How I Tamed My Wolfish Husband Back in 80s-Chapter 404 - 406: Bad Idea_1

The child in Li Jinhua’s arms cried, with a voice so feeble it sounded like a cat meowing.

She hadn’t really participated in postpartum confinement and had been preoccupied with the idea of switching babies. The scant amounts of breast milk she had were nowhere near enough to satisfy the child’s hunger.

She asked Old Mrs. Qin, "Old Mrs. Qin, do you have any baby formula at your home?"

Old Mrs. Qin replied, "Aren’t you asking the obvious?" On the table in Qiaoqiao’s room lay more than a dozen bags of formula and three clean baby bottles.

Li Jinhua bit her lip, "I was hoping to borrow some to feed the child."

Old Mrs. Qin shouted into the room, "Jin, mix a bottle of formula for Jinhua’s child."

Li Jiaojiao said, "Doesn’t Qiaoqiao have any breast milk by now?"

Old Mrs. Qin, "She had it the day after she gave birth, but the child doesn’t want to drink it." He always avoids her mouth when she tries to feed him, as if embarrassed.

"Odd, in my family, they find it themselves."

Li Jinhua suspected Old Mrs. Qin was saving face for Li Qiao; what child wouldn’t drink breast milk? More likely, she didn’t have any.

......

Inside the house, Qin Jin was very unwilling.

Li Qiao, "Just mix it. The crying’s bothering our son."

Qin Jin looked down, seeing his son’s furrowed brow, and couldn’t help but smile, "My son really does resemble me."

Blood ties are indeed miraculous.

No wonder they say it’s important to carry on the family name; he saw his own reflection in his son.

He mixed the formula consistent with his own child’s portions.

Li Shengcai commented, "That’s so little, not even enough for an adult to take one sip." Stingy.

Qin Jin, "You just said adult; is a child an adult? Take it or leave it."

Li Jinhua touched the baby bottle and put it to the child’s mouth. The child, being extremely hungry, quickly finished the milk.

Yet, he continued to fuss.

Li Jinhua asked for another bottle, but Old Mrs. Qin said, "My own child only drinks this much. Yours couldn’t possibly eat more than mine. Overfeeding is bad. Probably the baby is either wet, has defecated, or is uncomfortable. Why all this trouble for such a short trip? In this summer heat, you’ve wrapped the baby too tightly. You should open the swaddle to let the child cool down."

Li Jinhua thought to herself, I’ve taken care of more children than you, what do you know! Your house just lets the child wear a bellyband, sprawling out while sleeping, they’ll freeze to death one of these days.

She checked the child’s diaper; indeed it was wet.

She then asked Old Mrs. Qin for another diaper.

Old Mrs. Qin fetched a cloth from her own room, "Make do with this." Li Jinhua was fond of bizarre rituals and never lent out her own child’s diapers to others—what if some bizarre ritual was performed with them, burning them or something? That would be truly abhorrent.

......

Around noontime, Old Mrs. Qin ordered Qin Jin to take Li Jiaojiao and the others out to eat.

Li Jinhua, feeling weak and unable to walk far with the child, chose to stay behind.

When Old Mrs. Qin went into the kitchen to stew a chicken soup, Li Jinhua had complete freedom and looked around the place.

The furnishings were not new but clean and orderly.

It was an exceptionally large room, but it was unfortunate that all rooms except for Li Qiao’s were locked and not accessible.

Li Jinhua stepped into Li Qiao’s room, "I thought you had given birth to a girl. Will you have more children?"

Li Qiao, "I don’t know. I need to rest, please leave."

Li Jinhua glared at her secretly and stepped out to sit in the living room.

Old Mrs. Qin finished stewing the chicken soup and returned to the living room to find Li Jinhua asleep on the wooden sofa, the child just left alone on the armchair.

She shook her head and went back to Li Qiao’s room.

The child was already asleep, and Li Qiao was watching over him.

Old Mrs. Qin, "Are you sleepy? You should rest too."

"I’m not sleepy," Li Qiao said. The child wasn’t drinking breast milk and Qin Jin fed him day and night, so she was having an easy time. If things kept being so easy, she felt she could have more children.

......

Once the soup was ready, Qin Jin had also returned.

Li Jinhua awoke just in time to drink soup with Li Qiao.

The soup was creamy white, filled with various nutritious ingredients, and she consumed two large bowls in one go.

If she could have such nourishing soup every day, she wouldn’t be struggling with insufficient breast milk.

Comparing herself to others was infuriating; Feng Erguanggun didn’t care about female offspring nor about her well-being.

And Qin Jin? Cutting apples, washing grapes, peeling and pitting longans, fearing that Li Qiao might suffer any slight inconvenience.

Why couldn’t such a good man be hers?

In the afternoon, Li Jiaojiao suggested they leave.

Li Shengcai and Li Jinhua had just left with reluctance, and the house finally quieted down.

Old Mrs. Qin and Qin Jin discussed selling this house. "Li Jinhua’s eyes were always fixed on Qiaoqiao’s room, which gave me the creeps. Of all the sisters, she’s the one who’s living the hardest life; I hope she’s not jealous of Qiaoqiao and takes it out on our child." It’s not the bad people I fear, but rather those who constantly have their eyes on us. It’s too dangerous.

Qin Jin thought it made sense, "Alright."

...

A week later, Li Qiao had her cesarean stitch removed.

Old Mrs. Qin was at home alone with the child when there was a knock on the door. She looked through the door crack, saw no one, and reached for the doorknob to check, but then the child inside started crying.

She went back to soothe the child.

Li Jinhua became anxious as she stared at the firmly closed door, banging harder.

Old Mrs. Qin: "Who’s there?"

Li Jinhua didn’t dare to utter a sound; she had brought a narcotic with her, just waiting for Old Mrs. Qin to step outside so she could knock her out and steal the child.

The child was gone.

Old Mrs. Qin would die of guilt upon waking up; Li Qiao certainly wouldn’t be able to live on, and Qin Jin would blame Old Mrs. Qin for her negligence.

Without much effort, she could topple the three members of the Qin family, three birds with one stone.

Thinking this, she knocked on the door again.

Old Mrs. Qin considered going out to check again, but the usually well-behaved child was now crying incessantly.

She cursed at the door and focused on comforting the child.

Li Jinhua, receiving no responses and overwhelmed by the heat of the summer sun, dizzy from her own confinement, had no choice but to leave.

......

As Li Qiao was having her stitches removed, her thoughts were still on her child.

After giving birth, her whole mindset had changed.

No matter what she was doing, the image of her child would involuntarily pop into her mind.

Qin Jin felt the same way.

After complaining about his son for just two hours, now his mind was filled with thoughts of him.

As soon as he arrived home, he rushed into the room to hold his child.

Calling him "good son," "precious baby," with every breath.

Li Qiao couldn’t help but laugh at this.

Old Mrs. Qin: "He’s just fallen asleep, don’t wake him up."

"Just fallen asleep? Did he wake up after we left?"

"Yes, he suddenly started fussing. I thought he was hungry, but he wouldn’t drink his formula. He didn’t need a diaper change, didn’t need to pee, he just wouldn’t allow me to leave his side for a moment and finally calmed down after a while." Old Mrs. Qin then turned her concern toward Li Qiao: "What did the doctor say after removing the stitches?"

"The wound is healing very well." Li Qiao planned to start applying the scar removal ointment Nan Chuyi had prepared for her in a couple of days.

"That’s good."

Old Mrs. Qin also brought up the matter of someone knocking at the door.

Li Qiao: "Might have been a beggar."

While the family was chatting, Xun Dong arrived with Ma Ling and Xu Feng.

Li Qiao welcomed them warmly.

The three looked at the baby together.

Ma Ling said, "What a beautiful child, with skin like yours, and the best-looking parts of your partner. He’s got all your best traits."

Li Qiao: "I think so too."

Xun Dong: "He can be my son-in-law in the future."

"I don’t accept a younger man." Li Qiao said.

Xun Dong: "A younger man? If I remember correctly, you’re two months older than Qin Jin, aren’t you?" Li Qiao had previously filled in her birth date on the entry form, and Xun Dong had seen Qin Jin’s when he was brought in for questioning in connection with a homicide. Once he sees something, he can’t easily forget it.

That’s how he knew their actual ages.

Qin Jin was the first to jump in: "There was a mistake with that; I’m actually older than her."

Old Mrs. Qin testified: "Our Jin was born in an earlier month."

Xun Dong: "The month registered is the month that counts, so by that logic, you two are indeed an older sister and younger brother."

Qin Jin: "...."

"..."

.....