Ning Qin, though feeling discontent inside, hid her emotions well. “I wonder how serious the child’s injury is. Director, rest assured, when my husband returns, we will visit. If our Xiao Qian is at fault, we will apologize in person and ensure it doesn’t affect the harmony between families.”

Hearing Ning Qin’s words, Lu Hong was very satisfied.

To be honest, she had a good impression of Ning Qin, considering her to be sensible, knowing when to advance and retreat, and having good character.

She couldn’t understand why Ning Shu had such a relationship with her.

However, whether it was Ning Qin or Ning Shu, she didn’t know what had really happened yesterday.

She wanted to inquire about it, but lunch was imminent, and if she didn’t go buy groceries now, there would be nothing left.

She had to give up for now. “Alright, if you can handle it, that’s good. I’ll go buy groceries first.”

“Don’t worry, Director,” Ning Qin watched Lü Hong leave.

“Mom…” Zhang Qian was a bit worried.

“It’s okay.” Ning Qin smiled at her.

Despite her growing dislike for Zhang Qian, she couldn’t show it.

Her position in the Zhang family wasn’t stable yet, and she still needed Zhang Qian’s affection to secure her position.

However, Ning Qin suddenly had an idea. If she could make Zhang Xian dislike Zhang Qian, wouldn’t that be more advantageous for her child?

Of course, she didn’t expect to make Zhang Xian dislike Zhang Qian with just one or two incidents, especially considering Zhang Xian’s favoritism towards Zhang Qian.

But if not one or two incidents, then perhaps three or four? Five or six?

With this in mind, Ning Qin had a plan.

She gently said to Zhang Qian, “Xiao Qian, don’t worry. You’re not at fault in this matter. You were just concerned about your mom…”

“Mom, defending Mom. Don’t worry, Mom will apologize and explain things to them,” Zhang Qian said, showing her gentle and kind stepmother side.

“Thank you, Mom.” Zhang Qian felt relieved, showing a sweet smile. “Mom, you’re really nice. I like you the most.”

Zhang Qian really liked Ning Qin.

When her dad was about to get married, she was worried. But from the first meeting, her stepmom had been very kind to her.

Even when they followed the army and her dad wasn’t around, her stepmom was still very good to her.

So in her heart, Ning Qin was no different from her biological mom.

Or rather, her trust in Ning Qin was the same as her trust in her biological mom.

Medical Office

“How is he?” Lin Guodong asked the doctor while looking at his second son lying on the bed, his buttocks exposed.

“It’s nothing serious, just a slight injury to the spine. Apply some medicine and rest for a few days, and he’ll be fine,” the doctor said. “I’ll prescribe some medicine for you to pick up.”

Hearing this, Lin Guodong felt relieved.

He helped his son put on his pants, took the prescription, and carried his son out.

Holding his dad’s neck with both hands, Erbao asked angrily, “Dad, am I really okay? Will my butt hurt forever?”

“Be a bit more patient; it’ll hurt for a few days, then it’ll be fine. Tell me, what happened? How did you end up arguing with the girl next door again?” Lin Guodong was also helpless.

But after spending more than two months with his son, he knew his son wouldn’t bully others on his own.

So, something must have happened again.

“She pushed me first,” Erbao replied confidently. “Me and Yibao and Sanbao were waiting for Dad to finish work as Mom told us to, and then she came over…” Erbao spoke boldly because he hadn’t laid a hand on her, so he felt he was in the right.

Lin Guodong suddenly understood a truth: it’s said that it’s hard for an upright official to decide family affairs; similarly, it’s really difficult to judge children’s matters.

He could only patiently educate Erbao, “Adult matters are for adults, and children’s matters are for children. We shouldn’t blame children for adult matters. Understand?”

“Why? Her mom fought with my mom, so she’s a bad person. She’s the daughter of a bad person, and I don’t like her,” Erbao thought his dad was a traitor and he was going to tell his mom.

“Why do you say that? Do you remember what your Second Aunt said to you?” Lin Guodong asked.

“I remember. She said we should ask Dad to find us a new mom, but a new mom would be a stepmom, and we don’t want a stepmom,” Erbao replied.

“Then, would you stop playing with Haiquan because of Your Second Aunt words?” Lin Guodong asked.

“No, Haiquan is also my brother,” Erbao said. “But that girl is not a sister, she’s different from Sister Qinglan and the others.”

Lin Guodong nodded, “Alright, Erbao, what Dad means is, you don’t have to like the neighbor’s aunt, and you don’t have to like the neighbor’s girl. You don’t have to play with her, but you shouldn’t say you hate her. A real man, a gentleman, wouldn’t say such things. Do you still want to be a real man and a gentleman in the future?”

Erbao didn’t understand, “Then I’ll go ask Mom.”

Lin Guodong said, “…”

When they arrived at the pharmacy, Lin Guodong realized he didn’t have any money on him.

He awkwardly said, “Comrade, I’m sorry, I rushed over and forgot to bring money. Please prepare the medicine for me, I’ll go get the money now.”

The nurse said, “No problem.”

Lin Guodong carried Erbao and walked out. Just as he stepped out, he saw two other kids, Yibao and Erbao. “Yibao, Sanbao…”

“Yibao, Sanbao.” Erbao struggled to get down from his dad’s arms. “Dad, put me down.”

As he slid down, his butt rubbed against something, making him wince.

“Dad, is Erbao okay?” Yibao, leading Sanbao, wasn’t as fast as his dad.

By the time they got there, their dad was nowhere to be seen, so they waited outside.

“He’ll be fine, just needs to rest for a few days,” Lin Guodong said.

Yibao visibly relaxed upon hearing this.

“My butt hurts so much, that doctor even took off my pants to check and pressed on my butt,” Erbao recalled, swallowing his tears of grievance.

“Walk slowly, I’ll go home first to get money,” Lin Guodong said, then hurried off.

Yibao didn’t understand, “Why did Dad go home to get money?” he asked Erbao.

“Because Dad doesn’t have money to buy the medicine. The doctor said I need to apply some ointment,” Erbao explained, revealing everything about his dad’s situation without hesitation.

Ning Shu had finished preparing lunch for a while when she heard some commotion outside.

Seeing that the other soldiers had all returned, she wondered if Lin Guodong had been delayed by something.

Since there was nothing urgent at home, she decided to go to the small park to look for the children.

But as she was about to leave, she saw Lin Guodong running back, alone.

“Did you not see the two kids at the park?” Ning Shu asked.

“I did. Er Bao ran into the little girl from next door, and they got into a disagreement. They ended up arguing,” Lin Guodong explained, setting the scene before continuing, “Then the little girl pushed Er Bao down, injuring his spine. It’s nothing serious, just needs some ointment and a few days of rest. I don’t have any money on me, and the hospital has already issued a bill. Can you give me five bucks first?”

Lin Guodong quickly explained the situation.

“Just wait here,” Ning Shu replied, immediately going back inside to get the money.

However, her expression was grim.

In the plot, the two kids wanted revenge for themselves, causing trouble for Zhang Fuhun and the Ning family, and then confronting Zhang Qian.

Unexpectedly, they got involved with Zhang Qian again in this neighborhood.

Especially since her son didn’t go looking for trouble, but trouble found him, Ning Shu was very upset with Zhang Qian.

Ning Shu admitted that her dislike for Zhang Qian stemmed from knowing the plot, so she couldn’t convince herself to treat Zhang Qian with an open mind.

So, she and the children simply avoided her, not wanting to interact, but it seemed Zhang Qian didn’t feel the same way.

It was really annoying.

Ning Shu came out with the money, expressionless, and handed it to Lin Guodong before going out with him.

Lin Guodong could tell from her expression that she was angry. He said, “Don’t worry, Er Bao is fine.”

“I’m not worried about Er Bao,” Ning Shu replied. “I just don’t want the girl next door to bother us again. Although Er Bao was the one who started it by saying something about her, if she didn’t approach him first, he wouldn’t have said anything. Ultimately, it’s their problem.”

“You’re right,” Lin Guodong agreed.

What else could he do? He didn’t want Ning Shu’s anger to turn toward him, so he just went along with her.

“I think, since I and Ning Qin don’t get along, and it’s unlikely that the girl next door and the two kids can be friends, is there a way to get them to move somewhere else? That way, we can avoid any contact with each other.” The logical solution to their problem was for the other party to move out.

After thinking for a moment, Lin Guodong agreed that it would be better for one of the families to move out. “I’ll talk to Captain Zhang about it.”

“Okay.”

As they were walking, they saw Er Bao and Yi Bao coming back, holding hands.

Er Bao was limping, and if his pants weren’t so loose, his little bottom would probably be swaying from side to side.

“Mom…” Er Bao ran to Ning Shu when he saw her, then cuddled into her arms. “Mom, my butt hurts so much.”

Ning Shu sighed. “I’ll massage it for you.”

She reached out and massaged Er Bao’s bottom through his pants a few times.

“It’ll be fine after your dad comes back with the medicine. Let’s go home first. Why did you guys argue with the girl next door today?” Even though she had heard the story from Lin Guodong, she still wanted to hear their side.

“It wasn’t that girl…” Er Bao started talking non-stop, forgetting about his sore bottom.

Yi Bao chimed in with a few comments now and then as he listened.

San Bao bounced around, chanting, “Bad guy, bad guy,” as he danced around.

When he cursed someone, he danced even more energetically.

Ning Shu thought for a moment and said, “In the future, when you meet that girl, just ignore her. Also, adults are adults, and children are children. We can choose not to play with other kids because of the adults, but we cannot say that other kids are bad or curse at them because of the adults. That’s not right.

The girl next door just called you back for dinner, she didn’t do anything wrong. You could say no to dinner, but Er Bao, you cursed at her first, which is not right. Whether it’s a child or an adult, no matter what you do, you have to be reasonable. When others haven’t cursed at you, you can’t curse at them first. Similarly, when others haven’t hit you, you can’t hit them first. Understand?”

The two boys nodded, “Understood.” Whatever their mother said, right or wrong, in their hearts, it was always right.

Even though Ning Shu didn’t like Zhang Qian, she wouldn’t teach her children to dislike her because of that!