"The child cried, so I held them for a bit." Li Hongying handed the child to the old woman and said with a smile. The mother and daughter saw the eggs on the table and a pack of oiled paper, and their faces lit up.

"Thank you, young lady, we’re from Chaohua Commune." The old woman said with a smile, "My husband’s family name is Zhu, everyone calls me Mrs. Zhu, and this is my daughter, Zhu Yuting."

"Mom, I want to eat the eggs." Zhu Yuting saw the two red eggs and couldn’t wait to eat them. She directly opened the oiled paper, saw the brown sugar, and dipped her finger in to taste it, "Mom, make me some brown sugar water, drinking it will help me produce milk for the child."

"Okay, okay." Mrs. Zhu beamed at all the nice things and immediately made two cups of brown sugar water, drinking one herself.

Seeing that the other two families in the ward were so polite, Mrs. Zhu began to inquire, asking where they were from and what they did.

Mrs. Chen and Li Hongying answered what they could, while others didn’t say much. The behavior and temperament of Mrs. Zhu and her daughter weren’t ones they could get along with, but since they were sharing a ward, it was better to keep things slightly cordial.

Yi Roujing tied her belt and was up and walking the next day; a quick recovery from natural childbirth is indeed true.

Originally, Mrs. Zhu and Zhu Yuting were supposed to be discharged the next day, but they didn’t leave, still staying to take advantage. Seeing that Yi Roujing and Shen Su had good food, Mrs. Zhu would brazenly come over to ask for some.

Li Hongying and Mrs. Chen were the peace-loving sort, knowing they wouldn’t stay many days, and since the food wasn’t particularly expensive, they shared some with Zhu Yuting, understanding she needed it to feed her child.

All the women were hospitalized, and the ones accompanying them were women as well. Xu Ancheng and Shen Su’s husband, as the only two men, felt it inappropriate to stay in the ward all the time, considering the need to breastfeed.

On the third morning of the hospital stay, Yi Roujing had just opened her eyes when Li Hongying awoke. On the bed beside them, Shen Su and her child were still asleep, while Mrs. Zhu and Zhu Yuting, closer to the door, were already awake.

Shen Su had been tending to her child alone the night before because her son had a slight fever yesterday. Her mother-in-law was too worried to leave him at home to care for, and her husband had to work, having already taken two days off. So, when Li Hongying went to fetch hot water, she helped Shen Su as well.

Yi Roujing got out of bed to wash up, and upon returning, found Zhu Yuting and Mrs. Zhu packing up, saying they were being discharged.

The child being held was crying loudly, and Yi Roujing found it strange, taking a closer look. Seeing Yi Roujing approach, Zhu Yuting hurriedly stepped back, causing a corner of the swaddling to fall and reveal a red birthmark on the child’s left foot, making Yi Roujing pause.

"Zhu, your child also has a red birthmark on their foot?" When Yi Roujing mentioned this, Shen Su took notice.

"What a coincidence?" Shen Su smiled, picking up the sleeping child next to her, "Mine..."

Seeing that Shen Su was about to take notice, Zhu Yuting panicked and tried to leave. Shen Su suddenly screamed, "This, this isn’t my child."

Even without looking at the feet, having slept next to her for two days and nights, she knew what her child looked like.

Yi Roujing quickly went over to close the ward door as Li Hongying stepped up to uncover the swaddle of the child in Shen Su’s arms. The child’s feet were clean, with no birthmarks.

Shen Su looked at Mrs. Zhu and Zhu Yuting in disbelief.

"What are you doing? Trying to snatch the child?" Zhu Yuting falsely accused them.

"Did you swap the babies?" Li Hongying couldn’t believe it, "The birthmark on Shen Su’s child’s foot... you’re holding Shen Su’s child."

"You’re talking nonsense. This is my child." Zhu Yuting frowned.

"Could the nurse have mixed them up? Didn’t they take the children for tests yesterday? Maybe they got it wrong when they brought them back." Mrs. Zhu, feeling guilty, changed her tune now that they were found out.

"No way, when the nurse brought the child back yesterday, I fed them. They’re mine." Shen Su, clever as she was, said, "You seized the chance when I was alone with the child, swapping mine when I fell asleep. That’s got to be it, that’s got to be it. Give my child back, or I’ll report you."

Shen Su, emotionally charged, got out of bed and snatched her child from Zhu Yuting’s arms. The crying child calmed down upon entering Shen Su’s embrace.

"I forgot to tell you, my uncle is in the police department; what you’re doing is illegal." Shen Su was angry, her emotions so intense that tears flowed.

Upon hearing that the relative is in the police department, Mrs. Zhu’s face turned pale with fright, "We didn’t, didn’t; it must have been a mistake, a mistake."

Panicked, Zhu Yuting cried and ran over, picking up the child from Shen Su’s bed, "This is my child, this is my child. How could my child be on your bed?"

Yi Roujing watched the commotion in the room, her emotions fluctuating, and immediately went to pick up her own son, inspecting him meticulously. Having looked at him many times over the past two days, she confirmed it was her own child. Seeing Yi Roujing’s anxious demeanor, Li Hongying comforted her in a low voice.

"It’s alright, it’s alright, he’s our child, our family’s child." Li Hongying lightly pat Yi Roujing’s back, earnestly examining the baby in the swaddle, noticing his usual movements; she calmed down too, reassuring Yi Roujing.

Unable to match words against Mrs. Zhu and Zhu Yuting alone, Li Hongying, upon confirming, helped Shen Su face off against them.

However, since no one saw the swap happening, and they firmly insisted on their ignorance of why the children were switched, it wasn’t settled until the doctor, nurse, and Shen Su’s mother-in-law arrived.

Ultimately, what was supposed to be a major issue was reduced to a minor one with the conclusion as such. Mrs. Chen confirmed they were holding their own child, incredibly thankful for the unmistakable birthmark. Mrs. Zhu and her daughter left in feigned grievance amid the crowd’s angry glares.

Shen Su cried with her child in her arms, then held Yi Roujing’s hand, continually thanking her. If not for Yi Roujing noticing the birthmark and speaking out before Mrs. Zhu and her daughter left, her child would have been maliciously swapped.

"Heartless people," Mrs. Chen was very indignant. Everyone present saw through what Mrs. Zhu and her daughter were plotting—hoping for their daughter’s better life in a good family. Seeing their disdain in the past two days, if indeed swapped, who knows how much their child would have suffered.

"Roujing, thank you so much. Sharing a ward with you has been a blessing for our family." After expressing her gratitude to Yi Roujing, Mrs. Chen consoled Shen Su, reminding her that she shouldn’t cry during the postpartum period. Her child was fine, and she wouldn’t have to look after the child alone in the future, finally calming Shen Su down.

When Xu Ancheng came in the evening and learned of the incident, the family consulted the doctor and promptly decided to discharge.

Shen Su’s family swiftly followed, arranging for discharge, finding peace most reassuring at home.