Chapter 16: Breastfeeding

She sat at the head of the bed, cradling the tiny baby in one arm and slightly lifting one side of her shirt.

Her head was bowed, a few stray strands of hair veiling her beautiful eyes, leaving only the small, straight bridge of her nose visible.

Hearing a sound, she instinctively turned her head. When she saw Xie Zhao standing at the door, she froze, a blush spreading across her face at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The young nurse was still earnestly teaching her.

“Like this, lift the baby up a bit. She needs to take the whole thing in, not just suck on the tip, otherwise you’re going to suffer!”

Xie Zhao froze in his tracks.

Huh?

Was he supposed to be hearing this?

What kind of wild talk^[1] was this?

Sensing Lin Muyu’s gaze, the others in the ward turned their heads in unison to look over.

Tian Xiufen was holding one of the babies, feeding her formula. Seeing Xie Zhao walk in, she looked up, her eyes and brows brimming with uncontrollable joy.

“Er Xiaozi^[2], come quick! Take a look at your daughter! She looks just like you, so pretty!”

Out of the corner of his eye, Xie Zhao caught sight of Lin Muyu, who looked completely flustered. He could only look straight ahead, forcing himself to appear calm as he walked in.

But once he got closer and took a look, he could no longer tear his eyes away.

She was truly adorable.

In just three short days, the baby’s changes were already astonishing.

When she was first born, she was red and wrinkled, and could hardly be called good-looking.

But after three days of feeding, her skin had smoothed out, the swelling on her face had disappeared, and her features had become clear and delicate.

She had wide double eyelids, pitch-black pupils, and thick, beautiful hair.

The baby was drinking milk.

As the small spoon approached, she would pucker her lips to suck, taking sip after sip with little smacking sounds.

If Tian Xiufen was even a little bit slow, she would immediately open her mouth and start to cry, prompting a startled Tian Xiufen to quicken her pace and feed the milk into her mouth.

It was truly… a novel experience.

It felt as if something was slowly waking up in Xie Zhao’s blood.

He could not help but lean down, carefully studying this little creature who shared half of his blood.

“Ee-ya~”

A soft, chubby little hand suddenly waved in the air, then firmly grasped the tip of his finger.

Their skin met, soft and tender. Her tiny fingernails scratched lightly against his finger. It did not hurt, but left a slight, ticklish sensation.

Xie Zhao froze, not daring to move a muscle.

For the first time in his life, he truly understood what it meant to be utterly at a loss.

“That’s the younger sister.”

The young nurse turned to Xie Zhao and said, “The one drinking milk is the older sister. The older sister was born at five-twenty in the evening, and the younger sister was born at five-twenty-three. Just a three-minute difference.”

Xie Zhao nodded, indicating he understood.

The nurse added, “Today is the third day after giving birth, and your wife’s milk has come in. You’ve got a job to do over the next few days, comrade! Come over here, let me explain it to you in detail!”

Xie Zhao’s eyes widened.

Wait.

Go… go over?

His feet felt as if they had taken root, unable to budge. His gaze darted all over the place, but he simply did not dare to look in Lin Muyu’s direction!

He really had absolutely no experience with this!

But the nurse didn’t care about that.

She still had rounds to make!

Seeing that Xie Zhao was not moving, she leaned over, gently pried the baby’s hand away, and then dragged him toward the hospital bed.

Fortunately, by this time, Lin Muyu had finished feeding. The little one had closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep, fully satisfied.

She had also quickly pulled her clothes back down, her earlobes so red they looked ready to bleed.

But… Xie Zhao had still seen it.

Lin Muyu was naturally fair-skinned.

During the year since she married in, she had worked in the fields in early spring. In those lush green paddy fields, when the blazing sun shone down, casting golden light over the emerald rice plants, Lin Muyu had looked so fair she seemed to glow.

One look at her, and it was impossible to turn away.

And that was just her exposed skin. In that split second just now, when her clothes were lifted, Xie Zhao had caught a casual glimpse.

Hiss.

Almost instinctively, he gasped inwardly.

How could she be so fair?!

Xie Zhao’s face felt as if it were on fire.

He stood stiffly in front of Lin Muyu. Neither of them dared to make eye contact. With their heads lowered, they looked left and right like a pair of silly geese, looking quite amusing.

The young nurse reached out and patted Xie Zhao on the shoulder.

“Comrade, what’s going on with you two? Are you legally married?”

Xie Zhao: “Absolutely legal!”

The nurse snorted.

She was only asking.

After all, they already had babies together; it could hardly be fake.

But standing together now, why did they both look so flushed and incredibly shy?

“Your family’s situation is a bit special, so I’m going to say a few extra words. Comrade, don’t get upset. I’m doing this for your own good!”

Xie Zhao quickly nodded in agreement.

“I know, comrade. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to remember every word!”

Only then did the nurse nod in satisfaction.

“You have twins, so breast milk definitely won’t be enough. You’ll need to alternate feedings between the two babies and supplement them with something else, like formula.”

She paused, looking at Xie Zhao with a somewhat complicated expression. “Of course, formula is quite expensive. If you really can’t afford it, mixing in some rice paste is also an option. But your babies are so small, and rice paste really doesn’t have much nutrition.”

In this day and age, when babies were born and there was no breast milk, they were mostly fed rice water^[3].

Whether they were raised well or got enough nutrition was not even considered; as long as they did not starve to death, it was enough.

What was more, Xie Zhao had daughters.

In this era, especially in the countryside, giving birth to girls was a sin.

Having worked in the maternity ward for a long time, the nurse had seen all kinds of awful people. She had seen countless babies abandoned, drowned, or simply left behind at the hospital.

Once the nurse finished speaking, Xie Zhao took a moment to process it, immediately understanding her implication.

The moment he lowered his head, he caught the sudden dimming of Lin Muyu’s eyes.

She pursed her lips, wanting to say something, but in the end, she remained silent.

“Of course they’ll have formula!”

Xie Zhao understood instantly. He smiled at the nurse and said with a serious expression, “Of course they’ll have formula!”

He looked down, gazing at the sleeping baby.

Jet-black hair, soft cheeks, and tiny, adorable hands.

Every little detail was slowly awakening a wondrous sense of kinship deep within him.

In that instant, Xie Zhao wanted nothing more than to gather the best things in the world and lay them before his daughter.

“Whatever is best for the babies, they’ll drink that,” Xie Zhao said, enunciating every word. “I only want them to be safe and healthy. I’ll figure out the rest.”

Hearing this, the young nurse couldn’t help but look at Xie Zhao in surprise.

Her impression of him improved significantly once again.

This was truly rare.

She nodded, then glanced at Lin Muyu, who looked just as surprised, and a smile touched the corners of her lips.

“The second thing is getting the milk flowing.”