Hospital. Ward!
Li Yi had originally assumed that this night would be chaotic and extremely hectic.
But to his surprise, it wasn’t nearly as chaotic as he’d imagined; the night was unusually quiet.
After feeding the baby formula a little past 1 a.m., both the adults and the child settled down and slept soundly until dawn.
At seven in the morning, it was already broad daylight outside. The “big brother” in the crib suddenly started whimpering without warning, and soon after, the “little sister” stirred as well.
Before long, both children were wailing loudly at the same time.
Hearing the children’s cries, Li Yi immediately came over to check on them.
His in-laws were also awakened by the noise and came over to help look after the children.
After a quick check of their diapers, they found that neither child had soiled them, so Ye Lingyun concluded that the babies were hungry.
Newborns have small appetites and eat very little, but they burn a lot of energy, so they need to eat every two or three hours.
Calculating the time, nearly six hours had passed since the little ones’ first feeding; the fact that they’d made it until dawn was already quite remarkable.
However, just as Li Yi and his in-laws were busy preparing formula for the two little ones, Jiang Xue suddenly sat up in her hospital bed, still half-asleep.
Last night, when she was wheeled out of the delivery room, she was completely exhausted. She had fallen into a deep sleep before she even made it back to her hospital room; Li Yi and the nurses had even helped her get dressed.
Jiang Xue was startled awake by the sound of a baby crying near her ear and instinctively opened her sore, heavy eyes.
After resting for most of the night, her physical strength had finally begun to return somewhat.
After sitting up, she paused for a moment, looking slightly startled.
When she saw the two infants in Li Yi’s and her father Jiang Shiying’s arms, she immediately cried out anxiously to Li Yi, “The babies… why are the babies crying…?”
Seeing that Jiang Xue had woken up, Li Yi hurriedly said, “Don’t worry, they’re just hungry!”
Saying this, Li Yi held his daughter up in front of Jiang Xue and said, “Look, this is our little girl—a baby sister. The one in Daddy’s arms is a son!”
When her son was born, although Jiang Xue was already exhausted, she had still heard the doctors and nurses say that the first baby to be born was a chubby little boy.
But by the time the second child was born, she was so exhausted she was on the verge of passing out. She fell into a deep sleep the moment the baby was born, so naturally, she wasn’t sure whether the second child was a boy or a girl.
Now, hearing Li Yi say this, she realized she had given birth to fraternal twins—a boy and a girl.
Suddenly blessed with both a son and a daughter, a look of excitement flashed across Jiang Xue’s pale face.
She carefully took the baby girl from Li Yi’s arms and examined her closely.
But after just a couple of glances, she frowned and said, “Is… is this really our baby? Why is she so ugly? Did they mix us up?”
Hearing this, Li Yi nearly burst out laughing—she was definitely a mother through and through.
Ye Lingyun, who was standing nearby preparing to make formula for the baby, froze in her tracks upon hearing her daughter’s words.
“Silly girl, all newborns look like that!”
“No, I saw my older sister’s baby—she’s so plump and fair-skinned, absolutely adorable!”
The “eldest sister” Jiang Xue was referring to was none other than Li Yi’s own older sister, Li Mei. Back when her sister-in-law had brought the baby to the Li family’s ancestral home for her postpartum confinement, Jiang Xue had made a special trip to see the child.
At first glance, she’d fallen in love with that plump, fair-skinned little bundle of joy.
She’d fantasized about having two delicate little babies of her own to play with every day.
But she never imagined her own child would be all wrinkled and scrawny, looking like a little old man—not nearly as cute as her older sister’s.
Li Yi smiled and said, “By the time my older sister came home, she’d already been in the hospital for nearly a week, so of course the baby looked good. In a few days, ours will be just as cute as my older sister’s!”
“Really?”
“Of course it’s true—would I lie to you?” Li Yi said with a smile.
At that moment, the two little ones, unaware that their own mother had “rejected” them, were wailing at the top of their lungs.
This was Jiang Xue’s first time dealing with such young children, and she was a bit nervous. She immediately looked at her mother, Ye Lingyun, and asked, “Mom, I… what should I do? Should I breastfeed them?”
Ye Lingyun nodded and said, “Your milk might not have come in yet, but you can let the babies try anyway. Who knows, maybe they’ll help get it flowing!”
She then shooed Li Yi and Jiang Shiying out of the hospital room and began guiding Jiang Xue on how to feed the babies.
……
After leaving the ward, Li Yi and Jiang Shiying carried their lunch boxes to the hospital cafeteria.
They each ordered a bowl of noodles, and Li Yi also ordered a few large meat buns; he had a big appetite, and a single bowl of noodles simply wouldn’t be enough to fill him up.
While eating, Jiang Shiying asked Li Yi for his opinion about having Jiang Xue spend her postpartum confinement at the Jiang family’s ancestral home.
The reason, of course, was that the small house Li Yi had bought wasn’t finished yet and wasn’t suitable for living in.
In contrast, the Jiang family’s old mansion was not only fully equipped and elegantly furnished, but also had his mother-in-law nearby to care for Jiang Xue and the baby.
Li Yi could tell that his father-in-law was worried he might send Jiang Xue and the baby back to his hometown for the postpartum confinement period, so he immediately said he had no objections to the plan.
To be honest, he had never even considered sending Jiang Xue and the baby back to his hometown for the postpartum confinement period.
On the one hand, the baby was still too young to endure such a long car ride home.
On the other hand, living conditions back home were still somewhat lacking and couldn’t compare.
More importantly, Li Yi’s clothing business wasn’t yet wrapped up, and he would need to stay in Beijing for the foreseeable future.
If Jiang Xue and the baby returned to their hometown, he wouldn’t be able to look after them nearby.
Seeing that Li Yi had agreed to let his daughter return to the family home for her postpartum confinement, Jiang Shiying breathed a huge sigh of relief.
By now, he had come to understand his son-in-law quite well.
Don’t let the fact that the young man hadn’t received much education—he didn’t even have a junior high school diploma—fool you; he was highly capable, had a strong sense of integrity, and was fiercely proud.
This was evident from his insistence on buying a house in the capital—and not just one, but two courtyards.
There are many unspoken rules regarding a married daughter returning to her parents’ home for the postpartum period, so Jiang Shiying had genuinely worried that this young man might throw a tantrum and refuse to let his daughter return home.
Fortunately, although he has a strong sense of self-respect, he was willing to set aside his pride for his daughter’s sake—he truly is someone she can entrust her life to.
After settling the matter of where Jiang Xue would spend her postpartum period, the father-in-law and son-in-law brought some soups and light meals for Jiang Xue and Ye Lingyun, then returned to the hospital room.
As soon as they reached the ward entrance, Li Yi and Jiang Shiying spotted a familiar figure standing there, and the sound of laughter and conversation drifted out from inside the room.
Jiang Longcheng also spotted Li Yi and Jiang Shiying. He immediately walked over and greeted them, saying, “Uncle Li, Brother-in-law!”
“Why are you here so early, you rascal?” Jiang Shiying asked, looking at Jiang Longcheng.
“My mom made some pork trotter soup for my sister, and she asked me and Xinyao to bring it over!” Jiang Longcheng said with a grin.
Li Yi glanced at his watch—it wasn’t even eight o’clock yet—and said in surprise, “You didn’t happen to bring Zhang Xinyao back to your place to spend the night yesterday, did you?”
“Yeah…”
But Jiang Longcheng quickly caught himself and added, “Don’t get the wrong idea—I slept on the couch last night!”
“Good to hear. Don’t get carried away before you’re married!” Jiang Shiying said.
“Got it!”
“Good to hear. By the way, why aren’t you going inside?” Jiang Shiying asked again.
“Auntie won’t let me in!”
Jiang Shiying immediately understood—it must have been a bit awkward. He handed the lunch box to Li Yi and said, “You take this in. I’ll chat with Longcheng for a bit!”
“Sure!”
With that, Li Yi pushed open the door and walked in!
As soon as Li Yi stepped inside, he saw Zhang Xinyao whispering to his wife by the hospital bed, while his mother-in-law was sorting through the child’s clothes and other belongings nearby.
As for the two little ones, they were lying in the small bed next to it, already fast asleep.
Li Yi also noticed that there were quite a few pieces of fruit on the cabinet next to Jiang Xue’s bed, along with two brand-new aluminum lunch boxes—clearly brought by Jiang Longcheng and Zhang Xinyao.
Upon seeing Li Yi, Jiang Xue immediately waved him over.
When Li Yi walked over to her, Jiang Xue said excitedly, “Third Brother is planning to marry Sister Xinyao!”
Hearing this, Li Yi was instantly stunned.
Wow, that’s a bit too fast, isn’t it? It’s been barely a month and a half since they met—are they planning a whirlwind marriage?
This is 1981, after all—is it really necessary to go this big?