Song Wei listened as Aunt Xinghua recounted a story from their brigade in the past.
“That family was doing quite well. The wife married into the family and had a smooth life, giving birth to a healthy baby boy in her first year. But it seemed this good fortune attracted the envy of some venomous souls. During the child’s full-month celebration, when relatives came to visit, the swaddling clothes were deliberately unwrapped in the freezing cold.
That very night, the child developed a high fever. They rushed him to the hospital, but it was snowing heavily, and there was no transportation available. Our village didn’t have a doctor either. By the time they carried the child to the hospital, he had already stopped breathing.”
Song Wei and Lin Zhen listened with furrowed brows.
They truly hadn’t expected there could be people in the world so malicious as to harm a newborn.
“Was the person ever found out?”
“Yes, it was a relative of the wife’s family. After marrying, she had given birth to three daughters in a row. Unfortunately, her husband’s family was deeply patriarchal and looked down on girls, so they often abused and scolded her.
On the day of the celebration, she saw how well the wife was doing—not only had she given birth to a healthy son, but she was also living a comfortable life with her in-laws. Perhaps the wife had even unintentionally boasted a little in her conversation.
Somehow, this triggered the relative, and she seized the opportunity to sneak into the room where the child was sleeping and unwrap his swaddling clothes when no one was looking.”
Lin Zhen’s expression turned grave. “Let’s not allow anyone to come for the full-month celebration.”
He was now too afraid to let anyone see the children.
Aunt Xinghua said, “The children will have to meet people eventually. It’s the custom here, but we must be careful and keep them under close watch at all times.
Having everyone come on one designated day to see the children is better than having people visit sporadically and having to bring the babies out each time. We can’t just refuse to let anyone see them—that would invite gossip.”
Song Wei and Lin Zhen weren’t afraid of gossip, but Aunt Xinghua had a point.
Everyone wanted to see the twins. It was better to guide this interest rather than suppress it.
Instead of hiding the children and having people visit continuously, it was wiser to set aside one day for everyone to see them at once.
They just needed to keep a close eye on the babies.
“Don’t worry too much. There are very few people in the world who are malicious enough to harm an infant.”
Song Wei and Lin Zhen nodded. The full-month celebration was still a while away—they could decide later.
A whole month—a whole month!
Song Wei finally understood the hardships of postpartum confinement.
Although she ate well—Lin Zhen had kept only one young rooster at home and slaughtered the others, and he even led the wolf pack into the mountains to hunt a deer—she was still miserable.
When stewing chicken soup, he would add a slice or two of ginseng.
With such nourishing food, even the most depleted body would have been restored.
She was satisfied with the meals, especially since Lin Zhen was an excellent cook.
But being confined to one room, unable to bathe or wash her hair—
She was going insane.
Over the course of the month, she “beat up” Lin Zhen five times!
Of course, “sparring” was a more fitting term. She was just too bored and uncomfortable, and if she didn’t vent her frustrations, she felt even worse.
Still, Lin Zhen always went easy on her.
“Finally, I’m finally out!”
On the day her confinement ended, she took a comfortable bath and washed her hair, feeling as light as if she were walking on clouds!
She wanted to shout joyfully to the skies!
“Good boys, play some music for Mommy!”
Song Wei tickled her eldest son’s foot, waking the sleeping Xiao Nan.
He didn’t hold back, immediately bursting into loud wails.
Song Wei was satisfied.
Lin Zhen and Lin Ping’an were both speechless.
She must have gone a little crazy.
Handing the crying son to Lin Zhen, Song Wei decided to practice a set of martial arts moves to stretch her body.
She moved with such vigor and intensity that it seemed as if she were heading into battle. Xiao Nan, whom she had woken up, still had teardrops clinging to his eyelashes, but he had stopped crying. Instead, he stared at her with wide, watery eyes.
Xiao Bei, held by Lin Ping’an, continued sleeping while sucking on his tiny hand.
After a month, the babies’ skin had fully smoothed out, with no trace of wrinkles left.
Both children had fair skin and had been nourished to a plump, healthy glow.
Xiao Nan had inherited Lin Zhen’s thick eyebrows and large eyes, with features that were already strikingly handsome.
Though still young, he was even more delicate-looking than Lin Zhen.
Xiao Bei had more refined features, combining the best of both Song Wei and Lin Zhen’s looks—delicate yet unmistakably masculine.
With such a charming little face, he was sure to attract plenty of admirers when he grew up.
Although they were twins, the two brothers not only looked different but also had completely opposite personalities.
The older one was strong and temperamental, often bursting into loud cries to express his emotions.
The younger one loved to sleep and was unusually calm. Even when his brother wailed loudly right next to him, he rarely joined in. At most, he would furrow his tiny brows and fuss a little, as if expressing his annoyance at the noise.
In short, both children were utterly adorable.
And the whole family adored them.
Song Wei had thought she wouldn’t be particularly fond of children, but after giving birth, she realized it wasn’t children she disliked—it was other people’s misbehaved brats.
When her own children were loud, it was a good thing.
“Waaah…”
Xiao Nan started crying again, and Xiao Bei, held by his uncle, also furrowed his brows and began fussing.
“Sis, they’re hungry!”
Lin Ping’an had become quite skilled at handling the babies. With these two brothers in the house, Song Wei hardly had to worry about anything. Whenever they wet themselves, whoever had time would swiftly change their diapers.
She didn’t even have to wash their clothes or diapers—every morning, she could see the two brothers squatting at the door, diligently scrubbing away.
Song Wei only needed to breastfeed occasionally.
The other aunts, including Aunt Xinghua, had repeatedly expressed how envious they were of her postpartum experience.
“It’s Xiao Bei’s turn to nurse today. Hand him to me.”
The two babies took turns with formula and breast milk since Song Wei could only feed one at a time, leaving the other to have formula.
Lin Zhen had assured her confidently not to worry about formula—he would handle it.
Since he said not to worry, Song Wei truly didn’t.
Once the babies were fed, she didn’t have to fuss over them. Even the animals in the house could entertain the two little ones.
She began doing exercises to regain her physical condition.
Above all, she had to address the loose postpartum belly and the issue of urinary incontinence!
If there was one thing she disliked most about childbirth, it was this—embarrassing and troublesome.
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