05
Hospital.
How old is the child?
Zhong Wan sat on the stool holding Cai Cai. When she heard the doctor's question, she replied, "Three years old."
"What did the child eat today? Does the child usually have any food or medication allergies?"
Zhong Wan looked troubled. Since meeting the baby, she had only fed him a bowl of noodles; she couldn't possibly...
Recalling Mumu's words, "I can't eat vegetables," she paused for a moment and truthfully said, "I ate vegetable noodles tonight. Could it be that I'm allergic to vegetables?"
Her expression became even more remorseful.
The doctor, unfazed, said, "That's possible. I suggest you get a blood test tomorrow to check for allergens in your child."
"Doctor, is my baby alright today? He has a lot of little spots on his arm."
"It's not a big problem. Just make sure he takes his medicine and avoids certain foods. I see he doesn't have a fever and his spirits are okay. He's in pretty good health."
The doctor noticed that Chu Qinghuai was holding a little girl and asked curiously, "Are they twins? They're so cute."
To avoid having to explain further, the two readily agreed.
Afterwards, Chu Qinghuai went to pay for the medicine. Zhong Wan sat on a bench in the corridor with the two children. Seeing that the rash on Cai Cai's arm showed no signs of fading, she apologized and said, "Baby, I'm sorry, I didn't know you were allergic to vegetables."
She should have been more careful. Fortunately, the allergic reaction was mild this time. On the way to the hospital, she looked it up online and found that severe allergies could even lead to shock. Zhong Wan didn't dare to imagine how uncomfortable it would be for such a small child if that happened to Cai Cai.
Cai Cai leaned against her mother's chest, sensing her depressed mood, but didn't know how to comfort her: "Mom, it's okay."
"Mumu, tell Mom, how did you know Caicai can't eat green vegetables?" Zhong Wan turned to ask her daughter.
Mumu swung her legs, leaning her upper body against the back of the chair, "I just knew it."
Zhong Wan sighed, trying not to think about it in any other way, only feeling that taking care of a child was really not easy.
Chu Qinghuai returned as soon as he finished paying the bill. It was already very late, and they didn't dare to delay any longer and hurried home.
While waiting for the car, the couple each held one of their children. Chu Qinghuai said, "The doctor just said that Caicai is a little smaller than other children her age, which may be due to poor digestion and absorption. He suggested that we get a full physical examination."
Zhong Wan: "We definitely have to do it. Let's do it tomorrow and check them all. Hopefully, this kind of thing will never happen again."
Cai Cai is only half a year younger than Mu Mu, but his frame is obviously much smaller. Zhong Wan even wondered if his previous family had not taken good care of him. Combined with what he said in the evening that he did not have a father or mother, Zhong Wan couldn't help but feel sorry for him. The image of a poor little cabbage shivering in the cold wind appeared in her mind.
Chu Qinghuai noticed Zhong Wan's guilt and worry, so he reached out and patted her back to comfort her, saying, "This is our first time being parents, and you've done a great job."
Mumu stretched out her arms and wrapped them around her mother's neck, pressing them close to hers. "Mom, don't be sad, it will make you feel bitter."
"Mom isn't sad anymore, thank you for caring about me, but what are you saying about being sad?" Zhong Wan couldn't understand what the little guy was saying several times today.
As soon as she finished speaking, Cai Cai, who was being held by Zhong Wan, scrunched up her little face, covered her nose, and looked even more uncomfortable than if she had an allergic reaction.
"Strange, Chu Qinghuai, do you smell a sour smell? It wasn't there just now."
Chu Qinghuai took a closer sniff: "Really? It smells like fruit, quite fragrant."
"..."
The couple had to take their two children to the hospital for a check-up the next day, so they had to take another day off.
Zhong Wan is a pastry chef at a cake shop. In the past few years, in order to earn more money, she would only take half a day off a week. Now that things are a little better, she only takes one day off a week and has never taken a day off. So the boss's wife found it strange and called to ask her, "Xiao Wan, is something wrong at home?"
Zhong Wan felt that one lie would require countless more to cover it up, so she simply told the truth: "Well, something came up. I'm taking my child for a medical check-up."
"Xiao Wan, I didn't know you had a child." The person on the other end of the phone was shocked.
"Yes, it was in my hometown before, but I've brought it here now."
"Oh, I see. Okay, spend some quality time with the kids. Call me if you don't have enough time off."
"Thank you, ma'am."
After hanging up the phone, she touched her burning face, exhaled, and then told Chu Qinghuai, "It's over, now the whole world almost knows I have a child."
He brought two glasses of water to the two children and asked, "What did you say?"
“I told them I brought my child from the countryside here. It might seem irresponsible, but no one is really going to go back to my hometown to check.”
He agreed: "It's okay, nobody's perfect, nobody will say anything about you, this is the safest excuse, I'll use it next time too."
"Don't just eat cookies, drink some water too."
Changing the subject, Chu Qinghuai's gaze fell on the two children on the table, checking that they had finished drinking the plain water.
Mumu filled her new water cup with water, while Caicai could only drink from a regular glass. He stared at her longingly, wondering why he couldn't use a pretty little water cup, but he didn't ask.
Chu Qinghuai noticed this, ruffled his hair, and explained regardless of whether he could understand, "You have one too, but Mumu came first, so we bought one for her first. We'll take you to buy a new water bottle tonight."
"Then I want a green cup with little butterflies on it."
Hearing her father's words, Cai Cai visibly became happy.
He held the glass, its rim bigger than his face, with both hands, stuck out his little tongue, and licked the water inside, finding it sweet.
After their afternoon nap, Zhong Wan allows the children to freely choose two snacks for afternoon tea.
Zhong Wan opened the snack bag, and Mu Mu took out a bag of small sausages and a bag of cookies. Cai Cai stood next to her watching, wondering if he could take one too. The cookies looked really delicious.
Cai Cai looked at her mother expectantly, but before she could react, Mu Mu poked her clothes and said, "Come and eat, I took enough for both of us."
Okay~
He followed along eagerly, trying to climb onto the chair, but his arms and legs were too short, and he couldn't get up no matter what he did. In the end, Chu Qinghuai carried him up.
Little Cai Cai folded her hands and sat up straight, waiting for her older sister to give her some snacks.
Zhong Wan was deeply moved after watching the whole thing: "Wow~ Mu Mu, you're so generous, you actually shared it with your little brother!"
"I'm just very generous." Mumu's eyes lit up with joy when she heard her mother praise her. She tore open the cookie packaging and gave the first cookie to Caicai.
"Thanks."
Cai Cai would thank her proactively, holding the rabbit-shaped cookie in both hands, looking at it from left to right with great curiosity, and couldn't wait to bite its ear, saying happily, "I ate it."
-
There weren't many toys at home, and Zhong Wan felt it wasn't good to let the kids watch TV all the time, so she decided to take them for a walk downstairs in the neighborhood before dinner to burn off their energy so they could eat more at dinner.
The sun was setting, the air was slightly cool, and the ground was covered with a layer of molten gold.
Zhong Wan and Chu Qinghuai usually leave early and return late, and at most they would bump into their neighbors in the community. Everyone knew each other, and they had no idea that this young couple actually had two lovely children, so they were all surprised to see this scene.
"We've lived in the same building for so long, how come I've never seen you bring your kids out?"
Grandma Liu, who practices Tai Chi, noticed the family of four from afar and asked them her heartfelt questions as they approached.
Zhong Wan had thought of her words carefully before smiling and said, "I only recently brought them over from their hometown."
"I see. It's better to keep the child with you. Is this a boy and a girl?"
"Yes, twins, a boy and a girl."
"He's really handsome, with fair skin, just like you."
Hearing this, Zhong Wan was secretly delighted.
Once outdoors, the two children immediately let loose. They were afraid of animals, but they especially loved wildflowers and grass. The two of them were comparing whose wildflower was prettier. Chu Qinghuai told them that they could only look and touch, but not pick them.
Zhong Wan sat on a round stool in the park, chatting leisurely with Grandma Liu.
Before this, the two were only acquaintances, but now, as they chatted, they were almost revealing their family backgrounds.
"Your husband is so good to you, letting both children take your surname." Grandma Liu looked at people with a kind gaze.
Zhong Wan laughed and said, "It's alright, it doesn't matter whose surname they take, they're all our children anyway."
"That's great, that's great. You guys are working really hard, you're still so young and you have to take care of kids."
"Taking care of children is indeed not easy, but thankfully they are all very well-behaved."
Although they had only spent two days together, she had already gotten used to eating and sleeping with the children, as if this period of time had lasted a long time.
Raising children is definitely not easy, and it is hard work. Just feeding and bathing them is a lot of exercise, but she does it willingly and will not regret it. In Zhong Wan's heart, these are her own children, and she will try her best to make them happy during this time.
As the two were talking, Chu Qinghuai came over and whispered in her ear, "Keep an eye on them, I'm going home to cook."
"Okay, go ahead."
After Chu Qinghuai left, Zhong Wan also said goodbye to Grandma Liu: "Auntie, I'll take them there to have some fun. We can chat again when we have time."
"Okay, you go ahead with your work, don't keep the kids waiting, see you tomorrow."
"..."
Zhong Wan took one of them by the hand and led them to the slide. It was a familiar place, but it stirred up some bad memories for Cai Cai.
"Mommy, the kitten hit me."
He felt wronged and clearly remembered the scene of being bullied by the cat that day. The little black cat even rubbed its body against his face and hands, which scared him.
"It's okay, your dad, mom, and sister will protect you from now on."
Zhong Wan let go of their hands: "Go play, don't worry about getting your clothes dirty, just be careful. We'll play for a while and then go home."
-
On the way back after playing until they got hungry, Zhong Wan was teaching the two children how to climb the stairs.
"Come on, step on with your right foot first, Mom will hold you up."
At first, she and Chu Qinghuai would carry the babies upstairs, but it was too tiring for the adults, and they couldn't carry anything while carrying the children, so they decided that they should let them learn to walk up the stairs by themselves.
Mu Mu is a bit taller, and Chu Qinghuai helped her walk up the stairs a few times before she learned. Except for the fact that the stairwell is too dark at night, she can go up the stairs independently most of the time, but she needs someone to help her a little. Chu Qinghuai also promised to fix the stairwell lights on Sunday.
Cai Cai had a bit of a struggle. He was small and learned things slowly. Zhong Wan patiently taught him to take one step at a time, but he was very unsteady and wobbled like a little penguin. It took the three of them a full ten minutes to walk from the first floor to the fourth floor and get home.
"That's great! That's great! Cai Cai is improving a little bit every day, and she'll definitely walk faster than her mom in the future."
Cai Cai, who was initially a little discouraged, immediately brightened up upon hearing this and was in a great mood.
"Dad! We're back!"
As soon as Mumu entered the door, she skillfully changed her shoes, washed her hands and face, and stood in the entryway waiting for Zhong Wan to take her to take a bath.
Chu Qinghuai poked his head out and said, "I'm back."
"The food will be ready in a while. Tonight we'll have your mom's favorite fried pork ribs."
"Okay! I like fried pork ribs too!"
Cai Cai, a clever little boy, waved his hand and imitated his sister, saying, "Cai Cai also likes to eat chicken bones!"
Zhong Wan smiled and touched his chin, "You can't even speak clearly, yet you still like him."
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