Chapter 139
Wanqing was moving around restlessly in Pei Jing's arms, waking him up. He opened his eyes, his just woken up voice a little hoarse and low, "What's wrong? Do you need to go to the bathroom?"
Wanqing nodded, she had to go really badly, she could feel it.
"I think I can walk, you just need to support me. It would be awkward since it's so crowded here." The hospital was always busy, being too intimate would be embarrassing.
"It's no problem, I can carry you." Pei Jing said.
After Wanqing used the bathroom she lay in bed waiting for him to go pay the bill before they went home together.
As soon as they entered the yard, the smell of rice wafted out.
Zhou Granny came out from the kitchen, surprised to see them back so early. "You two are up so early, I thought you wouldn't be back until noon. I was about to ask your third brother to bring you breakfast!"
"Couldn't sleep, so we came back." Wanqing was worried about the two kids. She had fallen asleep right after giving birth yesterday. She had only caught a glimpse of them when she woke up to breastfeed. She was so weak and groggy that she didn't have the energy to get a good look at them. She still didn't know what her babies looked like.
"Hurry and lie down then. The two babies are with their uncle, your mom left before dawn to line up at the supply and marketing cooperative, still hasn't come back yet. Don't know if she'll get any pig's feet..." Zhou Granny chatted while Pei Jing carried Wanqing into the room.
An ZhiXian was in the room keeping an eye on the babies, he had lined them up on the bed and couldn't take his eyes off them.
Especially the baby girl next to him, he kept wanting to reach out and poke her. Usually so aloof, now he was acting as mischievous as a child.
He had booked tickets for tomorrow, but now he suddenly didn't want to leave. What if he couldn't bear to go? When Pei Jing carried Wanqing in, he saw An ZhiXian's silly grin and thought "cute" described little uncle three for the first time.
"Stop staring and make some room." Pei Jing looked disdainfully at this uncle in law, he hadn't even noticed them come in.
An ZhiXian quickly moved aside for Pei Jing to put Wanqing on the bed, then resumed his usual aloofness.
Wanqing smiled, she suddenly found this third uncle quite interesting. But first she turned her attention to the two babies.
She didn't know if it was because they were her own, but she used to think newborns were wrinkly and ugly. But the two in front of her now were so fair, pink and soft, she thought they were beautiful.
"Which one is the boy and which is the girl?" Wanqing vaguely remembered the nurse telling her after they were born, but she had been too tired to remember.
Beating Pei Jing to it, An ZhiXian squeezed over. "The chubby one is your sister, the slightly thinner one is your brother, though he's not that thin either, 4.6 pounds. Your sister is 5.2 pounds."
From bringing them home yesterday until now, he, his mother and granny hadn't slept a wink, he had insisted on feeding the babies. The two soft little ones had nestled into his heart.
Suddenly, he didn't really want to go back to Jincheng anymore.
Wanqing stroked the babies' faces, their skin was so smooth and soft. She heard An ZhiXian say, "Little sister, third brother couldn't sleep last night and thought of names for the babies, do you want to hear them?"
Pei Jing suddenly felt displeased. "No need to trouble you, we've already decided on names."
Since they didn't know if they were having a boy or girl, they had prepared two of each, plenty to use.
"So what if you've decided, nothing's set in stone yet. Mine might be better, I'm their uncle you know, mother's brothers have priority. What's wrong with helping pick names?"
"No means no." Pei Jing didn't indulge him. "If you want to pick names, find your own wife and have your own kids, call them whatever you want. I decide my son's name."
"You decide your son, I don't care. But my niece's name must be picked by me." An ZhiXian refused to back down.
After half a day of arguing, they each got their way with one child. Wanqing chose from the names they had thought of. Their son ChenYe was named by Pei Jing, daughter Wanqing by her third uncle. The two babies were too young to know anything, but their dad and uncle had already split naming rights between themselves.
Extremely satisfied, An ZhiXian decided to give the family of four some private time. He went to go check if lunch was ready.
Outside, Zhou Nan had just returned and overheard their squabbling indoors. She looked at An ZhiXian impatiently, "You little punk, didn't even ask your sister's opinion. They had agreed on names as a couple and you just had to butt in, what for?"
"Little sister didn't object, you stay out of it." An ZhiXian had never liked how the fourth child was always showing off her closeness with Wanqing.
While the other three brothers were away, he couldn't even get dibs on a name, how lame.
"Granny, is the porridge done?"
"Yes, yes, dishing it out now for Wanqing to eat first."
When An ZhiXian brought the porridge into the room, Zhou Granny said to Zhou Nan, "It's not necessarily bad for the kids to bicker a little, it can bring them closer instead. Don't meddle in this, by the way, did you get the pig's feet?"
Zhou Nan sighed, "No pig's feet, too popular. Just got a pork elbow. But on the way back I saw someone with two carp, traded for them, they're in the water bucket now."
Zhou Granny glared at her. "You're too bold, what if something happens?"
Trading privately like this was the same as an underground deal, they'd be criticized if caught.
"There was no other way, this small town is worse than our village. I went before dawn but still didn't get anything. At least we have the elbow and two fish to last a few days." Zhou Nan felt uneasy but anxious too.
Her daughter wasn't close to her. Granny had specifically brought her own mother this time to keep an eye on her, claiming she was an expert in childbirth. But really it was to improve relations between mother and daughter. She wanted to get closer to her daughter too, but didn't know how.
She was trying her best to make amends. If it still didn't work, she didn't know what else she could do.
After eating, Wanqing felt some fullness and engorgement in her chest. Granny said her milk was coming in, to nurse the babies more frequently. She massaged Wanqing's breasts to stimulate milk letdown, painful and embarrassing.
At noon, Zhou Granny called Pei Jing out. "Little Jing, we've rented this place, but some people are quite particular about confinement practices. Should we give the landlord a red packet as a wedding gift and to dispel inauspiciousness?"
Partly as a celebration, and to avoid them taking offense.
"How much does Granny think is appropriate?" Pei Jing didn't know about this stuff and could only ask the elder.