B5SB -Chapter 4 Naming (Part 2)

Wang Ni hurried into the courtyard and shouted loudly, “This is terrible! The second daughter-in-law is trying to starve the child to death!”

“She hasn’t fed the baby even once today! Mother, listen—this child’s cry has changed from hunger!”

Grandma Gu rushed into the second son’s room and bent down to look at the baby. As soon as Gu Yihan saw Grandma Gu, her little mouth puckered, and she burst into tears.

Although she wasn’t a boy, there were few children in the family, so even girls received some care.

Grandma Gu quickly picked up the baby. After she lifted her, the child looked at her with two big, pitch-black eyes full of grievance, sobbing pitifully.

She immediately turned toward the daughter-in-law lying on the bed and scolded, “Zhang Cuihua, stop pretending to be dead! You won’t even feed your own child—what good are you? If you don’t feed her right now, get out and go back to your Zhang family!”

“Our Gu family doesn’t want such a heartless woman—ignoring her own child even when she’s crying!”

When Gu Aidang saw his mother scolding his wife, he hurriedly said, “Mother, Cuihua didn’t do it on purpose. Maybe she just gave birth and doesn’t have any milk yet?”

“No milk?” Grandma Gu exploded. “If there’s no milk, can’t she say so? Is she mute? The child cries and she doesn’t care at all. I think she’s doing it on purpose!”

Gu Yihan looked at the wrinkled old woman with a sharp, harsh face when angry, yet her heart felt warm.

Hearing her mother-in-law’s words getting harsher and harsher, Zhang Cuihua could only pretend to be weak and miserable.

She said pitifully, “Mother, I didn’t mean it. This was a premature birth, and my body was badly hurt. I don’t have any strength, and there’s no milk.”

Gu Aidang immediately felt heartbroken and quickly said, “Cuihua, it’s okay. Just focus on recovering. Let Mother look after the child for now.”

When Grandma Gu heard Gu Aidang say this, she was furious. “So, Zhang Cuihua, you don’t even want to look after your child? You want to eat without working? No way! I think you’ve had it too easy and grown lazy.”

Gu Aidang patted Grandma Gu’s back and coaxed her softly, “Mother, Cuihua really hurt her body this time, and she doesn’t have milk.”

“Just think of it as doing this for me. If she doesn’t recover well, she won’t be able to have children in the future. Wouldn’t that mean your son ends up with no descendants? Can you bear to see your son grow old with no one to take care of him or send him off after death?”

Grandma Gu softened when she heard this, though she spoke stubbornly, “I’ll only take care of the child for one month. After that, if she’s still like this, don’t blame me for being ruthless.”

“Alright, alright, we’ll do as you say,” Gu Aidang said with a playful smile. “After all, you’re the backbone of the family.”

Gu Yihan watched as Grandma Gu was soothed by her so-called father in just a few words. She could tell this father was someone good at reading people and sweet-talking.

Grandma Gu carried the baby back into the courtyard. “Eldest daughter-in-law, go boil some rice oil. I’ll feed the child later.”

The eldest daughter-in-law tugged at Gu Aiguo’s sleeve when she heard that.

Gu Aiguo was an honest, straightforward farmer without many schemes. Seeing his wife tug at him, he said, “Mother told you to boil rice oil. Hurry up and go.”

Wang Ni could only get up and head to the kitchen. While boiling the rice oil, she muttered angrily, “No milk? Who’s she fooling? She just doesn’t want to breastfeed. Always acting like she’s so precious.”

She poured the cooked rice oil into a bowl and brought it to Grandma Gu, deliberately saying,
“Mother, here’s the rice oil. Are you feeding her, or should I?”

Grandma Gu shot her a glare. “I’ll feed her myself. Don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to. Use the leftover rice for the third child’s meal. If you dare steal a bite, I’ll starve you for a whole day.”

The eldest daughter-in-law was about to speak when Grandma Gu cut her off. “What are you standing there for? Go wash the dishes!”

Gu Yihan watched as Grandma Gu scooped up some rice oil, blew on it, and fed her.

She quickly opened her mouth and pretended to eat greedily. Grandma Gu felt extremely distressed and said while feeding her, “That woman is truly heartless. No milk and she didn’t say a word—just pretended she couldn’t hear.”

Before long, Gu Yihan finished eating and fell asleep. She had only been born for a day and was forcing herself to stay awake.

She was actually quite happy—at least she didn’t have to drink human milk. If she didn’t have her memories, it wouldn’t matter, but with them, she really couldn’t bring herself to drink it.

Grandma Gu placed the child on the old couple’s bed. Old Man Gu saw this and asked, “Why did you bring the child over here?”

“Sigh, isn’t it because the second daughter-in-law said she has no milk? The child cries and she doesn’t care. The second son asked me to look after her for a month,” Grandma Gu sighed.

Old Man Gu didn’t say anything. After all, household matters were always handled by the old woman.

“Oh right,” Grandma Gu added, “go to the village head tomorrow and register the child’s name and household record.”

As she spoke, she took out a piece of paper from her pocket. “Luckily Grandma Gu already picked a name—it sounds quite nice. We can’t count on that second couple at all.”

Old Man Gu took the paper and said, “Alright,” then walked out with his hands behind his back.

The Next Month

Gu Yihan ate rice oil every day, but it was never enough. She could only secretly drink milk powder from her space whenever Grandma Gu wasn’t home.

Over time, Grandma Gu grew quite fond of this clean and easy-to-care-for granddaughter. After eating, she slept. When she needed to pee, she cried—saving the trouble of washing diapers.

When Zhang Cuihua finished her confinement period, the whole family sat together for dinner.

While feeding her youngest granddaughter, Grandma Gu said, “Second daughter-in-law, your confinement is over. Are you going to work in the fields, or stay home to look after the child?”

Zhang Cuihua looked at the little daughter in her mother-in-law’s arms—plump and fair after a month of care.

“Mother, you know Mengmeng is still young. If I have to take care of Mengmeng and Xiao Han at the same time, I really won’t be able to manage.”

After feeding Gu Yihan, Grandma Gu slammed the bowl heavily onto the table. Everyone eating was startled.

“I think you just don’t want to look after the child! In this whole month, you haven’t even looked at her once. And you use Mengmeng as an excuse? Mengmeng is already so big—she plays with her older brother and sister every day. Why does she still need you watching her?”

Seeing his mother angry, Gu Aidang quickly said, “Mother, getting angry is bad for your health. I still hope you live a long life.”

This time, Grandma Gu didn’t fall for it. “And you—you’re the child’s father. Have you ever held her? You haven’t even looked at her once!”

Gu Aidang laughed cheerfully. “Mother, isn’t that because I trust you? Look how fair and chubby the child is under your care—what am I worried about?”

“Cuihua isn’t as good at raising children as you. When she raised Mengmeng, the child was thin and sallow—you know that.”

Grandma Gu snorted coldly. “If you don’t want to look after the child, fine. Starting today, you won’t stay home anymore. You’ll go work in the fields with the second son every day.”

Zhang Cuihua was about to speak, but Gu Aidang interrupted her. “Mother, don’t worry. From now on, I’ll take the child’s mother to work in the fields.”

After saying that, he dragged Zhang Cuihua back to the room.

Seeing her parents leaving, Gu Meng quickly put down her bowl without finishing her food and followed after them.