Chapter 108.2

After drinking the soup and eating a little bit, Wen Nuan felt much better. Just then, Aunt Chen and Sister Juxiang were about to prepare formula for the babies.

Wen Nuan remembered Doctor Li Yunhua’s advice that the babies should be encouraged to suck in order to help with milk production. She rubbed her eyes and said, “Aunt Chen, Sister Juxiang, give the babies to me.”

Deng Juxiang, holding one of the babies, replied, “One at a time. You’re still in pain, no need to rush.”

Seeing that Wen Nuan had finally woken up, Aunt Chen brought the baby over and asked, “Did the baby wake you up? Are you full now?”

Aunt Chen glanced at the soup and food Sister Guihua had brought. She wasn’t sure if it was because Wen Nuan’s appetite hadn’t fully recovered or if it was just the taste, but Wen Nuan had only eaten a little bit.

Wen Nuan nodded softly and said, “I’m full now. I don’t have much appetite yet, but give me the baby.”

Wen Nuan didn’t sit up; she stayed lying down. Aunt Chen helped her adjust her position so that she could nurse the baby comfortably.

Although Lele had been weaned for more than two years, Wen Nuan was still quite experienced, and soon the baby was latched on.

Wen Nuan glanced around the hospital room and asked, “Where’s Qinghan?”

Gu Qinghan had just returned from Beijing, and there must still be many things he hadn’t had time to deal with. She wondered if he had been called to a meeting with his superiors.

After all, Gu Qinghan had gone to Beijing at the special request of General Xu, but it was clear that the tasks there had not been fully completed yet.

Aunt Chen had washed a freshly dried towel in warm water and wiped the sweat from the back of Wen Nuan’s neck, smiling as she said, “Qinghan said he was going to change clothes. He didn’t want you to see him looking untidy when you woke up, afraid that you’d dislike him.”

Sister Juxiang teased, “Your Captain Gu is really something. My husband Zhao has been scolded by me countless times for forgetting to wash his feet before getting into bed. It drives me crazy. If our place were bigger, I wouldn’t even want to sleep on the same bed with him.”

Aunt Chen shook her head in disdain. “My old Zhao, when he’s at the air force compound, he’s better, but once he’s home, he shows his true colors. He doesn’t like to wash his feet either.”

“Qinghan is the cleanest man I’ve ever met. It’s really Xiao Nuan who trained him well!”

The most important thing was that Gu Qinghan was willing to listen to Wen Nuan. If it had been another man, someone with a strong sense of male pride, they might have pretended to listen, but ultimately they wouldn’t have taken their wife’s advice seriously.

They might agree with the words, but soon forget about them completely.

Wen Nuan smiled, though even the act of smiling pulled at her stitches, so she didn’t want to speak any further.

Just then, Gu Qinghan, Doctor Zhao, and Doctor Li Yunhua entered the room, saying they were there to check on Wen Nuan.

Gu Qinghan saw Wen Nuan furrowing her brows again and immediately moved closer to touch her forehead, asking, “What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell again? Doctor Li, could you come over and check on my wife?”

Wen Nuan frowned and replied, “I’m fine, it’s just the wound that hurts.”

She had simply pulled on the wound when she tried to lie back down—it wasn’t as bad as Gu Qinghan had made it out to be!

However, seeing Gu Qinghan tidying himself up again, he was back to looking like the handsome young man he had been before. Though he had lost quite a bit of weight, he was still very pleasing to the eye.

Wen Nuan thought, If their two sons grow up to look like Gu Qinghan, they will definitely be handsome too.

Doctor Li Yunhua approached to check her abdomen, but when she pressed down, Wen Nuan cried out in pain, “It hurts, it hurts, it hurts…”

Doctor Zhao saw Gu Qinghan about to move forward and quickly raised his hand to stop him, saying, “This is to help her uterus contract, don’t rush.”

Gu Qinghan wasn’t calm, though. He still reached out to hold Wen Nuan’s hand and looked at Doctor Li Yunhua, wanting to urge her to hurry.

But the next second, Wen Nuan glared at him, and he fell silent.

When Doctor Li Yunhua removed her hands, Wen Nuan lay there, looking at the ceiling with tearful eyes, not wanting to say anything more.

Doctor Li Yunhua and Doctor Zhao both reached out to pat Wen Nuan’s head and joked with Gu Qinghan, “If Grandpa saw her like this, he’d probably be even more worried than you.”

After the pain subsided, Wen Nuan smiled and asked Gu Qinghan, who was standing nearby, “Did you call Grandpa?”

She couldn’t make the call to General Lu herself, so it was up to Gu Qinghan to deliver the good news to Grandpa.

She assumed Grandpa was probably thinking about her, but with the difficulty of communication these days, especially during this special period, Grandpa must have been as busy as a spinning top.

Gu Qinghan replied, “I’ll go back to the regiment tomorrow, and then I’ll call him. You should rest for now. I’m going to hold the kids.”

The babies were likely crying louder now, probably because of Wen Nuan’s earlier cries.

Gu Qinghan walked over to Sister Juxiang and took the baby from her. It was only then that he really started to examine the two babies.

Seeing Gu Qinghan studying the children closely, Sister Juxiang smiled and said, “It’s clear they’ll grow up to be handsome young men, just like you!”

Gu Qinghan furrowed his brows as he looked at the baby in the swaddle, feeling like there was nothing about the child that resembled him.

Li Yunhua and Doctor Zhao leaned toward the older brother, also smiling as they said, “His nose looks like Xiao Gu’s, tall and straight. If only his eyes could be like Xiao Nuan’s, he’d be so handsome.”

The older brother had just cried a little while ago, possibly having drunk a bit of colostrum, but now he had quieted down. His eyes were tightly shut, and he appeared to be in a half-sleeping, well-behaved state.

Gu Qinghan, hearing their words, felt a bit doubtful. He carried the baby back to the hospital room and let Wen Nuan take a look. “Wife, do you think he looks like me?”

Immediately, Gu Qinghan recalled what Lele had said when she first saw the baby: “They’re so ugly.”

Gu Qinghan remembered Lele as a child, especially the time when they had come to the North. Lele had been seven or eight months old at the time, chubby all over with a round face. Her skin had been soft, white, and tender, making her look incredibly cute.

But now, these two little ones weren’t just wrinkled; they were also red-faced, and it seemed like their skin was starting to peel. They still had some residual baby hair on their foreheads.

He couldn’t help but furrow his brow and mutter, “They really are ugly.”

Why were they so ugly?

Clearly, he, Wen Nuan, and Lele were all quite good-looking. Especially Lele—who would look at her and not say she was cute?

How did these two little guys end up looking so bad?

Wen Nuan looked at the baby in Gu Qinghan’s arms and frowned slightly. Although they were indeed a little ugly, most newborns looked the same. Once they passed their first month, they’d change a little each day.

She glanced at Gu Qinghan, then grumpily took the baby from his arms, saying, “Don’t ever say that in front of them again!”

Gu Qinghan innocently scratched his nose. “They can’t understand.”

Wen Nuan snorted, furrowing her brows as she glared at him. “Other people are so happy to have a son, and here you are, complaining. You should reflect on yourself!”

It seemed that Gu Qinghan had never really had a strong preference for having a son or a daughter.

When they had discussed pregnancy in the past and whether he wanted a son or a daughter, Gu Qinghan had simply responded, “Is that something you can just think about?”

That answer had made her so angry that she had ended up giving this ‘ironclad man’ a good smack.

Gu Qinghan saw that Wen Nuan seemed a little upset, so he pulled out a chair and sat down, then kissed her forehead gently.

He spoke softly, “A son is of course fine.”

“That way, Lele will still be our only daughter.”

“From now on, the two little guys and I can protect you and Lele.”

Wen Nuan listened to Gu Qinghan’s words and muttered, “You talk too much.”

“I need to let him nurse for a bit. You can step outside,” Wen Nuan said. She had just fed the older brother a little while ago, but he probably hadn’t received enough milk yet, and now he was crying again.

It was unclear whether he had understood that his father had just bad-mouthed the two of them.

Gu Qinghan didn’t leave. Instead, he pulled the curtain closer, smiled, and said, “Go ahead, I’ll stay here and watch over you both.”

Although Wen Nuan had rested for a while, she still hadn’t fully regained her strength. With Gu Qinghan saying this, she couldn’t be bothered to argue with him, so she let the younger brother nurse as well, hoping for milk to come in sooner.

Gu Qinghan reached out and gently stroked her temple, his fingers brushing through the strands of hair that were damp with sweat and then dried by the wind.

After a while, he couldn’t help but lean down and kiss her, saying, “You’ve worked hard, Nuan Nuan. Having you and the kids is enough.”

Wen Nuan, irritated by the noise, closed her eyes and then said, “Since you’re so free, why don’t you come up with a name for the child?”

She then couldn’t help but remind him, “Don’t take as long as you did with Lele. It took months before you even registered her.”

Lele’s name hadn’t been decided until they came to the North, and she definitely didn’t want a repeat of that this time.

Gu Qinghan glanced at the little one desperately trying to nestle into Wen Nuan’s arms, furrowed his brows, and after a long while, said, “Wife, your naming is far better than mine. How about you wait until you’re discharged and take your time to come up with one?”

Wen Nuan shot him a glare, holding the baby tighter, and frowned. “No, I named Lele, so it should be your turn to name the two boys.”

It had taken her so long to come up with Lele’s name, and if it were for the two boys, it would really keep her busy. This time, she wasn’t going to take on that responsibility.

Aunt Chen, holding the crying older brother, walked over and said, “It’s time to think of a name. Before it snows this winter, you should get their household registration done, or else you’ll have to wait until next year.”

Wen Nuan looked at Gu Qinghan, who seemed to be hesitating, and reminded him, “Think carefully. Don’t just pick something randomly.”

There were far too many names like ‘Guoqing’ or ‘Aiguo’ (patriotic names) these days.

Those names were so common that if someone shouted ‘Guoqing’ in the neighborhood, at least ten or eight kids would come forward to claim it.

Gu Qinghan was both amused and helpless. By around five in the afternoon, after the two babies had been fed some formula, they finally fell asleep.

Gu Qinghan then told Sister Guihua and Aunt Juxiang to go rest for the night, and that they could come back tomorrow to help.

Wen Nuan also took a brief nap. After that, Gu Qinghan took a piece of paper and walked over with a serious expression, saying, “I remember I named Lele ‘Xingfu’ (Happiness), so the two little brothers can be named ‘Ping’an’ (Peace) and ‘Jixiang’ (Auspicious).”

Wen Nuan: “……”

Even Aunt Chen, who had been listening to Gu Qinghan, couldn’t help but let out a chuckle.

She said, “That’s so old-fashioned. Qinghan, you should think it over again. Otherwise, if the sister is called Gu Wanyue and the two brothers are named Ping’an and Jixiang, how will they feel when they grow up?”

Gu Qinghan seriously explained, “I think it’s fine. It’s simple and easy to raise them.”

Compared to Zhou Jianshe, who named his child ‘Zhuzi’ (Post), Ping’an and Jixiang weren’t that bad.

“Those are fine as nicknames, but the full names don’t quite work,” Aunt Chen shook her head.

Wen Nuan looked at Gu Qinghan, both amused and exasperated, and said, “See, even Aunt Chen thinks it’s not great. You need to rethink it. Don’t just make up something!”

He had even written it down and come up with such names.

Gu Qinghan gave her a pleading look and said, “It’s too hard, Wife, you should do it instead.”

“How about… let Grandpa name them?” Wen Nuan smiled at him and then added, “Didn’t you say you’re calling Grandpa tomorrow morning? You could ask him to take some time to name the babies.”

“Although Grandpa might be busy, how’s your work going?” Wen Nuan asked.

Upon hearing this, Gu Qinghan replied, “There’s probably still a lot of follow-up work to do. Although they’ve caught the people, we still need to investigate how much information they stole and whether there are any other connections. But I’ll still tell Grandpa, even if the names come a little later. Ping’an and Jixiang can just be their nicknames for now.”

Gu Qinghan then remembered the mess in Beijing and the pile of things waiting to be dealt with. There was still so much to do.

Although General Lu didn’t have to go on missions with them, his schedule was still packed with meetings with superiors and subordinates. Sometimes he could take a nap for an hour or two, but General Lu still had to attend various meetings and review a lot of documents.

Wen Nuan glanced at him. “You just don’t want to decide.”

Gu Qinghan, feeling a little guilty, touched his nose and smiled. “I’ll call Grandpa tomorrow.”

Remembering something, Wen Nuan waved at Gu Qinghan, signaling him to sit closer.

“Qinghan, there’s something I need to discuss with you.”

Gu Qinghan picked up an apple, peeled it while sitting on the chair by the bed, and said, “Wife, you can decide everything at home. I’ll support you unconditionally.”

In fact, most of the household decisions were made by Wen Nuan.

However, Wen Nuan always respected his opinions and would ask for his input first.

Wen Nuan looked at Gu Qinghan, suddenly feeling a little hesitant.

But thinking about how Grandpa had been so kind to them, sending them supplies and money every few months, his intentions were truly heartfelt.

Seeing Wen Nuan’s hesitant expression, Gu Qinghan handed her the apple he had just finished peeling and asked, “Is there something difficult to decide?”

Wen Nuan took a small bite of the apple and nodded. “Mm.”

Gu Qinghan raised an eyebrow. “Is it harder than the names?”

He smiled, seemingly understanding Wen Nuan’s thoughts, and said directly, “Wife, if it’s about the kids, you can decide everything. As for other matters at home, you don’t need to consult me.”

Wen Nuan felt a bit conflicted. This matter involved Gu Qinghan’s “dignity,” and although she didn’t feel it was a big deal, in this era, many men wouldn’t accept such a suggestion.

Under Gu Qinghan’s expectant gaze, Wen Nuan gathered her thoughts and asked, “Do you think we should let one of the kids take Grandpa’s last name? Should we let him have the surname Lu?”