She lowered her voice. "Right now, only Sister Yu Yuan and the baby are at the Knowledge Youth Institute, waiting for me to go back and take care of them. If you arrange the accommodation quickly, she can go in and rest sooner."
"Men and women should keep their distance. Don't get handsy with me!" Captain Zhang Zhuang took a few steps forward, putting some distance between himself and Tian Tian. His pace quickened.
Tian Tian raised an eyebrow, scoffing at the captain's exaggerated display of chastity.
Approaching the Knowledge Youth Institute, Tian Tian didn't bother matching his pace anymore. She jogged ahead and knocked on the door. "Sister, I brought the captain back!"
Only after giving Deng Yuyuan a heads-up did she take out her key to unlock it.
The moment the lock clicked, the door opened from the inside. Deng Yuyuan stood at the threshold empty-handed, her sleeves and pant legs hanging loosely. She wore an awkward but polite smile.
"Where's the baby?" Tian Tian scratched her head, her gaze drifting inside while Zhang Zhuang peeked over her shoulder.
Deng Yuyuan stepped aside to make room for Tian Tian to enter. "A kind soul took her to change her diaper."
"Who is it?"
"Who's here?"
Tian Tian and Zhang Ci Hao's voices rang out simultaneously.
A young man in a collared shirt walked out of the room, cradling a baby in his arms. In just the short time they had been gone, the baby's swaddle had been changed to a modern, fashionable pattern. The young man held the infant with one arm while feeding her with a baby bottle in the other hand.
He thought, "Zhang Jiahua really needs to come over and see what a proper father should be doing." This was the very first thought that popped into Zhang Zhuang's head.
He quickly shook his head, tossing such inappropriate thoughts away. At best, he was overstepping his bounds; at worst, he was starting rumors about a pitiful married woman and a kind-hearted village youth.
He knew Zhang Ci Hao's temperament well. Although the guy was a bit lazy, lacked a proper job, and idled about too much—ahem—he was genuinely warm-hearted. He usually handed out candy when he ran into the village kids, and he had raised his own nephew to be chubby and fair. He was probably just helping out because he felt sorry for the poor baby.
However... looking at that bottle and the fabric of the swaddle, was Aunt Zhang really this generous to Deng Yuyuan? Though he hadn't even started looking for a wife yet, he knew how hard it was to buy a baby bottle. Even in the county town, they were sold in limited quantities and only at specific times.
Tian Tian looked back and forth between Zhang Ci Hao and Deng Yuyuan before realization dawned on her. "Comrade Zhang Ci Hao, do you really like taking care of babies that much?"
A hint of pity colored her gaze as she looked at him. Even in the city, there were boys with more feminine hobbies, but this was a rather conservative farming village. Zhang Ci Hao must have had a hard time fitting in, right?
Feeling everyone's strange looks, Zhang Ci Hao flushed bright red. "I just feel a connection with Tuantuan. Plus, Yu Yuan isn't very good at taking care of babies yet, so I'm just lending a hand."
Zhang Zhuang sighed. "Don't do this next time. A single man and a married woman alone together... It's a good thing it was just the two of us who caught you. You might have thick skin, but it's different for Jiahua's wife. She already has a hard enough time."
Tian Tian chimed in, "Alone together is a no-go, but whenever there are other people at the Knowledge Youth Institute, you're always welcome to come play with Tuantuan!" It would be perfect to have an extra pair of hands to help with the baby.
Then again, she had only been gone for a little while. How did the baby already get a name?
"Captain, you don't need to call me Jiahua's wife anymore," Deng Yuyuan said with a faint smile. "I'm divorcing Zhang Jiahua and moving back to the Knowledge Youth Institute. It'll be inconvenient for me to return to my old dorm room with a baby, so please reassign me to an empty single room."
"All right, you just settle in here. I'll definitely give Jiahua a good talking-to—" Zhang Zhuang suddenly realized what she had just said, and his words took a sharp turn. "Divorce?! Jiahua... Comrade Deng Yuyuan, it's completely normal for couples to throw a tantrum occasionally or get into a fight. You can't just casually throw around the word 'divorce'!"
No wonder the village chief's wife, Aunt Zhang, had vaguely asked him to give Zhang Jiahua a stern talking-to. How... how had things escalated to this point?
Zhang Zhuang advised her earnestly, "Don't make a decision out of a moment of anger that you'll regret for the rest of your life. Forget our village; if you look at the entire town, no one has ever gotten a divorce. No matter how poorly Jiahua performs as a husband, it's still better than getting divorced. How are you supposed to survive as a single woman with a child?"
Tian Tian and Zhang Ci Hao stood silently to the side. One firmly supported Deng Yuyuan, while the other was still hesitantly trying to defend Brother Jiahua. But divorce was no trifling matter. The idle gossip that followed would be unbearable. Even in the county town, a divorced woman would be subjected to endless whispers and judgmental stares.
Aside from the people directly involved figuring it out themselves, it wasn't appropriate for outsiders to intervene.
"I survived the Zhang family, no matter how unbearable it was. How could I possibly not survive the days ahead? Captain, if you're willing, you can help me keep an eye on Zhang Jiahua to ensure he pays child support on time. That would lighten the living burden for us mother and daughter."
Deng Yuyuan raised her hand to tuck a stray strand of bangs behind her ear, inadvertently revealing a wrist that was nothing but skin and bones.
What else could Zhang Zhuang criticize? Zhang Jiahua's family had indeed gone too far. The once fair-skinned, rosy-cheeked young woman had been reduced to a skeleton. "Back then, it was your own choice to marry Zhang Jiahua. You knew a bit about his family's situation before the wedding..."
"Yes, and that's exactly why I regret it. I regret my own blindness. I made the decision myself, and I've accepted the bitter consequences I had to swallow. I'm willing to leave with nothing but the clothes on my back as long as I get custody of the baby. That way, it won't affect Zhang Jiahua when he tries to marry a second time." Deng Yuyuan's gaze was resolute.
Zhang Zhuang pursed his lips and looked over at Tian Tian and Zhang Ci Hao. The two immediately turned their heads away, suddenly fascinated by the sky, the ground, and the scenery, taking the opportunity to playfully tease the baby.
He thought, "Fine, just leave me to persuade her all by myself, then."
"If I really support your divorce, with Aunt Zhang's fierce temper..." The captain trailed off, deliberately leaving the rest unsaid. He patted behind his ear and dug into his pockets. Great, he had already smoked all of his daily cigarettes while trying to talk sense into Zhang Jiahua earlier.
"I don't need you to take a public stance. I just need you to assign me a room," Deng Yuyuan said understandingly.
"All right." Zhang Zhuang took a deep breath and nodded. "Divorce requires both husband and wife to go get the certificate together. You still have to convince Zhang Jiahua. As for assigning a room, we'll discuss it together once all the youths at the Knowledge Youth Institute get off work."
He felt he had done everything humanly possible for Zhang Jiahua. If that man didn't know enough to come and coax his wife after getting off work, then he deserved to be dumped.
Deng Yuyuan knew he was stalling for time, but she had no choice but to agree. In this world, her future ex-mother-in-law wasn't the only one capable of playing dirty. She, Deng Yuyuan, could also throw a tantrum and threaten to end it all if she had to.
Her eyes darted thoughtfully as a plan took shape in her mind.
Tuantuan was truly an exceptionally well-behaved baby. As everyone gathered around her, cooing her name over and over again, she babbled back at them without a hint of fear toward strangers. Her large, bright, and dark eyes observed the adults fearlessly.
Other than when she was hungry or needed a diaper change, she almost never cried.