Li Zhengguo went to get the porridge. His mother and Li Min came to see Tian Jing. Both of their eyes were swollen.
"Tiantian, you're finally awake."
"Sister-in-law, you're finally awake."
The same words again, "Have I been asleep for a long time?"
"You slept for a day and a night. It's already evening on the second day, sister-in-law."
Li Min squatted by the kang and whispered, "It was the first time I saw Big Brother cry. He held you and called you softly, crying as he called you. He seemed so wronged, saying you wouldn't take him with you."
Tian Jing grinned, "I didn't leave, where would I take him? Don't talk nonsense, be careful he holds a grudge."
"Oh." Li Min stood up, "You eat first. I'll bring your little nephew to you later. He looks like you and will definitely be a handsome young man in the future."
Li Zhengguo came in with millet porridge and a basin of water. He heard this and was displeased, "Bring him tomorrow. Let Tiantian rest well tonight."
Tian Jing glared at him playfully and said to Li Min, "Ignore your big brother. I'll tell him to get the baby later."
"Alright, you eat first."
Li Min pulled her mother out.
Li Zhengguo locked the door, rubbed a hot towel in the basin, and wiped Tian Jing before bringing the bowl to feed her.
"I'll eat myself."
"No, holding the bowl will tire you. Your wrist will hurt later. Be good."
"How will it tire me? I feel my body is in great condition now."
Li Zhengguo still disagreed, "Because I fed you half a bottle of tree core essence, how could your body not be well?"
Tian Jing suspected that her confinement period would be more difficult than her pregnancy.
After drinking a bowl of brown sugar millet porridge, Tian Jing needed to use the restroom.
Her husband almost forbade her from getting out of bed. If she hadn't strongly refused, she would have been treated like a baby and had her diaper changed on the bed.
After finishing, Tian Jing planned to circulate her special ability to repair her body. She had worked so hard to give birth to her first child, and it was impossible not to have another before the family planning policy was enforced.
They say a healed wound makes one forget the pain. She was like that.
But what was wrong with her special ability? Why had it dropped to level three initial stage?
Li Zhengguo was also surprised, "Shouldn't the tree core essence raise the level?"
Tian Jing also couldn't figure it out. Her special ability hadn't failed or weakened during her pregnancy, but it had weakened after giving birth. It was truly perplexing.
As she circulated her special ability, the residual tree core essence in her body was digested and absorbed, and her special ability rose to level three intermediate stage.
She felt a little bit of compensation.
Li Zhengguo took out the ginseng essence bottle, "There's still a lot here. Do you want to continue? Let's use it all up at once, there's nowhere to hide it."
"Alright."
This time, Tian Jing controlled the ginseng essence to circulate towards her abdomen. Previously, it was residual everywhere in her body, so she could only deal with it locally.
When she opened her eyes, she saw Li Zhengguo's astonished gaze. "What's wrong?"
"Your belly?"
Tian Jing looked down. Her abdomen had shrunk considerably. "This is the benefit of wood-element special abilities. They have some effect in regulating the body. It's like helping you absorb the essence and healing old injuries at the same time."
Li Zhengguo warned, "Don't use it on outsiders."
"Yes, yes, I'll listen to you. Hurry and bring the baby over. I haven't seen him yet. If you keep delaying, I'll suspect I gave birth to air."
Li Zhengguo brought over a bundle.
Seeing how carefully he held the baby with practiced ease, Tian Jing smiled. Zhengguo only complained verbally; this was the treasure of her and Zhengguo. How could Zhengguo not love him?
"Let me see quickly."
The bundle was placed in the quilt. Tian Jing looked at the wrinkled, red baby with closed eyes, her heart softening. This was her child, a child she had carried for over nine months.
Li Mu, who had followed them in, pushed her son aside.
"Tiantian, hurry and feed him. If you delay, your milk will get blocked."
"Oh, okay."
With Li Mu's help, Tian Jing fumbled to hold the baby.
The baby instinctively sucked, crying with closed eyes when he couldn't get any milk.
Li Zhengguo, distressed, wanted to take the baby and comfort him, but his mother shooed him out and locked the door.
Li Min laughed at her brother for being out of favor.
Li Zhengguo glared at his sister, "You speak without thinking."
"Hmph! Do you think I don't know why you were kicked out? If you keep pampering the nephew like this, Mother won't let you touch him. An indulgent father spoils his son."
Li Zhengguo, embarrassed and angry, told his sister, "Go, go, go heat water in the kitchen."
He himself hurried to get the thermos from the east room to wash up and shave.
In the west room, Li Mu dangled her finger to tease her grandson's cheek and encourage him to suck, while telling her daughter-in-law how outrageous her son had been that day.
"...I know, Zhengguo dotes on the baby because he looks like you and doesn't want him to cry. But this will spoil him. Our family can't have a child like Li Aiguo."
Tian Jing smiled, "Don't worry, Mother. I'll be a strict mother. I'll talk to Zhengguo too. The baby is the eldest, so he can't be a pampered child."
With her milk flowing smoothly, the baby in her arms sucked vigorously. Tian Jing felt the difference of being a mother and understood her parents' love for her even more.
The love that would rather sacrifice their own lives to save their child.
She would carry that love from her parents and live a good life in this lifetime.
As for the Chen and Xiao families, she only acknowledged Xiao's maternal grandfather.
Seeing that her grandson was feeding, Li Mu was relieved. She opened the door and let her son in, "When the baby is full, bring him to my room. I'll sleep with him tonight. Don't lock the door at night; if the baby gets hungry, I'll bring him over."
Tian Jing was touched by her mother-in-law's concern, "Mother, this is too much work for you."
"It's not hard. Looking at the baby, I have endless energy."
Li Zhengguo agreed, "Let Mother take care of him. He slept quite well last night, only crying once in the middle of the night."
Alright, Tian Jing had no objections either. She wasn't very good at taking care of a baby. If it weren't for her mother-in-law just now, she wouldn't have even been able to feed the baby properly or change his diaper.
After sending the baby away, Li Zhengguo returned to help his wife clean up. His wife liked to be clean, so he just wiped her up in bed, without exposing her.
Tian Jing wanted to wipe herself, "It's easier for me to wipe myself like this, feeling my way."
"No, you can't get wet."
Having experienced this man's stubbornness during her pregnancy, Tian Jing no longer argued.
People say that the confinement period is difficult and hard to endure, but Tian Jing didn't feel it.
Her mother-in-law took care of the baby, her husband took care of her, and her sister-in-law made her soup.
She was just a milk bottle.
No need to prepare formula, no need to check the temperature, no need to tell a crying baby to wait.
Ready to eat immediately.
No need to check the expiration date.
...
The baby was named Li Weihao, with the nickname Hao Hao. He was very easy to take care of, spending his days eating, sleeping, laughing, and playing.
Everyone who visited praised how smart and well-behaved the baby was.
Sister-in-law Niu visited the most frequently. It was winter, and she was idle. She didn't want to face her niece, who was crying and wailing at home every day. Who was she crying for? Wasn't it for her and her mother-in-law to see?
Her husband told her to bear with it, and they would build a house in the spring and move out. She endured, and as soon as she heard her sister-in-law beating her niece, she would rush out.
It was Chinese New Year. Since Tian Jing was still in her confinement period, Li Min came to help. In the end, the Chen grandfather and grandson came to the Li family for New Year.
This year, they openly ate pheasants and rabbits, along with wild boar meat. The New Year's Eve dinner was even more sumptuous than last year.