The 1970s: Married First, Fell in Love Later-Chapter 195 - 194: Cross-Generational Affection

That evening, Huang Ying planned to sleep with Zhang Qian and the baby, thinking it would be easier to take care of them at night.

Zhang Qian didn’t refuse, but she reminded her, "Mom, this little guy can be a handful at night. You won’t get much rest. Why don’t you sleep in the same room as Dad?"

’They’re already exhausted after a two-day train ride,’ Zhang Qian thought.

Huang Ying smiled. "It’s fine. What baby doesn’t fuss at night? He’s probably either hungry or needs a diaper change. I have experience."

Zhang Qian could only smile and nod. "All right, let’s get some sleep then."

Sure enough, just as Huang Ying was drifting off, she heard the baby cry. She quickly opened her eyes and sat up.

She turned to see that Zhang Qian was also awake. Huang Ying waved a hand at her. "You go back to sleep. Let me see if he’s wet his diaper."

Huang Ying took a look, and sure enough, the diaper was soaked. She changed the baby’s diaper, but unfortunately, the little guy’s eyes fluttered open.

Huang Ying leaned in curiously and whispered, "Sweetheart, I’m your grandma."

Tun Tun looked at her, then glanced from side to side as if searching for something, and then started crying again.

’Could he be hungry?’ Huang Ying thought. She picked up the baby, went over to lift Zhang Qian’s nightgown, and helped her get into position. Tun Tun latched onto his source of milk and began to eat greedily.

Just ten-odd minutes later, he seemed to be full and pushed away with his little hands.

Huang Ying placed him back in his crib.

After eating his fill, the baby lay there with his eyes wide open and started playing by himself.

One moment he was grabbing at his hands, the next at his feet, all while gurgling and drooling.

Huang Ying sat and played with him for a while, but she soon started yawning. She glanced at the time; it was almost midnight. Looking at Tun Tun, who was still wide-eyed with no sign of sleepiness, she said softly, "Sweetheart, it’s getting late. Let’s go to sleep."

Tun Tun, of course, couldn’t understand her. Huang Ying had no choice but to pick him up and pace the floor, rocking him gently.

But just a moment after she picked him up, Tun Tun started whimpering and crying.

Huang Ying paced back and forth, holding him and crooning, "Shh, shh, go to sleep, sweetheart, go to sleep."

Tun Tun kept fussing. When Huang Ying tried putting him down, she saw him open his teary eyes, let out a few little gassy toots, and then stop crying.

Helpless, Huang Ying could only sit beside the crib and watch him.

In the time that followed, he wet his diaper again and had another feeding. It wasn’t until after two in the morning that Tun Tun finally tired himself out and fell asleep on his own.

Huang Ying was so sleepy she could barely keep her eyes open.

The next morning, Xue Xingzhou came to check on the baby. "Mom, did Tun Tun give you any trouble last night?"

Huang Ying asked him, "Does he have his days and nights mixed up? Why won’t he sleep? He gets even more energetic after he eats. He didn’t fall asleep on his own until after two in the morning. I tried to rock him to sleep, but he just cried his eyes out in my arms."

Xue Xingzhou looked at his soundly sleeping son. "Not exactly. He plays when he’s awake during the day, too. It’s just that every night after his feeding, he’ll play for an hour or two. I forgot to tell you last night. From now on, if he’s wide awake in the middle of the night, you can just put him on the big bed between us. We’ll sleep on either side and just let him play. He’ll fall asleep on his own when he gets tired."

Huang Ying waved her hand dismissively. "No, no, I’ll watch him." She still wasn’t comfortable letting the baby play by himself without an adult’s supervision.

"But you won’t get any rest that way."

Huang Ying smiled. "It’s fine. We have a nanny at home, so I can nap during the day. Besides, I’m getting older. I don’t need that much sleep anyway."

Hearing this, Xue Xingzhou didn’t press the issue.

Zhang Hongjie and Huang Ying had been in Beijing City for about a week, and it was time for them to head back.

Zhang Hongjie had to get back to work and couldn’t be away for too long. Huang Ying held Tun Tun, not wanting to let her grandson go.

They say there’s a special bond between grandparents and grandchildren, and it was certainly true in this case. In the few days they were there, Zhang Hongjie and Huang Ying’s world revolved around the baby. He was all they talked about.

And now that they were about to leave, the baby was still the one they couldn’t bear to part with.

As for Zhang Qian, the old couple was quite at ease. They had been there long enough to see that the entire family doted on their daughter and the baby, so there was no need for them to give any parting advice.

As before, Xue Xingzhou took them to the station and watched their train pull away.

Schools were beginning to let out for summer vacation. Xue Yue had a final exam that day and left a bit late. On her way home, she ran into Niu Hongjun, who was also leaving campus.

When Niu Hongjun saw Xue Yue, he asked, "You had an exam today, too?"

Xue Yue nodded.

Niu Hongjun fell into step on Xue Yue’s right. They were heading down the same road, and their families were neighbors, so Xue Yue couldn’t exactly tell him to go away. She just really disliked the guy, so she quickened her pace. Niu Hongjun immediately quickened his to match.

"I heard your husband sells clothes. That makes him self-employed, right? That’s not a very good job. Not like us—we’ll be assigned official jobs after graduation," Niu Hongjun said, talking as if to himself.

Xue Yue just twitched her lips and grunted in acknowledgement.

"By the way, you’re not from around here, are you? Where’s your hometown?"

"Black Province."

"Black Province, huh? I hear it gets really cold there, that winter lasts for several months out of the year. Is that true?"

Xue Yue grunted again.

Niu Hongjun looked at Xue Yue. "How pitiful. Not like my home, Yun Province. It’s like spring all year round."

Xue Yue pressed her lips together, her patience wearing thin. ’What’s so pitiful about cold weather?’ she thought. ’And doesn’t this guy ever shut up? This small talk between two people who barely know each other is so cringey.’ All she wanted was to get home as quickly as possible.

But just as they were nearing the entrance to their alley, Niu Hongjun suddenly reached out and grabbed her arm. Xue Yue yelped in shock and violently wrenched her arm away.

"What are you doing?" Xue Yue glared at him, furious. She could feel goosebumps prickling on the spot he had touched.

Niu Hongjun raised his hands and took a step back, feigning helplessness. "I didn’t mean anything by it. I just wanted to tell you that a few of my classmates want to get to know you, and they asked me to introduce you."

Xue Yue said, displeased, "I don’t know your classmates, and I have no interest in meeting them. Don’t you dare touch me again, or I’ll scream."

Niu Hongjun smirked. "I didn’t do anything to you. Why would you scream? Besides, we’re a man and a woman all alone here. If someone saw us, who knows whose side they’d take? And dressed the way you are, they might even say you were trying to seduce me."

"Bullshit! What’s wrong with me wearing a dress? Plenty of women on the street are wearing dresses. Are they all out trying to seduce someone? You’re the one with a filthy mind!" Xue Yue was floored by his shamelessness.

Niu Hongjun gave her another once-over. "I was just giving an example. What are you so angry about? You women are so petty."

Then he turned and walked away.

Xue Yue stood there, fuming as she watched him walk away. If she weren’t certain she couldn’t win a fight against him, she would have marched right up and torn his foul mouth off.