"Yanxia, why are you only coming back now? Did you know your mother is in the hospital?"
The door was pushed open from the outside, and Old Man Chang turned around to look.
Sun Yanxia!
Sun Yanxia hurriedly responded, quickly ran back to her room to pack her luggage, and then ran out to look for people.
"Son—, Jizong—"
Old Chang twitched his beard and pointed outside the gate: "Playing with other children in the alley!"
Without even a thank you, Sun Yanxia ran straight out the door. Old Man Chang was immediately furious. One after another, these women were a disgrace to the family!
Sun Yanxia grabbed her precious son, who was rolling on the ground in the alley, and said, "Jizong, come on, come with Mom to stay at your maternal grandmother's house for a while!"
Chang Jizong rubbed his dirty hands on her clean clothes, shook his head, and refused to listen.
"I'm not going! I'm perfectly fine at home. I'm not going to Grandma's! I'm waiting for my little sister Meiying to come back so we can play with firecrackers together..."
Sun Yanxia was in a panic. Without saying a word, she grabbed Chang Jizong and headed out of the alley: "What Meiying, Chouying? Come with me to your grandma's house now. You'll have cousins there to play with!"
Chang Jizong burst into tears and was dragged along the way.
When Old Man Chang heard his grandson crying, he thought a human trafficker had entered the alley. He ran out to see what was wrong, and found out it was his good daughter-in-law!
Old Man Chang was so angry that he slapped his thigh repeatedly, lamenting the misfortune of his family.
Even though her grandson was crying so hard, they still wanted to take him away. Sun Yanxia looked like she was being chased by a ghost!
*
Three days passed in the blink of an eye. Since that day, no one in the Chang family has seen Chang Pengfei return. Some say that he is now by Wu Minjun's side, serving her closely and acting like a dutiful grandson.
The Wu family disliked Wu Minjun's shameful behavior. When she returned home, Wu's eldest sister-in-law made a scene and then kicked Wu Minjun out of the house.
That noon, Zhou Hongyu went to the hospital to change shifts.
Before even officially starting work at her new company, Zhou Hongyu had already taken leave, which she found quite impressive.
Chen Zhaodi was getting impatient waiting at the hospital and complained to her as soon as she saw her: "If you keep dawdling, I'll miss the engagement banquet!"
Today is the engagement banquet of Zhou An, the eldest son of my cousin Zhou. We invited relatives and friends to have a meal at a restaurant.
Chen Zhaodi had dealt with Zhou's cousin's family before, and they were distant relatives, so she was naturally invited as well.
Zhou Hongyu rolled her eyes at her: "Then hurry up and go, stop whining here!"
Zhou Hongyu didn't go. She explained the situation to her cousin Zhou and then asked Chen Zhaodi to help deliver the gift. She wasn't in a good mood because she was in a bad mood and had a sour face.
Chen Zhaodi said she was in a hurry, but after Zhou Hongyu arrived at the ward, she started dawdling again, tidying up here and there, looking for something.
Zhou Hongyu glanced at the clock: "If you don't go soon, they'll start eating!"
Chen Zhaodi rushed out in a hurry.
In the afternoon, Chen Zhaodi returned from the engagement banquet, Granny Chang was taking a walk downstairs, and only Zhou Hongyu was lying in the empty bed next door in the ward, pretending to be asleep.
Hearing the door open, Zhou Hongyu immediately snapped out of her daze and opened her eyes.
"Zhou Hongyu?" Chen Zhaodi asked tentatively in a low voice.
"Awake!"
Chen Zhaodi breathed a sigh of relief and immediately resumed her movements.
She brought back a bunch of packed food from the engagement party, put it away, and started talking about what happened at the engagement party.
"Your cousin and his wife are incredibly generous. They spent a lot of money at the restaurant, though I don't know its name. The food was top-notch, with abalone, sea cucumber... all the kind of dishes you'd find in a high-end hotel. You only gave them a gift, but didn't even get to eat there. You really missed out!"
"It's not like my cousin and his wife didn't pack any food for you to bring back!" Zhou Hongyu got up from the bed.
Chen Zhaodi nodded: "No doubt about it, your cousin and his wife are very considerate and haven't skimped on anything for you!"
Zhou Hongyu was folding the quilt when she continued to nag, "Your cousin and his wife have good taste. They chose such a good wife. She's tall, beautiful, and has a sweet voice. They get all the good things in life!"
Chen Zhaodi has a son and a daughter who are both very ill. After witnessing the marriage of a newlywed couple, her heart began to itch with longing.
"You mean the matchmaker..."
"Forget about it, a matchmaker can't help you. This girl is someone my cousin met in business!"
Zhou Hongyu patted the quilt, and from her familiar tone, she knew what she was thinking.
Chen Zhaodi frowned and muttered under her breath, "Honestly, can't you just let me finish what I have to say!"
After folding the quilt, Zhou Hongyu went to rummage through the biscuits in the cupboard and started eating them.
Chen Zhaodi leaned closer, her face full of gossip: "It's not over yet, there's more to come, do you want to hear it?"
Zhou Hongyu shook her head while eating a biscuit: "I don't want to listen, it's a bit hard on my throat, get me some water."
Zhou Hongyu drank the water Chen Zhaodi poured for her, listening to her continue nagging in her ear.
"There are very few things in this world that are perfect. I only told you about the good side of Zhou An's wife just now. Now I'll tell you about the bad side of her!"
"She's just like the rumors say, with a shrewd and capable appearance, but I also feel that the girl is too domineering, and her whole family is like that, very shrewd, and they look like they know how to calculate!"
“I was standing next to your cousin’s wife, and after saying a few words, I almost got all my secrets exposed. I was so scared that I made an excuse to leave. Even after I left, I overheard her family and your cousin’s wife asking about our clothing business. It was really frightening!”
Zhou Hongyu remained noncommittal.
The cousin and his wife favored their eldest son, Zhou An, who was in poor health and had mediocre talent. In order to ensure that Zhou An would have no worries about food and clothing for the rest of his life, they made many concessions in choosing a daughter-in-law. You have to give up something to gain something.
In the dream, after Zhou An's wife entered the family, Zhou Bing stayed at home and worked for decades until his nephew grew up and was able to take care of things, at which point Zhou Bing was transferred out.
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