But Lady Luck was not on their side. Just as Luo Zhiyong was unbuttoning Fang Pingying's coat and about to continue, Zhou Yunmei's knocking at the door interrupted, "Zhiyong, open the door, I need to take something from your room."
Luo Zhiyong paused, frowning as he looked at the door and asked, "Mom, what do you need? It's so late already, can't it wait till tomorrow?"
"What do you mean it's late? It's not even eight o'clock. How could you possibly already be asleep? Jianguo came to see you, and he mentioned that he needs to borrow a ladder. The ladder is in your room, you should come out and chat with Jianguo for a bit; you haven't seen him since you got back," Zhou Yunmei prattled on from outside, ruining even the best of atmospheres with her lengthy talk.
Luo Zhiyong, annoyed beyond words, furrowed his brows and kept staring at the door, propping himself over Fang Pingying, refusing to move.
Seeing his reaction, Fang Pingying chuckled and nudged him, whispering, "Get up and open the door, otherwise, your mom will think we are up to something."
"So what if we are up to something? We are husband and wife, isn't that allowed?" Luo Zhiyong blurted out in frustration, casting aside his usually serious demeanor as a soldier.
Fang Pingying's face flushed, and she glared at him, whispering, "Alright, alright, just go open the door. Jianguo came especially to see you; you can't keep hiding in the room as his elder brother."
Fang Pingying was actually concerned about Luo Zhiyong's leg and its inability to perform extensive movements. Had it not been for his botheration making her restless, she would have disagreed with his actions right from the start, but this turned out to be a convenient excuse.
"Not happening tonight, but we'll continue tomorrow. Don't think you can escape," Luo Zhiyong teased, noticing Fang Pingying's subtle intentions, and playfully bit her cheek, whispering a tiny threat.
Fang Pingying, reminded of their earlier activities, blushed profoundly, lightly thumping him before quickly getting up to dress.
Seeing this, Luo Zhiyong stopped her, saying, "Why are you getting up? Continue sleeping; I'll just take the ladder out."
"I can't sleep anyway. I want to go see what the future brother-in-law looks like, whether he's easy to get along with or not," thought Fang Pingying, though she left unsaid that if Zhou Yunmei came in and saw Luo Zhiyong up while she was still lying in bed, who knows what she might say.
Once they both were dressed and opened the door, Zhou Yunmei walked in from outside, looking displeased as she complained to Fang Pingying, "Why were you dilly-dallying? It took you so long just to open a door."
Fang Pingying didn't bother to respond. Her mother-in-law was no innocent; in the dead of night, what else were a couple supposed to do in their room if not dilly-dally?
Fang Pingying remained silent, but Luo Zhiyong picked up on Zhou Yunmei's remark, "Why did Jianguo have to come borrow ladder at this time of night, to the extent of having to wake people up?"
"That's right, the ladder." Zhou Yunmei suddenly remembered the ladder and urgently pointed at Fang Pingying, "Pingying, bring the ladder out for Jianguo."
Luo Zhiyong stoppered Fang Pingying who was about to carry the ladder, "I'll do it."
Before Luo Zhiyong could move, Zhou Yunmei shouted, "What are you doing? Your leg is injured, what if it gets hurt? Can't your wife carry a ladder anymore?"
Fang Pingying glanced at Zhou Yunmei, then said to Luo Zhiyong, "You go ahead, I'll get the ladder."
Luo Zhiyong didn't leave; he waited inside as Fang Pingying carried the ladder down from the stairway, then helped her carry it outside.
Standing at the door, Zhou Yunmei watched and irritably curled her lip at Fang Pingying.
In the courtyard, the whole family had been roused by Zhou Yunmei.
Sitting in the center of the courtyard was a twenty-two or twenty-three-year-old young man, Luo Cuilan's partner, Zhang Jianguo.
Zhang Jianguo is quite slim and not very tall, but his appearance is that of a refined man.
If one met him for the first time, one would think Zhang Jianguo was a very decent young man.
However, because of having lived once more, Fang Pingying knew that Zhang Jianguo might appear honest, but was actually full of schemes.
In his past life, Zhang Jianguo and Luo Cuilan were in a love marriage, and the two were deeply in love when they were young.
But because the Zhang family was too poor, his birth mother died in childbirth, and his father remarried a stepmother who could not bear children, though she treated him quite well.
When he was a teenager, his father also passed away due to illness, leaving him to live with his stepmother, without a man in the house, naturally life didn't go well.
The family was utterly poor, having not even enough rice to eat, yet Luo Cuilan somehow took a liking to him and, despite the opposition from Zhou Yunmei and others, insisted on marrying Zhang Jianguo.
Zhou Yunmei naturally would not allow it, and hence she and Luo Dashan locked Luo Cuilan upstairs, but Luo Cuilan escaped using a ladder from the gate and went to live at Zhang Jianguo's house, and when she came back later, she even claimed to be pregnant.
Zhou Yunmei had no choice but to agree to their marriage.
Although Zhou Yunmei initially did not like this son-in-law, after her daughter married him, since the Zhang family was poor, Zhou Yunmei and Luo Dashan did not hesitate to support them, and Luo Zhiyong and Luo Zhiming never stopped, even helping to raise their only son.
By all accounts, such treatment from a mother-in-law to her son-in-law was extremely considerate.
But later on, due to troubles in the Zhang family, Zhang Jianguo began to stray, not only endangering his marriage with Luo Cuilan, but also showing no gratitude towards the Luo family, and even trying to harm them, nearly causing Luo Zhiyong to face disciplinary actions.
Finally, when things were settled, Zhang Jianguo did not mention divorce, and left without explanation, never returning again, and whether he was alive or dead was unknown.
When meeting Luo Zhiyong, Zhang Jianguo was very enthusiastic, repeatedly asking questions and showing great concern for Luo Zhiyong's leg.
Luo Zhiyong had not dealt with Zhang Jianguo directly, but upon seeing him for the first time, he had a good impression, thinking him to be honest, and upon hearing Zhou Yunmei's praise of his treatment towards Cuilan, he immediately regarded him as a potential brother-in-law.
Fang Pingying knew all about Zhang Jianguo's true character and how deeply Luo Cuilan was devoted to him, so she didn't talk much, just stood by watching.
However, she was somewhat surprised, wondering whether the rebirth had changed something, seeing Zhou Yunmei treating Zhang Jianguo quite well, not opposing him as in the past life, and she recalled that Zhou Yunmei had even mentioned Zhang Jianguo's name before, not seeming to object to their marriage.
Before Fang Pingying could finish thinking, Zhou Yunmei's words resolved her doubts.
Zhou Yunmei casually chatted with Zhang Jianguo for a while, then suddenly asked, "Jianguo, are you free these days?"
"Free, what do you need help with, aunty?" Zhang Jianguo responded with a smile.
Zhou Yunmei laughed heartily and then slightly embarrassed spoke up, "You see, our kitchen cabinet has been used for many years and it's falling apart, I was thinking whether you could make a new one for me."
"Of course, I thought it was a big matter, just such a small task." Zhang Jianguo, knowing carpentry, considered making a cabinet as a very simple task, "Aunty, just tell me what kind you need."
"I'll tell you about it in a bit." Zhou Yunmei said, "I was thinking it would be best if our family doesn't spend money on wood, seeing as your family does carpentry for others, surely there must be a lot of leftover wood, I wonder if you could use that to make us a nice looking kitchen cabinet."