Chapter 66: Gossip
The next day, November 27th, Li Xiu didn’t look the least bit tired, even though he hadn’t slept a wink. He was up at the crack of dawn, tending to his wife—helping her wash up, eat, and use the latrine. Then he took care of his daughter, feeding her, changing her diaper, and washing her little bottom. Once the mother and daughter were asleep again, Li Xiu gathered the dirty diapers and the clothes soiled during childbirth to wash them.
Grandma Li and Aunt Li arrived after breakfast. The moment they stepped through the door, they saw Li Xiu whistling as he washed diapers. The women froze, stunned. The sight was just so... odd.
Grandma Li couldn’t help but step forward. "Let me wash those. You go take care of other things!"
Li Xiu turned and greeted them with a smile. "Grandma, it’s alright," he said to her. "I’m almost finished. Please, make yourselves comfortable. Mother and daughter are still sleeping."
Aunt Li smiled. "Let them sleep. We’ll see the baby when she wakes up. Your Third Aunt isn’t here yet, so it’s perfect. We can all see her together when she arrives!"
"I haven’t had a chance to tell Third Aunt yet!" Li Xiu said, embarrassed. He was so worried about his wife that he hadn’t left her side.
"I knew you wouldn’t have the time, so I had your younger sister go tell her. She should be here soon," Aunt Li said with a laugh. She had figured her nephew wouldn’t have time to go around telling everyone. She only knew herself because her mother-in-law had told her when she got home yesterday.
"Thank you for taking the trouble, Aunt Li. I really can’t get away. I’ll have to ask you and Third Aunt to help deliver the red eggs tomorrow, too," Li Xiu said to Aunt Li with a smile. Usually, for a happy occasion like this, the baby’s grandparents would personally deliver red eggs to every household. ’But for my family, we’ll have to skip that. Having the baby’s great-aunts do it is enough. It’s the thought that counts.’ After all, who in the village didn’t know everyone’s business? His family’s sordid affairs were known far and wide.
Hearing his daughter stir, Li Xiu didn’t even bother to dry his hands, dashing into the room in two strides. He found his wife holding their daughter, nursing her. Hearing his footsteps, Zhou Lian looked up at Li Xiu, who was holding out his sopping wet hands, and said with a smile, "It’s okay. She just woke up hungry. I checked; her diaper is dry."
Li Xiu’s eyes softened as he looked at her. "Do you want to sleep some more? Maybe eat something first?"
"I’m not hungry. Let’s talk about it later. I’m not sleepy right now, either. I thought I heard Grandma and Aunt Li arrive. Why haven’t they come in?" Zhou Lian asked, sitting up slightly as she held the baby.
Li Xiu dried his hands, took his daughter, and expertly began to burp her. "They just got here," he said softly. "They were just talking with me in the courtyard."
Just as he said that, Grandma Li and the others heard the sounds from inside. Knowing Zhou Lian was awake, they all came into the room.
After Li Xiu finished burping the baby and she was sleeping soundly, he placed her in the middle of the kang bed so everyone could see her. Sure enough, the moment he laid her down, Li Yun, Li Fen, Li Cui, and Li Bo all slipped off their shoes and scrambled onto the bed, making a beeline for the newborn. They didn’t even spare a moment to greet their favorite sister-in-law, Zhou Lian.
Grandma Li and Aunt Li just smiled and shook their heads. They had been excited all night. If they hadn’t found out so late yesterday, they wouldn’t have been able to wait this long to see her. Aunt Li spoke softly to Li Bo, "Be careful. Don’t bump your niece, you might hurt her!"
Lying prone on the kang bed, Li Bo didn’t even turn his head. "I won’t hurt my little niece! I’m being super careful!"
"Grandma, Aunt Li, please sit down!" Zhou Lian said with a smile, leaning against the head of the bed to greet them. As for the others, they were too busy fawning over the baby to pay her any mind.
"How are you feeling now? Does it still hurt? Are you still weak?" Aunt Li’s string of questions revealed her concern.
Her barrage of questions warmed Zhou Lian’s heart. Lying there peacefully, she replied, "I’m fine now, Aunt Li. It doesn’t hurt anymore. When I got up to use the latrine today, I didn’t feel nearly as weak."
While they were talking, Li Xiu went to prepare a glass of sweet egg drop soup with brown sugar and brought it over.
Seeing the bowl in Li Xiu’s hands, Zhou Lian weakly placed a hand on her forehead. ’Is this man raising me like a pig? I really do just eat when I wake up and sleep when I’m full. Just like a certain animal.’
"I’m really not hungry," Zhou Lian protested softly, looking at Li Xiu.
"I know you’re not hungry, but you need to drink more fluids! Bao’er, be good. It’s just liquid, see?" Li Xiu coaxed, holding the bowl up for her to see.
Zhou Lian frowned at the bowl of sweet egg drop soup held before her, but she took it and drank it all. It was a token of her husband’s affection, after all, and she couldn’t bear to disappoint him.
Watching the young couple’s exchange, Grandma Li and Aunt Li smiled. They were considerate of each other—that was the key to a happy life. As elders, all they hoped for was to see the couple live in harmony.
Li Xiu gently wiped a drop of liquid from the corner of Zhou Lian’s mouth, took the empty bowl, and smiled tenderly at her. "Think about what you want to eat later. I’ll make it for you."
"Okay. Thanks for all your hard work, Dad," Zhou Lian said, a rare joke from her.
"Mm, it’s no trouble. Just as long as you’re eating and drinking well."
"Seeing you two like this puts us elders at ease. A husband and wife should discuss everything. Just don’t be like that second son from the Wang Family," Aunt Li said happily.
"What happened, Aunt Li? Didn’t the Wang Family’s second son get married around the same time as us? And wasn’t it a love match?" Zhou Lian asked, her curiosity piqued. ’The second son of the Wang Family supposedly picked his own bride and then had a matchmaker formalize it. In my past life, they had a very good life!’
"About half a month after you. Don’t even mention it. At first, they were thick as thieves. But ever since his wife got pregnant, there’s been trouble every single day. I heard Mrs. Wang has been driven to tears several times!" Aunt Li said, her face alight with gossip.
Seeing the women happily gossiping, Li Xiu smiled, took the bowl, and went to the kitchen. He began counting out eggs from the storage jar—six for each family. Counting their own relatives, plus the village chief, the production team leader, and the matchmaker’s family, he’d need over a hundred. He counted them, washed them, placed them in the large iron pot, filled it with water, and started a fire. Once they were boiled, he’d have to dye each one red. It was a lot of trouble. He had given out eggs in his past life, too, but fewer—only two per family. But that was normal; some families only gave one. It was the thought that counted.
It wasn’t that Li Xiu was trying to be extravagant or show off. He had to make a show of how much he cared for his daughter. Otherwise, the village gossip would follow her until she was old enough to remember it. That’s what happened in his past life. When his son was born, their circumstances had improved, so they gave out six eggs per family. Then some busybody had said to his daughter’s face, "Your parents dote on your little brother, not you. When you were born, they only gave out two red eggs, but for your brother, they gave six. Your parents like boys, not girls!"
Every time his daughter came home crying, he had wanted to go and curse out those vicious gossips. But his wife always stopped him. Could he really yell at all of them? Some said it intentionally, others unintentionally. He couldn’t afford to offend everyone. Even though they were in the wrong, he had to bottle it all up. The memory alone made his blood boil.
This life, he would be ostentatious about it. Let’s see who dared to spout nonsense then. His daughter and son would be two years apart, and he would give out six eggs for his son’s birth, too. Let’s see if anyone still dared to say Li Xiu didn’t love his daughter. The truth was, even in his last life, he had doted on his daughter more. She looked just like his wife, after all; how could he not show some favoritism? Besides, it was common to pamper girls and raise boys to be tough, wasn’t it? Of course, that was for later. For now, old ideas were hard to change, and boys were still valued more.