Chapter 20.1

After finishing the meal, Li Xiao took the enamel mugs to wash them.

There was a small bathroom in the room specifically for bathing, but it was too cramped. Li Xiao had to bend over when inside, so he always went to the water room at the end of the corridor, which was more spacious, to wash things.

When Li Xiao returned, Lin Meiru was with him. Today, after selling all her vegetables, she thought Jiang Rou might have given birth, so she came by. Otherwise, if Ma Aihua asked her tomorrow whether it was a boy or a girl and she couldn’t answer, there would be more gossip.

As she was heading to the same hospital room as yesterday, she ran into Li Xiao.

With a stern face, she asked, “Has she given birth? Is it a boy or a girl?”

Li Xiao ignored her, glanced at her briefly, and walked past her directly.

This attitude infuriated Lin Meiru again. She stood there with her eyes blazing and her neck stiff, and only after he disappeared from sight did she bite her lip in frustration and follow him.

When she entered the hospital room, she saw Li Xiao picking Jiang Rou up from the bed. Jiang Rou wrapped her arms around his neck, her face showing a hint of shyness.

Her son, who always had a cold expression, had his eyes downcast with a faint, almost imperceptible smile on his lips. But the smile disappeared so quickly that Lin Meiru even suspected that she was hallucinating.

However, seeing the two of them so close still made Lin Meiru feel somewhat uncomfortable.

She hesitated for a couple of seconds before frowning and stepping forward.

When she passed the middle bed, she heard a wife muttering in a yin and yang tone, “It’s so sticky even when you pee, shameless.”

Hearing this, Lin Meiru’s face burned with embarrassment. She also felt that the two of them were shameless, acting so intimately in broad daylight.

It was just childbirth. Back when she gave birth, she was up and cooking the very next day.

Li Xiao carried Jiang Rou to the bathroom in the room, helped her squat, then came out of the bathroom, closed the door, and waited for Jiang Rou to finish her business. 

He then turned to look at Lin Meiru.

Lin Meiru pursed her lips, rolled her eyes at him, and went straight to the crib.

She leaned over to look at the sleeping baby.

It was a very beautiful baby, although the skin on its face was a bit red, and there were some wrinkles on the neck and little hands. But the small nose and mouth were very delicate.

The child resembled Li Xiao a bit more, with a straight little nose and a thin mouth. The eyes couldn’t be seen clearly yet, but Lin Meiru hoped they would resemble Jiang Rou’s a bit. Regardless of Jiang Rou’s character, she had a pair of beautiful, lively almond-shaped eyes, unlike her son, who inherited the dark, intense eyes of the men in the Li family—eyes make people dislike them.

Just then, the little one’s small fists, which were resting on her cheeks, suddenly moved, and her little brows furrowed.

She looked like she was having a dream.

Even though the child looked cute, since it resembled the Li family more, Lin Meiru didn’t feel much joy in her heart.

She reached out to lift the small blanket, intending to check the child’s gender.

But as soon as she lifted the blanket slightly, a large hand came out of nowhere to stop her. The man, with a cold expression, said, “No need to check; it’s a girl.”

He then took the corner of the blanket from her and carefully tucked it back in, as if afraid the baby might catch a cold.

When Lin Meiru heard it was a girl, her enthusiasm waned. Seeing how protective Li Xiao was of the child, she grew even more irritated and said with a tone of discontent, “Why is it a girl?”

Although she didn’t like Li Xiao, she had still hoped for a grandson.

Li Xiao turned his head and looked at her, his voice dropping several degrees. “Is there a problem?”

His dark eyes bore into her, making it clear that if she said anything unpleasant, she would regret it.

Although Lin Meiru dared to scold Li Xiao, that was when Li Xiao was not angry. If she really angered her son, she knew that she would suffer a lot, just like when her stepson did something to provoke him; Li Xiao had beaten him so badly that he couldn’t move, leaving a pool of blood on the floor. And this had happened right in front of her and Old He, who couldn’t even stop him.

Thinking back, she still remembered those cold, fierce wolf-like eyes he had at that time.

Lin Meiru’s expression stiffened slightly, feeling awkward and unable to find a way out of the situation. She hadn’t even said much.

Fortunately, at that moment, Jiang Rou’s voice came from the bathroom: “Li Xiao—”

Li Xiao immediately withdrew his gaze and turned around to help Jiang Rou.

Then Lin Meiru saw her son carrying Jiang Rou out of the bathroom with steady steps, gently putting her on the bed, and pressing the quilt on both sides of her body.

As for Jiang Rou, wrapped tightly in blankets with even a red cotton hat on her head that covered her forehead, she looked as delicate as if she were made of flour as if she might fall apart at the slightest touch.

Which woman had ever received such treatment after childbirth?

After lying down, Jiang Rou seemed to notice Lin Meiru. “Mom, when did you get here?”

Her expression was calm, showing no shame about having given birth to a daughter.

But Lin Meiru felt unbalanced. I’m unsure if it was because she hadn’t received this level of care when she gave birth to a son or because Jiang Rou acted as if she deserved it. “Didn’t you say you were having a grandson? Where is my grandson?”

She didn’t dare to vent her anger on Li Xiao, but she still dared to do so on Jiang Rou.

Jiang Rou was not afraid at all after hearing this and looked innocent. Mom, what era are we in? Do you still prefer boys over girls? That kind of thinking is outdated. Our country’s policies don’t support that anymore. Besides, look how much your son likes her.”

“…”

Good or bad, she could always talk her way out of things.

Who was it back then that demanded favors from her just because she was carrying a grandson?

Lin Meiru, fuming, turned to look at Li Xiao, wanting him to see what kind of person his wife was.

But when she turned around, she saw Li Xiao holding a basin, putting the changed diapers and towels into it, and also taking soap and other things.

He was afraid that if she stayed here, he would do something to his wife and daughter, so he said to her directly, “They need to sleep; you should leave.”

He might as well have written “you’re not welcome” on his face.

And to make matters worse, Jiang Rou added, “The diapers washed by your son are very clean.”

Lin Meiru: “…”

Since when was Li Xiao so diligent?

Lin Meiru was afraid that if she stayed, she would get angry again, so she put down the things she brought in the basket—a pack of brown sugar, a pack of dried longan, and a can of yellow peach—and left.

After Lin Meiru left, the old woman in the next bed said sourly, “You gave birth to a girl, and you can still eat well? Aren’t you afraid of wasting food?”

In her eyes, these are gifts only during the Chinese New Year and other festivals. How can a girl eat these?

If it weren’t for the village doctor warning that her daughter-in-law might have trouble during childbirth, she wouldn’t have come to the hospital herself.

Now that she saw the baby girl getting better food and care than her grandson, she felt intense jealousy.

No matter how much her family loves their grandson, they couldn’t afford to make so many new clothes, new diapers, and little blankets for him, let alone have milk powder.

In her eyes, Jiang Rou next to her bed is a vixen, having completely bewitched her man, who obeyed her every word.

Jiang Rou was too lazy to pay attention to them and turned over to sleep.

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