Chapter 141

After struggling until past 2 a.m., there was finally movement in the delivery room.

When the door opened, the people waiting outside perked up and quickly stepped forward to ask, "Doctor, did she give birth? Was it a smooth delivery?"

The doctor, though looking tired, smiled and said to the concerned family members, "Congratulations, mother and child are safe!"

Upon hearing this, everyone's tense nerves, which had been on edge all night, immediately relaxed.

It's good that you're safe! It's good that you're safe!

Shen Mingzheng was worried about his wife and was about to go in when the doctor stopped him, telling them to wait a little longer as they were still cleaning up inside and the mother and baby wouldn't be able to come out until later.

After waiting for about half an hour, Gu Xi was finally wheeled out.

The group quickly gathered around.

When Gu Xi was wheeled out, she was already so exhausted that she fell into a deep sleep.

She slept straight until the next day. When she woke up, she found that someone was holding one of her hands. She opened her eyes and saw the man guarding her bedside.

"Big brother..." she called out hoarsely.

When Shen Mingzheng saw that she was awake, his expression softened, and he asked, "Xixi, how are you feeling? Do you want some water?"

As he spoke, he got up and poured a glass of warm water, then fed her some.

When Gu Xi was helped up to drink water, she saw the child lying next to her, wrapped up tightly, with a small face and rosy skin, like a little monkey.

Fortunately, although the skin was red, it wasn't wrinkled like a typical newborn's skin. Instead, it was very tender, as if it would break if pinched too hard, making people afraid to even touch it.

She stared at the child, holding her breath, and for a moment forgot to drink water.

"Xixi, drink some water first." Shen Mingzheng carefully supported her and fed her water.

After finishing her water, Gu Xi continued to stare at the child, saying, "Big brother, he looks like a monkey. No wonder humans evolved from apes."

Shen Mingzheng: "..."

Shen Mingzheng was surprised that the first thing she said to the child after waking up was this, and he couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time.

He said, "The child is indeed not very good-looking now... Don't be disgusted by him, otherwise he will cry when he finds out later."

"Of course I don't mind, they'll grow out of shape eventually anyway." Gu Xi knew a bit about this. "We're both good-looking, so I'm sure our child won't be any less."

Shen Mingzheng smiled, looked at her, then at the sleeping child beside her, and felt a surge of warmth in his heart.

In the morning light streaming through the window, he tenderly kissed her pale, haggard face and said in a hoarse voice, "Xixi, thank you, you've worked so hard."

Gu Xi lay there, looked up at him, and said, "Big brother, childbirth really hurts."

Her voice was soft and slightly hoarse, sounding weak and listless, as if all her strength had been exhausted during last night's childbirth.

She looked so haggard and weak that it broke my heart.

Shen Mingzheng held her hand, his eyes filled with regret, and said, "Xixi, let's only have one child, and never have any more."

Last night, when he saw how she looked being wheeled out by the nurse, he made a decision in his heart: he would never have another child. He didn't want her to suffer like that again.

Gu Xi nodded, and said fearfully, "I don't want to have any more children, it really hurts so much."

Only those who have experienced it know how terrible the pain of childbirth is. Menstrual cramps are nothing compared to it. She doesn't even remember how she finally gave birth to the baby in her belly.

Call her dramatic or whatever, she doesn't want to go through that kind of pain again.

Shen Mingzheng leaned down and gently embraced her.

As Gu Xi fell asleep again, he opened his bloodshot eyes, which were swollen from staying up all night, and thought about how to prevent pregnancy in the future. Since family planning products could cause problems, he decided to get a tubal ligation.

After she finishes her postpartum confinement, he will take some time to go to the hospital for tubal ligation.

When Gu Xi woke up again, she found that it was already bright outside, and her younger sister Xu Yuansheng and Qiao Hui were guarding her bedside.

Seeing that she was awake, Xu Yuansheng rushed over to help her, first feeding her some water, then helping her to the toilet, and then pouring out the chicken soup he had prepared for her to drink.

Qiao Hui sat beside the child, holding him and skillfully feeding him water.

"Yuansheng, where's my older brother?" Gu Xi asked instinctively.

“My brother-in-law stayed up all night, and I told him to go home and rest.” Xu Yuansheng said while feeding her chicken soup. “He had only been gone a short while when you woke up, sister.”

Gu Xi reacted somewhat slowly, and simply said "Oh".

"Gu Xi, congratulations!" Qiao Hui said, holding the baby and happy for her smooth delivery. "The baby is very beautiful and looks just like you."

Gu Xi glanced at the child she was holding and said with some distress, "I feel like he looks like a little monkey right now. I really can't tell who he looks like."

"Big sister, what kind of mother would say her child is a monkey?" Xu Yuansheng scolded playfully, then chided, "I also think the baby's features look more like my sister's, he'll definitely grow up to be very beautiful... um, very handsome."

She was a little conflicted; she couldn't say a boy was pretty, could she?

However, Xiang Changchuan is quite handsome, and I heard he looks like his mother.

Gu Xi was unaware of her sister's dilemma and said with some regret, "Actually, I hope the child will resemble his father more. Boys are more manly if they resemble their fathers."

Xu Yuansheng exposed her: "That's because you like your brother-in-law's looks."

Don't think she doesn't know; her brother-in-law's looks are exactly what her sister considers attractive, and sometimes her sister will start bragging about it.

Gu Xi chuckled, leaving Qiao Hui both amused and exasperated.

However, she felt that the child would be good-looking regardless of whether he looked like his father or his mother. After all, if the parents are good-looking, the child would definitely be good-looking too.

After finishing the chicken soup, Gu Xi lay back down.

After giving birth, it felt like most of my energy had been drained away. I was incredibly tired and sweating profusely. In no time, I was drenched in sweat, and even my clothes were soaked.

Xu Yuansheng went to get a clean set of clothes and helped her change.

Soon after, people came to visit Gu Xi, congratulate her, and take a special look at the sleeping child on the bed, praising how good-looking the child was.

Gu Xi: "..."

Saying that this bright red little monkey is beautiful is a bit insincere, isn't it?

"Look at the baby's skin, it's not wrinkled at all. It's the first time I've ever seen a newborn baby with such smooth skin. It must have been well cared for in the mother's womb."

"I thought it was a girl, but I didn't expect to give birth to a boy."

"It seems that the old sayings are not accurate either."

"Of course not. Those are just references; how can they all be accurate?"

...

Everyone had assumed that Gu Xi was having a girl, but they were surprised to learn that she had given birth to a boy that morning.

But it doesn't matter, it's the couple's first child, whether it's a boy or a girl.

Since Gu Xi needed to rest, everyone didn't stay long. They chatted with her for a while, looked after the child, and then got up and left.

The room quickly became quiet.

At noon, Shen Mingzheng came over to deliver lunch to Gu Xi and told Qiao Hui and Xu Yuansheng to go back and eat.

Today's meal was cooked by Sister Zhu. Qiao Hui asked Chief of Staff Gao to go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy vegetables early in the morning, and asked him to buy more. Sister Zhu cooked the meals for both families at the same time, so that Xu Yuansheng wouldn't have to go back to cook.

When Gu Xi was helped to sit up, she glanced at him and asked, "Big brother, why didn't you sleep a little longer?"

The bloodshot in his eyes was still very obvious. Did he get three hours of sleep when he got back?

"It's okay. When I had missions before, it was common for me to go without sleep for days on end." Shen Mingzheng didn't care about these things. Compared to his own sleepless nights, she had gone through a lot more hardship giving birth. He wanted to spend more time with her, stay by her side, and take care of her and the baby.

Gu Xi was very happy to learn that he had taken two days off.

After finishing her meal, she remembered something and asked, "By the way, where is Mom? Is she coming today?"

She was thinking about Feng Min and longed to see her.

Shen Mingzheng said, "Don't worry, she'll arrive this afternoon."

"Then remember to pick her up." Gu Xi yawned, feeling sleepy after eating, and mumbled, "It's Mom's first time here, I'm worried she won't know the way..."

Shen Mingzheng tucked the blanket around her. "You don't need to worry about this. I've sent someone to pick her up."

**

Feng Min arrived at the unit in the evening.

It just so happened that an officer was going to the city center on business today, so she could hitch a ride to the military base. By the time the officer finished his business, it was already afternoon, so she arrived at the base quite late.

When Feng Min got off the vehicle, her orderly, Xiao Zhou, was already waiting there.

Seeing Feng Min dressed in a smart suit and looking energetic, one doesn't need to ask to know that she must be Commander Shen's mother, because no other outsiders came to the unit today.

He hurried over and politely asked, "Excuse me, are you Comrade Feng Min?"

After confirming Feng Min's identity, Xiao Zhou said happily, "Hello, Auntie, I'm Commander Shen's orderly. You can just call me Xiao Zhou! The commander sent me to pick you up. Please come with me."

He took the luggage from Feng Min and led her to register.

After registering, Feng Min followed Xiao Zhou into the military base and eagerly asked, "Xiao Zhou, how's my daughter-in-law? Is your regimental commander taking good care of her?"

Xiao Zhou said, "My sister-in-law went into labor last night, I heard she gave birth around 2 a.m."

Upon hearing this, Feng Min immediately became extremely anxious: "So fast? Is Xixi alright?"

"It's alright, it's alright. The doctor said your delivery went smoothly and you didn't suffer much," Xiao Zhou quickly said. "You don't need to worry."

How could Feng Min not be worried? She had come based on Gu Xi's due date, hoping to be with her after she gave birth. Little did she know that she would arrive late, just one day late.

Upon learning that Gu Xi was still at the health station, she asked Xiao Zhou to take her there, as she wanted to visit her daughter-in-law first.

Xiao Zhou originally intended to take her to the family compound first, so she could at least put down her luggage, have a drink of water and rest. However, seeing her anxious expression, he had no choice but to take her to the health station.

He thought to himself that the anxious look on his regimental commander's mother's face didn't seem like that of a daughter-in-law giving birth, but rather like that of her own daughter giving birth. She was asking about her daughter-in-law's condition and had completely forgotten about her own son, Regimental Commander Shen.

Upon arriving at the health station, Feng Min went straight to the ward.

In the ward, Gu Xi and her child were sleeping, and Shen Mingzheng was watching over them.

Upon seeing Feng Min enter, he quietly got up to greet her, only to be disapprovingly pushed aside by his own mother.

She first looked at Gu Xi on the bed, her heart aching as she gazed at her pale face. Then she looked at the child sleeping beside her, and seeing the child's rosy cheeks, she couldn't help but smile.

This child looks more like his mother; he'll definitely grow up to be a handsome boy.

Seeing that the adults and children were asleep, Feng Min called her son out to inquire about Gu Xi's delivery. After learning that everything went smoothly, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.

She clasped her hands together and said, "It's good that you're alright. Thankfully, everything went smoothly."

Ever since she learned that Gu Xi was pregnant, she had been worried, fearing that Gu Xi's body was not fully recovered and that she would suffer during childbirth. Although she may have suffered a lot, fortunately everything went smoothly.

When Gu Xi woke up and saw Feng Min guarding her bedside, she was overjoyed beyond words.

"Mom, you're here!" She struggled to sit up and buried herself in Feng Min's arms.

Feng Min was startled by her reckless actions and quickly hugged her, scolding, "Why are you in such a hurry, child? What if you fall?"

Gu Xi hugged her tightly and said coquettishly, "I miss Mom... I haven't seen you in so long, I miss you so much."

Her voice choked with emotion as she finished speaking.

Feng Min's heart softened upon hearing this, and her eyes reddened slightly. She hurriedly said, "You just gave birth, you can't cry, it's bad for your eyes, and you'll suffer later." Then she added, "Good child, you've suffered."

She gently patted her back and noticed that the child was still very thin, as if she hadn't gained any weight in the past few years.

Did you not eat properly during your pregnancy?

Gu Xi leaned on her dependently.

The familiar scent emanating from Feng Min easily soothed the deep-seated pain and grievances in her heart, and comforted the reluctance and sadness of these years of separation.