Chapter 934: Chapter 807: Deliberate Instigation

"Little brother..."

Zhou Jiao saw the little girl nod and point at the East Wing, squeezed her tiny hand, and said, "The little brothers are asleep. How about we go drink milk?"

"No need, she just ate a small bowl of noodles." Yi Shumin pointed at the west wing. "How about Mom takes you to play with the big brothers?"

"No... little brother... want meat wu-yi..."

Zhang Guoqing looked amused at the little girl who still couldn’t speak clearly. He nodded at Yi Shumin in greeting, then went off to the west wing first.

"Liu Yi and May 1st have fallen asleep."

Zhou Jiao took the child and led the mother and daughter into the East Wing. "It’s fine, they’re in the bedroom. We’ll go to the study. Yueya’er, when your little brothers wake up, you can all play together, okay?"

"Play."

"Good, Auntie will give the baby some fruit."

"Wow, I want wow..."

Zhou Jiao couldn’t understand her, so she put the child on the heated brick bed, then turned her head to look at the child’s mother.

Yi Shumin laughed. "She’s saying ’doll.’ Little brothers are boys, they don’t play with dolls."

And funny enough, Zhou Jiao really did have dolls. Yi Jiefang and the others loved to fool around. A few days ago, seeing May 1st look more and more like Zhou Jiao, they jokingly gave two dolls as a present.

Zhou Jiao went into the inner room, took a doll for the child, and only after coaxing her did she pour tea.

Sitting on the brick bed in the study, Yi Shumin looked enviously at the doors between the two bedrooms that had been knocked through. "You two really move fast. Say you’ll move and you’re moved."

"Can’t help it. Now if they’re even a little unhappy, they howl at the top of their lungs. My parents can’t rest at all at night, and during the day we can’t host guests in peace."

"This is pretty good. It’s convenient for Auntie to go in and out too."

Zhou Jiao smiled and nodded.

That was true. It didn’t matter so much in winter, but once summer came, it really wouldn’t be suitable for Auntie to be going in and out of the main house all the time. When the new term started she would be interning, no need to live on campus, so she’d have more time at night to be with the kids.

After a bit of small talk, Yi Shumin glanced at her hesitantly and asked in a low voice, "I heard Liang Family sent you a basket of seafood the day before yesterday?"

"A whole basket, who’s exaggerating like that? Just some yellow croaker and prawns. Why? You want some? The prawns are gone, but I can still split you a yellow croaker."

"No need, we still have some at home. I didn’t mean the seafood."

Of course Zhou Jiao understood what she was getting at, but she had no intention of talking much about that with outsiders. Ever since Liang Family packed Liang Jiajun off to the countryside, they’d kept up the old-family social courtesies. Was her family supposed to tear up the relationship completely?

When soldiers come, you send generals; when water floods, you pile up earth. Isn’t that how everyone plays it? Since the power behind Liang Family hasn’t toppled, what’s the point of taking down a few small fry?

Zhou Jiao looked at her with amusement. "All the better if you don’t want any. I don’t have enough to go around as it is."

"What exactly is going on between your two families? We thought that this time, even if you didn’t become enemies, you’d at least cut off contact."

At that, Zhou Jiao put on a face of surprise. "How could that be? Liang Jiajun is Liang Jiajun, Liang Family is Liang Family. Grandpa Liang already came by and made things very clear. Where’s the grudge?"

"That kind of talk can only fool kids. You actually believe it?"

"And what if I don’t? If you can go around something, then go around it. The old gentleman’s already at that age; it’s not easy for him."

Thinking of what her father had said, Yi Shumin smiled and shook her head. "True enough. If it were an ordinary family, they would’ve been thoroughly investigated long ago. They’re just too powerful."

That was something Zhou Jiao wasn’t about to pick up on. Seeing the little girl trying to climb down, she quickly went over and picked her up. "Our Yueya’er, do you want to eat some fruit?"

Yi Shumin casually stuffed a piece of frozen pear from the plate into the child’s hand. "You’re not worried people will look down on you, think your family is an easy target?"

With her back to her, a sharp glint flashed through Zhou Jiao’s eyes. Then she lowered her lids and smiled. "Then what do you think I should do?"

Yi Shumin was speechless on the spot.

Zhou Jiao put the child down, letting her walk on the floor by herself. She gave Yi Shumin a sidelong glance and sighed inwardly. Looks like this little girlfriend was done too.

Whether those goading words came from the Yi Family, the Fang family, or were just her own questions, this "afraid there won’t be enough chaos" mindset already made Zhou Jiao feel fed up.

What she hated most was people playing mind games with her.

As for Liang Family, she truly didn’t take them that seriously, but she also didn’t want her father to fight the people behind Liang Family to the death and let outsiders reap the benefits.

Looking at her daughter, Yi Shumin sighed. "If you’re too kind, people will bully you. When it’s time to act, you still have to act."

"Did you get some wind of something? Is their family planning to go after mine again?"

Yi Shumin shook her head. "No, nothing like that. It’s just that at the end of the year, the third son of Liang Family got promoted."

The third son of Liang Family?

Zhou Jiao finally understood why she’d brought up Liang Family. That fellow was competing with the Fang family’s eldest daughter for a promotion to a position in the Bureau of Commerce. Were they planning to treat her as a toy?

Who did they think Zhou Jiao was, to be used as a knife?

"You scared me. Let him get promoted if he wants. I thought it was something big." Zhou Jiao promptly changed the subject. "Has Brother Xiao Fei been busy lately?"

"Pretty busy."

Seeing her listless, Zhou Jiao couldn’t help but laugh. "Don’t tell me he’s so busy he doesn’t even have time to make a baby? Didn’t you say last time you were going to start trying? Well? Any news?"

At the mention of children, Yi Shumin frowned and rubbed her belly. "Do you think I should go see a doctor?"

"Sure, go have a look, that’s fine too." Zhou Jiao agreed offhand. At another time she might have had the mood to take her pulse. Right now, she was actually grateful her master had hidden one more layer of their identity.

Who would have thought the Divine Doctor Hu that thousands searched high and low for was her own master? Turns out wherever you go, you still have to keep a trump card. You still have to be on guard.

After sitting a while, Yi Shumin picked up her child, took her leave, and went home.

On the way, she kept replaying her father’s reminders in her mind. Could it be that Zhou Jiao really was very deep and calculating? Just now she hadn’t seen the slightest trace of anything off about her.

Before she even reached the door, Aunt Fang hurried out to meet her, taking the child from her hand and looking at her niece-in-law with hopeful eyes, wanting to hear some good news.

Seeing this, Yi Shumin gave a slight shake of her head.

"What? She..."

Yi Shumin quickly cut in. "Aunt, let’s talk inside."

"Fine. Your grandma’s waiting for you in her room." Aunt Fang wanted to know the details too. Carrying the child, she hurried inside, and once in the sitting room, she handed the child to Auntie, grabbed her niece-in-law’s hand, and rushed into Old Mrs. Fang’s room.

After listening to her granddaughter-in-law’s account, Old Mrs. Fang looked at her eldest daughter, who was about to speak, and shook her head with a smile. "Give it up. There’s no one in this world who’s a fool."

"Mom?"

"Even if you call your father, it won’t help. Don’t drag your niece-in-law into this. Some things, once you’ve hinted at them, that’s enough. Say too much, and these kids’ friendship will be gone too."

At that, Yi Shumin looked at the old lady thoughtfully. "Grandma means that Zhou Jiao has already noticed?"

"Not necessarily." The old lady finished speaking and sighed inwardly. This child really couldn’t hide anything in her heart. How could she say something like that out loud?

Yi Shumin pulled a long face. "It’s over."

"Over what? You girls were just chatting."

"Mom, then do you think I should go find..."

Glancing at the mother and daughter discussing things, Yi Shumin stepped out of the room. She lay for a while in her own bedroom, but still couldn’t feel at ease, so she picked up the child and went to the back to find her own grandmother on the Yi side.

No need to mention how Old Yi scolded her.

The birth of the twins was in itself a kind of pressure on Yi Shumin. Once someone gives in to selfishness and starts comparing, all that talk of "good sisters" becomes meaningless.