"Okay, thank you in advance, Auntie. Could you watch the child and Xiaojiu for me at noon? I'll go back and cook, and bring the food with me so we can eat together. After we eat, I'll switch shifts with you so you can go back and rest. You can come back and relieve me in the afternoon. Then I'll go home and cook and take a shower. I'll keep watch tonight, so you don't need to come over."
Xu Zijiang explained his arrangements.
"Okay, no problem."
Dog's mother readily agreed.
"Oh, Mom, can I hold the baby for a bit? The captain has never held such a small baby before, but he can hold him just fine."
The dog saw how tiny the baby was and suddenly became envious, wanting to hold him. He found everything fascinating and even brought up Xu Zijiang, who kept refuting him while eating.
“I’m not like you. Before my baby was born, my wife and I practiced with pillows at home for a long time. As soon as the baby came out, the nurse gave me some pointers, and I knew how to hold him.”
Xu Zijiang was very proud; this was the proper attitude of a father. Looking at the mature and steady Xu Zijiang, and then at her own lazy and good-for-nothing son, Gouzi's mother couldn't help but shake her head.
"Okay, okay, you can have a hug if you want, but sit down first. I won't let you hug me if you're standing."
The dog obediently sat down, and his mother carefully placed the child in his arms, letting him support the back of the child's head first, then the child's bottom, and then hug the child tightly in her arms with her other hand, so that the child would be comfortable and wouldn't fall.
"Wow, Captain, this feels amazing! The baby is so soft, so cuddly!"
The dog exclaimed in surprise, too afraid to move, lest the child fall out of his armpit.
"Alright, alright, go to your job now. Just give him a hug, that's enough. This is my child, not yours. If you want to have your own, go ahead and have one."
Xu Zi was afraid that Gouzi would snatch his child away, so he quickly tried to shoo him away. Gouzi reluctantly held the child for another 10 minutes before handing the child to his mother and going to work. He couldn't be late; he was working in place of Yu Zhiqing, and it would give people a bad impression.
Not long after the dog left, Yu Jiu twitched her eyelashes and slowly opened her eyes.
"Honey, you're awake. Are you hungry? Get up and eat something, you must be starving. Is it still in pain?"
Xu Zijiang had been keeping a close eye on Yu Jiu. As soon as she moved slightly, Xu Zijiang knew she was awake. He quickly went over, helped her up, and asked her with concern. His tall figure made him seem extremely reliable, and Yu Jiu was very satisfied, knowing that Xu Zijiang was someone she could rely on.
"It doesn't hurt as much anymore, but I am definitely hungry."
After sleeping for a few hours, Yu Jiu had indeed recovered a lot. Her pale face had turned rosy, and the color was gradually returning to her skin. She didn't look as scary as before.
Xu Zi observed her complexion and knew that she was recovering well, which put his mind at ease.
"It's good that it doesn't hurt anymore. Here, let me feed you some chicken soup first."
"good."
Yu Jiu obediently opened her mouth and waited for Xu Zijiang to feed her. Xu Zijiang fed her spoonful by spoonful, and she drank it. She ate half a bowl of chicken soup and some chicken meat before starting her meal. Gouzi's mother's cooking skills were not bad. Although it was not as delicious as Xu Zijiang's cooking, it was not so bad that Yu Jiu could not swallow it. Yu Jiu remembered her child when she was halfway through her meal.
"Huh, isn't the baby hungry? I don't remember feeding the baby."
She was shocked. It was already 9 a.m., and the child had been out for 5 hours without eating anything. Could the child have fainted from hunger?
She quickly looked up towards the dog's mother. Her baby was nestled obediently in the dog's mother's arms, eyes closed, breathing evenly, looking asleep again. She wondered if the baby would look like this when unconscious.
She had also heard that some people didn't understand that babies need to be woken up to be fed, thinking that they would cry on their own when they were hungry. However, some babies would faint from hunger and sleep from the afternoon until the next morning without eating anything. The nurse said that if they were fed any later, the baby would die.
So she's very flustered right now.
"I've already fed him. I'm feeding him formula. It's fine. You don't need to raise a child too meticulously. He can drink anything as long as it's nutritious."
Xu Zijiang didn't care much about this and told Yu Jiu to eat well. At that time, Yu Jiu was too tired, and he didn't want to wake her up and cause her any trouble. Besides, the first time breastfeeding would be difficult, and he heard that it would require milk duct unblocking and so on, which would be quite painful for Yu Jiu. The baby would also have to nurse for a long time, which was too troublesome, so he simply fed her formula.
"Oh, that's fine too, as long as you're not starving."
Yu Jiu calmed down instantly. Although she had a baby, she didn't seem to have a strong sense of being a mother. When she first woke up, she only remembered to look at Xu Zijiang and forgot to look at her baby.
"Awooo."
Perhaps sensing her parents' casual attitude, the sleeping baby couldn't help but wave her fists and whimper a couple of times in grievance. The mother quickly patted the child's back and coaxed her back to sleep.
“The baby is asleep, why don’t you put him in bed? Auntie, it must be too tiring for you to keep holding him like this.”
While eating, Yu Jiu watched the dog's mother. She felt that once the child fell asleep, she didn't need to hold him all the time.
"I was just admiring this baby. She's so beautiful. Don't let her rosy cheeks fool you. In a week, or even less than a month, she'll grow out and her skin will turn white. She'll definitely have your skin. She's absolutely gorgeous."
By the way, have you decided on a name for the baby yet? What's it going to be? But I think I'll put the baby in the bed first, so she gets used to sleeping there. That way, it won't be too difficult for you to take care of her later.
Dog's mother chuckled as she spoke. She had indeed been admiring the baby, but she was also too embarrassed to put him down. Seeing how much Xu Zi cherished the child, even holding him while he slept, she couldn't very well suggest putting him on the bed.
However, it's actually good to prevent children from developing the habit of sleeping in an adult's arms. Otherwise, if the child always wants to be held to sleep, it will be impossible to do anything with them.
"I also think she'll be very pretty when she grows up."
Yu Jiu still has some confidence in his child. Whether the baby takes after him or Xu Zijiang, he's sure the baby won't be ugly.
"Her name is An'an. We didn't give her any special name. We just hope she will be safe and sound in the future. That's enough."
“An’an sounds nice. You cultured people are so different when it comes to names. We can only come up with names like Daya, Erya, Da Ni, and Er Ni.”
"Dog's mother praised."
"So, is the formal name Jiang An'an? Or will you choose another name?"
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