Xia Xiaolan remained silent.

Grandmother Bai wasn’t entirely pretending to be ill. The elderly woman had slipped while bathing at home, cutting the back of her head. Fortunately, Bai Zhenzhu’s sister-in-law Chang Ying had come home midway to get something and discovered Grandmother Bai’s fall in time, or the consequences would have been unthinkable.

At that time, Bai Zhenzhu was in Qiongdao. Chang Ying, being alone, panicked but managed to get Grandmother Bai to the hospital with the neighbors’ help.

Perhaps due to the trauma from the wedding day, Chang Ying disliked the martial arts brothers from the Bai family gymnasium, so she hadn’t notified any of them but instead asked Gao Huabin for help.

“That’s how it happened! When I returned from Qiongdao, he was already watching over her in the hospital room. How could I chase him away?” Bai Zhenzhu was deeply troubled.

While Gao Huabin stayed with the elderly woman in the room, Xia Xiaolan and Bai Zhenzhu stepped into the hallway to talk. Bai Zhenzhu quickly explained the situation, and Xia Xiaolan shook her head with a smile: “You can’t chase him away. You should thank him for helping with the care.”

Then she turned serious: “The slip might have been just a loss of balance, or it could be due to other health issues. The hospital must thoroughly examine her. And why was your grandmother alone at home? I’m not saying your sister-in-law is wrong. I’m saying you, as the granddaughter, haven’t done enough. Are you short on money? Hiring two people to take shifts caring for your grandmother could prevent such incidents in the future.”

It was hard to believe that Bai Zhenzhu, a millionaire businesswoman, didn’t even have a housekeeper at home.

But it wasn’t entirely Bai Zhenzhu’s fault. She had brought up the matter several times, but her grandmother had refused. Not every elderly person could easily accept their children’s and grandchildren’s “filial” spending. This had little to do with whether the younger generation had money – frugality was deeply ingrained in their bones.

To Grandmother Bai, hiring a caretaker seemed like returning to the old society’s practice of having servants. The elderly woman didn’t want Bai Zhenzhu to waste money and worried such behavior might be wrong.

She was stubborn, and Bai Zhenzhu couldn’t persuade her.

Moreover, when discussing hiring help, Chang Ying didn’t oppose it but said Bai Zhenzhu shouldn’t be the one paying. Since the grandmother belonged to both White Zhiyong and Bai Zhenzhu as siblings, the burden shouldn’t fall solely on Bai Zhenzhu as the younger sister. Bai Zhiyong, as the older brother, should take responsibility first. Both Chang Ying and Bai Zhiyong were salaried workers – hiring a caretaker would consume one person’s entire salary, leaving only one income for the couple’s expenses. They still had a son to raise, and Grandmother Bai, concerned about their hard work, became even more opposed to the idea.

Every family has difficulties managing.

While Bai Zhenzhu was strong-willed outside, she naturally wasn’t as forceful at home, always influenced by these family dynamics.

Hiring help was a minor issue, but the attitudes of the Bai family members revealed why Grandmother Bai and Chang Ying could pressure Bai Zhenzhu into blind dates and marriage.

In reality, when Bai Zhenzhu was busy, these two barely had a chances to see her—

She was the one making concessions…

Xia Xiaolan thought that regardless of whether Bai Zhenzhu could end up with Third Brother Pan if she truly wanted to remain single, she should use this incident to draw clear boundaries.

What things should Bai Zhenzhu do?

For instance, if she believed hiring help was right, she should just do it.

She didn’t necessarily need Grandmother’s approval or Chang Ying’s agreement.

Was it necessary to compete in showing filial piety?

They could show their devotion separately – whether older brother or younger sister, those with money could contribute financially, and those without could contribute effort. Wasn’t that good enough?

Having to consider Bai Zhiyong and Chang Ying’s financial situation and consequently limiting Grandmother Bai’s quality of life – how ridiculous was that?

Once Bai Zhenzhu sorted out the matter of hiring help, the issue of being pressured into blind dates would likely resolve itself.

“Xiaolan, thank you. I know what to do now.”

Bai Zhenzhu truly understood.

Her grandmother’s thoughts weren’t all correct, and her sister-in-law’s ideas didn’t necessarily align with hers. She just needed to stick to what she believed was right – take hiring help for example: once she paid the caregiver’s salary and they started working, would her grandmother chase them away, or would her sister-in-law pay another salary?

Thinking about it this way made everything seem much simpler. She wondered what she had been struggling with before!

As for Gao Huabin, she had refused him before, just not harshly enough. Gao Huabin seemed to deliberately misunderstand, continuing to visit the hospital these past few days. If this continued, everyone would think he was her boyfriend.

If she didn’t like someone, she needed to refuse loudly.

Working in a government office and being a university graduate – how could he be so dense?

Her sister-in-law must have said something.

Gao Huabin probably thought her refusals were just “shyness.”

Bai Zhenzhu couldn’t help but shudder. No, she needed to show some determination!

Meanwhile, Xia Xiaolan wondered how Third Brother Pan would react, or if he would react at all. Before Pan made his stance clear, she couldn’t mention him to Bai Zhenzhu. If he wasn’t interested, Bai Zhenzhu might even lose a sparring partner.

“These are just suggestions, you already know what—”

“Zhenzhu, why aren’t you in the ward?” Xia Xiaolan’s words were interrupted.

It was Chang Ying carrying her child. She noticed Xia Xiaolan too: “Xiaolan’s here too? Zhenzhu said you were out of town.”

“I’m back in Shenzhen for some business and came to visit Grandmother Bai. Since someone was taking care of her in the ward, I came to chat with Zhenzhu in the hallway. What an adorable child!”

Chang Ying looked the same as she did at the wedding.

However, having had a child now, she was slightly rounder than before. Her skin and overall spirit seemed good -, despite living separately from Bai Zhiyong, she was doing well after marriage. Unhappy married women were usually easy to spot.

Chang Ying had specifically brought her son to see Grandmother Bai. Seeing her great-grandson instantly made the elderly woman’s pain seem lighter.

When Xia Xiaolan mentioned Gao Huabin, Chang Ying smiled: “It’s good you came, Xiaolan. You’ve met Young Gao – what do you think of him? He’s polite and helpful. These past few days, we’ve relied on his help so much. When I told him not to let hospital visits affect his work, guess what he said? He said it was all his duty—”

Chang Ying smiled meaningfully at Bai Zhenzhu.

Having found such a good match for her sister-in-law, she naturally wanted praise. It was human nature – Chang Ying was just an ordinary person, not a bad sister-in-law.

Her smiling glance at Bai Zhenzhu was teasing.

This was also a hint – if people kept talking about it, Gao Huabin would become Bai Zhenzhu’s partner. At least he had already won Grandmother Bai’s favor and Chang Ying’s support. Most people thought Bai Zhenzhu was just being shy and wouldn’t hold out for long.

Bai Zhenzhu frowned. She had always been respectful to her sister-in-law Chang Ying, but Chang Ying kept trying to pair her with Gao Huabin.

“Sister-in-law, please stop. I don’t want to go on blind dates or get married… Forget it, I’ll have a serious talk with Gao Huabin!”