Chen Cuihua gasped, “Why did you run out without putting on any clothes? You’ll catch a cold.”

Although it was still a bit warm since autumn had just begun, there was a chill in the early morning air, and the boy had run out wearing only his undershirt.

Wei Hu grabbed Song Ning’s robe and draped it over Lan-ger first. Now that he’d heard his little brother crying, Lan-ger was eager to see what he looked like. “Grandma, let me see my little brother.”

Chen Cuihua lowered him a bit so Lan-ger could see. “It’s your little brother. Take a look.”

Lan-ger stood on his tiptoes, craning his neck with curiosity. “It’s my little brother! Grandma, he’s so cute.”

“That’s right. Lan-ger was just like that when he was born, too.”

It was Lan-ger’s first time seeing a baby like this, and he found it fascinating. His little brother was so cute—he’d even thought it might be a ger. Both his dad and mom had said it might be a ger, because the baby had been so well-behaved while still in his dad’s belly.

“When my little brother grows up, he won’t be able to go to the same school as Lan-ger.”

Chen Cuihua smiled—the little rascal was still thinking about the two of them going to the same school.

After Lan-ger had had his fill of admiring the newborn, he ran off to see his dad. His dad was already asleep, so Lan-ger lay down by the bedside. “Dad’s so amazing,” he thought. “He just took a nap and gave me a little brother.”

It was getting late now; they’d been up all night. Ning-ger would surely be hungry when he woke up, and Lan-ger needed to eat before heading to school. Chen Cuihua tucked the baby under the quilt. The little one was well-behaved—he’d only wailed twice before stopping, now just making soft cooing sounds next to his father.

“Huzi, go prepare some food for Lan-ger first. Make Ning-ger’s meal lighter and softer—add plenty of eggs. I’ll go milk the sheep for the baby.”

Wei Hu tucked the corner of the quilt around his Fulang, gazing at the two of them—one big, one small—snuggled together. He couldn’t get enough of the sight. Seeing that the baby wasn’t fussing at the moment, he hurried off to the kitchen to get to work.

Chen Cuihua also led Lan-ger out. “Hurry up and change your clothes inside. We’ll go see your little brother in a bit.”

“Okay!”

Lan-ger hadn’t had enough of looking at his little brother, but upon hearing his grandmother’s words, he hurried inside to change his clothes.

Chen Cuihua was overjoyed—this was a great cause for celebration, the arrival of a new addition to the family. She looked up and saw a glow of sunset in the east. Chen Cuihua was astonished; it was a good omen. This child was surely destined for greatness.

Chen Cuihua hurried out to the courtyard to milk the sheep, and they each went about their own business.

Song Ning was woken by a whimpering sound beside him. Still half-asleep, he wondered what could be making that noise—could it be that Caili had run into the house? Song Ning’s eyes snapped open. That’s right—his child had been born!

Song Ning tilted his head and saw a swaddled bundle next to him, with a delicate little creature inside, still whimpering away. Song Ning’s heart melted at the sight—it was his and Brother Wei Hu’s baby.

“He’s awake.”

“Brother Wei Hu, look at our little one—he’s doing great.”

Wei Hu smiled at those words. “Mm, thanks for all your hard work, Ning-ger.”

Wei Hu helped Song Ning sit up, propping his back against two soft pillows. “Have something to eat, then get some rest.”

Wei Hu went to the kitchen to fetch some food, bringing back a bowl of noodles with greens and eggs—he’d beaten three eggs into the noodles. His mother had said he should eat light for the first couple of days and avoid rich, heavy foods; once those two days were over, he could really start to replenish his strength.

Song Ning was a bit hungry too. The food Wei Hu had prepared smelled delicious, and Song Ning reached out to take it, but Wei Hu stopped him. “I’ll feed you.”

Song Ning felt a little embarrassed. “I’m strong enough.”

Wei Hu picked up a piece of egg with his chopsticks and fed it to him. Song Ning was truly hungry and polished off the entire bowl of egg noodles. Wei Hu then brought hot water to help his Fulang brush his teeth and wash up. Once everything was tidied up, he tucked him into bed to rest.

Song Ning had just finished eating, but the other person was already frowning and grumbling again. Song Ning pulled him close and patted him gently. “Are you hungry again?”

“My mother just fed you some goat’s milk. Are you hungry again?”

This was the first time either of them had been a father to a child like this. When Lan-ger came along, he was already well-behaved, but this little one just kept whimpering—they had no idea what was wrong.

“I’ll hold him and try to soothe him.”

Wei Hu picked the baby out of the blankets and began patting him gently, though not very skillfully. After soothing him for a while, the baby didn’t fall asleep; instead, his whimpering grew even louder.

Chen Cuihua had just been in the main room sorting out the baby’s clothes and diapers. The couple was sharing some intimate words—why would she go barging in on their private moment? But now that she heard the baby crying, she came over. “Let me take a look. I bet he’s wet.”

Chen Cuihua took the baby and unwrapped the swaddling cloth. Sure enough, the baby had wet itself, which made Chen Cuihua chuckle. “The little one’s a neat freak—just a little bit of pee, and he’s already whining.”

Chen Cuihua grabbed a clean diaper pad and changed it. Wei Hu watched from the side; he’d heard from the doctor that new mothers were prone to back pain if they bent over too much, so he’d decided to take over this task from now on.

After cleaning up the mess and tucking the baby back into the quilt, Chen Cuihua patted him gently to soothe him. “All right, good boy. Go take a nap with your dad.”

When Lan-ger went to school today, he was practically skipping down the street. As soon as he saw Yun-ger, he ran over and told him his dad had given him a little brother. Bai Xiaoyun let out a little “Oh!” and exclaimed, “He’s here already!”

Yun-ger was overjoyed and wanted to go visit right away, but then he thought that Ning-ger must be resting right now, so he decided to wait two or three days before going.

Yun-ger excitedly told his father, “Dad, Ning-ger had a baby—it’s a boy.”

The shopkeeper was delighted to hear this, and he looked at his ger, who was grinning like an idiot all day long. “Hey, when will I get to hold the baby? He’s a boy, but I haven’t even met him yet. Sigh.”

Yun-ger knew his dad was at it again. “Come on, come on. How is this my fault? It’s all because you’re not trying hard enough. Why don’t you go find one for me? Just look at the misfits you’ve been bringing home.”

The shopkeeper was at a loss for words. Where was he supposed to find a good-looking guy for his ger who’d actually be willing to marry into the family? It was driving him crazy!

Lan-ger rushed home from school like a whirlwind, his backpack swinging behind him. He reached the doorway, drenched in sweat, called out “Grandma” first, then dashed into the house. Worried his dad and little brother might still be asleep, he peeked inside. Seeing his dad was awake, he called out, “Dad.” 

Song Ning saw Lan-ger come back and motioned for him to come over. “Come here. Have you met your little brother yet?”

Lan-ger tiptoed over. “I have. Dad, is my little brother asleep?”

“No, he’s not. Come take a look.”

Lan-ger was afraid of waking his little brother, but when his father told him the little one wasn’t asleep, he crouched by the bed. Peering in, he saw his little brother moving his fists, though his eyes were still closed. “Dad, my little brother is asleep.” 

“No, he hasn’t opened his eyes yet. I’d guess he’s awake right now.”

Lan-ger marveled at this for a long time. His little brother was so sweet. As the older brother, he planned to take his little brother out to play once he could walk.

After looking after them for three days, Chen Cuihua went back to work at the shop. She still needed to find help for these two shops, so she no longer had to go to work so early in the morning and could spend some time looking after Ning-ger and the baby.

As for Wei Hu, he hadn’t been out on any escort runs lately, so he’d taken on all the household duties: changing diapers, feeding the baby in the middle of the night, making sure Song Ning ate his meals, and slaughtering one of their hens every other day. A whole brood of chicks hadn’t even made it through their first month before they were nearly all gone.

Song Ning now can’t even stand the sight of chicken; he says he doesn’t want to eat it. Even Lan-ger, who’s been eating with them for so long, shakes his head so vigorously at the mere mention of chicken soup or chicken legs that it almost leaves a trail of afterimages.

Lan-ger’s face had plumped up a whole circle—so tender it looked like it would ooze juice if pinched. He said, “Lan-ger, even Hei Dou, Hua Dou and Caili have gotten sick of eating chicken bones lately. Look how smooth their fur has become.”

Wei Hu knew Song Ning was sick of chicken, so he kept coming up with new ways to cook it for him. “Try this—I made stir-fried chicken today, with some bean paste. It’s flavorful. You like the flatbread that comes with it, right? Have some.”

Only then did Song Ning perk up a bit. He’d truly had his fill of chicken soup. He’d been taking care of the little one for a while now—eating and sleeping day in and day out. He didn’t even have to look after the kid; he’d just play with him a bit when he woke up. He felt like his face had even gotten rounder from all the eating.

Song Ning ate a few pieces of chicken but then refused to eat any more. He did, however, keep eating the potstickers, and he especially liked the dried broad beans and glass noodles inside. Eating something flavorful finally made his food taste less bland.

Once Song Ning was full, he stopped eating. “Brother Wei Hu, I’m done.”

Wei Hu carried the plate of food out, then came back to feed him some more. Only after he’d taken care of everything did he go off to eat his own meal.

Song Ning was flipping through a book when she saw Wei Hu bustling back and forth; her heart swelled with gratitude. “Brother Wei Hu, it’s almost been a month, and the baby still doesn’t have a name. Have you thought of one yet?”

“You… you’re so well-read.”

The baby looked just like his fulang, so Wei Hu, being biased, naturally refused to call him “Dog Egg (Goudan)” or “Hairy Egg (Maodan).” He thought it would be better to let his Fulang choose a nice name—that way, when the boy grew up to be a dashing young man, it wouldn’t ruin the scene if some kids playing around called him “Goudan.”

Wei Hu couldn’t help but laugh at the thought—he was getting a bit ahead of himself.

Song Ning had been thinking about it for a while too. “My mother said the sun had just risen when the kid was born, so let’s call him Wei Zhao—the ‘Zhao’ from ‘Zhao Zhao Qi Hua’ (radiant and splendid).”

“Okay, let’s call him Wei Zhao.”

“What about a first name? Something like Zhuzi, Banzi, or Liangzi?”

As Song Ning spoke, he couldn’t help but laugh himself. Wei Zhao, lying beside him, wasn’t happy about it—his big eyes widened, and he clenched his fists, grumbling in protest.

“Doesn’t it sound good? You don’t like it?”

Song Ning cradled the swaddled baby on his lap; the little one was exceptionally chubby, with a head of jet-black hair and beautiful eyes. In his mother’s words, he looked just like the little immortal boy holding a golden carp during the New Year celebrations.

The two of them had spent the entire afternoon in the room trying to come up with a satisfactory nickname, but to no avail. When they saw his mother return from the shop, they decided to let her come up with one.

Chen Cuihua held and cooed over the baby for a while. When she heard the given name was Wei Zhao, she said, “That’s a nice name—it sounds like a divine being. But for a nickname, why not call him Tuantuan? It means ‘togetherness and harmony.’”

In the end, the nickname was settled on: Wei Tuantuan. It wasn’t much better than “Zhuzi.” When he was seventeen or eighteen, standing by the lake to admire the scenery, the mere mention of “Wei Tuantuan” made Wei Zhao lose his composure—why on earth had his father given him such a nickname back then!

Where was he supposed to hide his “Triple-First-Placer” face now!