"You just needed to come see the baby; why drag so many people along?" Luo Zhiyong had already discussed with Fang Pingying that once she had completed her postpartum period, they would call back home. If Zhou Yunmei and Luo Dashan wanted to come to see the baby, they could.
Luo Zhiyong did not expect Zhou Yunmei to suddenly show up, and with so many people no less, even bringing along Fang Xiu, who was heavily pregnant and close to giving birth. He had no idea what she was thinking.
As soon as Luo Zhiyong finished speaking, Luo Cuilan angrily retorted, "Big brother, what do you mean by that? I’m your sister after all, what’s wrong with me coming to see my nephew and niece?"
"It’d be great if you were really here to see your nephew and niece." Luo Zhiyong knew Luo Cuilan all too well. Among the four sisters, Luo Cuilan was the most selfish. She didn’t come to the provincial city following Zhou Yunmei just to see her nephew and niece.
He glanced at Luo Cuilan and frowned at Fang Xiu, "Fang Xiu, you are about to have your baby, why did you come to the provincial city?"
Fang Xiu looked embarrassed and hesitant, as if she was unable to say anything.
Zhou Yunmei tugged at Luo Zhiyong and whispered, "Let’s talk about this later, just take us to see the baby for now."
Luo Zhiyong guessed there must be something going on, so he didn’t rush to ask. Instead, he told them, "Put your things down first, have some food, I need to send a message to my mother-in-law’s house and let them prepare."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Yunmei started to feel displeased, "What’s this, acting as if your mother-in-law’s home is some high official’s place. I’m going to see my own grandchild, and you still need to report it?"
"Mom, if you’re going to be , then don’t go see the baby at all." Seeing that Zhou Yunmei’s attitude was looking like she wanted to start a fight right here, Luo Zhiyong impatiently dumped their things into the living room and said, "I may as well just bring the baby back to you, take a quick peek and promptly head back."
"What are you saying? Why would I just take a quick peek and leave? I came especially to take care of my eldest grandson." Zhou Yunmei pointed to several large bags she brought, urgently adding, "Look, I’ve brought all his stuff, I’m not going back in the future, I’ll stay here and watch over my eldest grandson."
Luo Zhiyong didn’t feel like arguing with her about this right now, as it wouldn’t be clear even after arguing.
He just spoke to them about going to Li Aihua’s house, "Mom, Pingying is still in her postpartum period, the doctor also said she shouldn’t get upset, and right now she’s at my mother-in-law’s home. Moreover, if you are going to make a scene like before, making noise and chaos, how do you think my mother-in-law’s family will see our family?"
"You have a point, Zhiyong." After thinking it over, Zhou Yunmei also felt that bringing their messy family affairs over to Li Aihua’s house would be embarrassing. She thought for a while and then instructed Luo Cuilan and Fang Xiu, "In that case, Fang Xiu and Cuilan, you two don’t go. Stay here, I will go have a look at my eldest grandson later."
Luo Cuilan never wanted to go in the first place. She waved her hand dismissively at Zhou Yunmei, "Fine, you go, I’m not even interested in seeing them."
Fang Xiu actually wanted to see Fang Pingying, but considering her own condition and that Zhou Yunmei also said not to go, she agreed not to. She then told Luo Zhiyong, "Big brother, remember to tell my sister that I came as well."
Luo Zhiyong instructed Luo Honglan to stay at home and prepare food with them, then he left with Zhou Yunmei to Li Aihua’s house.
On the road, Luo Zhiyong frowned and asked Zhou Yunmei, "Mom, if you just wanted to see your grandson, you could have come by yourself. Why did you bring Cuilan and Fang Xiu with you? Especially Fang Xiu who’s about to give birth. Do you plan to let her deliver the baby here?"
Zhou Yunmei glanced around and whispered, "Yes, I plan to let Fang Xiu give birth in the provincial city. I’ve heard that big hospitals can determine who the child’s parents are. I want to know if the child in Fang Xiu’s belly is really Zhiming’s."
Luo Zhiyong frowned, "What are you planning to do?"
"If the child is indeed Zhiming’s, that would be best, I’d die before letting Zhiming and Fang Xiu divorce," Zhou Yunmei shared her plans, "If not, to be honest, I’ve also thought about just letting Zhiming and Fang Xiu continue living together, treating the child as Zhiming’s. With Zhiming in his current health state, he needs a child by his side as he gets older. Right now, no one in the village knows, so it still might be kept secret."
She paused, then continued to complain, "The last time when Zhiming and Fang Xi were about to divorce, I didn’t agree, and in the end, they didn’t divorce. Zhiming even got angry and moved to the provincial city. After that, I’ve never found him."
Regarding these messy affairs, Luo Zhiyong no longer planned to get involved. He would let them handle it as they saw fit.
But he felt that if this was the case, Zhou Yunmei’s actions were somewhat superfluous, "If that’s the case, then why bother testing? Just treat the child as Zhiming’s."
"How can that do? I must find out for sure," Zhou Yunmei insisted and then quietly asked, "Can the hospitals in the provincial city really determine it?"
"I don’t know." Luo Zhiyong had never encountered such a situation before, so he really wasn’t sure.
After a moment, Luo Zhiyong remembered Luo Cuilan and continued to ask, "What about Cuilan then? Why did you bring her here? She’s not one to give peace of mind. Won’t she be causing non-stop trouble in the provincial city just like she did at home?"
"Ah, this Cuilan..." Zhou Yunmei started to say, then let out a heavy sigh and shook her head, "Let’s not talk about her, it also makes me very anxious. I truly don’t want to deal with her anymore, but where did I go wrong in raising such a useless daughter? What can we do?"
"What happened?" Luo Zhiyong frowned.
Zhou Yunmei replied helplessly, "She’s been married to Jianguo for so long and still hasn’t been able to conceive. Recently, Su Yan, Jianguo’s stepmother, pressured her to get a checkup. The doctor at the county hospital said that she had too many abortions before, which damaged her uterus. She might have difficulty getting pregnant. So I thought of bringing her to the provincial city to see if it can be treated."
Hearing about Luo Cuilan’s situation, Luo Zhiyong was truly frustrated, it seemed like their Luo Family always had an endless stream of troubles.
But Luo Cuilan truly brought this on herself. Angrily, he said, "Luo Cuilan’s predicament is entirely her own doing. Even after all our advice at home, she wouldn’t listen. She went behind our backs to get an abortion. Now that things have turned out this way, she deserves it."
"Ah, I know," Zhou Yunmei looked at Luo Zhiyong with an agitated expression, "But what can we do now? At her in-laws, she’s scolded every day by Su Yan, and her sister-in-law doesn’t treat her as a person. Even Jianguo is not as good to her as before. He probably is starting to resent her inability to have children. If I ignore her completely, she would have nowhere to turn and truly have no way out but death."
Listening to this series of issues, Luo Zhiyong had a splitting headache. To completely abandon her and treat Luo Cuilan like a stranger, not caring for her food and shelter, he couldn’t do that.
But at most, he could only take care of her food and living arrangements, he couldn’t take on anything else.
He shook his head and said to Zhou Yunmei, "Well, take her to the hospital tomorrow to have a look." (To be continued. If you work, welcome to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for your favorite works, monthly tickets; your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)