Chapter 017

At noon, the sunlight was warm.

He Shuo left home and headed straight for Old Zhou’s place.

He knocked a couple of times on the door. Inside, he heard Wu Dafeng’s voice: “It’s not locked—come in yourself.”

He Shuo pushed the door open and stepped in. Old Zhou happened to be walking out to greet him.

Before Old Zhou could speak, He Shuo said, “About last night—I came to apologize.”

Old Zhou coughed lightly. “It was just a small matter, no need to come all the way here over it.”

Before He Shuo could respond, Wu Dafeng came out of the kitchen.

She had an apron tied around her waist and immediately said, “Of course an apology is needed!”

Old Zhou shot her a glare, but she ignored him and continued, “Honestly, you really need to keep your wife in check.”

He Shuo drew in a slow breath and looked calmly at Wu Dafeng. “Sister-in-law, Li Shuang really didn’t do it on purpose last night. She has no grievance with you. I’m still close with Old Zhou—why would she deliberately stir up trouble? Please don’t take it to heart. She went to the hospital today and found out—she’s pregnant.”

“Pregnant?” Wu Dafeng was momentarily stunned.

Old Zhou gave her another sharp look. “You’ve had kids yourself—now you know it wasn’t intentional!”

Wu Dafeng snorted, “So what if she’s pregnant? We country women don’t act that delicate when we’re pregnant!”

What an outrageous thing to say!

Old Zhou’s face instantly darkened as he glared at her.

This time, Wu Dafeng noticed his reaction and didn’t dare say more. She turned back to the kitchen to continue washing dishes and scrubbing pots.

Now that he’d said what he came to say, He Shuo didn’t linger. He exchanged a few words with Old Zhou and headed back home.

Old Zhou walked him to the door and then returned inside.

Once back, he went straight to the kitchen and said to Wu Dafeng, “You heard him—she’s pregnant and couldn’t help it. From now on, don’t bring it up again. If you do, don’t expect any kindness from me!”

Wu Dafeng snorted again, “So she’s pregnant, fine. But why didn’t she say it earlier? Why let her husband come say it—what does that even look like?”

Old Zhou’s brow creased again. He asked, “Earlier? When earlier?”

Wu Dafeng said, “Just now outside. I got into a shouting match with her!”

Old Zhou was furious. He bellowed, “You argued with her?!”

Wu Dafeng stood her ground. “I was angry, so of course I did!”

Old Zhou gritted his teeth and pointed at her. “Wu Dafeng, you listen to me. If you stir up trouble again for no reason—if you go out looking for fights—I won’t let it slide! How many times do I have to tell you—this is not the countryside! You can’t act like this here!”

Wu Dafeng tried to defend herself. “So I’m the only one at fault? What about Li Shuang?!”

Old Zhou glared at her. “What did Li Shuang do wrong? She’s pregnant and feeling unwell, and she still came to our house for dinner. Doesn’t that say enough? Look at what you’ve done! You’re a brainless troublemaker! I brought you and the kid here so we could live a good life—not so you could make a mess of everything! If you’re planning to offend all my comrades, you can just pack your things and go back to the countryside!”

That shut Wu Dafeng up.

Seeing her fall silent, Old Zhou gave a final huff, then turned on his heel and walked out of the kitchen.

–

At that moment, Zhenzhen and Shi Huaiming had just finished their meal and were getting ready to study.

Noticing that Zhenzhen looked distracted, Shi Huaiming asked, “Something on your mind?”

Zhenzhen hadn’t planned on saying anything, but since he asked, she replied, “Sister-in-law Li Shuang and Sister-in-law Dafeng got into a fight.”

Shi Huaiming wasn’t surprised that the two women had gotten into a fight.

If it hadn’t been for Old Zhou holding her back last night, Wu Dafeng might’ve already dragged Li Shuang out for an argument on the spot.

Wu Dafeng had never swallowed her anger. That confrontation was bound to happen sooner or later.

He didn’t ask for the details of the argument and simply inquired, “How’s Li Shuang?”

Zhenzhen shook her head. “She didn’t say much. Seems like she’s still not feeling well—just threw up again a little while ago.”

There was no point in speculating further without knowing the full story.

Shi Huaiming said no more and added, “Let them sort it out themselves.” It wasn’t something outsiders should get involved in.

Seeing that Shi Huaiming had said that, Zhenzhen also decided not to worry about it anymore.

She focused her attention back on studying and stopped thinking about anything else.

Shi Huaiming continued teaching her new material.

When it was time for class, he got up to leave and ran into He Shuo at the door.

The two walked together, and Shi Huaiming asked, “Did you get it sorted out?”

He Shuo replied, “Well, I explained things clearly. Li Shuang is pregnant—whether or not she accepts it is up to her.”

Shi Huaiming was about to respond when Old Zhou’s voice suddenly came from behind them.

They turned to see Old Zhou catching up at a quick pace.

When he reached them, He Shuo asked, “So, has your wife cooled off?”

Old Zhou put on a stern face and said, “She better have! I gave her a good scolding!”

Then he explained, “She’s just bored out of her mind here—got nothing to do, so she looks for things to pick at.”

Shi Huaiming chimed in, “Then why don’t you find something for her to do?”

Old Zhou looked at him. “What can I give her to do? All she knows is cooking, laundry, and watching the kid.”

He Shuo offered, “Maybe you should take a page from Huaiming’s book and teach her to read?”

Old Zhou let out a sarcastic laugh. “I only just got through adult literacy myself—how am I supposed to teach her? And I don’t have the time or energy. I’m exhausted from classes and training every day, and now I’m supposed to come home and tutor her too? With her blockhead of a brain? Even if I tried, she wouldn’t learn. Being able to sew and keep the house running is already impressive for her.”

He Shuo said, “That’s no way to talk. Huaiming has class and training too, but he still teaches.”

Old Zhou grunted, “I’m not like Huaiming, alright? I married a woman to cook, clean, have kids, and raise them. Whether she can read or not doesn’t matter. Isn’t that what a wife is for?”

He Shuo and Shi Huaiming exchanged a knowing smile but didn’t push the conversation further.

Seeing that class time was approaching, the three picked up their pace.

–

Zhenzhen had her own goals and study schedule to stick to, so she didn’t have the time or energy to worry too much about the conflict between Li Shuang and Wu Dafeng.

She’d already been warned by Shi Huaiming once, and she wasn’t about to make the same mistake again.

So that afternoon, she stayed home and studied diligently.

Everyone else in the courtyard was either at work or school, leaving Wu Dafeng alone at home—and she was bored out of her mind.

Especially after the unsatisfying fight with Li Shuang, which ended without her getting the last word, followed by Old Zhou scolding her during lunch—she was fuming and itching to vent. So, she wandered over to Zhenzhen’s place a few times.

Zhenzhen knew she was frustrated, so she stepped outside and chatted with her briefly.

From Wu Dafeng, she learned that Li Shuang was pregnant. That put her at ease—it explained a lot. She gently encouraged Wu Dafeng to be more understanding—after all, they were both women.

But Wu Dafeng wasn’t ready to let go of her anger. She just wanted to vent and started saying spiteful things.

Zhenzhen didn’t have time for all that and tried to wrap it up. “Sister-in-law, I really need to study now.”

Wu Dafeng blocked her from going in. “What’s the rush with studying? It’s not like you’re going to take some big exam. You think you’re getting into college or something? I doubt it. So what’s the point?”

Zhenzhen replied, “The more I learn and read, the better I can understand Third Brother. I’ll know what he’s thinking, and we’ll have more to talk about.”

Wu Dafeng was unmoved. “Why do you have to talk to him so much? Can’t you talk to me instead? You’re overthinking it. Life isn’t that complicated. The man earns money, the woman takes care of the home—eat, sleep, raise kids, that’s all there is. Me and Old Zhou hardly talk, and we still get by just fine.”

Zhenzhen said plainly, “Third Brother is different.”

Wu Dafeng laughed. “Men are all the same—marry a wife, have kids, that’s it.”

Now that they knew each other better, Zhenzhen didn’t bother being overly polite. She said bluntly, “Sister-in-law, last time when you came over and had me trim that huge pile of chives, Third Brother scolded me. He said if it happened again, he’d punish me. So please, don’t get me into trouble.”

At that, Wu Dafeng redirected her irritation toward Shi Huaiming. “There’s something off with that man of yours! You’re his wife, not his daughter—how can he control you like that? You’re too soft. He tells you to do something, and you just do it? You should fight back. Argue with him a few times—show him you’ve got a backbone. I guarantee he’ll stop trying to boss you around.”

Zhenzhen thought to herself, If I argued until he stopped caring, then we’d probably never become true husband and wife.

Even if she couldn’t become the ideal woman in his heart, she certainly didn’t want him to dislike her.

Besides, she had to admit—learning new things really gave her a sense of accomplishment.

So she insisted, “Sister-in-law, I really have to get back to my reading.”

Seeing Zhenzhen wasn’t going to chat, Wu Dafeng had no choice but to head home.

With no one to talk to, her frustration festered. She grumbled to herself—first about Li Shuang being overly sensitive, then about Shi Huaiming being just as particular.

Eventually, she concluded: “All these educated types are damn fragile!”

With Wu Dafeng gone, Zhenzhen settled down to study.

She was almost done learning pinyin. Once she finished, she’d start learning Chinese characters.

That feeling of making steady progress—bit by bit—was actually quite wonderful.

After mastering the new material she’d just learned, Zhenzhen relaxed and went to prepare dinner.

She stood in the kitchen for a while, thinking about what to make for the evening. She finally decided on crucian carp tofu soup, steamed some buns in a steamer basket, and stir-fried loofah with eggs.

Once she made up her mind, she got to work.

She pan-fried both sides of the crucian carp until golden, then added boiling hot water to cook a pot of rich, milky-white fish soup.

She added soft tofu to the soup, making it even more flavorful and aromatic.

When the meal was ready, Zhenzhen waited for Shi Huaiming to come home and eat.

He didn’t return right away, but through the window, she saw He Shuo and Old Zhou had already come back.

Soon after, He Ziran also returned with his little yellow cloth schoolbag on his back.

Zhenzhen went to the kitchen, served a bowl of crucian carp tofu soup, and carried it over to knock on He Shuo’s door.

When the door opened, she looked at him and said, “Captain He, I heard Sister-in-law Li Shuang is pregnant. She seems to be having a hard time with nausea. I made some fish soup at home—why don’t you let her try some and see if it helps her feel better?”

He Shuo was clearly touched and quickly replied, “Thanks, Xiaomianhua.”

Zhenzhen smiled, “It’s no trouble. I didn’t make it just for her—we’re having the same fish soup tonight.”

He Shuo smiled back, “Still, thank you all the same.”

Zhenzhen accepted his thanks, then asked, “Why isn’t Third Brother back yet?”

He Shuo responded with an “Oh” and explained, “The principal needed to see him about something. He might be a bit late.”

Zhenzhen nodded in understanding.

After delivering the soup, she went home and continued waiting for Shi Huaiming.

But not long after, she felt an itch of restlessness—thinking maybe she could take advantage of the free time and go for a bike ride.

Even though she had practiced riding in the morning, it hadn’t been nearly enough.

After a moment’s thought, she made up her mind, took her bicycle, and headed out.

She originally planned just to take a quick ride and come back, but passing by the grocery store, she thought she might as well stop in to buy a few things. She parked her bike at the entrance.

Inside the store, Li Shuang and Awen were cleaning up in preparation to close for the day.

They worked while chatting, and Li Shuang was venting to Awen about Wu Dafeng. “She’s completely unreasonable. I’ve never met anyone like her—she doesn’t listen to reason at all.”

Awen replied, “Then just stay far away from her from now on.”

Li Shuang said, “I definitely will. Just thinking about her face and her voice gives me a headache. If it weren’t for the connection between He Shuo and Old Zhou, I wouldn’t even give someone like her a second glance if I saw her on the street.”

Awen said, “Compared to her, Xiaomianhua is way more likeable.”

Thinking about how Zhenzhen had stood with Wu Dafeng in the morning gossiping about her, Li Shuang snorted, “Anyone compared to Wu Dafeng would seem cute. And yet she actually likes hanging around with Wu Dafeng.”

Awen replied, “They came from the countryside together—they probably get along.”

Li Shuang said, “Even a good person would be corrupted hanging around with someone like Wu Dafeng.”

Awen said, “Then why don’t you pull her in the right direction?”

Li Shuang snapped, “Like I have the time.”

Awen teased, “Isn’t she your friend?”

Li Shuang gave another snort, “What kind of friend? At most, she’s just a neighbor.”

Awen straightened up and looked at her, “You’ve been helping her with this and that, teaching her all sorts of things. If that’s not friendship, what is? I haven’t seen you be that nice to anyone else—you even borrowed sourdough from me for her.”

Li Shuang replied, “That was only because of Shi Huaiming. If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t bother with her at all.”

Just as Awen was about to say more, her gaze suddenly caught someone standing in the doorway.

She froze for a second and then quickly shot a look at Li Shuang.

Li Shuang sensed the signal and turned around with a frown of confusion.

When she saw Zhenzhen standing there at the door, her expression instantly froze, her tongue tied.

“Lit—”

The word stalled on her tongue—she couldn’t get a syllable out. Her face stiffened as she watched Zhenzhen silently lower her eyes and turn to leave.

Li Shuang stood rooted in place for quite a while.

After a moment, Awen cautiously said, “I think… she heard everything…”

Li Shuang finally snapped back to herself. She took a deep breath and forced a calm expression. “So what if she did? It’s not a big deal… We’ll just stay out of each other’s way from now on.”

Awen cleared her throat and didn’t speak again.

After finishing the cleaning, the two of them clocked out and left for home.

At the school gates, they waved goodbye and went their separate ways. Li Shuang turned back toward the school.

With no one beside her to chat with, the world felt suddenly quieter, and a dull pressure grew in her chest.

She took a deep breath and quickened her steps.

He Shuo and He Ziran were already home waiting for her to eat.

She hung her bag, went to the kitchen to wash her hands, then sat down at the table.

He Shuo asked, “How are you feeling today?”

Li Shuang replied simply, “Same as before. Worse than when I was pregnant with Ziran.”

He Shuo could tell her mood was low. He figured it was the nausea and maybe also the lingering anger from the morning. He scooped a small bowl of crucian carp tofu soup and placed it in front of her. “Try this.”

Li Shuang reached out, took the bowl, and had a spoonful.

As soon as she tasted it, she nodded. “This soup is really good—fresh and not greasy.”

Ever since her pregnancy symptoms began last night, she’d had no appetite. Everything made her feel sick.

He Shuo said, “Xiaomianhua made it at home. She knew you were pregnant and brought some over for you.”

Hearing that, Li Shuang’s expression froze. Her hand holding the bowl also stiffened.

He Shuo noticed the reaction but didn’t understand it, so he asked, “What’s wrong?”

Li Shuang quickly shook her head and muttered, “The soup is really good.”

He Shuo added, “Xiaomianhua’s cooking is really good. She’s got a good personality too—kind and considerate.”

Li Shuang felt like a lump of cotton was stuck in her throat. She couldn’t say a word.

–

Next door, Zhenzhen and Shi Huaiming were having dinner together. She kept her head down and remained silent the entire time.

Of course, Shi Huaiming could tell something was off. He asked, “What’s wrong this time?”

Not wanting him to think she liked to stir up trouble, Zhenzhen shook her head and said, “Nothing.”

He glanced at her. “It’s all over your face, and you’re telling me it’s nothing?”

Zhenzhen still shook her head. “I’m fine.”

Seeing that she didn’t want to talk, Shi Huaiming didn’t press further.

After dinner, their usual routine resumed—he taught Zhenzhen new material, then had her copy and recite it while he sat nearby reading quietly.

He had only read a couple of lines when there was a knock at the door.

Shi Huaiming closed his book and set it on the desk before getting up to open the door.

It was Li Shuang.

She held out a large bowl to him with a smile. “Thanks for the fish soup from your place.”

Shi Huaiming took the bowl. “You don’t need to be so polite.”

Li Shuang glanced inside, hesitated, then asked, “Is Xiaomianhua…”

“She’s studying,” he replied. “Were you looking for her?”

“No, not really.” Li Shuang smiled. “The fish soup she made was really good.”

Without waiting for a response, she added, “Well, I won’t disturb you. I’ll let you get back to it.”

Shi Huaiming watched her leave, then closed the door and went to the kitchen to set down the bowl. Returning to the room, he quietly picked up his book again and resumed reading.

Of course, Zhenzhen had heard Li Shuang’s voice.

But she didn’t let it distract her for long. As soon as Shi Huaiming reopened his book, she refocused entirely on her studies.

After study time ended and she’d washed up, Zhenzhen returned to the room and lay down.

She hugged her soft, fragrant cloth tiger and lay there blinking in the dark for a long while.

Eventually, drowsiness took over. She took a deep breath, rolled over to a more comfortable position, and drifted off to sleep.

–

Next door.

Li Shuang tossed and turned in bed.

He Shuo, thinking she was feeling unwell, asked, “Is it that uncomfortable?”

Li Shuang gave a quiet “Mm,” then said, “Yeah, a bit.”

He Shuo placed a hand on her still-flat belly. “Why’s the reaction so much worse this time?”

Li Shuang wasn’t interested in that topic and gave a vague reply: “I don’t know.”

Pregnancy symptoms are unpredictable—everyone’s different, and every pregnancy is too.

Not wanting to talk more, she said, “We’ve got a busy day tomorrow. Let’s sleep.”

He Shuo agreed and went to sleep beside her.

But even though they closed their eyes at the same time, it was He Shuo who fell asleep first.

Lying beside him, Li Shuang listened to his breathing and kept replaying that moment from earlier—when she saw Zhenzhen standing at the entrance of the store, the look on her face, the way she turned and left, and that bowl of rich, fragrant fish soup.

Feeling irritable, she blamed it on pregnancy hormones.

If it weren’t for those, she wouldn’t be this bothered by such a small thing.

Thankfully, the irritation passed, and she eventually fell asleep.

The next morning, she got up early, threw up in the bathroom, and felt no better about the new day.

Carrying that sour mood, she went to work. She kept quiet all day and wore a stony expression.

Awen noticed something was wrong and, finding a moment, leaned over to whisper, “What’s going on with you?”

Li Shuang answered calmly, “Nothing. Just a bit uncomfortable—it’s normal in early pregnancy.”

Awen eyed her. “It’s just the pregnancy?”

Li Shuang kept her head down, working on the abacus. “Of course. What else could it be?”

Awen hesitated, then lowered her voice further. “It’s not because of… Xiaomianhua, is it?”

Li Shuang looked up and gave a small laugh. “What are you thinking?”

Hearing that, Awen changed her tone. “Yeah, you never really treated her like a friend anyway. I guess you wouldn’t care if she overheard what you said. It’s not like it affects anything. She’s just a neighbor, right? You see each other all the time—it might be a little awkward, that’s all. But I saw her face yesterday, her eyes… She really sees you as a friend. She’s genuine. A really decent person. Every time she comes into the shop, she greets me warmly. When I saw her expression yesterday, I felt so guilty, I—”

“Are you done yet?” Li Shuang cut her off.

She scrambled the abacus beads and added, “Stop bothering me. Go take care of your own counter.”

Awen shrugged and left her alone.

They spent the morning busy and mostly silent. When the shift ended, Li Shuang grabbed her bag and headed home.

On the way through the school gates, she ran into a few familiar faces. They exchanged greetings with polite smiles.

She slowly made her way home.

As she approached her house, she saw Zhenzhen sitting alone on a small stool outside, basking in the sun. Her head was down as she read aloud from a book, while her hand gently stroked Dabai’s head.

Dabai lay at her feet, wagging his tail contentedly as he enjoyed the attention.

Li Shuang stopped walking and stood there watching for a moment.

She spent a long time mustering the courage, taking deep breaths, and adjusting her expression.

She stepped forward, intending to act like nothing had happened and greet Zhenzhen with a smile.

But before she could say anything, Zhenzhen looked up and saw her.

Zhenzhen showed no surprise, no hesitation. Her gaze didn’t linger on Li Shuang for even a second.

Without giving her a chance to speak, she closed her book, picked up the stool, and turned to go inside.

Li Shuang froze, her smile stiffening on her face.

A few seconds later, the smile gradually faded away.

She swallowed hard, forcing back the greeting that had reached her lips.