Shen Xuanqing casually picked up two handkerchiefs from the bedside table, retreated back into the quilt, and wiped his body clean. If it weren't for the inconvenience of heating water, he would have preferred to take a refreshing bath.
He heard people say that the masters and ladies in the town would ask the servants to carry water into the room for a bath after they had done their business at night.
Fortunately, after getting the bed sheets at home dirty, he had gone to the town and bought a piece of thick cloth, which Lu Gu had sewn into a double layered pad. From then on, they had been using it under the bed sheets at night, saving them the trouble of washing the entire sheet.
Lu Gu was exhausted, but his thirst was unbearable, so he whispered to Shen Xuanqing that he wanted to drink some water.
Shen Xuanqing got out of bed to pour some water, and then helped Lu Gu sit up to drink. With one hand, he felt around on the bed and pulled out the cloth, tossing it onto the chair along with the handkerchiefs, to be washed the next day.
"After we have children, mother will probably help take care of them, but she'll be too busy to handle everything on her own," Shen Xuanqing said, holding Lu Gu in his arms after getting back into bed.
Unable to sleep, he whispered his thoughts about their future. "We'll have to hire an aunt to help take care of you, and do chores like cooking and laundry, so you won't be too busy."
"I gave my eldest brother 15 taels for building the house, which should be enough. I still have 80 taels left. This year, since coming to the mountain, I've only made some money from selling rabbits and pheasants. I haven't made much money, we've been living off last year's savings. In the future, when the child is born, we'll need to host a full moon banquet, and buy silver lock and bangle. The child is young, so the clothes he wears have to be made of soft cloth, which is more expensive than ordinary cloth..."
He whispered to Lu Gu, calculating and planning, every item on the list requiring money. It would take many years for a countryman to save up eighty taels. He knew that this money was definitely enough to raise a child, but he just couldn't shake the feeling that it wasn't enough. Lu Gu was already so delicate, and if they had another child, even more fragile than Lu Gu, wouldn't they need even more money to raise them?
"Just wear old clothes, they're soft." Lu Gu whispered while snuggling in his arms.
Children had tender skin, but country folk couldn't afford soft and good cloths, so they just dressed their children in soft old clothes.
"If we can afford it, just wear new ones." Shen Xuanqing said while hugging the person in his arms tightly. He felt uncomfortable when he thought about Lu Gu's fat children wearing old clothes, and his tone was stubborn.
He was usually steady and rarely showed his stubborn side in front of Lu Gu, but his tone changed at this moment, causing Lu Gu, who was nestled in his arms smiled quietly, his eyes were full of joy. He changed his tune and agreed, "Then we will buy new ones."
Only then did Shen Xuanqing feel relieved, and he began to think about what they should do in the future, he said, "Since you don't have milk, if we can't find milk fruit, we will have to hire a wet nurse to feed the child."
Shuang'er was similar to men except that he could give birth to babies, but they couldn't produce milk. So they had to find something called milk fruit in the mountains or hire a wet nurse.
Lu Gu enjoyed discussing their future plans with Shen Xuanqing. It made him feel happy and he began to think seriously about their situation. He still had the money he had been saving, which should be enough to pay for the wet nurse, so Shen Xuanqing wouldn't have to spend a single copper coin.
However, his thoughts were soon interrupted and he blushed as he tried to push away Shen Xuanqing's hand which was touching his chest.
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