Madam Xu was usually quite aloof, and Zhu Changning greatly admired her cool and distant demeanor. Since their marriage, he had rarely seen her in such a vulnerable state. Perhaps because it was so uncommon, it touched his heart even more deeply. He sighed, sat down on the edge of the bed, and looked at the child in her arms, saying gently, "Your words were indeed too harsh. Even if Changle truly had a murderous aura, it was to protect us. Speaking to her like that was too hurtful."
"Yes, I was wrong. I was in such a daze, I don't know how I could have..."
Tears fell from Madam Xu's eyes onto the child's face. Zhu Changning gently wiped them away. As a new father, with his wife and child under his protection, he felt an overwhelming sense of contentment.
"Changle grew up outside the Capital City, so her personality is different from those young ladies raised in the inner chambers. Sometimes it gives me a headache too, but she has a kind nature and doesn't like to scheme. She's extremely honest with her family. You haven't spent much time with her yet, but once you get to know her, you'll see that everything about her is on the surface. Her words mean exactly what they say, nothing could be simpler."
"She's unlike any girl I've ever met. I haven't adjusted yet."
"You'll adjust well in time."
"Mm." Madam Xu lowered her gaze, feeling so aggrieved that she wanted to cry. She had just given birth to the Zhu Family's eldest grandson, yet because of one sentence, everyone was giving her the cold shoulder. They even told her to adjust well. Why couldn't it be her sister-in-law adjusting to her as the elder brother's wife?
Meanwhile, in the other room, Zhu Changle was also comforting people. With her grandmother and mother both consoling her, she said, "This little injury really isn't a problem. Oh right, this is Dingding, the one I've told you about. Dingding, come here."
Dingding slowly inched towards Changle, his earlier bravado completely gone. He... he... he didn't know how to interact with such a beautiful woman.
Zhu Changle, however, didn't tease him as she usually would. She stood up and dragged the boy, who seemed to want to take three steps back for every step forward, in front of her grandmother. They crouched together, but then she thought better of it and kicked the back of Dingding's knees to make him kneel. "Isn't my grandmother just your grandmother? Isn't my mother just your mother? Quickly, greet them."
Dingding sneaked a glance at the two women and leaned close to his friend to ask, "What... what should I call them?"
"Grandmother, Mother."
"Huh?"
Zhu Changle slapped him on the back, but instead of hurting him, she stretched her own wound. The pain made her grimace, and Lady Zhang quickly bent down to check. Seeing that it wasn't bleeding, she relaxed. "Take it easy. I can't feel the pain for you."
The old lady had known the two were close from the moment she heard Dingding defend Changle earlier. She could also see the child's nervousness. She stroked Changle's head with one hand and the boy's with the other, pretending not to notice how he had gone so rigid he didn't even blink. "In our family, we all listen to Changle. Whatever Changle says to call us, that's what you'll call us."
"That's right, I'm the one who can make decisions here," Zhu Changle said, hands on her hips, looking so smug that Dingding wanted to punch her. But he didn't dare move now. He opened his mouth to speak, looked at them again and again, but felt too embarrassed to say anything.
Seeing Dingding like this made Changle's heart ache. She grabbed her grandmother's hand and moved it from his head to his face. "See how much my grandmother likes you already? Quickly, greet her."
"Gr-Grandmother!" The two words that had been stuck in Dingding's throat for so long finally burst out, so loudly that Changle had to clean out her ears.
The old lady responded with a smile, thinking about what gift she should give him, but unable to find anything on her person at the moment.
"We'll owe you one, remember to give it later," Zhu Changle said, pulling Dingding two steps sideways to kneel in front of her mother. She was about to take her mother's hand when Dingding spoke first, his voice strong, "Mother!"
Lady Zhang, seeing that she had suddenly gained another son, suppressed a laugh and glared at her daughter. She gently pushed away Changle's hand and helped the boy up with motherly tenderness. "I've heard so much about you from Changle. Thank you for being her companion all these years, ensuring she wasn't lonely. From now on, you're family. Just like Changle, when you're tired of playing outside or need a rest, come home. Although our family isn't what it used to be, there will always be a home for you here."
Dingding was still in a daze and didn't know how to respond. Zhu Changle pressed his head to nod, saying, "Mother, he understands."
Lady Zhang looked at them with smiling eyes, then turned to her mother-in-law and said, "I'll go back to my room now. I can still rest for a couple of hours. You should get some good rest too."
"Go on then."
Lady Zhang looked at Dingding, hesitating to speak.
"Tong Ziming, my full name is Tong Ziming." Growing up in the streets had made reading people's expressions second nature to Dingding. Even in his dazed state, he could see that his newly recognized mother was struggling to call him by his nickname.
Lady Zhang smiled. "Alright, Ziming. I'll have someone prepare a room for you. You should get some rest too."
"No need, Mother. He can have my room. I'll stay with Grandmother," Changle interjected.
"That's fine too." Lady Zhang didn't give it much thought. This wasn't their home, after all, and there was no need to be overly concerned with the rules of propriety for unmarried girls.
As soon as Lady Zhang left, Zhu Changle pushed Dingding to the door and pointed across, "That room."
Dingding turned back to bow to his new grandmother before leaving. Changle watched him enter the room before closing the door and bouncing back to her grandmother's side, her expression brimming with joy.
The old lady lowered her eyes and smiled. Changle's thoughtfulness and sensitivity were never lacking when needed.
"Grandmother, Grandmother, Grandmother."
Embracing the child who was nestling against her and acting coquettishly, the old lady gently patted her back, waiting for her to speak.
"Dingding has no parents. When I was seven, I promised to share half of my parents and grandmother with him. I've finally fulfilled that promise."
"Our Changle is so generous."
"Of course." Zhu Changle hummed softly. "My master and his maternal grandfather were old acquaintances, and they lived close by. The first time I saw him, he was being pinned down and beaten. Those people were calling him a bastard, and he was fighting back. He was so stupid. He's not like me; how could he possibly beat so many people?"
"So you helped him?"
"No, at that time I had just started learning martial arts from my master. Knowing I couldn't win, of course I hid and waited for them to leave."
"That's right. We don't do things when we know we'll come out worse for it," the old lady nodded in agreement. "Did you help him get revenge later?"
"Of course. After learning from my master for a year, I confronted them. But the first time, I didn't win. They beat me up."
Zhu Changle didn't seem to think being beaten was anything to be ashamed of. "In fights, you win some and you lose some. After fighting a few times, we became friends. Now I get along well with all of those people."
The old lady smiled and rubbed her head. Looking up at the ceiling, she sighed, "You were so carefree outside. When you were wronged, you could fight back. At home, you're restrained and can't act as freely."
"That's why they say you can't have family ties holding you back in the Martial Arts World... Ouch, ouch, ouch! I was wrong, I was wrong!" Zhu Changle grabbed her grandmother's hand and smiled apologetically. "I was just talking about how things usually are in the Martial Arts World, not about myself. I'm proud to have a family!"
"If it weren't for you this time, who knows what would have happened!" The old lady smiled and sighed, smoothing her granddaughter's hair and saying softly, "Madam Xu went too far."
Zhu Changle smiled and nestled against her grandmother, speaking quietly, "If it had been Second Brother who said those words, and you and Father and Mother didn't stand up for me, I would have made a fuss. I wouldn't have let him off easily for the entire journey if I hadn't taught him a good lesson. But it was Madam Xu. She can make the whole family unhappy and put Second Brother in a difficult position just to satisfy her momentary spite, but I can't. If you're unhappy, I'll be even more unhappy. I don't want to force Second Brother to choose between his family and his wife. If I only cared about my own satisfaction, how would I be any different from her?"
She tilted her head into her grandmother's palm, blinked, and smiled transparently, yet ruthlessly, "If she's good to you all, then she's my sister-in-law. I'll respect her and yield to her, and be a good aunt. But if she only knows how to cause trouble and create conflicts in the family, then she's nothing to me. I don't mind being the villain."
"You talk as if you could really be that heartless," the old lady said, leading her granddaughter to the bed. "Rest now."
"Yes," Zhu Changle smiled, not telling her grandmother that when she did harden her heart, she could indeed be quite ruthless.
