Husband, Let Me Touch Your Abs - Chapter 154

Extra Chapter 4: Toothless Baby

Everyone worked together to clean the little baby up, dressing him in soft new clothes. Mother Lu carried him over to Lu Yao’s side so he could take a look.

The newborn was all wrinkled, his eyes squinted shut and not fully open yet. However, his hair was quite dark, and there was a small birthmark on his collarbone. He was a little ge’er, after all.

“Ew~ so ugly.”

“He’s not ugly. All babies look like this when they’re just born. You were even worse than him when you were born.”

Lu Yao reached out and touched the baby’s cheek—it was unbelievably soft.

“Waaah!” The little one suddenly let out an ear-piercing wail.

Mother Lu quickly picked him up and soothed him. “Oh dear, dear, my precious grandson, don’t cry~”

Meanwhile, Lu Miao and Lu Yun helped change the bedding on the bed, cleaned Lu Yao up, and dressed him in fresh, dry clothes.

Zhao Beichuan, on the other hand, rewarded the two midwives and the doctor, giving each of them a generous red envelope with fifty taels of silver. None of them had ever received such a large reward before, and they were so overwhelmed with gratitude that they repeatedly bowed and thanked him.

After sending them off, Zhao Beichuan quickly returned to the bedroom. Inside, only Lu Yao and Mother Lu remained—everyone else had already stepped out.

“Beichuan, you stay here with Lu Yao. I’ll go check on the baby.”

“Alright.”

After the door was shut, Zhao Beichuan sat beside Lu Yao and took his hand. “You suffered, Ah-Yao.”

Lu Yao was exhausted and drowsy. “This is the only one I’m having. Not even if you beat me to death will I have another.”

“Alright, just one, that’s enough.”

“You have no idea how painful it was just now.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Eh, no need to apologize. After all, I also wanted this child. I just never thought I’d actually give birth to a baby.”

Zhao Beichuan leaned down and kissed his forehead. “Ah-Yao, you’re amazing.”

Lu Yao was feeling sleepy. Although the pain had lessened considerably, his stomach was still uncomfortable. It would probably take a few days before he fully recovered. Earlier, Mother Lu had reminded him that he needed to rest well for the next few days and avoid catching cold.

Zhao Beichuan tucked the blanket snugly around him. “Get some sleep. You can eat something later.”

“Mm. Go check on the baby. We still haven’t chosen a name yet. Mother said we need to give him a childhood name first.”

“Alright. Then you can decide on his formal name.”

“I’m no good at that. Let Beidou do it—he’s a top scholar, after all.”

In the western room, a group of people gathered around the little baby on the heated brick bed.

“This kid is definitely going to be tall in the future. Just look at those big hands and feet!”

Mother Lu touched his tiny foot. “Exactly. He probably takes after Beichuan.”

“But his eyes and brows look more like Lu Yao’s. His nose and chin are more like my brother-in-law’s,” Hu Chunrong said, gently poking the baby’s chin with her finger. The child immediately started crying again, making her laugh out loud. “Oh my, he’s got quite the temper, doesn’t he?”

Xiaodou and Xiaonian squatted nearby, absolutely delighted. This was their biological nephew—one had just become an uncle, and the other an aunt.

Zhao Beichuan pushed the door open and stepped inside. The group made way for him.

“Come take a look at your son.”

Mother Lu handed the baby over to him. Zhao Beichuan took him with practiced ease. He had taken care of his younger brother when he was little, so he was quite skilled at handling babies.

But holding his own child felt entirely different from holding his brother. The thought that this little one was his and Lu Yao’s filled his heart with a deep, soft warmth.

“Have you two picked a name yet?”

“Not yet. Lu Yao wants you to give him a childhood name, and Beidou to pick the formal name.”

Lu Miao clapped his hands. “Great, great! It’s perfect to have a top scholar name the child. While he’s at it, he can also come up with a formal name for our Dandan.”

This other child had been born with very little hair, looking as smooth as a little egg, so they had just been calling him “Dandan” this whole time without giving him an official name.

Zhao Beidou chuckled and agreed. “Alright, I’ll make sure to give them both great names.”

Mother Lu thought for a moment and then said, “Let’s call this little one Quanbao—the treasure of the whole family. How does that sound?”

Hu Chunrong immediately chimed in, “Great! Mother, that’s a wonderful name. He really is our family’s little treasure!”

Zhao Beichuan looked at his son with a smile in his eyes and softly called out, “Quanbao.”

Lu Yao only found out the next day that his son had been given such a name, and for a moment, he didn’t know what to say.

Zhao Quanbao…

Well, it was a bit rustic, but at least it was better than Dandan. As long as the formal name turned out nice, it would be fine.

Zhao Beidou took the responsibility of naming the child seriously. He spent several days poring over books before finally choosing a good name.

“Jing” signifies sunlight, and “Shu” means comfort and freedom. His formal name shall be Zhao Jingshu.

Lu Yao was very satisfied. The name sounded refined and elegant. He hoped that his child would grow up just as his name suggested—bright, comfortable, and free.

Mother Lu stayed behind to help take care of Lu Yao during his postpartum recovery. Although ge’ers had stronger constitutions than women, childbirth still required their bones to shift, so they needed proper care just the same.

Back in the village, many families couldn’t afford to rest properly after childbirth. Women would often return to work in the fields just six or seven days after giving birth, which left them with long-term health problems.

Mother Lu herself had suffered for this reason. After giving birth to Lu Lin, she caught a chill, and to this day, her waist ached whenever it rained.

So when it came to Lu Yao’s recovery, she was being extra cautious, determined not to let him suffer the same fate.

After being stuck inside for seven or eight days, Lu Yao finally couldn’t take it anymore.

“Mother, the weather outside is so nice today. Let me go out for some fresh air.”

“No way! The wind is still chilly right now. If you catch cold, it’ll be trouble.”

“I’ll bundle up and wear a headscarf. Would that be alright?”

Mother Lu punched him lightly. “Can’t you just endure a few more days? Fine, go if you want, but I’m not going to stop you. Just don’t come crying to me if you fall sick when you’re old!”

Lu Yao had no choice but to give up. He leaned against the bed, gazing at the sleeping baby beside him. “Why does he sleep all the time? All he does is eat and sleep, just like a little pig.”

In just a few days, the baby no longer looked so wrinkled and had begun to take on the appearance of a proper infant.

“All babies are like this. You slept even more than he does when you were little.”

Suddenly, Lu Yao became curious. “Mother, do you still remember what I was like as a baby?”

“Of course I do. How could I forget?”

“Then… what was I like when I was little?” Lu Yao had always felt like he might have lived in this era before.

Mother Lu lifted her head, thinking for a moment. “You were quite funny as a child. Your little head was always filled with words we didn’t understand.”

“Words you didn’t understand?”

“Yes. I remember one time when you had a fever from a cold, you kept crying and insisting on eating some kind of… ‘bing… qilin’?”  – John Cena

“Ice cream?”

“Ah, yes, yes, that’s it. Your father and I had no idea what that was. We asked you, but you couldn’t explain either, which made us so anxious.”

Lu Yao had a vague suspicion in his heart. In his past life, his eldest sister had once told him that before the age of eight, he was always sick, spending half of each year bedridden.

Later, an old blind man was asked to read his fortune, and he said Lu Yao’s fate was incomplete. No one knew what method he used, but Lu Yao gradually recovered afterward. Coincidentally, in this life, this body had also fallen seriously ill at the age of eight. After recovering, according to Lu Lin, he seemed like a completely different person.

Could it be a case of one soul with two bodies? When his soul returned to the modern world, this body was occupied by a foreign soul. Then, after his modern body died, his soul returned to this one?

But then, how would the age difference between the two bodies be explained? Could it be that time flowed differently? Lu Yao didn’t dare to think further—his head might explode if he kept pondering.

The baby next to him woke up, kicking his chubby little legs with a snuffling sound.

“He wet himself,” Lu Mu(Mother Lu) felt around and found that, indeed, the bedding was damp.

A servant quickly brought a clean diaper and changed the baby. He stopped fussing and widened his eyes, looking around.

“Quanbao, Quanbao~”

At this stage, the baby’s vision and brain were still underdeveloped; he couldn’t see clearly or understand the meaning of his name. He simply rolled his dark, grape-like eyes around.

Lu Yao chuckled, “He’s actually quite fun.”

“A real little treasure,” Lu Mu held the child on her lap, rubbing his tiny limbs and squeezing his little arms. The baby happily kicked his legs and waved his hands.

“Just like you when you were a baby, except he’s bigger than you. When you were born, you only weighed five jin and eight liang, but Quanbao is six jin and eight liang, and he’s a full inch taller than you were.”

Lu Yao smiled, “Must take after that big fool, Zhao Beichuan.”

Speak of the devil, and he appears.

Zhao Beichuan entered from outside. He had been busy all morning at Xiaonian’s house. Xiaonian and Ma Kuan’s wedding was approaching, scheduled for the sixth day of the sixth lunar month—right after their child’s one-month celebration. By then, Lu Yao would be able to bring little Quanbao to his aunt’s wedding.

“You’re back? Come hold your son. I’ll go warm up some milk for him.”

Zhao Beichuan took the baby from Lu Mu and sat beside Lu Yao, gently rocking him.

Lu Yao leaned against Zhao Beichuan’s shoulder, playing with the baby. “You’re better at holding him than I am. I’m too afraid to move him—he’s so soft, I feel like I might hurt his back.”

“Just cradle him in your arms, supporting his head and bottom. He’s still too little now, but it’ll get easier to hold him as he grows.”

Lu Yao tried holding the baby for a moment, but he tensed up completely and quickly lost strength. Perhaps sensing discomfort, the baby started crying again. Lu Yao hurriedly handed him back to Zhao Beichuan. “You hold him. I’ll wait until he’s a little bigger.”

Once the goat’s milk was warmed, Lu Mu carried over a small bowl and carefully spoon-fed the baby.

At first, Lu Miao had suggested hiring a wet nurse, since Dan Dan had been raised by one.

Lu Yao thought about it but ultimately decided against it. Dan Dan had been extremely attached to his wet nurse. Even after weaning, he couldn’t bear to be separated from her. Several times, Lu Miao had tried to dismiss the woman, but whenever Dan Dan found out, he would cry inconsolably. Feeling sorry for her son, Lu Miao had kept the wet nurse in their home to this day.

Lu Yao worried that Quanbao might also become overly dependent on a wet nurse. After all, he had gone through so much to give birth to this child—he didn’t want him to be closer to someone else. Besides, it wasn’t necessary to have human milk to raise a child.

Lu Mu agreed. In their family, only Lu Hai and Lu Miao had been breastfed by her. None of the other children had received a drop of their mother’s milk. They had survived on watered-down gruel alone, so raising a baby on goat and cow’s milk would be no problem.

The baby, now full, soon fell asleep again.

Zhao Beichuan gently placed him back in his small bed and covered him with a thin blanket.

“How’s the work coming along at Xiaonian’s place?”

“The furniture is all set. Since they’ll be moving to Zhongzhou after the wedding, we only need to furnish the house modestly for now.”

“Still, make sure it’s done properly. It wouldn’t be good if Ma Kuan felt slighted compared to Xiaochun’s place.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve taken care of it. Oh, by the way, Xiaochun wrote a letter a few days ago—they should be arriving soon.”

“So soon? I thought they wouldn’t be here until June. What about their restaurant?”

“Zhang Qiulan found someone in the capital to help manage it, and Lu Bing is overseeing things there, so the restaurant will remain open.”

Lu Yao nodded. “Once Quanbao is a little older, we should head to the capital and open a few more shops.”

“Good idea.”

For Quanbao’s one-month celebration, Lu Yao didn’t plan to throw a big banquet—just a warm family gathering over a meal. He had heard that grand celebrations for young children could suppress their fortune and affect their health.

As he absentmindedly stroked the baby’s tiny hand, Lu Yao suddenly paused. Since when had he started considering everything from the perspective of this little one?

In late May, Zhao Fengchun and Zhang Qiulan returned.

As soon as the carriage stopped, Xiaochun eagerly jumped down, ready to dash into his sister-in-law’s room, but Zhang Qiulan grabbed his sleeve. “Slow down, don’t be so hasty.”

Only then did Xiaochun steady himself. He walked up to the main house and knocked on the door.

Lu Mu opened it and beamed, “Xiaochun, you’re back! Come in. Your sister-in-law was just talking about you the other day.”

Zhao Fengchun and Zhang Qiulan entered the inner room. Lu Yao was gently rocking the baby, trying to burp him after feeding. If he wasn’t burped properly, he might spit up when laid down.

“Sister-in-law?”

“Xiaochun, Qiulan, come in!”

The two eagerly approached. “Is this my little nephew? He’s adorable!”

Lu Yao grinned. Quanbao hadn’t been cute at birth, but over the past twenty-some days, he had chubbied up, and his fair, tender skin made him irresistibly charming. He was beginning to see him through the loving filter of a proud father.

Lu Yao handed the baby to Xiaochun, who stiffened up completely, too afraid to hold him properly and worried he might drop him. “Qiulan, help me!”

Zhang Qiulan smoothly took the baby into his arms and playfully tapped his tiny nose.

To everyone’s surprise, the little rascal actually smiled.

It was his first smile.

Lu Yao was so shocked that he stood there, dumbfounded.

Well, well, well—so even a toothless little baby couldn’t resist the charm of a handsome uncle!