Slowly Falling For Changkong 64

Chapter 64

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Xu Lian slept immediately after giving birth, but she woke up after an hour. Everyone was still in the ward, waiting for her. Her child was also nearby, sleeping at a nearby cot.

Xiang ChangKong immediately noticed when Xu Lian opened her eyes and he leaned towards her. "You've woken up? How do you feel?"

At this moment, Xu Lian was dazed and somewhat confused. It was only when she looked at her surroundings that she remembered that she was in a hospital. She shook her head and spoke a little hoarsely: "I'm fine. Where's the baby?"

"Sleeping. Do you want me to bring her to you to hold?"

Xu Lian thought for a while, then said: "No, don't disturb her sleep. I'll see her for myself later."

"Alright. Do you want something to eat?"

"Nn."

Having been listening in on their conversation, the nearby Xiang Nuan offered: "I'll go downstairs and buy some porridge?"

"No, I'll go home and cook it myself. I'll be quick," Xiang ChangKong replied.

"You should watch over Xu Lian, ah. I'll go back and cook." Weng ShuLi picked up her coat and left.

Holding Xu Lian's hand, Xiang ChangKong said to her: "Go back to sleep. You can eat once you wake up."

"Nn." Xu Lian answered, then quickly fell asleep once more.

When she woke up again, Weng ShuLi had already come back with some porridge. Xu Lian ate some food, went to look at her baby, then was herded back into her bed by Xiang ChangKong.

After staying in the hospital for just two days, Xu Lian recovered enough to be able to go home. It might be because of everyone's careful ministrations, or it might just be because Xu Lian had good physical fitness in the first place.

There wasn't anything particularly exciting to do in the hospital, so the biggest pleasure Xu Lian had during this time was playing with her baby and discussing what name to give her.

The most educated and distinguished person in her family was obviously Dr. Xiang, so the responsibility of coming up with a  name naturally fell onto him. Xiang ChangKong was very conscientious and treated this honor with extreme responsibility. But this meant that despite thinking of a few potential names these past few days, he still hadn't been able to finalize a name by the time Xu Lian was set to be discharged.

(T/N: Xiang ChangKong has a P.h.D, so he's a doctor. Not the medical kind, the education kind.)

While her name hadn't been decided yet, the little baby had a lot of nicknames. These days, everyone had been calling her 'darling', 'baby', 'treasure' or 'little princess'. The little baby was obedient and very accommodating. No matter what the name called out, she cheerfully responded.

(T/N: basically 'baobao', 'beibei', 'baobei'  haha it's cute.)

After Xu Lian was discharged, Mother Xu stayed with Xu Lian and Xiang ChangKong temporarily to help care for the baby. Weng ShuLi lived close by so naturally, she also came by every day to help. In the end, there was actually nothing left for Xu Lian to do or worry about.

Xiang ChangKong finally decided on his daughter's name on the third day after Xu Lian's discharge and the little baby was officially called Xiang Xin. This was actually the first name Xiang ChangKong had proposed, but everyone had rejected it at the time. However, things just went round and round, and eventually, the name was brought up once more and was accepted.

Xiang ChangKong himself was very satisfied with the name, as the 'Xin' was taken from Xu Lian's name.

(T/N: 'Xin' used here looks like this: 心 while 'Lian' in Xu Lian looks like this: 恋. The Xin character is a part of the Lian character (the bottom part.))

When Xiang Nuan learned that her little niece was to be formally named Xiang Xin, she couldn't help but tease Xiang ChangKong for being so corny and romantic. But, well, when all was said and done, it was Xiang Xin's father who gave her that name. If the couple liked it, then that was fine.

(T/N: Xiang can mean 'turn towards' while Xin can mean 'heart'.)

Xiang Xin was usually a well-behaved baby who didn't cry often, but the couple still needed to wake up several times during the night to take care of her.

However, Xu Lian didn't need to get up. Xiang ChangKong had told her that since she had just recently given birth, she needed to concentrate on resting properly. So it was him and their two mothers that took up the mantle and would take care of Xiang Xin during the evenings.

One night, Xiang ChangKong finished coaxing his daughter and had gone back to bed, only to find Xu Lian awake, staring at the ceiling. He sat down beside her and bent down to kiss her forehead. "Did our daughter wake you?"

Xu Lian replied: "No, I woke up when you got up."

Xiang ChangKong smiled and laid down beside her. "I'll coax you to sleep, so quickly close your eyes."

"Nn..." Xu Lian closed her eyes, wrapped an arm on Xiang ChangKong's waist, and put her head on his chest. She told him: "I can't sleep."

Xiang ChangKong closed his eyes and laughed. In a low voice, he asked: "What's the matter?"

Xu Lian rubbed her cheek against his chest, right above his heart. "How do you usually coax your daughter?"

"Most of the time, she cries because she's hungry, or her diapers need a change."

"Oh...so you feed her milk and change her diapers?"

"Not necessarily. If she has trouble sleeping, I tell her stories."

Xu Lian blinked. "She can understand you?"

"Newborn babies can recognize sounds, so I think she understands me."

"Tell me a story then."

Xiang ChangKong opened his eyes and looked down at Xu Lian. "What story do you want to hear?"

"I'll listen to whatever you tell your daughter."

Xiang ChangKong smiled. He gently embraced his wife and stroked her back, as if coaxing a child. He began: "Once upon a time..."

Xiang ChangKong's normal voice was already quite soothing. But he deliberately lowered his voice, and against the quiet stillness of the night, it sounded quite provocative. "A dragon suddenly appeared..."

"Brought disaster, took the princess away, and disappeared?"

Xiang ChangKong chuckled, causing his chest to shake. "Have you already heard this story?"

"Nn...tell me another one."

"How about Snow White?"

"That's good."

Xiang ChangKong's deep, magnetic voice traveled into Xu Lian's ears. "A long, long time ago, there was a king who had a beautiful daughter, whose skin was as white as snow..."

Xu Lian closed her eyes and listened to Xiang ChangKong speak. Accompanied by the reassuring sounds of his breathing and heartbeat, Xu Lian soon felt drowsy again. Xiang ChangKong's voice went lower and lower until it was barely a whisper, but it was only until Xu Lian finally fell asleep that he stopped.

He kissed Xu Lian's forehead, then sighed in contentment. "Sleep, my princess."

During her recovery, Xu Lian stayed at home and spent her days playing with Xiang Xin and making candles whenever her hands itched to do something.

On a certain day, Xu Lian was playing with Xiang Xin in the living room when a family reality show started playing on TV. The heroine had just given birth like Xu Lian, but after giving birth, the heroine discovered that her husband had changed.

(T/N: Something like Dr. Phil)

'He used to kiss me the moment he comes home from work, and he bought me everything I wanted. But now that he has a child, he kisses the child first and everything he buys is for the child.'

This was the heroine's words.

This specific line caught Xu Lian's attention. She carefully recalled the past few days and worked out that Xiang ChangKong hadn't done any of this. Hm, it seems that he was performing well.

His work in the flying institute was very busy, but Xiang ChangKong tried his best to come home as soon as possible. He wanted to accompany Xu Lian and Xiang Xin as much as he could.

Today, when Xiang ChangKong arrived back home, Xiang Xin was already fast asleep. It wasn't much a surprise, as children sleep much earlier. Xiang ChangKong took a peek at his daughter, then went to the bedroom to look for Xu Lian.

Xu Lian was lying on the small couch in their bedroom, wearing a facial mask. She turned when she heard Xiang ChangKong come in, then asked: "Have you seen your daughter yet?"

"Nn. She's having a good sleep." Xiang ChangKong went to their closet to change clothes. "Though she'll probably wake up sometime later in the night since she's sleeping so early."

"Oh..." Xu Lian took off the facial mask, then threw it into the trash can nearby. "You know, I was watching some TV today and a woman on some show said that after she gave birth to a child, her husband ignored her and placed all his attentions on the child."

Xiang ChangKong's hands paused, and he turned towards a smiling Xu Lian. "What are you trying to say?"

"Nothing. I was just thinking that the woman is quite pitiful."

Xiang ChangKong finished changing, then walked towards Xu Lian. He crouched down in front of her and held her hand. "Are you worried that I would act the same as the woman's husband? That I'll only care about Xiang Xin and forget about you?"

Xu Lian raised a brow and stared at him without answering.

Xiang ChangKong raised the hand he was holding and kissed it. He told Xu Lian: "I don't have work tomorrow. Let's go do some shopping. It seems that we haven't gone out for quite some time now."

Xu Lian thought about it and found it to be true. Xiang ChangKong had been abroad for years, and when he came back, they became busy with their marriage, then pregnancy. The last time they went on a date seemed to be when Xiang ChangKong proposed to her.

"But what about Xiang Xin?"

　　　
Xiang ChangKong laughed. "You accused me of only caring about Xiang Xin, but isn't it the other way around?"

"It's not like that, ah. I just think it wouldn't be good to leave her for the entire day." After all, she was still so young.

"Your mother can take care of her for one day, ah. You can just prepare Xiang Xin's milk beforehand, and your mother can feed her with the bottle when she gets hungry."

After thinking about it, Xu Lian acquiesced and said: "Alright, where are we going?"

"Wherever you want. I'll go with you no matter the place." The didn't go out on dates very often when they were lovers, and after their wedding, there were even fewer opportunities to go out."

"I'll think about it." Xu Lian replied.

"Great."

Xu Lian thought about it all night, but in the end, she hadn't been able to plan any kind of special itinerary. Well, she won't be able to do anything too exciting anyway as she was still in her recovery period. Eventually, she decided to go through the traditional route: Shopping, eating, and movies.

When they told their mothers about their excursion, Weng ShuLi didn't comment and simply advised Xu Lian not to eat much outside food.

When the day came, Xu Lian fed Xiang Xin until she was full and satisfied. Once they saw that Xiang Xin had fallen asleep, the couple left.

Xiang ChangKong was responsible for driving today, and their destination was the Starlight Department Store.

It really has been quite a long time since Xu Lian came out and did some shopping. Moreover, she had spent the past year wearing loose and flowy maternity clothes. Now that she was surrounded by beautiful and trendy clothes, her passion for fashion was reignited. She immersed herself in the fun of it all and tried out several pieces of clothing in one breath. Fortunately, her body had recovered quickly and was back to the weight she had before her pregnancy. All her measurements were also pretty much the same as before.

Xiang ChangKong bought all the clothing that she had tried on. Although Xu Lian was happy, she also felt a little distressed at the amount of money he was spending. The stores in the Starlight Department Store weren't cheap.

After carrying the clothes out of the store, she turned towards Xiang ChangKong. "Buying me so many clothes at once...aren't you worried that your daughter's milk money is being diverted, ah?"

Xiang ChangKong took Xu Lian's hand with a smile and said: "Don't worry, I have more than enough money for both your clothes and your daughter's milk. And even if I have to forgo food, I will never treat you badly."

"This country won't agree to you starving yourself. They've spent so much money and time cultivating you, and you still hadn't made any significant contributions yet. You're not allowed to keel over, ah."

Xiang ChangKong didn't say anything in reply. He simply gripped his wife's hand and chuckled.

"Let's go to that shop."

　　

Xiang ChangKong turned towards the direction Xu Lian was pointing to and said: "But that's a men's wear store."

"I know, ah. I want to buy something for you."

Xiang ChangKong froze for a moment, then said: "No need. I have enough clothes."

But Xu Lian insisted, pulling him towards the store. "I want to buy something for you. Who cares if you have enough clothes, ah."

Xiang ChangKong hesitated for a moment, then gave her a wry smile. "Aren't you acting a bit overbearing?"

(T/N: overbearing/tyrannical.)

Xu Lian gave him a look. "Yes, my love is like that. Scared?"

The smile on Xiang ChangKong's face widened and became more profound. He kissed Xu Lian and said: "It's too late for me to be scared."

This woman had already been integrated into his flesh and blood. He could no longer let her go.

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