Chapter 47: Name

Women who have just given birth are sensitive to both cold and heat. In the summer, the heat can be unbearable, and staying indoors for a whole month can drive a person crazy.

Winter isn’t any better—one careless move, and both mother and child could catch a cold.

Liu Yinyin said, “I set up the fireplace mainly to keep the baby warm.”

At this moment, she also felt that having a fireplace was truly convenient. Without it, the baby would have to be wrapped tightly in swaddling clothes all the time, unable to stretch its tiny limbs.

As for how much the fireplace had cost, Liu Yinyin didn’t mention a single word.

Sister-in-law Liu stayed for a while before heading back. Since Jiang Cuihua wasn’t home, all the household chores had fallen on her and her second sister-in-law, keeping them quite busy.

At noon, Jiang Cuihua made chicken soup, stir-fried spinach with eggs, stir-fried loofah, and stir-fried cabbage.

The staple food was cornbread and white bread buns.

Of course, the white bread buns were for Liu Yinyin. She came from a well-off family, and during postpartum recovery, she naturally needed better nutrition.

Since the weather was cold, one chicken could be stewed twice. That morning, Jiang Cuihua only cooked half of it, saving the other half to be stewed the next day.

After lunch, Gu Cheng rode his bicycle to the Gu family’s house to share the good news.

Now that it was freezing outside, the villagers were all staying indoors for the winter. It didn’t take long for the news of Liu Yinyin giving birth to spread throughout the village.

In the afternoon, other members of the Liu family came one after another to take a look at the baby.

As for other relatives, the baby was still too small and couldn’t handle too many visitors.

According to rural customs, people could only come to visit during the full-month celebration banquet.

However, Li Chunfang made a trip over, bringing Liu Yinyin two fresh carp and twenty eggs.

“Carp soup helps with milk production. I specifically saved these for you,” Li Chunfang said with a smile, glancing at the baby lying in bed with tiny hands raised, sleeping soundly. “This child looks so beautiful! He’ll definitely take after you.”

Liu Yinyin couldn’t tell which part of the baby looked like her, but he was indeed adorable. She couldn’t take her eyes off him.

Thinking that such a tiny baby had come from her own body, Liu Yinyin found it miraculous. With a gentle smile, she said, “But his skin looks a bit red.”

Li Chunfang chuckled and said, “Newborns always have red skin. The redder they are now, the fairer they’ll be when they grow up. That’s why I say he takes after you.”

Liu Yinyin had naturally fair skin, whereas Gu Cheng—although good-looking—had nothing to do with being fair-skinned.

But since he was a boy, his looks weren’t all that important. Liu Yinyin only hoped he would grow tall like his father, and that would be enough to make her happy.

After delivering the gifts, Li Chunfang prepared to leave. “My husband is attending a meeting in town, and I still have things to do at home. I’ll head back now.”

Liu Yinyin quickly said, “Auntie, please come over with the village chief for a meal when the baby turns a month old.”

Li Chunfang smiled warmly. “Of course! We’ll definitely come.”

Not long after Li Chunfang left, Gu Cheng returned on his bicycle, carrying a large package on the back.

Jiang Cuihua assumed it was a gift from the Gu family, and her eyes lit up instantly. But when she saw the post office seal on the package, her expression dimmed.

Gu Cheng noticed but didn’t say anything. He pretended not to see it and carried the package inside.

“You’re back so soon?” Liu Yinyin glanced at him.

She was in the middle of changing the baby’s diaper. Jiang Cuihua had taught her how to do it in the morning. It wasn’t difficult, but the baby was so small and delicate that Liu Yinyin was afraid of using too much force.

“Let me try,” Gu Cheng said as he rubbed his hands together to warm them before carefully taking over the task. He gently changed the diaper and wrapped the baby snugly.

This man was learning faster than she was.

Now, he could change diapers and hold the baby like a pro.

After changing the diaper, Gu Cheng didn’t put the baby down. Instead, he held him and gently rocked him to sleep.

But…

Half an hour passed, and the man was still holding the baby, unwilling to let go.

Liu Yinyin reminded him, “He’s already asleep. You don’t need to keep holding him.”

Gu Cheng looked at her, his eyes shining. “He seems to sleep more comfortably like this.”

The tiny bundle in his arms was so small that he wasn’t even as thick as Gu Cheng’s forearm. Seeing this, the tough man’s heart melted completely, and he simply couldn’t bear to put him down.

Liu Yinyin was speechless. “…But you can’t always hold him while he sleeps.”

Gu Cheng said, “It’s fine, I’m not tired.”

Liu Yinyin: “…”

She wasn’t actually worried about Gu Cheng getting tired. Amused and exasperated, she explained, “Mother said that newborns shouldn’t develop this habit. Otherwise, he’ll always need to be held while sleeping, and when you go to work, how will Mother and I manage?”

No matter how much she loved her son, Liu Yinyin wasn’t about to spoil him to the point of always holding him while he slept.

Only then did Gu Cheng reluctantly place the baby on the bed.

He turned to pick up the package he had just tossed on the ground while saying to Liu Yinyin, “I exchanged some things with my former comrades. They’re all for you and the baby.”

Curious, Liu Yinyin asked, “What things? Let me see.”

Gu Cheng opened the package, revealing a variety of items inside: a cashmere hat, a large bundle of wool, a piece of fine cotton fabric, two cans of fruit preserves, two cans of premium biscuits, a can of malted milk, and a pack of powdered milk.

These were all hard-to-find items in their area.

They must have been quite expensive.

Gu Cheng was very generous when it came to spending money on his wife and child.

Liu Yinyin was surprised. “There’s even powdered milk?”

She had assumed that powdered milk wasn’t available on the market at this time.

After all, she had never seen it in the supply and marketing cooperative.

“It’s available, but very difficult to find. But I have connections, so we can feed the baby formula if needed,” Gu Cheng said thoughtfully.

“That must be expensive, right?” she asked.

“My salary is enough,” Gu Cheng replied.

With a monthly salary of eighty yuan, he could definitely afford to raise a child.

Feeling a bit embarrassed, Liu Yinyin said, “Forget it, we can talk about it later.”

Breastfeeding was still the best option for a baby. However, she knew she couldn’t breastfeed forever. Once the baby was about a year old, she would wean him.

They could decide then whether to buy powdered milk.

These items were probably things Gu Cheng had just picked up from the county. As for the Gu family… since Gu Cheng didn’t bring them up, Liu Yinyin didn’t bother asking.

“Oh, right,” Liu Yinyin suddenly remembered something. “We haven’t given the baby a name yet, have we?”

Gu Cheng thought for a moment before saying, “His formal name will be Gu Yan.”

He had spent a long time thinking about it. “Yan” symbolized purity and flawlessness, like jade.

Gu Cheng didn’t have grand expectations for his son. He just hoped that he would grow up to be an honest and virtuous person.

“Gu Yan?” Liu Yinyin repeated the name. “It sounds really nice. Then for his nickname, let’s call him Yanyan—using the ‘Yan’ with two fire radicals?”

Gu Cheng smiled. “Alright.”

Just then, Jiang Cuihua entered the room. Hearing the young couple discussing their son’s name, she clapped her hands and said, “Yanyan sounds wonderful!”

It was much better than the names of other village kids, who were often called things like Goudan (Dog Egg), Shadan (Silly Egg), or Erlu (Second Donkey).

People said that giving children humble names would help them survive, but those names were just too unpleasant.