Chapter 172: Chapter 128: Zhou Xiaozheng’s Dominance (Part 2)
Even in the most decent families, a daughter-in-law is still just a daughter-in-law, always held in the palm of the mother-in-law’s hand. His mother, that kind of mother-in-law, was never seen in the whole village. She was so gentle that Huang Zhaodi managed to control her and rode on her head.
Thinking about his precious daughter being treated like a little daughter-in-law by someone else made him want to pack up and take her away. He understood his daughter somewhat, knowing that she was smart, but no one had taught her the ways of the world—she had learned them by sneaking observations and figuring things out herself. If she ever misunderstood and thought it was okay for a mother-in-law to torment a daughter-in-law like that, then he’d have to plan carefully.
Zhou Jiao leaned against her father, smiling gently, and said, "Dad, you’re underestimating your daughter. If I don’t want to suffer grievances, who would dare to bully me? Xiao Wu won’t boss me around either. Besides, if I didn’t see how this family treats people, how the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law get along, and what their reputation is, if I couldn’t handle Xiao Wu, I wouldn’t marry into the Zhang Family easily. No matter how much I liked the other person, if the family was a mess, I would avoid the trouble. After all, apart from the eldest son, they separate a year after marriage. I’ve checked it out—I grew up here and only got married once I was sure.
You see, the courtyard next door is almost finished. Once spring comes, we’ll live separately. Also, I grew up with Xiao Wu, so I know him well and won’t be bullied by him.
Dad, don’t worry. If they really treat me badly, now that I have a dad and mom, I can go home. Dad, thank you for coming back safely." After finishing, she couldn’t continue. She didn’t want to use tears or sadness to make her dad feel guilty or heartbroken.
Zhou Xiaozheng held Ping’an with one hand, reached out, and gently touched her head. "Hmm, if you’re wronged, come home. No one dares to bully you anymore. With your dad here, anyone who dares to give you attitude, not even the emperor can. Just bulldoze over them. With your dad backing you up, do whatever you want, think about what to eat every day, go wherever you want to buy nice things, and don’t worry about others’ opinions. My precious daughter of Zhou Xiaozheng isn’t someone those fools can compare to or bully, right?"
Zhou Jiao nodded like a chick pecking at rice, her head hanging low, but finally spoke out the knot in her heart: "Dad, I’m sorry, I tossed Zhou Xiaocun and the others in. Did mom say anything? I thought about letting it go since I’m married. But then I saw your box and knew you were still alive, so I stepped in. I couldn’t stand them anymore. I wanted to separate from the elder branch, didn’t want you to have to drag them along in the future.
Dad, I was selfish. This time my selfishness was too great. I was afraid that after you finally came back alive, you’d be implicated by those fools in the future. Dad, after doing this, I don’t feel burdened or guilty. It’s just that thinking of Grandma, she mustn’t be having an easy time, otherwise, she would have come to see me long ago.
Dad, would you blame me for acting on my own? For blocking the way for you? I let Xiao Wu tell the county and township officials by the end of this month just to leave room for you. If you really can’t bear to let them go, I won’t mind either."
Zhou Xiaozheng looked at her, bowing her head and not daring to look up at him, feeling both amused and annoyed: "Well done! Just like your old man. If you hadn’t erupted, your dad would have loosened their bones. Eating yours, drinking yours, living off you five families still scheming against my daughter, fantasizing about marrying you off to those scums, and they think I’d let them off? Didn’t shoot them because they were siblings from the same mother. What’s with your expression? Don’t you believe your dad will deal with them if he comes back?"
Zhou Jiao was shocked, immediately looked up, her little face flushed with excitement but couldn’t speak. Her big eyes stared intently at him, her hands rubbing together repeatedly. After a moment, she finally spoke, "Dad, you know about all this?"
Zhou Xiaozheng handed Ping’an to Lin Lishan and patted Zhou Jiao: "What you said that day was very good, and your grandfather told me everything. Your mom also told me everything on the train. Dad generally figured it out. Leave things with your grandpa to me, don’t worry. Just focus on your postpartum care."
Zhou Jiao hugged him and earnestly said, "Dad, when you were little, was Grandpa not good to you? Is that why you went into the army? Are you sure you’re his own?"
Upon hearing this, Zhou Xiaozheng smiled and sighed: "Whether I’m really his own or not, who do we ask? Who would provide an answer? Besides, your grandma treats us all very well. If I weren’t his own, she wouldn’t protect you like this."
After speaking, he glanced at Lin Lishan: "Shanshan, you stay here. No need to go over—they’re probably all waiting for me. I’ll go talk to my dad. Stay here and keep Jiao Jiao company, and get some rest."
Zhou Jiao held him back, "Dad, wait a minute. I still have things to discuss with you. Xiao Wu went to prepare something for you all to eat. You need to eat before you go. There’s another tough battle to fight over there. You need to be mentally prepared."
Zhou Xiaozheng burst into laughter, "Haha... Don’t worry, that’s my dad. I know him well. Tell me, what else are you eager to know?"
Zhou Jiao playfully glared at him but then laughed, "Dad, have you confirmed where you’re going to work?"
Zhou Xiaozheng chuckled at her, "You little rascal, are you worried about your grandparent’s transfer issue? Relax, this time going back, Dad’s mainly going to ask him why he turned a blind eye to you suffering so much in that family, pretending to be deaf and mute. If you weren’t clever, and that woman had schemed you into the Huang Family, would the family’s heads still be intact? We need to settle this score with him.
As for them being locked up, what does it have to do with us? You only spoke the truth, forced to the doorstep, and haven’t even fully exposed it. It’s fortunate they weren’t shot. Locked up or even dead, it’s not a pity. The eldest is just a heartless bastard. It’s only the old man who’s confused."
"Have you confirmed where you’re working?"
"Still the old unit, promoted a few levels. Dad doesn’t plan to return to the Northeast. Your mom said you plan to take university exams and go to Beijing. I’ll stabilize the rear in Beijing first. Give you two years, whether you pass the exams or not, you all have to move to Beijing. Dad hasn’t been by your side for so many years, you have to come back to keep me company sooner, right?"
"Yeah, I want to reunite with you all soon too. What about Uncle? Where does he work? Same unit as you or what?"
Zhou Xiaozheng, with his back to his wife, gave Zhou Jiao a wink: "Your uncle is in the same unit as me. We’re back to report, not reapplying for transfers."
When Zhou Jiao heard this, she smiled and nodded: "That’s good, you can support each other. Dad, how many days leave do you have this time? I can’t go out, otherwise wouldn’t it be great if I went with you? People say I look like Grandma, but I think I look like you. I want to take you out to show off our family of three."
"Silly child, after your confinement, I’ll take you to Beijing. Dad only has a month’s leave and needs to go to the military early to get familiar with affairs and settle things down early, can’t stay long here." Lin Lishan affectionately looked at her daughter and felt bittersweet. They were leaving in just a few days.
Zhou Xiaozheng didn’t refute and said to his wife, "Shanshan, go see if Xiao Wu is ready. Prepare some food, tell the in-laws that we’ll chat when we come back tonight. Everyone handles their own things first."