Chapter 40: She Doesn’t Dare to Want a Son

He was lucky to have survived; many of his brothers had fallen honorably in the last mission.

But that wasn’t the worst part; the worst was being injured and captured by them—that was worse than death.

He didn’t want Lin Bingwei to hear about these things; what if the little girl got scared?

Seeing him like this, Li Yurong was even more worried.

He was the pillar of the family; if he fell, she feared the family would collapse like in a dream, which he could never accept.

Li Yurong pulled him and said, “Tingyuan, when you go back, ask your leader if they can transfer you back locally.”

Zhang Tingyuan was taken aback, “Mom, what’s wrong?”

He felt that something was off with his mother.

Li Yurong said, “Your dad and I are getting old, and there’s so much land to farm here; we can’t rely on your wife. Your wife still has to study and run a shop; do you want her to suffer?”

Zhang Tingyuan instinctively looked towards Lin Bingwei in the yard.

She was washing clothes and seemed not to notice them.

Just looking at her back, she was so slender.

With so much land divided at home, how could she manage it?

Naturally, he couldn’t bear to let her do such hard work.

Zhang Tingyuan said, “I have leave every year; I can take time off during the busy farming season.”

“Those few days of leave aren’t enough for anything. Besides, it’s so far; if something happens to your dad and me, you won’t be able to come back. What did you promise us before? You said you would serve three years as a volunteer soldier, and then after three years, you said eight years. This year is the eighth year, right? I see you have no intention of retiring at all.”

Zhang Tingyuan: “Mom, plans can’t keep up with changes. I’m still in college, and I have many cultural courses to complete; I won’t graduate until next year.”

“Aiya, it’s so annoying; you have so many excuses. Tingyuan, have you thought about how hard it is for your wife while you’re away? Can you bear it?”

Zhang Tingyuan: “…”

Seeing his expression soften a bit, Li Yurong continued, “You’ve said it yourself, plans can’t keep up with changes. Now you’re not alone anymore; you have a wife. Doesn’t that count as a change?”

Zhang Tingyuan was left speechless.

After thinking for a moment, he stammered, “That still depends on the higher-ups’ arrangements.”

The doctor said that although his bones had healed, their hardness couldn’t compare to before.

He thought about it; he really might not be able to endure high-intensity training like before, let alone go on missions to the border. That kind of intensity that pushed the limits of his body was definitely beyond him.

“Let’s see what happens when I go back; we’ll see how they arrange it.”

Li Yurong saw that her persuasion was fruitless and could only let it go.

She just hoped that the higher-ups could be more understanding and not assign him any more dangerous missions.

“When do you plan to leave?” Li Yurong, getting older, asked again.

Zhang Tingyuan replied again, “The holiday is coming soon; I still have to wait for the higher-ups’ call for the specific time. Didn’t I just say that the hospital has already sent my medical records?”

Li Yurong nodded, “Alright, I won’t interfere with you anymore.”

…

While Lin Bingwei was hanging clothes on the pole outside, she saw Zhou Shufen sneaking a look inside.

She took a deep breath, quickly finished hanging the clothes, and walked towards Zhou Shufen.

Seeing Lin Bingwei approach, Zhou Shufen looked a bit surprised.

“What do you want?”

Huh? What do I want?

Lin Bingwei said lightly, “Shouldn’t I be asking you? Why are you sneaking around here? What’s the matter?”

Zhou Shufen replied, “I’m of course here to see my son.”

Lin Bingwei smiled, “You can lie to yourself about that; if you really cared about him, you wouldn’t have left him for three months in the first place.”

Zhou Shufen became unhappy upon hearing this, saying, “Your man isn’t dead; what do you know? Given the situation at the time, what could I do if I didn’t leave? The man was dead, and the child was so young; I had to go out and earn money to support her.”

Lin Bingwei scoffed, “It’s true that you went out to earn money for the child, but wouldn’t it have delayed your earnings to at least say goodbye to them?”

Zhou Shufen: “…”

“In your rush to make money, you didn’t even say a word. So how much did you earn? Did you make back the 1,600 in capital?”

This hit her right in the heart.

She was about to speak when Lin Bingwei coldly laughed again, “I bet you didn’t even make any money, let alone get your capital back; otherwise, you wouldn’t have come back.”

Zhou Shufen felt a mix of surprise and anger.

She was surprised that Lin Bingwei could guess her thoughts.

If she had really made money out there or found a good man to marry, she definitely wouldn’t have come back.

It was indeed because she had run out of money and was living poorly that she returned.

She was angry that Lin Bingwei was meddling and saying things that made her feel humiliated.

“What’s it to you? Even if you married Tingyuan, I’m still your sister-in-law, so watch your words.”

“Hah, you? Sister-in-law?” Lin Bingwei mocked, “You look like you don’t know anything; you came straight to the Zhang family as soon as you got back, right? I advise you to go back to your mother’s house and see how your family is doing after being stabbed in the back.”

Zhou Shufen’s face turned pale.

Lin Bingwei continued, “By the way, your parents have already moved your household registration back to your mother’s house to cut ties with you.”

“What?” Zhou Shufen was shocked. “They moved my household registration?”

“What else? Are they going to keep you around to disgust them?”

Zhou Shufen seemed a bit stunned, her mouth open as she struggled to find words.

If her household registration was moved, it meant she was no longer part of the Zhang family. How could she…

No, she had to go back and check.

Though she was extremely reluctant, she couldn’t care about that anymore and hurried towards her mother’s house.

It was still a distance from Zhangjia Village to her mother’s house, mainly because the mountain roads were difficult to navigate, and she would have to walk until the afternoon.

Lin Bingwei watched Zhou Shufen leave before turning back.

Zhang Tingyuan also saw her and asked, “Why did she come again? What did she say to you?”

“What else could it be? She wants to entangle herself with us again, and her only reason is for Jianguo. She said she came to see Jianguo.”

Not to mention Lin Bingwei despised her; even now, she only dared to say she came to see Jianguo and didn’t dare to say she wanted to take Jianguo away.

She probably worried that if the Zhang family said they wanted to take him, it would be even more troublesome for her.

Zhang Tingyuan felt empty; she had to remarry to get by.

It wasn’t easy to find a good man while bringing a son along.

“So why did she leave again?” Zhang Tingyuan asked curiously.

Lin Bingwei said, “She doesn’t know her household registration has been moved to her mother’s house. I just told her, and she was surprised, then she left; she probably went back to her mother’s house.”

At that moment, Li Yurong also came out with Zhang Jianguo, tightly hugging her grandson, saying, “She wouldn’t be trying to snatch him away, would she?”

Lin Bingwei replied, “I originally thought she would threaten us with Jianguo, but looking at her like this, she doesn’t have the courage.”

“Huh?”

“It’s not easy to remarry with a boy; at most, she can scare us a little. If she really gets Jianguo, she wouldn’t want him anyway.”