Chapter 42: The Bun is Here~

◎Who Will Take Over the Shift?◎

“Dad, I’m at the hospital right now. My wife is about to give birth. Just wanted to call and let you know. I won’t call Mom, but please remember to tell her that Wei Xuan is still in the delivery room. I’m just taking a break to make this call.”

“Okay, you go ahead and take care of things. Look after your wife, don’t worry about your mom.”

“Thanks, Dad.” After hanging up, Jiang Che rushed to the delivery room without wasting any time.

On the other side, Jiang’s father hung up the phone, thought for a moment, and then decided to go to Jiang’s mother’s office himself.

When Jiang’s mother heard the news, her first reaction was to ask for leave and rush to the hospital.

But in the end, Jiang’s father stopped her: “Why are you in such a hurry? Going to the hospital now won’t help much. It’s better if you go home and cook something to bring. Both your mother-in-law and Xiao Che are at the hospital, and they probably won’t have time to cook. It would be helpful if you brought them some food.”

Jiang’s mother thought about it and agreed with her husband: “Alright, I’ll ask for leave first. Remember to come to the hospital to see the baby after work.”

At the hospital, Wei Xuan was in so much pain she could barely stand it, wishing she could drag Jiang Che over to hit him.

Meanwhile, outside the delivery room, Jiang Che was also suffering. He had never felt time drag so slowly.

Finally, the delivery room door opened, and the doctor came out. Jiang Che and Wei’s mother rushed over to him.

“How is it, doctor?”

The doctor smiled and congratulated: “Everything went smoothly, both mother and daughter are safe.”

As the doctor spoke, Wei Xuan was helped out of the room, with a nurse following behind holding the baby.

Jiang Che quickly went to support Wei Xuan on the other side, while Wei’s mother took the baby from the nurse and looked at her, smiling happily: Her granddaughter was so beautiful.

When they reached the hospital room and settled Wei Xuan down, Jiang Che finally had the chance to look at his daughter.

Wei’s mother wanted to hold her, but Jiang Che took a step back: “Mom, you hold her first, I just want to take a look.”

Wei’s mother smiled and didn’t insist, moving aside to let him see.

Jiang Che stretched his head to take a look, then blinked several times before looking again.

“Haha, your daughter is so pretty, right?”

Jiang Che, feeling complicated, looked away and awkwardly chuckled a couple of times in response to his mother-in-law’s comment.

Wei Xuan, lying in bed, noticed his expression and thought he wasn’t happy. She asked angrily, “What’s wrong? Don’t you like having a daughter?”

“No, no, absolutely not.” Jiang Che’s survival instinct was still strong, and he immediately explained, “As long as it’s our child, I’ll love them, regardless of whether it’s a boy or a girl.”

“Then why do you have that face, like you’re about to cry but holding it in?”

Ah, how was Jiang Che supposed to explain this? He couldn’t exactly say his daughter was ugly, and he was worried she’d be a problem for him in the future, which made him anxious!

Seeing Wei Xuan staring at him, looking like she wouldn’t give up until he told the truth, Jiang Che gritted his teeth and finally spoke up.

“Wife, let me just say this first: You just gave birth, so don’t get mad. I can say it, but please don’t rush me.”

Wei Xuan wasn’t in a hurry at first, but after hearing that, she really did get a bit anxious: “Hurry up and say it! Is there something wrong with the baby?”

The two of them had been speaking quietly at first, but Wei’s mother was focused entirely on her granddaughter and didn’t notice what they were talking about. When Wei Xuan raised her voice in her anxiety, Wei’s mother heard it.

“What do you mean something’s wrong with the baby? Everything’s fine with us. You’re a mother now, you can’t be so reckless with your words!”

“Mom, it’s not Wei Xuan’s fault, it’s mine,” Jiang Che didn’t know how to explain, but after a long pause, he finally said, “Ah, Mom, don’t you think the baby looks a bit strange? Her head’s so pointy, and her eyes are bulging like a frog’s.” Her face looks like it’s been soaked in water. If his wife hadn’t been the only one in the delivery room, he might have suspected the baby had been swapped. With the way he and his wife looked, there was no way they could have a child who looked this ugly.

Jiang Che’s words left Wei’s mother stunned. It took her a while to process what he had said, and then she looked down at her granddaughter in her arms and couldn’t help but laugh: “You, you really say that about your own daughter? Babies all look like this when they’re born, they’ll grow out of it.”

Wei Xuan knew this, too. Every newborn is a bit odd-looking, but no matter how they look, it’s still her own child. She shot Jiang Che a glare and gestured for Wei’s mother to put the baby next to her.

Looking at the baby, despite its ugliness, Wei Xuan couldn’t help but feel a wave of tenderness inside her.

Jiang Che finally realized he had made a huge mistake, and since his wife was mad at him, he awkwardly rubbed his nose and shamelessly leaned in, giving a flattering smile to both mother and daughter.

Wei Xuan had just given birth and was extremely exhausted, with no energy to argue with him. After looking at the baby, she fell into a deep sleep.

When Wei’s mother saw that her daughter was asleep and the baby didn’t need her yet, she decided to take advantage of the time to go home, make some soup for her daughter, and prepare lunch.

Before she could speak, Jiang’s mother arrived at the hospital room.

Seeing her son sitting inside, she knew she hadn’t gone to the wrong room.

She walked in, first patting Jiang Che on the back, then smiling at Wei’s mother who was sitting on the other side.

“Mother-in-law, sorry to trouble you, was Xiao Xuan’s delivery smooth?”

Wei’s mother also stood up, lowering her voice: “It was smooth, she gave birth in just over two hours.”

When Jiang Che saw his mother had arrived, he immediately vacated his spot and pointed at the baby to show his mom: “Mom, look! My daughter is beautiful, right?”

Jiang’s mother wasn’t biased toward sons over daughters, so hearing that it was a girl didn’t upset her. She smiled and went over to look: “She’s beautiful, beautiful, just like Xiao Xuan. She’ll definitely be a great beauty when she grows up.”

Wei’s mother had been paying attention to her mother-in-law’s expression ever since her son spoke, and when she saw that she didn’t have any sign of disliking that it was a girl, she felt much more relieved.

She then shared the funny incident that Jiang Che had caused earlier.

The atmosphere in the room became very pleasant.

After the laughter died down, Jiang’s mother remembered the food she had brought.

“Mother-in-law, you’ve been busy since the morning and haven’t had anything to eat, right? I made some food at home and brought it here. You should eat something quickly.”

Wei’s mother was fine; she had finished the leftovers from breakfast, a few dumplings that Wei Xuan hadn’t eaten. But it was Jiang Che, a grown man, who hadn’t had a single bite all day.

Jiang Che had been so busy, anxious, and excited that he hadn’t felt hungry. But after his mother reminded him, he realized he was indeed starving.

After the meal, Wei’s mother suggested that she go home to tidy up and make dinner, hoping to give the mother and son some time to talk.

Once she left, Jiang’s mother pulled Jiang Che aside and asked about the morning’s situation. After getting the details, she tidied up the lunch containers and went out to wash them.

Wei Xuan was woken up by hunger. She opened her eyes and saw Jiang Che staring intently at the baby next to her.

“What are you looking at?”

“You’re awake?” Jiang Che said, surprised. “Are you hungry? Mom brought you some soup. Do you want to drink some?”

Wei Xuan nodded. “Where’s Mom? Has she gone home?”

“She’s gone. My mom came too. Now she’s outside washing the food containers,” Jiang Che said as he opened the container and told her about everything that had happened while she was sleeping.

Wei Xuan sat up with his help and took the soup he handed to her.

It tasted good, and after finishing one bowl, she asked Jiang Che to pour her another.

The pregnant woman in the bed next to hers looked at her enviously and said, “Your mother-in-law treats you so well, she even brought you chicken soup.”

This pregnant woman was a few years older than Wei Xuan and was on her third pregnancy. Since she had two daughters previously, this time her mother-in-law didn’t even go so far as to make her soup—she hadn’t even shown up to visit her. Throughout the whole pregnancy, only her husband had been taking care of her.

Seeing that Wei Xuan had her own mother with her and that even her mother-in-law was treating her so well, the pregnant woman couldn’t help but sigh in admiration.

Wei Xuan smiled and complimented her: “Your husband treats you very well too.”

Upon hearing this, the pregnant woman glanced at her husband, who was busy massaging her legs, and smiled with pursed lips: “Yes, that’s his one good quality.”

At that moment, Jiang’s mother walked in.

“Xiao Xuan is awake? How’s the chicken soup? I added a little less salt, since you just gave birth and shouldn’t have too salty food. Just bear with it for now. Once the recovery period is over, it’ll be fine.”

“Yes, it’s quite tasty, thank you, Mom!”

“No need to thank me, it’s nothing. You’re the one who went through the tough part of childbirth.”

During labor, Wei Xuan indeed thought it was incredibly painful, and she swore she would never go through something like that again. But the moment she saw her baby, she felt that everything was worth it.

Wei Xuan had a natural birth. After the delivery and nursing, she stayed in the hospital for one night to make sure there were no complications. The next day at noon, Jiang Che rode his tricycle to take both mother and daughter home.

After arriving home, Wei Xuan finally breathed a sigh of relief. The hospital had been so inconvenient, especially since Jiang Che and Wei’s mother hadn’t been able to rest well at night.

The day after they got home, Wei Xuan pushed Jiang Che to get back to work.

“Your mom’s here, and the baby sleeps for about ten hours a day without fussing, so you’re not needed at home. If you don’t go back to work, your boss will definitely have something to say.”

“Alright, I’m leaving then. Remember to think of me while you and the baby are at home!”

“Go on, go on.”

Jiang’s mother walked in holding a bowl of egg soup, and seeing her son-in-law looking back three times as he left, she found it amusing: “Is your husband going to work?”

Wei Xuan took the bowl and started eating: “Yeah, he’s better off working. He has nothing to do at home.”

Speaking of work, Wei Xuan suddenly remembered something and, taking a bite of the egg, said to Jiang’s mother: “Mom, how about we give the house a call and see if any of my three sisters-in-law are free to come help me out for a bit?”

“What’s this? What do you mean by that?” Wei’s mother had just finished adjusting her granddaughter’s diaper and was about to pull her hand back when she heard her daughter’s words. She turned to look at her in surprise.

Wei Xuan seemed not to notice the urgency in Wei’s mother’s tone. She calmly continued eating while explaining the situation.

“These past few days, my work at the supply and marketing cooperative has been managed by colleagues who have been helping me keep an eye on things, but after a while, that won’t work. They also have their own things to do, and I can’t go back right away. So I was thinking, maybe I should ask my sister-in-law to come and take over for a few months. No matter how long they work, I’ll give them all the salary they earn, and I won’t take a single cent.”

Wei’s mother gave her a light tap: “You… How long have you been planning this in your mind? Why are you just telling me now?”

“Hehe, I knew I couldn’t hide it from you.” Wei Xuan smiled at her mother. “But if I had told you earlier, you definitely wouldn’t have agreed. So, which sister-in-law do you think would be better for the job?”

Wei’s mother sighed. Her daughter had really given her a tough problem! No matter which of the three daughters-in-law she chose, the other two would surely be upset.

But she also understood that such a big favor would only come to their family because Wei Xuan was thinking of them. Others would never have a chance at this.