Chen Xuan and Wei Nian's second child was born in the twelfth lunar month, of course, according to the Chinese calendar. According to the Westerners, they don't know what the twelfth lunar month is, and they don't celebrate the Spring Festival. Christmas just passed, and the child was born at the end of the winter vacation. This is also the couple's first child born in a hospital. In Beijing, midwives are hired and available at any time. There seems to be no profession of midwives in the United States. Now everyone gives birth in a hospital. The two followed the local customs and chose a nearby hospital with a good reputation for pregnancy check-up.
The birth was not rushed and had a bit of a legendary color. Chen Xuan had a dream in the middle of the night, dreaming of a little boy calling her mom. She told Wei Nian about the dream the next morning after waking up. Wei Nian has been worried these days, thinking that his wife's due date is approaching, and the family did not go out during the holiday. The little girl wanted to go far away to play, either to find Wei Yin or Qin Shu. In fact, when giving birth, especially if it is not the first child, women also have their own feelings. Chen Xuan said, "My belly feels a little heavy, I think it will be soon."
Wei Nian quickly called Wei Yin down and asked him to hold his wife while he drove. Chen Xuan even managed to wash her face. Wei Nian was more nervous than before giving birth, so he didn't even wash his face or brush his teeth. He asked the old lady to look after the little girl at home and drove to the hospital.
I gave birth not long after arriving at the hospital, and finally gave birth around noon.
Giving birth in a hospital has this advantage. Basically, you don’t have to prepare anything at home, because the hospital has everything. Chen Xuan’s pregnancy was also very smooth, and she was able to see her red-skinned little monkey-like son after giving birth. In fact, when giving birth, which woman would care whether she gave birth to a daughter or a son? They all wanted to give birth immediately. Joy is delayed. After confirming that it was a son, Chen Xuan herself was very happy, not to mention Wei Nian and Wei Yin. Although the two have always longed for Western ways, gender equality in Western countries has only been written into the system for more than a decade. Not to mention a country like China that has just emerged from the feudal system. It is a kind of thought that is difficult to describe. In fact, whether it is Westerners or Chinese, as long as they have normal temperament and thinking, their own children will of course be equally loved and spoiled. Even fathers will prefer daughters, but in terms of inheritance rights, male inheritance rights are still the main one.
The law can grant equal rights to men and women, but a true and thorough change in thinking will take longer.
I am not thinking too much about it now. I already have a daughter, so it would be nice to have a son as well.
Wei Yin took a closer look at his nephew, who was washed and wearing baby clothes, and said with a smile, "He looks more like my second brother. Look at how high his nose is. But his double eyelids haven't appeared yet."
Wei Nian really couldn't tell how such an ugly little guy looked like himself, but the main thing was that both mother and child were safe, so Wei Nian was happy. Wei Nian said to Wei Yin, "Go home and fetch mom and the little girl. Let them come over to see us too. They must be worried at home. We have to stay in the hospital for two more days before we can go back."
Wei Yin went home to pick someone up. Wei Nian wiped the sweat off Chen Xuan's forehead and said, "Thank you for your hard work."
Chen Xuan shook her head. Seeing that the child was safe, she was very happy and said, "Brother Anian, I'll sleep for a while."
After giving birth, Chen Xuan was exhausted and fell asleep quickly.
Wei Nian sat beside the bed and watched over his wife quietly.
Old Mrs. Wei and the little girl were both very anxious at home. They had a messy breakfast. After a while, the little girl asked, "Is my brother going to give birth?" Old Mrs. Wei was panicked and said, "Yes, he is." Then she thought something was wrong and said, "I can't give birth now. I guess we should go to the hospital soon."
After a messy breakfast, the little girl was still concerned about her brother and gave the old lady some advice, "Grandma, let's call a car to go to the hospital."
"No, no, wait at home first. I'll call home when the baby is born. We are old and young, it's not safe to take a taxi." Old Mrs. Wei was very careful. In her mind, if she was not accompanied by her children, she would never take a taxi by herself, even in Beijing. Moreover, this foreign land was unfamiliar to everyone, and the language was all foreign, and she didn't understand a single word.
After a while, the little girl said again, "I don't know what my little brother looks like. Grandma, didn't you say that children look like the first person they see? If this is born in a hospital, the first person I see will definitely be the doctor. The doctors here are all foreigners. What if my little brother looks like a little foreign devil?"
Old Mrs. Wei said, "Don't worry, most babies will cry loudly with their eyes closed when they are just born, and no one will look at them."
The little girl finally felt relieved.
Old Mrs. Wei was worried for a while, so she asked her eldest sister to boil ten eggs. Unfortunately, she couldn't buy sesame seeds in this foreign land, so she put a can of walnuts she bought at home and didn't eat them in her bag. Fortunately, Wei Yin called back first. When Old Mrs. Wei heard that a grandson was born, she was very happy. After hanging up the phone, she praised the little girl, "Our little girl is still right. Your mother just gave you a little brother."
"He is my little brother." What's so surprising about this? She had already said he was my little brother! The little girl was dissatisfied. She stood beside her grandmother's legs, raised her chubby face, and said unhappily, "Grandma, why are you talking to yourself? I want to talk to my aunt. I have many things to ask her."
Old Mrs. Wei was so happy to have a grandson that she was overjoyed. She smiled and picked up the little girl, kissed her, and said happily, "Your aunt will be back soon to take us to the hospital to see your brother. When we meet, we can talk about everything."
The little girl was also very happy at the thought that she would soon see her newborn little brother.
Therefore, as soon as Wei Yin returned home, she was bombarded with questions from both her mother and her niece. Her mother's main question was, "When was the baby born? Is your sister-in-law okay? How long will she have to stay in the hospital?"
The little girl’s question was, “What does my brother look like? Is his eyes open? Oh, I have to go over quickly. My brother has to see me first so that he can grow up to be handsome in the future.” It can be seen that the little girl is very confident about her appearance!
Wei Yin's consistent answer was, "You'll know when you get there." Seeing her mother carrying a lot of things, Wei Yin said, "You don't need to bring food. The hospital has special food for mothers. We can just eat in the restaurant. The hospital also has diapers."
"Hospital diapers don't cost money."
“It’s all included in the production costs.”
After Wei Yin said this, Mrs. Wei put down the diapers she had prepared at home and went over with boiled eggs and walnuts. She thought that these foreign foods were not suitable for her daughter-in-law who was in confinement after childbirth.
When the family arrived at the hospital, they met the child and his mother. The mother was still sleeping soundly, and the child was placed next to her pillow, also sleeping with his fists clenched. Mrs. Wei was delighted when she saw this and whispered, "It's almost the same as when our little girl was born."
The little girl was very dissatisfied with this and pointed at the red monkey creature and said, "I am so ugly!"
"Just born, just born." Old Mrs. Wei said quickly, "You are the type who gets more beautiful as you grow older."
The little girl still didn't believe it. She said, "My aunt said that I look just like her. I am so handsome."
Wei Nian whispered, "But you said, my brother is so ugly, what can we do about it? It's natural. Don't say this to his face, he will be sad."
"That's right." The little girl sighed, and was very worried about her ugly brother. She said seriously, "Dad, I will stay here to watch over my brother. As soon as he opens his eyes, if you guys don't move forward, I will move forward first, so that my brother can see me first and he will grow more handsome in the future."
"Okay." Wei Nian responded while holding back a smile.
Children are very serious, they don't joke around. The little girl stayed by her brother's bed and looked at him. The more she looked at him, the uglier he became. Fortunately, she had a small mirror with her, so she quickly took it out to look at herself and wash her eyes. The little girl sat there, and she didn't even go to the restaurant during lunch, just watching over her brother. When the little guy woke up with a cry, the little girl immediately put her big head close to her brother to show him her beautiful face.
Her mother woke up at this time and habitually touched the child first. Seeing her mother-in-law and daughter coming, Chen Xuan smiled, especially her daughter who kept putting her face close to her son and asked, "Girl, what are you doing?"
The little girl said, "Let my brother look at me."
"Come, let your brother drink milk first." Chen Xuan's nipples were a little swollen, so she let the child take a handful. The milk couldn't come down for a while, so he had to drink the milk powder provided by the hospital first. The little guy stopped crying when he had food, and he clenched his fists and opened his eyes, not knowing what he was looking at. The little girl took the lead, "Let your brother look at me first, let your brother look at me first!" She immediately stretched out her big head, and sure enough, her brother saw her first.
The little girl breathed a sigh of relief and said with emotion, "I hope he will be more handsome in the future."
Everyone couldn't help laughing.
After staying in the hospital for two days for observation, Chen Xuan had a normal birth, the delivery process was smooth, and the baby was healthy, so she was discharged from the hospital two days later, wrapped tightly with the baby. After being discharged from the hospital, Mrs. Wei got busy. She first tied her grandson up with a small blanket that she had prepared earlier. This is the custom in her hometown. If the child is tied up like this, he will have straight arms and legs when he grows up. Then she started to prepare confinement meals for Chen Xuan. Wei Yin said, "You don't have to eat only eggs. Mom, you can also buy some ribs and fish, and let my eldest sister cook for my sister-in-law."
"I know, I've learned a trick this time." The hospital provides a lot of food for the mothers, including eggs, but not just eggs. There is also milk, fish, shrimp, steak, vegetables, fruits, soup, everything. Old Mrs. Wei is not conservative. Seeing that the hospital has a lot of things, she secretly took note and thought about doing the same for her daughter-in-law when she returned home. You have to take good care of yourself during the confinement period, which is an important matter for a lifetime.
Speaking of foreign countries, there are also bad habits, such as women not doing confinement after giving birth, which is not acceptable. How can you not do confinement after giving birth? Old Mrs. Wei thought, these foreigners may be progressive, but they are not as civilized as us Beijingers. They don’t even understand the importance of confinement after giving birth.
Because the winter vacation was coming to an end, Chen Xuan had to ask for another month's leave from school.
After hearing the news of the birth of the baby in the Wei family, Mrs. White came to see the baby and gave a bouquet of flowers. Mrs. Wei grumbled again, "It will take seven days for the baby to be good-looking. These foreigners really don't know the rules. They come to the door as soon as the child returns home."
Wei Yinxiao advised her mother, "Customs vary from place to place, so just be more open-minded."
Old Mrs. Wei was helpless. She had no choice but to let it go. These foreigners were like this and didn't know the rules.
Compared to foreigners who have different customs, Chinese people know the rules very well. Those who are on good terms will come to visit after seven days and ask if the Wei family wants to hold a full-moon banquet. Wei Nian smiled, "The full-moon banquet is in the first month of the year, the thirteenth day of the first month. I saw that it is a Sunday. You can all come over when you are free. My eldest sister made vermicelli in winter, and we have frozen tofu at home. Vermicelli, tofu and braised pork are real northern dishes." Even if you are not from the north, as long as you are Chinese, you want to eat Chinese food.
The first New Year in the United States arrived before the full moon banquet. Chen Xuan couldn't help with the confinement, but there were enough people at home, so Qin Shu simply came to the Wei family to celebrate the New Year. Everyone made two kinds of dumplings, one with pork and cabbage, and the other with chives and eggs. The chives were grown in the greenhouse, and of course there were some small green vegetables and strawberries that the little girl loved to eat. Everyone also worked together to make a table of delicious dishes, and with the joy of having a new baby, everyone was very happy.
After the Chinese New Year, there was a full-month banquet for Xiaoluobo (the nickname the little girl gave to her younger brother), and the family welcomed Madam Wen, the guest whom Wei Xin disliked the most when she was a girl, and three uncles whom Wei Xin liked very much. The uncles also brought her three big certificates.
Old Madam Wen and her three grandchildren took a ship from Shanghai to the other side of the ocean. Madam Wen sent a telegram in advance, and the family cleaned up the rooms early. Knowing that Old Madam Wen was coming, Wei Yin moved downstairs to live with her eldest sister, and gave her room to Old Madam Wen. The other two rooms were also cleaned up and given to the three brothers Wen Shao, Wen Xin and Wen Yin.
The reason why Madam Wen was disliked by the little girl was that the first thing Madam Wen said when she saw Little Radish was, "Oh, this boy is so handsome, prettier than his sister." She nodded and repeated, "Much prettier than his sister." Then, she asked a question that the little girl hated, "Wei Xin, why is your brother so handsome and you so ugly! Oh, these two siblings look so different, one in heaven and one in hell, neither of them looks like they were raised by the same mother."
Hey, old lady, you are really good at talking!
Student Wei Xin was so angry that she rolled her eyes!
The author has something to say: ps: Good afternoon everyone, the second update will be at nine o'clock in the evening!