I was married off to a disabled hero in lieu of marriage; my in-laws doted on me and I aspired to gr

"Qiaoqiao, I didn't embarrass you, did I?" Zhou Wenhui asked smugly on the playground.

"Who gave you the right to look at He Yuan so tenderly?"

"No, I'm just trying to please Teacher He. What if he fires you if I don't?"

"You, you're not allowed to come to school anymore."

"Why?"

Why, why? And now, all the men are going to be stolen away.

"You promised to write the self-criticism, but I'm not going to," Qiaoqiao said angrily.

"I'll write, I'll write, I'll write as soon as I get back. It's just a thousand words, right? Don't forget, your husband makes his living by writing." Zhou Wenhui quickly coaxed Qiaoqiao.

"Okay, you can go back now. Did you come by bus or were you brought by your driver?"

"The driver brought me here, so don't be angry anymore. I'm going back now. See you tonight."

Zhou Wenhui looked at Qiaoqiao with an ambiguous expression, and Qiaoqiao pushed him away, saying, "Go back quickly."

After seeing Zhou Wenhui off, Qiaoqiao thought to herself, "Beautiful women are just as dangerous as handsome men."

Back in the classroom, Wang Min immediately approached Yang Qiao and asked, "Yang Qiao, what did the homeroom teacher say?"

"Pay me 100 yuan for medical expenses and write a 1,000-word self-criticism."

"Isn't the homeroom teacher being too protective of Wu Dan? Why should she only pay 100 yuan? That's half a year's worth of our food expenses!" Wang Min said indignantly.

"Who told me to hit her on the head? Wang Min, forget it, let's just ignore her from now on."

"This is outrageous! Just wait, I'll get my revenge for you sooner or later." Wang Min's eyes blazed with hatred.

"Wang Min, I admire you so much. You go to work every day, take care of two children, and still manage to get into university. That's amazing."

Qiaoqiao changed the subject.

Wang Min immediately deflated, a sorrowful expression on her face: "I was a high school student, sent down to the countryside, and ten years have passed in the blink of an eye. I miss my parents in the city day and night, but they are just ordinary people and have no way to send me back. The college entrance exam gave me a chance. I studied like crazy, and now that I'm back in the city, my child will have a future..."

"Does your husband support your decision to go to university?"

Wang Min shook her head: "Of course he didn't agree. I threatened him, saying that if he didn't let me take the exam, I would kill myself. I actually died once. I jumped into the reservoir and almost suffocated, but someone rescued me."

Yang Qiao, it's so hard for a woman to achieve anything on her own. Wu Dan's words were crude, but she was right. If I were even a little prettier, I wouldn't have had to sell my looks to get a chance to go to university at thirty-two! But everything's alright now, I succeeded, I passed the exam.

"Would you divorce your husband?"

"No, he has the two kids under his control. After they finish university and I have a stable job, I'll bring them to the city. The kids can study in the city, and the man can do odd jobs. They won't starve."

Is your man good to you?

"It's not bad, I guess. He doesn't want me to go to university because he's afraid I'll divorce him once I go to the city. I'm already this age, I have no illusions about love anymore, I just want to raise the children and give them a good future."

"Then I wish Wang Min all her dreams come true."

"Thank you, Yang Qiao."

Three days into the new semester, Yang Qiao made her first good friend.

When Zhou Wenhui got home from school, he had already finished get off work and was playing with Zhou Xiaowei in the living room, while Hu Xiaomei was cooking in the kitchen.

"Xiaowei, Mommy's back. Mommy was wronged today and is a little unhappy."

Zhou Xiaowei jumped around excitedly in front of Qiaoqiao, stretched out his arms, and shouted, "Hug, hug..."

Qiaoqiao also sat down in the "pigpen," hugged her son, and asked, "Xiaowei, why can't you call me 'Mommy' yet? Call me 'Mommy...'"

Zhou Xiaowei completely ignored commands and kept yelling incoherently.

Zhou Wenhui took a piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to Qiaoqiao: "The self-criticism is finished, take a look."

"If I don't watch it, I'll have to pay 100 yuan and write a self-criticism. I'm so angry!"

"Look at this, look at your man's writing skills." Zhou Wenhui insisted on stuffing the letter of self-criticism into Qiaoqiao's hands.

Qiaoqiao opened the letter of self-criticism with dissatisfaction, and as she read it, she suddenly burst into laughter: "Zhou Wenhui, if this were ancient times, you would definitely be the most cunning and treacherous minister."

"Hey, where did I write that wrong? Such sincere words, you can't say that about your husband."

"Haha, I'll definitely recite this self-criticism properly tomorrow. Zhou Wenhui, where did you learn that trick?"

"Is it necessary to learn this? This is how my family raises its children."

Hearing the laughter, Hu Xiaomei poked her head out from the kitchen and asked, "What's making you so happy?"

"Sister Hu, I'm happy to have read your self-criticism."

"No, you college students have to write self-criticisms?"

"Of course, if you do something wrong, you have to reflect on it. I like writing self-criticisms."

Qiaoqiao carefully put the letter of self-criticism into Huang Junyong's bag, making sure it wasn't lost, as she would have to read it aloud to the whole class tomorrow.

"Qiaoqiao, are you not angry anymore?"

"Just thinking about how angry Wu Dan will be tomorrow makes me happy. Xiao Wei, have fun, Mommy's helping Aunt Hu cook."

Seeing that Qiaoqiao was genuinely happy, Zhou Wenhui was also pleased. "Whoever bullies my wife, I'll bully them!" he thought. "You little brat, you dare challenge the number one broker in Huailin City?"

Dinner consisted of stir-fried loofah, pan-fried tofu with minced meat, and sauerkraut soup.

Xiao Wei ate all the minced meat. The little guy's diet is basically the same as the adults', eating rice with minced meat and loofah soup.

While feeding him, Hu Xiaomei said, "Xiaowei has a good appetite. He eats three meals a day, breakfast, lunch and dinner, and he also has a snack in the afternoon. I make him a small pot of porridge, which he really likes."

"Sister Hu, Xiaowei already weighs 40 pounds. He can't eat too much; getting fat isn't good either."

"What's wrong with him? Look at him, how strong he is. Boys should be chubby."

Hu Xiaomei's eyes were full of affection, and Qiaoqiao couldn't help but worry that if she continued to spoil him like this, the boy might become unruly.

"Sister Hu, Mom will be back in a couple of days. You won't need to go grocery shopping anymore. Mom will bring the groceries back at noon. You're working so hard taking care of the kids, grocery shopping, and cooking."

"It's not hard work. With such a high salary, you have to do some work, right? I took Xiaowei to buy groceries this morning, and the little guy was very happy."

Qiaoqiao was genuinely satisfied with the nanny; her heart and soul were truly devoted to her family.

"Mom's coming back the day after tomorrow, and her work is all arranged," Zhou Wenhui said while eating.

"Should we go back to the military hospital?"

"No, transfer to the local municipal hospital."

"Still the director?"

"That's impossible. She'll just be a general surgeon. When I tried to get my mentor's wife a transfer to another factory, I thought of my mother. She was a top surgeon at the military hospital, but after two years of absence, her position was filled, and she can only be a general doctor. Given my mentor's situation, barring any unforeseen circumstances, the textile factory will find an excuse to reduce her salary within a year at most. It's different at the machine factory. My mentor was injured for the factory; who would dare to reduce her salary?"

"Wenhui, I think you are exceptionally smart."

"I've always been smart, haven't I? If I hadn't been injured, I would have at least risen to the rank of major general in the military."

"What is your father's military rank?"

"My father was a general. If he hadn't been transferred to a local post, he could have been promoted to marshal."

"Marshal? That's amazing! My dad has no airs at all; he's just as approachable as the old man next door."

"Their generation was different from ours. They only joined the army when they were starving. They risked their lives for a bite to eat. Among his comrades, the lowest rank they survived was a regimental commander. Fu Sanjun, the secretary of the Tonggang County Party Committee, and Tang Ping, the director of the machinery factory, both studied at the military party school with my father. Fu Sanjun and Tang Ping were discharged and returned to civilian life early, but my father stayed in the army."

"No wonder Director Tang gave you so much face."

"They have a sense of justice in their hearts. What they fear most are those officials who rely on their fathers' protection, who are incompetent and immoral, who flaunt their power and do nothing but show off their official authority."

"Is he like the mayor?"

"I don't know the mayor. Judging from the fact that he even targets the pigs and rabbits in Dashui Village, he is also a narrow-minded person."