Lu Yan glared at Gu Chenyu as he walked in, immediately getting the first word in.
“Gu Chenyu, why are you still standing at the door eavesdropping?”
“I wasn’t eavesdropping.”
Gu Chenyu returned to the bedside with the bottle. Seeing that the hat had been taken off the little one’s head and tossed aside, he reached out and picked it up.
Lu Yan immediately became wary.
“Gu Chenyu, are you going to hide the baby’s beast ears again?”
Gu Chenyu’s movements paused. He lowered his eyes and looked at her.
“Are you not disgusted by them?”
His cold, stern eyes made Lu Yan inexplicably feel guilty for a second. She nevertheless steeled herself and pushed all the blame for her past behavior onto him.
“Why would I be disgusted? Gu Chenyu, stop making things up. It’s obviously because you used to hide the baby’s beast ears from me and wouldn’t let me touch or see them. That’s what made me uncomfortable with them in the first place…”
The more fiercely she spoke, the more worked up she became, but she ended up frightening the little one burning with fever in her arms, making his entire body tremble.
Afraid that Mommy was really going to argue with Daddy, the little one’s soft hands tightened around Lu Yan’s wrist as he pleaded quietly,
“Mommy…”
Only then did Lu Yan regain some of her composure. She pursed her lips and deliberately snorted as though she were being generous.
“Fine. For the baby’s sake, Gu Chenyu, I’ll let it go this time. But if you teach my baby anything bad again, you’re dead!”
From beginning to end, Gu Chenyu remained silent as he was scolded.
He didn’t say a single word in his own defense, letting her accuse him however she pleased.
It was as though he had long since grown accustomed to never hearing anything nice from her.
Only after she finished did he quietly answer, “Mm,” and bring over the warmed bottle.
“I’ll feed the baby first.”
But Lu Yan thought he was about to take the baby away from her and not let her hold him anymore. She immediately hugged the little cub tighter and glared at him indignantly.
“What do you mean? Can’t I feed the baby?”
This time, Gu Chenyu remained silent for several seconds before simply handing her the bottle.
Lu Yan thought that feeding a baby was such a simple thing that surely she couldn’t possibly mess it up.
However, she soon discovered that she had overestimated herself.
Gu Xinghuai was still running a high fever, and his two scorching little hands clung tightly to Lu Yan’s wrist.
When he latched onto the nipple, he was simply relying on his instinct to feed. His flushed little cheeks puffed out as he laboriously sucked one mouthful of milk after another.
Seeing how hard the little cub was drinking, Lu Yan thought she was naturally talented at this.
Then, in the very next second, reality slapped her in the face.
Because she hadn’t tilted the bottle in time to leave enough space for the air, Gu Xinghuai choked on the milk after only a few sips.
Lu Yan hurriedly pulled the bottle away in a panic.
Gu Chenyu, who had been standing beside them, immediately pulled out a tissue and crouched down beside the bed.
He wiped the milk from the corner of the little one’s mouth and gently patted his chest and back with his other hand, helping him catch his breath little by little.
Lu Yan looked down at Gu Chenyu’s practiced movements and finally gained some awareness that she had caused trouble.
She pursed her lips and asked quietly, her expression remaining perfectly composed,
“How did you feed the baby before? You never taught me…”
Gu Chenyu looked up at her.
His thin, tightly pressed lips moved slightly, as though he wanted to say something. But in the end, he suppressed whatever emotion had risen inside him and silently took the bottle from her.
He slowed down his movements and demonstrated the proper way to hold the bottle and the correct angle at which to tilt it, explaining every detail with meticulous care.
Lu Yan watched extremely carefully, firmly committing every detail to memory.
Once she was sure she had learned everything, she eagerly took the half-full bottle back from him and carefully fed the baby again, following exactly what Gu Chenyu had just taught her.
This time, the little baby in her arms didn’t choke on the milk again, all the way until the bottle was completely empty.
Lu Yan was incredibly pleased with herself. After finishing the feeding, she held up the empty bottle and showed off to Gu Chenyu.
“See? It’s pretty easy. I learned it after just one try. Gu Chenyu, stop looking down on people.”
“I wasn’t.”
Gu Chenyu took the bottle from her hand.
When he returned to the room, Gu Xinghuai had already fallen asleep in Lu Yan’s arms.
Gu Chenyu used the intelligent medical device to measure the little one’s forehead temperature again.
The fever that had repeatedly refused to go down before had already noticeably subsided after the little one had spent only half a day in Lu Yan’s arms, returning toward normal.
Just as Professor Lofi had said, after receiving the comforting presence and companionship of a close blood relative, the little one’s condition was steadily improving.
However, Lu Yan had always been pampered and delicate, and she had never held a child for such a long time before.
She furrowed her brows slightly, her gaze unconsciously drifting toward Gu Chenyu.
Gu Chenyu noticed her gaze. After a pause, he asked,
“Are you tired?”
Lu Yan softened her voice and gave a quiet hum.
“My waist is a little sore.”
Gu Chenyu was about to go get her a cushion, but Lu Yan unhappily called after him.
“Why are you just standing there? Are you showing off that you’re a block of wood?”
After scolding him for only a couple of sentences, her voice unconsciously softened again, carrying a hint of grievance as she muttered,
“Can’t you come over and let me lean on you for a while? I’ve been holding the baby all this time…”
Gu Chenyu’s gaze shifted slightly.
After a long moment, he slowly approached the little bed and sat down beside Lu Yan, his posture still upright and rigid.
Lu Yan immediately leaned against him. Her delicate cheek unexpectedly pressed against his tense chest and seemed to hurt from the impact. She tugged at his arm and complained,
“Gu Chenyu, are you deliberately tensing all your muscles to hurt me? This isn’t comfortable at all!”
Gu Chenyu said nothing.
He simply silently relaxed every muscle in his body, doing his best to make his chest softer.
Lu Yan touched his now-relaxed chest muscles. Only then did she comfortably lean her upper body back against his broad chest.
Holding the little cub, she slowly closed her eyes and mumbled an order.
“I need to catch up on some sleep too. Don’t wake me or the baby, understand…”
Gu Chenyu remained completely still.
“Mm.”
With the little baby curled softly into a ball in her arms, Lu Yan slept quite comfortably against Gu Chenyu.
Gu Chenyu, however, because of her command not to wake either her or the baby, spent the entire day sitting rigidly beside the bed with an icy expression, maintaining the exact same posture.
The muscles across his chest remained relaxed, but his long legs stayed rigidly straight, his broad shoulders and back firm and upright. He didn’t even dare breathe too heavily.
It wasn’t until the afternoon that Gu Xinghuai, whose fever had mostly subsided, was the first to open his eyes.
The little one slowly opened his eyes in the warmth of Lu Yan’s arms.
Seeing Mommy sleeping soundly while leaning against Daddy, he rubbed his eyes with his tiny hands, thinking he must still be dreaming.
“Daddy?”
Gu Chenyu lowered his eyes and reminded him in a low voice,
“Keep your voice down.”
Gu Xinghuai’s long eyelashes fluttered as he stared at Mommy’s fair, beautiful sleeping face from such a close distance.
He reached out one tiny finger and awkwardly traced the outline of Mommy’s little face in the air, secretly and carefully.
Gu Chenyu didn’t stop the little cub.
He simply remained silent, holding his wife and child in his arms.
As the little one secretly traced the shape of Mommy’s face, he quietly felt happy inside.
Just as Gu Xinghuai was about to finish tracing her face in the air, the star-ring around Lu Yan’s wrist suddenly vibrated loudly without warning.
Lu Yan, who had been peacefully asleep, abruptly opened her eyes and woke up.
The little cub instantly snatched his hand back and squeezed his eyes shut, terrified that Mommy would discover what he had been doing and become angry.