Chapter 33 Isn't your older brother too good to you?
Zhao Fei stood in front of the glass window outside the neonatal intensive care unit for a long time, but he couldn't actually see anything.
"Comrade, are you a family member?" A nurse came out from inside.
"Yes, Wen Xiaoxiao's family, twins." Zhao Fei quickly stepped forward, "How are the children?"
The nurse flipped through the record book in her hand: "The twins in bed 26, right? Both babies' temperatures have stabilized. We fed them sugar water twice this morning, and they were able to swallow it. As long as they can eat normally, have bowel movements on their own, and gain weight, they can be discharged after a few more days of observation."
She looked up at Zhao Fei's anxious face and softened her tone, "Premature babies are all like this, they need to be raised slowly."
"Can I... see the child?" Zhao Fei asked cautiously.
The nurse shook her head: "Not yet, she's too young, we're afraid of infection. We can only see her through the glass after she's transferred to a regular observation room."
She paused, then said, "How is the new mother? We need to get her to start breastfeeding as soon as possible; breast milk is better than anything else."
Zhao Fei nodded and made a mental note of it.
He turned and walked towards the ward, his steps lighter than when he came.
He bought millet porridge and boiled eggs at the canteen near the hospital entrance.
When I returned to the ward, I saw Wen Xiaoxiao standing shakily, holding onto the edge of the bed.
"What are you doing?" Zhao Fei rushed over in three steps, almost spilling his breakfast.
Wen Xiaoxiao's face was pale, and her forehead was covered in cold sweat: "I...I need to go to the toilet."
"Wait here." Zhao Fei placed breakfast on the bedside table and pulled a cotton hat out of a mesh bag.
He awkwardly put the glove on Wen Xiaoxiao, then supported her arm with his other hand and protected her back as they moved step by step toward the toilet outside the ward.
The corridor wasn't long, but Wen Xiaoxiao walked with difficulty; with each step, the wound on her lower body ached.
She gritted her teeth, and sweat poured down her forehead.
The toilet is a squat toilet.
When Wen Xiaoxiao squatted down, she gasped in pain, and tears welled up in her eyes instantly.
Zhao Fei waited outside the door, and his heart ached when he heard suppressed sobs coming from inside.
When Wen Xiaoxiao came out, she was completely exhausted and was leaning almost entirely on Zhao Fei.
Zhao Fei half-carried, half-lifted her back to bed, and sure enough, there was a little blood seeping through his pants.
"Don't move. Call me if you need anything." Zhao Fei's voice was somewhat deep.
After feeding Wen Xiaoxiao breakfast, Zhao Fei fetched hot water, soaked a towel in it, and wrung it out until it was half dry.
"The nurse said to apply a warm compress to promote uterine contractions and expel lochia," he said, placing a warm towel on Wen Xiaoxiao's lower abdomen.
Wen Xiaoxiao winced in pain, but the warmth of the towel slowly seeped in, and it did make her feel a little better.
She watched as Zhao Fei sat on a low stool by the bed, head down, carefully massaging her calves.
His palms were rough, calloused from years of hard work, but his movements were surprisingly gentle.
Stroking upwards from the ankle to the calf, applying just the right amount of pressure.
Then I had her turn over and massaged her lower back with my palms.
Wen Xiaoxiao closed her eyes, savoring this moment of tenderness.
She recalled the most painful moment of childbirth, when she clung tightly to the railing of the delivery bed.
She wasn't calling out to Zhao Qingda in her heart, but rather "Big Brother." This realization filled her with both shame and despair.
"Oh my, look at this young couple, they have such a good relationship." The woman in the next bed joked with a smile, "When I gave birth to my first child, my husband was always smoking outside the delivery room. Unlike your husband, who takes such good care of me."
Wen Xiaoxiao's body stiffened, and she closed her eyes even tighter.
Zhao Fei paused for a moment, then continued rubbing, his voice calm: "She's suffered."
This statement neither confirmed nor denied, but to others it was interpreted as an admission.
Deep down, a shameful, secret joy rose within him—the thought of being able to stay by her side as a "husband."
Around 3 p.m., the ward door was pushed open.
Li Yugu came in carrying a floral cloth bundle, followed by Zhao Yidi, who had two small braids.
Zhao Yidi ran over first, looking curiously at Wen Xiaoxiao on the bed, "Auntie, did you have a little sister?"
Wen Xiaoxiao forced a smile and patted her head: "Well, when the little sisters grow up, they can play with Yidi."
Li Yugu placed the bundle on the bedside table; inside were a change of clothes, a towel, and boiled brown sugar eggs that she had brought.
"Auntie, you're here." Zhao Fei cut the peeled apple into small pieces and handed them to Wen Xiaoxiao before getting up. "I have to go back for a bit. There's something going on at the farm, and Yidi has to go to school tomorrow."
He pulled the envelope from his coat pocket, quickly stuffed it into the handbag hanging by Wen Xiaoxiao's bedside, and whispered, "Keep it safe. Don't tell anyone."
Wen Xiaoxiao nodded.
Zhao Fei went downstairs to the convenience store and bought some toilet paper, maternity pads, milk powder, and baby bottles, carrying them up in large and small bags.
“Auntie, take care of these. When you’re discharged, give me a call at the factory and I’ll come pick you up.” He squatted down and said to Zhao Yidi, “Go home with Dad and let your auntie rest.”
Zhao Yidi nodded obediently and took Zhao Fei's hand.
The woman in the next bed laughed and said, "Sister, your son-in-law is really something, always running around taking care of things."
Li Yugu's face immediately darkened: "What son-in-law! This is my nephew, and Xiaoxiao is his sister-in-law!"
The ward fell silent instantly.
The older sister opened her mouth awkwardly, then pulled the blanket over herself and pretended to go to sleep.
Zhao Fei didn't say anything, he just patted his daughter's head and said, "Let's go." Then he pulled Zhao Yidi away from the ward.
After the door closed, the air in the ward seemed to freeze.
Li Yugu stood by the bed, his eyes filled with scrutiny.
The scene just now, and Zhao Fei's various actions when she was pregnant.
And the unusual meticulousness felt like thorns piercing her heart.
She pulled up a chair and sat down, lowering her voice and pressing him: "Xiaoxiao, tell Mom the truth... isn't your older brother a little... too good to you?"
Wen Xiaoxiao suddenly raised her head and looked at her mother-in-law in disbelief.
She felt all the blood rush to her head, then instantly drain away completely.
She actually doubted her?
So what if she has a relationship with Zhao Fei!
Why don't you look at what your good son has done?!
Wen Xiaoxiao's tears were so many, so desperate, they didn't seem like the shame of having her feelings exposed, but rather like the pain that had been suppressed for too long finally finding an outlet.
"Why...why are you crying?" Li Yugu asked, flustered, his tone softening. "Mom was just asking..."
"Ask?" Wen Xiaoxiao thought to herself with a cold sneer.
Why doesn't she ask where her son, Zhao Qingda, is?
Why don't you ask him why his son got another woman pregnant and then came to his door?
Why don't you ask her about the surprised look on the doctor's face when he saw the old scars on her buttocks during childbirth!
Her chest felt hard and swollen, but with her child not beside her, she couldn't suck out the milk, and the pain made her break out in a cold sweat.
The stitched wound on my lower body was also throbbing with pain.
She had just escaped death, but her "good mother-in-law" was interrogating her about whether she had an affair with her brother-in-law!
Heh. Wen Xiaoxiao sneered inwardly, but her crying only intensified.
Seeing his daughter-in-law crying uncontrollably, Li Yugu finally softened.
Regardless, this was her daughter-in-law who had just given birth to two granddaughters, and she was lying in a hospital bed.
"Alright, alright, stop crying. You'll hurt your eyes if you cry during your postpartum period." Li Yugu took out some tissues and awkwardly wiped Wen Xiaoxiao's tears. "Mom just said it casually, I didn't mean anything by it. Your older brother... he's kind-hearted, and it's only right that he takes care of you since Qingda isn't here."
She said this, but her doubts did not completely disappear.
But right now, comforting the new mother is the most important thing.
Although she was not entirely happy about having two daughters, they were still of the Zhao family bloodline and her daughters-in-law.
"Stop crying, you'll hurt your eyes." Li Yugu sighed and took out the brown sugar and eggs he had brought. "Eat some while it's hot to replenish your energy. Mom will get some hot water later to wipe you down."
Wen Xiaoxiao gradually stopped crying, leaving only soft sobs.
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