Wang Ni rushed into the courtyard and yelled, “This is terrible! Is Second Sister-in-law trying to starve her baby to death?”
“She hasn’t fed the baby all day! Mother, listen, the baby’s cries have changed from hunger.”
Grandma Gu hurried into her second daughter-in-law’s room and leaned over to look at the baby. The moment Gu Yihan saw Grandma Gu, her little mouth puckered, and oh, how she cried!
Although she wasn’t a boy, the family had few children, so girls received some measure of affection.
Quickly picking up the baby, Grandma Gu watched as, after being held, the child’s two large, dark eyes stared at her grievously, sobbing with injustice.
She immediately turned to her daughter-in-law lying on the bed and cursed, “Zhang Cuihua, don’t you play dead with me. You won’t even feed your child, what good are you? If you don’t feed the baby, you can just scram back to your Zhang family.”
“Our Gu family can’t afford a heartless woman like you, who won’t even feed her own child or care when she cries.”
Seeing his mother scolding his wife, Gu Lao Er quickly said, “Mother, Cuihua didn’t do it on purpose. Maybe it’s because she just gave birth and doesn’t have any milk!”
“No milk? Can’t she say so if she has no milk? Is she mute? She doesn’t even care that the baby is crying. I think she’s doing it on purpose.” Grandma Gu directly blew up at Gu Lao Er.
Looking at this old lady with a wrinkled face, who looked so harsh when she was angry, Gu Yihan felt a warmth in her heart.
Hearing her mother-in-law’s words grow increasingly unpleasant, Zhang Cuihua could only feign discomfort.
She said pitifully, “Mother, I didn’t mean to. It’s just that it was a premature birth, and it took a toll on my body. I have no strength and no milk.”
Gu Lao Er’s heart ached upon hearing this. He quickly said, “It’s alright, Cuihua. You just focus on recovering. Let Mother watch the baby for now.”
When Grandma Gu heard Gu Aidang say this, she was furious. “As for you, Zhang Cuihua, you don’t even want to look at your child, and you expect to eat for free? Not a chance! I think you’ve had it too easy for too long and have nothing better to do.”
Gu Lao Er patted Grandma Gu’s back while softly coaxing her, “Mother, look, Cuihua’s body was weakened by childbirth this time, and she has no milk.”
“Just do it for my sake. If she doesn’t recover well, it will be hard for her to get pregnant again. Then wouldn’t your son’s family line be cut off? Can you bear to see your son with no one to care for him in his old age?”
Looking at Gu Lao Er, Grandma Gu softened. She said, her words belying her feelings, “I’ll only watch her for one month. If she’s still like this after her confinement, don’t blame me for being harsh.”
“Alright, alright, alright, we’ll listen to you, Mother. Who else but you is the pillar of this family?” Gu Lao Er said with a cheeky grin.
Gu Yihan watched as Grandma Gu was placated by a few words from this man who was nominally her father. She knew that this father of hers was a person who was good at reading people and had a sweet tongue.
Grandma Gu carried the baby back to the courtyard. “Eldest Daughter-in-law, go make some rice congee water. I’ll feed the baby in a bit.”
After hearing this, the eldest daughter-in-law tugged on Gu Lao Da’s clothes.
Gu Lao Da was a simple and honest farmer, not one for complicated thoughts. Seeing his wife tugging at his clothes, he said, “Our mother told you to make rice congee water. Hurry up and go!”
Wang Ni could only get up and go to the kitchen to make the rice congee water. As she cooked, she fumed, “No milk, who is she kidding? Isn’t it just that she doesn’t want to breastfeed? Acting all high and mighty every day.”
Wang Ni poured the prepared rice congee water into a bowl, brought it to Grandma Gu, and said deliberately, “Mother, here’s the rice congee water. Are you feeding her, or should I?”
Grandma Gu glared at Gu Dasao. “I’ll feed her myself. Don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to. The leftover rice from the congee is for the three children to eat. If you dare to sneak any, I’ll starve you for a day.”
Just as Gu Dasao was about to open her mouth to speak, Grandma Gu interrupted her. “What are you standing there for? Hurry up and go wash the dishes.”
Gu Yihan watched as Grandma Gu scooped up the rice congee water with a spoon, blew on it, and fed it to her.
She quickly opened her mouth and pretended to eat ravenously. Grandma Gu’s heart ached as she fed her, saying, “That one is just heartless. To not even say she has no milk, pretending she can’t hear.”
Soon after, Gu Yihan finished eating and fell asleep. She had only been born a day ago and had been forcing her eyes to stay open.
She was quite happy now. At least she didn’t have to drink human milk. If she didn’t have her memories, it wouldn’t be a big deal, but as it was, she couldn’t bring herself to drink it.
Grandma Gu placed the baby on the bed she shared with her husband. When Gu Lǎotóu saw Grandma Gu put the baby on the bed, he asked, “Why did you bring the baby over?”
“Sigh, it’s that second daughter-in-law. She says she has no milk and doesn’t care that the baby is crying. Lao Er asked me to watch her for a month,” Grandma Gu said with a sigh.
Gu Lǎotóu said no more. In any case, his old wife managed all the household affairs.
“Oh, right. Go to the village chief and register the baby’s name, get her household registration done.”
Saying this, she took a piece of paper from her pocket. “Thankfully, Grandma Gu next door gave her a name. It’s quite nice. We can’t count on Lao Er and his wife.”
Gu Lǎotóu took the paper and said, “Alright.” He then left with his hands behind his back.
For the next month.
Gu Yihan was never actually full from just eating rice congee water every day. She could only wait until Grandma Gu wasn’t home to secretly drink milk powder from her Dimension.
During this time, Grandma Gu grew quite fond of this clean granddaughter of hers. She would sleep right after eating, and if she needed to pee, she would cry, saving them the trouble of washing diapers.
Zhang Cuihua’s one-month confinement period was over. Everyone was eating dinner together.
While feeding her little granddaughter, Grandma Gu said, “Second Daughter-in-law, your confinement is over. Will you be working in the fields? Or staying home to watch the child?”
Zhang Cuihua looked at the little daughter in her mother-in-law’s arms. Over the past month, she had been raised to be fair and chubby.
“Mother, you know that Mengmeng is still young. If I have to take care of Mengmeng and little Han, I won’t be able to manage.”
After she finished feeding Gu Yihan, Grandma Gu heard what Zhang Cuihua said and slammed the bowl down hard on the table with a thwack, startling everyone at the meal.
“I think you just don’t want to watch the child, don’t you? Not to mention this past month, you haven’t even glanced at the child once. And you’re making excuses about watching Mengmeng? Mengmeng is so big now, she usually plays with her older brother and sister. Does she need you to watch her?”
Seeing his mother lose her temper, Gu Lao Er quickly said, “Mother, getting angry is bad for your health. I hope you live a long life!”
This time, Grandma Gu wasn’t falling for his coaxing. “And you! You’re the child’s father. Have you ever held her? You haven’t even looked at her once.”
Gu Lao Er said with a grin, “Mother, listen to you. Isn’t it because I trust you? Look how fair and chubby you’ve raised the child. What do I have to worry about?”
“Cuihua isn’t as good at raising children as you are, Mother. When she was raising Mengmeng, she was all sallow and thin. It’s not like you don’t know that.”
Grandma Gu snorted coldly. “Fine, if you don’t want to watch the child. From today on, you don’t have to stay home and look after her anymore. You’ll go to the fields with Lao Er and the others every day.”
Zhang Cuihua was about to speak but was interrupted by Gu Lao Er, who said, “Mother, don’t worry. From now on, I’ll take the child’s mother to work in the fields.” After saying that, he pulled Zhang Cuihua back to their room.
When Gu Meng saw her parents about to leave, she quickly put down her bowl, stopped eating, and followed them.