By the time Xu Zhaozhao returned to the military family compound, it was nearly noon.
Dragging her exhausted but exhilarated body, she walked step by step back to the row of red-brick houses.
Unlike the lonely morning departure, now in her pocket lay evidence strong enough to overturn everything.
Just as she reached the alley leading to her home, she heard a deliberately raised voice of gossip.
It was Li Xiuhua, along with a few agreeing women.
“…If you ask me, she’s clearly hiding something. Otherwise, why sneak out so early in the morning?”
“Exactly! Look at that belly, tsk tsk… I almost feel embarrassed for Commander Chen!”
“Aunt Wang’s unlucky too, getting such a daughter-in-law. Truly unfortunate…”
Xu Zhaozhao’s gaze turned cold. She didn’t pause and walked straight toward them.
At the alley’s entrance, Li Xiuhua huddled with two other gossiping women. Wang Guifen stood at her doorway, face shadowed, listening without intervening.
Seeing Xu Zhaozhao return, the chatter abruptly stopped. Their eyes all fell on her, filled with undisguised scrutiny and malice.
“Oh, big sister-in-law’s back?”
Li Xiuhua crossed her arms and sneered, her tone dripping sarcasm. “Gone all morning, huh? Where were you? Don’t tell me… visiting your lover?”
Her words were venomous. The two women next to her snickered lowly.
Finally, Wang Guifen spoke, her tone icy:
“You even remember to come back? Do you still care about this family? Sneaking out without so much as a greeting!”
If this were the original Xu Zhaozhao, such public humiliation would have brought tears and stammering defenses.
But now, Xu Zhaozhao remained calm, a faint, mocking smile tugging at her lips.
She didn’t reply immediately. Slowly, she pulled the diagnosis certificate stamped with a bright red official seal from her pocket.
She didn’t hand it to anyone but held it up directly before Li Xiuhua and Wang Guifen.
Black-and-white text with the military hospital’s red seal gleamed sharply in the sunlight:
Intrauterine pregnancy, ~16 weeks, sextuplets.
“Visiting a lover?”
Xu Zhaozhao’s voice was calm but carried a cold authority that cut through the alley:
“I went to the military hospital for a prenatal check. Mother-in-law, third brother’s wife, and these aunts—you’ve always been curious why my belly is so big, haven’t you?”
She paused, sweeping her gaze over the suddenly frozen Li Xiuhua and the shocked Wang Guifen, speaking clearly and deliberately:
“The doctor said I’m carrying six babies. Six! Naturally, my belly is bigger than most. I’m sixteen weeks along—the timing matches perfectly!”
“Six… sextuplets?!”
Li Xiuhua screamed, eyes wide as saucers, staring at the certificate as if trying to burn through it.
She couldn’t believe it and refused to! How could that woman have such good luck?!
Wang Guifen trembled, stepping forward, squinting at the words on the certificate. Her lips quivered, her complexion shifted from blue to white, then to red—a dramatic spectacle.
She recognized the seal. It was genuine! A military hospital diagnosis certificate!
The two gossiping women were also stunned, mouths agape, alternating between the certificate and Xu Zhaozhao’s enormous belly, faces full of disbelief.
“No… impossible!”
Li Xiuhua leapt like a cat with its tail stepped on, pointing at Xu Zhaozhao.
“You must be faking it! Yes! You got someone to forge that certificate!”
“Forge?” Xu Zhaozhao looked as if she’d heard the biggest joke in the world. She tucked the certificate back into her pocket, folding it carefully, and then stared coldly at Li Xiuhua.
“The military hospital’s official seal, Director Li’s personal signature—you think you can forge that? Want to go verify it at the hospital right now?”
Li Xiuhua was silenced, her face flushed red.
Xu Zhaozhao turned to Wang Guifen, who looked pale and humiliated, her voice carrying unquestionable authority:
“Mother-in-law, here’s the diagnosis certificate. You’ve always claimed my timing was off and suspected the children weren’t Chen Zheng’s, humiliating me with third brother’s wife. Now, do you still have anything to say?”
Wang Guifen’s lips moved, but no sound came out.
The ironclad evidence was undeniable. Every malicious suspicion and rumor she had spread now slapped back squarely in her face.
She could even feel the neighbors’ gazes, full of contempt and reproach.
Xu Zhaozhao wasn’t done. She raised her voice, not just to Wang Guifen but to all the nearby ears:
“I, Xu Zhaozhao, act with integrity! I am Chen Zheng’s lawful wife, carrying his legitimate children—six of them! The doctor said carrying sextuplets is extremely difficult. I must strengthen nutrition and rest!”
Her gaze pierced Wang Guifen. “But since I became pregnant, what kind of life did I live at home? Eating worse than pigs, while the slightest good food went to others! Constantly slandered, constantly trampled! Mother-in-law, Chen Zheng sends fifty yuan and so many coupons every month—where did it all go? Wasn’t it enough for his pregnant wife and six unborn children to have a proper meal?!”
Fifty yuan!
A collective gasp rose from the crowd. In that era, fifty yuan was a fortune—enough for a family of five or six to live comfortably!
The neighbors’ sympathy instantly shifted to anger and condemnation toward Wang Guifen.
The old miserly mother-in-law had not only mistreated her pregnant daughter-in-law but also pocketed her son’s money!
Wang Guifen was utterly humiliated, her face dark red, wishing she could sink into the ground.
She pointed at Xu Zhaozhao but couldn’t form a single complete sentence.
Finally, trembling with fury, she stomped inside and slammed the door behind her.
Seeing her mother-in-law defeated, Li Xiuhua panicked. Amid the neighbors’ pointed looks, she slunk back into the inner room.
The two gossiping women, cheeks red, hurriedly pushed each other and left.
At the alley entrance, only Xu Zhaozhao remained, bathed in the complex gazes of the neighbors.
The sunlight fell warmly on her. Though her body was still exhausted and weak, her spine was straight, unyielding.