Chapter 68: Red Eggs
Seeing Zhou Lian’s blushing face, everyone burst out laughing. Li Xiu was really one of a kind. Teasing his own wife so naturally in front of the elders and his younger siblings—only Li Xiu would do something like that.
The baby’s cries instantly drew everyone’s attention. Li Xiu deftly unwrapped the small blanket, saw the diaper was wet, changed it, and swaddled her again. He gave her a few sips of warm water from a bottle before placing the baby in Zhou Lian’s arms for her to nurse.
Watching his smooth, fluid motions, the three elders were relieved. He was taking excellent care of the child and making sure his wife was comfortable. There was nothing to worry about.
Li Yun, Li Gui, and the others stared, slack-jawed, as their older brother skillfully tended to his newborn niece. They had been lying on the heated bed watching all morning, but not a single one of them had dared to hold her. They adored their little niece, but she looked so small and fragile. Who would dare? What if they hurt her? But their older brother, a big and burly man, handled his niece with such ease. ’It’s true,’ they thought, ’our brother really is the best!’
"Sister-in-law, how come she’s sleeping again?" Li Miao asked Zhou Lian curiously, watching her older brother burp the well-fed little niece. She wanted to see what her niece looked like when she was awake!
"She’s still very young. She needs to sleep a lot to grow fast," Zhou Lian said, looking at her youngest sister-in-law. This sister-in-law was only six or seven years older than her own daughter, but she had always been very protective of her when she was little.
He gently laid their daughter down. Seeing his wife resting obediently on the heated bed, Li Xiu nodded in satisfaction. "While the baby’s sleeping, I’ll go mix the dye. It’s time to color the eggs."
"Oh, we’ve just been chatting away," Aunt Li said as she got off the heated bed. "These red eggs need to be dyed, dried, and then sorted. It’s time-consuming. We have to deliver them door-to-door first thing tomorrow morning, so we can’t delay."
At her words, everyone on the bed except for Zhou Lian and the baby got up and rushed to the kitchen to join the fun. They crowded around Li Xiu in a flash, watching him mix a large basin of red dye.
Some people dyed the eggs, some arranged them to dry, and others carried them out to the courtyard. With so many hands, the work went quickly. The moment Li Bao and Li Guo stepped into the courtyard, they saw red eggs laid out to dry everywhere.
"Big Brother, how many are you planning to send out?" Li Bao asked in surprise. ’He didn’t cook the eggs for the one-month celebration too, did he?!’
Li Xiu looked up at Li Bao and Li Guo and said with a smile, "About a hundred. Six for each family. Tomorrow, you and Li Guo will go with Eldest Aunt and Aunt Li to deliver them." The two of them would have to follow behind and carry the baskets.
"Got it. Is my little niece awake?" Li Bao asked excitedly. ’A pretty, soft little niece must be so adorable!’
"She’s probably still asleep. I haven’t heard her cry. She’s not awake much right now. She’s on the heated bed, you two can go take a look," Li Xiu said with a laugh, seeing the two brothers fidgeting impatiently.
"Okay! We’ll be careful not to wake our little niece." As soon as he finished speaking, Li Guo had already run into the house.
"Sister-in-law, we’re just here to see our little niece! We’ll just look, we won’t touch her!" Li Guo explained nervously, afraid Zhou Lian might refuse.
Zhou Lian looked up at her two brothers-in-law from Aunt Li’s family. Leaning back against the bedding, she smiled and said, "It’s fine. Go ahead and look."
"Sister-in-law, are you feeling okay?" Li Bao asked Zhou Lian in a low voice, afraid of waking his niece.
"I’m fine, don’t worry. By the way, what were you two doing at the supply and marketing cooperative today?" Zhou Lian asked curiously. Why would the two brothers go to the co-op on an ordinary day? Wasn’t it usually Aunt Li who did the shopping for Li Bao’s family?
Li Bao’s face turned beet red at Zhou Lian’s words, while Li Guo stood to the side, covering his mouth to stifle a laugh.
Zhou Lian looked at them, puzzled. "What’s going on?" she asked.
"Sister-in-law, my brother went to buy a scarf for the new girl he’s being matched with!" Li Guo said with a grin. ’So he *can* be shy. Who was it that laid out a whole list of conditions the moment he heard about a potential match, nearly driving his mom and sister mad?!’
Zhou Lian paused for a moment, then smiled. ’Of course, it’s about that time.’ Li Bao’s future wife was quite a character. Her personality was just like her mother-in-law, Aunt Li, who thought very highly of her. She remembered one time when the young couple had a fight. Her sister-in-law went straight to Aunt Li to complain. Aunt Li chased Li Bao halfway down the street with a broom, making him yell in frustration, ’She’s your daughter, and I’m the son-in-law, right?!’
"So you like her? What does Aunt Li say?" Zhou Lian asked the mortified Li Bao with a smile.
"My mom says she’s great. We’re announcing the engagement at the start of next year," Li Bao mumbled, his face red. He didn’t dare to look at Zhou Lian and kept his head down.
"Aunt Li has high standards. You must like her a lot too, don’t you?" Zhou Lian was quite bored lying on the heated bed. Teasing her young brother-in-law was a good way to pass the time.
"Sister-in-law, I’m going to help my big brother!" Li Bao fled. ’How come I never noticed that sister-in-law could be so wicked?’ he thought. ’She’s a match for Big Brother. It’s true what they say—birds of a feather flock together!’
Zhou Lian and Li Guo, who was still on the heated bed watching his niece, were stunned for a moment. They glanced at each other and couldn’t help but laugh. ’He’s so shy! Getting embarrassed this easily... what’s he going to do when he gets married? He can’t just run away during the wedding night shenanigans, can he?!’
It was almost noon. Li Xiu invited them to stay for lunch, but Grandma and the others declined. Eldest Aunt and Aunt Li said they would come over after breakfast tomorrow to pick up the red eggs and deliver them.
After the two had eaten, Zhou Lian said quietly, "Li Xiu, it’s too warm in the room. I’m sweating. I want to take a sponge bath." Her body felt sticky and uncomfortable.
"Bao’er, it’s only the second day. Please bear with it a little longer. I’ll give you a sponge bath in a few more days, but not right now," Li Xiu coaxed Zhou Lian gently. He knew his wife loved to be clean and couldn’t stand being messy, but it really wasn’t possible at the moment.
Zhou Lian pouted but nodded helplessly. Even if she hadn’t nodded, there was nothing she could do. Li Xiu was watching over her almost every second; she had no chance to sneak a bath even if she wanted to.
By the afternoon, the eggs were dry. Li Xiu packed them into two baskets, ready for Eldest Aunt and Aunt Li to deliver them tomorrow.
"You should sleep tonight. You can’t keep going without sleep like this!" Zhou Lian said with concern, watching Li Xiu hold the baby and burp her. How could he keep this up? His body wouldn’t be able to take it!
"Okay, I’ll sleep in a bit. Bao’er, don’t worry about me. You need to rest well. I’m a light sleeper. When the baby gets hungry, I’ll bring her to you to nurse. Don’t stress about it. Just rest, so your body can recover faster." Li Xiu was happy his wife was concerned about him, but he was even more worried about her health. ’Giving birth takes a huge toll on a woman’s body. We can’t use ginseng yet; we’ll have to wait another twenty-some days.’
’Right now, all she can do is eat well and rest well to let her body recover slowly. In my past life, my wife always suffered from back pain because she sat up for too long holding our daughter during her postpartum confinement. Ailments from the confinement month have to be treated during the confinement month, or they can never be cured.’
Zhou Lian smiled and nodded without another word. She knew better than anyone how stubborn her husband was. If you tried to reason with him, he’d eventually talk you in circles until you ended up thinking he was completely right.
After laying their sleeping daughter down, Li Xiu gently kissed his wife. He didn’t dare hold her like he usually did. Instead, he carefully held her hand and coaxed her to sleep in a soft voice. He knew she had slept a lot during the day and would have trouble sleeping at night, but her body was still too weak. More sleep was what she needed.