The baby, still mostly asleep, was placed carefully beside Lu Gu. Guaizi whined softly, edging closer to investigate, making Lu Gu chuckle.
“Rest now. I’ll go pick more milk fruits, we can gather plenty this time,” Shen Xuanqing said.
Lu Gu’s smile was faint but beautiful. “Alright. Be careful on the road, don’t rush.”
Shen Xuanqing left, taking Guaizi with him in case the dog’s antics woke the baby.
The window was cracked for air, and the door closed. Lu Gu couldn’t see outside, but late August was no longer scorching.
Lying back, he gazed at his baby, repeating the name “Lingjun” in his heart. His eyes curved with happiness, it truly was a lovely name.
Newborns weren’t particularly pretty, their skin still wrinkled, but Lu Gu found his Little Lingjun more beautiful the longer he looked. The faint red mark between his brows was delicate and striking, his large, dark eyes sweet and docile, he was his darling little ger.
His heart swelled with joy. This was his and Shen Xuanqing’s child, their baby.
Meanwhile, Shen Xuanqing hiked alone into the valley, leaving Guaizi and Da Hui waiting outside. Dogs marked territory by urinating, so they couldn’t enter.
The mountain stream burbled clearly, its waters never freezing or drying. Two large milk fruit trees stood by the bank. Murmuring an apology, Shen Xuanqing climbed one, plucking ripe fruits from the high branches.
Milk fruit trees were notoriously finicky, thriving only in pristine places. After years of failed transplant attempts, people had all but given up.
Earlier, he’d picked only ten fruits, worried they’d spoil before the birth. Now, he could gather more for the baby.
The ripe fruits were white and smooth, their nipple-like tips soft to avoid hurting the baby’s mouth. Some crude jokes circulated about their shape, but no one dared say them aloud - disapproval was the least consequence, and a beating wasn’t unheard of.
With his bamboo basket full, Shen Xuanqing descended, feeling satisfied. These would feed Little Lingjun for a long time.
Shen Xuanqing hadn't come back yet, and Xiao Lingjun had eaten another milk fruit, this time fed by Lu Gu himself. Shen Yan had helped wash and pierce the milk fruit, watching eagerly from the bedside.
“He’s really good at eating,” she said. As she stroked the baby’s hand, the tiny fingers wrapped around hers, her eyes nearly disappeared from smiling. “Brother Guzi, Xiao Ling really likes me!”
Lu Gu held the child in one hand and milk fruit with the other, chuckled. “Of course. You’re his aunt, why wouldn’t he?”
As the baby emptied the fruit, Shen Yan took it. “Second Brother went to pick more. We’ve got plenty, let me cook this one for you. It’ll help you recover.”
Lu Gu nodded in agreement.
Not only could children eat milkfruit, but adults could as well. However, the village only had so many people, and no adult dared recklessly go up the mountain to pick milkfruit for themselves. If they were caught, the entire village would come to their door to scold them - what desperation drove them to snatch a child’s lifesaving milk?
Thus, only families with newborns could pick milkfruit without drawing scrutiny. Adults didn’t drink the juice inside the fruit, but after peeling and chopping the fruit and boiling it, the resulting broth turned similarly milky-white. Women and fulangs who had just given birth found it good for their health. Sometimes, if there wasn’t enough milk fruit to feed the children, they would give them the boiled broth instead. Though thinner than the juice inside the fruit, it at least filled their bellies.
After Shen Yan went out, Lu Gu lightly patted Xiao Lingjun, who had eaten his fill. Newborn babies tended to sleep right after feeding, so he didn’t even need to do much coaxing, Little Lingjun closed his eyes peacefully on his own.
The injury below his body hadn’t fully healed yet. After placing the child on the bed, he lay down as well to rest for a while.
Hearing Zhao’er’s cries outside, he opened his eyes and instinctively reached out to soothe the sleeping Little Lingjun, afraid the noise might startle him awake. But the child was sleeping more soundly than he was.
The door creaked open, it was Xia Fulang.
“Ahma,” Lu Gu began to sit up, but Xia Fulang motioned for him to stay.
“You sleep, I'll take the diapers out to wash.” Xia Fulang whispered before taking the soiled diapers by the bed outside.
He had come to check on Lu Gu yesterday after the birth, washing both Lu Gu's clothes and the used bedding before returning home. Shen Xuanqing had already discussed it with him, he wasn’t responsible for others' laundry, only for Lu Gu and the baby’s clothes, as well as assisting Lu Gu with getting in and out of bed during the day and tending to the child’s needs.
These past two days, since Lu Gu had just given birth, the family made sure someone was always home. But once this period passed and the autumn harvest began, there would be too much fieldwork. While others could manage their own meals, someone needed to be around to care for Lu Gu if he was hungry or thirsty. Since he couldn’t work during his postpartum confinement, Xia Fulang would have to stay close.
If he wanted to earn his wages, he had to do the work. Xia Fulang was quick and efficient, Wei Lanxiang had watched him wash clothes and diapers, and they were always clean.
Few rural families could afford hired help during postpartum confinement, some were too poor to even hire a midwife, leaving childbirth to fate. But the Shen family knew how stubborn Shen Xuanqing could be. When he insisted on hiring someone, even Wei Lanxiang didn’t argue.
Listening to Shen Yan and Xia Fulang chatting outside, Lu Gu wasn’t worried about the noise waking the baby, who slept soundly. He lay back down and closed his eyes to rest, his heart full. From the time he became pregnant until now, he had rarely frowned, always happy, Shen Xuanqing treated him very well.
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