Pride comes before a fall, joy begets sorrow.
Zhang Guoqing deeply understood the meaning of these idioms.
He let out a long sigh.
Beside him, Ping’an also followed suit with a long sigh.
The father and son glanced at Zhou Jiao together and found her as steady as a rock.
Ping’an patted him and sighed again.
Zhou Jiao tried hard to suppress her laughter. Her son imitated his father’s sighing to perfection. Well done!
Zhang Guoqing patted Ping’an, "Son, don’t imitate dad. Your little sigh sounds terrible. Can you help dad plead with mom?"
Ping’an giggled after Zhang Guoqing finished speaking.
"Wife, honey, Jiao Jiao, I’ve been sleeping in the study for three nights. Look at me, restless night and day, look at how much weight I’ve lost."
"Mom, I want to sleep with dad."
Zhou Jiao glanced at them sideways, "Didn’t you sneak back in the middle of the night? Who are you fooling? And losing weight, you’re crushing me. Oh, I remember, it’s your turn to sleep together tonight with your son."
Zhang Guoqing said to Ping’an, "Son, it seems being soft isn’t working, we need to be tough. Let’s tickle mom and see if she dares?"
Upon hearing this, Zhou Jiao quickly ran outside, but she was caught before she could get out the door.
The father and son grabbed her and asked her if she dared not want them, making her laugh loudly and admit defeat, only then did they high-five to celebrate.
Tired from playing, the whole family lay on the kang.
Zhang Guoqing smiled and said, "Jiao Jiao, Uncle Dashan will definitely sleep in the study these days."
Zhou Jiao glanced sideways.
"Hey, don’t look at me with those eyes. The son’s here, I’ll let you off."
Zhou Jiao blushed and stubbornly changed the subject, "How do you know? Did Uncle Dashan tell you?"
"How could he tell me? We have our little fun, they probably have real conflicts. I think it’s still those issues from Uncle Dashan’s old home. Hongbing said his mom plans to volunteer for a trip tomorrow."
Zhou Jiao responded with an "oh" and lost interest. In her opinion, aside from respecting parents, any sacrifice that exceeds the family’s burden is unnecessary. Zhao Dashan isn’t one to be foolish. Maybe there’s something else going on in their family. As an outsider, it’s better not to meddle.

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