Chapter 23: Not Even Listening—Who’s Your Wife?

“Yeah, arrest her!”

Bihua was so frightened that she didn’t care about saving face anymore—she turned around and ran for her life.

Li Yurong realized the villagers had misunderstood and quickly explained that Zhang Tingyuan was fine. His injuries weren’t severe; he just needed some time to recuperate. Once he recovered, he would return to the army, so everyone should stop spreading rumors.

Inside the house, Lin Bingwei helped Zhang Tingyuan onto the bed. Seeing his tense expression, she knew he was enduring the pain.

She huffed, “Serves you right.”

Zhang Tingyuan looked hurt. “Wife…”

“You don’t even listen—who’s your wife?”

Zhang Tingyuan gazed at her with grievance.

Lin Bingwei said, “Your injury isn’t just a minor fracture—it’s completely broken. Do you even understand what that means?”

Zhang Tingyuan nodded.

“Then why are you still getting out of bed? Not even using a crutch? Did you just ignore everything the doctor said?”

“I was worried about you.”

Lin Bingwei pressed her fingers against her temple, at a loss for words.

In the end, she said nothing and simply tucked his blanket in for him.

Just then, Li Yurong came in, rushing over to check on Zhang Tingyuan.

“Tingyuan, why did you get up just now? Didn’t the doctor say you need to stay in bed and rest? He said you should avoid moving around too much, or your bones might shift—isn’t that right?”

She turned to Lin Bingwei.

Lin Bingwei nodded. “Aggravating the fracture could make it worse.”

“Aiya, exactly! Why won’t you listen, you foolish child?”

As she spoke, she reached for his blanket.

Zhang Tingyuan hurriedly held onto it. “Mom, what are you doing?”

“I want to check if it’s gotten worse! If it has, we’ll go to the hospital.”

Li Yurong’s face was pale with fear.

She hadn’t told anyone, but last night she had terrible nightmares—dreams of her son dying, her husband becoming paralyzed, and herself barely clinging to life…

This foolish, reckless boy still dared to ignore his own health!

Zhang Tingyuan sighed helplessly. “Mom, I’m fine. Weiwei already checked.”

Li Yurong looked at Lin Bingwei, who nodded at her. Only then did she finally relax.

“Alright, since Weiwei says you’re fine, I won’t say anything more.”

She chatted for a while longer before heading out.

After she left, Zhang Jianguo hesitantly peeked into the room, half his body leaning inside.

Lin Bingwei walked over. “Jianguo, why are you just standing there? Come in.”

He didn’t say anything—he just kept sneaking glances at the bed, looking both curious and a little afraid.

Lin Bingwei paused. Was he… afraid of Zhang Tingyuan?

Why would he be scared of him?

She suddenly recalled something—one day, she had overheard Granny Li in the village scaring her grandson, saying that if he didn’t behave, the soldiers would come and take him away. The boy had been terrified.

Could that be it?

Thinking back, she remembered being scared like that when she was a child, too.

She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

“Come on, I’ll take you. We’re not afraid of him,” she said, pulling Zhang Jianguo closer and sitting him on her lap.

Over the past three years, Zhang Tingyuan had barely spent any time at home. The children hardly recognized him, and every time he returned, his parents had to reintroduce him.

“Jianguo, I’m your uncle—do you still remember me?”

Zhang Jianguo gave a small nod.

A few months ago, they had met, so this time, Zhang Jianguo actually remembered.

“Oh, right! Jianguo, your uncle brought something good for you. I’ll go get it.”

Lin Bingwei retrieved a box of chocolates, peeled open a piece, and handed it to Zhang Jianguo.

He had never eaten chocolate before—this was his first time.

Feeling a little shy, he even hid in Lin Bingwei’s arms as he ate.

Zhang Tingyuan chuckled. “This kid is scared of me every time he sees me. I don’t even hit him—what’s there to be afraid of? Bring him over so I can take a good look at him.”

Lin Bingwei coaxed Zhang Jianguo gently, encouraging him to move closer to Zhang Tingyuan.

Zhang Tingyuan happily pinched his cheeks. “Come here, let me see if you’ve put on some weight.”

But he had no sense of restraint—he pinched so hard that the poor child’s eyes welled up with tears.

“Huh? Why are you crying?” Zhang Tingyuan was stunned. He let go and even roughly wiped away the boy’s tears.

Hearing that, Lin Bingwei looked down at Zhang Jianguo, only to see him rubbing his flushed cheeks with teary eyes.

“Come, let me see,” she said softly, coaxing him to remove his hands. When she saw his face, her expression darkened instantly. “Zhang Tingyuan, you made his face all red!”

“Huh? I didn’t even use that much force.”

“Huh what? He’s just a little kid—his skin is delicate! Do you think you can just pinch him like that?”

Zhang Tingyuan clicked his tongue. “He’s a boy, but he’s so delicate. A little pinch, and he’s already crying? Just like his father.”

Lin Bingwei: “…”

What’s that supposed to mean?

So, when you were little, you used to bully your own brother too? Even made him cry?

She was utterly speechless. Without another word, she scooped Zhang Jianguo up and walked away.

“Come on, we’re not playing with him anymore.”

Zhang Tingyuan called after them, “Don’t go! Weiwei, put him down! I need to teach him—boys can’t be this delicate!”

Lin Bingwei was too exasperated to respond and carried Zhang Jianguo straight to Li Yurong.

“Mom, take Jianguo out to play for a bit. I’ll handle the vegetables.”

Li Yurong said, “You should stay inside and take care of Tingyuan. He’s as restless as a monkey—being stuck in bed must be driving him crazy.”

She also had another little plan in mind—hoping the young couple could take this time to develop their relationship.

After all, her son had left the day after their wedding. She always felt guilty toward her daughter-in-law.

Lin Bingwei huffed, “He made Jianguo cry. Look at this.”

She nudged Zhang Jianguo forward so Li Yurong could see. Inside, his face just looked flushed, but outside, under the light, faint fingerprints were visible.

Li Yurong’s heart ached immediately. She scolded, “That reckless brat—he’s bedridden and still causing trouble. Jianguo, come here, let Grandma see.”

“It doesn’t hurt, Grandma will blow on it, okay? We won’t play with Uncle anymore. We’ll play with Grandma.”

Zhang Jianguo nodded timidly.

“Come on, let’s go pick up Grandpa. He should be coming home soon.”

Lin Bingwei sat down to pick vegetables. She had just finished when she heard Zhang Tingyuan shouting from inside the house.

“Weiwei, I need water!”

Sighing, she set down her work and went to get him a drink.

“Weiwei, you tattled to my mom?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“How petty can you be? He’s a boy—you can’t raise him to be so soft. What’s a little pinch? And he cried? That won’t do.”

Lin Bingwei rolled her eyes. “He’s three years old.”

“I know he’s three. But you know what they say—three years old shows a person’s future. He’s not that young anymore.”

“And do you know that he’s a very sensitive child?”

“What do you mean, sensitive?”

After spending the past couple of days together, Lin Bingwei finally understood—Zhang Tingyuan was just a blunt, rough-around-the-edges guy. Expecting him to pick up on delicate emotions was like expecting the sun to rise in the west.

“He’s not like most three-year-old boys. He’s grown up surrounded by gossip—people saying his dad is dead, his mom ran away, that we won’t want him, that he’s going to be abandoned. He’s scared.”

Hearing this, Zhang Tingyuan’s face darkened with anger. “Those nosy, gossiping villagers—once I recover, I’ll… mmm—”