After holding on for sixteen or seventeen hours, Su Liumeng was already exhausted.
She forced herself to stay alert and entered the sterile ward, choosing to stay by her wife’s side.
In the baby crib, the little infant was tilting her head toward her mother, breathing in sync with the girl and sleeping in the same pose.
Sleeping sweetly.
Su Liumeng was mesmerized as she watched.
She was mainly focused on the tiny baby.
Not the monster she’d once imagined, nor any strange creature—on the contrary, she was adorable.
Nothing like what she had expected at all, truly a human baby.
A tiny, living life.
Utterly adorable.
She recalled the scene she’d just witnessed in the delivery room.
A faint, silvery-white light had calmed a world-destroying Heavenly Tribulation, as if it had never existed at all.
What kind of unfathomable, mystical technique was that?
It was… just too unbelievable.
She had seen with her own eyes as the tiny baby merely raised her fair, chubby arm, laughing in gurgles, and the terrifying tribulation simply vanished into thin air.
For the first time, Su Liumeng felt an intense curiosity toward a new life, wanting to know everything about her—her past, and how she possessed such formidable cultivation.
A newborn who could contend with the Heavenly Dao.
It had become the greatest mystery in Su Liumeng’s heart.
It was as if a cat was scratching at her, desperate to uncover the truth behind it all.
She had always told herself, there was still a long life ahead; there would be time to fully unearth the greatest secrets of Si Xinyan and their daughter.
It was about time for those mysteries to be revealed.
Su Liumeng didn’t leave the ward. Shangguan Xiyue came to check on her granddaughter and, seeing that Si Xinyan was still asleep, said, “Let’s not disturb Xiaoyan’s rest today. Now that I see mother and daughter are both safe, I can finally relax. I’ll come by again tomorrow.”
“Alright. You’ve worked hard today, too.”
“Worked hard? Xiaoyan is the one who’s had it the hardest. You must take good care of her.”
The VIP single-patient ward was quite spacious.
Instead of lying on the hospital bed, Su Liumeng casually pulled up a chair, rested her head against its side, and drifted off to sleep.
Two hours passed.
Half-asleep, Su Liumeng sensed some movement in the room and immediately opened her eyes.
Si Xinyan was still asleep. It was the baby in the crib—lying under her tiny blanket, her big, black, shiny eyes staring unblinking at the girl on the hospital bed.
The little one was already brimming with spirit, intently observing her mother.
She was so quiet, not making a sound.
If not for the flickering light in her eyes, one might even mistake her for a stillborn.
“Are you hungry?”
Su Liumeng stood up, intending to pick the little one up, but was met with a tiny hand smacking her left cheek.
Pa!
“Yiya, wa wa.”
The little one didn’t cry at all, just kept kicking her tiny legs.
It seemed she was expressing her displeasure at being picked up by a stranger in her own way.
“She must be hungry.” No matter how much the little one slapped her face, Su Liumeng had no intention of letting go.
Just as Su Liumeng muttered to herself and was about to go look for formula, the baby suddenly burst out crying with a loud wail.
A baby weighing eight jin and four liang, full of robust energy.
At that moment, her crying voice, fueled by the strength of a baby hungry for milk, was enough to lift the roof off the ward.
I had a long dream, filled only with darkness.
In a world of endless night, I couldn’t find the end, wandering aimlessly.
It seemed I would never awaken.
Suddenly, I heard a heart-wrenching baby’s cry. Startled from my nightmare, I sat up abruptly in bed, “The baby.”
“My baby.”
I looked around anxiously, instinctively following the sound with my eyes.
Though I had never seen my daughter before, the instant I heard her crying, a strange connection surged within me.
Even separated by layers of thick swaddling, I knew at once—this was my daughter.
“Su Liumeng!!”
Fresh from childbirth, my body was still weak.
But at this moment, I was truly angry, even roaring out.
“Give me back my daughter!”
Su Liumeng was flustered. “I—I just saw she was hungry and wanted to take her to eat something.”
“You—give her to me!” I struggled to get off the bed.
But my body was too frail, with no strength in my legs. I could only slump back down.
The discomfort continued below; I could still feel things flowing out.
“You’ve just given birth and hurt your foundation. Don’t—don’t get up yet.” Su Liumeng panicked, quickly came over to steady me, and handed the baby back into my arms.
I had no mind to care about Su Liumeng, just hugged my daughter tightly.
In Su Liumeng’s eyes, the girl looked utterly frantic, as if letting go even for a second would make her lose her daughter forever.
Oddly enough, once the little one was handed back, she stopped crying.
Not a single tear remained in her dark eyes as they spun round and round.
Once she recognized the figure before her, she kept reaching out her little arms, cooing and babbling.
“Don’t cry, don’t cry. Mama’s got you—” I held the baby in my arms, opening my shirt a bit. “Why are you still here? You want to watch me breastfeed?”
The first milk usually doesn’t come so quickly; letting the baby suck a few times helps stimulate production.
Su Liumeng sounded a bit aggrieved, feeling like Xiaoyan’s affection for her had faded since the baby arrived.
Was it… just her imagination?
“I want to stay here with you.”
“……” I didn’t know what to say, just pouted. Too tired to be embarrassed, I ignored Su Liumeng’s presence and pulled open my shirt further. The little one, following the instincts of life, groped around with her tiny hands until she gripped a corner of my collar. Once she had a firm hold, she pressed her head against me. Watching the baby’s actions and seeing nothing amiss, I finally glanced at the girl beside me. “Such a well-behaved baby, and you managed to make her cry. I haven’t even given you a talking-to yet.”
Su Liumeng looked a bit wronged, not daring to speak.
Since it was the first feeding so soon after birth, the little one didn’t get much, just followed her instincts.
Gazing at her cute face, I couldn’t help but poke her chubby cheek. “So pretty. Born fair and plump, not a trace of wrinkling. As expected of my daughter.”
Su Liumeng remained silent, looking so at a loss that my heart softened. “I’m not blaming you for making the baby cry, I just panicked. I know you meant well helping out. By the way, did you get Si Zhuangyu’s household registration handled? Don’t forget the birth certificate. Get it done early. And when you come back, bring a breast pump—don’t get a manual one, it’s too much trouble.”
I knew Su Liumeng was exhausted too.
She’s my other half. I can only rely on her now.
Barely holding myself together after nearly twenty hours of labor, I could only summarize what I needed as briefly as possible. My tone may have been blunt, but there was really no helping it.
“Okay, I’ll be right back.” Hearing my explanation, Su Liumeng no longer felt upset.
How petty would she have to be to fuss over someone who just gave birth?
Hardly having rested at all, it was tough for her, too. As her partner, if she couldn’t understand even a little, what would become of us?
Thinking it over, if she were Si Xinyan and saw her own daughter made to cry by someone else, she’d probably get mad, too.
Soon, I was the only adult left in the ward.
The little one nursed for a while. Sensing she’d been tricked, she started babbling in protest.
I wrapped her tiny hand in mine. “Don’t go grabbing everywhere, alright? What kind of baby stays this energetic the day she’s born? You should be sleeping twenty hours a day.”
“Yiya~” Si Zhiruo’s eyes were almost identical to mine—pitch-black and beautiful, filling me with tender affection and softening my tone, “Alright, alright. I’ll feed you in a bit. It’s Mama’s fault.”
Is this really my daughter?
Hearing her childish sounds, my heart melted into a puddle.
“I’ll protect you no matter what.” Muttering to myself, I suddenly thought of something and poked the little one’s face again. “Do you not like Su Liumeng? You cry as soon as she holds you, but stop the moment you’re back down.”
“Pretending to cry already, huh.”
My feelings were complicated.
Didn’t inherit any of your mother’s better genes. What a sly little thing you are, even at this age.
“Yiya, yiya.”
“Hmph, you’re even laughing.” I opened her tiny fist, already able to see her future slender hands.
I studied her carefully.
Her mouth and eyes were just like mine, though the shape of her face was different.
“What a cute baby, let Mama kiss you, alright?”
“Gugu~”
“Does that mean yes?” I tapped her little hand, making her giggle endlessly.
The only reason I didn’t kiss her face was fear of her newborn immune system, worried she might get an infection.
After playing with the baby for half an hour, my eyes could barely stay open, but she was still so energetic. “Sleep now, sleep.”
I gently sang a lullaby, patting Zhizhi’s back.
She actually wanted to play more, but sensing my exhaustion, she stopped fussing. Her long eyelashes, so like mine, fluttered and finally closed as her breathing calmed.
I placed her in her crib and couldn’t help but sigh, “So obedient.”
So good you can’t help but spoil her.
Whether in rumors or TV dramas, I’d never seen a newborn as sensible and understanding as this one.
The moment I laid her in the tiny bed, her lashes kept quivering, as if she’d wake up the next second. I whispered in her ear, “Mama’s right here beside you, always with you. Zhizhi is the bravest, no need to be afraid…”
Hearing my gentle voice, the little one finally settled down, clutching a corner of her swaddling blanket and drifting off to sweet sleep.
Babies sleep the longest during infancy, sometimes up to twenty hours a day.
A newborn who could play with me already was truly full of spirit.
No wonder she was eight jin and four liang at birth, developing perfectly.
I kept yawning, forcing myself to stay awake, watching the door. “Still not back yet?”
I was planning to express some milk before sleeping.
Feeling the discomfort in my body, I really had no strength left. With no one else in the room, I dragged myself to the ward’s private bathroom.