A charming widow in her 70s married a factory manager and raised his children.

A bowl of ginger soup was certainly not enough to corrupt Lu Congyue.

He nodded slightly: "Thank you! You should eat too."

Zhuang Qingxiang was surprised that he hadn't finished eating after she had been dawdling for so long. Helpless, she had no choice but to sit down.

Unexpectedly, Lu Congyue took the initiative to strike up a conversation with her.

"Your cooking is excellent, it tastes great."

"Ah? It's...it's alright..." Zhuang Qingxiang almost choked after taking a sip of fish soup.

"Who did you learn this skill from?" Lu Congyue asked.

Zhuang Qingxiang: "I learned it from my mother..."

Lu Congyue thought about the information he had gathered from the investigation.

Zhuang Qingxiang came to Dongya Village with her mother, Zhuang Qingmiao, when she was about seven or eight years old. Then Zhuang Qingmiao married Qian Dayou, had a child, and passed away. At that time, Zhuang Qingxiang was less than ten years old.

A child under ten years old can learn this cooking skill? Who would believe it?!

Lu Congyue's eyes grew colder, but his voice remained relatively gentle: "Cao Xiang?"

"No," Zhuang Qingxiang shook her head. "She's my stepmother. I learned it from my biological mother."

Lu Congyue wouldn't believe a single word of these words; he would go and verify them.

He glanced at Zhuang Qingxiang's hand again, then lowered his eyes and asked casually, "What do you usually do?"

"Huh?" Zhuang Qingxiang didn't quite understand why he suddenly asked this. After hesitating for a moment, she said, "It's just staying at home taking care of the kids and doing housework..."

"No need to work in the fields?"

"Sometimes... there are many children at home, and I'm too busy to take care of them all by myself," Zhuang Qingxiang explained. "I'm very good at housework, Director Lu, don't worry. I can take care of four or five children, let alone three."

This does match what Village Chief Qian said.

Seeing Lu Congyue remain silent, Zhuang Qingxiang quickly ate her food, wishing she could finish it in a second and then disappear.

"Director Lu, the ginger soup is getting cold," she reminded him, then continued eating.

Fearing that it would arouse her suspicion, Lu Congyue decided not to ask any more questions for the time being. He drank the ginger soup while it was still hot and felt a burning sensation. He also broke out in a sweat, but he did feel a little more comfortable than in the morning.

Remembering that he still had clothes to wash, Lu Congyue took out the dirty clothes from his luggage bag and went to the yard to wash them.

Zhuang Qingxiang felt the pressure on her head immediately disappear, and only then could she taste the food. She quickly started eating.

After finishing his meal, Lu Congyue also finished washing his clothes.

Zhuang Qingxiang lowered her head and said, "Director Lu, why don't you go in and keep the child company? I'll get ready."

Lu Congyue responded and lifted the curtain to enter the room.

Come to think of it, after he brought Donghua back, he spent less time with him than Zhuang Qingxiang did.

Looking at the two babies on the kang (a heated brick bed), he didn't know how to keep them company. He felt that Qian Yue, that girl, could at least say a few words to him.

Xiao Qianyue didn't follow them into the house. Instead, she helped Zhuang Qingxiang tidy up. While washing the dishes, she whispered, "Mom, Uncle's here, can I still take a bath tonight?"

"Sure, Mom will boil water for you in a bit." Zhuang Qingxiang pinched her little nose.

This child is becoming increasingly fond of cleanliness, which is a good habit.

It's so hot outside, she wanted to take a shower, but...

Zhuang Qingxiang glanced at the middle window and sighed inwardly; it was so inconvenient.

She had just finished her work when the two children started crying.

Zhuang Qingxiang couldn't help but laugh when she heard Lu Congyue's clumsy attempts to coax the child. She quickly wiped her hands and went inside.

"I'll do it."

Lu Congyue was at a loss with the two crying children when he heard Zhuang Qingxiang's words and quickly agreed, leaving the situation to her.

After coming out, I heard the sound of coaxing the children coming from inside. It was so gentle and soft that the two children stopped crying very quickly.

Lu Congyue wiped his sweat; taking care of a child was indeed something most people couldn't do.

Looking around but not seeing Qian Yue, Lu Congyue went out to look for her and found Qian Yue boiling water in the kitchen.

"Uncle." When Xiao Qianyue saw Lu Congyue, she hurriedly got up from the small stool and called out timidly.

Lu Congyue patted her head: "What are you doing?"

"Would you like to boil water for a bath, Uncle? I'll boil water for you," said the sensible little Qian Yue.

Lu Congyue was taken aback, only to find that he was sweating even more profusely.

"I don't need it. You go keep your mother company. I'll boil the water." Lu Congyue shooed the child out of the kitchen. How could someone so young touch a fire?

After boiling the water, Lu Congyue didn't know what to do. Going inside at this time seemed inconvenient.

The constant pattering of water reached his ears, and Lu Congyue clenched his fists tighter and tighter.

He should leave, but he can't leave.

Inside the house, Zhuang Qingxiang cleaned up Xiao Qianyue and then the two babies. After she finished, she secretly peeked out the window.

Seeing Lu Congyue standing in the courtyard with his back to the house, Zhuang Qingxiang gritted her teeth and said, "Yueyue, you keep watch at the door for your mother."

"Okay." Xiao Qianyue ran to the doorway and sat down.

Zhuang Qingxiang quickly took off her clothes and washed herself clean.

The sound of water continued, and Lu Congyue frowned: This is taking too long to wash, is there something wrong?

He suddenly turned his head and saw Xiao Qianyue squatting at the door.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Mother is taking a bath," Xiao Qianyue said honestly, her voice clear and bright.

Inside the room, Zhuang Qingxiang's cheeks instantly burned.

In the courtyard, Lu Congyue also lost his voice.

An inopportune thought popped into my mind: that snow-white skin. Accompanied by the sound of water, I could almost see water droplets sliding down her skin...

An awkward silence spread from the courtyard into the house. Zhuang Qingxiang quickly dried herself off, changed her clothes, and vowed never to take a bath at this time again. She would wait until Director Lu was at work to avoid such an embarrassing situation.

"Yueyue, come in and go to sleep," she called out.

Xiao Qianyue responded crisply, and Chong Lu Congyue waved his hand: "Uncle, I'm going to sleep."

She turned around and ran back to the inner room. Zhuang Qingxiang saw that she was lying down and quickly turned off the light.

Lu Congyue felt that drinking ginger soup on such a hot day was not a good idea, as he was sweating profusely.

Seeing that the lights in the room were off, he immediately poured cold water over himself and continued until the heat subsided.

He went back to his room, lay down, and stared at the ceiling with his arm as a pillow.

Sleeping was out of the question; he had to make sure Zhuang Qingxiang wouldn't sneak out in the middle of the night.

In the middle of the night, the baby woke up crying. Zhuang Qingxiang cuddled the baby and breastfed him, then changed their diapers. Seeing that they had fallen back into a deep sleep, she rubbed her forehead and got up to get some water.

As I came out of the inner room, I remembered that there was still a man lying outside.

Zhuang Qingxiang belatedly stopped in her tracks. Just as she was about to turn around and go back into the inner room, she heard that the breathing sounded strange.

"Director Lu?" she called out tentatively.

no respond.

Zhuang Qingxiang pulled the light cord, and the power went out again. She quickly went back inside and lit the kerosene lamp.

Carrying the lamp out, I saw Lu Congyue curled up on the small bed, seemingly trembling.

Zhuang Qingxiang quickly stepped forward and touched his forehead; it was burning hot.

Oh no, this is a cold that's gotten worse and I have a fever.

"Director Lu, wake up! You have a fever. Should we go to the infirmary?"

Zhuang Qingxiang was extremely anxious when Lu Congyue did not open his eyes or respond after she called him several times.

I went inside to check on the three children; they were all fast asleep.

Zhuang Qingxiang steeled her resolve, placed her pillow on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), and rushed out the door.