Lin Xiaoxiao approached, glancing at Feng Juanjuan before moving to stand beside Zhou Xiaoling. "What's going on?" she whispered.

Zhou Xiaoling shot a furious look at the other woman. "She's insane! Came here to the hospital just to cry and make a scene."

Feng Juanjuan looked utterly wronged. "I wasn't here for you! Why are you yelling at me? I came to see Brother Zhou and Brother Lin!"

Zhou Xiaoling, whose temper was famously quick, glared back. "You know perfectly well why! Your 'Brother Lin' is lying in there unconscious! What do you want with him? And my brother is here too. Listen to yourself! Does anything you're saying even make sense?"

Feng Juanjuan wiped her tears. "What else can I do? I don't think my brother did it on purpose! He already paid for his mistake with his life, so why can't he be recognized as a martyr?"

Zhou Xiaoling sneered. "'Not on purpose'? Precisely because it wasn't on purpose, he got himself killed and endangered others! And you still have the nerve to make demands?"

Lin Xiaoxiao finally understood. Feng Juanjuan had come back, still unwilling to accept that her brother had died without receiving any posthumous honor. She was seeking some kind of concession from Zhou Huaian and the unconscious Lin Zihao.

Zhou Huaian's patience had clearly run out. He frowned deeply. "You're a nurse who served at the front. You should know better. Are you trying to lose your job?"

His words seemed to hit a nerve. Feng Juanjuan fell silent instantly. She couldn't afford to lose her position. Returning to the city and working at the First Municipal Hospital was her ticket to a comfortable future. Her agitation over her brother was partly driven by her parents' grief, and she had thought Zhou Huaian and Lin Zihao, seeming like reasonable men, might listen. She hadn't expected Zhou Huaian to dismiss her so bluntly.

Frustrated and angry, Feng Juanjuan wiped her face one last time and ran off.

Zhou Xiaoling called after her, "Hey! Don't run away! Come back here! Let's have this out! Are you going to come bothering us again?"

Lin Xiaoxiao knew Zhou Huaian dealt with such matters directly and by the book. He had no patience for comforting people or offering lengthy explanations. Still, the degree of his irritation surprised her. She guessed it was tied to his worry over Lin Zihao.

After Feng Juanjuan left, she turned to Zhou Xiaoling. "When did you get here?"

Zhou Xiaoling's expression instantly turned sorrowful. "Just a little while ago. I ran into that woman crying in front of my brother. I heard the reason... so Lin Zihao got hurt because of that? If it had happened in battle, there'd be some honor in it. But like this... what does it even mean?" What angered her most was that they had all been so close to coming home safely, only for a mistake at the last moment to cause this.

Lin Xiaoxiao then asked Zhou Huaian, "How is Lin Zihao now? Did you eat lunch?"

Zhou Huaian shook his head. "Not yet. You should go back with Xiaoling first. I'll come home later. The doctors think he might wake up tonight." The unspoken words hung heavy: if he didn't wake tonight, he might never wake again.

Zhou Xiaoling refused to leave. "No, Big Brother, you go back with my sister-in-law. The children will want to see you."

Zhou Huaian started to dismiss the idea, but Lin Xiaoxiao gently pulled his arm. "It's fine if Xiaoling stays. You didn't rest well last night. Go home, get some proper rest and food, then you can come back tonight to relieve her."

Zhou Xiaoling nodded eagerly. "Yes! You and Sis go back. You can come swap with me tonight."

Zhou Huaian thought for a moment and didn't refuse. He did want to see the children. Leaving the hospital with Lin Xiaoxiao, they wordlessly chose to walk home.

Sensing his low spirits, Lin Xiaoxiao kept up a stream of chatter—her impressions of Beijing, things that happened at school, the friend she'd made, Mu Xiaowan. Finally, she suddenly tugged Zhou Huaian to a stop, stepping in front of him and looking up into his face. "Zhou Changsuo, I know you're a man who values loyalty. I know you're deeply worried about Lin Zihao. I think he'd be very happy to know that."

Zhou Huaian looked down at her. "Lin Zihao helped me a great deal. Without him, I wouldn't be where I am today."

Lin Xiaoxiao nodded seriously. "I know. So I believe he must be glad that you care so much. And remember, things can always turn around. There's hope until the very last moment." She then smiled, her eyes crinkling. "Changsuo, if I ever became... impaired, would you take care of me patiently?"

Zhou Huaian's face darkened. "Don't talk nonsense. Let's go home." He refused to even entertain such a hypothetical.

Lin Xiaoxiao smiled apologetically. "It was just a 'what if.' It makes me sad to see you so sad. My biggest wish now is just for you and the children to be safe and well."

Zhou Huaian paused, then reached out to adjust her scarf, tucking it more snugly around her face and ears. "Alright. Let's go home now."

When they arrived, they found all three children in tears. An'an was sobbing in Li Yunlan's arms. Qianqian was crying as Zhou Liyun held him. Only Xuanxuan was on the floor, reaching his little hands toward Li Yunlan and wailing, his face wet with pathetic tears.

The moment the three little ones saw Zhou Huaian and Lin Xiaoxiao enter, they turned their heads and cried even louder. An'an reached for her mother. Xuanxuan immediately started crawling toward Lin Xiaoxiao, weeping miserably as he moved, as if he'd suffered the greatest injustice.

Lin Xiaoxiao crouched down to meet her crawling son. "What's all this? Why is everyone crying?"

Li Yunlan sighed in exasperation. "Your aunt and I just went to the kitchen to make their milk. We were only gone a minute! Xuanxuan bit Qianqian's finger. Look how deep the mark is! A little more force and he might have bitten it right through!" She felt for Xuanxuan, but they couldn't ignore his bullying tendencies, or he'd only grow worse.

Lin Xiaoxiao was baffled. She helped Xuanxuan stand and pointed at Qianqian. "Xuanxuan, why did you bite your brother?"

Xuanxuan just pouted and cried, burrowing into his mother's arms as if he were the victim.

As Lin Xiaoxiao had Zhou Huaian help her off with her coat so she could hold Xuanxuan, patting his back lest he cry himself sick, Zhou Huaan took off his own overcoat and picked up An'an with one arm and Qianqian with the other.

As if a switch had been flipped, the three children stopped crying instantly, nuzzling into their parents' chests and making little complaining sounds, narrating their woes.

Li Yunlan looked worried. "They can't even walk properly yet, and these two brothers are already fighting! What will it be like when they can run around? And this Xuanxuan, he only bullies Qianqian! He never bothers An'an, and he didn't pick on Duoduo when he was here either. Why single out Qianqian?"

Zhou Liyun, leaning toward superstition, suggested, "Maybe we should have someone take a look? Could their eight characters be incompatible?"

Li Yunlan was taken aback. "Incompatible? They were born barely seven or eight minutes apart! Their birth charts are practically identical! How could they be incompatible?"

Zhou Liyun, remembering the housekeeper's story about the fortune-teller at the White Cloud Temple who could see past lives, made a proposal. "Xiaoxiao, you and Huaian should take the children to have their fortune told. See if there's a way to resolve this. We can't just let these two little boys fight their whole lives."