#82: Extra Eight - Parenting Chronicles (Part 1)

Jiang Chengyu sat in front of the crib, staring intently at the two children. At one point, his son woke up crying, and he quickly carried him to another room, afraid of waking Little Ningmeng. He looked at his son, Xiao Jingrui, who was whimpering with his eyes squinted and mouth wide open, but not a single tear. Jiang Chengyu kissed his son, but still couldn’t console him. The nanny took the child into her arms, coaxing him and checking his diaper.

Jiang Chengyu returned to the nursery. His daughter was still sound asleep. From the moment he entered the room until now, over ten hours had passed, and neither of the children had opened their eyes to look at him. They squinted when drinking milk and squinted when crying loudly.

“Mom,” Jiang Chengyu turned to look at his mother. Madam Jiang was tidying the children’s clothes, not even raising her head. “What is it?”

Jiang Chengyu glanced at his daughter again. Her small mouth opened and closed, sleeping soundly. “The children haven’t opened their eyes since they came out of the operating room?”

“No, I don’t think so.” Madam Jiang wasn’t sure; she had been taking care of Shen Tang earlier. “I haven’t seen them, anyway. Probably not. Weren’t you sitting by the bed the whole time?”

It was precisely because he hadn’t seen the two babies open their eyes that he was worried. Jiang Chengyu asked, “Should we ask the doctor to come and take a look?”

Madam Jiang: “No need, all newborns are like this.”

As long as this was normal, he wouldn’t be so anxious. Jiang Chengyu watched all his daughter’s movements: her faint breathing, her tiny mouth occasionally sucking, her small fists clenching and moving now and then. These movements repeated over and over. He didn’t find it boring at all. From time to time, he took a few pictures with his phone.

Little Ningmeng’s tiny fists were always held near her little face. Jiang Chengyu was afraid his daughter would get tired, so he gently supported her tiny fist with two fingers. His daughter was too small; he dared not touch her delicate little fingers.

His son had finished his milk and burped, then returned to the crib to continue sleeping soundly. Jiang Chengyu stared at his son’s mouth, which was now back to normal. He quietly said to his mother, “Mom, Jingrui just smiled.” Earlier, his son’s lips had curved slightly upward, forming a faint arc. He was sure he hadn’t seen wrong.

Madam Jiang: “Every newborn smiles unconsciously, it’s nothing.”

Jiang Chengyu hummed in agreement, but in his joy as a new father, he still felt his son was very intelligent, knowing how to smile at such a young age. Unfortunately, that smile had been fleeting, and he hadn’t had time to capture it.

The auntie came to tell Jiang Chengyu that Shen Tang had woken up. Jiang Chengyu carefully lowered his daughter’s hand, walked a few steps, then returned, asking the auntie and the two nannies for help to put the two children in one crib and push it to Shen Tang’s room.

________________________________________

He watched the children. The two children were very well-behaved, not crying or fussing, not disturbing Shen Tang’s rest. Jiang Chengyu went to see Shen Tang; she had slept for several hours after the IV drip. There was color in her face, and her lips were no longer cracked.

“How do you feel?” He placed his palm under her head, letting her rest on his hand.

Shen Tang nodded, raising her arm to hug him, but accidentally pulled her incision. She winced in pain.

“Be careful.” Jiang Chengyu sat on the edge of the bed and leaned over to gently embrace her. “When your wound heals, I’ll give you a proper hug.”

“Mmm.”

Shen Tang looked at him. Without her even asking for a kiss, Jiang Chengyu leaned down and kissed her. The kiss and embrace were like pain medicine; her wound didn’t hurt as much as before. Shen Tang inhaled the fresh scent of his shirt collar, slowly turned, and found a comfortable position to embrace him, finally able to do so without restraint, as she pleased.

“Hubby.” Her incision accidentally hurt again, and she took a deep breath. “Are the babies well-behaved?”

“They’re especially well-behaved. They cry a little when they wake up, but they don’t fuss.”

Shen Tang wanted to see the children. “Can you bring them onto my bed?”

“The crib will be pushed over here right away.” As soon as Jiang Chengyu finished speaking, the nanny pushed the crib over. Shen Tang looked at the two sleeping children, her eyes overflowing with happiness. Afraid of waking the children, they occasionally exchanged a few words, but mostly they just quietly watched the babies. They couldn’t get enough of watching them.

Shen Tang poked Jiang Chengyu’s arm. Jiang Chengyu turned back and gently kissed her lips. “Is your incision bothering you again?”

“No,” Shen Tang asked him, “Who do you think our daughter looks like?” She really couldn’t tell. It was only the first day of birth, and Jiang Chengyu couldn’t tell either, but her upturned little nose was very similar to Shen Tang’s: “She looks like you.”

“Are her eyes big?”

“She hasn’t opened her eyes yet.” Jiang Chengyu hoped his daughter’s eyes would be as beautiful as Shen Tang’s.

Shen Tang was tired of lying on her side and changed her position. Jiang Chengyu helped her adjust, and the pillow was comfortable. Shen Tang hugged his neck, burying her face in his shirt collar; it still felt like a dream.

“The auntie made some soup for you; get up and have some later.”

Shen Tang assented, letting go of him. Jiang Chengyu sat by the bed, guarding the two children, wanting to see what they looked like when they opened their eyes.

Not long after, Little Ningmeng woke up. With a loud, temperamental cry of “Wah wah!” His son was disturbed, frowning his little nose in displeasure. Before his son could wake up, Jiang Chengyu quickly picked up his daughter and went to the small living room outside.

The nanny wanted to take her, but Jiang Chengyu was reluctant to let go. “Let me hold her for a bit.” He gently rested his forehead against his daughter’s forehead. “I’m Daddy.”

Little Ningmeng cried out loudly again, “Wah!” Her little feet seemed to be kicking. This temper, it was so much like Shen Tang’s. Jiang Chengyu had no experience coaxing children and was anxious from his daughter’s crying. Little Ningmeng would cry “wah” now and then, crying then stopping.

Just as Jiang Chengyu was about to hand his daughter to the nanny, Little Ningmeng slowly opened her eyes. She seemed afraid of the light, cautiously opening them just a crack, then slowly widening them a bit more. It took her a while to fully open them. Her right eye was round, like a black grape. Her left eye still seemed sensitive to light, half-open. She looked at everything around her, confused. Suddenly, she stopped crying.

Her daughter’s first sight in this world was him. Jiang Chengyu softly said, “I’m Daddy, my name is Jiang...” Chengyu. He hadn’t finished the last two words.

“Plop,” Little Ningmeng coolly closed her eyes.

“Wah!” Little Ningmeng opened her mouth wide and began to cry. Her cries were loud. Like Xiao Jingrui, she cried without tears.

The nanny stood by, several times thinking Jiang Chengyu was about to hand the baby to her. She reached out, but Jiang Chengyu pulled the baby back into his arms. She couldn’t urge him. She felt quite helpless. Finally, Little Ningmeng cried impatiently and kicked her little feet again, and only then did Jiang Chengyu hand his daughter to the nanny.

Jiang Chengyu was very content and went to find Shen Tang. After drinking a bowl of soup and a quick wash, Shen Tang felt sleepy. Both physically and mentally, the burden was completely gone. While relaxed, she was also unprecedentedly tired. In the mid-to-late stages of pregnancy, she had severe sleep deprivation. Now, all she wanted was a good night’s sleep.

Jiang Chengyu covered her with the blanket, turned off the light, leaving a wall lamp on, and the light from the small living room outside spilled in through the half-open door. The lighting in the room was just right. He didn’t leave, sitting nearby to check emails on his phone, staying with her until she was deeply asleep. That night, Jiang Chengyu barely closed his eyes. The sound of babies crying every few hours from the nursery was so reassuring.

________________________________________

On the fifth day after Little Ningmeng and Xiao Jingrui were born, Shen Tang had recovered considerably. She could walk normally, no longer experiencing the severe incision pain when getting in and out of bed as in the previous days, nor daring to straighten up when walking.

Her daughter and son had changed a lot, completely different from when they were just born. Little Ningmeng’s eyes were exceptionally beautiful, strikingly similar to Shen Tang’s when she was little. Xiao Jingrui resembled both Shen Tang and him.

When Shen Tang wasn’t sleepy, Jiang Chengyu accompanied her for walks in the corridor outside the ward. She didn’t dare to walk fast, and Jiang Chengyu held her hand, matching her pace. There was a scale at the nurses’ station, and Shen Tang had just weighed herself. She was now 108 catties, having gained over ten catties compared to before pregnancy. She had already prepared a postpartum recovery plan for these few days, striving to return to her previous figure and weight by the time she went back to work.

Sister Li told her to take five months off at home, recuperate, and spend more time with the children. The company had her and Qin Xing, so she shouldn’t rush back to work. She now spent an hour each day reviewing important company emails and felt pretty good about it.

Jiang Chengyu’s phone rang; it was Yan Heyu calling. Yan Heyu came to see his little nephew and niece, mainly his little niece. He had just flown back from Manhattan and hadn’t even had time to go home, coming straight to the hospital.

“Open the door for me,” he said after getting out of the elevator. This door was the access control for the VIP ward floor. Jiang Chengyu happened to be taking a walk nearby, a few steps from the access control. He hung up the phone and walked over to open it.

Yan Heyu was the first to enter the ward, with Jiang Chengyu and Shen Tang slowly following behind. Before they even stepped into the ward, Jiang Chengyu’s phone rang again. This time, it was Wen Di. Wen Di had called Shen Tang first, but when there was no answer, she called Jiang Chengyu. Like Yan Heyu, she also came to see the babies. Wen Di usually came to the hospital to accompany Shen Tang every day, at irregular times. Today was quite a coincidence, coming at an inconvenient time. Shen Tang reminded her, “Yan Heyu is inside.”

“It’s nothing,” Wen Di didn’t expect him to be there, but she didn’t mind.

Yan Heyu was standing by the crib, playing with Little Ningmeng. He paused slightly when he saw the people at the door. He bypassed Shen Tang and Jiang Chengyu, only seeing Wen Di. That glance seemed to hold a thousand turns. Wen Di’s gaze also came straight over; her face showed no change, her expression indifferent when she looked at him. Yan Heyu consciously moved away from the crib, giving Wen Di the space.

Xiao Jingrui was asleep, his small hand resting by his cheek, looking very secure. Little Ningmeng was awake, her two eyes darting around. Wen Di had learned how to hold a baby these past few days. She carefully held Little Ningmeng in her arms, “Darling, Godmother is here to see you, do you miss me?”

Yan Heyu looked back at her. He hadn’t seen such tenderness and a smile on her face for almost two years. He went to the small living room outside to find Jiang Chengyu and discussed a project he had finalized during this business trip with Jiang Chengyu. Time passed quickly, and by the time he finished talking, Wen Di had already left.

Yan Heyu returned to the nursery. Little Ningmeng wasn’t asleep yet; she was quite happy at the moment. He also learned from Wen Di how to hold Little Ningmeng and picked her up. Yan Heyu used to be indifferent to children, finding them noisy and bothersome. There were many children in the Yan family, but he had never held any of them before. Today, for the first time, he held Little Ningmeng. The child was too small, and he was very nervous holding her.

“Little Ningmeng, I’m your godfather.”

Jiang Chengyu happened to walk in, frowning. “What did you just say?”

Yan Heyu: “I’m Little Ningmeng’s godfather.” Wen Di was her godmother.

Two minutes later, Yan Heyu was ushered out of the nursery.

________________________________________

When Xiao Jingrui and Little Ningmeng were three and a half months old, Jiang Chengyu went on a long business trip, staying in London for almost two weeks. Once the project was finalized, he rushed home without stopping. His heart yearned for home. Even though he video-called Shen Tang and the two babies every day, the feeling of seeing them but not being able to hold them was agonizing.

By the time he arrived in Beijing, the sky had darkened. Jiang Chengyu called Shen Tang, “Come down to the courtyard.” Shen Tang was bathing the children and paused. “You’re back?”

“Yes.” He had returned two days early.

Shen Tang didn’t even bother hanging up the phone, handing the children to the nanny and rushing downstairs. It was mid-November, and a cold front had arrived; the outdoor temperature was low. Shen Tang was wearing a nightgown, without even a coat. The car drove into the courtyard and stopped.

Jiang Chengyu had returned on a private plane and had showered and changed clothes on the plane, showing no signs of fatigue or dust from the long journey. He changed into clean clothes so he could directly hug Shen Tang and the children.

“Why are you out here wearing so little?” Jiang Chengyu’s voice carried a hint of reproach as he caught her in an embrace. He turned and pulled his trench coat from the car for her to wear.

Shen Tang kissed his lips hard. “Go quickly and see the two little darlings. They’ve grown so much in the half-month you’ve been away.”

Xiao Jingrui and Little Ningmeng had already come out of the bathroom. The nanny had dried their hair and put them in onesies. Jiang Chengyu and Shen Tang arrived at the nursery doorway, where Little Ningmeng and Xiao Jingrui were lying on the bed.

“Darlings, Mommy’s here.” Hearing the familiar call, the two children wanted to find their mother, resting their heads on the bed. Their little arms couldn’t exert much strength, but Little Ningmeng and Xiao Jingrui both tried to lift their heads and look forward, seeing Shen Tang and Jiang Chengyu approaching.

The two children’s mouths spread into wide smiles. This smile melted Jiang Chengyu’s heart.