Today’s update ends here, more to come tomorrow, and a lot more the day after tomorrow, don’t forget to check it out~

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"You..." Lan Ailian sighed wistfully, glaring at her daughter with dissatisfaction, "You’ve caused such a fuss, and you’re asking how I came to understand, why was I reluctant before? Isn’t it because I was worried that your future life wouldn’t be easy? If I continued to stop you, you wouldn’t have to wait for the future; your life wouldn’t be easy right now, so why stop you further?

You just don’t understand a mother’s feelings. Never mind, I won’t talk to you about this anymore. When you have children in the future and have conflicts with them, you’ll understand exactly how a mother feels."

"Of course, I know mom is doing this for my own good. If I didn’t understand this much, wouldn’t that make me a fool..." Hugging Lan Ailian, Yun Doudou smiled ingratiatingly, "Mom, I’ll go home with you."

"You should go home with mom. Guoguo is worrying himself sick at home. He didn’t sleep at all last night. You, child, sigh..." Lan Ailian mused, bidding farewell to everyone again.

Everyone accompanied the mother and daughter to the door, just in time to bump into Zhou Hanliang getting out of the car. He was momentarily stunned, squeezed out an awkward smile, greeted everyone, and then stood there stiffly. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

"Why are you here?" Yun Doudou asked.

"The Division Commander left a document at home. I’m here to retrieve it," Zhou Hanliang said as he looked towards Chuxia, "Sister-in-law, the Division Commander mentioned it’s on the cabinet at the head of the bed in your bedroom..."

"Oh, oh, oh, I’ve seen it..." Chuxia turned and headed back, "I’ll go get it for you."

Luo Xiaoqiong pulled her back: "You stay put here, I’ll go get it."

"Alright, you go," Chuxia obediently stopped, smiled at Zhou Hanliang, "Xiaoqiong slept with me last night, she knows where it is too."

Zhou Hanliang quickly said, "Thanks, sister-in-law."

"What’s with the gratitude..." Chuxia complained lightly, then turned to ask, "You have work to attend to this afternoon, right?"

"Yes, with the Division Commander not here, it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to be absent as well," Zhou Hanliang apologetically smiled at Lan Ailian, "Mom, I can’t help much at home either. I’m really sorry."

"There’s nothing much to busy ourselves with at home. Doudou and I will just call and inform the relatives once we get back. Go ahead and focus on your work. Don’t worry about us."

Lan Ailian’s attitude, completely different from before, left Zhou Hanliang startled. He looked at Yun Doudou with some puzzlement, and she sweetly smiled at him, "Mom has already forgiven my impulsiveness, rest assured, the wedding will be especially perfect."

"Re... Really?" Zhou Hanliang looked at Lan Ailian in disbelief, "Mom... Mom, do you... You truly want us to get married from the bottom of your heart now?"

"Yes," Lan Ailian smiled as she patted his shoulder, "But could I trouble you to give us a lift home..." She looked at Old Madam Zhou, "Aunt Zhou, let’s not bother the driver from home to make a trip just for this, it’s on the way anyway and won’t waste time."

"Sure." Old Madam Zhou readily agreed—keeping their family together to strengthen their emotional ties and discuss some matters was a win-win situation. How could she be so oblivious?

At this moment, Luo Xiaoqiong returned, handed over the folder, and Zhou Hanliang drove off with Lan Ailian and Yun Doudou.

"Now I can finally relax..." Returning to the hall, Luo Xiaoqiong let out a long breath, "I’ve been worried about things being awkward on the wedding day, now I finally don’t have to keep the tension bottled up."

"You... Ah!" Chuxia extended her hand, which accidentally collided with the cup Little Jing brought over, spilling slightly hot water all over her arm...

"I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Third Young Madam, I’m sorry..." Little Jing frantically helped wipe her arm while apologizing, Zhao Yulan hurried over, grabbing Chuxia’s arm, inspecting it anxiously, "Is it badly scalded? Can you roll up your sleeve?"

"It’s okay, it’s okay..." Seeing the others gather around, Chuxia quickly explained, "It’s actually not that hot, just unexpected, and it gave me a scare when it spilled on me. Let me go change clothes, and it’ll be fine."

"Third Young Madam, I... I’m sorry..." Little Jing’s face turned pale as she apologized to Chuxia, yet her eyes were pleadingly directed at Old Madam Zhou...

This wasn’t her first mistake. She knew how much the old lady treasured this granddaughter-in-law. Just because she hadn’t punished her before doesn’t mean she won’t this time, and now, she was genuinely panic-stricken.

The clothes were wet and sticking to her body, which was really uncomfortable, so Chuxia returned to her room first. When she came out after changing, she saw Little Jing kneeling at her door. As soon as she saw her, she immediately lowered her head, "Third Young Madam, please forgive me. I don’t want to leave this family. I never want to get married. I want to stay here and take good care of everyone in the family. Third Young Madam, I’m begging you..."

"What... what’s going on?" Chuxia was perplexed looking at her. She hadn’t said anything harsh or given her any instructions. Did it warrant this kind of fear? Or was it Old Madam Zhou?

Just as this thought arose, Little Jing confirmed it for her: "The Old Madam told... told me to go back to my room and rest, Third Young Madam, I... I didn’t mean to, really..."

"I know you didn’t mean to..." Chuxia frowned and looked at her, "But what’s the deal with kneeling at my door? Grandma told you to rest because she was worried you’d be too frazzled and make another mistake, she didn’t say you had to leave. What are you anxious about?"

"I... I..." Little Jing couldn’t find the words. Indeed, the Old Madam hadn’t said she couldn’t work here anymore, but upon hearing those words, her conditioned reflex was to think she had to wait in her room until they found a replacement for her.

Because of the broken marriage arrangement, she had already become a laughingstock. If she were sent elsewhere, what face would she have left to show everyone?

Seeing her tormented and pitiful expression, Chuxia sighed, "Stop imagining things, go back and get some good rest. We’ll talk about it later, okay?"

"Thank you, Third Young Madam." Little Jing stood up and obediently went back to her room.

"Grandma, what does this mean?" Chuxia went downstairs puzzled, looking at Old Madam Zhou, "You let her kneel, is this a test for me or for her?"

"If I stopped her, she’d feel even more insecure, sigh..." Old Madam Zhou sighed, "She has made too many mistakes lately. I can’t act as if nothing has happened. If everyone behaved like this, wouldn’t it be chaos?"

Chuxia suddenly understood. Certainly, this was all for show, both to establish her authority in this family. She believed that even if she had proposed a solution earlier, the Old Madam would have agreed readily.

After this morning’s fuss, she indeed felt a bit fatigued. After chatting briefly with the elders, Chuxia took Luo Xiaoqiong back to her room for a rest. When they were called up to have lunch, Lin Wenbin was already sitting in the hall.

Chuxia was unperturbed, but Luo Xiaoqiong felt embarrassed, awkwardly smiling and unsure what to say. She had intended just to lie down with Chuxia for a while, but she unexpectedly fell asleep, which was quite humiliating!

Seeing Luo Xiaoqiong’s face flushed red, Chuxia smiled and reassured her, "Don’t worry, I was the one who pulled you into a nap. No one will laugh at you."

"This child, what’s wrong with that..." Lin Yanqiu stepped forward, pulling them close from both sides, "When I was your age, I loved sleeping in. People used to say those who love sleeping in have good hearts, so it’s actually a good thing."

Chuxia was puzzled by this nonsense, but since her mother-in-law was comforting Luo Xiaoqiong for her sake, she supported her and said, "Mom is right. Only those with good hearts can afford to sleep in, it’s a virtue worth boasting about."

"..." Luo Xiaoqiong was even more unsure what to say now, but fortunately, Old Madam Zhou quickly changed the subject, drawing everyone’s attention and saving her from embarrassment.

...

"Mom, did you all... did you move the whole house here?" Seeing her mother unload one large package after another from the car, Luo Xiaoqiong was shocked and glanced at her father-in-law and mother-in-law, another pile like a small hill...

"Since they’ve already assigned you a house, your mother-in-law and I brought over everything you might need right now. We didn’t have time to make quilts, so we brought the cotton and quilt covers. We guarantee to make them for you tonight.

Your mother-in-law wanted to rush making your wedding dress last night, but I stopped her. You two are military people. You should just wear your uniforms, right?"

"Yes." Luo Xiaoqiong agreed while reaching to rummage through the heap her mother had piled up, finding pots, bowls, clotheslines, hangers — everything was truly complete...

Fat Auntie nudged her daughter, "Your mother-in-law’s packed clothes and food. Go over and check, don’t just hang around here. You’re soon going to be the daughter-in-law of Zhao’s house, you should be more aware. No matter how good they are to you, you shouldn’t be like a fool staring blankly."

"Didn’t I just greet them?" Luo Xiaoqiong was left speechless. Chuxia was already over there, so she had intentionally come here to accompany her mother. She didn’t want her to feel like her daughter wasn’t close anymore, uncomfortable in her heart. But unexpectedly, her mother accepted this so easily, starting to push her toward the husband’s family...

In front of another car, Chuxia watched Li Aiyuan and Zhao Yushan unload one item after another, likewise speechless. Her uncle and aunt knew her situation here, so why did they bring even every needle and thread?

"Chuxia, whatever you have there is yours, besides, it’s your husband’s family. Uncle and Aunt can’t be so impolite, it feels more secure bringing what you might use by yourselves..." Li Aiyuan smiled and rubbed Chuxia’s head, "I guess now if you went over there, your in-laws wouldn’t be happy, right?"(To be continued. If you like this work, please visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for it, your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)