Chapter 68 [VIP]

Wang Ying never expected that she would sleep for three days. When she woke up, the pain in her body had subsided considerably.

"Are you hungry? Are you thirsty? I'll go get someone to bring you some food..."

Wang Ying grabbed him and asked in a hoarse voice, "Where's the child?"

"She's sleeping. I'll go get her and bring her over for you to see."

"Um."

Before long, Chen Qingyan brought over a small swaddled baby, who was sleeping soundly with rosy cheeks inside.

Wang Ying reached out and gently touched his cheek. His skin was warm and incredibly soft, a stark contrast to the bluish-purple baby he had been that day.

"So cute."

Chen Qingyan: "That day I thought... thankfully you and the child were alright."

Wang Ying didn't tell him about the experimental field upgrade that saved lives. He would keep such an unethical matter buried in his heart for the rest of his life and would never tell anyone.

Soon after, Li and Qingyun arrived. The two of them would run to the backyard many times every day.

As soon as I entered the room, I heard Wang Ying's voice, "Ah Ying is awake?"

"Sister-in-law, you're finally awake! Waaaaah, you scared me to death..."

Wang Ying smiled weakly, "I'm sorry to have worried you."

"It's good that you're alright. Qingyun, quickly go and tell Aunt Chen to put the hot pot on. Qingyan, don't just stand there like an idiot. Quickly bring the warm milk that's been keeping warm on the stove for Aying to drink some. He's been unconscious for so many days, he must be hungry!"

The two hurriedly went out to get food. During the past few days when Wang Ying was unconscious, everyone had been feeding him goat milk little by little.

The child was also fed goat milk, because Wang Ying had said before giving birth that she did not plan to find a wet nurse for the child, and everyone remembered what she said.

A short while later, Chen Qingyan brought over some warm goat milk and helped Wang Ying drink half a bowl, which finally restored some of her strength.

"These past few days have been terrifying for us. Thankfully, the Bodhisattva has protected you and your child and you are both safe."

Wang Ying looked down at the baby lying beside her, a wave of tenderness washing over her. It was hard to believe that she had actually given birth to a person.

I couldn't help but squeeze the baby's little hand again, "Why is he so small?"

Li laughed and said, "It's not small, it weighs six pounds and eight ounces. Qingyan only weighed five and a half pounds when he was born."

Weighing over six pounds, about the same as a kitten, Wang Ying reached out and picked up the child.

In his previous life, he had no siblings and had never held such a small child before, but the original owner of this body had held his younger brother when he was a baby in the Wang family.

She skillfully placed the child in her arms. The movement probably made the child a little uncomfortable, as the child opened his eyes, whimpered a couple of times, and then obediently stayed still, staring at Wang Ying with his grape-like eyes, curiously observing him.

"Child, I am your father. Call me 'father' and let me hear it."

Li laughed so hard she leaned back. "How could he understand that? It takes at least seven or eight months for children to learn to speak, and some children don't even start calling people until they're a year old."

Wang Ying couldn't help but laugh, and reached out to poke his little face again; it felt so soft!

This baby is so big and doesn't fuss. He just eats and sleeps all day long. Occasionally he'll whimper a little when he wets himself, but he falls asleep again after his diaper is changed.

"Qingyan said you don't want to find a wet nurse for the child, but you can't do without servants. You two are both so careless, I don't trust you to take care of the child yourselves."

Wang Ying, recalling the difficult childbirth she had caused by her fall, awkwardly touched her nose.

“I have found two women to take care of the children for you, one during the day and one at night. They are both clean and hardworking, so you are not allowed to refuse.”

"Mother is always so thoughtful."

"The child hasn't been named yet. Qingyan said that we'll wait for Mr. Liang to come up with the formal name, but you two can come up with a nickname first, otherwise we won't know what to call him."

Wang Ying called Chen Qingyan over, "Qingyan, what's the child's nickname?"

"You name it whatever you like."

Looking at the child's round little face, Wang Ying said, "How about we name him Yuanbao? It's simple and easy to pronounce."

Li read it twice, "Yuanbao, Yuanbao sounds nice, let's call him that!"

After a while, Li Shi, worried that Wang Ying was tired, took the child from her and had a servant take the child away to rest. "You must take good care of yourself during this time and be careful not to catch a cold. Your bones opened up after childbirth, and if you catch a cold, you will develop a chronic illness, which will cause you a lot of pain later."

"Okay, I got it."

After everyone left the room, only Wang Ying and Chen Qingyan remained. The two looked at each other in silence, and after a long while, they couldn't help but laugh.

Wang Ying took his hand and said, "You haven't had much rest these past few days, have you? Your eyes are all bloodshot. Come up and lie down with me for a while."

Chen Qingyan took off his coat and shoes and socks, lay on the bed and gently hugged Wang Ying, "You have no idea how scared I've been these past few days..."

“I think I had a long dream in which I saw my maternal grandparents.” Wang Ying told Chen Qingyan that she was raised by her maternal grandparents.

Are they alright?

"I can't remember. I only remember that my grandfather hit me with his cane and told me to go back quickly, that this was not a place for me."

Upon hearing this, Chen Qingyan tightened his grip, his heart pounding with anxiety.

"By the way, the experimental field has been upgraded to level five. I haven't checked what the rewards are yet. I want to go in and take a look."

"No, let's wait until you've recovered. Didn't you hear me say that if you develop any lasting health problems, they might be incurable?"

"Okay, then tell me, what happened at home while I was unconscious?"

"We were all terrified when you suddenly fainted the day you gave birth. Luckily, we called a doctor beforehand, and he examined you. The doctor said you fainted from exhaustion and that there was nothing seriously wrong with you. He told us to just take good care of you..." Chen Qingyan's voice grew softer and softer until it turned into a light snore.

These past few days, he has been taking care of Wang Ying almost day and night, wiping his body and changing his clothes every day, and worrying that he might not wake up.

After three days of intense mental strain, I relaxed and couldn't help but close my eyes and fall asleep.

Wang Ying helped him cover himself with the blanket, and he slept soundly until the next morning.

Li came over twice during the journey, and the old woman who was taking care of the child also brought the child over for Wang Ying to see several times.

Blood ties are strange; even though she had only met him a few times, Wang Ying had already fallen in love with the baby, and her heart melted as she held him in her arms.

*

February 17th arrived in the blink of an eye, and Liang Boqing and Chen Qinghuai returned together.

Chen Qinghuai returned home sick, still running a fever and looking deathly pale.

Upon seeing this, Madam Li immediately sent someone to fetch a doctor.

Upon receiving the news, Chen Qingyan ran to the front yard and asked, "Teacher, how did Qinghuai do on the exam?"

"The scholar almost lost his life because he failed the imperial examination!"

"Huh? What happened?"

Liang Boqing sighed heavily, "The weather changed on the afternoon of the first day of the county examination. It was unbearably cold. I heard that the ink was frozen and impossible to write with. The second day, instead of warming up, it started to snow lightly. I told him not to continue taking the exam, but he wouldn't listen. As a result, he fainted in the examination hall on the third day and had to be carried out!"

Hearing this from the side, Mrs. Li was sweating bullets. "This child is so reckless! What if he really catches a cold? How are we going to explain it to his parents?"

"Forget about explaining. Send him back to Shanzhou tomorrow and let his father teach him himself. I can't teach him anymore!"

Chen Qingyan knew that the teacher was just saying it in anger, so he helped him into the house and poured him a cup of hot tea. "Teacher, please don't be angry. Qinghuai is still young after all. He will definitely not dare to do it again after learning his lesson once."

"Sixteen years old and still young? When I was his age, I was already famous throughout Jiangnan!"

"How can he compare to a teacher? If he had your talent, he would have passed the imperial examination long ago!"

Liang Boqing choked with anger, "Don't flatter me. I'm going back to my hometown of Yangzhou tomorrow and I'm not going to bother with these awful things anymore."

"Teacher, you can't leave yet, you haven't named my son."

Old Liang was taken aback. "Young Master Wang has given birth?"

"He was born right on the night of the county examination, at 3:45 PM. He was a boy, weighing 6.8 jin (approximately 3.4 catties)."

"Take me to see it quickly!" The old man perked up and, without taking a break, got up and headed towards the backyard.

The two hurried to the backyard. Wang Ying was resting in the bedroom, while the child was being cared for by the old woman and placed in another room.

When we arrived, the old woman was feeding the baby goat milk. The little guy was a bit fatter than when he was born, and he looked even more handsome.

Liang Boqing stood to the side with his hands behind his back and looked at it. "His eyebrows and eyes are just like yours, but his nose and mouth are exactly the same as Wang Xiaolang's."

"Really? My mother said the same thing, but I don't see it that way."

Liang Boqing glanced at him and said, "That's because you have bad eyesight. You'll be able to see it next time you look in a mirror."

Chen Qingyan scratched his head. It seemed the teacher was on fire and ready to shoot anyone he could get his hands on.

"Born on the twelfth day of the second month, at the hour of Xu (7-9 PM), the Five Elements are metal and wood but lack water, so let's choose the character 'Ze' (泽)."

The character “泽” means water in arid regions, and by extension, rain and dew. Since rain nourishes all things, it is a good name.

According to the family genealogy, his generation had two-character names, so his formal name was Chen Ze.

Chen Qingyan exclaimed excitedly, "Thank you, Teacher, for naming me!"

How is Wang Xiaolang?

"The delivery was difficult, and the baby almost didn't survive. But thankfully, God protected the father and son and they both survived."

"That's good. In the next few days... take some time to persuade Qinghuai. It's just a county exam, don't worry about it. If you miss your parents, you can go back to Shanzhou for a while."

"Okay." I knew that Old Liang was tough on the outside but soft on the inside. In fact, he had long regarded Chen Qinghuai as his own child.

Chen Qinghuai's typhoid fever took more than ten days to improve, and he lost a lot of weight, but he was in good spirits and did not become depressed because of it.

Upon seeing Old Liang's remorseful apology, he said, "It's my fault. I was too willful this time. I thought I could hold on, but I didn't expect..."

"Forget it, let's just take this as a lesson. It's not too late to take the exam again after two years of reflection."

*

On March 12th, the weather was fine and sunny, and the long-awaited spring finally arrived.

The willow trees are sprouting new buds, and grass is growing in the yard.

Today is the baby's one-month celebration. The family started preparing several days in advance. After a series of unpleasant events before the New Year, Mrs. Li plans to take advantage of this happy occasion to hold a grand celebration.

Many guests have been invited. In addition to sending a message from the county town, someone from Tianyang also sent a message, but it is unknown whether they will be able to come.

Chen Rong and the others returned two days early, and Lin Qiu and Cao Kun also returned together.

Compared to before the wedding, Lin Qiu had gained a lot of weight, and her face was rounder, showing that she was having a good life after marriage.

Upon meeting, Lin Qiu grabbed Wang Ying's arm affectionately, saying, "I've wanted to come back and see you all for a long time, but Cao Kun wouldn't let me leave."

"He was worried that the bumpy ride would hurt your health."

"I'm not that delicate. Luckily, my mother and Sui'er came, otherwise I would have been bored to death at home."

"Can you stay a few more days this time?"

"Yes, Mother said we'll stay here until May or June before going back."

"That's great, you can help me take care of the kids then."

In the west room, Chen Rong held Xiao Yuanbao with great affection. The older generation still held some patriarchal ideas, and she had always felt regretful for not having a son, so she was especially fond of holding Yuanbao.

"Little Yuanbao is so handsome. He lives up to his name, looking as heavy and round as a gold ingot."

Mrs. Li couldn't stop smiling. "This kid can eat a lot. He drinks milk five times a day, and he can drink more than half a bowl of goat milk each time."

"Why didn't you call a wet nurse?"

“Ah Ying doesn’t want to find a wet nurse for her child. I guess she’s afraid the child won’t be close to her.”

"If we don't want to look for someone, then we don't. It would be even more annoying if we ended up with someone unreliable."

Chen Rong recounted an incident that occurred in the county: "There was a wealthy family who had recently given birth. They hired a wet nurse for the child, but while breastfeeding, the wet nurse fell asleep holding the baby, and her vagina blocked the baby's mouth and nose, causing the baby to suffocate..."

"My God!" Li's heart clenched upon hearing this.

"And then what?"

"The master was certainly unwilling, and after reporting it to the authorities, I heard that the wet nurse was flogged and exiled."

After Chen Rong finished speaking, she looked at the old woman serving her and admonished her, "Be extra vigilant at night and keep a close eye on the child. He's our Chen family's only precious child, and we can't afford to let anything happen to him."

The old woman said with trepidation, "Madams, please rest assured, I will certainly serve the young master well."

A note from the author: