Hearing that there were two daughters, Jiang Ruyu felt a little disappointed, but the thought of dressing her two daughters up in matching floral dresses made her happy again.
Her delivery went relatively smoothly. The doctor told her to have a two-month postpartum period and come back to the hospital for a check-up once she had recovered better.
After staying in the hospital for two days and finding nothing seriously wrong, Zheng Yang took his wife and daughter, who were bundled up tightly, home.
When they arrived at the alley, all the neighbors knew that Jiang Ruyu had given birth to twin sisters. Some offered their blessings, while others sowed discord.
"Old Zheng, don't worry, they're still young, they'll give you a big, healthy son sooner or later."
Zheng Dali nodded and said, "I wouldn't trade my two granddaughters for two boys. What do you mean by 'sooner or later'? What era are we living in? Gender equality isn't something to be taken lightly. Wang Ping's mother, your thinking is outdated and unacceptable."
The woman, having failed to provoke anyone, was instead reprimanded and left grumbling with a long face.
Jiang Ruyu wore a hat and a scarf around her face. Several layers of cotton quilts were laid on the tricycle, and a makeshift shed was set up to prevent her from catching a cold on the road. She was wearing a thick cotton-padded coat and a military overcoat. In the tenth month of the lunar calendar, she was covered in sweat.
Zheng Yang didn't park in the alley, but parked the tricycle directly in the yard. Fortunately, the vehicle was large enough to accommodate the two children wrapped in blankets on either side of Jiang Ruyu.
Once inside the courtyard, Zheng Yang first had his father and Xiaoyue carry the two children inside, and then he carried Jiang Ruyu inside in his arms.
The fire walls inside the house were burning, and the tin stove was also burning. The room was steaming hot, just in case a draft got in and irritated Jiang Ruyu, the weak new mother, who couldn't stand any wind at all.
Once inside, Zheng Yang put her directly on the bed and started undressing her: "You don't need to wear such thick clothes inside. The fire wall is on, so you'll be more comfortable. I'll bring the spittoon inside. Tell me when you need to use the toilet, and I'll take it out when you're done. Don't feel embarrassed."
Jiang Ruyu nodded. During those two days in the hospital, she had so much lochia and it was so dirty that he took care of her and changed her clothes. Her defenses against Zheng Yang were getting lower and lower.
"Ah, ah, oh."
The two children woke up. They were truly twins, as if they were telepathically connected. When one woke up, the other would wake up too; when one cried, the other would wail as well.
Jiang Ruyu gave her two daughters nicknames to start calling them. The older one had a small mole at the corner of her eye, so she was called Tiantian (Sweetie), and the younger one had a small mole on the bridge of her nose, so she was called Huanhuan (Joyful).
Jiang Ruyu's breast milk has come in, but it's not enough for the baby. Luckily, the gift package she received earlier included a lot of formula, and since she got pregnant, she's received something useful for the baby every time she signs in.
We've accumulated quite a bit of baby formula over the past few months, and now it'll come in handy.
Zheng Yang and Zheng Xiaoyue each held one of the babies and fed them. Jiang Ruyu was in postpartum confinement, so she couldn't sit for long periods of time and it was best not to hold the babies for extended periods of time, as it was not good for her health.
It's so much better to be home than in the hospital. Children change every day. In just three to five days, Zheng Yang noticed that his little girl's skin was peeling when he bathed her at home.
"Hey? Why is this child's skin peeling?" Zheng Yang asked his grandmother, Grandma Jiang, not understanding.
Grandma Jiang didn't know why either, she just said, "Children are all like this, it's nothing."
After shedding that layer of reddish skin, their eyes no longer looked as if they couldn't open when they were first born. It's not yet clear which one the two girls resemble in terms of their eyes. Jiang Ruyu and Zheng Yang both have large eyes, and their double eyelids are already taking shape.
Grandma Jiang looked at her two granddaughters and laughed: "They look just like our Ruyu when she was little, with small noses and eyes, so pretty. She'll definitely grow up to be a beautiful girl."
Zheng Dali would go into his son's room to see his granddaughter when everyone in the family was around; he also liked children.
Hearing his aunt-in-law's words, he felt something was off: "My brat was like that when he was little too."
Grandma Jiang chuckled and tapped him, saying, "They were born from the two of them, they look alike, they look alike."
Jiang Ruyu's postpartum period wasn't too boring. The old lady came to keep her company every day, and she didn't have to do any chores. Zheng Xiaoyue would cook when she came back, and soup was always burning on the coal stove. However, Jiang Ruyu couldn't drink anything too oily, so she would skim off the oil and save it for stir-frying.
Zheng Yang has applied to his superiors to only travel to places he can return to on the same day during this period. Every day when he comes back, he spends time cuddling with his child and then washes the diapers and clothes he changed that day.
There were just too many diapers for the two children. Luckily, the system provided plenty, and she had prepared a lot beforehand.
On Sunday, knowing she was in postpartum confinement, several of her sisters-in-law and cousins came and went one after another.
The first to arrive was Kong Xuefang, who carried the clothes she had made for the baby into Jiang Ruyu's room.
"Wow, your room is really nice, so clean and tidy, and so bright. How have you been lately? Is your health recovering well?"
Kong Xuefang is completely different now than when she first came back; her clothes, appearance, and overall demeanor have all changed.
She was already very beautiful, and now she has a happy family, a successful career, obedient children, and a comfortable life. She looks relaxed and cheerful.
Jiang Ruyu was quite happy that someone came to visit her: "Sister-in-law, please sit down. I'm fine, nothing's wrong. My family is all around me, I don't have to do anything. I just need to breastfeed the baby and look after them."
Kong Xuefang handed her the clothes: "I also made two sets of clothes for my niece, which I've already scalded with boiling water. I know you're a clean person, so you can wear them right away. I came to see the children; I've never seen twins before. Are they easy to take care of?"
"It's alright, but they have to eat when they want to eat, and they cry when they want to cry. It's a hassle to make formula at night because I don't have enough breast milk, so I can only feed one."
The two women were talking about their children. The two girls were lying on the bed wearing only one piece of clothing. The room was warm and cozy. Even when they were asleep, they would occasionally kick their legs.
"They look so alike, how will you tell them apart?" Kong Xuefang felt a little envious looking at her little girl; she also wanted to have a daughter.
"Look, the big one has a small mole at the corner of its eye, and the small one has a small mole on the bridge of its nose. They're easy to tell apart."
"Oh my, look how cute it is! Shall we name it? What should we call it?"
"The eldest's nickname is Tiantian, and her formal name is Zheng Wanyi. The youngest's nickname is Huanhuan, and her formal name is Zheng Wanxing. I chose all these names. What do you think?" Jiang Ruyu had been thinking about these names for several days.
Kong Xuefang looked at her and smiled: "It's a very good name. There are definitely fewer people with the same name. Nowadays, people name their children Jianshe (Construction), Jianguo (Nation Building), Hongmei (Red Plum), Dongmei (Winter Plum), etc. I've never heard of yours before."
Kong Xuefang didn't stay long before leaving. She had finally gotten some rest, and she had promised her son that she would take him to the department store and buy him a toy to play with.
Afterwards, Fang Meili and Hu Bei's wife Zhang Yueyue came to see Jiang Ruyu with clothes and other things, talked for a while, and then left.
Meanwhile, Jiang Hui, thousands of miles away, ran into trouble and was tricked.
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