On January 13, the eleventh day of the twelfth lunar month, Su Qingmeng went into labor. She struggled for six hours and gave birth to a son at around noon. She only fell asleep after watching the nurse hand the child to Lin Xiuyao.
Lin Xiuyao was also waiting anxiously outside the delivery room, from early morning to noon. He felt that time had never been so long.
At noon, the sound of a baby crying came from the delivery room. The nurse came out holding the baby and said, "Congratulations, it's a boy, weighing 5.62 kg."
Lin Xiuyao quickly asked: "How is my wife?"
The nurse said, "It's nothing serious. You can be transferred to the ward after two hours of observation." She handed the child to Lin Xiuyao.
Lin Xiuyao breathed a sigh of relief. He looked at the child in his arms and found it was a boy. They both felt that it was more likely to be a daughter.
He took out a braided red rope and tied a knot around the baby's ankle. This was Su Qingmeng's instruction, as she was afraid that their child would be switched.
She also told him several stories about real and fake daughters, and as she talked she was inspired to write.
Lin Xiuyao examined the baby carefully and found no birthmarks. He looked at his face and found it was really ugly, like a little monkey, but with a lot of hair.
After remembering the baby's face, he handed him to Aunt Mi and asked her to take care of him while he waited for Su Qingmeng.
When Su Qingmeng woke up, it was already night. She felt her stomach was empty and a little uncomfortable.
Lin Xiuyao had been guarding her by her side the whole time. "Honey, you've worked hard. How do you feel?"
"It hurts so much, it feels like I've died." Su Qingmeng had tears in her eyes.
Lin Xiuyao comforted her, "It's all over, don't cry, it's not good for your health." He felt sad too, hating himself for not being able to share her pain. The six hours outside the delivery room felt like years. He was worried when he heard her screams, and even more worried when he couldn't hear them.
He wiped the tears from her eyes and asked, "Does it still hurt now?"
Su Qingmeng shook her head. "It doesn't hurt anymore, I just feel weak all over. Oh, and where's the baby?"
Aunt Mi, who was standing by, saw that they finally remembered the child and quickly brought him over to show Su Qingmeng. Su Qingmeng: "..."
She was silent. Although she had heard that newborn babies were not good-looking, she didn't know whether to say "so ugly" or not.
Lin Xiuyao knew what she was thinking as soon as he saw her expression, "Is it ugly?" She nodded.
Aunt Mi disagreed, "What a beautiful baby! I've taken care of several children, and yours is the most beautiful."
Su Qingmeng was a little skeptical. She must have been saying nice things on purpose! But she didn't argue. She took the child and asked, "Do you want to feed me?"
Aunt Mi said, "He's been fed milk powder, so he should be hungry now."
She was embarrassed. Lin Xiuyao said, "Ahem, Aunt Mi, please go out for a while."
Aunt Mi realized that young people are too sensitive to their reputation.
Seeing her go out, Su Qingmeng held the child and let him feed. The baby's little mouth began to suck, "Did he get it?" Su Qingmeng didn't feel anything.
"Let me try." Lin Xiuyao approached. The nurse had told him that if the baby couldn't eat, he could help.
"It hurts." Su Qingmeng felt it.
He rubbed it gently, "I'm sorry."
"I don't blame you." She picked up the baby, "Baby, eat." She felt that she was radiating the radiance of motherhood, so great.
After the baby was full, Lin Xiuyao called Aunt Mi in. They had agreed that she would be there in the evenings and teach them how to take care of the baby. After being discharged from the hospital, they would have to take care of the baby themselves at night.
Two days later, Su Qingmeng was discharged from the hospital wrapped tightly. The east wing had been decorated. Lin Xiuyao slept there with the baby at night, and Aunt Mi came to take care of the child during the day.
The child was never with her except when feeding and sleeping. Lin Xiuyao didn't let her worry about it, and luckily the baby was very well behaved, waking up for a few hours in the morning and sleeping the rest of the time, humming a few times when hungry or wet.
Lin Xiuyao took care of Su Qingmeng during her confinement. He did a lot of homework in advance and prepared a lot of food in his backpack.
Su Qingmeng's initial diet consisted of light nourishing soups and nutritious porridge. Although the ingredients were quite rich, they were too bland.
She now eats five or six meals a day, and her afternoon snack is still red date millet porridge. "My mouth is so tasteless," Su Qingmeng said aggrievedly.
Lin Xiuyao said in a gentle voice, "I'll give you some salt tomorrow." He couldn't let his wife suffer for the sake of the child.
Su Qingmeng refused, "It's okay, I can hold on." She had already prepared herself mentally before giving birth, and now that she was in confinement, it would be better to eat light food.
"Have you decided on a name for the baby?" They had thought of several before, both boys and girls.
"Let's talk about it after you're out of confinement. Now you need to rest well and don't think about anything." Lin Xiuyao put away the bowl.
"It's a bit boring," she said. She can only listen to the radio for a while now, and is not allowed to read too many books or watch TV.
"I'll read to you." Listening to his deep, magnetic voice, Su Qingmeng fell asleep. Giving birth and breastfeeding were very draining, and she now slept ten hours a day.
Lin Xiuyao opened the door carefully, not letting the cold wind into the house. He went to the east wing and said to Aunt Mi, "I'll come and see you for a while. You can go and rest."
The baby is sleeping. He has become fair and handsome, no longer looking like a red little monkey.
When my wife was discharged from the hospital, she said, "Don't throw away the newborn if he's ugly. Maybe he'll turn out good-looking after you raise him. After all, we're a good-looking couple." She always has a lot of witty remarks that are both funny and reasonable.
He closed his eyes and rested beside me. He had been sleep deprived recently and couldn't sleep well at night. He had to get up at night to feed his baby.
Aunt Mi said that the baby was very well-behaved, and he felt the same way. Otherwise, he would not be able to hold on and would have to hand the child over to Aunt Mi at night.
Just hold on for another month.
He Rui came to visit, exchanged a few words through the curtain, told her to rest well, and left. A few days later, Tang Qiuyu and Qiu Ling also came to visit. All the friends from Beijing had come once, and there were no more. Su Qingmeng quietly recuperated after her birth.
Su Qingmeng spent the New Year of 1984 in bed. Lin Xiuyao had already moved the TV to the bedroom, and the family of three watched the CCTV Spring Festival Gala. They missed the first one in their hometown last year, and this year was the second one.
When Chen Peisi and Zhu Shimao's skit "Eating Noodles" came on, Su Qingmeng laughed so hard her stomach hurt, and Lin Xiuyao quickly turned off the TV. "Wife, take it easy, don't get excited."
Su Qingmeng took a few deep breaths and said, "It's so funny." She had also seen this skit in modern times and couldn't help but revisit it.
Lin Xiuyao turned on the radio and said, "Let's listen to the radio."
Su Qingmeng fell asleep while listening. Lin Xiuyao did not stay up to celebrate the New Year. Today he slept in the main room with Kang Kang. He wanted the three of them to be together on New Year's Eve. After the mother and son had rested, he also turned off the lights and went to sleep.
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