Chapter 535: Husband and Wife in Harmony—Weaning!
“Wah…”
In his sleep, Li Yi was startled awake by the sound of a baby crying.
Opening his eyes, he saw that his two kids had woken up at some point and were now both lying on top of him, but their eyes were fixed on Jiang Xue beside him.
Li Yi immediately understood—the two kids were looking for their mom!
And in their eyes, he, their father, was nothing more than an obstacle blocking their path to their mother—unable to crawl past him, they had started crying.
Mothers are particularly attuned to their children’s movements; as soon as the babies’ cries rang out, Jiang Xue woke up as well.
Clearly, she was already used to this situation. She reached out, picked up Yunrui first, and placed him on her left lap.
She then unbuttoned her coat and handed him the bag of grain, and the little one’s crying stopped abruptly.
She then reached out with her other hand to scoop up his younger sister, Yun Jin, but instead of placing her on her lap, she held her in her arms and handed her a grain bag as well.
With both children’s mouths stuffed, the commotion died down.
Just as Li Yi stood there dumbfounded, Jiang Xue said to him, “Hurry up and make some formula for the kids. The bottles and formula are in the kitchen!”
“What, aren’t they getting enough to eat?”
“They’re both eight months old now. My breast milk only fills them up about thirty percent, so I have to supplement with formula at every meal!” Jiang Xue explained.
Li Yi nodded, then turned and got up, heading toward the kitchen.
Li Yi was no stranger to making formula, so he had it ready in no time.
When he returned to the bedroom, he saw his precious son and daughter looking at Jiang Xue with pouting faces, clearly still hungry.
Jiang Xue’s grain sack, which had been bulging just moments ago, was now completely deflated and sagging slightly.
Seeing this, Li Yi started to panic. “You two were just supposed to use that thing temporarily—how did you manage to deform it?”
No way—it’s time to wean these two little ones!
Immediately, he handed the bottle to Jiang Xue and said, “Honey, I think it’s time to wean them!”
“Wean them?”
Jiang Xue replied, “Isn’t that a bit too early? Yunrui and Yunjin aren’t even eight months old yet!”
Li Yi knew that weaning a child at eight months was indeed a bit early these days; most children were breastfed until they were two or three years old, or even older.
It wasn’t that parents spoiled their children; it was mostly due to a lack of resources and poor living conditions. Children struggled to get enough nutrition from simple, meager meals and had to rely on their mothers’ breast milk to make up for it.
But for his family, such concerns simply didn’t exist.
Not to mention that they had as much formula—a “luxury item”—as they wanted; even if Li Yi wanted to keep a dairy cow just to feed the two children, it wouldn’t be a problem.
“It’s a bit early, but weaning them now would be a good thing for both you and them!”
“Why?”
“Think about it—you’re about to start college. You can’t exactly run back from class to breastfeed them!”
Li Yi continued, “Besides, breast milk doesn’t fill them up. If they’re relying on it, they won’t eat their meals properly. It’s better to wean them off right now!”
Jiang Xue first poured some formula from the bottle, checked the temperature, and found it neither too hot nor too cold—just right for drinking.
She then handed the bottles to the two children one by one and gently laid them down on the kang.
After putting on her loose-fitting clothes, she finally said, “Actually, Mom mentioned weaning to me a few days ago, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it, so I refused!”
“Since you also think we should wean them, then let’s do it!”
“Then it’s settled—we’re weaning!”
The two little ones, still clutching their bottles, had no idea that their parents had already decided to wean them—that the “milk bag” would no longer belong to them…
After settling the two little ones, Li Yi realized it was already six o’clock in the afternoon.
They’d actually slept for three and a half hours—no wonder the two little ones had woken up hungry!
“What should we have for dinner? I’ll go make something,” Jiang Xue said after changing her clothes.
Li Yi thought for a moment and said, “Let’s not eat at home. Let’s go out to a restaurant! I’ll also stop by to see Third Sister and Dongzi while I’m at it!”
“Sounds good. What about the kid? Should we bring him along?”
“What else can we do but take him?”
“Have Juanzi watch him, or take him over to Mom’s!” Jiang Xue suggested.
“Forget it. I want to spend more time with the kids. Over the past month, these two little ones have actually become a bit distant from me—they won’t even let me hold them anymore!” Li Yi said, sounding a bit down.
“Kids don’t have great memories anyway. Just spend more time with them!”
“Alright!”
“You tidy up after them first. I’m going out to check the car. It hasn’t been driven in over a month—I wonder if it’ll even start!”
With that, Li Yi walked out of the main room!
Over in the side room, Zhang Ziqiang had been keeping an eye on the main house. Seeing Li Yi come out, he immediately stepped out of the side room as well.
“Brother Yi!”
“Can you drive?”
“I do. I can drive sedans, Jeeps, trucks, and even tanks and armored vehicles!”
Hearing this, Li Yi was a bit stunned. Was this the caliber of a top-tier operative?
“You don’t happen to know how to fly a plane, do you?”
“I can fly commercial airliners and helicopters, but I’ve never flown a fighter jet. Those things are too precious—I’ve never had the chance to touch one!” Zhang Ziqiang said with a hint of regret.
Li Yi was completely blown away. He really wanted to ask, “Is there anything you can’t do?”
“We don’t have the means for that. We only have a Volga. Come on, I’ll take you to see it!”
“Alright!”
The two made their way to the three-courtyard mansion at the back. As soon as they stepped inside, they saw a dust-covered Volga parked there.
Li Yi asked Zhang Ziqiang to check the car’s condition while he surveyed the courtyard.
The courtyard was empty, but judging by the building materials scattered everywhere and the unused bags of cement, it was clear the construction workers had only just left.
The front courtyard hadn’t changed much, but when Li Yi reached the back, he found that the two inner courtyards had been almost completely renovated.
The renovated courtyard gleamed like new, yet exuded an antique charm throughout—Li Yi was thoroughly satisfied.
It was a pity the front courtyard wasn’t finished yet; otherwise, he could have brought in some antique furniture and stored those tens of thousands of masterpieces here.
By the time Li Yi had made his way back to the front courtyard, Zhang Ziqiang had already started the car and smoothly backed it out of the compound.
Thinking of his wife and children waiting for him at home, Li Yi locked the door again and followed Zhang Ziqiang back to the small courtyard in front.
Back home, Jiang Xue had already got the two children all ready!
And “Little Nanny” Juanzi had come over to help, packing the children’s water bottles, formula, and other necessities into a cloth bag!
However, Li Yi wasn’t in a hurry to leave. He first went back inside, retrieved the suitcase containing gifts for Jiang Xue and his mother-in-law, and put it away.
Then he carried the other two suitcases out to the front door and loaded them into the trunk of the car.
Next, the group got into the car and, with Zhang Ziqiang—a super driver who had even flown a plane—at the wheel, headed straight for Beiguan Village!