How I Tamed My Wolfish Husband Back in 80s-Chapter 167 - 169: Decision_1

Li Qiao thought to herself, what’s there to discuss? The child definitely couldn’t be kept.

Just one night of disturbance had almost driven her insane. If it were like this every day, wouldn’t she become mentally exhausted? "Grandma, we can’t raise the child."

As the words fell,

the child seemed to sense abandonment, his face turning red with crying.

Li Qiao could not bear it, the child had just been born and knew nothing, yet was already facing the cruelty of human nature.

The child’s cries grew louder and louder.

Old Mrs. Qin felt upset, but her rationality was still in place, firmly refusing to keep the child.

The village chief had no other solution, so he came up with an idea: "The child was found in our village, and with dozens of households here, we surely can afford to raise one child. Let’s draw lots, and whoever gets the marked one will take the child."

Except for Old Mrs. Qin and Li Qiao, everyone else was eager to draw lots.

This child was like a little grain vault.

Yu Feng, with her thick skin, also wanted to draw, but the village chief scolded her away, and when she threw a fit on the ground, she was carried out of the yard by the brigade’s people.

When Li Qiao and Old Mrs. Qin saw that the child had a possible place to go, they prepared to leave, but the village chief stopped them: "You two are also from the village, you have to draw!" He thought to himself, child, whether you can be reborn into the Top Scholar’s family all depends on your luck now.

Li Qiao: "..."

Old Mrs. Qin: "..."

As it involved a matter of the village, Li Qiao and Old Mrs. Qin couldn’t stay out of it.

The brigade leader prepared the slips of paper, and everyone lined up, eager to draw, but they all drew blank slips, and murmurs of regret echoed among them.

When it was the Qin family’s turn, the village chief called out twice before Old Mrs. Qin moved.

She silently prayed for ancestral protection, hoping not to draw the child.

She stretched out her arm to take a slip of paper, and the village chief immediately grabbed it and opened it, revealing a marked one. He smiled: "Auntie, the child is yours now, it’s Heaven’s will, nobody else has such luck, only you do."

Old Mrs. Qin: "..." Her hand was really too unlucky. "Qiaoqiao, what do we do now?"

Li Qiao: "What else can we do? Just raise it for now." With so many people in the village as witnesses, they couldn’t go back on their word.

Everyone was extremely envious; the Qin family wasn’t short of money or food, getting a child would make them even more prosperous.

Village chief: "Auntie, take the child and go home!"

Old Mrs. Qin sighed, troubled: "Our family really isn’t a good place to raise a child."

Yu Feng, who had been observing from outside, said: "My family has ready-made food, if you don’t let me raise it, won’t it cause trouble when the biological parents come looking?"

Village chief, sternly: "Is it your family’s?"

Yu Feng dared not respond: "No."

"Then why do you care if they make a fuss?" The village chief’s words shut up Yu Feng. He continued: "This child will carry the Qin surname from now on, and has nothing to do with your family! If you claim the child as yours later on, the whole village won’t agree."

Everyone chimed in agreement.

Yu Feng thought to herself, how could this be? Isn’t this bullying?

...

Old Mrs. Qin brought the child home, and as soon as she entered, the child cried again, causing her head to explode. "Cry, cry, cry, that’s all you know how to do!"

But the little baby couldn’t care less about the adult’s mood - she was hungry.

"Oh! Qiaoqiao, aren’t you going to work?" Old Mrs. Qin suddenly remembered Li Qiao still had things to do.

Li Qiao hadn’t slept well at night and was drowsy; how could she have the energy to work? "I’ll make up an excuse tomorrow."

Old Mrs. Qin: "The child hasn’t eaten anything since he was born, you watch him, I’m going to cook some rice porridge."

Although Li Qiao was reluctant to raise someone else’s child, she didn’t want to do things half-heartedly: "Can such a small child survive on rice porridge? I’ll go to the supply and marketing cooperative and buy some milk powder to feed him."

"Don’t know how much it’ll cost." Old Mrs. Qin sighed faintly, milk powder wasn’t cheap after all.

"I’ll go ask." Li Qiao took some change and rode her bicycle to the supply and marketing cooperative.

There was only one kind of infant milk powder available, one yuan and twenty cents per bag, no ration ticket needed. She bought one bag. She also purchased a baby bottle and asked Gao Dagang to buy a roll of cloth to make a few clothes for the child.

Gao Dagang: "Whose child was born in your family?"

"It’s a long story; I’ll tell you when I have time." Li Qiao took the items and hurried away.

When she got home, Old Mrs. Qin said the child had pooped, a black mass.

Li Qiao held her forehead; was there a need to tell her that?

The baby had emptied her stomach and was hungry, crying again.

As Li Qiao was preparing the milk powder, next-door Yu Feng came over, catching a glimpse of a green glass bottle in Li Qiao’s hands with a white substance inside, half a bottle of what she guessed was milk. Yu Feng thought gleefully, what luck for the baby to have good milk from birth. "If you’re short on food at home, you can bring the baby to my place to feed."

"Get lost! False kindness." Old Mrs. Qin picked up a broom.

Yu Feng turned and ran, "If you don’t appreciate it, why hit someone?"

Li Qiao looked down on Yu Feng with disdain, checked the milk temperature by dropping a couple of drops on the back of her hand to make sure it wasn’t too hot before putting the bottle in the child’s mouth.

The child latched onto the nipple and sucked with all its might.

Old Mrs. Qin looked at Li Qiao, indeed, her daughter-in-law was attentive. If it had been her mixing the milk, she might not have remembered to check the temperature. She looked at the child whose face turned red with the exertion of drinking too zealously, "This child has quite the strength."

Li Qiao said, "Later, we can take her to the hospital in the city for a check-up."

Old Mrs. Qin heaved a sigh, "Ah." The child was so young; she hoped there weren’t any problems.

The child, fully satisfied, fell asleep.

The grandmother and granddaughter cleaned up and took her for a physical examination in the city. She weighed just four pounds, a bit small, but the doctor did a physical assessment, and other than the weight not being normal, the child was healthy. She was likely a full-term baby who hadn’t received adequate nutrition, hence the insufficient weight.

Li Qiao and Old Mrs. Qin were relieved.

On the way back, Old Mrs. Qin said, "Qiaoqiao, should we take a leave of absence while we’re at it?"

Li Qiao replied, "We can take care of it tomorrow." It was hot outside, so it was better to return early to avoid the heat affecting the child.

When they got home, Old Mrs. Qin borrowed a sewing machine from someone in the neighborhood to make baby bibs for the child.

Li Qiao took out her old, thick clothes to sun, planning to repurpose them as diapers.

The aunties working by the door commented:

"This child is quite well-behaved, doesn’t make a peep."

Li Qiao replied, "What is there to cry about when full?"

"Qiaoqiao, what will the child call you? Mom?"

Yu Feng was eavesdropping behind the door.

Li Qiao had never thought about what the child should call her. The village head had given the child to them through a lottery, and it remained to be seen whether Qin Jin agreed or not. "Well... call me ’mom.’"

"’Mom’? Hahaha, where did this trendy word come from?"

Li Qiao laughed, "A lot of people in the city call it that."

"Are you really going to take her to university with you?"

Li Qiao replied, "What else can I do? Once we’re there, we can see if we can find a good family for her."

Yu Feng couldn’t hold back any longer and burst out from behind the door, "The child was given to you to raise by the village; how could you hand her over to someone else?"

Yu Cuiying stared at Yu Feng, "Sis, is it your child or not? If she’s yours, take her back. Li Qiao is young enough to have her own, isn’t she? Aren’t you just making trouble for her?"

Yu Feng protested, "It really isn’t mine! How rare are twins? How could I bear to abandon one? Besides, have you compared them? They don’t look alike."

This was also why everybody was uncertain; twins had never appeared in the village before. Wouldn’t any family be happy, no matter the gender, if they had twins?

And yes, everyone had seen that the two children indeed didn’t look much alike.

Li Qiao snorted coldly. Fraternal twins don’t look the same. But even if she talked her mouth off, Yu Feng wouldn’t want this child anymore.

Better rest than spend time arguing with such a person. Li Qiao went back to her room to sleep while the child was still asleep.

When she woke up, the child was lying on her side facing her, looking a bit lost.

Yesterday’s wrinkled and homely appearance had smoothed out to be more pleasing to the eye, yet her complexion was still a bit dark.

Her grandmother said they needed to let the child sleep well in the next few days. Li Qiao started fixing her sleeping posture.

As the child sensed someone near, she opened her mouth to cry.

Li Qiao lifted her to console her but then heard the sound of water. She felt a slight burning sensation on her skin.

Li Qiao’s face turned green. The child had urinated on her.

She put the child down, changed clothes, and prepared milk powder for her.

After feeding, the child looked tipsily adorable.

Old Mrs. Qin returned at this time, holding two baby bibs in her hand and immediately put one on the child.

The child, well-fed and not fussy, lay quietly on the bed, her eyes roving around.

Old Mrs. Qin inspected, "I didn’t notice this morning, but she actually has big, double-lidded eyes. She’s quite pretty."

Li Qiao mentioned, "She resembles Feng Hu. His eyes aren’t small."

Old Mrs. Qin said disdainfully, "Hopefully she won’t resemble his family; bad luck! Child, you need to grow into your own looks, you hear?"

The child kicked her little legs as if to agree.

The grandmother and granddaughter were amused and laughed.

"This child is clever!" exclaimed Old Mrs. Qin.

......