With just a light remark from Lin Feng, Lu Qingxue's expression grew somewhat unnatural.
This was starting to feel like a heart-to-heart talk! The problem was, what was there even left to talk about?
Hadn't the most crucial issue—the raising of the children—already been resolved? Seeing the look on Lu Qingxue's face, Lin Feng paused for a moment, smiled, and raised the card in his hand.
"Don't be nervous. I'm just curious, since there's still quite a bit of money on this card."
"But why didn't you... rent an apartment in a nicer neighborhood?"
So that was what he was asking.
Lu Qingxue felt a slight weight lift from her chest, and she replied:
"If you and Mom hadn't come, I was planning to hire a confinement nanny."
"A nanny capable of caring for twins goes for around twelve thousand yuan a month on the market."
"After the nanny's contract ends, I'd still need to hire a regular babysitter, and that's not cheap either—at least six thousand a month."
"Add in living expenses, rent, and all sorts of other miscellaneous costs..."
"When you do the math, even one hundred thousand yuan might not last until the babies turn one..."
"And I still have another year of school left before I can get my diploma and look for a job."
"I just had to pinch every penny."
Hearing this calculation, Lin Feng fell silent.
Confinement nannies, regular babysitters... these were expenses he hadn't even considered.
Earlier, he had thought the sixty thousand yuan in his pocket could pull them through an immediate crisis.
Now, it seemed like a drop in the bucket.
He really had to find a way to make money! Seeing Lin Feng fall silent, Lu Qingxue grew somewhat nervous.
Had she put too much pressure on Lin Feng by saying all that? After all, she was the one who had stubbornly insisted on having these children...
"Lin Feng."
Lu Qingxue brightened into a smile and said cheerfully, "You don't need to overthink it. The situation is different now."
"With Mom here, we'll save on the nanny's wages."
"As long as you can pitch in a hand from time to time, I'm confident I can take good care of the two babies without a babysitter."
"I won't let my studies slip either. The moment I get my diploma, I'll go straight to work."
"Everything is only going to get better!"
Hearing this, Lin Feng looked up in surprise at Lu Qingxue.
When he met her comforting gaze, a sudden ache pierced his heart.
Any other woman in her position would likely have ranted about how much she had sacrificed and how much she had suffered.
At the very least, she would have used these financial figures to aggressively push him to "aspire to greatness."
Yet this silly Lu Qingxue took everything upon her own shoulders.
"Idiot..."
Lin Feng slowly exhaled a breath.
He wanted to reach out and ruffle Lu Qingxue's hair, but a second later, feeling it wasn't appropriate, he pulled his hand back.
"I—"
Before Lu Qingxue could finish, Lin Feng interrupted her: "Qingxue, your top priority right now isn't taking care of the babies, nor is it worrying about making money—it's recovering your health."
"Later on, I'll find a place that's better suited for recuperation and raising the babies, and we'll move in."
"I might not have any other special skills, Lin Feng, but I promise you this."
"I will wholeheartedly take good care of the babies and shoulder the family's expenses."
"Next semester, you just focus on going back to school and finishing your degree."
Looking at Lin Feng's utterly sincere expression, a warm current surged up in Lu Qingxue's chest, slowly spreading through her entire body and wrapping her in a sense of safety.
"I—"
She tried to open her mouth to say something, only to find herself choked with emotion.
She had originally thought that by making this decision and leaving home, her future would be nothing more than a solitary battle.
She never expected to gain a reliable comrade-in-arms...
Taking a deep breath, and another, Lu Qingxue stammered, "Am—am I going to be a burden to you?"
Lin Feng chuckled, "What on earth is going on inside that little head of yours?"
Lu Qingxue lowered her head, nervously twisting the hem of her shirt:
"But... you'll want to fall in love, get married, and have children of your own someday."
Lin Feng was taken aback and rubbed the back of his head: "Wait... was I not being subtle enough?"
At that, Lu Qingxue looked at him with clear eyes.
For some reason, his mother's words suddenly echoed in Lin Feng's mind—
You've never been in a relationship; you don't understand women.
"..."
Lin Feng's brain spun at lightning speed. Among the people he knew, the one with the most dating experience was none other than Yu Hao.
During their college years, the number of girlfriends Yu Hao had brought out for them to meet was at least ten...
If Yu Hao were in his shoes, what would he do? He seemed to remember Yu Hao sharing some dating advice in the past, saying that different women required different approaches, but regardless of the woman, the moment she started feeling sorry for a man, you were not far from winning her over...
"Hiss—"
With a grave expression, Lin Feng told Lu Qingxue, "My heart has turned to stone."
"Huh?" Lu Qingxue abruptly gripped the hem of her shirt tighter.
With a sorrowful look, Lin Feng recounted how Liu Ruyan had treated his confession like a joke and toyed with him.
"—So, right now, all I want is to raise Ping'an and Ruyi properly, and I'm not thinking about anything else."
Listening to this, Lu Qingxue felt a tumultuous mix of emotions, her chest growing faintly damp.
"That's awful! How could there be such a person in this world?"
"Lin Feng, don't give up on romance just because of this. There are still good girls out there."
"At the very least, many of the girls I—I know aren't like that!"
Seeing Lin Feng staring intently at her as she spoke, Lu Qingxue's face flushed slightly. "Don't worry, if I get the chance, I'll definitely help you get your dignity back!"
Lin Feng grinned, "You really are a good person."
"Is that so..."
The tips of Lu Qingxue's ears turned quietly red. Feeling dazzled by his smile, she didn't dare raise her head.
Right at that moment, the sound of bustling footsteps echoed from the doorway.
Her eyes seemed to have finally found a place to rest as she looked toward the entrance.
"Time for rounds. Lu Qingxue, right?"
Routine identity check complete, Doctor Zhao, Lu Qingxue's attending physician, opened his record book:
"Did you get out of bed today?"
"Yes, I went to the bathroom twice."
Lu Qingxue felt a quiet sense of gratitude; Lin Feng and Mom had taken such good care of her, racing to do every little task.
Aside from eating, using the restroom, and feeding the babies, she had nothing else to do.
Who would have thought that Doctor Zhao would look at Lin Feng with a slight frown?
"New mothers need to get out of bed and walk around more so that the residual lochia in the uterus can be properly discharged. Why aren't you pushing her to do it?"
"Huh?"
Lin Feng scratched his head. This genuinely touched on a blind spot in his knowledge.
"Yesterday the nurse told us to take a medicinal bath, saying the mother's vital energy and blood were depleted and she'd easily faint if she stood up, so I didn't let her get out of bed."
Hearing this reason, Doctor Zhao's expression softened considerably, and he smiled. "Well, you shouldn't throw the baby out with the bathwater. She still needs to get up and walk around. If you're worried she'll faint, just support her."
"Besides, this isn't just about clearing out the lochia; it also helps prevent blood clots."
"Not long ago, a new mother's family protected her too well, and she basically stayed in bed the entire month of her confinement. Ended up dying from a deep vein thrombosis."
This was the first time Lin Feng had ever heard of such a thing, and his expression instantly turned tense: "It's that serious?!"
Even Lu Qingxue beside him wore a look of lingering fear.
Seeing that his patients had taken his words to heart, Doctor Zhao moved on to the next topic: "How are the babies feeding? What's the frequency of their bowel movements and urination?"
Once Lin Feng answered each question in turn, Doctor Zhao nodded in satisfaction.
"The father is quite attentive. He's not the kind who is completely clueless."
"Alright, the mother and the babies are all doing very well. We'll observe them for at most two more days, and then you can be discharged."
Hearing this, Lin Feng frowned.
If they were being discharged after two more days of observation, he really needed to speed up the apartment hunting! Besides, moving house with two newborns was going to be a hassle.
Every single detail required careful consideration.