Itâs lively at home tonight. Seeing Zhang Hanfu hasnât eaten yet, he worries about his wife after coming back from work and comes over to check on her.
He sees his wife eating heartily here, much more than at home, which reassures Zhang Hanfu quite a bit.
But upon hearing someone lingering outside, fearing for the safety of the women, Zhang Hanfu decides to stay, like Li Congnan and his brother.
However, Li Jianye doesnât let him stay, saying they can take turns in a couple of days.
Lin Wan sees that they plan to take turns, seemingly intending to watch over the place for a while.
Lin Wan smiles and tells them itâs unnecessary. Who knew these people wouldnât listen at all and insisted on staying.
With no choice, Lin Wan tidies up the room on her brotherâs side at her momâs place, gives them the bedding, and lights the coal stove in the kitchen for hot water use.
Yin Peibai says a few words to Zhang Hanfu and then sends him back, as the roads are hard to walk on outside, getting slipperier as the night goes on.
Li Congnan and Li Jianye make a call home and see the women busy, handling the childcare tasks. The two of them take it upon themselves.
Ye Weijun lingers outside Liang Hongmeiâs door for a while, knocks a few times with no response, and then goes over to Lin Wanâs place. There, he sees the husband of the woman who was here in the morning has returned.
It seems like Liang Hongmei might have truly sold the house here. But the lights at her place never come on, who knows if itâs true or not.
Unable to find anyone for help, Ye Weijun curses the heavens and leaves.
The next day, braving the cold wind again, he spent the day at the city construction bureau but still got nothing.
A few days pass, and he only has enough money left for a train ticket.
Seeing no way out, at night, he plans to sneak into Liang Hongmeiâs yard to see if thereâs anyone there. If not, he could jimmy open the door to see if thereâs any valuable stuff inside, sell them for money, and go home. At least his trip wonât be for naught.
Lin Wan originally thought not to let Brother Congnan stay here, as itâs been several days without Ye Weijun showing up, probably already went home.
Unexpectedly, tonight, Ye Weijunâs shadow appears in Momâs yard.
Li Congnan, keeping watch for several nights, thinks itâs really as Lin Wan said that heâs gone home.
The commotion tonight makes Li Congnan and Li Jianye quite excited. Grasping the wooden clubs in their hands, they catch that shadow and fiercely strike at him.
Only the sound of wailing can be heard in the yard.
Tonight Yin Peibai went back, and yesterday Su Ling returned to bring her child home, yet came again today; lively places are never devoid of her. Hearing the cries, Lin Wan thought something happened to Li Congnan and Li Jianye, so she hurriedly lets Shi Lan watch Little Star, while she and Su Ling each grab a spade and quietly sneak over through the back door to have a look.
"Brother Congnan? Brother Congnan?"
"Xiao Wan, is that you? We caught this fella, take a look."
Lin Wan peers at the person on the ground under the gleam of the snowlight, none other than Ye Weijun, who hadnât been seen in days.
"Xiao Wan, go report to the police, letâs hand him over to them."
Lin Wan nods. "Okay, Iâll go right away."
On the ground, Ye Weijun, hearing heâs going to be handed over, endures his injuries, crawls toward Lin Wan, mumbling as he goes, "Donât call the police, donât call the police, Ah Wan, Iâm your Uncle Ye, donât report me, Iâve come to find you."
Li Congnan would never let him get close to Lin Wan, so with a kick, he sends Ye Weijun sprawling.
"Who the hell climbs walls in the dead of night claiming to find someone?"
"Oh, itâs Uncle Ye! What brings you wall-climbing to my house this late?"
"Ah Wan, your uncleâs been in S City for almost half a month to find Ah Qing and your Aunt Qiu. I just canât find them, so I thought Iâd come to you all, since youâre in the same city, maybe know the whereabouts of your Aunt Qiu and her daughter."
At this moment Li Jianye turns on the yard light; seeing Ye Weijun with a bloody nose and mouth, looking quite miserable, Lin Wan feels no pity but rather smirks coldly, "Uncle Ye, back in our hometown, didnât my aunt make it clear to you about your family Ah Qingâs misdeeds against my brother? We havenât yet come for your family for that. If you knew, youâd know not to come looking for us. Our two families are enemies now. Although your family Ah Qing is clever, as soon as she got into trouble, her mom moved house. Youâre asking the wrong person. I really donât know. If I did, I would have gone looking for her by now with ill intentions. Oh, by the way, Ah Qing went to receive labor reform. She should have been released by that lover of hers. If youâre looking for her, you should go to the G City compound to look for her. Maybe Aunt Qiu went along too. Right now, your good daughter should be having a good time over there."
"G City compound?" Ye Weijunâs expression darkens, as G City isnât far from where they are, closer by a day or half.
"Ah Wan, your uncle came with just a bit of money, and itâs all spent now. Could you give your uncle some money to go to G City and find them, the mother-daughter duo, do you think?"
"Uncle Ye, didnât you understand anything I just said? Our families are enemies now." Lin Wan remarks, coldly chuckling, then turns to the backyard to call the police.
Someone like Ye Weijun wouldnât stay honest without spending some time inside.
Seeing Lin Wanâs words, Ye Weijun dare not ask anything more, unexpectedly learns Lin Wan actually reported him.
He still thinks about having a good word with the two young men to get himself back, only to be surprised by the arrival of two officers the next second.
He heard about trespassing, stealing.
He just wanted to sneak some stuff, hasnât even done anything yet, and got caught by the two men.
"Ah Wan, Ah Wan, how can you be so heartless, at least weâre from the same village. I only came in to find your mother, canât blame me since your family never goes out."
"Wow, big uncle, you didnât say it wrong, did you come to our house the other day, and I didnât tell you, yes, this is our house, where does Xiao Wanâs house come from? Clearly said itâs not her home, no ears on you?" Su Ling wrapped in a thick coat, fumed.
Ye Weijun shrinks his neck, a bit discontent, "Donât think I donât know, this place was never sold, otherwise, why would Ah Wan be here, whereâs your mom, oh no, whereâs your dad. Surely it was a misunderstanding between you and Ah Qing. Quickly tell the police, let me go. Once I find that damned girl, Ah Qing, Iâll bring her to apologize to you, okay?"
"Uncle Ye, you better save that talk for yourself."
This time itâs Wei Jian Countryâs brother-in-law who came; before leaving, he asks Lin Wan how long she wants Ye Weijun to stay inside.
Lin Wan even thinks about letting Ye Weijun go mess with Ah Qing, doesnât plan to keep him too long, just says to follow the procedure.
Having dealt with the thug Ye Weijun, everyone feels much relieved.
Early the next morning, Lin Wan makes a hearty breakfast. While eating together, they discuss Ye Weijunâs incident from last night.
"Luckily, he didnât bring any tools yesterday."
Shi Lanâs word makes Li Congnan laugh, "With his physique, heâs never my match, let alone the two of us, even with tools, I wouldnât fear him."
"No idea how many days heâs inside for, wonât he come after us when he gets out?" Shi Lan questions again.
"He wouldnât dare, Captain Li said this time, theyâre keeping him locked up until the new year."
"Thatâs great."
After breakfast, Lin Wan repeatedly instructs them not to come back at night. Li Jianye and Li Congnan finally agree; this time it was mainly to guard against Ye Weijun.
Now with him caught for wrongdoing, they can feel at ease.
Lin Wan happens to finish over a hundred sets of clothes in the past few days. Once Wu Liu takes them all away, Lin Wan finally breathes a sigh of relief.
And this day, Lin Wan also receives a call from Han Yi.
She completely forgot itâs her birthday today.
"Close to New Year, when will you be back?"
"Hard to say, thereâs a task before the year ends, returning in half a month."
"Is it dangerous? Your last wound didnât heal for long, yet youâre going out again?"
"This time itâs different, akin to an assessment. Donât worry, Iâll definitely turn up in front of you on time."
"Mm, take care."
"Got it, remember to eat eggs."
Lin Wan laughs on the phone, humming a response.
"Han Yi, a brief call will do, hurry and have your wife bring mine over, still got a few words for her." Ning Jiang speaks loudly, perhaps right into the phone, Lin Wan hears it clearly. She snickers, "Hubby, Iâll go get Shi Lan, before you leave remember to sell a bit of emergency medicine and stash it on you. Donât lose your helmet."
"Mm, understood."
Finishing with Han Yi, Lin Wan waves goodbye to Shi Lan waiting at the door, ready to hear Ning Jiang share about their child.
....