Du Heng was too shy to say anything, but Dong Yuezhang cheerily recounted the earlier incident, causing Wang Shizhen to burst into laughter. She turned to Du Heng and said, "You seem to love kids so much, why don’t you have one? Among our classmates, you seem to be the last one, right?" 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Dong Yuezhang laughed and added, "Among our university classmates, he’s the only one not married. Even our playa friend got married on June 1st."

Du Heng, feeling at a loss, looked at the two of them. "Why are you rushing me? During the National Day celebration, make sure to bring a gift. I plan on recouping all the gift money I’ve given away these past few years without receiving any in return."

Wang Shizhen laughed and sat down on a stool, pulling the little girl close to her. She whispered, "This uncle is not a bad person. He’s a doctor, and a very good one at that."

"Is he better than you, Auntie?"

"Of course, he’s even better than five of me combined." Wang Shizhen chuckled again, patting the little girl’s head.

Concerned that he might scare the child, Du Heng didn’t converse any further with her and instead started chatting with the other two.

When Wang Shizhen’s cousin came out with their medicine and left, Du Heng watched the little girl’s retreating figure and said, "She’s such a good girl. I would love to have a daughter too."

Dong Yuezhang chuckled. "Then you better start trying. Of us four brothers, I have two sons, Jin has one son, and now we’re just waiting for children from you and Wei. You two need to step up your game and have a girl, then we can arrange a child marriage."

"Dream on." Du Heng didn’t even have a daughter yet, but Dong Yuezhang’s words already made him feel a pang of jealousy. He rolled his eyes at Dong Yuezhang, then turned to Wang Shizhen and asked, "Earlier, with the little girl present, I didn’t feel it was appropriate to ask, but I noticed she’s a bit pale. Is she ill?"

Wang Shizhen sighed slightly. "My cousin has been raising little Xixi all by himself. Because she was born prematurely, I don’t know what part of her didn’t develop properly. If you’re not careful even for a moment, she starts to get nosebleeds, and they can be quite frightening.

"Fortunately, she’s a really good girl. Otherwise, I don’t know if my cousin would have been able to cope until now."

Upon hearing this, Du Heng also sighed faintly. "Hasn’t she been taken to the hospital to get it checked?"

"Yes, they said the capillary walls in her nasal cavity are too thin. But I don’t think that’s it." Wang Shizhen sounded a little disappointed. "It’s just that my skills are too limited; I really can’t identify the problem."

"You should have let me examine her earlier. Since you didn’t mention it, I didn’t want to offer proactively."

Wang Shizhen slapped his forehead in realization. "Oh dear, Xixi’s problem has been going on for so long that if you hadn’t brought it up, I would have forgotten about it. It just didn’t occur to me to ask you to take a look at her.

"How about this: later, during the banquet, I’ll mention it to my cousin and ask his opinion. Then, perhaps you could help examine her?"

Du Heng nodded. "Sure, no problem."

Their relationship was such that they didn’t need to waste words on pleasantries; the matter was settled directly. Afterward, the three of them resumed their casual chat.

Soon, the conversation gradually shifted from general chit-chat to a discussion between Dong Yuezhang and Wang Shizhen about rural development in the mountainous areas. However, this topic didn’t last long either.

In the village, the main banquets usually start around eleven-thirty. Du Heng and Dong Yuezhang were considered Wang Shiyuan’s guests of honor, so he came directly to the clinic to invite them, insisting they join the first seating.

The modern multi-course banquet typically features eight cold dishes and eight hot dishes as standard, concluding with a final soup to round off the meal.

In the old days, when conditions were poor, there would only be one or two substantial dishes; the rest were common fare like mushrooms stir-fried with meat or garlic scapes stir-fried with meat. If conditions were even worse, it would just be a simple bowl dish with radish, vermicelli, a few slices of pork, and two meatballs.

Nowadays, people’s lives are generally more affluent, and competitive displays of extravagance are common. The dishes are increasingly lavish, and all freshly prepared.

The banquet Wang Shiyuan had prepared today was in this league, truly sumptuous. It was so rich that Du Heng and Dong Yuezhang found that after the first couple of dishes, they couldn’t manage much more.

It was all meat, far too greasy.

However, leaving the table early is considered very impolite. So, the two of them could only take a token bite of each dish as it was served, then put down their chopsticks and watch, enduring it all until the very end.

Once the concluding soup was served, they dispensed with formalities and went straight to the main hall. They placed the red envelopes they had prepared into the baby’s arms. Neither of their red envelopes was particularly large, just 500 yuan each. However, one of them also gifted a pair of silver bracelets, and the other a peace lock. All told, these gifts amounted to about two to three thousand yuan.

Du Heng gazed at the pink and tender baby, feeling a genuine affection for her from the bottom of his heart.

Moreover, he had heard from Dong Yuezhang that the baby was born prematurely, so he secretly gave the child a quick check-up. He found no issues; she was very healthy, which made his smile even brighter.

After attending to the guests outside, Wang Shiyuan came back in to look after Du Heng and Dong Yuezhang, inviting them to sit and have a cup of tea.

But when the two saw relatives who had finished eating heading back into the room, they quickly bid their farewell, saying they had other matters to attend to, and left directly.

"Let’s go," Du Heng said. "We should head to my classmate’s place and sit for a while. After I examine the child, we can head back."

"Alright," Dong Yuezhang replied. "I took the day off today specifically to relax properly."