Chapter 137: Instructions

Chapter 137

An ZhiXian and Pei Jing were just outside the door and hadn't gone far. He rarely smoked, but at this moment, facing this former elder who was now his brother-in-law, he still wanted to smoke a cigarette to calm his mood.

Who knew that as soon as he took out the cigarette case, Pei Jing said, "Smoke away from me. Pregnant women can't smell smoke, you know."

An ZhiXian's hand reaching for the cigarette paused. He resignedly put it back.

"No wonder I haven't seen you touch one these days. You're quite self-aware," An ZhiXian said to him, "Uncle, do you mind telling me what exactly is going on between you and ZhiXia?"

An ZhiXian's switch back to this form of address represented his sincerity.

Pei Jing smiled. "After spending a few days in the barracks, I thought you'd already asked your big brother."

This meant their eldest brother definitely knew. "I did ask, but big brother..." he said not to speak ill of others behind their backs, especially his own sister and brother-in-law, so he shouldn't pry too much.

But people were naturally curious. Knowing only half the truth was sometimes worse than not knowing at all. Not understanding clearly was like a fishbone stuck in his throat, extremely uncomfortable.

Also, wasn't the reason why the grandparents asked the sisters to come over because they were no longer trying to keep it from them? Or to be more precise, they wanted the sisters to see clearly the harm ZhiXia had suffered before. It wasn't that simple now that she had returned.

They had specifically asked Granny Zhou to come over to supervise Zhou Nan, so she wouldn't do anything foolish again.

Of course, 'they' didn't include An ZhiXian. But who could have predicted that he would be injured and have to stay here for several more days?

"Brother-in-law, this concerns my sister. I still hope I can know the truth myself, rather than finding out one day from others and causing unnecessary misunderstandings. You know I'm very discreet, and I have no need to cover up anything for my family. Isn't that right?" An ZhiXian said gently, "Besides, you know the fourth brother's temper. The family doesn't even dare let him know about you and ZhiXia yet. If you don't tell me the truth, how can I help conceal it for you?"

An ZhiAng was the most uncontrollable existence in the An family. He had been fierce since he was little, unlike his three older brothers. An ZhiRen and An ZhiXian were becoming more and more inconspicuous at home, but he had never suffered at Gao MeiYun's hands thanks to his ferocity.

It had been like this since childhood. Whoever dared to discipline him a little on Gao MeiYun's behalf, he would discipline Gao MeiYun tenfold in return.

These past few nights, Zhou Nan had been taking care of her, though there wasn't much to take care of, just keeping an eye on her in case anything happened.

ZhiXia would tell Pei Jing that she couldn't sleep or felt uncomfortable, but she wouldn't say that to Zhou Nan.

In fact, compared to being with Granny Zhou, ZhiXia felt more comfortable with her grandmother.

Their relationship was already like this. What had happened could not simply be written off as if it had never existed just by saying sorry once.

Zhou Nan also noticed ZhiXia's attitude towards her, but she no longer had the standing or right to complain. She could only be concerned about taking good care of her, using the approach of less talk and more action, hoping to mend things as much as possible.

"No need, Granny. Mom is tired from taking care of me these past few nights. Now that Pei Jing is here, let him do it. And the third brother is injured, it wouldn't be good to squeeze him." In fact, An ZhiXian's wounds had already had the stitches removed and he could be careful, so it wasn't a big problem.

But Granny Zhou understood there were still unresolved issues in ZhiXia's heart.

She could only sigh helplessly and agree to the arrangement.

But ZhiXia didn't know if she was overthinking things. She always felt Zhou Nan looked at her strangely, with distress, and seemingly some other indescribable emotions.

The baby in her belly seemed to be moving around even more vigorously than before, even deforming her stomach.

ZhiXia mentioned it briefly, then went back to the room to lie down.

Just after entering the room, she felt a faint pain. She didn't know if this was a sign of impending labor, so she endured it for a while.

She knew there would be labor pains when giving birth soon, and this wave of pain lasted about 1-2 minutes before stopping. She waited a while but there was no more pain.

When Pei Jing lay down after coming back, ZhiXia, who hadn't seen him for days, immediately snuggled up to him.

He skillfully placed his hand on her belly to greet the child, and discovered her stomach was distorted at a strange angle.