Du Xiaoxian was sent back to the ward half an hour later. The doctors, nurses and Du Huayue worked together to carry her to the bed. Du Xiaoxian, who just had surgery, looked very weak. There was no trace of blood on her face. Although her eyes were open, her gaze was unfocused, looking upward weakly.

Du Huayue was naturally distressed when he saw her appearance like this. Although Du Xiaoxian was not a very lively person, she had never been so weak.

He moved the child’s cradle close to the bed. “Xiaoxian, take a look at the child.”

Du Xiaoxian turned her head to the child. Her blank eyes finally got focused. Her mouth moved and she called out with difficulty, “Niannian.”

Du Huayue frowned unhappily. “I told you not to call her Niannian. Call her Niuniu.”

Du Xiaoxian was very weak but very stubborn. She called out again, “Niannian.”

“Okay, okay, we will call her Niannian,” Du Huayue had no choice but to compromise. Before the child was born, Du Xiaoxian had already chosen Du Niannian as her name. Her intention to choose that name was very obvious. Nian meant “missing someone”. Moreover, it was named after the character Nian in Gu Nianbin’s name. Du Huayue had always opposed it. Didn’t she ask for trouble if she kept calling her baby Niannian after the baby was born?

However, once the one-track-minded Du Xiaoxian decided on something, no one could change it.

Du Xiaoxian looked at the baby in the cradle gently. She was proud and satisfied. When she was in the operating room, the nurse held the baby and showed it to her as soon as the baby came out. She cast a serious look, but soon forgot what her baby looked like in the blink of an eye. She was very anxious and wanted to go out to stay with the child quickly, but she had no choice but to wait. When the doctor finished suturing the cut, she was sent back to the ward and finally got together with the baby.

Du Xiaoxian stared at the baby without blinking. Little Niannian was so beautiful. Although the child’s face was rosy and her skin was a little wrinkled, she still looked beautiful. Du Xiaoxian looked very carefully. Her eyes, nose, mouth, and ears, as well as her sharp little chin, were all very beautiful. It seemed that only her forehead looked like that of Gu Nianbin, which was full, indicating that she would be very smart and full of wisdom in the future. Like her father, she would become an omnipotent person.

When Du Huayue saw her keeping her head tilted, he was worried that this would make her uncomfortable. He said, “Xiaoxian, rest for a while. You’ll have plenty of time to see her in the future”

Du Xiaoxian didn’t seem to hear him and continued to stare at the child without blinking. How could she bear not to look at the baby? This was the daughter she had suffered so much to give birth to after ten months of pregnancy. How could she bear to look away from such a beautiful and cute baby? Seeing that she did not listen to him, Du Huayue had to take a forceful measure and move the child’s cradle out of her sight. However, Du Xiaoxian got anxious and was about to prop herself up. Du Huayue quickly held her down. “You can’t move now. The doctor said that you must not move within six hours. Otherwise, the wound will not heal well. You should take a rest. I will push the cradle over for you to see her later, okay?”

Without a choice, Du Xiaoxian could only close her eyes to rest. As soon as she withdrew her attention from the child, she immediately felt the pain in her cut. The anesthetic was gradually losing its effectiveness, and the pain became ever clearer. Her hand tightly grabbed onto the bedsheet, her delicate eyebrows tightly knitted together. Du Huayue saw her discomfort and asked softly, “Xiaoxian, does your wound hurt? I’ll spray some anesthetic for you.”

Du Xiaoxian had an analgesic pump on her back. After the anesthetic used during the operation lost its effectiveness, she could use the analgesic pump to ease the pain. However, after a long while, Du Xiaoxian did not feel the pain lessen. Waves of pain in her lower abdomen kept hitting her. It was so painful that she bit her lips tightly.

Seeing that the analgesic pump didn’t relieve her pain, Du Huayue anxiously pressed it a few times. He grumbled, “Why isn’t it effective? I’ll go find someone to ask.” After saying that, he ran out of the ward. Du Xiaoxian wanted to stop him, but she didn’t even have the strength to speak. She could only let him go.

Soon, Du Huayue came back and said, “I asked a nurse. She said that this is the effect of the analgesic pump. Bear with it for a while longer. Six hours will pass soon. Why don’t you sleep? It won’t hurt if you fall asleep.”

Du Xiaoxian bit her lips and could not say a word. Bearing waves of pain and induction before the operation had used up all her strength. After the operation, she got so weak that she had no strength to endure the pain. It hurt to the extreme and her consciousness gradually became unclear again. She fell into chaos. There seemed to be masses of light in front of her eyes. There was a face in the middle of each mass. Although it was blurry, she could still see the cold face and sharp eyes. It was Gu Nianbin, her young master. She could not help but call out, “Brother, brother…”

Someone held her hand and said, “I am here. I’m right here.”

However, she still called out, “Brother, brother…”

Du Huayue held her hand and his heart was full of bitterness. He answered her call, so what? He clearly knew that the one she called was not him.

After they settled down in this city, he originally thought that with his meticulous care, he would slowly drive Gu Nianbin away from Du Xiaoxian’s heart. For so long, they had depended on each other and had long been as close as family. They never mentioned that name as if they had forgotten the past. In fact, it was all self-deception. He did not forget, and Du Xiaoxian would not forget either. She had already deeply engraved Gu Nianbin in her heart and would never forget him for the rest of her life.

He sighed. He went to the bathroom and got a warm towel to wipe off the sweat on her forehead. Then he tidied up her messy hair. Although she looked haggard, her skin was still white and delicate. Her eyebrows were tightly knitted and her long eyelashes were as thick as a fan. Because of the pain, she bit her lips and revealed her white teeth. Even though she was in pain, she was still as beautiful as a fairy in distress!

In his heart, Du Xiaoxian was like a fairy who came to the mortal world by mistake. She was beautiful and otherworldly. One day, she would ride the wind and go back to the fairyland. However, now that this young fairy had given birth to her little fairy, she couldn’t go back to the place where she belonged and could only stay.

When he glanced at the little delicate baby in the cradle, the corners of his mouth could not help but curl into a gentle smile. From now on, these two fairies would be the meaning of his life.

Du Xiaoxian gradually calmed down as if she had fallen asleep. However, Du Niannian, who was lying in the cradle, made a sound like that of a mosquito. Du Huayue quickly got up to look. Little Niannian blushed and her little brows were tightly furrowed. Her little fists were also clenched tightly as if she was exerting force. Du Huayue did not know what was wrong with her and thought that she was in pain. He hurriedly ran out to look for the nurse. When the nurse heard his frightening words, she was also shocked. She ran into the ward to take a look and then smiled.

Du Niannian opened her eyes and danced with joy in the cradle. The nurse scolded her with a smile, “Little rascal, you are still so happy after doing something bad.”

Little Niannian seemed to understand the nurse’s words and giggled. Her expression was still very proud as if she had just done something very amazing. Seeing the nurse laughing and teasing the child, Du Huayue knew that there was nothing serious. So he asked, “What happened to her?”

“The child defecated.” The nurse laughed at him. “As a father, you didn’t learn prenatal knowledge well. You don’t even know that the child has pooed!”

Du Huayue was a little embarrassed and said, “I am not the father of the child. I am her uncle.”

The nurse was stunned for a moment and suddenly asked, “The mother of the child is called Du Xiaoxian, right?”

Du Huayue said, “Yes!”

The nurse stopped talking and told him to get a basin of hot water. Then, she took out a diaper from the bag and said, “Let me teach you how to handle this!”

Du Huayue stood beside the nurse and learned meticulously. The nurse cleaned up the child and put her back into the cradle. “What is the child’s name?”

“Niannian. It is the character that means missing someone.”

“Niannian’s uncle, you are taking care of the mother and the baby at the same time. If you are short-handed, just come to us. We can help you. If you have any problem, you can also come to me.”

Du Huayue thanked her profusely and sent the nurse off to the door. The nurse said, “By the way, there are two bottles of medicine in the bedside table for increasing breast milk. When the child’s mother wakes up, ask her to take it according to the dosage. Since it is inconvenient for breastfeeding today, she can start it another day. We have prepared mixed milk at the nurse station. If the child is hungry, you can get a glass of milk to feed her.”

Du Huayue said yes repeatedly and said some words of thanks. Then he turned back to the room. When he saw that Du Xiaoxian’s urine bag was full, he took the bag off and took it to the bathroom to empty it. Then he put it back on. Du Xiaoxian was not in so much pain. Her eyebrows were relaxed. He felt more at ease and went to the cradle to accompany the child.

When Du Xiaoxian woke up, it was already very late. After sleeping for so long, she was in better spirits. She asked Du Huayue to move the cradle to the bed. While Du Huayue moved the cradle, he told her endlessly that the child defecated, had been breastfed twice, didn’t cry or make a fuss, and would laugh when being teased. Du Xiaoxian listened with a smile and looked at the child with eyes full of love.

***

Gu Nianbin was reading the documents in his hand and suddenly felt a burst of panic. He pinched the space between his eyebrows and thought that he was tired. He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes to rest. But it didn’t work. He could not suppress the panic. It seemed that something bad was going to happen. He frowned slightly and thought, “What is it?”

His parents were in good health recently, and the company was also peaceful. Everything was developing in a good direction. But why was he so uneasy?

Outside the window, it was raining. The rainwater fell on the glass window. It rained for a few days in a row. Although it was not heavy, it was still lingering and annoying. Gu Nianbin got up and stood in front of the window. It was only four o’clock, but the sky was so gloomy that it seemed to be past six o’clock.

It was already late autumn, and the weather was gradually getting colder. The leaves of Chinese parasol trees downstairs had fallen all over the ground. They were soaked by the rain, and they lay limply on the ground, looking lifeless. The autumn wind blew, sweeping the leaves that had just fallen off the branches into the air, and then letting them float down.

Gu Nianbin took a few deep breaths, wishing to get rid of the chaotic emotions in his mind. But he failed. That panic came one wave after another. He thought it was gone, but it came again after a while. It always made him uneasy. He turned to look at the electronic calendar on the table. It was November 15th. It was not a holiday or a weekend. It was just an ordinary day. He did not understand why this day made him uneasy.

When it was time to get off work, this inexplicable uneasiness suddenly disappeared. It troubled him for more than an hour, making him unable to do anything. But suddenly, it disappeared so strangely. Gu Nianbin didn’t want to ask for trouble. He packed up his things and went downstairs to go home. Now, being with his family was the most important thing to him.