Aunt Wang walked up to the children asleep on the kang bed, taking a careful look at them. Then she tiptoed out of the room and went into the living room to pick up the large bag she had brought with her. While she was taking out items from the bag, she said, "I brought over some millet seeds and also some clothes for the children. I also found some old fabric to make diapers."

Gu Xiaobei looked at the pile of fabric Aunt Wang held in her hands. It was black and yellow, but you could vaguely see that the original color of the fabric was white. The material was too old, she thought, but did not want to call Aunt Wang out on it. So she just smiled awkwardly without saying anything.

Aunt Wang shook the old fabric in her hand. Dust fell out as she commented, "This fabric is better when it’s old. It’s softer."

Not wanting to hurt Aunt Wang’s pride, Gu Xiaobei hesitated before speaking, "We have plenty of diapers for the children. We should save these for winter."

Aunt Wang waved her off, "I noticed the diapers you have stacked on the bed, they’re all made of new cotton fabric. It’s quite a waste. Use these old ones first and save the new ones for later."

Gu Xiaobei had already anticipated this. Sure enough, Aunt Wang held on to her old ways. Even though she meant well, Gu Xiaobei wasn’t too keen on accepting. She simply smiled but said nothing.

After putting away the diapers, Aunt Wang finally sat down to ask Gu Xiaobei, "Are you able to produce enough milk for both babies?"

"They’re little right now, so they don’t eat much. I have enough milk," Gu Xiaobei answered. The moment she mentioned her children, her smile deepened.

Aunt Wang nodded in approval, "Alright, just keep eating well. As the children grow older, they’ll need more to eat."

Just as they were discussing this, one of the kids in the next room started crying. Aunt Wang laughed, "Listen to that voice. I bet it’s the little boy crying."

"You guessed wrong. It’s my little girl who’s crying. My son doesn’t cry when he wakes up," Gu Xiaobei said as she got up to check on the children.

Iin the room, both children had woken up. Xiaopang was crying and kicking about with her chubby little legs. Mo Wang, on the other hand, was staring quietly, listening to his sister’s cries. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Feeling helpless, Gu Xiaobei bent over to pick up Xiaopang first, sitting on the bedside to feed her. Aunt Wang followed her into the room. Seeing the children’s bare legs, she couldn’t help commenting, "You should bandage up their legs to prevent bow legs when they grow up."

A puzzled Gu Xiaobei asked, "How do I bandage them?"

Aunt Wang straightened Mo Wang’s legs and wrapped them with the sheet. She pointed at the knee and calf area, "You need to tie them at these spots with a cloth band."

Concerned for her children, Gu Xiaobei responded, "That would be very uncomfortable for the children when they sleep. They can’t even bend their legs."

Seeing that Mo Wang felt uneasy, Aunt Wang unwrapped the sheet and explained, "This method ensures that their legs grow straight. Without it, their soft bones might cause their legs to become bow-shaped."

Still skeptical, Gu Xiaobei smiled but kept silent. She wouldn’t do as suggested. Aunt Wang took note of Gu Xiaobei’s disbelief, did not press the issue further, and simply picked Mo Wang up, cooing, "This little fellow’s quite adorable."

Only when Xiaopang was done feeding did Gu Xiaobei switch to feed Mo Wang. Aunt Wang picked Xiaopang up again, fussing over her, before asking, "You’ve done this huge favor for the Lu family, why hasn’t your mother-in-law visited yet?"

Recalling her mother-in-law’s words and Lu Zhanguo’s phone call, Gu Xiaobei concluded that her mother-in-law probably had no intention of visiting, "She needs to take care of my father-in-law at home."

Aunt Wang snorted, "If it were me, I’d be overjoyed by such good news. Even it meant giving up a fortune, I’d still want to see my grandchildren."

Gu Xiaobei just smiled. She didn’t feel anything was amiss with her mother-in-law’s attitude. In fact, she felt a peculiar mix of love and fear coexisting within Wen Xiuqing.

That evening, when Lu Zhanguo returned home and after they had dinner, Gu Xiaobei arranged for Aunt Wang to rest in their former bedroom.

Once they had shut the bedroom door and were alone, Gu Xiaobei finally got around to asking Lu Zhanguo, "Have you and dad decided on the children’s names?"

Lu Zhanguo, who had been playing with his daughter’s tiny hand, sat upright at Gu Xiaobei’s question. He looked slightly helpless as he responded, "Yes, dad suggested Lu Haijun for our son and Lu Tingting for our daughter."

"Pffft-" Gu Xiaobei couldn’t help but burst out laughing. She found the daughter’s name quite normal, but the son’s name was worse than the nickname, Mo Wang, she’d come up with.

Lu Zhanguo watched his wife rolling with laughter on the bed and commented, "I think Lu Haijun is a decent name."

Gu Xiaobei shot him a look, "You couldn’t pick a name without military connotations?"

"Well, what should we call them then?" Lu Zhanguo, who was thoroughly smitten by his daughter’s bicycle-like kicking, bent down to play with his daughter again.

"You’ve got a new love now and have forgotten all about me," Gu Xiaobei complained mockingly. Lu Zhanguo had been coming home and picking up their daughter first, forgetting his habit of paying attention to her first.

Lu Zhanguo fell silent. Gu Xiaobei’s convoluted logic left him with no comeback. He moved over to her, stroked her face, and chuckled, "Are you jealous of our daughter too?"

Gu Xiaobei snorted, "That’s what you get for not discussing the children’s names with me properly."

"I’ve thought of two names, but I’m worried you might not agree," Lu Zhanguo hesitated. Previously, Gu Xiaobei had shot down all his suggestions like Lu Xinjian and Lu Qiangjun. Although Gu Xiaobei was bad at coming up with names, she had a good sense of judgement.

"Tell me your suggestions. As long as you steer away from words related to building, strength, military, and such, I’ll accept it," said Gu Xiaobei, who appeared very magnanimous.

"Let’s name our son Lu Beihang and our daughter Lu Xinyan." It took Lu Zhanguo a long time and countless name combinations to find two names that met Gu Xiaobei’s criteria.

Upon hearing the names, Gu Xiaobei found them acceptable. She couldn’t help asking, "Will dad get upset if we went with our own choices after all the effort he put in?"

"He won’t. Dad said he wasn’t completely satisfied with his own suggestions either, and planned to think more about it," Lu Zhanguo discovered, for the first time, that his serious father had such an adorable side to him.

Thus, Mo Wang and Xiaopang’s formal names were easily decided one night when they were about to turn two months old. When it was time for kindergarten, Xiaopang insisted on changing her name because everyone else’s names were easier to write, and took less time than hers. So, she decided to be called Lu Yiyi.

Aunt Wang stayed for two more days. Unable to resist, she reminded Gu Xiaobei several times to bandage their children’s legs. Gu Xiaobei just smiled and did not follow her advice. Aunt Wang worried about overstepping her boundaries as she was not a close relative and hence didn’t press the matter further.

Gu Xiaobei noticed the disappointment flickering in Aunt Wang’s eyes and laughed, "Aunt Wang, your method is good, but I can’t stand to see my children suffering. I don’t have the heart to do it"

Only then did Aunt Wang feel relieved. She laughed, "Of course. They are your flesh and blood. How can you bear to hear them cry?"