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When Yuxi woke up, it was the following day. When she opened her eyes, Yuxi was surprised to see her flat stomach but soon remembered that she had given birth to her child.
When Mama Qu saw that Yuxi had woken up, she smiled. "Madam is awake. Is Madam hungry? I'll ask Mama Bai to bring Madam some bird's nest congee."
Yuxi nodded a little. She was indeed hungry by now. "How is the baby?"
Mama Qu's face was all smiles. "The Eldest Young Miss fell asleep after being breastfed last night, and she's not awake yet!" Yuxi had found a nainiang[1] some time ago. Although Yuxi planned to breastfeed the baby herself, she was prepared for the possibility that she would run out of milk. She did not want her child to go hungry and knew she would not find a good nainiang[1] in a hurry.
Yuxi hummed and said, "Have Mama Bai prepare something to help me breastfeed." If she had her own breast milk, she would not need the nainiang[1].
Mama Qu hesitated momentarily before suggesting, "Madam, it's better if Lin Nainiang[1] continues to breastfeed the Eldest Young Miss." Breastfeeding a child would not only make Yuxi lose her figure but also affect her ability to conceive a second child. Although it was said that the General would not mind having a daughter, it was always better to have more children. Once Yuxi started feeding her child, it would not be easy for her to get pregnant.
Yuxi shook her head. "If I have milk, I will feed her myself." If she had no milk, she could do nothing about it, but if she did, she would not want anyone else to feed her baby.
Mama Qu knew Yuxi's nature. Once Yuxi had made up her mind, any arguments against it would only be useless, and at that moment, Mama Qu no longer wanted to argue with her unnecessarily.[T/C]
Yun Qing lifted the curtain and walked in. He held Yuxi's hand and said, "Thank you for your hard work." He was terrified by her screams yesterday.
Yuxi smiled and replied, "It's worth it, no matter how hard." She would not say silly things, such as it was not that hard. Although her delivery had gone smoothly, she had also suffered a lot.
As Yun Qing brushed away a few strands of hair that had fallen from her bun, he added: "The child is growing well, strong and truly robust."
Yuxi was stunned when she heard this statement. At that time, she had only paid attention to the child's appearance and nothing else. "Is the child that robust?" She gave birth to a girl, not a boy! How could her daughter look robust? [T/C]
Thinking of this, Yuxi hurriedly called out, "Mama Xi, bring the child here quickly." She needed to see if her child looked like a hoyden.
Although only one night had passed, the child looked much better than the night before. Seeing her baby, Yuxi's mood suddenly turned sour. The child's outline was very similar to Yun Qing's. His silhouette was sharp and angular, which was heroic for a man but not so good for a woman.
Mama Bai brought a bowl of millet porridge with red jujube and urged, "Madam, have a bowl of porridge first. I'll make some crucian carp soup for you later." Crucian carp soup was good for breastfeeding.
Carp Soup
Yuxi put aside the melancholy in her heart, picked up the bowl, and finished the porridge. After asking Mama Bai to take the bowl away, she told Yun Qing, "The child looks a lot like you." She didn't know whose look her daughter took at that moment because her eyes were still closed, but her outline was the same as Yun Qing's.
Yun Qing was pleased to hear this. "Really? How come I couldn't see that the child looked like me?" Since he was a child, no one had ever told him that he looked terrible, so he didn't think anything was wrong with his daughter looking like him.
Yuxi was depressed by Yun Qing's self-satisfaction, but she also knew that Yun Qing was thoughtless in a way and probably couldn't imagine that his daughter would later become a hoyden because she resembled him. But it was too early to think about such things, as the child had just been born. "The child already has a formal name. Why don't we give her a pet name?" Children were usually called by their pet names, not their formal names.
After hearing this suggestion, Yun Qing bowed his head in thought, and after thinking for a long time, he said, "Let's call her Zaozao!"
Yuxi knew that the Zao was derived from hongzhao[4], and she chuckled as she remembered the red jujube in the porridge she had just eaten. "When your daughter finds out the origin of her name, she'll probably cry." She had never seen a father name his child so casually.
Yun Qing explained his choice: "I think the name Zaozao is pretty good! Just look at the big jujube, which is red and sweet. This name means that the child will have an extremely prosperous[5] and a sweet life in the future."
Yuxi couldn't help but laugh as she said, "All right, if you like Zaozao, then let's call her Zaozao." She would not go against Yun Qing's opinion on such a small matter. Besides, from what Yun Qing said, the name had a good meaning.
Yun Qing looked at the child and whispered, "Look how soundly Zaozao is sleeping. She didn't wake up even after we talked for a long time." He pried open the swaddle with his hands and looked earnestly at his daughter. He didn't dare touch her for fear of hurting the child with the many calluses on his hands.
Hearing these words, Yuxi knew that Yun Qing loved the child with all his heart. However, it was not difficult to understand. Yun Qing already liked having daughters, and since this baby was his first child, it was inevitable that he would love her even more. "He Rui, we should not have a big ceremony for the child's xisan[6]. We'll invite a few familiar people we have treated like family members. What do you think?" So many people had died. Even though a month had passed, many people were still in mourning, so it would be inappropriate for them to hold a big event.
Yun Qing said, "It's fine to only invite a few for xisan[6], but the full moon ceremony for the child must be done in a big way." This was his first child, so he couldn't let his daughter be wronged.
Yuxi smiled and said, "Okay." It was only natural that her husband was willing to make a big deal out of it. Of course, she knew that even if the event became huge, there would only be a dozen tables at most, which was not too outrageous.
After the couple talked for a while, Yuxi began to feel sleepy again. She had just given birth, and her spirits were a bit low. She fell asleep as soon as she closed her eyes.
As Yun Qing watched the mother and daughter sleeping soundly, a smile appeared on his face. After watching them for a while, he covered Yuxi with a blanket, got up and left.
Huo Changqing looked at the smiling Yun Qing and asked with a smile, "Is your wife awake?" He felt comfortable seeing Yun Qing like this. Of course, the Yun family's hatred had to be avenged, but they could not allow themselves to be immersed in pain for the sake of it. It was good to see the current Yun Qing.
A noob translator, きつね, translated this noob translation. Please read this chapter at xin-shou.site. If you read this in another location other than site stated, it has been taken without the translator's permission. Please don't support this kind of act.
Yun Qing nodded. "She was and fell asleep again after eating a bowl of red jujube porridge. Oh, by the way, Uncle Huo, I gave the child a pet name, Zaozao; what do you think?" He thought it was a very, very lovely name.
Huo Changqing replied out of respect for Yun Qing's feelings, "M-hmm, it sounds very nice. But Zaozao should only be her nickname. Have you figured out what her formal name is?"
Yun Qing nodded. "Grandpa has already chosen the name, and she will be called Yun Lan." If he had a son in the future, he would be called Qihao.
Huo Changqing smiled. "That's a very nice name. I believe the old man in heaven will be very happy when he sees you have become a father."
They were chatting happily when they heard that a guest had arrived. Xu Wu said, "General, Da Nainai[7] Fu has come to visit Madam." Last night, Fu Tianlei received the news that Yuxi was in labour. But it was already too late in the evening to come over, so he had Da Nainai[7] Fu make a visit today.
Yun Qing responded, "Tell Da Nainai[7] Fu that Madam is asleep." His meaning was clear. If Da Nainai[7] Fu was willing to wait, she could stay; if not, she could go back.
Since Da Nainai[7] Fu had come, she couldn't leave without seeing someone. Fortunately, because Yuxi slept all night yesterday, she woke up after sleeping for half a shichen[8] this time.
When Da Nainai[7] Fu entered the room, she saw that Yuxi was wearing a cerise-coloured dress and a headband with a blue gem set in the middle of her forehead. Da Nainai[7] Fu couldn't help but mutter; I don't know who said Han Shi was frugal. If Han Shi is considered frugal, aren't there even more frugal people than her? Da Nainai[7] Fu suppressed her wandering thoughts and said with a smile, "This is the first time I've seen someone who looks so good after giving birth. I don't know how you managed to stay in shape?" It was hard not to be jealous of someone who looked so good after giving birth, but Yuxi's appearance was the same as she was before.
Yuxi smiled as she looked at the child sleeping beside her. "The birth went well, and I didn't suffer much. Mama Xi even laughed and said it was because the baby cared so much for her mother that she couldn't bear to make me suffer!"
Hearing this, Da Nainai[7] Fu asked, "Yuxi, is the mama by your side still delivering babies?" When Yuxi gave birth yesterday, she did not hire an outside midwife.
Yuxi smiled. "En. My mother was worried that we couldn't find a suitable midwife in the border city, so she gave me Mama Xi." After saying that, she added, "When my mother knew I was going to give birth, she was afraid that Mama Xi wouldn't be able to handle it alone; therefore, she sent me another mama who would take good care of me during my confinement." That was why people said children became precious when their mothers were around them! A mother would think of everything for you.
Da Nainai[7] Fu knew that Yuxi was adopted, but she hadn't expected Old Lady Han to be closer to Yuxi than to her own daughter. "Dimei[9] is so lucky."
Mama Bai brought carp soup over and gave it to Yuxi.
Da Nainai[7] Fu waited for Yuxi to finish her carp soup before asking in surprise, "Is Dimei[9] planning to personally breastfeed the baby?" Seeing Yuxi nod, Da Nainai[7] Fu said with a smile, "I thought you were going to have the nainiang[1] feed the child!" People in the border cities had fewer rules than those in the capital and would only hire a nainiang[1] to feed their children if they had no milk.
Yuxi explained, "I was also worried that if I ran out of milk, I wouldn't be able to find a satisfactory nurse at such short notice, so I had arranged for one to be on hand! If you have breast milk yourself, you don't need nainiang[1]."
When Da Nainai[7] Fu heard this explanation, the smile on her face became a little more genuine as she said, "That's right. There is always a level of separation when a child is given to someone else to feed. So it's always better to feed the baby yourself! By the way, have you named the child yet?" Both of Da Nainai[7] Fu's children were breastfed by herself.
Yuxi let out a sound of agreement and said, "Her official name is Yun Lan, which was given by the child's grandfather when he was still alive, and her pet name is Zaozao, which was chosen by the child's father."
Da Nainai[7] Fu smiled a little. "Zaozao, which means sweet as honey, is a good pet name. General Yun is very attentive. I chose the official and pet names for my two children." It wasn't that Fu Tianlei didn't name his children, but the names he picked were unpleasant to hear. And Old General Fu did not treat his granddaughters well and was too lazy to choose the children's names, so in the end, Da Nainai[7] Fu could only name them herself.
Yuxi smiled. "You don't know that I've never seen him smile much since we married. But since the baby was born, that smile has never left his face." She didn't mind letting everyone know that even though she had a daughter, Yun Qing still greatly loved the child.
Da Nainai[7] Fu was so astonished that she smiled and asked, "Really? I've never seen General Yun smile before!" She had seen Yun Qing several times, and he had his serious face on all those times, looking particularly intimidating.
A happy smile spread across Yuxi's face. "Who says otherwise! It's been different since he became a father. It's like he changed into a new person." Yun Qing's voice became even smaller as he spoke. It was a tiny detail, but it showed how much he loved his child.
Footnotes Full List
- (dialect) wet nurse
- The author used Mama Xi here. But the dialogue was between Yuxi and Mama Qu, so I changed it to Mama Qu.
🦊🤣🤣🤣 - hong=red, zhao=jujube
- another meaning for the word 红 (hóng=red): successful, popular, prosperous
- give a baby a bath on the third day after birth
Image Credit | Baidu - da=eldest, nainai=a young mistress of a family
- 2 hours
- younger brother and sister; younger brother's wife; sister-in-law
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The Rebirth of Han Yuxi