Chapter 82 Mother Gu Departs

The two babies had only been asleep for a short while when one of them woke up. After taking care of them for two days, Gu Ye was already quite skilled. After washing their bottoms and changing their diapers, he went back to sleep. Chen Cuijuan said that neither of the babies resembled Shen Zhiyu. They were very well-behaved. Unless they were very uncomfortable or extremely hungry, they rarely cried and slept well at night. Shen Zhiyu could also get a good night’s rest. But this was only when they were still drinking warm water.

Now that the babies were breastfed, they didn’t want to drink warm water anymore. Tuan Tuan cried twice, and Shen Zhiyu immediately sat up. “I’ll feed them.” Gu Ye pursed his lips, watching his wife’s sleepy eyes as she struggled to feed the babies. His frown deepened.

Especially at night, Shen Zhiyu had fed them three times. The next day, when he got up to go to training, his wife was still sleeping soundly. It was obvious that she hadn’t gotten a good night’s sleep. During the confinement period, she needed to eat nutritious food. Chen Cuijuan had already started cooking fish and meat porridge early in the morning. Gu Ye ate the same as usual, porridge with flatbread, and a stir-fried green vegetable. When he came out, Chen Cuijuan washed her hands.

 “Is Yuzo awake?” “No, she woke up three times last night to feed the babies. She didn’t get much rest and is still sleeping.” Moreover, her milk supply wasn’t enough, and the babies couldn’t get enough milk, so they sucked even harder, causing Shen Zhiyu to cry in pain. When Chen Cuijuan heard this, she immediately felt sorry for her daughter.

 But there was nothing she could do. All mothers went through this. Newborn babies eat less and digest faster, so they need to be fed every two or three hours. Later, when the babies get older, they can be fed once before bedtime, and it will last them through the night. “Tonight, I’ll see if I can get some goat milk and boil it for the babies. I’ll also make some warm rice paste. If the babies are hungry at night, don’t call Yu Yu. I’ll get up and feed them rice paste.” In those days, everyone was struggling to get enough to eat, so it was normal for mothers to have insufficient milk supply.

Wealthy families would buy formula for their babies. Ordinary families could get some rice paste or goat milk. Shen Zhiyu had grown up drinking goat milk, so Chen Cuijuan was familiar with it. If their conditions were even worse, they would feed their children sweet potato flour or other things. Poor children weren’t as precious. Children who were fed a mixed diet like this would be stronger. Shen Zhiyu’s physical condition was considered good, and she could feed one baby, but she couldn’t feed two babies at once. Gu Ye thought this was a good idea.

This way, Shen Zhiyu wouldn’t have to keep getting up to feed the babies at night, and the babies would also be full. “There’s goat milk. I’ll ask around later. I’ll also ask about formula.” In those days, formula was a special supply, and ordinary people couldn’t buy it even if they wanted to. When Chen Cuijuan heard that they could buy formula, she immediately clapped her hands.

“That’s the best! I heard that formula is the best for babies!” Since his mother-in-law had said so, Gu Ye nodded slightly. Before going out, he went back to the room to take a look. Shen Zhiyu was still sleeping. He went over and touched his wife’s face before leaving.

Usually, it was considered very impressive for someone to become a battalion commander at the age of 30. So, most of the soldiers in the army had wives and children, and they were quite knowledgeable about this. When they heard Gu Ye say he wanted to buy formula, they immediately gave him advice. “Red Star formula. It’s our military supply, but it’s quite expensive.

I heard that a small packet costs several yuan. If it doesn’t work, just get some rice paste or something. My second son didn’t have enough milk, so we gave him rice soup, rice paste, and things like that.” When Deputy Regiment Commander Ma saw Gu Ye wanting to buy formula for his children, he looked at him as if he were a prodigal son.

When he got home, he told Fu Chunmei, “Do you think Gu Ye has money to burn? He doesn’t want his wife to get up at night to feed the babies, and he doesn’t want the babies to be hungry, so he wants to buy formula. Isn’t that like throwing money into the fire?” Fu Chunmei’s mother-in-law hadn’t gotten any money that day and had fought with Fu Chunmei.

Later, Deputy Regiment Commander Ma came back and used two pieces of meat to coax the old lady back home. But Fu Chunmei still held a grudge about it. Now, hearing her husband say this, she curled her lips. “It’s called having money to spend on your wife and children. It’s not like he’s spending money on his brothers who have arms and legs and his nephews who have their own parents. That’s called spending money in the right place, right?”

 The playful smile on Deputy Regiment Commander Ma’s face froze. He slammed his chopsticks on the table and roared, “What do you mean by that?” “What do I mean? You can’t understand?” Fu Chunmei’s work in the canteen had been confirmed, so she wasn’t afraid of him anymore. She sneered, “If you don’t want to eat, don’t eat.” Then, she put all the meat she had bought happily today into her children’s bowls. “Your dad doesn’t like to eat meat.

Let’s eat. Eat more.” “Don’t eat it. Your uncles and aunts will eat it all later.” Fu Chunmei and her children had lived with Deputy Regiment Commander Ma’s parents before they joined the army. Taking advantage of her husband’s absence, her in-laws, brother-in-law, and sister-in-law had bullied her a lot. Her three children had also been bullied by those brothers. Hearing Fu Chunmei say this, her three children, like pigs that had just been released from their pens, ate with gusto. In a short while, the plate of meat on the table was gone.

Sanni was gentle and secretly put a piece of meat into her father’s bowl. Deputy Regiment Commander Ma was stunned. He suddenly didn’t dare to look directly at his daughter’s innocent eyes. His daughter would get married one day, unlike his son, who could carry on the family line. This thought popped into his head as soon as he saw Sanni.

Who knew that the only one who still cared about him was the daughter he had always disdained the most. Deputy Regiment Commander Ma felt extremely uncomfortable and awkward. In the end, he vented his anger on Fu Chunmei. “Look, Sanni is more sensible than you!”

Who knew, as soon as he finished speaking, Sanni immediately picked the meat from his bowl and put it into Fu Chunmei’s bowl.

She also looked at her father with displeasure. How could he say that about Mom! Deputy Regiment Commander Ma: “…” During the confinement period, she couldn’t go out and needed to rest more. Fu Chunmei had also gone to work at the canteen, so she didn’t bring Sanni to see Shen Zhiyu as often as before. But they would still run into Chen Cuijuan when they bought groceries.

 They chatted every day, and she knew that Shen Zhiyu’s confinement period was going well, and she was recovering well. She had thought that Shen Zhiyu would be out of confinement in a month and she could go see her again. But who knew, after a month, Chen Cuijuan told her that Shen Zhiyu had given birth to twins, so her confinement period would be twice as long, and she wouldn’t be out of confinement for another month.

In the past, Fu Chunmei would have definitely scolded her for being spoiled, a country woman who was even more spoiled than city women. But now, she had started to treat herself better, influenced by Chen Cuijuan and Shen Zhiyu. She realized that meat was really delicious. It turned out that her husband wasn’t dead either. When she didn’t complain about the empty water jar, he would grumble and still go fetch water. People who didn’t treat themselves well were fools! She could enjoy a month longer of confinement and a month longer of happiness.

Why not? Fu Chunmei went back home disappointed. But at the same time, there were others who were counting down the days just like her. She figured that Shen Zhiyu would be out of confinement by now, and she could just go see her grandson. She would stay for a few days and use Jin Fengyan’s impending birth as an excuse to come back.

Gu’s mother had it all planned out. After getting an introduction letter from the commune, she set off from Tuanjie Commune.