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

"What's going on here? Who are you, and why are you in my house?"

Little Qian Yue, who had been holding back her tears, burst into tears and rushed towards Lu Congyue, crying, "Uncle Lu, they're bad people! Get rid of them! Waaah..."

Qian Haoqing had acted impulsively, but upon hearing the voice, he instantly calmed down, turned around with a cold sweat on his brow, and stammered, "Director Lu, I'm Qian Haoqing... my older sister's younger brother. We've met before..."

Lu Congyue's face darkened, and his gaze shifted from him to Zhuang Qingxiang's face. Seeing that she was half-sitting with a face as ugly as a ghost, he couldn't help but fly into a rage.

"Why are you sitting up? It's just two uninvited guests. Is it really worth getting up to greet them? Don't you want to get better?!"

Zhuang Qingxiang breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Lu Congyue return. Just as she was about to lie down, he scolded her harshly without her being able to explain. She bit her lip and obediently lay down.

Xu Liantao, who had just been pretending to be in pain while clutching her stomach, didn't dare to utter a sound when facing Lu Congyue.

Aside from the village chief, she had never seen such a high-ranking official before, and she was instinctively afraid.

"Yueyue, go and soothe your two younger brothers, they're too noisy!" Lu Congyue said again, his voice becoming a bit gentler.

Xiao Qianyue responded crisply and quickly climbed onto the kang (a heated brick bed) to soothe her two younger brothers who had been woken up and were crying incessantly.

Qian Haoqing and Xu Liantao stood there, at a loss.

They might have dared to pester someone else, but Lu Congyue's imposing presence made them afraid to even breathe.

Just as the air seemed to freeze, Lu Congyue coldly snorted, "Who slapped Yueyue's face?!"

Qian Haoqing trembled with fear and dared not speak, and Xu Liantao was even less likely to speak.

Zhuang Qingxiang said softly, "They both hit each other."

Lu Congyue raised his hand, his fist clenched so tightly it cracked.

Qian Haoqing's face turned pale, and Xu Liantao frantically grabbed his arm, crying, "Haoqing..."

"Director Lu, it's all a misunderstanding..."

"My sister, my sister hit me too, and she also hit my wife."

Qian Haoqing was rambling incoherently.

"Are you done talking?" Lu Congyue's gaze swept coldly over them, and he raised his hand to punch Qian Haoqing.

Slaps? He's not good at that; he's good at punches.

So what if Zhuang Qingxiang beat them up? How much strength could her frail body possibly have?

They broke into his house, hit his... no, hit her daughter, and bullied her. They deserved that punch.

"Director Lu!"

Just as he was about to throw his punch at Xu Liantao, Zhuang Qingxiang blurted out, "She's pregnant!"

Lu Congyue frowned.

He had no rule against hitting women; if a woman was in the enemy's position, then she deserved to be torn to pieces.

But pregnant women...

He didn't want to get involved in any further trouble.

So, the fist, the size of a sandbag, continued to fall on Qian Haoqing.

Since it's a married couple, they can't fight over one of them, so this one has to pay off the debt.

Xu Liantao kept screaming, shouting to stop, and saying she would report the police.

Lu Congyue withdrew his fist, rotated his wrist, and looked down at her condescendingly, saying, "You two broke into my house, committed violence, and injured the child. I hit you in self-defense. If you report it to the police, you'll just be arrested and put in jail! If you don't believe me, go ahead and try."

He then looked at Xiao Qianyue, whose little face was already half swollen.

Enraged, he said fiercely, "My child's face is swollen like this. I'll take her to the hospital for a medical examination. You two are responsible for this, and neither of you will get away with it!"

"Now, all of you, get out!"

With a roar, Qian Haoqing and Xu Liantao stumbled out, nearly wetting themselves in fright.

After escaping the factory, Xu Liantao slapped her thigh: "We forgot to bring back our eggs!"

"You're still worried about the eggs? Hurry up and take me to see a doctor, I'm in so much pain!" Qian Haoqing said with a mournful face.

Lu Congyue was watching them from the factory gate when they rolled out.

He then berated the security personnel, blaming them for allowing unimportant people to come and go as they pleased.

The staff member on duty said aggrievedly, "They said they were Comrade Zhuang Qingxiang's younger brother and sister-in-law... Moreover, I had someone ask Comrade Zhuang Qingxiang, and they were only allowed in after receiving permission..."

Lu Congyue frowned: "Impossible. Go find that person again and ask them. Once you understand the situation, write a self-criticism and hand it in!"

On-duty staff: "..."

After reprimanding the man, Lu Congyue went to find Shi Peiran and asked him to bring the first-aid kit and go home with him.

Shi Peiran was furious when he saw that half of Xiao Qianyue's face was swollen.

"How could someone lay a hand on a child? That's outrageous!"

Zhuang Qingxiang remained silent, filled with apologies.

The person who laid the hand on her was her blood-related brother; it's a disgrace...

"Mom, I'm fine," Xiao Qianyue said indistinctly, enduring the pain and not daring to cry, afraid that crying would make her mother even more upset. "They're the bad ones!"

"I've made it clear to the security department that they won't be allowed in anymore!" Lu Congyue said in a deep voice. "Don't worry, this kind of thing won't happen again."

"Thank you..." Zhuang Qingxiang said softly.

Seeing that she looked unwell and tired, Lu Congyue took Shi Peiran and Xiao Qianyue to the outer room so that Zhuang Qingxiang could rest for a while.

Zhuang Qingxiang was indeed exhausted. She had barely slept since the incident last night, and every time she fell into a deep sleep, she would be woken up very quickly.

After Qian Haoqing and Xu Liantao's outburst, she was utterly exhausted, both physically and mentally.

At first, she was worried about her two children, but she fell asleep within seconds.

After a while, Lu Congyue confirmed that Zhuang Qingxiang was asleep, so he simply took the two children out and put them on the wire bed.

That way, when they wake up, I can take care of them in time and won't let them wake Zhuang Qingxiang.

Zhuang Qingxiang slept very soundly and for a very long time, but was eventually woken up by the intense pain in her swollen breasts.

She slept without knowing the time or how long it had been since she last breastfed. All she knew was that her breasts hurt so much she didn't dare touch them, and the clothes on her chest felt cold—she was leaking milk.

The room was dark and quiet. Zhuang Qingxiang felt inexplicably uneasy and reached out to touch the person beside her.

Not finding the child, she cried out in fear, "Yueyue, Yueyue?"

"Mother." On the other side, Xiao Qianyue rubbed her eyes and scrambled to her feet, then went to the wall and pulled the light cord.

The light came on, and Zhuang Qingxiang squinted. After adjusting her eyes for a moment, she opened them again and saw that the two children were not on the kang (a heated brick bed).

"Yueyue, where are the two for your little brother?" Zhuang Qingxiang was anxious and wanted to get up to look for the children.

Lu Congyue's voice came from outside the door.

"The two children are with me, don't worry, you can rest easy."

Zhuang Qingxiang was startled, then slowly came to her senses. Yes, this was Lu Congyue's house. He was an adult and could take care of the child.

Outside the door, Lu Congyue continued, "If you need anything, just ask Yueyue for help. I can look after the two children."

Zhuang Qingxiang breathed a sigh of relief, but immediately a host of physical discomforts rushed over her.

Chest pain, back pain, back pain... pain everywhere.

That's not the hardest part; the hardest part is when someone has to use the restroom...

Zhuang Qingxiang bit her lip and whispered, "Yueyue, help your mother to the outhouse..."