“Yes, this is also our daughter. She’s standing up for her sister. What’s wrong with that?” Commander Zhou quickly added.
"Fine, Old Zhou, you're something else!" Seeing that he couldn't gain any advantage, Zhou Yue's father-in-law went over to help his son up and limped away.
"Little Fish, your hand is bleeding?" Zhou Xing's mother exclaimed in surprise.
It turned out that Qin Xiaoyu had used too much force and broken one of her fingernails, causing it to bleed a little.
"It's nothing." But it was no use saying it was nothing. Zhou Xing's mother had already made a big fuss and brought over a first-aid kit, pulled Qin Xiaoyu to sit next to her, carefully applied the medicine, and then wrapped it with gauze.
“Young people are like that, growing their fingernails so long, no wonder they break, and it’s inconvenient for them to do chores.” As Zhou Xing’s mother spoke, she suddenly noticed her own neatly trimmed long fingernails and quickly hid them in her palm.
After all this commotion, Qin Xiaoyu can no longer go home.
"You should take the children upstairs to rest; they've been a little frightened." Zhou Xing's mother told Qin Xiaoyu to go upstairs. Although she was reluctant, now was not the time to cause trouble, so she had no choice but to take the two children upstairs.
"Mommy, when I grow up I'll protect you and won't let anyone touch you!" Hanhan and her little sister looked at the bandage on Qin Xiaoyu's hand and felt extremely distressed. The little sister pouted and kept blowing air onto her finger.
"It's okay, Mommy's not in pain. You guys go to sleep. Mommy wants to go see your godmother." Qin Xiaoyu was worried about Zhou Yue.
Just as she expected, Zhou Yue wasn't asleep; she was curled up in bed, lost in thought. The doctor had examined her and found that in addition to the superficial injuries, she also had a broken rib, which she would have to heal on her own.
"Little Fish, what should I do? I can't go back to that home." Zhou Yue's eyes were swollen to slits, and she was still crying.
"Why are you going back? Do you still want to go back?"
Qin Xiaoyu couldn't understand Zhou Yue's thought process.
"What can we do if we don't go back?" Zhou Yue lowered her head sadly.
"He almost beat you to death! You still want to go back? Get a divorce! Do you still love him? Can't you live without someone else?!"
"No, I won't get a divorce! I'd rather die than get a divorce!"
"Why?"
“Our family can’t afford to lose face again. Because of what happened between you and Zhou Xing, the whole city knew about it, and we lost face. If I get divorced now, my parents will never be able to show their faces in public again.”
"..."
Qin Xiaoyu slumped onto the bed, staring intently at Zhou Yue, really wanting to crack open her skull to see who wrote the program.
"Sister Xiaoyue, life isn't like that. Just because you got married once doesn't mean you're tied to that place for life, even if you're unhappy. You can start over. As for your parents' pride, if they love you, they won't care about that. You can't be too selfish, but you can't lose yourself either. You can't ruin your wonderful life with a scumbag..."
“Xiaoyu is right. Your father and I have discussed it, you should get a divorce.” Zhou Xing’s mother appeared at the door.
"Really? Can I get a divorce? You won't blame me?" Zhou Yue could hardly believe her ears.
“Really, I’ll call his family tomorrow and get the paperwork done as soon as possible. The sooner we’re divorced, the less trouble we’ll have. I don’t want to see his family again. You take good care of yourself, don’t worry about anything else.” After saying that, Zhou Xing’s mother glanced at Qin Xiaoyu and said, “You two sisters talk it over, you should give her some advice.”
"Okay." Qin Xiaoyu saw Zhou Xing's mother to the door, and was about to close it when she saw that she still had something to say, so she stopped.
"You sleep with Xiaoyue, I'll go sleep with the two little ones. I'm worried Xiaoyue might do something rash," Zhou Xing's mother said softly.
"Don't worry, Sister Xiaoyue will be fine." Qin Xiaoyu had made up her mind that no one could touch Zhou Xiaoyue from now on, not a single person.
Zhou Yue slept restlessly, waking up several times. Qin Xiaoyu could only hold her hand tightly and try her best to comfort her.
The next morning when they went downstairs, both of them had dark circles under their eyes.
Zhou Xing returned at some point, and when he saw Zhou Yue, he was deeply hurt. He had a gloomy expression while eating breakfast and would occasionally space out.
Qin Xiaoyu thought, this must be what blood relatives are like. How could he not feel heartache when Zhou Yue was hurt? But did he even know what he had been through? Thinking of this, a sentence suddenly came to mind: Life is not worth living.
In that instant, I felt at peace with Zhou Xing.
"Little Fish, there's something I'd like to say." Commander Zhou suddenly spoke up after everyone had finished eating.
"Please speak." Qin Xiaoyu guessed that it was because of the incident where she hit Chen Kai yesterday. She wondered what Commander Zhou had thought about after sleeping all night. Surely he wouldn't force her to apologize to the Chen family under pressure. She would rather die than comply, even if it meant tearing off the mask of civility again.
Without realizing it, Qin Xiaoyu straightened her back. The people at the table all stopped and waited for Commander Zhou to speak.
"Your mother and I discussed it."
"Your mom?" Qin Xiaoyu was a little confused. It turned out that these two words weren't meant for her. She had been nervous for nothing.
“I already said yesterday that you are family, so let’s leave it at that. You are our second daughter.” Commander Zhou’s words were somewhat abrupt. Apart from Zhou Xing’s mother, everyone’s face showed astonishment. Zhou Xing’s mother calmly ate the last bite of porridge with her small spoon, as if she already knew.
Qin Xiaoyu glanced at Zhou Yue, then at Zhou Xing, both completely bewildered, unable to find the answer.
“Xiaoyu, after going through so much, I feel like we’re family now. Zhou Xing said you broke up with him. We don’t care about your relationship, but we can’t be separated from Hanhan. Please consider it a favor to us, and let her be our daughter.” Commander Zhou spoke earnestly, and Qin Xiaoyu understood.
She hesitated.
Some hurts don't just disappear. In truth, she would rather go to a place where she would never see Zhou Xing again; a short, sharp pain is better than a long, drawn-out one.
But when she glanced at the longing looks in Hanhan and her younger sister's eyes, she couldn't bear it anymore. The two children couldn't afford to get hurt any further. Maintaining relations with the Zhou family was the best option for their healthy growth. Since she didn't want anything more to do with Zhou Xing anyway, she agreed, partly as a reminder to herself.
"Okay, I promise you."
"Grandpa!" Hanhan understood completely and looked up to call out.
"Yes, from now on you will be my own grandson, my own son!" Commander Zhou picked up Hanhan and carried her upstairs.
"Hanhan is too heavy, don't carry her anymore." Qin Xiaoyu was a little anxious. This child had probably grown taller due to the change in environment. She was already almost 1.4 meters tall, and Commander Zhou, being an older man, found it difficult to carry her.
"Grandpa is willing to hold me, and hold me all the time." Commander Zhou's little bit of pride kicked in again.
Qin Xiaoyu sighed helplessly, her gaze inadvertently meeting Zhou Xing's. She couldn't tell if the incident had affected him; it was just a faint, warm feeling. Had he become dull from the trauma? He seemed like a completely different person, less impulsive, and without passion.
Does war make a man grow, or does a woman make a man grow?
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