Zhang Qiao looked around. “Where’s the baby?”
“She’s sleeping on the small bed outside. I’m watching her, don’t worry,” came the reply.
Lin Tianyue kissed Zhang Qiao’s temple again and hugged her tightly. Even though nothing serious had happened, he felt a sense of relief, as if something precious had been regained.
“Qiao Qiao, thank you… for giving me a baby daughter! She looks like you, really beautiful.”
A strange feeling swept through Zhang Qiao. She lifted her eyes and looked at Lin Tianyue with a complex gaze.
Baby… daughter?
Wasn’t he the one who always said he wanted a son?
Seeing her puzzled expression, Lin Tianyue found her adorable. He gently tapped her facial features with his fingers, full of affection. “Her nose, eyes, eyebrows… all like yours. Especially her mouth, exactly like yours. She’ll definitely be smart and quick-witted, and sharp-tongued too!”
Zhang Qiao, startled, pushed his hand away. “Lin Tianyue… are you just trying to coax me?”
“Huh?”
She stared at him. “Don’t lie. Be honest—weren’t you disappointed when you saw it was a daughter?”
At her words, Lin Tianyue grabbed her shoulders and suddenly turned Zhang Qiao to face him.
Frowning, he said, “Qiao Qiao, what are you saying? How could I be disappointed? This is the child you risked your life to give me. I’m overjoyed, how could I be disappointed?”
He seemed genuinely baffled by her way of thinking, a little flustered.
“Qiao Qiao, don’t talk nonsense. If you say more, the daughter will hear and get angry.”
Zhang Qiao: “…”
Lin Tianyue let go and sat beside her on the bed.
The daughter didn’t get angry, but Zhang Qiao felt as if Lin Tianyue himself was slightly annoyed.
They sat quietly for a while, Zhang Qiao cautiously observing him.
“You always said you wanted a son. You’ve said it like… eight hundred times, I think my ears are calloused from hearing it.”
She muttered softly.
That man… such a quick change of face!
Lin Tianyue looked confused. “Did I say that?”
“Yes, you did!”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Cheater!”
Zhang Qiao was speechless. She sat up and pointed at him fiercely. “Lin Tianyue, you’re a big factory director, yet you’re being such a rogue, denying what you said…”
Fearing she might really get mad, Lin Tianyue grabbed her fingers, pulled her close, and kissed her lips.
Pressing her shoulders, he laid her back on the bed.
Lin Tianyue hovered slightly over her, wanting to explain but finding no words, then suddenly laughed. “Wife, I made fish soup for you. Want some? I’ll serve a bowl.”
Deflecting the topic?
Hmph, obvious he felt guilty.
But seeing him busy and attentive, and thinking of the redness in his eyes, Zhang Qiao no longer felt angry.
She buried her head in the blanket, trying not to laugh.
Big, rough guy… got a taste of his own medicine!
Serves him right—dare to say he wouldn’t like it!
Zhang Qiao drank a bowl of the fish soup. There were usually many tiny bones in crucian carp, but strangely, her bowl had none.
After finishing the soup and some other food, she heard the faint cries of a baby from outside the room.
Lin Tianyue was still cleaning up the dishes. He set them down and dashed out.
Their daughter had woken up.
Perhaps she didn’t see anyone at first, the little girl whimpered twice. Once Lin Tianyue picked her up, she relaxed in his arms and even gave a sweet little smile.
Lin Tianyue brought the baby in. Zhang Qiao, who had been eagerly waiting, excitedly tried to get out of bed. “Baby, come to Mommy!”
“Qiao Qiao, don’t move, stay lying down!”
Lin Tianyue ordered firmly.
He sat beside her and showed their daughter in his arms. Whenever Zhang Qiao tried to reach out, he dodged.
“Qiao Qiao, you can’t hold her. You’re still in confinement. Your arms will get sore, and it could cause long-term issues.” He sat down next to her and excitedly presented their little baby.
“Look, doesn’t she have the same features as you? And she can smile already—look at that smile, it’s beautiful.”
Indeed, Zhang Qiao realized this was the first time she’d seen a newborn baby smile.
She smiled at her daughter’s little face. “Luckily, she looks like me. If she looked like you, she’d be a cold, aloof beauty.”
Lin Tianyue glanced at his wife. “Exactly, she looks like you—a sweet girl.”
“Sweet girl” was a title Zhang Qiao had given herself.
But Lin Tianyue thought, indeed, his wife was sweet.
A big sweet girl naturally gives birth to a little sweet girl.
Two sweet girls in the family—wow, life suddenly feels perfect.
They both showered the child with endless praise, shamelessly gushing. As Lin Tianyue held the baby, he suddenly froze.
A warm stream ran down his arm from under their daughter’s little bottom.
“Oh no, she peed!”
He quickly placed the baby on the bed. Outside, Zhang Ling came in with a diaper.
Lin Tianyue: “I’ll do it.”
Zhang Ling glanced at him. “No, you won’t!”
“Don’t underestimate me, I can do it!”
This time, Lin Tianyue overestimated himself. He tried to remove the wet diaper and put in a new one, having to lift the baby’s tiny legs.
But the skin was too soft, the legs too delicate. After struggling for a while, he finally got the diaper in place—but it shifted, ending up on the child’s thigh.
The little sweet girl was uncomfortable and suddenly cried loudly.
Zhang Ling quickly took over: “It’s okay, Auntie will do it.”
Seeing the child cry, Zhang Qiao also got nervous. “Should I try?”
Before she could reach, Zhang Ling pushed her aside.
“Stop, you’re worse than brother-in-law.”
Zhang Qiao: her own sweet daughter’s mother just suffered a thousand points of injury.
In the end, Auntie handled it efficiently. Within moments, the diaper was secured, and she soothed the baby, who still had tears on her face but now smiled again.
True crying-to-laughter transformation.
“Qiao Qiao, what should we name our daughter? Have you chosen from the list I gave you last time?”
Lin Tianyue, feeling a little down for not holding her, shifted the topic to naming.
Zhang Qiao suddenly remembered. She glared at him. “Don’t bring up your awful list.”
He had suggested over a dozen names—two-thirds were for boys. The five girl names—Lin Qiaoli, Lin Lina, Lin Yuanyuan…—all sounded cheesy to her.
Lin Tianyue looked innocent. “What, you don’t like any? I thought hard about it.”
Zhang Ling chimed in: “Yes, we need a name quickly—it’s needed for the household registration.”
As a former novel lover, Zhang Qiao thought for a moment. “How about Lin Shuxia? And her nickname can be Xia Xia. I hope my daughter is like summer—always bright, always full of sunshine.”
She was terrible at naming, but at least better than Lin Tianyue’s Lina.
“Xia Xia?” Lin Tianyue found it a bit strange. “Why not just Lin Xiatian?”
“Lin Xiatian? Does that even sound good?” Zhang Qiao didn’t give him a chance to argue. “I don’t care. I like this. I gave birth to this daughter, I decide. Don’t like it? Go give birth yourself!”
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