As Tian Jing entered the courtyard, she saw her daughter and son-in-law.
She smiled broadly, "It's indeed time for you to return early for the delivery."
Han Lu Shi went to take Tian Jing's luggage, but Tian Jing waved him off, "Too many germs. You stay with Lili, I'll go unpack first."
An hour later, after Tian Jing had finished unpacking and showered, she emerged.
Li Min had already left. Li Wei Li asked her mother, "Why did Auntie tell me to guard against Lin Duo Er?"
Tian Jing's gaze, however, was fixed on the courtyard. Chen Fu and Lin Hua Er, husband and wife, entered the second courtyard with Ji Qing and Ji Xiang.
Zeng Jing Chu took Ji Xiang to the end of the village. Ji Qing, after a warm reunion with his parents, insisted on finding Ji Xiang.
As Chen Fu was coaxing Ji Qing, Li Min arrived and began chiding Lin Hua Er about Lin Duo Er's inappropriate behavior.
Lin Hua Er also felt that her younger sister was not suited to work in her uncle's wife's company. So, she and her husband took the troublesome Ji Qing to pick up Ji Xiang, and they all came to the courtyard.
Ji Qing and Ji Xiang ran to the kitchen to find their great-grandmother. Chen Fu and Lin Hua Er entered the living room.
Tian Jing waved at Chen Fu, "Go to the kitchen and be with Ji Qing and Ji Xiang."
Chen Fu left, and Han Lu Shi, who had been sitting beside Li Wei Li, also departed.
In the living room, there were only Tian Jing, Li Wei Li, and Lin Duo Er.
Tian Jing looked at Lin Hua Er quietly. Lin Hua Er started to sweat nervously, a hint of unease in her eyes, "Auntie, did Duo Er cause you trouble?"
Tian Jing sighed softly and said slowly, "She was punished by Captain Zeng. She can never return."
Lin Hua Er froze for a moment, then relaxed her body, "It's good that she can't return."
Tian Jing raised an eyebrow, "Why do you say that?"
"I can't express it very well," Lin Hua Er mused, "In the past two years, I don't know if it's because I didn't have time to pay attention to her or what, but I feel she has changed a lot."
"I often worried she would cause trouble for me, and I never expected she would provoke Captain Zeng."
"She didn't provoke Captain Zeng," Tian Jing shook her head, "but I fired her. With her ambition and a trace of hatred for me, she would definitely be a disaster if left unchecked."
"Captain Zeng has arranged for her to be an ordinary employee in the special training team, serving the members, and never to be able to leave."
Ambition? Hatred?
Lin Hua Er and Li Wei Li looked at Tian Jing in disbelief.
Tian Jing first recounted the verbal agreement from two years ago and her own compensatory psychology.
Then she spoke about Lin Duo Er's job search experiences during their recent trip, and Lin Duo Er's resentment towards her for agreeing to let her seek work.
She also described Lin Duo Er's dual behavior, both in front of her and behind her back, during the two years she worked at the nursery:
"... Hua Er, regardless of the past grievances between your parents and us, we elders will not perpetuate those grudges. Otherwise, we would not have been able to expose Lin En Hu and rescue your father."
"Just your entry into the Chen family makes you our kin. Furthermore, I personally rescinded that verbal agreement, so I felt I should be more tolerant of her."
"She was the primary reason for this trip. I wanted to show her the world, let her face some setbacks, and prevent her from being led astray by some restless women, so she would understand the difficulties women face when working."
"Even when Captain Zeng said he would send her to the special training team, I pleaded for her."
"After rescuing her, I asked your Auntie to take her away while I followed up on the case, and then erase all traces of her existence. She actually planned to escape."
"At that moment, I knew she hated me, hated me because if I hadn't gone back on my word, she would have become the eldest daughter-in-law of the Li family."
"I am very fortunate, fortunate that I went back on my word. Otherwise, if I let someone like her be my eldest daughter-in-law, I might have disowned Hao Hao. This son would be better off without."
"Because Hao Hao is a person with a strong sense of responsibility. Once married, he will not divorce."
Facing Tian Jing, who was filled with a sense of desolation, Lin Hua Er knelt down with a thud:
"Auntie, you are not wrong. It is Duo Er who is wrong. She has brought it upon herself. She was blessed but did not appreciate it."
"The verbal agreement was also initiated by her. She went to provoke eldest cousin and got him to agree to the protocol."
"No one stipulated that an agreement cannot be revoked. Her original intentions were impure."
"She has let down your good intentions. I apologize to you on her behalf. It is my fault for not educating her well."
Tian Jing looked at the kneeling woman with a faint expression, "Lin Hua Er, regarding the Duo Er incident, I must admit the power of heredity."
"You are girls. If you were boys and your parents disliked you, you would probably have been spoiled into becoming tyrants in Ku Shan, comparable to your grand-uncle in his youth."
"Your childhood experiences, coupled with the relatively good family atmosphere and guidance at your grand-uncle's home, have made your and your sister's temperaments quite acceptable to outsiders. Even I was deceived by Lin Duo Er for two years."
"Among your four sisters, it appears only you are still normal. Your marriage to Xiao Fu was achieved with your uncle's strong support for Xiao Fu."
"Not only did I not object, but I also persuaded your mother-in-law to agree."
"I hope you will not let Xiao Fu down and will not disappoint your uncle and me."
"I won't," Lin Hua Er shook her head firmly, "Please, Auntie, watch my future performance."
Tian Jing waved her hand, "You can go back. I'm tired."
"Yes."
Lin Hua Er respectfully rose and retreated from the main hall.
Li Wei Li, holding her pregnant belly, stood up and then slowly sat back down beside her mother.
"Mom, from now on, just be good to our own family. We can still be beaten and scolded if we're disobedient. You've hurt yourself."
Tian Jing chuckled, "In what way do you see that I've been hurt?"
Li Wei Li's eyes were filled with concern and heartache, "Your mood is low."
"It's just fatigue," Tian Jing shook her head, "The exhaustion from leading three regiments to the capital for more than ten days, plus the weariness from feeling helpless about the fate of those women."
"In places like that, there are surely many more. But no matter how capable I am, I can't eliminate such establishments."
"Not to mention the complications and difficulties in gathering evidence, even if they were cleared out, they would reappear after things settled down."
"And what is most heartbreaking is the case of underage girls like Lin Man, who were sold by their own families. In the face of money and desire, humanity has no bottom line."
Li Wei Li tugged at her mother's sleeve, "Don't worry about these things, Mom. Darkness can never disappear completely."
"You should focus on educating the next generation. This one in my belly is a girl. She must be taught to be free of desires to have a peaceful life."
Tian Jing smiled. Her daughter was about to become a mother, and she was already worrying about her children's education and showing concern for her as an elder.
"You are right. We should educate our descendants not to covet what does not belong to them."
...
Chen Fu was called home by his wife, who wouldn't even let the two children stay.
He glanced at his wife, whose face was a little pale. He bid farewell to his grandmother and coaxed the two children away.
Seeing them return, Chen Fu, who had been watching the two little ones, went to the south building to wash up and rest.
After coaxing Ji Qing and Ji Xiang to play with toys, Chen Fu asked his wife what was wrong.
Lin Hua Er hugged her husband and wept softly. This time, because of her younger sister's entanglement, she had also been branded with the mark of heredity by her aunt.
She couldn't guarantee that she wouldn't change as the years passed, just as her mindset now was completely different from when she first got married.
"Xiao Fu, I'm sorry. I've been too temperamental lately, often snapping at you."
Chen Fu gently patted his wife's back, "What exactly happened?"