About half an hour later, Ding Yun took a taxi to the Municipal Orthopedic Hospital and met her mother and aunt by her grandmother's bedside.
"Oh, Xiao Yu, why are you here?
It's nothing serious, and you're pregnant. Why did you come alone? Come, come, sit down and rest. How are you feeling?
Have you had any morning sickness...?"
As soon as she saw Ding Yun enter, her grandmother, Cao Xueyin, inquired about her health while urging her to sit.
If it weren't for the fractured femoral head, preventing her from getting up,
She would have been busy as usual, offering drinks, snacks, and treats.
"I'm fine, Grandma. The baby is settling in well.
I'm so sorry I only found out you were hospitalized now. You must be in a lot of pain. I didn't know what to bring, so I brought some calcium supplements. You can eat them after your surgery and recover soon!
Mom, what's Grandma's situation now...?"
Just as her mother didn't want her pregnant daughter to worry about family matters, Ding Yun also felt it inappropriate to discuss her own troubles in front of her grandmother, who was about to undergo surgery. So, she only spoke words of comfort.
She quickly put away the nutritional supplements she brought,
And then steered the conversation back to her grandmother.
"Femoral head fracture, requires replacement surgery. The doctor said the surgery can be done in about two days. It's basically risk-free, but there will be suffering, and the post-operative rehabilitation will be troublesome and painful.
Don't stand. Sit down and rest."
Although Huang Pinjuan was curious why her daughter suddenly returned and if she had been wronged, she couldn't ask in front of her mother, who was awaiting surgery.
So, she focused on her mother's condition first.
At the same time, she also chided her mother, Cao Xueyin:
"And Mom, you're the same. You know you have trouble with your hands and feet due to the after-effects of your cerebral hemorrhage over ten years ago, and I've told you not to do any work. But you insisted on working, and now you're suffering.
We can't share your burden.
After the surgery, no matter where you stay, don't do any work. Just a little walking and rehabilitation is fine; don't do anything else.
Oh, and Xiao Yu, you need to be careful too.
You're already five or six months pregnant. Although there haven't been any problems yet, you should still be cautious. Don't do any heavy or tiring work. If your company offers maternity leave, take it immediately.
You can't possibly work until you're eight or nine months pregnant."
After finishing with her mother, Huang Pinjuan immediately shifted her focus to Ding Yun, urging her to be careful during this period, as the baby was the priority.
Following that, her aunt and grandmother continued to chat with Ding Yun about her situation, asking about her estimated due date, whether she had made preparations, if she knew the baby's gender, her mother-in-law's current attitude, and whether she would resign to care for the child or have her mother-in-law do it...
Once the topic of the baby came up, there was so much to discuss that Ding Yun felt overwhelmed.
More importantly, there were things she couldn't honestly answer, so she had to speak euphemistically, swallowing her bitterness while engaging enthusiastically in conversation.
During this time, when Zhou Junyu called, Ding Yun smilingly dismissed it as a scam, followed by blocking his number.
Since it was the aunt's turn to stay overnight that evening, Ding Yun and her mother left the orthopedic hospital after dinner and returned home to rest.
They didn't say much on the way, but as soon as they got home and changed into slippers, Huang Pinjuan pulled Ding Yun to the sofa and asked directly:
"Tell me, what happened?
Did you have a conflict, an argument, or what?
I clearly saw Zhou Junyu call you at the hospital just now, but you hung up and said it was a scam. I didn't expose you then, but that doesn't mean I didn't see it. What's going on between you two?"
"I'm a bit tired..."
"I don't know how to describe it. Sometimes I feel like I didn't marry a husband, but I'm raising a child, or rather, I've become a nanny.
A nanny who can have children for free..."
Ding Yun didn't directly say she was desperate or wanted a divorce. Instead, she described the reality of her marriage with Zhou Junyu in a different way.
"So you're tired now.
But didn't you choose this path yourself?
Your father and I told you long ago that Zhou Junyu's eyes and behavior showed no signs of loving you. Even if there was love, it might not last, let alone without it. Anyway, what's the point of saying this now? It's all hindsight.
So, what do you want to do now? Did you just come over to say you're tired?
We can't control you, and we don't want to be the ones who break up a happy couple or destroy a marriage. So, you decide what you want to do. If you haven't figured it out yet and don't want to go back, you can stay here for now.
The spare bedroom will always be here for you."
Before marriage, it was easy to advise against a relationship. But now that they were married, had their certificates, and even had a child, Huang Pinjuan couldn't bring herself to say things like "divorce and come back if you're unhappy."
So, she could only offer a little comfort.
Then, with a sigh, she got up to tidy the spare bedroom for her.
After a long while, once the spare bedroom was ready, Huang Pinjuan couldn't bear it any longer. She walked back to the living room, sat beside Ding Yun, took her hand, and said:
"Tell me, what exactly happened...
Tell me from the beginning. Tell me about your treatment after marriage and your mother-in-law's situation. Did she help take care of you?"
Ding Yun, at this moment, also desperately wanted to confide in someone. So, quite naturally, she began to vent based on the original owner's memories, from lifestyle habits to daily routines, from differing values to the other party's sister and relatives, as well as her experiences at the company, and recent encounters, etc.
In short, anything she could talk about, she complained about.
Afterward, Ding Yun felt a sense of relief, both physically and mentally, a satisfaction from pouring out her frustrations and dissatisfaction.
Indeed, people need an outlet.
Bottling everything up is bad for both body and mind.
"Alas, there's a saying that's true: when you like someone, you can tolerate their flaws, no matter how big. When you don't like someone, even the smallest imperfection is unbearable. Don't tell me that Zhou Junyu didn't have these problems before you got pregnant?
To put it bluntly, if you have a daughter this time, do you believe your mother-in-law's attitude will become even uglier? And she definitely won't keep her promise to help with the child.
What will you do then?"
This is what is meant by a bystander seeing things clearly. Huang Pinjuan was now that bystander. She not only pointed out sharply that Zhou Junyu hadn't changed at all and was still the same, but her daughter had changed, becoming intolerant of him.
In addition, she also raised another cruel but realistic question: if Ding Yun had a daughter, her mother-in-law, who favored men, would absolutely not help her raise the child and might even wish she would resign immediately and continue having children for them.
Until they had a grandson.
What would she do then?