70s: Raising a Baby

Ye Jinzhi came in with a small basket of flowers cut from the backyard. She was going to change the flowers in the vase at home.

"Miss, the child seems to be awake." As soon as Ye Jinzhi came in, the man came over and took the flower basket from her hand and whispered.

Ye Jinzhi was slightly surprised, "Didn't I just go to bed? How long has passed." But he didn't delay, "I'm going to wash my hands first."

Every time the children at home take a nap, if no one wakes them up, each of them can sleep for an entire afternoon. Every time Ye Jinzhi wakes them up, it takes a long time, and it takes a long time to forcefully pull them out of bed. Slow down for a while.

"Are you crying?" Ye Jinzhi hurriedly washed his hands and walked upstairs, asking as he walked.

"I cried, but I didn't cry. When I went up to see it, I just sat there in a daze, not knowing what to think."

Ye Jinzhi nodded, "I'll go take a look."

Sure enough, Niu Niu was sitting on the bed, lowering his head and playing with his fingers without making a sound, while the other children were already asleep and the quilts were kicked away.

"Niu Niu, Niu Niu." Ye Jinzhi did not dare to shout loudly, but called softly from the other end of the bed.

Niu Niu slowly raised his head when he heard the noise, staring at Ye Jinzhi with his clear black eyes, his pupils clearly black and white.

Ye Jinzhi didn't look like he was going to answer, so he didn't say much and helped him get the clothes he took off.

"come over."

The child didn't respond at first, until Ye Jinzhi repeated, "Niuniu, come here, let's get dressed, okay?"

After Ye Jinzhi repeated this, the child slowly started to move, being careful not to wake up A Yan who was sleeping next to him, and walked towards Ye Jinzhi.

When Ye Jinzhi saw him coming, a smile slowly appeared on his face.

"Come on, get dressed."

But he didn't expect that the child could put on clothes by himself. He reached out and grabbed the clothes in Ye Jinzhi's hand and put them on himself.

Ye Jinzhi hid the surprise in his eyes and watched him slowly put on his clothes without rushing him.

"Okay, let's go down and play, don't disturb their sleep."

My little hands were not as cold as when I first picked him up in the train, but felt warm.

When they got downstairs, the child actually took Ye Jinzhi's hand and walked to the bathroom, "Do you want to go to the bathroom?"

Guarding him outside the door, he said to the man who followed him: "This child can dress himself."

The man was slightly surprised. After all, this child still looked like he completely needed someone to take care of him.

But that’s fine, they don’t need to be around all the time, they have the most basic self-care ability, and there’s nothing wrong with it except being quiet and not talking to others.

"Swish, swish, swish~" Hearing the movement inside, Ye Jinzhi stared at the door and hesitated whether to open it.

"Click." With a sound, the child walked out on his own, and his hands were still wet, indicating that he still remembered to wash his hands.

These findings made Ye Jinzhi nod secretly. According to this situation, it was much better than he thought.

"Niuniu, would you like to prune the flowers with Auntie?"

Ye Jinzhi didn't wait for him to nod, and went to get him a pair of gloves. Some of the flowers he picked had thorns on their branches, and they would prick his hands if he wasn't careful.

It was said that he was helping her trim the flowers, but in fact, Ye Jinzhi took the scissors and trimmed the flowers before letting him hold them.

"Thank you." Ye Jinzhi was about to give him the flower in his hand when he saw the flower in front of him.

The child looked at his own actions, guessed his next move, and took a flower to her first.

Ye Jinzhi found that when he took it, a hint of joy flashed in the child's eyes. If he hadn't paid attention, he would have thought that he had seen it wrong.

When there were only two flowers left, Ye Jinzhi put down the scissors in his hand, turned to Niu Niu, who had been watching, and asked, "Niu Niu, do you want to try it?"

The child seemed to be waiting for this sentence. As soon as Ye Jin said it, he nodded quickly, his little face full of desire.

Ye Jinzhi laughed, but she didn't give it to him directly. Instead, she said, "Niuniu, tell Auntie, do you want to try it?" Ignoring his nod.

After getting along with each other for a long time, Ye Jinzhi already knew that this child could understand what they were saying. It was very likely that he could hear them many times but was unwilling to pay attention.

Niu Niu didn't understand at first, thinking that Ye Jinzhi hadn't seen it, and nodded again, but Ye Jinzhi still had no intention of giving him the scissors.

Ye Jinzhi couldn't bear to see his confused expression.

"Niu Niu, you have to say it. Only by saying it can Auntie know what Niu Niu wants, right? Can you say it so Auntie can hear what Niu Niu wants?" Ye Jinzhi repeated patiently.

Niu Niu blinked, wondering if he understood what Ye Jinzhi said.

Ye Jinzhi didn't say anything, and looked at him patiently, waiting for him to speak out.

It's not that he can't speak, and it's not that Ye Jinzhi hasn't heard him speak, but he should have developed the habit of not talking.

I don't know how long the two people were in a stalemate, and it was so long that Ye Jinzhi wanted to give up, but hard work paid off, just when Ye Jinzhi wanted to compromise.

"Cut, flowers." Niu Niu said.

Although he only said two words, it was enough to surprise Ye Jinzhi, "Niu Niu is great."

"Come on, let's do this."

Ye Jinzhi held his flower-holding hand with one hand and attached the other hand to the scissors, telling him to do it by himself, but Ye Jinzhi just changed the way of cutting.

"Yes, cut here, use force." Ye Jinzhi stood behind him, bent down and taught him how to use force.

"Okay." Ye Jinzhi's brisk voice sounded in Niu Niu's ears.

Niu Niu subconsciously raised his head to look at Ye Jinzhi. Ye Jinzhi didn't think much and smiled at him, with a tenderness that Ye Jinzhi didn't even notice.

When Niu Niu grew up, he could always think of this day when he recalled when he was sent to his original home. This scene, Ye Jinzhi's smile was deeply imprinted in his mind.

Ye Jinzhi took the vase he had arranged on the table and patiently taught him how to arrange flowers.

"Put this one here, put this color here."

Niu Niu listened to Ye Jinzhi's words, imitated the order in which she put them, and also took a vase to put them in.

Ye Jinzhi deliberately slowed down to let him watch carefully. Fortunately, Niu Niu was also very patient and learned quickly.

"Okay." With so many flowers cut out, there is only enough for three vases.

After this meal, the dining table has become a mess, covered with water stains and cut branches and leaves.

Ye Jinzhi first took Niu Niu off the chair and said, "Wait for Auntie here." She wanted to clean up the table.

"I'll do it." The man kept paying attention to the situation here, and when he saw that they were ready, he subconsciously took over the task of clearing the table.

Ye Jinzhi waved his hand, "No, don't get involved, I can do it myself."

Holding the cut branches and leaves in his hands, he originally wanted to throw them away, but when he lowered his head, he saw Niu Niu's longing eyes.

Ye Jinzhi laughed. She was addicted to working. She threw the branches and leaves into the basket and handed the basket to him. "Niuniu, why don't you go throw it with Auntie?"

Niu Niu nodded and reached out to take the basket in Ye Jinzhi's hand. Ye Jinzhi did not refuse. Anyway, the basket was small and not heavy.

"Throw it here." Ye Jinzhi opened the door to the backyard and threw the branches and leaves onto the ground of flowers and leaves. These can be used as fertilizer for the flowers.

"Heisang, you're back."

When Ye Jinzhi came to cut flowers and go back, Heisang stayed outside and refused to go back. Ye Jinzhi was considerate of him for not letting him go out all morning and let him play in the backyard.

It's been almost an hour now. It's time to go in. If you continue to play, your body will be covered with dust and leaves.

It's not easy to give him a bath in this kind of weather, he'll catch a cold easily, and there's no hairdryer at home, so he won't be able to dry his hair for a while.

But after a while, the home will be heated. Although the time is later than the heating time in later generations, compared with those families without heating, this is not unbearable.

"Ouch, ouch." Heisang hadn't had enough fun yet and didn't want to go back.

"It's useless to act coquettishly. It's so windy outside and go back quickly." Ye Jinzhi said without mercy.

Seeing that there was no room for turning around, Hei Sang had no choice but to cry out in frustration, "Ao Ao, Ao Ao", and followed them back dejectedly.

Ye Jinzhi ignored him and made trouble. After living for so many years, Ye Jinzhi knew his temper very well, and he loved to pretend to be pitiful.

Pulling Niu Niu, Ye Jinzhi noticed that he almost turned back three times with each step to look at Heisang who was following him. Ye Jinzhi pretended not to see him and took him into the house before letting him go.

As soon as he let go, Ye Jinzhi kept paying attention out of the corner of his eye and saw Niu Niu stop in place for a while, then raised his head to look at Ye Jinzhi, but Ye Jinzhi's back was turned to him, so he couldn't see it.

Seeing that Ye Jinzhi didn't see it, he turned around again and wanted to touch Heisang. It was said that animals have human nature, but Heisang seemed to feel it and stood still, obediently letting him touch her.

"What time is it?" Ye Jinzhi stopped looking at the harmony between them.

"It's almost two o'clock." The man looked at the time.

Ye Jinzhi nodded, "I'll go up and wake them up."

Even if a few children wake up, they will stay awake unless someone wakes them up. Especially now that the weather is cold, they are even less willing to do so.

"Wake up." Ye Jinzhi saw that Ayan was already awake, but had no intention of getting up, and still stayed in bed and refused to move.

"Get up quickly." Ye Jinzhi put the towels that had just been soaked in cold water on each of the four children's faces.

"Mom." Several children complained.

"If you don't get up, I'll open the window." Ye Jinzhi threatened, walking to the window and pretending to open the window.

"We're up."

When they saw that Ye Jinzhi was serious, the children woke up and got up.

"Get up, haven't you finished your homework for today?"

As soon as they talked about homework, several children collapsed on the bed again, with complicated expressions on their faces.

Seeing their depressed mood, the mother was very happy and gloated: "Get up quickly. If you don't finish today's homework, you won't have to eat dinner."

Seeing their reluctance, Ye Jinzhi added from the side: "There will be guests coming later, so hurry up."

"Guest? Is mom a doctor?" Ah Xu rolled his eyes and recalled what his parents said during dinner.

Ye Jinzhi didn't hide anything from them and nodded, "Don't cause trouble later."

Seeing that they had almost finished cleaning up, Ye Jinzhi opened the door and went out first, "I'm going down first, you guys hurry up, the fruit has been cut for you."

"Deng, Deng, Deng -" A series of footsteps sounded. Ye Jinzhi heard the sound and said without looking back: "Remember to hold Ayan, don't fall."

"Mom, I want to eat fried chicken." Ah Hao, who was sitting on the carpet eating fruit, suddenly said this.

Ye Jinzhi turned a page of the book in his hand and looked up at him, "What a beautiful thought. The lesson learned last time was not enough."

When Ye Jinzhi came back from get off work, he happened to see someone selling chickens on the road. They were still little chickens that had just grown up.

She didn't know what happened that day. When she saw the chicken, she thought of fried chicken. Unexpectedly, she made one and only ate one piece. They robbed the rest.

Not only that, maybe even God can't bear to see them stealing their mother's food at such a young age.

When I woke up the next morning, everyone complained that their throats were sore, they had a fever, and they had been drinking porridge for a whole week.

"We can't do it now." Ah Hao also remembered the lesson from that time, but after all, it was too much and he still refused to give up.

"Mom, mom, are you okay?"

Ye Jinzhi looked around and saw nothing but Niu Niu. He lowered his head and slowly ate his own fruit. The other four children looked at him longingly.

But Ye Jinzhi didn't answer, "After eating, go do your homework quickly." There was no room for negotiation.

"Mom, I don't have any homework." Ayan didn't want to go upstairs. He now had a headache whenever he saw the ink, brush, and piano. He wanted to escape every time, but he couldn't do anything.

After waiting for a while and receiving no answer from his mother, Ayan slowly stuffed the last bite of fruit into his mouth and followed his brother upstairs.

Unexpectedly, as soon as I reached the stairs, I heard my mother's voice.

"Ayan, take Niu Niu upstairs with you, and teach Niu Niu how to write."

Ayan, who was originally in low spirits, suddenly felt dissatisfied and unwilling to go to the back of his mind when he heard that he was going to be a primary school teacher.

"Brother, you go first." He sat back down and waited for him to finish.

"Let's go." Ayan watched him finish the last bite and couldn't wait to hold his hand and run upstairs.

"Ding-ding-ding-" the phone rang.

"Hello, who are you?"

"Oh, I know, please."

"What's wrong?" The man looked at Ye Jinzhi and frowned.

Ye Jinzhi shook his head, "It's nothing, the doctor can't come today."

"Then when is the next time?"

"I didn't say anything on the phone. I'll wait until the young minister comes back to see me."

Turning to look at the weather outside, Ye Jinzhi thought for a moment, "Why don't you all go back and rest today and come back tomorrow."

There is nothing to do if you stay here, you might as well go back and rest for a while, or do something else.

The man had been watching for almost a day and had a general understanding of the child's condition. He knew that Ye Jinzhi could handle it and was not polite.

"Then let's go back first." He wanted to see the progress over there.

"Miss, call us if you have something to do. We'll go back first."

Ye Jinzhi sent them to the door. When he entered, he felt that the house was much emptier and quieter.

After working all morning, Ye Jinzhi was truly free now. Several children were studying upstairs, and she could have some private time of her own without having to hang around a few children.