Chapter 68

Chapter 68

Ji Yunshu's condition had visibly improved since she started getting full nights of sleep.

The dark circles under her eyes had faded, her lips had regained their color, she no longer nodded off while feeding the babies, and she could even flip through a few pages of a book or brush Hua Juan's fur during the babies' naptime.

Hua Juan was extremely enthusiastic about her "return," jumping onto the sofa armrest every day to rub her head against Ji Yunshu's arm, purring loudly as if to say, "You finally have time for me again." After that time she accidentally stepped on Ji Yunshu and Ji Yunshu disappeared for so long, Hua Juan had worried for days, unable to eat or sleep properly, staying depressed the whole time. Now that Ji Yunshu was finally back in good health, Hua Juan was just as happy as everyone else in the household, meowing at Ji Yunshu every day.

He Qiuxia noticed all of this and stopped holding a grudge against Hua Juan over the accident on the day of the birth—after all, what could she really say to a cat? Ji Yunshu's condition was improving day by day, and He Qiuxia was delighted, preparing different nourishing soups for Ji Yunshu every day.

One afternoon, He Qiuxia walked in carrying a steaming bowl of soybean and pig's trotter soup. The broth was milky white, the trotters stewed until tender, the soybeans cooked until they'd burst open, with a few red dates and goji berries floating on the surface. Ji Yunshu, leaning against the sofa, looked at the soup, then down at her waist, hugged a cushion to her chest, and let out a long sigh. "Mom, I finally managed to slim down my waist a bit after giving birth, and now you're making me such a fatty soup. I feel like I'm fatter than before I gave birth."

"Fat? Don't be silly. You just gave birth—your body's weak, you need to eat well. I got up before dawn and stood in line at the market outside the military district to buy these trotters, stewed them with soybeans for three hours, skimmed every bit of the grease off. Go on, take a sip—it's not greasy at all. If you don't nourish yourself now, you won't be able to make up for it later once your qi and blood are depleted." He Qiuxia pressed the bowl into her hands.

Ji Yunshu took a sip—it really wasn't greasy. The trotters were so tender they stuck to your lips, the soybeans practically melted in your mouth, and the broth carried a subtle sweetness from the red dates and a subtle kick from the ginger. She kept muttering between sips about how she'd caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and noticed her face had gotten rounder, and that by the time her month of confinement was over, none of her old dresses would fit. He Qiuxia brushed it off, saying if they didn't fit, she'd make new ones—her sewing skills were good enough that she could make whatever style she wanted.

Ji Yunshu was at a loss for words and quietly drank her soup. Hua Juan came over to sniff her bowl, but He Qiuxia gently nudged the cat away with her foot, saying that wasn't for cats—there was boiled chicken breast waiting in the kitchen. Hua Juan let out a "meow" and swished her tail as she walked off.

That evening, as Ji Yunshu was propped against the headboard nursing the twins, He Qiuxia walked in carrying two parcels, saying they'd come from Su City—the Meng family had sent quite a lot of stuff. The parcels were wrapped in several layers of waterproof oilcloth and bound with hemp rope.

Ji Yunshu took the scissors and opened the first parcel. Inside were two small tiger-head caps—one pink with gold thread, one blue with silver thread, each topped with a fluffy little rabbit-fur pom-pom. The tiger faces were embroidered stitch by stitch in different colored threads—round black eyes, neat yellow stripes, and a pink nose with fine little whiskers stitched underneath. The two caps sat side by side like a pair of newborn tiger cubs.

He Qiuxia picked up the blue one and examined it carefully, unable to contain her admiration: "Your mother's craftsmanship is even better than mine. Those tiger eyes are embroidered so lifelike they look real. These two little tiger heads will look so cute on the kids!"

"They really are beautiful." Ji Yunshu opened the second parcel, which held a headband made of dark blue fine cotton, embroidered with a gardenia—white silk thread for the petals, pale yellow for the center, with a few emerald green leaves as accents. The fabric was folded into three layers, soft and thick, with fine, even stitches.

The parcel also contained a letter from Wang Wanru. He Qiuxia unfolded the letter and read it aloud. Wang Wanru said the headband was for Ji Yunshu—after childbirth, a woman's head was prone to catching a chill, and wearing a headband would protect it and keep her from getting headaches when she's old. The tiger-head caps were for the twins—one for a boy, one for a girl—perfect for when the weather turns cool. The letter also said Yuanyuan could now walk and talk, and that Wang Wanru was teaching her to say "Mommy," "Daddy," "Auntie," and "Uncle"—Ji Yunshu would be able to hear it next time she came back.

"Your mother's had it hard too. Yuanyuan never had parents from a young age—raising a child is no easy task." He Qiuxia had heard about the Meng family's situation and felt bad about it, but there was truly nothing anyone could do.

"Maybe things will turn around someday." Ji Yunshu didn't know what the future held, but she had always been optimistic. She believed the Meng family would come together again one day.

Ji Yunshu tied the headband around her forehead to try it on. The soft cotton pressed against her scalp, warm but not stuffy. She looked down at the twins lying side by side in the crib and gently touched Nian Nian's little fist.

"Nian Nian, Sheng Sheng, these are tiger-head caps from your grandmother. When you're a bit bigger, you'll look so handsome wearing them." She tried the caps on both babies—they were a bit big now, probably fitting until they were two or three.

A few days later, parcels from Ji Yunting and Meng Yunzhen arrived one after another. Ji Yunting's parcel was the least surprising—a kraft paper envelope containing ten Da Tuan Jie bills and several ration coupons, without even a note, except for four characters written in pen on the back of the envelope: "Buy something good to eat."

Ji Yunting's handwriting was messy, clearly written in a hurry, but the money and coupons he sent were substantial—enough for Ji Yunshu to spend for a long time!

Ji Yunshu pinched the ten bills, torn between laughter and tears: "My brother—his letters never exceed ten characters. Last time I wrote to tell him I was pregnant, he replied with five characters—'Noted, congratulations'—and sent me a hundred yuan. Now he's done it again, another hundred yuan. Does he think I'm that poor? A hundred yuan can support our family for three or four months!"

Pei Yufeng was nearby holding and soothing Nian Nian, not looking up: "He wrote me a three-page letter last time, asking whether your delivery went smoothly, how your recovery was, whether you needed any help. He even wanted to come visit you on the island, but the situation isn't good right now, so I told him not to come."

"Who's closer to him, anyway? I've been his biological sister for all these years—how come you two are closer?" Ji Yunshu said it in a huff, but as she bent down to put the money and coupons into the tin box, the corners of her mouth refused to turn down.

Pei Yufeng smiled without saying a word.

Then Ji Yunshu opened Meng Yunzhen's parcel—the largest one. Beneath the oilcloth and several layers of kraft paper were two small cotton quilts, two small mattresses, several pairs of soft little shoes pieced together from fabric scraps, and a thick letter.

The quilt fabric was the softest fine cotton, fluffy as clouds to the touch. The mattresses were stuffed with cotton Meng Yunzhen had fluffed herself, evenly distributed, with fine, neat stitching—every stitch perfectly straight, the spacing identical, just like her laboratory records.

Ji Yunshu picked up the letter. Meng Yunzhen's handwriting was neat and elegant. She wrote that she'd originally thought hand-sewing the small quilts would be enough, but she'd had to rip them apart and resew them several times before getting them right, and by the end her fingers were covered in needle pricks.

She asked if Ji Yunshu had taken any photos of the babies and could send one over—she wanted to see what they looked like. She also mentioned she'd enclosed two cloth ration coupons, telling Ji Yunshu to buy some nice fabric and make herself a new dress, not to forget about herself while taking care of the children.

Ji Yunshu pressed the quilt against her cheek, then lowered her head to sniff the faint fresh scent on the fabric, feeling that Meng Yunzhen was right. She looked up at He Qiuxia and said, "Mom, once my confinement is over, let's take the babies to get photos taken. I want to send one to Dad, and to my birth parents and siblings, so she can see what the children look like."

He Qiuxia, who was ladling soup for Ji Yunshu, immediately replied, "Of course! Once your confinement is over, I'll take you to the photo studio. Sheng Sheng and Nian Nian are already so beautiful now—when they grow up and compare these childhood photos, they'll see they look exactly the same!"

--

During Ji Yunshu's confinement, Huang Paimei, Li Shu, and Liu Aimin frequently came by in turns. They never came empty-handed—one day Huang Paimei would bring corn cakes or brown sugar steamed buns, the next Li Shu would bring fish that Commander Lin had just caught or fresh greens from her own garden. Liu Aimin often brought homemade dried sweet potatoes or potatoes from her family's plot. The women would gather on the sofa at Ji Yunshu's house, playing with the babies and chatting about daily life, while He Qiuxia knitted nearby and occasionally chimed in. The atmosphere was lively and warm.

One afternoon, Li Shu and Liu Aimin came over again. Li Shu walked in, poured herself a glass of cold tea with practiced ease, downed it, then sat on the sofa and picked up the tiger-head cap from the coffee table to examine it. Liu Aimin, meanwhile, went over to the crib and bent down to look at the two sleeping little ones. Nian Nian seemed to be dreaming—her little fists clenched tight, her mouth moving slightly, as if nursing in her sleep. Sheng Sheng lay peacefully, his sleeping posture as proper as a little adult.

"The more I look, the prettier they get. The girl's eyelashes are so long, like little fans—she's going to be a beauty when she grows up. And the boy's nose—exactly like Deputy Regiment Commander Pei's. He'll be handsome too." Li Shu put the cap back on the coffee table and sighed. "Looking at your kids makes me want a second one."

"Sister Li, didn't you say raising Niuniu alone was exhausting enough?" Ji Yunshu leaned against the sofa, a thin blanket over her knees.

"Exhausting, sure, but looking at your two makes me think having more kids isn't so bad. When they grow up, one running ahead and the other chasing behind—the courtyard will be so lively."

Liu Aimin gently touched Nian Nian's little fist, her voice carrying a barely concealed envy: "When the children are old enough for kindergarten, they must come to my class. I'll teach them myself—I guarantee they'll grow up smart and well-mannered."

"That would be wonderful. When Nian Nian and Sheng Sheng are old enough for kindergarten, I'll entrust them to you, Comrade Liu. I wouldn't trust anyone else." Ji Yunshu smiled.

Li Shu, shelling peanuts nearby, suddenly looked up as if remembering something: "Speaking of which, Comrade Liu, you and Old Liu have been married for a year and a half now, right? Now that Xiao Ji has had her baby, you should come over more often and soak up some of the good fortune. Maybe you'll get pregnant soon too. When I first got married, it took me a long time to conceive. It was only because I spent every day with a pregnant woman in the compound who I was close to—I caught her good fortune and had Niuniu. She and her husband were transferred away later, but every time I look at Niuniu, I think of her."

Liu Aimin lowered her head, her fingers gently tracing her own flat stomach. Her lips moved a few times, then she looked up and smiled, softly saying, "Okay." The smile was very gentle, but Ji Yunshu noticed it didn't quite reach her eyes.

Ji Yunshu remembered that night during the typhoon when Liu Aimin had leaned against her shoulder and softly told her the doctor said it would be very difficult for her to conceive. She opened her mouth to say something, but Liu Aimin had already turned her gaze back to the crib, continuing to play with Nian Nian's little fist, that serene, gentle smile returning to her face.

Ji Yunshu ultimately said nothing more. She knew Liu Aimin would have her own child someday—and when she did, that would be the best news of all.

In mid-September, Ji Yunshu finally finished her confinement. The first thing she did was take a bath and wash her hair. He Qiuxia boiled three full buckets of hot water for her and poured them into the wooden tub.

Ji Yunshu soaked for over half an hour, washing her hair several times with shampoo until every strand had regained its former softness and shine before she finally got out of the tub. She wrapped her hair in a dry towel, changed into a newly made floral dress, and stood in front of the mirror, turning left and right. The person in the mirror had a slightly rounder waist than before giving birth, but her complexion was radiant, and the dark circles under her eyes had long since disappeared.

Ji Yunshu was braiding her hair in front of the mirror when the courtyard gate was suddenly knocked on. He Qiuxia opened the door and found Liu Aimin standing there.

Liu Aimin stood at the doorstep, holding a basket of seafood she'd just bought from the supply cooperative. Her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes sparkled like they held two stars. She stood on the threshold, her lips moving several times, as if barely containing her joy but not knowing how to express it.

Shouldn't she be at work right now? Ji Yunshu was a bit puzzled, but she warmly invited Liu Aimin in. "Comrade Liu, what's the matter?"

Liu Aimin gazed at Ji Yunshu with burning intensity, suddenly grabbing her hand, her eyes full of gratitude. "I... I..." She couldn't get out a complete sentence no matter how she tried, until finally she managed to blurt out: "Comrade Ji, I'm pregnant!"

Author's note:

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