On the twenty-first day of the third lunar month, when Xuemei returned from get off work and entered the yard, Liu's mother said to her, "Did your wife Mingwen give birth today?"

"Really? Did you give birth at home? Is Wanting okay?" Xuemei asked.

"With Doctor Wu and the others here, giving birth at home is better than going to the commune. He Wenting's delivery went smoothly. Her water broke this morning, and she gave birth three hours later. The baby is also a good size, weighing 5.2 jin!" replied Liu's mother.

"That's good, Mom. When is dinner? I want to go to the old house to see Wanting and my little niece!" Xuemei asked.

"Your father just went into the kitchen. He said he would cook dinner tonight. Just go and come back soon!" Liu's mother replied.

Xuemei nodded and looked at Han Chen who was assembling a bicycle in the yard. This was the second bicycle Han Chen had assembled this year. It was for a colleague introduced by Mingzheng. Mingzheng's bicycle had been assembled half a month ago and was now waiting for Mingzheng to come back from vacation to pick it up. Xuemei and Han Chen gave Mingzheng a discount of five yuan and only charged him twenty yuan.

"Han Chen, do you want to come with me?" Xuemei asked.

"Xuemei, wait a moment, I'll go wash my hands and then go with you!" Han Chen stood up and answered.

On the way, Xuemei kept asking Han Chen who Mingzheng and Wanting's daughter looked like. Han Chen hesitated for a long time and said, "I didn't look closely, but she looks more like my second brother!"

"Oh, is that true? But Wanting is so beautiful, as long as my niece looks a bit like her, it won't be bad. Don't you think so, Han Chen?" Xuemei tilted her head and looked at Han Chen beside her, asking with a look of seeking approval.

Han Chen was silent for a while, then said, "That should be it?"

Xuemei frowned, dissatisfied with Han Chen's answer, and muttered, "Yes is, no is no, why should it be?"

Han Chen remembered the little meatball he saw that afternoon, and said to Xuemei against his will, "Yes! Let's go quickly. Mother wants us to go and come back quickly."

Xuemei nodded and quickened her pace towards the old house, not noticing that Han Chen beside her breathed a sigh of relief.

The old house was surrounded by a half-man-high earthen wall between the original wooden house and the newly built blue brick house. There was not even a door in front of the yard. There was a gap in the wall so that a tractor could pass through.

Xuemei and Han Chen went straight in and walked into the yard. Grandpa Liu, Grandma Liu and Mingwu were in the yard. Grandpa Liu and Mingwu were twisting hemp ropes, while Grandma Liu was mending clothes.

After Xuemei and Han Chen called for help, Xuemei said, "Grandpa, Grandma, I'm going in to see Wanting and my niece!"

Grandpa Liu and Grandma Liu nodded, Mingwu lowered his head a little guiltily, Xuemei felt puzzled. Han Chen was afraid that it would be inconvenient inside, so he didn't go in with Xuemei, and helped Grandpa Liu twist the hemp rope outside.

Xuemei knocked on the door of Mingwen and He Wanting's room and called out, "Sister-in-law, can I come in?"

Mingwen's voice came from the room, saying, "Xuemei, come in!"

Xuemei pushed the door open, went in, then turned around and closed the door gently.

Xuemei looked up and saw He Wanting feeding the baby while Mingwen looked at them tenderly. Xuemei walked closer and saw that He Wanting was very unhappy and looked at her daughter in her arms with a worried look. Xuemei could not see the baby's face, but only the back of her round head with a lot of lanugo hair on it.

Xuemei's mind raced, thinking that He Wanting had given birth to a girl and that Liu Guanghui's family was unhappy. But that shouldn't be the case!

Xuemei remembered that when He Wenting was in the late stage of pregnancy, Wang Shuihua saw that He Wenting's belly looked like she was going to give birth to a daughter, so she went to the county supply and marketing cooperative with Liu Guanghui, spent a lot of money and a lot of cloth coupons to buy a piece of red flowered cloth, saying that it was to be used as a quilt for He Wenting's daughter. When they came back, they used the cotton distributed last year to make two warm quilts, one thinner and one thicker.

Grandpa Liu and Grandma Liu were a little disappointed, but since this was their first great-grandchild, they didn't show it. When Xuemei came to the old house before, she saw Grandma Liu and Wang Shuihua making baby clothes and socks together.

Xuemei recovered and asked, "Wanting, what's wrong? Why are you unhappy? You just got a little cotton-padded jacket!"

When He Wanting heard this, she looked up at Xuemei and said, "Xuemei, you don't know what I'm worried about. Wait until you see what my daughter looks like, and you'll understand!"

After He Wanting finished speaking, she turned the face of the baby who was drinking milk happily. The baby continued to suck, and when he found that there was no milk left, he puckered his lips, but did not cry.

Xuemei also got a good look at the baby's appearance. The child had a wrinkled face and dark skin, with vernix caseosa on his forehead. His eyes were closed, and his face was a bit long, but his eyeliner looked quite long, so his eyes shouldn't be small. In short, he looked like a wrinkled, dark old man, and he looked about 80% like Mingwen.

If she hadn't known the baby's gender in advance, Xuemei would have thought it was a boy. She knew newborn babies wouldn't look good, but this was too ugly. Xuemei now understood why Han Chen was silent, and why Mingwu felt guilty. His bad luck had paid off.

Xuemei opened her mouth and after a minute she said, "Why are you so worried? All newborn babies are like this. They'll grow up fine. Babies change every day!"

He Wanting had heard many people say this today, but she still looked at the baby in her arms uncertainly and said, "Really? But it's too ugly."

Mingwen quickly stretched out his two big hands, covered the baby's ears with one on each side, and said, "Pfft, pfft, pfft, Wanting, don't say such nonsense in front of the child. I just think my daughter is pretty, and the more I look at her, the more beautiful she becomes!"

He Wanting rolled her eyes at Mingwen and said, "She can't hear clearly now, but you're satisfied now that you have a daughter!"

"Second sister-in-law, I think second brother is right. Look at my little niece's face shape, a typical oval face, and her eyeliner is long, so her eyes will definitely be big in the future. She is still young now, and her skin will turn white as she grows older. My second brother didn't have this skin color since he was a child!" Xuemei comforted.

Mingwen nodded vigorously, expressing his deep agreement.

After hearing what Xuemei said, He Wanting felt much more comfortable. Looking at her daughter in her arms, she found that she was just as Xuemei said. The more she looked at her, the more beautiful she became, and the expression on her face relaxed.

Xuemei then asked, "Second brother, second sister-in-law, have you picked a name for my niece?"

He Wanting looked at Mingwen, who replied, "I gave her the full name, Liu Shulan. I hope she'll study more in the future! Your second sister-in-law gave her the nickname, Nannan!"

"The full name is good and the nickname is catchy too. Our little girl will definitely grow up healthily!" Xuemei said with a smile.

He Wenting and Mingwen also laughed as they looked at their daughter drinking milk.