Qin Huairu had considered divorce, but it required Liu Guangqi's consent. Now that Liu Guangqi had been expelled from school, how could he possibly let her off easily? Even if Liu Guangqi agreed, Liu Haizhong probably wouldn't.
What worried Qin Huairu even more was her nutrition. The doctor repeatedly emphasized upon her discharge that she must improve her nutrition. But seeing the Liu family's situation, Qin Huairu didn't know where to get more nutrition. In the past, she could have asked her mother-in-law to buy some good things. But now, with her relationship with Gu Chunyan, Gu Chunyan wouldn't pay any attention to her.
Even if she didn't eat, her child had to. Over the past year or so, Qin Huairu had suffered greatly. Now she was malnourished and didn't even have a drop of breast milk.
This made Qin Huairu think of Wei Hua's wife, Yang Tao. Yang Tao was currently in her postpartum period, and given the Wei family's financial situation, she should be doing quite well. Judging from her figure, she must have plenty of breast milk.
Even if it were just one child, or even two, there shouldn't be any problems for the time being. To ensure her child could have breast milk, Qin Huairu disregarded whether she was still in her postpartum period and carried the baby to the front yard.
Upon arriving in the front yard, Qin Huairu saw Wei Hua feeding the baby with a bottle. She had used formula before; it was the kind Yi Zhonghai had bought for Bang Geng. A small bag of formula cost five yuan, and you needed formula coupons.
A small child needs to drink at least one packet a month. As they get older, the amount will continue to increase. By the time they are over six months old, they will need at least four or five packets a month. Including receipts, it will cost around 20 yuan a month.
This made Qin Huairu somewhat envious of Yang Tao. Qin Huairu, also a woman, couldn't understand why her own life was so miserable. This further solidified Qin Huairu's idea of taking advantage of the Wei family.
At this moment, Qin Huairu didn't care about saving face anymore. In her heart, the child was much more important than her reputation.
"Hua Zi, Sister Qin, I need your help with something. I'm not feeling well and haven't been able to produce breast milk. Could Tao Zi help me breastfeed my baby?"
Wei Hua didn't even hesitate to consider Qin Huairu's request. He fed his own son formula; how could he possibly breastfeed Qin Huairu's baby?
"Qin Huairu, our two families don't get along. Why should my wife breastfeed your child? Can't you see my son is drinking formula? If I have enough breast milk, wouldn't I let Taozi feed her own son first?"
"Your daughter is a human being, but does that mean my son was adopted? I'm not so kind as to let my son go hungry to feed your daughter."
Hearing Wei Hua's words, Qin Huairu was taken aback. She couldn't help but look at Yang Tao lying on the bed. Yang Tao's figure was even better than hers, how could she possibly not have enough breast milk?
Less than a week after giving birth to Bang Geng, my breast milk was already more than I could drink. Could it be that the Wei family's lifestyle wasn't good enough, and they weren't getting enough nutrition?
Qin Huairu wasn't stupid. Other people's own children weren't even getting enough to eat. How could she possibly give her breast milk to her own child?
"Hua Zi, your sister Qin was being presumptuous. Even adults are struggling to get enough to eat these days, so my request is indeed a bit excessive."
After speaking, Qin Huairu turned and left the Wei family. On her way back, however, Qin Huairu was troubled by this matter. The child was crying for food every day, and Qin Huairu felt terrible.
Looking at her secret stash of money, Qin Huairu hesitated. Finally, she gritted her teeth and took out a few dozen yuan. After handing the money to Gu Chunyan, she asked Gu Chunyan to buy milk powder.
Although Gu Chunyan wanted to refuse, the Liu family still needed Qin Huairu. Without Qin Huairu, she might still be starving. Even though she was unwilling, Gu Chunyan had no choice but to buy three bags of milk powder for Qin Huairu.
With the help of baby formula, Qin Huairu was finally relieved that she wouldn't have to watch her child go hungry. However, due to her ongoing injuries, Qin Huairu spent the entire Spring Festival in bed.
To lighten her burden, Qin Huairu quickly set her sights on her brother-in-law, Liu Guangtian. Not only Qin Huairu, but Gu Chunyan also had her eye on him.
Anyone with half a brain knows that Liu Haizhong and Liu Guangqi have absolutely no future. Given their circumstances, they can only do odd jobs; they'll never be able to become factory workers again.
In the future, it will definitely be Liu Guangtian and Liu Guangfu who will support the Liu family. When the two of them thought of Liu Guangtian and his family, they didn't pay them much attention at all.
The indifference of the past had already broken the hearts of Liu Guangtian and his brothers. Now, how could Gu Chunyan and the others possibly make amends so easily?
If Gu Chunyan had intervened more when Liu Guangtian and his brothers were being beaten, they might have been grateful to their mother.
Gu Chunyan had never cared about them before, so why would they sincerely want to live with her now?
Liu Guangfu is still young and has no ability to support himself, so he usually eats and drinks at home.
Liu Guangtian only pays a maximum of five yuan a month for living expenses. Five yuan is enough for one person to live on, let alone one person, even if Liu Guangfu is included. Liu Guangtian would not pay a single extra penny.
Liu Guangtian and Gu Chunyan argued a lot about this. But the result of all the arguments was that their relationship became even more awkward.
Throughout this matter, Liu Guangfu stood by his second brother's side, because he knew that his second brother was the only one in the entire courtyard who truly cared about him.
In the past, it was always his second brother who would wipe his wounds. Once he got injured, apart from the two brothers taking care of each other, no one else would even give him a second glance.
If it weren't for my second brother, I don't know how miserable my life would be. Given my mother's personality, she might have kicked me out of the house long ago.
Seeing her second son in this state, Gu Chunyan was actually extremely distressed. But now the Liu family had no man to back them up, and if they strained relations now, who knew how many people would bully them in the future. To avoid being bullied, Gu Chunyan had no choice but to let it go.
After realizing that neither of her sons was reliable, Gu Chunyan made up her mind to stop interfering in their affairs. She figured they were unlikely to take care of her in her old age anyway.
Even Liu Guangfu's tuition was paid by Liu Guangtian. This made Liu Guangfu increasingly resentful of his parents.
Seeing the chaos at the Liu family's house, Yi Zhonghai almost burst out laughing like a pig. At the same time, he couldn't help but lament, "Some are dying of thirst, while others are drowning in floods."
He desperately wanted a son, but couldn't get one no matter how much he begged. Yet the Liu family, despite having three sons, treated him so differently. Sometimes, Yi Zhonghai even thought that it would be great if they could be adopted by him.
If they were his own sons, he would definitely treat them well, and this would never have happened. But Liu Haizhong is oblivious to his good fortune. He even used to frequently beat his two younger sons.
Having hatched his plan, Yi Zhonghai would often linger around Liu Guangfu. Liu Guangfu was still young, and there might actually be such an opportunity. However, Liu Guangfu wasn't stupid; Yi Zhonghai's reputation was already ruined, and Liu Guangfu didn't want to be schemed against by Yi Zhonghai.
Seeing Liu Guangfu's rejection of him, Yi Zhonghai had no choice but to let it go. Once the steel rolling mill officially started operations, Yi Zhonghai lost interest in such matters.
However, this caused Qin Huairu great distress, as she had only recently given birth. If she went to work, she wouldn't be able to take care of her child, but if she didn't work, there was no one to help her. Neither Gu Chunyan nor Jia Zhangshi seemed very reliable, and leaving the child in the courtyard remained a potential problem.
After much deliberation, Qin Huairu finally entrusted the child to Jia Zhangshi, since the child was, after all, of the Jia family bloodline. She could simply feed the child before going to work.
Even though Jia Zhangshi didn't want to take care of the child, the child was, after all, her son's offspring, so she could only reluctantly take care of the child for Qin Huairu. Every time she breastfed the child, Jia Zhangshi would run around a bit and then drink the rest herself.
A baby less than a month old would normally only need one bag of formula per month. But with Jia Zhangshi, even two bags aren't enough.
Seeing that there wasn't enough milk powder, Qin Huairu angrily confronted Jia Zhangshi.
“Zhang Xiaohua, don’t go too far. If you really piss me off, I won’t buy any more baby formula. Anyway, she’s not just my child, she’s Jia Dongxu’s child too. If you really can’t bear to watch your granddaughter starve to death, then go ahead and drink it secretly.”
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