LW chapter 87: Extra 3

 

Zhuangzhuang behaved very well during the first three days after his birth. Except when he was hungry or had diarrhea, he only babbled softly and didn’t cry loudly. Chen Qing thought Zhuangzhuang was such a well-behaved child. However, he never expected that three days later, Zhuangzhuang would start crying nonstop.

To make it easier to take care of the baby, Aunt Sun moved into another room in their house.

Zhuangzhuang was truly a crybaby. He cried for almost six out of twelve hours, especially at night. Zhou Yuan had to take turns with Aunt Sun to care for him. Aunt Sun took the first half of the night and Zhou Yuan took the second.

Chen Qing couldn’t sleep well when the baby cried. However, the baby would wail the moment he was put down, so he basically slept in Chen Qing’s arms. At first, Zhou Yuan didn’t know how to hold a baby, but he had become quite skilled by then.

However, that night, after Zhou Yuan and Aunt Sun switched shifts, Zhuangzhuang simply couldn’t fall asleep, no matter how hard Zhou Yuan tried to coax him. Zhou Yuan held the baby and walked around the room. Chen Qing sat up too: “Is he uncomfortable? Why does he cry like this every night?”

Zhou Yuan shook his head. “Should I take him to the city to see a doctor tomorrow?”

Chen Qing stretched out his hands. “Zhou Yuan, let me hold him.”

“But Mother said…”

Chen Qing looked like he was about to cry, so Zhou Yuan placed the baby in his arms. Remembering Aunt Sun’s words, Zhou Yuan didn’t let Chen Qing exert any strength. He simply let the child lie on his chest.

The baby hummed softly against Chen Qing’s chest for a while and then fell asleep quietly. Zhou Yuan wanted to put the baby down so that Chen Qing could rest properly, but he shook his head. “Let him sleep like this. You go get some rest.”

“But you’ll be uncomfortable like that.”

Chen Qing shook his head again. “It’s fine. I can sleep like this.”

The room finally fell silent. Zhou Yuan, utterly exhausted, drifted off to sleep beside Chen Qing.

The next day, he took the child to the doctor in the city. The doctor said the baby was healthy, he just liked to cry.

After that, every night, the baby slept either on Chen Qing’s chest or Zhou Yuan’s. In the blink of an eye, a month had passed.

Li Xin also came over during the day to help since Aunt Sun and Zhou Yuan were worn out from the nighttime crying. Aunt Sun would sleep during the day while Zhou Yuan prepared for the baby’s one-month celebration.

“Zhuangzhuang has a bad temper.” Li Xin had just finished feeding him. “People who don’t look after him regularly only need to touch him, and he bursts into tears.”

Once, Qi Shuning came to see Zhuangzhuang and touched his face. The baby cried miserably.

“I don’t know what’s going on. The doctor says he’s healthy, but he just cries a lot,” Chen Qing sighed. “An’an and Ningning weren’t this noisy when they were little, were they?”

“They rarely cried,” Li Xin replied with a smile, then comforted him. “It’s fine. When the baby gets older, he’ll be better.”

For Zhuangzhuang’s one-month banquet, they didn’t invite many people, just a few familiar families, including Zhang Xu’s. Zhang Xu’s wife made clothes for the baby out of pure cotton.

At the banquet, Qi Shuning helped choose a name for Zhuangzhuang—Zhou Yu. He had initially thought of more elegant names, but Zhou Yuan felt they didn’t suit. He and Chen Qing weren’t scholars, giving the child an overly refined name would feel awkward. Remembering what Chen Qing had said about how they met, Qi Shuning decided to give the child the character “Yu.”[mfn]“Yu (遇)” → means “to meet, to encounter, to come across, opportunity, fortune.” if name uses 遇, it carries a meaning like: “one who encounters good fortune” or “meeting by fate/destiny.”[/mfn]

After the one-month banquet, Chen Qing’s confinement ended. He hadn’t seen sunlight in so long that, when he stepped outside, the warm rays covering his body felt wonderful.

After the confinement period ended, Zhuangzhuang became stronger and stopped crying through the night. Aunt Sun returned home to continue farming. Fortunately, the Zhang Xu family had helped out earlier, so she wasn’t pressed for time.

With a child, time flew by quickly. Chen Qing only remembered the scorching summer, and in the blink of an eye, Qi Shuning was leaving home. Zhou Yuan arranged for Meng Qi to accompany him to Beijing for the imperial exams.

However, the exams were in September, and Beijing was too far away. Chen Qing worried that Zhou Yuan wouldn’t be able to return in time for An’an and Ningning’s first birthday.

He wanted to comfort Li Xin, but he didn’t mind. “Let him do well on the exam. I still get scared when I think about it—what if something had happened to him on his way back last year?”

“It’s normal for him to miss you. If he didn’t, then you’d have reason to be angry.”

Since Chen Qing finished his confinement, he and Li Xin often took the children out to play. An’an and Ningning were older than Zhuangzhuang. By the time Zhuangzhuang learned to roll over, they were already crawling. They would crawl to his side and babble while drooling all over his face.

Li Tiejiang joked about arranging a baby marriage, but Li Xin immediately refused. He said that An’an, Ningning, and Zhuangzhuang were siblings and that there was no such thing as baby marriages. They would all have their own choices and paths in the future, and adults shouldn’t let jokes affect that. However, if they did end up as lovers, it would be double the happiness.

Chen Qing felt that Li Xin’s words made sense. However, he was more concerned that if either An’an or Ningning married into another family, it might cause trouble affecting his relationship with Li Xin.

Zhuangzhuang looked exactly like Zhou Yuan. He had a much bigger appetite than An’an and Ningning. There wasn’t enough milk from their goat to feed all three children, so Zhou Yuan bought another goat, which barely provided enough milk for all of them.

“Look at Zhuangzhuang with his long arms and legs. He’s sure to grow into a tall, sturdy man in the future.” Li Xin looked at him. When Chen Qing asked what Zhuangzhuang looked like, Li Xin couldn’t say that he resembled Chen Qing. He looked like a little Zhou Yuan.

When An’an and Ningning were almost one, Chen Qing took the children to Li Xin’s house to play. After all, they had a kang, and with the warm weather, Chen Qing could finally take off Zhuangzhuang’s heavy coat and relax.

An’an and Ningning couldn’t walk yet, but Zhuangzhuang had already learned to roll over. The three children were now having fun on the big bed.

An’an and Ningning liked Zhuangzhuang very much. They would smile happily every time they saw Chen Qing bring him over. Although Zhuangzhuang disliked being touched by others, he never lost patience when the twins drooled all over his face. He only wanted to roll away from them, but he was too young to do so.

On the twins’ first birthday, Li Xin’s uncle returned with Niu Niu. Li the blacksmith prepared many auspicious items for the celebration, such as books, brushes, ink, longevity locks, money pouches, and snacks.

Li Xin suddenly had the idea to add a hammer, but Zhang Yin scolded him for it.

When the birthday ceremony began, Chen Qing held Zhuangzhuang and watched from the sidelines, already planning to do the same for Zhuangzhuang when he turned one.

He made big red coats for An’an and Ningning. At that moment, the two looked like little lucky dolls. Seeing all the toys laid out before them, they couldn’t help but crawl forward excitedly.

An’an grabbed a book and tore it happily.

Ningning picked up the longevity lock and shook it to hear the little bell inside. He quickly lost interest, though.

After playing with everything, they grew bored and crawled back to Li Xin.

Uncle Zhang’s mouth twitched, and he said, “These children have seen all these rare things, yet they have returned to their original hearts. They are rare and pure people.”

Li Xin muttered that he truly deserved to be his uncle—he had even managed to put a positive spin on this.

After a pause, An’an and Ningning’s eyes lit up when they saw Chen Qing in the crowd. They stood up, their legs wobbling like little carrots, and walked toward him. Chen Qing quickly crouched down, and the twins grabbed one of Zhuangzhuang’s arms each.

Then, Li Xin smiled and said that Zhuangzhuang was a boy and that he might have to protect his two gers for life.

At the end of the year, Qi Shuning returned with good news. Although he wasn’t the top scorer in the imperial exams, he placed second and became a Jinshi, which was an honor for the whole family.

Li Tiejiang held a feast in the village, and everyone came to share in the celebration.

However, with the exam results came the matter of parting ways. Qi Shuning had to continue studying and working at the Hanlin Academy. Only after three years could he be assigned an official post.

At the academy, he was only a minor scholar. He had no real power, and his salary was low. It wouldn’t be easy for Li Xin to bring their children to the capital.

The couple would have to spend three years living apart.

Zhang Yin and Li Tiejiang were both worried. After all, it was the capital—who knew what might happen? If Qi Shuning strayed, what would become of Li Xin and the child?

Qi Shuning thought about it, too, and said he wouldn’t go to the capital. Three years was too long, he would miss too much of his child’s growth.

Li Xin lay awake all night with his eyes wide open. The next morning, his eyes were red. He looked at Qi Shuning. “You’ve studied for years for this chance. Go. I’ll wait at home with the child.”

Qi Shuning’s eyes brimmed with tears. “I don’t want to leave you.”

Li Xin stroked his hair. “When the child is older, I can bring him to the capital to see you. Just go.”

Tears still lingered in Qi Shuning’s eyes. “I don’t want to leave. I don’t want to leave you or the child.”

Li Xin’s heart softened, but when he saw Qi Shuning’s books on the table, he covered his face with his hands. “Be a real man. Don’t act on impulse.”

“I…”

“You must behave in the capital. You know my elder brother’s men often travel there. I’ll hear about all your moves. If you abandon your wife, I’ll take the children and report you.”

“I won’t.” Qi Shuning leaned against Li Xin’s shoulder, his tears soaking his clothes.

After the New Year, he left for the capital with Zhou Yuan’s escort team. Li Xin brought their child to see him off in the city. As he left, Qi Shuning kept turning back until Li Xin and the child became a tiny dot in the distance and finally disappeared from view.

Three years isn’t that long, but it isn’t short, either. During those three years, Li Xin often heard villagers gossiping that Qi Shuning must have been dazzled by the wealth and splendor of the capital and had perhaps married into a rich family, forgetting his poor wife in their mountain village.

Hearing this, Li Xin only smiled. However, Chen Qing, usually reserved, took the child and confronted the gossips. He wasn’t good at scolding people, so he racked his brains until they apologized to Li Xin.

After the argument, Zhuangzhuang, who was in Chen Qing’s arms, suddenly shot forward like an arrow and head-butted the man in the stomach. A group of them tumbled to the ground.

“Don’t bully my little father!”

 

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