Upon seeing Lu Zhanguo awake, Gu Xiaobei held his hand tightly and remained silent, her face filled with grievance.

Lu Zhanguo cleared his throat and spoke lightly, his voice somewhat hoarse, "Where’s Xiaopang? Are they here too?"

At his words, Gu Xiaobei wanted to scold him. The first thing this man did upon waking up was not to show concern for her but to ask about his precious daughter.

Gu Xiaobei kept silent with pursed lips, picked up the cup from the bedside table, dipped a cotton swab into the water and began to gently wipe Lu Zhanguo’s dry, chapped lips.

Seeing Gu Xiaobei’s pout, Lu Zhanguo was a bit confused since he hadn’t said anything inappropriate. He couldn’t help but ask, "Why are you upset?" Each word he spoke made his chest hurt.

"I’m just being silly. Ignore me, I’ll be fine soon." Gu Xiaobei suddenly found her childishness amusing and only after a pause did she reveal, "Xiaopang and Mo Wang are at the guesthouse. Fengmei and Chunling are helping look after them."

Lu Zhanguo nodded. He had just woken up and still felt weak. After a few words, he fell into a deep sleep again.

With the two children at the guesthouse on her mind, Gu Xiaobei left a message with the doctor and hurried off as soon as Lu Zhanguo fell asleep.

Since Liu Hongbing had driven them to the hospital and returned to his unit, Gu Xiaobei had no choice but to run the kilometer back to the guesthouse.

As soon as Gu Xiaobei entered the hallway of the guesthouse, she heard Xiaopang’s cries and hastily rushed into the room.

Seeing Gu Xiaobei carrying a smile on her face, Li Fengmei and Wu Guanghan heaved a sigh of relief, knowing that Lu Zhanguo was out of danger. Li Fengmei, while cradling Xiaopang and lightly rocking him, said, "These two children refused to take formula milk and have been starving waiting for you to come back. Mo Wang is doing better, only whimpering, but Xiaopang hasn’t stopped crying at all."

Distressed, Gu Xiaobei quickly washed her hands and took over the baby. Seeing this, Wu Guanghan left the room and Gu Xiaobei then began to breastfeed Xiaopang. The moment Xiaopang latched onto the milk, he gave a satisfied grunt and started sucking vigorously. While feeding Xiaopang, Gu Xiaobei gently touched Mo Wang’s face in Ge Chunling’s arms.

"Is the squad leader okay now?" Li Fengmei finally asked about Lu Zhanguo’s condition.

Gu Xiaobei smiled and nodded, "He’s fine now. He woke up a while ago and the doctor checked him and said his condition is very good."

Li Fengmei laughed as she wiped her tears, saying, "It really scared us to death. Our hearts have been in our mouths all morning."

"It’s okay, it was just a scare. Lu Zhanguo is lucky, he managed to cheat death once again," Gu Xiaobei admitted, feeling somewhat frightened. Thankfully, they had been favored by fate.

After feeding Xiaopang, Gu Xiaobei switched to Mo Wang and then said to Li Fengmei, "I want to take the kids to see Lu Zhanguo. He hasn’t seen them in a long time and he misses them."

Li Fengmei hesitated before responding, "I think we should wait for now. The hospital is a dirty place. The kids are still so small, I wouldn’t want them to catch anything."

Gu Xiaobei didn’t believe in such things, but considering the hospital was filled with sick people and there were all kinds of germs in the air, indeed it wouldn’t be wise to bring such small children there.

Ge Chunling agreed, "The kids are too small. In this severe winter, they should stay indoors as much as possible. Also, the squad leader will be hospitalized for a while, and you can’t keep staying in the guesthouse."

Ge Chunling’s words reminded Gu Xiaobei, indeed, they wouldn’t be able to return to the hospital in this short time. Staying in a guesthouse was also inconvenient, and it wouldn’t provide the necessary conditions to care for Lu Zhanguo.

Gu Xiaobei thought for a moment and said, "We’ll have to rent a house nearby the hospital, that would be more convenient."

Ge Chunling nodded, "That’s what I think, too. Aunt Fengmei could go home since she has children there, I will stay to help you look after the kids. That way, you can take care of the squad leader properly."

At this point, Gu Xiaobei didn’t have any other options and had to ask Ge Chunling to stay and help her.

Only when both children were full did they contentedly fall asleep. Gu Xiaobei then realized how hungry she was, her stomach was sticking to her back. Since last night, she hadn’t had even a sip of water due to the intense urgency. Luckily, she had a strong body, and there was milk. Otherwise, the kids would have gone hungry too.

"Is there anything to eat? I’m starving," Gu Xiaobei asked Li Fengmei.

"Yes, Guanghan bought some sesame cakes this morning. There are two left, eat these first," Li Fengmei said as she handed the sesame cakes on the table to Gu Xiaobei.

Gu Xiaobei quickly finished one, then picked up the jar of warm water and gulped it down. Only then did she feel that there was something in her stomach.

Seeing Gu Xiaobei wolfing down the sesame cakes, Li Fengmei said, "While the kids are sleeping, go get some noodles to eat, otherwise, there won’t be any milk for the kids this afternoon."

After catching her breath, Gu Xiaobei said, "Okay, I’ll also look for a suitable house and strive to get back before the children wake up."

"You don’t have to rush back, Chunling and I are here, and we can quiet them down for a while. Why don’t Guanghan go with you to check out houses?" Li Fengmei suggested.

Gu Xiaobei shook her head, saying, "No need. Let him stay and help you here. If you need to buy anything, he can run errands." After saying this, Gu Xiaobei immediately left to look for a house, not pausing to rest.

Once out of the guesthouse, Gu Xiaobei ate a bowl of noodles first. She feared that there wouldn’t be enough milk in the afternoon, and thus forced herself to finish a large bowl. After putting down the bowl, she hurried back to the hospital, and upon seeing Lu Zhanguo still asleep, she finally left the hospital relieved to look for houses in the nearby residential area.

In that era, there weren’t many people who would rent out their houses. Gu Xiaobei asked several people but none of them were renting out. Feeling a bit discouraged, she stood at the entrance of the steel factory’s residential area opposite the hospital, ready to burst into tears. Renting a house seemed so difficult.

Jiang Jiahua, who was preparing to go to work, saw Gu Xiaobei standing at the roadside with a look of despair, like a helpless child, and approached in surprise, "Comrade Xiao Gu, what are you doing here?"

Seeing Jiang Jiahua who suddenly appeared before her eyes, Gu Xiaobei was a bit startled. She sniffed and forced a smile, "Editor Jiang, what a coincidence running into you here."

"Did something happen to you?" Jiang Jiahua asked worriedly, seeing the forced smile on Gu Xiaobei’s face.

"My partner has been hospitalized, and I want to rent a house near here to take care of him conveniently," Gu Xiaobei said with a small smile.

To her surprise, Jiang Jiahua laughed and said, "There’s nothing serious with your partner, right? I happen to have a vacant house in the next residential area. If it doesn’t bother you, you can live there."

At this moment, Gu Xiaobei was in a hurry, and said without thinking, "How much is the rent? I’ll give you the money."

Jiang Jiahua waved his hand and laughed, "It’s empty anyway, why take any money? All the necessities are available in the house; you can move in directly."

Gu Xiaobei didn’t argue about the rent. She could leave some money in the house when they left later.