“Dad, I found him in the mountains. He doesn’t look very old.”

Liu Guixiang leaned in to take a look: “Looks smaller and thinner than Qiaoniu. It’s about three months old, a ger.” The birthmark on its forehead was faint, almost colorless. “That’s just too cruel.”

“It might be related to the birthmark,” Dad Chen pointed to a dark mark at the baby’s brow, which stood out clearly.

Poor thing. Chen Yuping asked quietly, “Can we raise it?” It was a living person. If he hadn’t seen him, it wouldn’t have mattered, but now that he had, he couldn’t just ignore him. It felt wrong.

“Do you want to raise him, Ping?” Liu Guixiang raised her brows slightly: “But it’s hard to say.” There were some things she, as a daughter-in-law, couldn’t say outright. Her third brother’s marriage was difficult enough, if they took in a discarded baby, even if he was a great cook and could earn money, marrying would probably become even harder.

Moreover, both her father and Dad were kind-hearted, especially towards their own children, preferring to endure hardships themselves rather than burden their kids.

If Ping was determined to raise this baby, it might ultimately fall on their parents. They couldn’t just stand by and watch Ping sacrifice his future for a child, alone without companionship.

Dad Chen had raised several children and had some experience. He took the baby from his son’s arms, examining it carefully: “Its health seems fine, just a bit weak and thin. But really, it’s hard to tell how many months it is. Has it been sleeping the whole time?”

“I only heard it cry and then found it. It must have cried itself to sleep on the way back.”

“Was the cry loud?”

“Very soft, faint.”

Dad Chen looked at the sleeping baby in his arms: “You really want to raise it?”

“We can’t just leave it in the mountains.” After a pause, Chen Yuping added, “If I hadn’t found it, it wouldn’t matter. But now that I have, I can’t just let it die. It’s so small, it’s quite pitiful.”

After a long silence, Dad Chen said, “If you want to raise it, then do so. Tomorrow we’ll go to town and register it under my and your father’s names. It’ll be your brother. You can think about a name for it.”

Liu Guixiang didn’t speak, thinking that she had guessed correctly.

Raising a child was no easy task, especially at their age. Both parents were getting old and didn’t have the energy they used to.

She felt that Ping was quite naïve. Being young and unmarried, he didn’t understand the difficulties of raising a child, it wasn’t just about feeding and clothing them.

“Dad, this child is mine.”

“What do you mean?” Dad Chen looked at his third son, his voice tightening slightly.

Chen Yuping held the baby again, gazing at its sleeping face: “Dad, put the baby under my name. Whether I can get married is uncertain, but having a child here gives me some support.” He added, “Even if I find a reliable partner, I still need a child. Finding him in the mountains is fate.”

Dad Chen had many things he wanted to say, but found it hard to express them. After a moment, he conceded: “Fine.”

“Tomorrow we’ll go to town. I’ll borrow some fruit powder from your uncle later, and we’ll make do for now.”

Liu Guixiang chimed in: “Qiaoniu’s clothes and shoes are still good. I’ll bring them over later, so we don’t have to buy new ones. Babies grow fast, he won’t wear them for long anyway.”

“Thanks, second sister-in-law.”

“No need for thanks in a family.”

Gers were a miraculous presence. Unlike girls, once a ger was born, they had to quickly get him registered, then go to town to collect fruit powder.

The fruit powder was free for the first year. After that, they would need to buy it.

Boys with faint birthmarks had to drink fruit powder daily until they were five. If everything was normal, the birthmark would darken, and there would be no fertility issues. But fruit powder was expensive—at least three hundred wen a month, averaging ten wen a day.

Some poor families, seeing their gers strong, opted not to buy the fruit powder, believing it better to save money for a marriage when they grew up.

Dad Chen went to his elder brother’s house to fetch the fruit powder. Just after he left, the baby woke up.

It cried softly and pitifully like a newborn kitten.

“Must be hungry,” Liu Guixiang said, checking the diaper—it was clean. “So small! When Qiaoniu was three months old, she was heavier than this baby.” Then she asked, “Should we give him a nickname first?”

“Let’s call him Cao ger (Grass Boy),” Chen Yuping replied.

“Awake?” Dad Chen hurried into the room. “I was worried he’d wake up, so I rushed back after getting the fruit powder.”

“He just woke up. Second sister-in-law thinks he’s hungry, he’s been crying.”

Dad Chen smiled: “I’ll prepare the fruit powder and feed him right away.”

“Dad, I’ve given him a nickname: Cao ger.”

“Cao ger, that’s nice. Having a nickname is good. We can think of a formal name later. Let’s use the nickname for now to register him, and we can add the formal name once we decide.”

They mixed the fruit powder with warm water and fed it with a small wooden spoon.

Cao ger ate eagerly.

“Look at that little mouth, he sucks pretty hard,” Dad Chen said, his eyes filled with affection. This was Ping’s child, his grandson.

With a full belly, Cao ger stopped crying and looked around with wide eyes, curiously at Qiaoniu and Dazhuang, who were both very interested and leaned in to take a look.

“Let’s give him a bath and change him into clean clothes.”

“Okay.”

Liu Guixiang placed Qiaoniu in a basket: “I’ll go get the little clothes.”

Cao ger was very cooperative during the bath.

He was indeed very thin, and Chen Yuping felt heartbroken.

“We’ll raise him well. Children grow quickly, changing every few days. Before long, he’ll be chubby,” Dad Chen spoke gently: “You were tiny when you were born, and your father worried about whether he could keep you alive. He was more alert than I was, waking up the moment you moved, and even when you didn’t move, he’d wake to check on you. Back then, you were losing weight quickly, and he was so worried, but you turned out fine.” He smiled, warmth radiating from his eyes.

Dad Chen and Chen Yuping looked after Cao ger, occasionally glancing at Qiaoniu and Dazhuang, while Liu Guixiang managed the business as customers gradually came in.

Fortunately, not many people showed up in the afternoon. It was only around evening that more customers arrived.

By this time, Cao ger had been taken care of and was sound asleep on the bamboo couch. Qiaoniu was also asleep, while Dazhuang sat beside the couch, alternating his gaze between his brother and sister. He was a quiet child, very easy to care for.

Father Chen and his sons returned from the fields, surprised to see the two sleeping babies on the couch.

They recognized Qiaoniu, but who was the other baby?

“Ping found him in the mountains. He looked so pitiful that he wanted to keep him close. He gave him a nickname, Cao ger, and tomorrow he’ll be registered to receive fruit powder,” Dad Chen explained.

Father Chen was a bit stammering, clearly having trouble processing: “Ping wants to raise him? Such a small baby…”

“Our Ping has difficulties having children. Perhaps Heaven is showing him mercy, it’s better to raise a small one from the start, just like his own.”

“Alright then.” The old man reasoned well.

Chen Yuanqiu chuckled, completely oblivious to the implications of raising a baby, happily asking: “I’m going to be an uncle!”

“You’ve already been an uncle twice, you need to act more mature,” Dad Chen took the opportunity to educate him. “Don’t just fool around all day.”

“Dad, where have I been foolish? I’m not out causing trouble.”

Father Chen shot him a look: “When will you wise up and find someone to marry? That’s what being mature really means.”

“…” Chen Yuanqiu sulked and quickly moved to the bamboo couch: “Cao ger sleeps so soundly.” He watched with great interest.