The family was overjoyed and, without saying a word, all got up to answer the phone.
Zhao Lei took the lead and kept urging Wang Yaqiang, "Yaqiang, hurry up, let's go first."
Wang Yaqiang chuckled: "I'll wait for my sister-in-law."
Zhao Jingwen followed him outside. He knew that Zhao Jingyu had encountered storms at sea, but he thought these were normal occurrences and wasn't too worried. Everyone else was answering their phones, and it wouldn't be right for him to be home alone.
Xu Qingning went back inside to get a coat and slowly went out the door. Yang Yuelan lagged behind, locked the door, and caught up with Xu Qingning: "Take it easy, a few more minutes won't make a difference."
Zhao Futang walked at the back with a happy expression. He wasn't going to answer the phone; he wanted to thank Gao Dejian.
“Sister-in-law, don’t worry, my brother said he’ll call back in half an hour.” Wang Yaqiang had already talked to Zhao Jingyu and said excitedly, “My brother originally told you not to answer the phone, but he heard you’ve been worried about him lately, so he said he wanted to talk to you.”
“We’ll feel relieved to hear his voice.” Yang Yuelan didn’t expect her son to talk to her; she only came along because she was worried about Xu Qingning answering the phone.
The family walked out of the courtyard in a large procession, startling the old ladies who were squatting by the wall. What was going on?
Where are they going?
Wang Cuifen wanted to ask, but she was too embarrassed to. They all lived in the same courtyard and saw each other all the time, so no one wanted to see something like this happen in their family.
After the family had gone some distance, Zhang Guoshi came over to Wang Cuifen and said, "I heard they were discussing compensation. I wonder if that's why they came today."
“If there’s going to be compensation, it will definitely be a lot of money,” Wang Cuifen sighed. “Alas, no amount of money can bring a life back.”
“Who says otherwise!” Zhang Guoshi sighed as well.
“A few days ago, when I went to the staff bookstore to return books, I chatted with Tang Wenya. Isn’t Tang Wenya Xu Qingning’s older sister? She also told me to keep it a secret from Xu Qingning, and said that her parents have been suffering at home these past few days.” Wang Meixiang chimed in, “She also said that her father wanted to take Xu Qingning home, but Xu Qingning refused.”
"Of course she wouldn't go back. Only a fool would." Wang Cuifen curled her lips. "You don't know, Zhao Jingyu's parents came. They treat Xu Qingning so well, serving her diligently every day. If she went back to her parents' home, she wouldn't get such treatment."
“That’s right. Even if the stepmother doesn’t want to take care of her, the mother-in-law has to take care of her daughter-in-law for the sake of her grandson.” Zhang Guoshi agreed. “You don’t know, now all the young wives in our courtyard are starting to envy Xu Qingning, saying that she has a good mother-in-law.”
“That’s right, even we can’t do what Yang Yuelan did. She was really like an old ox.” Wang Meixiang said, then lowered her voice and added, “It’s Tang Wenya. The other day she was cooking and washing clothes, and she seemed like a good wife, but Liu Yuzhen was not satisfied with her and said she was pretentious!”
"She's just quite pretentious. As soon as Xiao Tingshen left, she ran back to her parents' home." Zhang Guoshi had a good relationship with Liu Yuzhen, and she sided with Liu Yuzhen without hesitation. "Actually, Liu Yuzhen isn't a bad mother-in-law. She's just used to being a leader, so she speaks a bit forcefully, but she has a good heart. It's Tang Wenya who doesn't want to live with her parents-in-law."
Hearing the three women chatting so enthusiastically, the other elderly women quickly joined in on the topic of mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationships. The conversation became more and more lively, with the mothers-in-law feeling that their daughters-in-law were not good enough, and the daughters-in-law feeling that their mothers-in-law were too harsh on them.
However, this was the first time they had ever seen a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law like Yang Yuelan and Xu Qingning praising each other.
The group entered the office one after another, waiting for Zhao Jingyu's call.
Zhao Futang went to Gao Dejian's office, where Gao Dejian happened to be. Upon seeing Zhao Futang, Gao Dejian warmly shook his hand and said, "Brother Zhao is here. Jingyu is alright now, so you can rest assured."
"Thank you for your concern for our family, leaders." Zhao Futang held Gao Dejian's hand tightly, and said emotionally, "We don't know how to thank you enough. When Jingyu comes back, we'll have a good get-together."
“Brother Zhao, you’re too kind. We’ve been on tenterhooks these past few days; we feel the same way.” Gao Dejian understood Zhao Futang’s feelings. “He’ll be back in a few days, and your family will be reunited.”
"Then you go ahead with your work, I won't bother you anymore." Zhao Futang didn't chat much, nor did he answer the phone. He strolled home alone.
As soon as the time came, the phone rang. Xu Qingning calmly picked up the receiver and said hello. A familiar voice came through: "Honey, how have you been lately? Have you been missing me?"
"I'm fine, and I miss you too." Hearing his voice, Xu Qingning felt a lump in her throat and asked, "Are you hurt?"
"I have a small wound on my forehead, the stitches haven't been removed yet, it looks pretty bad," Zhao Jingyu said casually. "Will you dislike me?"
"Of course not." Xu Qingning smiled. "As long as you are safe and sound, we are waiting for you to come back."
"Don't worry, I'll be back as soon as possible." Zhao Jingyu cleared his throat. "I dreamt a few days ago that you came to find me. You said you wanted to stay on the ship with me. I was happy for days. When I get back, I'll spend some quality time with you."
"Okay," Xu Qingning replied. "Your sweater is finished, and Mom is knitting you woolen pants. Dad is here too, and he made a little bed for the baby. The little bed is very pretty. Mom and I will set it up when you come back."
"That's great! I was thinking of making one myself when I got back!" Zhao Jingyu was very happy to hear that. "With them here with you, I feel at ease. Honey, I miss you. I want to hold you in my arms every night as we sleep."
"..." Xu Qingning felt a little embarrassed. She glanced at the door and coughed lightly, "Mom, Dad, my sister, and my older brother are here too. Why don't you say a few words to Mom? She hasn't been eating or sleeping well these days."
"Okay." Zhao Jingyu agreed, and Xu Qingning immediately called Yang Yuelan over to answer the phone, "Mom, Jingyu is looking for you."
Upon hearing that her son was looking for her, Yang Yuelan quickened her pace, took the microphone from Xu Qingning's hand, and asked in a trembling voice, "Jingyu, when are you coming back?"
Zhao Lei excitedly followed and stood to the side to listen.
"Mom, I'll be going back in a little over two months." Zhao Jingyu didn't know what to say to Yang Yuelan for a moment. "Don't worry about me, Dad and I."
"Okay, we'll wait for you." Yang Yuelan was so overjoyed by her son calling her "Mom" that she burst into tears and couldn't say a word. Zhao Lei was anxious and grabbed the microphone. "Jingyu, this is your sister. We heard about what happened at sea and we're all very worried about you. You have to come back soon."
"I understand." Zhao Jingyu frowned when he heard his sister's voice. "Sister, give the phone to my wife. I have something to say to her."
Zhao Lei said "oh" and then handed the phone to Xu Qingning. Oh dear, her younger brother is really different from before he got married.
He only has eyes for his wife.
"When I get back, you have to give me a reward," Zhao Jingyu said in a low voice. "You can't refuse me."
"What reward?" Xu Qingning was surprised that he had the same dream as her and asked him the same question. Sure enough, Zhao Jingyu smiled, "I think about you every day. What reward do you think I want?"
"There's plenty of time, why are you in such a hurry?" Xu Qingning said calmly, as if she and he were exchanging secret signals.
“I’m really anxious.” Zhao Jingyu immediately understood on the other end of the phone. “Honey, we’re so in sync, we even dream the same dream, it’s such a coincidence.”
"It is quite a coincidence." Xu Qingning remained calm. "Let's stop here for today. We need to go back."
The hidden plot was even more surprising than she had anticipated.
Whether it was a coincidence or not, it was a very pleasant thing for her.
"Okay." Zhao Jingyu put down the receiver only after she hung up the phone. The feeling of escaping death was wonderful!
When the group returned home, Zhao Lianxiang and her son Yang Zhibin were sitting in the yard chatting with Zhao Futang.
Yang Zhibin was taken aback when he saw Xu Qingning: "Xu Qingning, is that you?"
Thank you afrashui, -cd, and jiao for the monthly tickets.
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