Xu Huaiyi had a wild idea. He carefully picked up his daughter, wanting to see if there was anything extraordinary about her—what if that was the trigger code for transmigrating back?
However, after fussing for a long time and even waking the little girl up, he found nothing.
Hearing their daughter’s unhappy cries, Gu Huanxi said irritably, “You woke her up, so you take care of her.”
“Alright, alright, I’ll take care of her…” He agreed readily, but his hands and feet clearly weren’t cooperating. With no elders around to guide them, he had long prepared to take care of his wife during her postpartum confinement. Cooking and washing clothes were already second nature to him—no trouble at all. The only real challenge was how to take care of a baby.
For this, he had even bought a realistic doll online to practice with, learning how to hold a baby, how to pat her to prevent spit-up, and how to wash her face, bathe her, and change her diapers. He had practiced diligently with instructional videos, but now, when it was time to put his skills to the test, why were his hands and feet refusing to cooperate?
Seeing him flustered and unsure of what to do first, Gu Huanxi had to give him step-by-step instructions. “Change her diaper first. The original owner did prepare some, but the hemp cloth is too rough. Use the ones from our car…”
“Of course we have to use the ones from our car! That’s fine cotton cloth I specially bought for our daughter at the market. I washed it after buying it, boiled it in hot water, and even sun-dried it for several days…” Xu Huaiyi muttered as he busied himself. After changing the diaper, he also replaced the outer swaddling blanket with a new one. The previous one was made from old clothes and even had patches on it.
“Go make the formula milk quickly. Can’t you see our daughter is still fussing? She must be hungry.” Gu Huanxi saw him holding their freshly cleaned, sweet-smelling daughter and grinning like a fool, so she had to remind him.
“Ah, right, right! How could I forget that? Food is the most important thing. Look how skinny our daughter is…” Xu Huaiyi was heartbroken, his mind filled with thoughts of how to fatten her up. So, he generously prepared a full bottle of milk.
Gu Huanxi, “…”
That bottle held over 200 milliliters!
The father-daughter duo were both reckless—one daring to feed, the other daring to drink. Gu Huanxi had no choice but to play the villain and snatch the bottle away. After estimating that the baby had drunk about 30 milliliters, she swiftly pulled the bottle out.
Xu Huaiyi, “…”
Not only was the father stunned, but A’Li also blinked her big eyes in confusion, waving her little fists unhappily, whimpering, and kicking her legs wildly. She looked utterly wronged.
Xu Huaiyi immediately felt as if his heart was breaking. “Honey, let our daughter have a few more sips. Look how hungry she is—she definitely isn’t full. What good is that little bit she just drank?”
Gu Huanxi shook the bottle and said expressionlessly, “How much do you think she drank?”
Xu Huaiyi replied nonchalantly, “Wasn’t it just 50 milliliters? That’s not much. Our daughter is so skinny—a few extra sips won’t hurt…”
Gu Huanxi glared at him angrily. “Did you forget all those parenting books you read? A newborn’s stomach is tiny. Drinking too much at once is hard to digest, puts a strain on the stomach, and can easily cause spit-up. Thirty milliliters is just right. If we need to increase it later, it has to be done gradually. We can’t just let the baby…”
Xu Huaiyi felt sorry for their daughter. “But she hasn’t had enough! Look how eager she is, waving her arms and kicking her legs. It’s heartbreaking. She’s our own daughter…”
Gu Huanxi rolled her eyes in exasperation and retorted irritably, "I'm not a stepmother either!"
"Then have a few more sips?"
"No!"
"Wife…"
"Begging won't help!"
With his wife looking cold, ruthless, and utterly uncompromising, what could Xu Huaiyi do? He could only hold their daughter pitifully, trying to soothe her, though he kept glancing at Gu Huanxi from time to time—those accusatory eyes… as if she were some heinous criminal.
Gu Huanxi was so angry she almost laughed. She finally understood: this blockhead was a total doting father. In the future, she couldn't count on him to discipline their child; he'd probably fail to set any rules at all.
A few minutes later, little bun A'Li let out a delicate yawn, closed her eyes, and drifted back to sleep.
Xu Huaiyi couldn't take his eyes off his daughter in his arms, utterly reluctant to let her go. Even when he went to the kitchen to stir the simmering chicken soup, he couldn't bear to put her down—so clingy.
Seeing this, Gu Huanxi had no choice but to play the villain again. "Put her down now. You can't keep holding the child all the time. If she gets used to it, you'll never be able to let go…"
Without a second thought, Xu Huaiyi replied, "Then we just won't let go! How old is our daughter anyway? She's so light—how could she tire us out? When she grows up, we won't even have the chance to hold her…"
All those parenting books he read were clearly a waste. A poor student remained a poor student—whatever knowledge he learned, he promptly returned to the teacher.
He kept rambling on, even carrying their daughter over to show off in front of her. "Come take a look—our daughter is just so adorable! Look at those eyes, that nose… hehe…"
Gu Huanxi stared at him expressionlessly.
Finally sensing something was off, Xu Huaiyi blinked and explained guiltily, "Well, I just wanted to spend more time bonding with our daughter, you know, building that father-daughter connection."
Gu Huanxi sneered, "Are you done bonding now?"
Xu Huaiyi immediately nodded obediently. "Done."
Gritting her teeth, Gu Huanxi enunciated each word slowly, "Then. Put. Her. Down. Now."
"Putting her down, right away…"
He gently placed their daughter back in the cradle, then turned around and began massaging his wife's shoulders ingratiatingly. Only after he had soothed her temper did he bring up the serious matter. "What do you think about us moving to that small house at the foot of the mountain?"
Hearing this, Gu Huanxi was taken aback for a moment. After processing it, she finally responded, "You mean… the original owner's… oh, I mean, my biological father's three-room adobe house?"
From now on, she couldn't refer to him as the "original owner" anymore. Since they were here, they had to adapt. Otherwise, if any traces slipped out in public and people labeled her a monster to be burned, it would be a grave injustice.
Xu Huaiyi nodded. "When I went to get the medicine earlier, I took a distant look. The house is fine—just needs a good cleaning and it should be livable. Besides, even if it's a bit lacking, it's still better than here."
Gu Huanxi raised an eyebrow at him with a half-smile. "You're willing to live in your father-in-law's house under the title of a live-in son-in-law? Aren't you afraid people will gossip and point fingers behind your back?"
Hearing this, Xu Huaiyi immediately straightened his back. "Heaven and earth bear witness, wife! I've never been one for male chauvinism. A live-in son-in-law is just a live-in son-in-law—I don't care…" After declaring his loyalty, he couldn't help but grumble, "The original couple were really foolish. Instead of enjoying a comfortable life where they could be their own masters, they insisted on squeezing in here, slaving away for the Xu family. Utterly stupid. We can't take over that role, or we'll just end up being trampled on by them again."
Gu Huanxi pondered and said, "Moving out would naturally be best, but we can't let our relationship with this side become too strained. We still need to approach it indirectly. It would be best if they drove us away."
Xu Huaiyi was puzzled, "Why make it so complicated? Many people know about my status as a live-in son-in-law, and there's a written agreement. The Xu family can't refuse to let me go—it's even filed at the yamen. We can just leave; they wouldn't dare stop us."
Gu Huanxi sighed, "Oh, your mind… It's a good thing we ended up in a small household like the Xu family. If we were in one of those powerful official or noble families, you wouldn't survive past three episodes."
Xu Huaiyi, "…"
His wife was about to teach him how to be a person again.