, she will deliberately order more.

Xiao Pei looked a little flustered: "Captain Li has gone on a mission and hasn't come back yet? I really didn't know. I haven't heard of this. Then...then Teacher Lin didn't think I said that on purpose just now? I really didn't. I just saw that usually it was Captain Li who came to buy vegetables. Today it was raining and the road was not easy to walk. I saw that since Teacher Lin was here, I asked...I..."

She was somewhat incoherent.

In fact, not everyone knew about this. The eldest sister only knew about it because her child was in Lin Tao's class. When she went to the office, she heard Xu Yuting comforting Lin Tao and came back to tell her about it.

Seeing her like this, the elder sister said, "Forget it, it's okay. Teacher Lin is not the kind of person who would make wild assumptions. But I'm telling you this time, you can't say nonsense next time. Teacher Lin is upset enough."

Xiao Pei nodded repeatedly: "I didn't know about this before, but now I know it, and I definitely won't tell anyone about it."

*****************************

It has been raining for the past few days, so there are fewer people at the food factory.

In fact, if there were no fresh vegetables at home, and Lin Tao was a pregnant woman and it was not good for her to eat pickled meat and bacon every day, she would not be willing to go out to buy vegetables on such a rainy day.

The rain has finally stopped, but there is still a lot of mud on the road. If you are not careful, your pants and feet will get stained with mud.

After leaving the food factory, Lin Tao walked towards home, but unexpectedly met Lin Hui on the road.

Although the two were on the same Shengshan Island, Lin Tao had to go to work, so they usually went between home and school. Even though they had lived on the island for nearly a year, the number of times they had seen each other could be counted on two hands.

Lin Hui didn't consider her as her cousin, so Lin Tao naturally didn't consider Lin Hui as her cousin either. When the two met, they just pretended not to know each other. Few people on the island knew that Lin Tao and Lin Hui were actually cousins.

Lin Tao was very happy about this. When she saw Lin Hui now, she just pretended not to see her and walked straight ahead.

Who would have thought that this time Lin Hui would actually take the initiative to talk to her.

Lin Hui came to the supply and marketing cooperative with her three children. After she got married and became a stepmother, she had to take care of the children all day long and basically took her children with her wherever she went.

"Jiahao, Jiayi, Jiaping, you don't know yet, right? This is your aunt, mom's cousin." Lin Hui suddenly said, "Come on, Jiahao, Jiayi, Jiaping, call your aunt quickly."

Lin Tao frowned, not knowing what Lin Hui was up to.

But seeing her malicious expression, Lin Tao knew that this was definitely not a good thing. Lin Tao was too lazy to pay attention to her and turned around and continued walking.

But then Lin Hui continued, "Jiahao, Jiayi, you may not know yet, but your uncle-in-law is on a mission and hasn't been back for a few days. It's very likely that he won't be back. If he doesn't come back, your aunt will be a widow. When the child is born, it will be really pitiful to see an orphan and a widow. Although your mother doesn't have a good relationship with her, she is still your aunt after all. When you grow up and become successful, and see that your aunt is having a miserable life, remember..."

"What did you say?!"

Lin Hui was interrupted by Lin Tao before she could finish her words.

In the past, Lin Hui always felt that Lin Tao's expression was indifferent no matter what happened. What she couldn't stand the most was Lin Tao's indifference. But now that she saw Lin Tao really get angry and her expression changed, she suddenly felt a little guilty.

Lin Tao looked scary. Her face, which always had a smile on it, was now filled with anger. Her eyes stared coldly at Lin Hui.

A person who is usually gentle can be very scary when he gets angry.

Lin Hui was unwilling to admit that she was frightened by Lin Tao's eyes. She stiffened her neck and said in a gloating tone: "I said your man is in trouble, and you want to be a widow--"

Before she could finish her words, Lin Tao had already walked to Lin Hui's side and slapped her in the face.

Lin Tao has been helping her family with housework since she was young. She is thin and frail, and looks weak, but her hands are quite powerful.

After being slapped like this, Lin Hui's face was knocked to one side, and several finger marks immediately appeared on her face which had already been tanned several degrees.

Lin Hui was beaten so hard that she was stunned. She even wondered if she was dreaming. She was actually beaten by Lin Tao?

But the burning sensation on her face made her realize clearly that this was not a dream, this was real! She was really beaten by Lin Tao!

That was Lin Tao, who had been bullied by her since childhood and never dared to fight back. She was the most easily bullied Lin Tao in the village!

Lin Tao, why did she hit herself? Why?

Lin Hui was about to go crazy, and yelled, "Lin Tao, why did you hit me?"

"Why should I hit you?" Lin Tao met Lin Hui's vicious gaze without dodging it and sneered, as if what Lin Hui said was a very funny joke.

In fact, she believed so.

Facing Lin Hui's question, Lin Tao said word by word: "In order to defend the motherland and protect us, our country's soldiers braved the wind and rain to carry out their missions. We don't know what the situation is now, but you, Lin Hui, are actually hoping that our country's soldiers will get into trouble under such circumstances. What is your intention? Or are you a spy sent by the enemy? That's why you are so eager for them to get into trouble?"

Lin Tao was really angry today. Both her tone and expression were very different from before.

If she used to be a gentle and kind teacher in school, now she speaks with every word and every sentence firmly, just like a female warrior.

When her warrior was gone, she stood up on her own to protect him, and to protect those soldiers who were defending their country and who were still unaware of their current situation.

Lin Hui just said that, but she learned from Shen Guobin two days ago that Li Chengxi had been on a mission and had not returned for several days, so she deliberately made Lin Tao angry.

Now that she was accused of being a spy, she turned pale with fear. She forgot the pain on her face and retorted, "Lin Tao, don't talk nonsense. How could I be a spy? I... I didn't expect anything to happen to the soldiers..."

"You don't want anything to happen to the soldiers? Then what do you mean by what you said just now?" Lin Tao stared at her.

Lin Hui was inexplicably afraid of Lin Tao's direct gaze and could not help but take two steps back: "I, I did that on purpose to irritate you. I grew up in Taohua Village in Xiangcheng. You know it very well. Don't throw dirty water on me. I... How could I be a spy!"

Even if Lin Hui didn't understand politics, she knew that the label of "spy" was not something that could be casually pinned on someone. Once someone was given this label, they would be severely punished, if not killed.

In the past, Lin Tao was too lazy to argue with Lin Hui. She was content with her life and just wanted to live her own life. Arguing with Lin Hui? It was meaningless.

But Lin Hui's words today completely angered Lin Tao. Lin Tao made it clear today that she wanted to teach Lin Hui a lesson.

He kept on pestering the 'spy': "You grew up in Taohua Village, but we haven't had any dealings since we got married. Who knows if you have come into contact with anyone sent by the enemy over the past year or if you have reached any secret agreement with them."

This was all thanks to a Soviet novel that Li Chengxi had read to her. The novel was about the story of "spies," and that's why Lin Tao understood all this.

Lin Hui was so scared that her tongue was tied: "You... don't talk nonsense, don't try to wrongly accuse me."

Shen Jiahao is over six years old this year. Lin Hui is usually nice to him, but she often says bad things about Lin Tao in front of him and Shen Jiayi. Although he and Shen Jiayi have never met Lin Tao, they already think that Lin Tao is a bad woman.

Seeing that Lin Tao had forced Lin Hui into this state, Shen Jiahao stood in front of Lin Hui and pointed his weak little fist at Lin Tao: "If you say that again, I will hit you. I will hit your stomach and make it bleed, so that you can't have children!"

Shen Jiayi chimed in: "Brother, beat her up, beat up that bad woman!"

Lin Tao never thought that such vicious words would come out of the mouth of Shen Jiahao, who was only six years old.

And Shen Jiayi, who was three or four years old, actually helped out?

Lin Tao glanced at Lin Hui and saw that Lin Hui didn't think there was anything wrong with such young children saying these things. Instead, she felt happy and relieved because the two children were protecting her.

She didn't know what to say.

Is this how Lin Hui usually teaches her children?

But she really is.

Lin Tao looked at Shen Jiahao and said, "You want to hit me? Then you better think clearly about what responsibilities you will take if you hit me."

Shen Jiahao gritted his teeth and looked fierce: "I am a child, it's okay for children to hit others."

"Really? You are fine, but your father is. It's the father's fault for not educating his child well. If you hit me today, even if I don't make trouble for you, I will make trouble for your father." Lin Tao said.

Last time, she happened to see Lin Hui unable to control Shen Jiahao, so she brought up Shen Guobin, and Shen Jiahao behaved himself.

She could see that the child was afraid of his father.

When Shen Jiaping saw Shen Jiahao stretching out his fist to hit someone, he took two steps forward with his short legs, stood in front of Lin Tao, and said to Shen Jiahao: "Brother, Dad said you can't hit people!"

Shen Jiahao thought of Shen Guobin and put down his fist.

Lin Tao was very surprised that this youngest child was different from the other two. When Shen Jiahao and Shen Jiayi scolded her just now, this child did not help.