Wang Wenju was taken aback, not quite understanding what Zhou Xiaoling meant.

Xiaoling clearly had no intention of letting them off easily. "My sister-in-law is pregnant. She almost miscarried saving your mother, and now she's confined to bed. If you don't believe me, go ask the doctors at the hospital."

Wang Wenju's face went pale. "Is that true?"

Xiaoling snorted. "Why would I lie? What's in it for me to deceive you? My brother isn't home. If something happened to the baby, could you take that responsibility?"

Zhang Yimei, hearing what sounded like a counter-accusation, immediately protested. "We never asked her to help! She should've known her own condition. Why did she push herself forward? Just to show off, that's why!"

Wang Wenju's head was spinning. Without thinking, he turned and slapped Zhang Yimei across the face. "Shut up! How can you be so ungrateful?"

Zhang Yimei was stunned. In four or five years of marriage, they'd never even raised their voices at each other. Now he'd hit her—over an outsider. Covering her cheek, she shot him a tearful glare, took her child's hand, and went inside.

Wang Wenju felt utterly defeated. He looked at Xiaoling, ashamed. "I'm sorry. I didn't know any of this. I'll make sure they come to apologize properly."

He pulled ten ten-yuan bills from his pocket—money he'd just borrowed—and held them out to Xiaoling. "Please, use this to buy her some nourishing food. If there's anything else you need, just tell me. While the team leader is away, I'll help however I can."

Xiaoling knew his family wasn't well-off. She hadn't said all that for money—she just wanted him to feel guilty. Anyone could play the victim.

"Keep your money. Just make sure your wife keeps her stories to herself from now on. We don't owe your family anything."

Wang Wenju shook his head quickly. "She will. I'll talk to her."

Seeing that Wang Wenju was sincere, Xiaoling didn't press further. She turned and went inside.

Alone, Wang Wenju's expression darkened. Lin Xiaoxiao had been pregnant, yet she'd saved his mother. If something had happened to her baby, how could he ever face Zhou Huai'an?

He went back inside. Zhang Yimei was sitting on a stool, holding their son and wiping her tears.

One side of her face was still red and swollen. She showed no remorse.

He spoke coldly. "Once Mom is out of the hospital, I'm sending you back to the village."Z

hang Yimei looked up, confused. "What do you mean?"

"What do you think I mean? Should I keep you here until I lose my job? Until I can't show my face at work? How many times have I told you not to provoke the neighbors? To get along with Lin Xiaoxiao?"

"Is it because Zhou Huai'an is your boss?" she said bitterly. "Wang Wenju, I never thought you'd be like this."

He ran a hand over his face in frustration. "You don't understand anything! If it weren't for Zhou Huai'an, I'd be dead. He pulled me out of a pile of corpses and carried me for miles! You might not care, but I can't forget that."

"And Lin Xiaoxiao saved Shanzi. She saved my mother. Are you blind? How could you accuse them?"

He couldn't understand it. The woman he slept beside, the mother who raised him—how could they so easily betray those who'd helped them?

Zhang Yimei fell silent. Wang Wenju had never told her Zhou Huai'an saved his life. She'd always thought he obeyed Zhou Huai'an because he was his superior. Even when Lin Xiaoxiao had been difficult, he'd asked her to be patient.

She'd thought he was just currying favor.

Tears welled in her eyes. "I didn't know... And Lin Xiaoxiao once told Shanzi he should die. How could she say that to a child? She's vicious. She's just better at hiding it now."

Wang Wenju closed his eyes in despair. He didn't bother responding. He had to go check on his mother at the hospital.

Though moved by what Zhou Huai'an had done for her husband, Zhang Yimei's dislike for Lin Xiaoxiao remained unchanged.

Zhou Xiaoling stormed back into the house and sat heavily on the edge of the bed. "Can you believe Zhang Yimei? She actually called the police! Does she think being the injured party makes her right?"

Lin Xiaoxiao also thought Zhang Yimei had acted foolishly. If she wanted to frame them, she should've just insisted the old woman was hurt in their yard—without claiming to have seen it herself. That would've been harder to dispute.

Instead, she'd concocted a flimsy story full of holes and trapped herself.

Xiaoling ranted a while longer, then added, "At least Wang Wenju has some sense. If he were as stubborn as she is, things would've gotten messy."

Lin Xiaoxiao felt that anyone who'd worked long with Zhou Huai'an would have to be decent. "If his character were poor, your brother wouldn't have kept him around."

Xiaoling nodded. "True. If my brother finds out about this, he'll be furious."

Lin Xiaoxiao sighed softly. She felt unusually vulnerable lately—and missed Zhou Huai'an more than ever....Meanwhile, Zhou Huai'an was visiting the Zhou family home for the first time.

Zhou Bingwen had been up since dawn preparing. Not wanting Zhou Huai'an to feel overwhelmed, he'd asked other relatives not to come—just immediate family for now.

Li Yunlan had been too excited to sleep. She'd gotten up in the middle of the night to stew chicken, braise pork, and fry fish—making more dishes than even for Spring Festival.

Zhou Zhennan could only follow her around helplessly. "Don't overdo it. You'll make him nervous."

"Nervous? He's coming home," she retorted. "And we need to clear out the largest upstairs room."

"It was done yesterday," he said patiently. "With fresh sheets."

She wasn't satisfied. "Was the window cleaned? What about books for the bookcase? He likes to read—are the books ready?"

"Everything's ready. As for books, I thought we'd ask him what he likes first. No point filling shelves with things he won't read."

She conceded that made sense. "Did you get apples? Can you find bananas? He's probably never had bananas."

"I bought bananas—a whole bunch of the best ones. Also sugar cane, watermelon, and pears."

"No pears! They're bad luck. Take them away."

Zhou Xiaohong had been kept up most of the night by the noise. When she came out in the morning, she saw her grandfather happily wiping tables, her parents busy in the kitchen, and the coffee table in the living room covered with fruits they usually only saw during New Year's.

A sudden wave of resentment washed over her. She was getting married soon, but her mother had never gone to this much trouble for her.