"You're just afraid your precious daughter will go hungry, not that I'll be okay." Li Minxi complained.
"How am I not concerned about you? If you don't eat, your recovery will be slow. If others surpass you then, don't get upset."
"What are you talking about? Surpass me in what?"
"Your body. Look at how curvy everyone is. If you don't eat, you'll sag. It'll be too late to complain then," Guo Xuyang said.
"You're not lying to me, are you?"
"Believe it or not, I've told you."
"Even if you're lying, I have to eat. You don't tell the truth anymore." Li Minxi said resentfully.
"Don't lump everyone together. What do you mean I don't tell the truth?"
"Your precious daughter is proof of my deceit."
"Alright, alright, I admit I deceived you about that. Look how beautiful our daughter is, inheriting all your good qualities. What's not to like?"
"I never said our daughter was bad. I'm just angry you lied to me."
"It's my fault, I apologize. Hurry and eat this; it'll be inedible once it gets cold. You can't eat cold things right now."
"Are you caring about me now?"
"Of course! If I don't care for you, who will? If we'd known natural birth was so painful, we should have just gone for a C-section."
"Do you think that wouldn't be painful? The pain is during childbirth, but with a C-section, the pain is afterward, and you're left with a scar. So everyone knows you've had a child."
"So you endured it all the way until this morning?"
"What could I do? Your daughter wouldn't come out."
"You've been through so much. Here, this pigeon is delicious. Let's eat it to replenish your strength." Guo Xuyang said, his heart aching as if he might cry.
Under Guo Xuyang's care, Li Minxi drank two small bowls of pigeon soup and then refused to drink any more. "I need to let my body adjust; I really can't drink anymore."
"Then we'll finish it later. What do you want for lunch? I'll have Liu He arrange it for you."
"Lamb soup. I remember Xiao Hong's milk production increased significantly after drinking lamb soup. That way, Niuniu won't be lacking."
"Drinking more pigeon soup is just as good; I put red dates in it."
"I really can't drink anymore. You drink it, or it'll go to waste when it gets cold."
"Okay. I'll drink it." Guo Xuyang said, finishing the remaining soup and the pigeon.
"Jia Jia, you and Yang Bin must be tired after being up all night. Hurry and eat something, and take turns resting." Li Minxi looked at Wu Jia and Yang Bin.
"We're not tired. We'll rest after you feed Xiao Bao."
"She's sleeping soundly right now and won't wake up anytime soon. You two go and rest."
Just as Li Minxi finished speaking, Niuniu started crying.
"She's either pooped or peed. After changing her diaper, you can feed her," Wu Jia said, untying the blanket.
As it turned out, Niuniu had a large amount of meconium. Wu Jia wiped her clean with the cloth diaper, and then she and Yang Bin washed Niuniu's bottom. They re-wrapped her in a blanket and placed her beside Li Minxi, who was instructed to feed her in a side-lying position. After more than half an hour, Niuniu finally fell asleep again.
"Oh, I'm so tired," Li Minxi said, finally lying down on the bed.
"Your uterus hasn't fully recovered yet, so you can't hold Xiao Bao directly. After a couple of days when you've recovered more, it won't be as strenuous. Also, your milk supply is a bit low, so Xiao Bao takes longer to feed." Wu Jia said as she placed Niuniu in the crib.
"Yang Zi, I want lamb soup for lunch. We can't let my precious daughter go hungry." Li Minxi called out to Guo Xuyang.
"No problem. I'll tell Liu He to bring you lamb soup for lunch."