Hearing this, I didn't know what to say.
"Take a nap while the baby's calm, or you won't get a full night's sleep anymore."
Okay, I am actually a little sleepy.
"Auntie, my wife..."
"It's okay, I'm just tired, I'll feel better after a nap."
"Alright then, Auntie, how should we take care of my wife during her postpartum period?"
"You can leave this to your aunt; you don't need to do it."
"It's alright, Auntie, you tell me! That way I'll have a better idea of what to do."
"There's nothing else to worry about. Just don't make her angry during this postpartum period, that's a taboo. Also, make sure she eats and drinks well so she can have enough milk for the baby. The most important thing is that you can't let her wash her hair or take a bath during this time, as it can easily cause postpartum illnesses."
"Postpartum illness? What is postpartum illness?"
"I'm not too sure about that, but I do know that if you don't take good care of yourself during postpartum recovery, you might experience pain in certain areas and never be able to work again."
"Okay! I'll ask the army doctor later."
“Shen, if you want to come inside and see your wife and children, go stand in front of the stove, warm yourself by the fire, and then you can come over.”
"Okay, thank you, Grandma Zhou."
"You're welcome"
Even after having a child, my third brother's leave wasn't long. The army only gave him half a month's leave. How should I put it? Although he was a soldier, no matter what, this half-month leave was only granted because the higher-ups felt that there were no elderly people at home to take care of him.
"Third Brother, what name do you think we should give the baby?"
"Ask the old man later."
"Have you told your older brother and the others?"
"I told you, when you went back to ask for leave the day after giving birth, you called your older brother and the others."
"Alright, but we need to hurry up and name the child and register his/her household registration. The grain distribution is just around the corner, and this kid really knows how to pick his timing."
"Is it possible? He already has his own food rations, it's just a matter of six months earlier or later."
That's true.
Since having a child, even though the team leader's aunt was there, the third brother still took over all the housework.
The auntie watching said, "If all the men in our brigade saw this, who knows what they would say! They would definitely say that Comrade Shen has no status at home."
But if the older women in the village knew, they'd be so envious.
"Auntie, why don't you go back and talk to Captain Uncle, and see how he reacts?"
"He's a lord, you can serve him, but you're dreaming if you expect him to serve us?"
"It can't be that bad!"
"It's not that bad! You just didn't see how filthy he looked."
"All right"
"Third Brother, you're back. What did Mom and Dad say?"
"Dad said that our family hasn't followed the traditional generational naming conventions since our generation, which has made us uneasy. Now they won't allow us to do it that way anymore."
What's the child's name?
"Regular rules"
"Regular rules"
The old man said this comes from a line in the *Chu Ci* (Songs of Chu): "My name is Zhengze, my courtesy name is Lingjun."
It signifies fairness and adherence to rules, giving off an upright and authoritative aura. "Uprightness" can also imply that a boy is honest and principled.
"Then let's call him Zhengze! But we still need to give him a nickname."
"Mom said we can choose a nickname for us."
"What do you think should be a name? It can't be like the other kids in the brigade, all named Stone or Dog Egg. There are at least six people in the brigade with the same name, if not ten."
"Okay, you think about it too."
"Third Brother, do you think we should name him Steamed Bun?"
"Mantou, what are you thinking?"
"We were thinking that the grain distribution would be in a few days, and look how lucky he is to have come – he just happened to be there at the right time. So we decided to name him Steamed Bun."
"If we have more children in the future, are we supposed to name them dumplings, steamed buns, or wontons...?"
"Third Brother, you know what? When we have kids in the future, we'll call them that too. Boys will be called Dumpling, Bun, Wonton, and girls will be called Milk Candy, Pastry, Biscuit, and so on. That way, when we go out, everyone will know we're a family just by hearing their names."
"Alright! Anyway, we only call them by their nicknames when they're little. Once they're old enough to go to school, we can call them by their full names. There's nothing wrong with that."
"Right! Mantou, Third Brother, look, he's smiling. He must be happy with the name."
"Alright! As long as your son doesn't object to you calling him that in the future, it's fine."
He dares.
"Then tomorrow we'll go register the child's birth, and then go into the city to send them a package. After all, they've given us so much, we should at least reciprocate."
"good"
"Go to sleep! It's getting late."
For the past two weeks, since my third brother has been at home, my uncle's aunt hasn't been staying at home; she just comes over during the day to lend a hand.
So the third brother went to the cowshed that night to ask his parents about naming the child, and also to bring them some grain and meat soup that the family had stewed.
However, during my postpartum period, my third brother would bring some food to the two elders every night to help them recover.
Two days after registering my household registration, it was the time when the brigade finished the autumn harvest and distributed the grain. Because I was pregnant this year, I didn't work much, but overall I still earned quite a lot.
At least when it came to distributing food rations, and when the brigade leader and everyone else tallied up their work points, she, as a pregnant woman, had more work points than the other educated youth in the educated youth compound.
Even if I only work eight work points a day, it adds up to a considerable amount over a year, totaling 1860 work points.
I don't plan to use my work points to exchange for sweet potatoes this year. I'll exchange them for corn and other grains later, which should amount to at least 900.
Although there are two people in the family who can share the grain rations this year, the total amount of sweet potatoes is only 1,000 jin, so we can buy another 20 yuan worth.
I did want to take some cornmeal to my parents in the cowshed, but there are more than ten people there now. Eating cornmeal for a long time would not only be too conspicuous, but would also easily arouse suspicion. So, sweet potato flour and various beans are fine.
Another point is that my parents, who lived in the cowshed, only had food rations and no work points. Moreover, most of the food rations they received consisted of sweet potatoes, with only a small portion consisting of various beans.
Don't be fooled by the abundance of sweet potatoes; eating them for a long time can cause heartburn and is bad for your stomach.
Another point is that everyone has quite a few sweet potatoes, but apart from those eaten during the winter, there aren't many left after drying them and grinding them into flour in the summer.
Another issue is that their food is completely devoid of oil and fat; if they don't eat their fill, their health will inevitably collapse sooner or later. Therefore, no matter what, I must send them food and other necessities from time to time.
"Mianmian, the grain has been brought back. Where should we put the rest, except for the sweet potatoes which are in the cellar?"
"Third Brother, set aside one bag of corn to grind into cornmeal, and put the rest in the jar in the inner room of the east wing."
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