Chapter 39: Zhang Tingyuan Says He’s Recovered

Li Yurong originally cooked poorly, but under Lin Bingwei’s influence, she began to pay attention to the texture of the food.

For dinner, she made two dishes that tasted quite good.

During the meal, Li Yurong paid special attention to Zhang Jianguo, carefully coaxing him to eat more and serving him food.

She watched Zhang Jianguo the entire time, hardly eating a few bites herself.

As she was feeding him, she started rubbing her eyes again.

Lin Bingwei and Zhang Tingyuan exchanged glances.

Zhang Jianguo was a sensitive child. Seeing his grandmother crying, he tugged at her sleeve and said, “Grandma, I won’t leave.”

Li Yurong, who had been holding back her tears, couldn’t hold it in any longer and burst into tears.

“Okay, okay, my Jianguo isn’t leaving.”

Zhang Tingyuan said, “Mom, didn’t we say that if she dares to come and take Jianguo, we’ll accuse her of stealing money?”

Li Yurong wiped her tears and said, “That’s easy to say, but she is Jianguo’s real mother. Can we really send her to prison? What if Jianguo wants to join the army in the future?”

She remembered that when her younger son wanted to join the army, he had to go through a political review.

If his real mother ended up in prison, he wouldn’t be able to join the army, let alone many other jobs.

Zhang Tingyuan was at a loss for words, thinking for a moment before replying, “If he doesn’t join the army, Dad said he should stay home and become a Taoist priest.”

“Pah, don’t listen to him. People in the city don’t do that anymore; I doubt he could keep that up for a few more years.”

Lin Bingwei said, “Mom, I don’t think she really wants Jianguo’s custody; she just wants an excuse to pester you…”

She glanced at Zhang Tingyuan.

Zhang Tingyuan felt overwhelmed, as if a disaster had suddenly struck him.

The doctor had just said they could be intimate again, and he had been thinking all day about having a good time with his wife tonight, but then Zhou Shufen suddenly showed up.

Wouldn’t his wife be influenced by Zhou Shufen’s shameless words?

Would she still want to get into bed with him tonight?

The more he thought about it, the more anxious he became.

“Weiwei, I’m so wronged; don’t look at me like that.”

Lin Bingwei calmly said, “I’m just saying the problem lies with you. If I’m guessing correctly, she didn’t come back for Jianguo; she came back for you.”

It wasn’t a guess; it was a certainty.

In the original story, Zhang Tingyuan died, and if Zhou Shufen wanted her son, she could have taken him at any time.

At that time, the Zhang family was already in disarray—sick and broken, with no one able to stop her from taking Zhang Jianguo. Yet she had never come.

Li Yurong held Zhang Jianguo and looked at Zhang Tingyuan.

Lin Bingwei also looked at Zhang Tingyuan.

Zhang Tingyuan felt as if he had been hit by a sudden misfortune, unable to explain himself, as if an inexplicable burden had fallen upon him.

“Weiwei, what should we do?”

Lin Bingwei looked at him meaningfully, making him feel uneasy, but she didn’t say anything.

Zhang Tingyuan urgently said, “Should I go beat her up? I’ve never hit a woman, but for you, I might make an exception.”

Lin Bingwei shot him a glare, “What are you thinking? No matter what, she is your brother’s wife and Jianguo’s biological mother. Unless absolutely necessary, there’s no need to make things too tough.”

She didn’t know much about Zhou Shufen either; in the original story, she didn’t even have a proper name, just a line mentioning that she abandoned her three-month-old son and stole money from the house.

So Lin Bingwei couldn’t predict how far Zhou Shufen would go.

Zhou Shufen’s disturbance was affecting their plans for the evening.

The two of them lay in bed talking for quite a while, with Lin Bingwei continuously asking about Zhou Shufen. She wanted to know more to better deal with the upcoming troubles.

But Zhang Tingyuan thought she was concerned about Zhou Shufen’s crazy remarks, so he earnestly explained everything to her.

By the time they finished talking, it was already ten o’clock, and they

“Mm?”

And then… she came?

It felt different from the night of their wedding; it turned out it could be like this.

Afterwards, Zhang Tingyuan said, “Why didn’t you say earlier that you could come.”

Exhausted, Lin Bingwei replied, “…”

“You didn’t ask either.”

Did I have to ask?

“Then why didn’t you move on our wedding night?”

This… bringing up that night again?

Did he not feel embarrassed at all?

Lin Bingwei had a mischievous thought and wanted to scare him.

“Actually, I was really scared that night. I fainted from nervousness; didn’t you notice?”

Upon hearing this, Zhang Tingyuan shot up, staring at her in shock.

Lin Bingwei blinked and asked, “What’s wrong? You don’t believe me?”

The memory of that night gradually returned to Zhang Tingyuan’s mind.

In fact, he hadn’t focused much on her that night; his mind was filled with what the postal bureau staff had said, and he just completed the task as if it were a mission.

But when he had to leave in the morning, he felt guilty, thinking he had let her down.

However, thinking about the tasks in his unit, he quickly buried that guilt.

Now that he thought about it, she really hadn’t moved all night, so… she really did faint?

“I really deserve to die.” He slapped himself hard, and in the quiet night, the sound of the slap was particularly loud.

Lin Bingwei propped herself up and asked, “What are you doing?”

Zhang Tingyuan tightly hugged her, resting his chin on her smooth shoulder, and murmured, “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you fainted. Thankfully, you’re okay; otherwise, I would really deserve to die.”

This… his guilt made Lin Bingwei feel a bit embarrassed.

She hugged him back and said, “Stop mentioning dying; you’re not allowed to die. I still want to live a good life with you.”

“Mm, we’re both doing well. Weiwei, I really like you.”

It was rare to hear such words come from him.

Lin Bingwei playfully bit his shoulder, not too hard, but it was a little painful and tingly, stirring her emotions.

“Weiwei, you’re teasing me again.”

Lin Bingwei realized something and yawned, “Oh, I’m so sleepy; let’s go to sleep.”

After saying that, she lay down, leaving her back to him.

He managed to suppress his feelings and hugged her from behind.

…

The next morning, Lin Bingwei had a rosy glow on her face, like the peach tree in the yard just starting to bloom.

Li Yurong had heard the sounds from their room last night when she went to the bathroom. Thinking about it, it had been three months, and her son’s injury must have healed quite a bit.

That’s good; they finally seemed like a couple.

She hadn’t forgotten when her son had just returned; they used to sleep under two blankets, and she prepared two hot water bottles for them every night.

Later, seeing the rattan couch in the room, she worried they might still want to sleep separately.

That made her anxious.

Now it was good; she felt reassured.

“Weiwei, when you came back from the hospital yesterday, I forgot to ask you, is Tingyuan’s injury healed?”

Lin Bingwei, who was doing laundry, was momentarily distracted and quickly replied, “Yes, the doctor said he’s young and heals quickly; his bones have mostly healed. But the fixed steel pins haven’t been removed yet, so he still can’t do intense exercise this year.”

“I see.” Li Yurong was troubled and thought for a moment before asking Zhang Tingyuan.

“Tingyuan, how long did the military give you leave?”

Zhang Tingyuan said, “They’ve temporarily granted me more than three months, a hundred days, but the leader said the exact time depends on my recovery. After yesterday’s re-examination, the hospital sent my report, so when I return to the unit is still uncertain; we’ll have to wait and see.”

Li Yurong said, “I just asked Weiwei; she said you can’t do intense exercise this year, right?”

“Yeah, I can’t do high-intensity training like before.”

Li Yurong said happily, “So does that mean you can stay at home for a year?”

Zhang Tingyuan laughed, “Mom, I can’t do high-intensity training, but I can do some light work. Before I came back, I heard from my superiors that I would be transferred to a clerical position.”

Li Yurong became conflicted, sighing with a frown.

Li Yurong became troubled, sighing heavily.

“Tingyuan, you are the pillar of our family; you can’t fall.”

Zhang Tingyuan laughed, “Mom, you always think too much. You’re fine; I definitely won’t fall.”

“Then…” Li Yurong hesitated to speak.

She had a very scary nightmare that she didn’t tell anyone.

Thinking that her son might have to return to the army, she felt very uneasy