Rebirth in the 50s: The Couple with the Hidden Space-Chapter 636 - 513: Thoughtful Little Sweetheart

The sun was already high in the sky, but there was still no movement from the East Wing. Aunt Chen gave up on getting the young couple up for breakfast, picked up her bag, left the yard, and locked the door.

In the bedroom, Zhang Guoqing was sleeping soundly, his arms tightly wrapped around Zhou Jiao under the quilt, his legs entangled with hers, occasionally mumbling indistinct words.

Zhou Jiao slowly opened her eyes, unable to stretch her tightly bound legs. She smiled helplessly—this man had a domineering streak in his bones.

Resisting the soreness and numbness in her body, she lay motionlessly in his embrace. It was a rare good weather day, with sunlight filtering through the curtains. Zhou Jiao half-squinted, considering whether to wake him up.

"Sweet... hehe... flower..."

Hearing this, Zhou Jiao blushed with embarrassment, losing her sense of compassion. She extended a hand and slapped his forehead with a "smack."

Zhang Guoqing was startled awake, tightened his hold on her again, and gently patted her back. "Be good, you were exhausted last night, go back to sleep."

"Your son is calling for you."

Zhang Guoqing lowered his head to kiss her. "Don’t fuss, go back to sleep."

"I have poor circulation, my legs are numb. I can’t sleep, I want to get up."

Zhang Guoqing grabbed her leg and placed it on his waist, gently massaging it. "Why get up? Stay and lie with me, let’s chat. Wouldn’t it be great if every day were like this?"

"It’s good for you, not for me."

"Such a contrary woman. Last night you were..."

Zhou Jiao quickly covered his mouth, glaring at him. "If you say another word, you’ll be sleeping in the study tonight."

"You’ve got some nerve, using that trick again. Do you think you can get away with making your man sleep alone?"

Under the quilt, there was a lively disturbance...

This man succeeded again, making Zhou Jiao so angry she pinched him. "You did it on purpose!"

Zhang Guoqing grinned smugly and sealed her lips with his own.

Hmm, his wife is really clever.

...

Zhou Jiao woke up again, finding herself alone in the room. She furiously hammered the quilt. Next time she would definitely use a sedative to knock him out.

She picked up the neatly folded clothes on the side and got dressed. After washing up, Zhou Jiao took a bun out from her space to ease her rumbling stomach.

She listened carefully, but there was no sound in the yard. After hesitating for a while, Zhou Jiao left the room.

"Your dad definitely can’t make it back, and I don’t know how Jiao Jiao will decide. I really don’t feel like going to the ritual."

The moment Zhou Jiao entered the living room, she heard this sentence. She paused, "Grandma Zhou passed away?"

Lin Lishan instinctively observed her expression, feeling a sense of defeat inside. Why did both father and daughter have such a calm look? What does this mean—going or not going?

Zhang Guoqing stood up and pulled her to sit, "You must be starving. You talk to Mom, I’ll go to the kitchen and bring something over."

Zhou Jiao nodded, "Just a little."

Zhang Guoqing nodded understandingly.

"We received an urgent telegram from the Old Zhou Family this afternoon, saying that Mrs. Zhou passed away in the middle of the night." Lin Lishan handed her the telegram.

Zhou Jiao unfolded it and checked the dates. She passed away two days ago. It looks like the Old Zhou Family hesitated for a long time about informing her. Thinking about how Mrs. Zhou had passed just like that left her lost in thought.

"Jiao Jiao, do you want to go back?"

Zhou Jiao shook her head, "Once a person is gone, everything else becomes meaningless. Why go back? On what grounds? It’s also good that she’s gone, I hope Mrs. Zhou can find a good next life soon."

Lin Lishan asked unsurely, "Really not going back? You know if you leave now, you can still make it for the burial. If you delay, it will be too late for the interment."

Zhou Jiao shook her head again. For her, she hadn’t even visited Mrs. Zhou when she last went to see "Uncle" Zhou Xiaocun, which indicated that their fate was over.

"I’m so conflicted about whether to go or not. It’s hard either way. Your great-aunt is also advanced in age, and discussing it with her isn’t easy."

Zhou Jiao patted her hand, "The person is gone, who are we showing respect to if we visit? Mrs. Zhou didn’t want us to go see her; otherwise, she would have eagerly wanted to see my dad before she passed. My dad was her surrogate for her early-deceased son, and when that dream of her ’dear old son’ was shattered, he wasn’t dear to her anymore."

"Your dad doesn’t know what to think. He says he can’t leave, and will visit for memorials when he goes back to the hometown later. Do you think he’ll be sad?"

"Of course, he’ll be sad. After all, she raised him and played the role of a mother for many years. Even if she didn’t fulfill her responsibilities, there’s still an emotional bond. However, my dad thinks like me—when a person is gone, it’s over. Moreover, what status would we have if we went? Let him wear mourning attire as the Old Zhou Family’s old son? A joke!"

"That’s quite true."

"So, let’s not discuss this in front of my dad anymore. When his own parents passed, he didn’t wear mourning clothes, don’t poke his wound. Besides, just for Mrs. Zhou hiding my dad’s background, preventing my grandparents from seeing their son for decades, I’m not happy either. Let’s drop this topic, I don’t want to talk about them anymore."

Zhang Guoqing stopped Aunt Chen, personally prepared a bowl of noodles. When he brought it over, he saw that Zhou Jiao and her mother had already changed the subject to other topics.

"Eat something first."

"Xiao Wu, Jiao Jiao decided not to go back."

Zhang Guoqing, unsurprised, nodded to show he understood. Knowing his wife’s character, going back would be odd. It was because he understood her well that he didn’t wake Zhou Jiao up when he received the telegram.

Once Zhou Jiao finished the noodles, she looked at the time and stood up. "I’ll go pick up my dad from work first. Ping’an is in your care." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Zhang Guoqing laughed, "Go ahead, little cotton-padded jacket, beloved daughter. I’ll pick up our son. Mom will wait for us to come back at home."

"What beloved cotton-padded jacket? She hasn’t even come to pick me up from work."

Zhou Jiao chuckled merrily, teasing, "Mom, are you jealous?"

"Yes... Go pick up your dad. He’ll be overjoyed. He loves showing you off."

Zhang Guoqing took down the coats for the two women, chuckling, "Mom, we won’t envy their father-daughter bond. We’ll go pick up Ping’an and show off too."

"Right, we mother and daughter will go for a walk too."

The three of them walked to the fork in the road. Zhou Jiao waved goodbye to them and turned to head toward Zhou Xiaozheng’s workplace.

Zhou Jiao had been there once before and had some impression of the place. Standing at the main gate, she inquired with the guard and found out her dad hadn’t gone out. She didn’t plan to go inside either.

Checking the time, she declined the offer to notify him, and stationed herself at a discreet spot away from the main entrance, occasionally glancing toward the gate.

After a few minutes, Zhou Xiaozheng and a few others finished work and walked out. The guard pointed out where Zhou Jiao was standing.

Zhou Jiao saw them, delightfully bouncing and jumping toward Zhou Xiaozheng.

"Slow down. Why not come inside in this cold weather?"

"I just got here and didn’t want to disturb you since you’re about to finish work." Zhou Jiao finished her sentence and turned to the few soldiers accompanying him with a smile. "Uncles, it’s been a while. Why haven’t you come to visit our house?"

A swarthy man with a loud voice said, "Old Zhou, look at your daughter, she’s so good, inviting us over like this. What about you?"

Beside him, a middle-aged man wearing glasses chuckled and asked, "Xiao Wu, have you been out hunting with those kids recently?"

Zhou Jiao immediately understood; he was craving game meat. She pretended to whisper, "Uncle, we don’t need Xiao Wu, someone just came from our hometown with a lot of meat. How about a drink?"

"Really? That’s great. We’ll come over tonight. Girl, you must cook for us yourself."

"No problem. Let me tell you, my uncle Si Jin has a bottle of fine wine given by Chairman. Don’t say I snitched, though. He cherishes it like a precious gem, you know..." After finishing, she even winked at them.

Everyone burst out laughing at her antics.

Zhou Xiaozheng affectionately watched his daughter from the side. If his daughter set her mind on cultivating relationships, her tactics would be no less than her son-in-law’s.