"Humph, heās just getting more and more muddle-headed with age. People whoāve messed things up always remain in a state of confusion. Even with someone showing up at the door, he stubbornly refuses to admit anything. Just listen to how people in the compound are talking these days; who doesnāt know about this matter? Whatās there to hide anymore?"
"Grandpa is probably quite frustrated too, thinking he would have a glorious departure, but now heās ended up with nothing but disgrace."
"Alright, alright, my unit has a ton of issues to deal with, I canāt be bothered with this, hurry up and go get some sleep."
"Fine, fine, I wonāt be an eyesore for you," Mei Lang Jun said, striding out of the study.
On his way upstairs, he ran into Liang Qian who had just arranged for Chen Haichang to come down. Seeing her son, she quickly instructed, "Junzi, find one of your extra pajamas for... your third uncle and send it over."
"Got it, Mom."
Liang Qian watched her sonās back with a sigh, then went downstairs.
Suddenly having a brother-in-law about the same age as her son at home, sigh, what kind of situation is this?
It makes her afraid to even go out for a walk. When people in the compound see her, they ask, "Whoās that person in your family?"
She finds it awkward to answer, yet awkward not to.
If it werenāt for Old Mrs. Meiās incident, she really would want to go to Z City with Xiao Wan and the others for a few months.
When she got to bed, Liang Qian directly pulled up the just-lying-down Mei Shuqing.
"Whatās up? Itās so late, why arenāt you sleeping? Iām not in the mood today."
"Mood my foot, Iām asking you, have you been doing anything outside?" Liang Qian pinched Mei Shuqingās face interrogatively.
"Doing what?" Mei Shuqing thought to himself, speaking of the devil.
"What do you think? Look at what your dad and your elder brother have done, how can anyone feel at ease? Mei Shuqing, since I followed you at twenty, Iāve had my share of hard days, and itās only been these last few years that things got better. Donāt pull a stunt like your dad and brother, bringing home some woman or kid."
"You always think about such nonsense. All these years and you still donāt understand me? Am I that type of person? Moreover, as a soldier, I would never make such a mistake. Rest assured on that, donāt turn wind into storm."
"Really nothing?"
"Really nothing. Alright, go to sleep, we still have to take care of Mom tomorrow," Mei Shuqing said, pulling Liang Qian to lie down together.
Liang Qian wasnāt that easy to pacify; she sat up, grabbing him, "Then swear it to me."
Mei Shuqing sighed on the bed, helplessly sitting up and swore an oath to Liang Qian.
Only then did Liang Qian lay down at ease.
"In the future, wherever you go for business trips, remember to take me along, donāt just disappear quietly."
"Taking your wife along on business trips? People would laugh."
"Whatās there to laugh at? Itās not like you havenāt taken me before, Iām just preventing potential disaster, so you donāt end up embarrassing yourself like Old Mei. If youāre not embarrassed, fine, but Junzi and I canāt afford that disgrace... hmm..."
Women, itās only when theyāre under you that they can quiet down a bit.
.....
The next day, the weather was overcast.
Before dawn, Han Yi and his family of three went out in their car without even having breakfast.
Because Han Yi wanted to take them to watch the flag-raising ceremony. When Ye Qing got up, she didnāt see Han Yi around, she wanted to ask Aunt Wu in the kitchen, but she was afraid Mei Langchi would get suspicious, so she dared not speak up.
After breakfast, the family headed to the hospital.
Mei Shuping and his wife had been taking care of things there all night, and early in the morning, when Langchi and the second oneās couple arrived, they returned home to catch up on sleep.
Old Mrs. Mei was the same as ever, dazed and still in a state of confusion.
Her foot was injured and couldnāt move, and although they got tired of carrying chamber pots all night, it was mainly nausea that bugged them.
Xie Lingzhi somewhat regretted offering to take care personally, but luckily, Liang Qian came over.
After explaining things to Liang Qian, Xie Lingzhi and her spouse went home. Mei Langchi wanted to stay and watch over Grandma, but she was still not fully aware, so staying there was pointless.
So he took Ye Qing and went back together with their parents.
As for today, Chen Haichang didnāt show up again. Early in the morning, he left, and nobody knew where he went.
.....
Han Yi, holding a camera, spent the morning with his wife and daughter at Tiananmen. His wife and daughter werenāt satisfied, determined to climb the Great Wall.
Han Yi feared Lin Wan might not be able to handle it, but since the weather was refreshingly cool, he still took them there, and after playing for a bit and taking some photos, they returned.
"Actually, the other day when I went out, I spotted a piece of land. I wanted to buy it, but the village chiefās asking price was somewhat outrageous. Initially, I wanted you and Junzi to check it out," Lin Wan said on the way back. "Sigh, now this situation has come up."
"No worries, tomorrow Iāll go check it out with you."
"Hmm, that would be good. But we didnāt visit Old Mrs. Mei today, if we donāt go again tomorrow, will people talk? Sometimes, even if you hate it, you have to put on a show to avoid unnecessary gossip."
"Donāt mind them. The most weāll stay here is two days."
... "When has the Mei family ever produced such unfilial descendants? With their grandmother sick, they show no reaction, and still have the mind to go out and play?"
Han Yi and Lin Wan just entered and heard Xie Lingzhi grumbling in the living room. The unfilial descendants she mentioned were indeed them.
"Itās truly not as filial as Aunt Xie, isnāt that better? Instead of being around and having you say weāre putting on a show, we are well aware and donāt intend to compete for credit with Aunt Xie," Han Yi said coldly as he supported Lin Wan inside.
He wasnāt the least bit polite.
At this moment, it was just her in the living room. Mr. Mei had locked himself in his room for the entire day without coming out.
Mei Langchi was upstairs changing clothes, preparing to go with Xie Lingzhi to take care of Old Mrs. Mei.
Since Mei Shuping was on duty during the day, he couldnāt afford to stay up at night.
Xie Lingzhi regretted not thinking of having Liang Qian watch at night, she ended up taking a not-so-worthwhile job.
Han Yi didnāt want to argue with her, his wife and child were tired from the day and needed to go upstairs to rest.
Xie Lingzhi, having no energy to argue now, took the soup she made for Old Mrs. Mei and went to the hospital.
At this moment, the house only had Mr. Mei and Aunt Wu on the first floor, Ye Qing and the kids on the second, and Han Yiās family on the third.
Ye Qing stood by the second-floor window, watching as Mei Langchiās car gradually faded into the distance. Her eyes flashed grimly.
Little Star sprawled on the bed and fell asleep as soon as she went up; Lin Wan, after a day of running, was also exhausted.
The family shut the door and enjoyed a comfortable nap for more than two hours. By the time they were up, it was already past eight.
At this hour, the family members were likely asleep.
The three tip-toed downstairs to the kitchen to check if there was anything to eat.
Aunt Wu, aware that they hadnāt eaten, purposely left some food for them.
"You guys wait at the dining table, Iāll just heat it up quickly."
"Iāll do it." Consistently letting Han Yi take care of her and the daughter, Lin Wan felt a bit of heartache.
"Be good," Han Yi didnāt listen to her, gently kissed her forehead and pushed them outside.
Little Star giggled below, covering her eyes with laughter.
Lin Wan quickly turned to check, scared that someone might have seen, finally gave Han Yi a glance before pulling her daughter out of the kitchen. Little did they know, the scene had already been caught by Ye Qing hiding on the second floor.
At this moment, she was looking down with a grim face and a vicious gaze at her, and beside her, Hua Hua, upon witnessing his mother like this for the first time, was trembling, standing there utterly still, fearing his mother would vent her anger on him.
He was afraid of this kind of mother.
Han Yi swiftly heated the food, just as he was carrying the tray from the kitchen to the dining table, a shadow flashed by so quickly that even Han Yi didnāt have time to dodge, resulting in the food in his hands crashing to the floor.
The clatter of dishes and bowls breaking on the ground startled everyone in the Mei household.
By the time Han Yi found his footing, Lin Wan and Little Star realized that the person was actually Chen Haichang.