Capítulo 794: Chapter 535: Huakang’s Decision
Second watch.
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Hearing Old Madam Zhou mention himself, Old Master Zhou happily chimed in, “Yes, Brother Wan, being with you makes me not want to go anywhere else. You wouldn’t believe how envious Old Man Ye is of me right now, hahaha…”
Old Master Wan couldn’t help but laugh. Indeed, every time Old Man Ye saw him and Old Zhou playing chess, he couldn’t help but pout and glare.
The reason being, when Old Zhou and Old Ye played chess, they would always argue until they were red in the face. These two were quite amusing; when they were together, they couldn’t last ten minutes without quarreling, but after a few days apart, they would start missing each other like crazy, saying they absolutely need to get together…to argue…
This is also a way of expressing friendship, he understood well. When it truly comes down to it, it’s still Old Zhou and Old Ye who have deep feelings for each other. No matter how much the younger generation messes around, the feelings from having faced battles together run deep in their blood.
It was getting late, so after a bit of idle chat, the elders went upstairs to sleep. Yu Tao with her big belly couldn’t stay up late, even though Zhou Xikang was yet unfinished with his fun, he could only reluctantly help his wife back to their room.
Soon, the only ones left in the living room were Zhou Huakang and Zhou Mikang with Chuxia.
“Third Brother, third sister-in-law, you should rest early too.” Zhou Huakang stood up.
“Wait a moment.” Zhou Mikang waved him down, “Sit down, let’s talk.”
“Talk… about what?” Out of nowhere, Zhou Huakang felt his heart start racing.
“Guilty about something, huh? You look terrified…” Zhou Mikang looked at him amused, “I think you should come clean now, instead of making me squeeze it out of you drop by drop like toothpaste.”
“I haven’t done anything guilty!” Zhou Huakang grinned sheepishly, “Third Brother, you know I’ve worshiped you since I was little. You suddenly speaking to me so seriously makes me nervously overwhelmed.”
“Is that so? Then I’m curious, why have you been avoiding us these past few days?” Zhou Mikang squinted at him, “Confession leads to leniency, resistance brings severity.”
“I…I haven’t been avoiding you guys, Third Brother, are you misunderstanding?”
“Alright, stop pretending. That look on your face shows you’re guilty, hurry up and spill. I don’t have the patience to go around in circles with you. Also, think about it clearly, if you don’t talk now, don’t blame me for being unsympathetic when you need my help later.”
This was basically coercion and temptation. Chuxia laughed with her eyes crinkling; she was the one curious, so Zhou Mikang was questioning on her behalf—is she pleased or what?
“Which aspect is Third Brother referring to?” Zhou Huakang continued to struggle.
“Forget it, Chuxia, let’s go rest.” Zhou Mikang said as he stood up. Zhou Huakang panicked and quickly grabbed his sleeve, “Third Brother, sit down, sit down, I’ll talk, isn’t that okay?”
“Go ahead.” Zhou Mikang sat back down, looking at him calmly, “If you dare lie to me, watch how I deal with you.”
“How would I dare lie to you?” Zhou Huakang bit his lip, “I secretly applied to be a war correspondent, worried Grandpa and Grandma wouldn’t agree, I dared not say anything, intending to wait until the selection process was over before telling the family.”
“Are you really decided?” Zhou Mikang looked at him seriously, “Third Uncle only has you as a son. Now that your sister’s whereabouts are unknown, you are his hope. If something happens to you, he might not be able to bear it.”
“So I am very conflicted.” Zhou Huakang sighed deeply, “I know that doing this wrongs him the most, but, this is my aspiration. If I don’t go, I might regret it for a lifetime.”
“You’ve been using an alias, right?”
“Yes.” Zhou Huakang smiled awkwardly, “This type of work allows using a pen name when recruiting. It’s only when things are confirmed and specific registration is done that a real name is used.”
“You…” Zhou Mikang shook his head with a smile, “Do you know what your big brother guessed?”
“What?” Zhou Huakang looked curious.
“He thought you found a girlfriend, you’re being mysterious every day, and he even saw you personally shopping with a young girl. If he wasn’t afraid of startling you, he would have asked long ago.”
“Big Brother’s imagination…” Zhou Huakang scratched his head, “The person with me was Xiang Xiaoqin; she also made it to the semi-finals. We were there collecting information together.”
“Between you two…” Chuxia leaned forward, “Are you really not in love?” Speaking of which, when they returned home at night, she and Zhou Mikang saw Zhou Huakang walking closely with a girl, otherwise, Zhou Mikang wouldn’t have directly asked him like that.
“I do like her a bit, but haven’t broken the window paper.” Zhou Huakang blushingly smiled, “She doesn’t know our family’s situation; I’m afraid to scare her by saying it out loud, so I want to wait a while until the selection is truly over and then be frank with her.”
“See, if she didn’t like you, how could she agree to go collecting with you!”
The word “collecting” was deliberately emphasized by Chuxia.
“Click!” The door opened and Zhou Shanping walked in.
“Dad, you’re back.”
“Third Uncle, you’re back.”
The three of them greeted in unison, and Zhou Shanping smiled and nodded, “You guys aren’t asleep yet?”
“Dad, look at what you’re saying. If we were asleep, could you still see us?” Maybe because he spoke from the heart, Zhou Huakang felt like a weight was lifted off his chest, and he returned to his usual lively self.
A father knows his son best, Zhou Shanping suspiciously looked him over, “What’s going on today? Troubles in your heart resolved?”
“Dad…” Zhou Huakang looked at his father in surprise, “Did you notice there was something bothering me?”
“My eyes aren’t blind; how could I not see?” Zhou Shanping waved his hand as he spoke, “A son’s grown and independent, so if you didn’t want to talk, I didn’t ask much.”
“Dad…” Zhou Huakang looked at his father apologetically, not knowing what to say.
“Alright, if you’re still unwilling to talk, then don’t. Whenever you feel you can tell Dad, just say it then.” Zhou Shanping said with a smile, sitting opposite them and looking toward Chuxia, “Old Third’s wife, I’ve got good news for you: Qin Mei is pregnant.”
Qin Mei hadn’t been out of the hospital for long before she started dating Yu Jinfu, the son of the elderly man in the next bed. It was Yu Jinfu who was proactive, of course.
At first, Old Master Yu wasn’t quite in favor of it. After all, he had witnessed the extremities of Qin Mei’s brother Qin Sheng and sister-in-law Wang Fong. If such a family became in-laws, it would surely be troublesome in the future.
Moreover, although he was anxious about his son’s marriage, he also didn’t want his son to be with a woman four years older than him.
Actually, he preferred Wang Jing. Although his initial impression of her wasn’t great, after observing, he found Wang Jing to be quite kind-hearted, and she was younger too. For elders, offspring matters are the most important, and a younger daughter-in-law tends to bear children better.
Unfortunately, his son had no feelings for Wang Jing.
Wang Jing had no feelings for his son either.
Later, the old man frequently tried to persuade Wang Jing, until Wang Jing, finally unable to bear it, told him frankly that though she was single, she really didn’t want to have a husband eight or nine years older than herself.
With the conversation reaching this point, Old Master Yu no longer insisted.
Actually, he knew Wang Jing was so young and still wanted her as a daughter-in-law because he knew her background and thought she wouldn’t be so picky.
When he was rejected for real, he felt a bit embarrassed, thinking his son was so outstanding, not too old, and yet was met with such a litany of excuses from a girl without parental care or family—a truly unreasonable situation.
Moreover, Yu Jinfu was determined to be with Qin Mei, so Old Master Yu simply let them be, hands off.
Both Yu Jinfu and Qin Mei were not young. After half a month of dating and finding the match suitable, they registered for marriage, shortly after Zhou Shanping and Wang Lei got married.
After getting married, Qin Mei still continued to work in the mall, so Zhou Shanping was among the first to learn of her pregnancy. When Chuxia first saw through Qin Mei’s fake pregnancy, he felt he should inform Chuxia about this matter.
Given Qin Mei’s age, getting pregnant right after marriage wasn’t a big surprise. Chuxia just smiled and responded, “I’ve heard pregnant women’s tempers can become irritable; is she still treating her colleagues well now?”
“She’s been like a changed person since coming out of the hospital, working tirelessly with an unbelievably good attitude. So now that she’s pregnant, everyone is really taking care of her, and she’s happy as can be, in great spirits.” Zhou Shanping smiled with gratification, “Yu Jinfu treats her well too, coming to pick her up after work every day on time. You tell me, under such a circumstance, how could she possibly have a bad mood?”
Zhou Huakang carefully studied his father’s expression and asked, “Dad, are you feeling a bit envious?”
“Get! Get! Get!” Zhou Shanping glared at him, “What’s there to be envious of in such matters? It’s not like I don’t have sons and daughters, you’re just talking nonsense.”
“You got married around the same time as her, and she’s going to be a mom. Do you really feel nothing?”
“What do you mean?”
“No… no meaning…” Seeing the anger genuinely appear in his father’s eyes, Zhou Huakang was frightened and quickly apologized, “Dad, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t joke around with you like this.”
“Ah!” Zhou Shanping sighed, “I understand what you mean, but if I had to choose again, I’d still choose Wang Lei. She’s the one truly right for me. I already have you, so I’m not regretful for not having kids after marrying her. However, I suppose she might feel regret; ah!”
“Dad, I’m sorry…” After hesitating for a moment, Zhou Huakang confessed to his father that he signed up to be a war correspondent.
After a long silence, Zhou Shanping patted him, “Do what you want to do then; if everyone was afraid of problems and stayed home, who would protect our country?”
“Dad…” Zhou Huakang’s nose felt a bit sour. There was no need to mention the happiness of the eldest uncle’s family; the second uncle’s family was also improving. It was only his family; he was still single, his sister was practically unreachable, and there was also his biological mother who could show up mocking any day. His dad’s life was the hardest. Now with his choice, even if his father scolded him, he would feel a bit better inside. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, feel free to go to Qidian () to vote for it. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit to read.)