Chapter 286: The Child’s Nickname
The newborn had been hungry for quite some time, and now that she finally had her meal, she drank greedily in large, eager gulps. Human nature was remarkable; no one needed to teach an infant how to nurse. They simply figured it out on instinct.
Sheng Wanyan glanced up and caught Gu Tingxiao standing rigidly beside the bed, staring at her with an intense, heated gaze. The sheer hunger in his eyes made her scalp tingle.
“You,” she commanded, her cheeks flushing. “Turn around.”
Gu Tingxiao swallowed hard and obediently spun on his heel to face the wall. He knew that if he kept looking, he wouldn’t be able to control his own impulses.
Sheng Wanyan’s milk supply was surprisingly abundant, and the baby was completely full after nursing from just one side. Once finished, she gently adjusted her clothing and allowed Gu Tingxiao to turn back and take the child from her arms.
Lulled by her full belly, the baby drifted off to sleep almost immediately. At that precise moment, Mother Gu walked back into the ward.
“How did it go? Did the little one get enough to eat?”
Sheng Wanyan nodded warmly, and Mother Gu let out a satisfied sigh of relief.
“By the way, have the two of you decided on a name for the child yet?” Mother Gu asked, pulling up a chair.
“We thought Grandpa could have the honor of selecting her formal name, and we could choose her everyday nickname,” Sheng Wanyan replied.
Mother Gu beamed, deeply pleased by the decision. After all, the Old General had personally selected the formal names for every child born into the Gu lineage. Furthermore, maintaining the family tradition meant that regardless of whether the child was a boy or a girl, the second character of their formal name would carry the generational homophone or thematic meaning.
“Perfect, perfect. I’ll place a call to your grandfather later this afternoon so he can start brainstorming.”
With the formal name delegated, Sheng Wanyan and Gu Tingxiao began tossing around ideas for a daily nickname. Gu Tingxiao immediately offered a few suggestions.
“We could call her Baby.”
“Xiao Duo.”
“Little Grass.”
“Xiao Hua.”
Sheng Wanyan: “…”
Does this man actively want his daughter to resent him when she grows up?
Mother Gu immediately shot down the botanical suggestions. “There are already so many girls named Xiao Hua and Little Grass running around the compound. If you call her that, half the neighborhood will turn around to answer you.”
Never mind the elite central compound back in the Capital—even this remote military base had a dozen children running around with generic flower and grass nicknames.
“Mom’s right. Those are far too common,” Sheng Wanyan agreed.
She thought about it quietly. Her daughter had been born at the exact break of dawn, a moment symbolizing pure vitality and the dawn of a new beginning. She simply wanted her child to grow up healthy, strong, and blessed with a smooth, untroubled life. This little girl was her precious treasure—her unique, one-and-only treasure.
“Let’s call her Yi Yi.”
“Let’s call her Yi Yi.”
Sheng Wanyan and Gu Tingxiao spoke the exact same words in absolute unison. They paused, their eyes meeting across the hospital bed, a silent, profound wave of love and perfect understanding passing between them.
“Yi Yi?” Mother Gu repeated. She murmured the syllables to herself a few times, finding that the more she said it, the smoother and sweeter it sounded. “Yi Yi… Yi Yi… Oh, that is wonderful. It’s easy to say and easy to remember. What exactly does it signify?”
Sheng Wanyan smiled softly, her gaze dropping to the infant sleeping soundly in the crib. “It means she is our one-of-a-kind treasure.”
Mother Gu looked at Sheng Wanyan, then shifted her gaze to Gu Tingxiao, a tender, knowing smile blooming on her face.
Her third son had nearly missed the birth of his firstborn because his duty to the state had kept him deployed throughout his wife’s pregnancy. He was undoubtedly carrying an immense, heavy burden of guilt—not only toward his exhausted wife but also toward his child. Consequently, the safe arrival of this little girl held an incredibly profound meaning for him. She was a singular, miraculous treasure granted to him by the heavens.
“Then Yi Yi it is,” Mother Gu declared happily. She leaned over the wooden crib, her voice dropping to a soft, doting coo. “Yi Yi… Hello, Yi Yi. I’m your grandma. You have a beautiful name now, little one. Do you like it?”
Yi Yi was fast asleep and completely oblivious to Mother Gu’s sweet words. But Mother Gu didn’t care; she found immense joy simply gazing at the baby’s flawless sleeping face and talking to her.
Sheng Wanyan watched the scene with a soft smile, finally letting her exhaustion pull her back against the pillows.
“You need to head home and clean yourself up,” Sheng Wanyan murmured, looking at Gu Tingxiao’s haggard, dirt-streaked appearance. It physically pained her to see how drained he looked; he clearly hadn’t slept in days.
“Exactly,” Mother Gu agreed immediately. “Tingxiao, go home and get some rest. I will keep watch here. You’re covered in field grime, and it isn’t healthy for a newborn to be exposed to all that dirt.”
Mother Gu had been trying to convince him to go home, shower, and sleep for hours, but her stubborn son had completely ignored her. Now that his wife was the one giving the order, the dynamic shifted entirely.
“I need to stay here and take care of you,” Gu Tingxiao insisted stubbornly.
Sheng Wanyan shook her head, firmly rejecting the idea. “Mom is here with me. You need to get some proper rest, otherwise, I’ll just lie here worrying about you.”
Gu Tingxiao was desperately reluctant to leave her side, but seeing the genuine anxiety clouding his wife’s eyes, he had no choice but to yield. “Alright. I’ll run back to the compound, take a fast shower, and come straight back.”
Sheng Wanyan knew this fiercely devoted man wouldn’t tolerate being away from her for more than a few minutes. If she could at least convince him to wash the grime and dried blood off his skin, she would consider it a victory.
“Okay,” she smiled.
Gu Tingxiao cast one final, sweeping look over the ward to ensure everything was secure before hurrying out the door.
With the adrenaline fading, Sheng Wanyan’s fatigue redoubled. Mother Gu gently adjusted her blankets, urging her to close her eyes while she stood guard.
“Mom, please keep a close eye on the baby,” Sheng Wanyan whispered, her tone suddenly serious. “Don’t leave her side.”
Mother Gu instantly understood the gravity of her concern and nodded with fierce determination. “Don’t you worry about a thing. I won’t step a single foot away from this crib.”
The military hospital was a chaotic environment, with all sorts of people constantly filtering in and out. During this era, cases of infant swapping were a terrifying reality. Even though they had welcomed a daughter, the Gu family’s prestigious background and obvious wealth made them a prime target. If they weren’t vigilant, a desperate or malicious person might attempt to switch their babies, leading to catastrophic, irreversible consequences. Mother Gu had absolutely no interest in accidentally raising a stranger’s child, and she knew that if such a tragedy occurred on her watch, she would likely lose her mind to grief and rage.
Comforted by Mother Gu’s ironclad assurance, Sheng Wanyan finally closed her eyes and drifted into a true, restful sleep.
Mother Gu was a sharp, fiercely protective woman. She pulled her chair directly against the crib, maintaining an unbroken vigil over little Yi Yi.
The occupants of the neighboring beds watched the Gu family dynamics with deep, burning envy. This was especially true for the distressed woman who had also delivered a girl. Seeing Sheng Wanyan treated like absolute royalty by her prominent family, despite having given birth to a daughter, twisted a knife in her heart.
The impoverished mother looked down at her own tiny, frail daughter with profound pity. The infant was wrapped in a coarse, thin quilt covered in dozens of rough patches. She then glanced over at Sheng Wanyan’s child, who was swaddled in pristine, high-quality imported cotton without a single flaw. The stark contrast wasn’t just in the material goods; it was in the sheer reverence the Gu family displayed. The husband adored his wife, and the mother-in-law fiercely cherished her granddaughter.
The longer the poor woman watched, the more she wept for her own child. It’s all because I am utterly useless, she thought bitterly. I can’t give my daughter a decent life. If I had only managed to bear a son, he wouldn’t have been abandoned to suffer here with me.
Ever since her in-laws learned the child was a girl, they had completely vanished, refusing to return to the hospital. Though she was physically unfit to be discharged, her husband’s family had coldly refused to settle the medical bill. Without money, the doctors wouldn’t authorize her release, leaving her trapped in the ward without a single bite of food.
Because she was starving, her body couldn’t produce a drop of breastmilk. She could only desperately spoon plain water into her screaming infant’s mouth to try and trick the baby’s stomach. They were living in a completely different universe from Sheng Wanyan’s child, who was being nourished and coddled with the absolute best the world had to offer.
As the impoverished mother stared at her skeletal baby, weeping silently, Mother Gu stood up and decisively yanked the privacy curtain shut, completely blocking the ward from viewing their space.
A short while later, little Yi Yi woke up, letting out a sharp cry because she had soiled her diaper. The noise instantly roused Sheng Wanyan.
Seeing her daughter-in-law stir, Mother Gu smoothly rolled the wooden crib directly flush against the hospital bed. She quickly fetched a basin, carefully mixing hot and cold water until she achieved the perfect, soothing temperature.
She retrieved a specialized, ultra-soft towel she had purchased exclusively from the Overseas Chinese Store just for this purpose. A newborn’s skin was incredibly fragile and required meticulous, gentle care. Mother Gu expertly wiped Yi Yi clean and swaddled her in a fresh, dry diaper.
“My goodness, this little one is quite the neat freak. She doesn’t tolerate being dirty for a second,” Mother Gu chuckled. Yi Yi had only soiled the diaper slightly, yet the infant had immediately begun screaming at the top of her lungs in protest.
