Dog's mother was very happy, and she was extremely skilled at taking care of pregnant women during their postpartum period. She had taken care of Yu Jiu during her first pregnancy, and then Zhang Yan during her two pregnancies. She had already taken care of her three times, and this was the fourth time. She was so familiar with the process that she couldn't be more so.
Yu Jiu slept until late at night and then ate dinner right away.
"Where's the child? Bring the child over here so I can see him/her."
Yu Jiu had just woken up, and the first thing she thought of wasn't eating, but seeing the baby. Xu Zijiang went along with her and picked up the baby for her to see. Yu Jiu's first reaction was that the baby was ugly.
"How come she's so much uglier than An'an?"
Yu Jiu was about to cry. The child she had given birth to with such difficulty looked just like a monkey. Although children are said to change a lot as they grow up, she was still afraid that he wouldn't change.
"It's okay, it's a boy. It doesn't matter if he's not pretty, he shouldn't be too ugly. Let's see again in two weeks, we should still be able to keep the baby."
Xu Zijiang coaxed, then put the sleeping child back on the bed, wanting Yu Jiu to eat first. Yu Jiu was listless and had a small appetite.
"well."
Although it's said that a mother doesn't dislike her son for being ugly, Yu Jiu is a looks-obsessed person. She likes good-looking men and of course, she also wants good-looking children. But since she's already given birth, there's no way to send him back into her womb to be remade. She can only accept it. When she looks at her son again, she can now show a little bit of maternal love.
"Our son has been born, have you decided on a name yet? Let's choose one from the names we came up with before."
"Okay, how about we call him Xu Feng? An'an is a girl, and I only hope that she can live a peaceful and smooth life in the future. But he is a boy, and he needs to be strong and upright in the future. I hope he can have some sharpness and not be too cowardly, otherwise how will he protect An'an and how will he protect you in the future?"
Xu Zijiang had mentioned this character before, and now it's been chosen directly. Yu Jiu has no objections, and Xu Feng sounds good too.
"Okay, let's go with this one. Let's call the child Yuanyuan. Yuanyuan doesn't sound like a girl's name."
The siblings' names were chosen from the phrases "peace and safety" and "reunion," which, though simple, reflect the parents' love and care for their two children.
"Okay, then let's call him Yuanyuan."
The couple decided on their son's name without much effort.
"Awoooooo".
Just then, little Yuan Yuan suddenly started crying. He had woken up and was probably hungry.
Yu Jiu quickly drank some chicken soup and ate a couple of bites of rice before bringing the baby over to breastfeed. With the experience from the first time, breastfeeding the baby the second time went much more smoothly. Yu Jiu held the baby while breastfeeding, and Xu Zijiang took care of feeding her, so both mother and child were able to fill their stomachs.
Although Yu Jiu had some difficulties giving birth to Yuan Yuan, it was far from a difficult birth, and her physical damage was not significant. However, for safety reasons, Xu Zijiang still had Yu Jiu stay in the hospital for 5 days before she was discharged.
Because she was young, she recovered quickly. When she was discharged from the hospital, Yu Jiu was already able to walk forward on her own, and she wouldn't feel pain as long as she wasn't too uncomfortable.
"Mom, you're finally back! That's wonderful!"
"Mom, look! I drew my little brother in our family photo too. He's not so ugly now!"
"Mom, would you like to see my homework? We learned so much today..."
As soon as Yu Jiu got home, An An rushed over and hugged Yu Jiu's leg, chattering incessantly, which Yu Jiu didn't find annoying at all. She put Yuan Yuan on the bed and let him sleep by himself, while she picked up An An.
"An'an is so great! Come here, let Mommy give you a kiss!"
Yu Jiu wanted An An to know that even though she had given birth to a younger brother for An An, she would not neglect her.
"hey-hey."
An'an clearly enjoyed her mother's affection. She cupped Yu Jiu's face in her hands and gave her several big kisses. The four of them were having a lively and heartwarming time together.
Although it took a long time for Yuanyuan to be born, she was very well-behaved after that. She was as obedient as An'an was when she was little. She only cried when she was hungry or wet. She usually slept peacefully by herself and didn't need to be held and walked around to fall asleep, which made things much easier for Yu Jiu and Xu Zijiang.
On the very day Yu Jiu was discharged from the hospital, the government introduced a new policy, which was to encourage people to do business and so on. It told everyone that there were no more restrictions, and that people could get rich on their own. Land could also be distributed to individual households, and some people had already done so. It was said that this approach was quite effective, so it was promoted nationwide.
Of course, everyone was still quite afraid, since policies could change every day, so no one dared to act rashly. While some were tempted, few actually took action. Xu Zijiang, however, was very bold; he made the announcement directly.
"After the harvest is finished in November, we'll distribute the land and let everyone work independently, how about that? The higher-ups have said we can do it this way, so what do we have to be afraid of?"
The people below didn't dare to speak. Of course, they wanted to do it themselves—they could earn much more. But everyone was afraid of something going wrong. So, after Xu Zijiang finished speaking, no one agreed or disagreed, and the surroundings were silent.
"Since no one objects, I'll take that everyone agrees. It's a unanimous vote. Disband."
Xu Zijiang really knew how to save face, directly announcing that the motion passed unanimously and the group was disbanded.
Several elderly men couldn't help but come over and whisper to Xu Zijiang.
"Captain, why are you in such a hurry? Why don't we wait and see for a few more years? Otherwise, if something goes wrong, our whole team will suffer."
"Yes, you can't rush things. Let's see how others do it first. The nail that sticks out gets hammered down. Why should we? Our team isn't that poor right now, and life isn't that hard."
They were all overly cautious, fearing a surprise attack from above that would send them all to their deaths.
Xu Zijiang understood everyone's concerns, but even without Yu Jiu's prophetic reminder, he would still have responded to the policy without hesitation. He knew all too well that everyone lacked motivation; only by working independently could they be motivated to work, and only then could their lives improve. Right now, a better life simply meant being able to eat sweet potatoes and the like to fill their stomachs, unlike other teams who only ate three-tenths full each day.
"Where there are benefits, there are risks. Besides, the risks have now been minimized. The higher-ups have said it's okay. Even if they didn't say it explicitly, but only hinted at it, it means that the higher-ups have given their permission. We don't need to be afraid."
"Listen to me, let's take a gamble. Besides, this is how our whole team does things. Even if something happens, they can't arrest all of us. If they do arrest anyone, it'll be me, the captain. It was my decision, and I'm not afraid. What are you afraid of?"
Xu Zijiang countered, "Hmm...that seems to make some sense."
And so the matter was decided, with everyone secretly looking forward to November. Xu Zijiang planned to distribute the land to everyone in November and then re-elect a team leader. He was going to take Yu Jiu and the children to S City to work hard. He had to seize the opportunity so that Yu Jiu and her two children could have a better life.
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