Chapter 93
Although it was tentative, they were already calling him “Yaoyao, Yaoyao.” The next day, when Gu Yao and Yang Xiaorou came, they also called him that. Even if he got a formal name later, his nickname was already Yaoyao.
“How is it? Is there enough milk?” Gu Yao asked, having cooked some brown sugar eggs.
“Thank you,” Ye Qingzhi said, not being polite with her. She took it and ate it directly. “My milk supply is not a lot, but it’s enough for the child.”
“That’s good. It’s fine even if it’s not enough. We can get milk powder,” Yang Xiaorou said, gently tapping Yaoyao’s small nose. She suddenly wanted to have another one, but thinking of Ye Qingzhi’s appearance yesterday, she shook her head and quickly threw this terrible thought away.
“What’s wrong?” Gu Yao asked. She felt that Yang Xiaorou had been acting strangely since yesterday.
Yang Xiaorou sighed softly. “I see that both Qingzhi and Jinfeng are having children, so I was thinking of whether to have a second child. But when I saw how much pain Qingzhi was in yesterday, I gave up the idea. Sigh, I’m really scared.”
“If you’re scared, then don’t have one. I wanted to have a child with Qiming. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have had another one,” Ye Qingzhi said. She knew that Yang Xiaorou had had a difficult birth before, and her body was not in good condition. There was really no need for a second child.
Yang Xiaorou nodded. “I’m not having another one. You shouldn’t either. Look at your pale little face.”
Of course, Ye Qingzhi would not have another one. She had five sons. Not to mention other things, just the food would be a huge expense. It was also because He Qiming’s salary was high enough. Otherwise, she would not have had one.
Gu Yao and Yang Xiaorou stayed for a long time. Li Jinfeng had also come, but she couldn’t stand the smell of the hospital and had left after a while.
The next morning, He Qiming packed up. Gu Yao and the others also came over. One carried things, one held the child, and He Qiming carried Ye Qingzhi on his back. Worried about the wind, Gu Yao covered her with a blanket.
“Is this uncomfortable?” He Qiming asked, looking down.
Ye Qingzhi shook her head. “It’s not uncomfortable. Are you tired?”
“How heavy can you be?” He Qiming asked, afraid of jostling Ye Qingzhi. He walked very steadily with every step.
The bed at home had already been remade. He Qiming placed Ye Qingzhi on the bed and had her lie down and rest quickly.
Gu Yao took off the swaddling clothes and placed the child next to Ye Qingzhi. “Yaoyao is so well-behaved. You and the child should rest well. We’ll be going now. We’ll come and see you again later.”
If they were here, Ye Qingzhi would definitely not be able to rest peacefully, so Gu Yao and Yang Xiaorou did not stay long.
Gu Yao was not polite with them. She was indeed very weak now and did not have that much energy to entertain them.
In the afternoon, after Ye Qingzhi had fed the child, she also drank a bowl of chicken soup. She was sitting up, holding the child, when she heard voices from outside.
“Regiment Commander He, where’s Qingzhi? Is she inside? Is the child also inside? We’ve come to see Qingzhi and the child.”
From the voice, it was Zhao Lan. Ye Qingzhi immediately lay down and pretended to be asleep.
“Qingzhi has just given birth and is a little weak. She should be sleeping,” He Qiming said, leading Zhao Lan and the others into the house. Seeing that Ye Qingzhi, who had been awake just now, was indeed “sleeping,” a hint of a smile flashed in his eyes. He turned to look at Zhao Lan with embarrassment. “Sister-in-law, Qingzhi and the child are asleep. Let’s go to the living room. After her confinement, we’ll treat you to a meal.”
Zhao Lan frowned. This Ye Qingzhi was really delicate. To be so weak just from having a child. She remembered that she had washed her own clothes and cooked on the second day after she had given birth.
And so many of them had come to see her during her confinement. By rights, they should have woken Ye Qingzhi up. How could they be so brazen as to shoo them away? Regiment Commander He was also ill-mannered.
But He Qiming’s rank was higher than their husbands’. No matter how unhappy the few of them were in their hearts, they could only listen to him and go out. They even had to be light on their feet, afraid of waking up Ye Qingzhi and the child.
The few of them arrived at the living room. In front of a big man like He Qiming, they couldn’t just pull him and talk about having children and raising children. After politely asking about Ye Qingzhi and the child’s condition, they prepared to take their leave.
Hearing the sound of Zhao Lan and the others leaving, Ye Qingzhi, after a while, heard the door open again. She glanced at it and chuckled lightly. “Are they all gone?”
“They’re gone,” He Qiming said with a smile, pinching Ye Qingzhi’s cheek. “You don’t like Sister Zhao and the others?”
“It’s not that I don’t like them. It’s just that we can’t get along,” Ye Qingzhi said with a pout.
Zhao Lan and the others really had no sense of boundaries. Every time they chatted with her, they would ask all sorts of questions.
For example, how did her dad die? Was there any compensation? How was her mom now? How were her siblings? How were her in-laws? How was her relationship with her sisters-in-law? They even asked about her ex-husband and if He Jingyan’s biological mother had been in contact.
Among all these questions, there was not a single one that Ye Qingzhi wanted to answer.
“If you can’t get along, then forget it. With Yang Xiaorou, Gu Yao, and the others, you’re not lonely,” He Qiming said. He himself was not a sociable person and did not force Ye Qingzhi.
The next morning, the representative of the city wives, Zhang Shuhua, brought a group of people to see Ye Qingzhi and the child. Ye Qingzhi was just changing the child’s diaper, so she couldn’t use the trick of pretending to be asleep. Fortunately, they had a sense of boundaries and would not ask random questions.
“Oh, this child is so beautiful. But you and Regiment Commander He are both good-looking. Let me see, he looks more like you. It’s good for a son to look like his mother. He can be an official if he looks like his mother,” Zhang Shuhua said, holding the child and showing him to the military wife next to her.
“His nose is like Regiment Commander He’s. He’s just been born, and his nose is already so straight. Tsk, tsk, how many little girls will he charm in the future?” Sister-in-law Wang asked, peeking at the child and constantly praising him.
Zhang Shuhua nodded. “His four older brothers are all very good-looking. Qingzhi, it’s amazing. Your family has five handsome men. How many little girls will be scrambling to call you ‘mother-in-law’ in the future?”
Ye Qingzhi smiled. “I’ll take your good wishes. I’m not blessed to have a daughter. I’m just counting on them to coax a lovely girl back to be my daughter.”
The military wives who had daughters were moved. Although they did not have much contact with Ye Qingzhi, they knew a little about her.
She had an easy-going personality, but she could also stand up for herself when needed. She was not petty and did not gossip behind people’s backs. The main thing was that she was very good to her adopted son and stepson, treating them all equally. Such a person would definitely not be bad to her daughter-in-law.
But the children were still too young. They would observe for a while more. If the child was also not bad, they would have their own daughters strike first.
Ye Qingzhi had no idea that they had their eyes on her children. After chatting and laughing for a while, the few of them got up and left with great tact.
“You must be exhausted. Have some chicken soup first,” He Qiming said, calculating the time. He had been about to come and shoo them away, but he had not expected them to leave on their own.
“Sister Shuhua has a sense of proportion,” Ye Qingzhi said, putting the child on the bed, putting a pillow behind her back, and slowly drinking the chicken soup. “Have the children eaten?”
“They have. They have me. You don’t have to worry. Your task now is to take good care of your body,” He Qiming said, kissing Ye Qingzhi’s forehead. “Rest. I’ll go and wash the clothes.”
Perhaps because of childbirth, Ye Qingzhi had indeed been very sleepy these two days, especially after she was full.
In a daze, she heard the child’s cries. Ye Qingzhi turned to her side, put him to her mouth, and gently patted his back. The child stopped crying, and she continued to sleep.
She slept until three in the afternoon. Ye Qingzhi finally woke up, stretched, and heard voices in the yard. She thought it was Gu Yao and the others.
“Where’s your mother?”
As the person entered the house, Ye Qingzhi heard more clearly. To ask that, it was definitely not Gu Yao and the others. After listening carefully, it seemed to be Bai Xue.
Just then, there was a knock on the door. Ye Qingzhi hesitated for a moment and said, “I’m here. Just come in.”
“Congratulations. The child is very cute,” Bai Xue said, peeking at the child, her tone sincere.
“Thank you. Where’s your child?” Ye Qingzhi really didn’t know what to say to her.
“She’s at home. She just woke up not long ago. She must be eating egg custard now,” Bai Xue said, her expression softening at the mention of her own daughter.
Ye Qingzhi nodded, suddenly not knowing what to say. The atmosphere was a bit awkward.
“I just came to see the child. You should rest well,” she said, and then Bai Xue turned and left.
When He Qiming got off work, Ye Qingzhi told him that Bai Xue had come. “I didn’t even go when she had her child. Our relationship is not good. Why did she suddenly come over?”
“Maybe she just wanted to come and have a look,” He Qiming said, changing the child’s diaper and putting him in Ye Qingzhi’s arms. “Are you hungry? I’ll go and cook.”
“Don’t cook yourself. Let’s just get food from the canteen,” Ye Qingzhi said. She felt that He Qiming was too tired.
“The food at the canteen is too hard. You need to eat something softer now. It’s not tiring. What do you want to eat?” He Qiming asked, kissing Ye Qingzhi’s cheek.
“Noodles. I want to eat oil-splashed noodles,” Ye Qingzhi said, her mouth watering.
“That’s not an option. Old Hu said you can’t eat too oily. I’ll make it for you after your confinement. How about egg noodles? The small green vegetables in the basin are ready to eat. I’ll make you some green vegetable and egg noodles?” He Qiming said in a soft and gentle voice.
Ye Qingzhi sighed softly. “Alright.”
September in the Northwest was very cool, and with the well-behaved child, Ye Qingzhi had a very comfortable confinement.
According to He Qiming’s wishes, he had Ye Qingzhi stay for forty-two days, but she really couldn’t lie down for another day.
“Is the water boiled?” Ye Qingzhi asked, holding her clothes and waiting early.
“It’s boiled. You can come over,” he said. It was a little cold today. Worried that Ye Qingzhi would catch a cold, He Qiming had her wear a hat and also put a blanket on her. “I’ve asked Old Hu. Don’t think that you can be careless just because you’re out of your confinement. You have to be careful for six months.”
Her body was her own. Of course, Ye Qingzhi valued it. She obediently wrapped herself in the blanket and went into the bathroom.
She hadn’t washed her hair or taken a shower for a month. Her hair couldn’t even lather. She had to use shampoo three times in a row to get it clean. The same went for her shower. After she was done, Ye Qingzhi felt at least five catties lighter.
“Honey, do you think I’ve gotten fat?” Ye Qingzhi asked, pinching the flesh on her belly.
He Qiming looked at the fuller Ye Qingzhi, who was more alluring than before. He swallowed and picked up an undershirt to put on her.
“Don’t tempt me. You still have to recuperate for a few more months,” He Qiming’s voice was hoarse.
Ye Qingzhi was taken aback for a moment. She had forgotten that this person had been celibate for several months. She couldn’t provoke him now.
She quickly got dressed. “What about the full-month celebration?”
“Two tables will be enough. We’ll definitely have to invite those who have given gifts for a meal,” He Qiming said, taking a dry towel to dry Ye Qingzhi’s hair.
He Qiming did not let Ye Qingzhi worry about these things. He asked someone to buy vegetables and meat, and also asked Gu Yao to be the chef. The full-month celebration was held in a lively manner, and both the host and the guests were happy.