Once Zhang Hui and Lin Feng figured out the situation, Zhang Hui gave a wave of her hand and said with a tone of disapproval:
"Look at you, completely clueless and you're already a father? Go on, buy some millet porridge and brown sugar eggs."
"And what about you?" Lin Feng asked, bewildered.
"Me?"
Zhang Hui chuckled. "I'm going back to talk to Lu Qingxue about some women's topics, of course!"
Lin Feng: "..."
"Don't look at your mother with that speechless expression!"
Zhang Hui gave Lin Feng a scornful look.
"You've never been in a relationship, you don't understand women."
Lin Feng: "?????"
After shooing Lin Feng away, Zhang Hui put on a completely different expression and returned to the hospital room.
Lu Qingxue was coaxing the baby. Seeing Zhang Hui enter alone, she smiled awkwardly.
Zhang Hui pulled over a stool, sat down beside Lu Qingxue, and smiled. "Qingxue, I've been through this before, so let me share a few heartfelt words with you."
Hearing this, Lu Qingxue felt her heart tighten. With Lin Feng not here, was this her mother-in-law's way of establishing dominance?
While she was still feeling anxious, Zhang Hui looked at the baby with deep emotion and said:
"For us women, giving birth really is walking through the gates of hell."
"Ten months of pregnancy—men can't help with that. The pain of childbirth—men can't help with that either."
"Precisely because men pay no price at all, so many irresponsible fathers are born in this world."
With that, Zhang Hui turned her gaze to Lu Qingxue and said earnestly, "You silly girl, trying to shoulder everything by yourself—that's not right."
"Getting a father for free—where in the world is there such a good deal?"
"If you ask me, you should make Xiao Feng do everything so that he is truly involved in raising the child."
"Only by experiencing how difficult child-rearing is can he truly understand you, care about you, and be a good father to the child."
Lu Qingxue was stunned for a moment, followed by a surge of warmth.
Auntie really was just as Lin Feng had described—very easy to get along with.
Then came a sense of shame.
Where on earth were there so many evil mothers-in-law? She had simply spent too much time browsing parenting forums and been misled by certain comments.
At that moment, Lu Qingxue smiled gently at Zhang Hui and made up her mind right then and there:
She couldn't be like this anymore. Auntie was treating her with sincerity, and she certainly couldn't let her down.
After saying these things, Zhang Hui took over caring for the baby to give Lu Qingxue some space to think things over.
Lin Feng returned to the hospital room with the food.
As soon as he stepped inside, he saw Lu Qingxue leaning against the head of the bed, watching with a smile as his mother coaxed the baby.
This scene suddenly sent a wave of warmth flowing through his heart.
"Breakfast is here, let's eat."
Lin Feng placed the brown sugar eggs, millet porridge, and sponge cake on the small table in front of Lu Qingxue.
Then, he handed a cup of soy milk and steamed buns to his mom.
"Eat up."
Lin Feng cheerfully shoved a steamed bun into his mouth,
and promptly received an eye-roll from his mother.
"You child, why are you so lacking in basic awareness?"
"Can't you see Qingxue is lying in bed and it's inconvenient for her? Grab a small spoon and feed her!"
Lu Qingxue, who had already picked up the small spoon: "...?"
Lin Feng, with a steamed bun stuck in his mouth: "???!"
"Oh! I'll do it!"
Lin Feng spat out the bun and hurriedly snatched the small spoon from Lu Qingxue's hand.
"Careful, it's hot, let me blow on it."
Forced to open her mouth, Lu Qingxue took a sip of the millet porridge.
"Should I just eat by myself? I'm not that fragile."
Lin Feng whispered very quietly, "Better let me do it, I can't afford to provoke her."
He cast a glance at his mother, who was watching the baby intently, and Lu Qingxue understood instantly. The tips of her ears turned red as she sipped the porridge in small mouthfuls.
"Want a bite of sponge cake?"
"Mmm."
"Want some brown sugar water?"
"Mmm."
"..." Watching the well-behaved young couple, Zhang Hui couldn't suppress the smile at the corners of her mouth. She stood up and said,
"I'm going to take a walk outside and rent an apartment so there's a place for Qingxue to recuperate after she's discharged."
Lu Qingxue swallowed the food in her mouth and said obediently,
"Auntie, I've already rented a place. There's somewhere for me to stay during my confinement."
"Then can you give me the key so I can go make some soup for you?"
Zhang Hui asked for Lu Qingxue's opinion.
"Eating hospital cafeteria food all the time is no solution."
Lu Qingxue nodded and motioned for Lin Feng to bring her bag over.
As he handed over the keys, Lin Feng thought for a moment. "Mom, the nurse said they're taking the baby for a bath soon. If you leave and I leave, Qingxue will be all alone in the room, and I'm worried."
"Why don't you take the babies to their bath first?"
Zhang Hui nodded. Her original intention was just to make space for the two of them to be alone anyway; taking the babies away was even better.
She opened the stroller and settled the two little bundles of joy, smiling warmly. "Qingxue, eat up and think about what Auntie said earlier. I'm taking the babies for their bath."
"Mmm, thank you, Auntie."
Watching his mother's retreating figure, Lin Feng's gaze revealed a hint of solemnity. "Qingxue, while I was gone, what did my mom say to you?"
"N-nothing much..."
Lu Qingxue blushed slightly.
Auntie's words were very appropriate for a young couple managing a marriage and a family, but the problem was that she and Lin Feng weren't a married couple.
Seeing Lu Qingxue looking like this, Lin Feng wanted to press further, but just then a nurse walked in with a folder:
"Family members, please fill out this paperwork carefully. No mistakes allowed."
"This is for setting up the vaccination booklet. The baby is getting vaccinated today."
Lin Feng took the paper and immediately felt somewhat awkward.
"We need to fill in the baby's formal name, plus our ID cards, birth permit, household register, marriage certificate..."
For a moment, Lu Qingxue also felt panicked and awkward. She bit the bullet and asked the nurse, "Can we process this without a marriage certificate?"
This situation happened frequently at the hospital, and the nurse was unfazed. "Just bring whatever documents you do have."
Lin Feng had rushed over in such a hurry that he only had his ID card.
Lu Qingxue, on the other hand, was fully prepared and had her household register and ID card. As Lin Feng took the documents, he happened to glance at them and discovered that Lu Qingxue was a native of Modu.
The nurse took the documents and pointed to a section on the form: "Have you chosen formal names for the babies yet? Fill them in here."
"Ah? Formal names?"
Choosing a nickname and a formal name were completely different things. Besides, Lin Feng and Lu Qingxue weren't even married, and which surname the children should take was also a problem.
Ever since rushing here yesterday, dealing with the birth and taking care of the baby, the two of them had been running around in a frenzy. When would they have had time to think about these things?
The nurse glanced between them and shook her part, saying, "For the vaccination, you can temporarily write 'Child of So-and-So'."
"Do you want to write 'Child of Lu Qingxue' or 'Child of Lin Feng'?"
When this topic came up, Lin Feng couldn't help but look at Lu Qingxue, but before he could speak, he heard her voice:
"Just write 'Child of Lin Feng' and 'Child of Lin Feng'."
Lin Feng was surprised. "Have you thought it through?"
Lu Qingxue nodded with a charming smile. "You really are Ping'an and Ruyi's father! Did that even need thinking about?"
The beauty's smile was breathtaking, dazzling Lin Feng's eyes for a moment.
After a good while, he muttered blankly, "Okay."
To be honest, Lin Feng hadn't expected Lu Qingxue to be so... magnanimous?
After all, in today's society, there were plenty of internet princesses who used children and surname rights as leverage to fight for "rights."
Things like "No generous bride price, no marriage," "Ten months of pregnancy has nothing to do with the father, the child must take the mother's surname," "Childbirth warnings"...
A whole series of rhetoric that left guys shivering in fear.
Yet Lu Qingxue had resolved to give birth to the child on her own, shoulder everything, and not even tell him.
Just thinking about how he had failed to shoulder his responsibilities as a boyfriend, husband, and father from beginning to end filled Lin Feng's heart with heartache for Lu Qingxue.
At that very moment, he truly didn't know what words to use to describe Lu Qingxue.
Watching Lin Feng's dazed expression, the corners of Lu Qingxue's mouth curved slightly.
If Lin Feng hadn't shown up, the child undoubtedly would have been recorded under Lu Qingxue.
However, Lin Feng had come, and he had shouldered his responsibilities as a man and a father, and his mother was so wonderful...
So why shouldn't she try to accept him? "I haven't thought of the children's names yet. You're the father, I'm leaving it to you."
Lu Qingxue blinked at Lin Feng.
A fiery glint flickered in the depths of Lin Feng's eyes, and he nodded softly, "Okay."