Seeing Su Tiantian drinking a bowl of crucian carp and tofu soup obediently, Grandma Lu smiled with satisfaction: "Our Tiantian is so obedient. She eats whatever she is told to eat and drinks whatever she is told to drink. Unlike some women who refuse to eat anything during confinement."
Sang Yimei said, "Aunt Lu, you know that my daughter Tiantian has loved drinking big fish head tofu soup since she was a child. It's similar to this crucian carp tofu soup."
Grandma Lu said, "The daughter-in-law of the Huang family in the village gave birth to a son and was so proud of him that she said fish soup was too sleepy, pig's trotter and peanut soup was too greasy, and lean meat soup cooked in a stew pot was bland. She refused to feed the child even when she had milk and insisted on formula. She quit her job as a confinement nanny after only seven days, and things got really bad. Now her mother-in-law and her mother are having a hard time."
Su Tiantian thought for a moment and said, "Grandma, when you say the daughter-in-law of the Huang family, are you referring to the one about five or six houses away from your house?"
Grandma Lu nodded: "Yes, it's the family with the frangipani tree in the yard. She gave birth two days earlier than you, and her baby is almost a month old."
Su Tiantian brushed her hair and said, "Brother Jing mentioned this family to me last night."
Grandma Lu was surprised: "Jingze? No way, he's not familiar with many people in the village, he wouldn't care about this kind of thing, right?"
Su Tiantian said, "Grandma, didn't you say that the baby in that family is almost a month old? They wanted to hold a full-month banquet at Siqi Farm, but Brother Jing refused and didn't take the order. He said that the mother of that child is very strong-willed and hasn't finished her confinement yet. She has personally visited several restaurants and said she wants to hold a grand full-month banquet, but she can't afford it. Brother Jing also said, don't you say that people who are in confinement should be more careful? If you can stay at home, then don't go out. He asked me if I was bored at home every day?"
Sang Yimei immediately said, "Why are you bored? This is what confinement is like. How can you run around? The wind is not good. It's winter now, and it's quite cold outside. You are lucky now. You can live in a confinement center, hire a confinement nanny, and even feed formula. We had to go to the fields to work right after giving birth. Our family was poor. Let alone pork or chicken, we didn't even have many eggs to eat. If your aunt and Aunt Liu hadn't come over to help for a few days, I wouldn't know what to do."
Sang Yimei suddenly realized what she had said and quickly covered her mouth.
Of course Su Tiantian knew what Sang Yimei said. The Aunt Liu in "your aunt and Aunt Liu" was Liu Jingze's mother Ren Xingqi, her mother-in-law who had passed away long ago.
Grandma Lu sighed and said, "Jingze is gone, so let's talk about it. Aqi has been gone for so many years, and we try not to mention her in front of Jingze. It's not that we don't miss her. Looking at the baby girl's appearance, I think about it even more. She looks like Jingze. Who does Jingze look like? He looks like his father, his uncle, and his mother. Anyway, he looks a little bit like each of them, so he also looks a little like Aqi."
Sang Yimei said: "The baby boy's face shape is also like Jingze, but his eyebrows and eyes look more like his grandfather and grandfather. His ears, nose and thumb are really similar."
Grandma Lu said, "After Aqi gave birth to Jingze, she didn't have enough milk. It was the first month of the lunar year, and the weather was very cold. At dawn, Yuguang and Jinyuan would accompany Liangze to the creek to cast their nets. When they caught fish, they would make fish soup for Aqi. Back then, confinement wasn't as elaborate as it is now. Aqi only ate 20 eggs during her confinement, and buying those 20 eggs wasn't easy."
Sang Yimei said, "Yes, every household was poor back then. So when I heard Tiantian say she didn't want to go to the confinement center and would hire a confinement nanny at home, I thought this arrangement was pretty good. Brother Liang arranged it very well, with two confinement nannies and a babysitter, and Secretary Wu to help greet visitors, so Tiantian wouldn't be tired."
Su Tiantian said: "I always hear people talking about postpartum resentment and how there are too many people in my husband's family. I don't feel anything about it anymore. Maybe it's because I have good food and a good place to stay. Dad often wakes up at night to accompany the confinement nanny to coax the baby, saying that he tries not to wake me and Brother Jing."
At this time, the baby girl in the crib woke up and started crying immediately. The sound was really loud.
Grandma Lu smiled and said, "She's just like her father in this respect, crying very loudly."
Aunt Li had already reached out and picked up the baby girl, slowly pacing and coaxing her: "Baby girl, what's wrong? Are you hungry?"
Of course the baby girl still cried and was not so easy to comfort.
Su Tiantian said, "Auntie Li, carry her into the room. I'll feed her. You can give her some more milk powder later."
Aunt Li said, "Okay, baby girl will be given 20 ml more milk powder these two days than before. She has a good appetite."
Looking at the closed door, Grandma Lu waved to Aunt Yang. Aunt Yang stepped forward and asked, "Grandma Liu, what's wrong?"
Grandma Lu said, "Tiantian really likes that crucian carp and tofu soup. Can you tell me how to make it? Otherwise, after seven days, when the contract expires and you're not here, I'll find someone else to make it."
Aunt Yang said, "It's very simple. Cut the tofu into thin slices, blanch it in boiling water with salt for 5 minutes, then drain and set aside. After cleaning the crucian carp, score the sides and rub it with wine, salt, and shredded ginger to marinate for 10 minutes. Put the pan on the stove, add oil, and heat it. Sauté the ginger slices, then sear the fish on both sides until golden brown. Add an appropriate amount of water and simmer over low heat for half an hour. Add the tofu slices, season, and sprinkle with chopped 20-30cm green onions. Mrs. Liu said she doesn't like chopped green onions in her soup, but she likes the flavor of green onions, so I cut the green onions into three or four sections so they are easier to pick out."
Sang Yimei smiled and said, "Auntie Yang is very considerate. But no matter how much soup my Tiantian drinks, her milk is still not enough. We have a pair of twins, a boy and a girl, and I can barely feed one of them."
Grandma Lu said, "Both siblings love their mother's milk, so they have to eat until they're half full before drinking formula. I had a box of six cans delivered yesterday. It's okay to drink formula, as long as it's nutritious. It's not like they can't afford it."
Sang Yimei said: "The baby boy is awake. Look at him, he's not crying."
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