"Liu Cuilan, Lanhua's only just getting better, and you're here stirring up trouble again..."
Those in the room were stunned by Liu Cuilan's words.
Grandma Shen snapped back first, saying firmly, "If you've nothing else to do, don't stand here bothering Lanhua while she rests!"
Liu Cuilan shot Grandma Shen a fierce glare. With a cold snort, she raised her voice even louder, "That precious granddaughter of yours—you're still protecting her!"
"I'm telling you, we're going to catch her this time for sure!"
Her eyes gleamed with malice, her expression one of unwavering determination as she swept her gaze over Grandma Shen and Li Dazhuang.
She quickly walked to the hospital bed and reached for Wang Lanhua's hand. "Lanhua, come on. Your mother will go with you to the Family Planning Office!
Tell them all about Zhou Zhijun and Li Chun Tao's scandal. The people there hate that kind of thing the most—they'll definitely get justice for you!"
Wang Lanhua yanked her hand away abruptly, supporting herself to get out of bed. Seeing this, Li Dazhuang hurried over to help her, saying, "Lanhua, do you need to use the restroom? Take it slow!"
Wang Lanhua twisted away from him, her voice hoarse but stubborn. "Let go of me! I'm going to the Family Planning Office!"
Grandma Shen panicked at this and rushed to persuade her. "Lanhua, you haven't even finished your month of confinement yet. Your body is terribly weak.
If you go out now and catch an illness, it'll haunt you for life!"
"Yes, Lanhua, your health comes first!" Li Dazhuang reached for her arm again.
But Liu Cuilan kept urging from the side, "Come on, Lanhua, what's the holdup? The Family Planning Office will close soon!"
"Let me go!" Wang Lanhua's red-rimmed eyes glared at Li Dazhuang. Not daring to stop her forcefully, he had to let go.
Liu Cuilan immediately moved in, taking Wang Lanhua's arm. "Come on, your mother will go with you—let's see who dares stop us!"
Grandma Shen and Li Dazhuang couldn't talk her out of it and were afraid of upsetting Wang Lanhua and harming her health, so they had no choice but to let her go.
Grandma Shen quickly grabbed a thick scarf from the head of the bed and wrapped it around Wang Lanhua's head. "Nothing is more precious than your health."
Worried, Li Dazhuang followed behind as well.
They found Director Zhang at the Family Planning Office. Liu Cuilan was the first to speak, exaggerating and embellishing the story about Li Chun Tao.
Wang Lanhua, pale as paper and weak, added, "Li Chun Tao from Wang Family Village has hidden away in a mountain ravine to have a baby in secret.
This is a violation of the family planning policy—a direct challenge to the government..."
Liu Cuilan immediately chimed in, "She's almost due. If you don't go now, once the baby's born, it'll be too late!"
Director Zhang, who had been fretting over not meeting the birth control targets, perked up at this news. He slapped the table and asked, "Is this for real? You'd better not be making this up!"
"Absolutely true! They're hiding in Dongshan, at Liu Family Gully, in Zhou Zhijun's second aunt's house. If you raid it, you'll catch them for sure!" Liu Cuilan said with certainty.
"Understood. Go home for now. We'll hold a meeting to discuss this and make sure everything is foolproof before we act. Above all, don't let any word leak out." Director Zhang waved them off.
As she left, Liu Cuilan lingered at the doorframe, urging again, "Director Zhang, you've got to be quick! If they run away, it'll be much harder to find them!"
Still reeling from the loss of their child and with no desire to meddle in such affairs, Li Dazhuang silently supported the weak and shaky Wang Lanhua as they headed back to the clinic.
Grandma Shen felt a knot in her stomach, her heart hanging in the balance.
If what Liu Cuilan said about Li Chun Tao was true, then everything would be completely ruined.
But worrying was useless; she was too old and frail to make the trip to Dongshan.
With Wang Lanhua in this condition and Li Dazhuang tied down, there was nothing to be done. Grandma Shen let out a heavy sigh and had to leave it to fate.
On the other side, after returning from Green Mountain Street, Liu Cuilan went to report the good news to Wang Jieshi.
"Jieshi, it's all set! The Family Planning Office agreed to arrest them. Let's see where they can run now!
This time, we'll make sure they get what's coming to them! Zhou Zhijun is truly finished—no one can save him!"
Wang Jieshi lay sprawled on the bed like a lump of mud, his eyes fixed on the broken rafters overhead, his withered hands gripping the coarse bedsheet beneath him.
Through clenched teeth, he hissed, "Is Li Chun Tao's belly really that big?"
Everyone had only guessed about Li Chun Tao being pregnant; no one had actually seen it. In his heart, Wang Jieshi had always doubted it.
"As if there's any doubt! Baldy Zhang made a special trip to Dongshan and saw it with his own eyes—she's almost due!" Liu Cuilan's eyes went wide.
Wang Jieshi's breathing grew faster, his teeth grinding audibly.
But then a thought struck him: the child in Li Chun Tao's belly might not necessarily be Zhou Zhijun's.
If it wasn't, and Zhou Zhijun found out the truth, would he go berserk?
A sinister smile crept across Wang Jieshi's lips, a glint of calculation in his eyes.
"Let her give birth!" he said abruptly.
Liu Cuilan froze, confused. "Jieshi, have you lost your mind? That child is Zhou Zhijun's! Having an abortion would be the only way for you to feel better!"
"Not necessarily," Wang Jieshi said through gritted teeth.
"What nonsense are you talking! Who else could it be if not Zhou Zhijun?" Liu Cuilan frowned.
"Wasn't Wang Haichao the one who took her there..." Before Wang Jieshi could finish, Liu Cuilan cut him off in a panic.
"The first time didn't work at all—they were knocked out by that bastard Zhou Zhijun!
The second time, he caught them red-handed; they didn't even touch a finger on her!
There's no one else but Zhou Zhijun!"
Wang Jieshi was stunned. He had always believed that plan had succeeded. That damn Wang Haichao had fooled him!
It finally dawned on him why Li Chun Tao had been wide awake when she came back that day.
"Damn it, Wang Haichao, you son of a bitch! How dare you lie to me..."
Wang Jieshi trembled with rage and slammed his fist against the bedboard. "The first time Zhou Zhijun caught you, and you still dared a second?
If you'd listened to me back then, we wouldn't be in this mess today!"
"Jieshi, what's the use of cursing him now?
The most important thing is to get the Family Planning Office to catch them.
They're violating policy!"
Mother and son whispered in the room for a while before Liu Cuilan left.
As soon as she stepped out of the yard, she ran into Aunt Zhou face to face.
Aunt Zhou was carrying a half-basket of sweet potatoes on her arm. When she saw Liu Cuilan, her face darkened, and she turned into her own yard.
Once inside the gate, she saw Zhou Zhiguo sitting in the house, talking with Old Man Zhou, who was tapping his pipe against the doorstep rhythmically.
"Mother, you're back." Zhou Zhiguo quickly stood up and took the basket from Aunt Zhou's arm.
Since he rarely visited, she asked, "Zhiguo, what brings you here today? Is something the matter?"
"Mother, just a small favor."
Zhou Zhiguo rubbed his hands together and said, "Someone has set up a match for Xiaowei. A girl is coming tomorrow to take a look at him. I wanted to borrow your piano stool to arrange things and make a better impression."
"I'm not going on any blind date!" Zhou Xiaowei suddenly walked in from the gate, his face full of reluctance. "I'm still young! I don't want a wife yet!"
"Young? You're twenty! Kids your age in the village already have children running around!
If you wait any longer, all the good girls will be taken!" Zhou Zhiguo glared at him, his tone scolding.
Zhou Xiaowei fell silent. He slipped quietly into the kitchen with Aunt Zhou. "Grandma, when is sister-in-law Li Chun Tao coming back?"
Aunt Zhou paused in her work. She cast a sharp glance at him and said sternly, "Don't go poking your nose into things you shouldn't. Just mind your own business!"
“Grandma, why are you hiding her away? Don’t you plan to find her a husband?” Zhou Xiaowei pressed on, unwilling to give up.
“Whether she finds a husband or not is none of your business. You’d better worry about your own affairs and get engaged soon!”
Aunt Zhou washed her hands and looked at him. “Hongxia isn’t getting any younger either. If you, as her older brother, don’t settle down, you’ll hold her back, and she’ll have a hard time finding a good match herself!”
Zhou Xiaowei tugged at Aunt Zhou’s arm and lowered his voice even more. “Grandma, I don’t want to just marry anyone. I want to find someone as pretty and gentle as Sister-in-law Li Chun Tao, but there’s no one like her!”
Hearing this, Aunt Zhou paused, the dishcloth in her hand, and shot him a stern glare. “Nonsense!”
She never expected that this boy had set his heart on Li Chun Tao.
