“Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!”
Lin Mei couldn’t help crying out several times, though all that came out were the cries of a newborn baby.
Granny Wang the midwife chuckled teasingly. “This little girl sure has a strong set of lungs.”
Lin Mei’s mother, Tian Guihua, had long since exhausted herself and was already fast asleep.
Grandma Lin cleaned Lin Mei thoroughly, wrapped her in swaddling cloth, and looked at her with a delighted smile.
“This little girl is quite pretty. Look at those rosy cheeks—she’ll definitely grow up fair-skinned like her mother. Such a tall nose, tiny mouth, and so chubby too. I thought with how poorly her mother carried the pregnancy and how little she could eat, the baby would be tiny and weak. Who would’ve thought she’d still be a plump little thing weighing five jin.”
As she spoke, she bounced Lin Mei lightly in her arms as if weighing her.
“This little girl is blessed. Even though her mother barely ate anything good, she still came out so healthy and round,” the eldest daughter-in-law chimed in beside her.
Not long after regaining consciousness, Lin Mei fell asleep again.
When she next became aware, she heard a gentle yet weak voice calling softly:
“Little darling, are you hungry? Mama will feed you some milk.”
Instinctively, Lin Mei rooted toward the woman’s chest.
The moment something soft entered her mouth, she sucked desperately. But no matter how long she tried, no milk came out.
Why isn’t there anything?!
What emerged instead was another burst of loud baby wailing.
“Little sister! Little sister, what’s wrong? Why is she crying?”
Two little boys suddenly ran in from outside. Behind them followed a middle-aged man carrying a bowl of soup. The man wasn’t particularly tall, only around 170 centimeters, dressed in rough short work clothes with straw sandals whose soles had already worn thin.
“Wife, what’s wrong with our little girl? Why is she crying so hard?”
The man—Lin Sanyong—asked anxiously.
“Sanyong, our little girl is hungry. She can’t get any milk out. What should we do? I’m useless… I don’t even have any milk.” Tian Guihua said guiltily.
“Don’t panic, don’t panic. Drink this bowl of chicken soup first. I’ll ask Mother to make some rice broth for the baby. We’ll feed her that for now, and once your milk comes in, you can nurse her.”
After handing the chicken soup to Tian Guihua, Lin Sanyong hurried out to find his mother.
Lin Mei lay on the bed utterly lifeless with despair.
I’m starving… Mother has no milk. I’m going to die of hunger.
Thankfully, there was milk stored in her space—already prepared in baby bottles.
Those days she’d spent obsessively reading transmigration novels and preparing in advance had truly not been wasted.
Unfortunately, she had no chance to take it out now. Her mother was constantly beside her.
Just as she was thinking this, a pair of sticky little hands suddenly started prying at her eyelids.
Waaah! Stop digging at them—I’m going to go blind! Which little brat is this? And why are his hands so sticky?!
Lin Mei burst into horrified crying.
“Lin Fu’an! What are you doing?!”
Tian Guihua suddenly looked up in fright, nearly dropping her bowl.
She saw her younger son using his tiny hands to pry open the baby’s eyes and even preparing to poke a finger inside.
Frightened by his mother’s shout, Lin Fu’an stopped immediately and said innocently in his childish voice:
“Mother, why is little sister crying with her eyes closed? I wanted to pull them open to see if she was really crying or fake crying.”
“Little brother, you’re so dumb. Of course she’s fake crying! Don’t you see there are no tears? She’s just like Tie Dan—always pretending,” the older brother Lin Fuping immediately declared confidently.
Lin Mei was so terrified she forgot to cry entirely.
I was born today and almost lost my eyes already?! Is the start of this life really going to be this intense?!
She pursed her lips pitifully and didn’t dare cry anymore.
“Fu’an, your little sister was just born. Her eyes can’t open yet. In a few days they’ll open naturally. You must never pry at her eyes again, understand?”
“And Fuping, newborn babies don’t cry tears yet. They’ll only start having tears after a few months.”
Seeing Lin Mei’s pitiful expression—holding back tears in fear—Tian Guihua’s heart nearly broke. She quickly set down her bowl and picked the baby up to comfort her.
After soothing Lin Mei for a while, Tian Guihua sternly instructed the two naughty boys that they were only allowed to look at and play beside their sister—they absolutely couldn’t touch her. Only then did she finally finish eating the chicken soup and meat.
This time, Tian Guihua didn’t pick the meat out to feed the boys like she usually would. She herself had become far too thin. If she didn’t nourish herself properly, she wouldn’t produce milk, and little Niu Niu would go hungry.
Perhaps children simply had limited energy. Before long, the two mischievous boys grew sleepy as well. Seeing their baby sister asleep, they climbed onto the bed and fell asleep beside her.
When Lin Sanyong returned carrying a small bowl of rice broth, he was greeted by the sight of three tiny children sleeping side by side.
“How did these two little troublemakers fall asleep too?” he asked in surprise.
Tian Guihua briefly explained what the boys had done earlier, leaving Lin Sanyong both amused and exasperated.
Lin Mei was fed the rice broth while half-asleep. The moment it touched her lips, she instinctively began smacking and swallowing greedily.
“Our little girl really has a strong appetite. Poor thing, she must’ve been starving,” Tian Guihua said tenderly while stroking Lin Mei’s tiny head.
“Wife, Mother told me to visit your parents’ house early tomorrow morning to announce the birth. Since it’s harvest season, we won’t hold a full third-day celebration for the baby. We’ll just invite your family over for a meal during the one-month celebration instead. Do you think that’s alright?” Lin Sanyong asked carefully.
“That’s fine. Everyone’s busy with the harvest right now. This year’s crops can’t be neglected. Our family has so many children anyway—every baby’s one-month celebration is usually just a simple meal with the mother’s side of the family. I have no objections,” Tian Guihua replied gently.
And with a full stomach at last, little Comrade Lin Mei drifted back into deep sleep once more…