The next day, Xia Liang went to work as usual, while Gu Yanxiao continued renting bicycles and buying furniture. By the time Xia Liang returned from get off work, the furniture was almost finished. She looked around and thought it looked pretty good, praising, "Not bad! Comrade Yanxiao, you're quite capable!" Gu Yanxiao smiled, pulled his wife into his arms, and kissed her, saying, "Of course, you don't even know who my wife is. If I didn't have some skills, would she have married me?" Xia Liang rolled her eyes at him. Gu Yanxiao chuckled and ruffled her hair, but Xia Liang brushed his hand away. Suddenly, Gu Yanxiao said seriously, "Wife, I have to leave the day after tomorrow." His tone was as aggrieved as a young wife's, his eyes filled with sorrow. Xia Liang reluctantly said, "You're leaving already?" "Has it? Time flies so fast? It feels like I haven't even been back for a few days!" she cried, hugging Gu Yanxiao tightly. "What should I do? I can't bear to leave you! We've only been married a few days!" Gu Yanxiao hugged her back tightly, kissing the top of her head. "Don't worry, time flies. I'll be back soon." Actually, he wanted to ask Xia Liang if she wanted to go with him to the military base, but he knew she wouldn't. She had her own things to do, and she couldn't bear to leave her career. He knew Xia Liang well; even if he asked, she wouldn't go. So she really couldn't bear to leave, but she wasn't the kind of person who could be satisfied with just love. She didn't want to depend on anyone, even her husband.
The next day, Xia Liang went to work as usual, and Gu Yanxiao went about his business as well, checking if there was anything missing at home. He went to buy what was left, as Xia Liang couldn't handle everything by herself after he left. On the day Gu Yanxiao was to leave, Xia Liang got up to see him off at the station. Gu Yanxiao didn't want her to see him off, but she couldn't bear to part with him and wanted to spend as much time with him as possible, so she went with him to the train station and watched him leave. Xia Liang then returned to her previous daily work life.
In the Xia family home in the county town, Zhao Danxiang was preparing formula for her granddaughter. For some reason, ever since her daughter's wedding day, her daughter-in-law had stopped producing breast milk. Before, although there wasn't much, it was enough to feed her half-full, but since that day, there had been none at all, and she could only drink formula. Hearing a knock at the door, Zhao Danxiang quickly put down the bottle and went to open it. Seeing it was her mother-in-law, Zhao Danxiang greeted her with a smile, "Mother-in-law is here! Please come in." She then invited her in and went to pour water for her. Zhou's mother was still a little uncomfortable, carrying a bag... She handed a few eggs to Zhao Danxiang, saying, "These are some eggs I saved up. Please cook them for Xiaohui, my dear in-law." Zhao Danxiang replied, "Look at you, my dear in-law, you're really something! You've come all this way, why bring so much?" Zhou's mother smiled, took the water Zhao Danxiang poured, and said, "My dear in-law, don't be so polite. I'll go check on Xiaohui." With that, she went into Zhou Xiaohui's room. Zhao Danxiang was also going in to deliver the milk powder, as her granddaughter had just started crying. After delivering the milk powder, Zhao Danxiang noticed that the mother and daughter seemed to have something to say, so she tactfully came out and closed the door. Inside the house, Zhou's mother asked Zhou Xiaohui, "What happened? Why is your milk supply gone? Your mother-in-law and Xia Rong didn't object, did they?" Zhou Xiaohui was speechless. "They didn't object. Before, I mixed breast milk and formula, but now I'm exclusively formula." What she didn't say was that her mother had upset her. On Xia Liang's wedding day, her mother told her everything that happened in the hospital room on the day she gave birth, making her feel ashamed and guilty. Ashamed that her mother was so arrogant, and guilty that if she had just sat still and hadn't fallen off the chair, none of this would have happened. Thinking too much prevented her from resting, and even though her mother-in-law treated her to good food and drinks every day, her milk supply still dried up. Thinking about all this made her very irritable, and she also felt a little guilty towards her mother. If it weren't for her mother's actions, she wouldn't have dried up, and her family would have to spend a lot of money on formula. But she knew she was wrong, yet she couldn't do anything about it. Thus, Zhou Xiaohui fell into a state of internal turmoil. Looking at her granddaughter drinking milk in her daughter's arms, Zhou's mother felt a growing fondness for her, noting that her baby was getting whiter every day than when she was born, when she looked like a skinny little monkey.
The mother and daughter stayed in the room for a while. Zhao Danxiang came and asked, "Xiaohui, check if Xinran has pooped. If she has, I'll change her diaper." Xia Xinran was the baby's name, given to her by her parents. Every day, Xinran would poop about ten minutes after drinking her formula. At this time, Zhao Danxiang would come to wash her bottom and change her diaper. Today was no exception. Zhao Danxiang picked up her granddaughter, opened the blanket covering her, and pulled back the diaper. Sure enough, she had pooped. She placed the child on the changing table that Xia Dahe had specially made for her granddaughter. This was designed by Xia Liang specifically for changing diapers. A small blanket was laid on the table to prevent the baby's delicate skin from getting irritated. Zhao Danxiang brought in the warm water she had prepared beforehand and took off the soiled diaper, throwing it into the dirty basin. Zhao Danxiang used a wrung-out cotton towel to wipe her granddaughter's bottom, then changed her into a clean diaper. The little one remained silent throughout, a rare example of a well-behaved baby. After finishing, Zhao Danxiang handed the child over to her mother and took the water and soiled diaper to wash them. Zhou's mother watched the whole process, while Zhou Xiaohui remained still. Normally, she would never have let her mother-in-law do all this alone; she would have stepped forward to help, even though her mother-in-law wouldn't expect her to do anything. But today, she wanted her mother to see how her mother-in-law treated her, hoping she wouldn't worry too much about not having a good time in her husband's family and that things like what happened before wouldn't happen again. Zhou's mother was indeed deeply moved. After all, she had never seen a mother-in-law go to such lengths, including herself. Most of the time, her daughter-in-law's maternal grandmother took care of her after childbirth; she only cooked two meals.
After getting off work that evening, Xia Rong went to the black market, thinking that her precious daughter's milk powder was running low and she needed to quickly prepare some to stock up. The little one was getting heavier and ate more every day. Thinking of her daughter, Xia Rong couldn't suppress the happy smile on her face. She bought four cans of milk powder at a high price, packed them in a cloth bag she had prepared beforehand, put them on her bicycle, and then rode home. She hadn't seen her precious daughter all day and missed her terribly.
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