Fortunate Life of the Rural Beauty
Chapter 396 - 395: Can’t Let Go

Chapter 396: Chapter 395: Can’t Let Go

Mrs. Wang grinned. She was overjoyed, both for her daughter giving birth to two sons safely and for finding her a great son-in-law.

She quickly presented the child in her arms to Chen Afu, chuckling, "This is the elder one. My son-in-law said he’s a bit heavier and his cries are louder, so we named him Chu Siyu, Brother Yu."

Mrs. Li came over holding another child, laughing as she said, "This is the younger one. The master said he should be more refined, so we named him Chu Siming, Brother Ming."

Seemingly sensing their mother’s presence, the two infants, who had had their eyes shut, surprisingly opened them and looked in Chen Afu’s direction, causing Mrs. Wang and the others to marvel.

The babies were small, their skin reddish and wrinkled a bit, but they had shiny hair, double eyelids, perky little noses, and distinct lips. From time to time they puckered their little mouths, looking utterly adorable.

Looking at them, Chen Afu’s heart melted like a puddle of water, and tears welled up in her eyes. After two lifetimes, she had finally become a real mother. She was willing to endure any hardship for this privilege.

She first took Brother Yu, who was closer to her, kissed his little face and touched his little nose. He smelled nice, his skin was soft, utterly lovable.

Brother Ming seemed to feel neglected and started to sulk. Chen Afu handed Brother Yu back to Mrs. Wang, took Brother Ming into her arms, kissed him, touched him, and laughed, "Son, you’re mom’s treasure!"

Jin Yanzi’s voice echoed in her mind, "Brother is someone’s treasure, brother is someone’s treasure. Someone wants to see brother, oh dear, I can’t wait..."

Xia Yue came in with a bowl of chicken soup and laughed, "Madam, you must be hungry. Here, have some chicken soup first."

After Chen Afu finished the soup, she ate two small buns and two poached eggs before breastfeeding. She knew that her body was special and insisted on nursing her children. However, she also hired two wet nurses in case her milk wasn’t enough.

Mrs. Wang told her that, while she had been sleeping, the two wet nurses had already fed the babies.

In the West Wing, everyone was having dinner.

An eloquent maid ran to report, "Old Marquis, master, the father-in-law, madam is awake and nursing the two young masters. The young masters have both opened their eyes, my goodness, they are just so stunning!"

The old master laughed heartily, rewarding the sweet-talking maid with one or two taels of silver. He was so pleased that he had already given out many silver rewards. Not only did he give the servants of the senator’s mansion double allowances, but the servants of the Capital Marquis Mansion, Tang Garden, and those serving Chen Afu in the main court each received three times their usual allowance...

Upon hearing that Chen Afu was awake, Chu Lingxuan stopped eating, got up, and headed to the main room. Chu Hanyan, Chen Dabao, Li Xuan, Chu Lingzhi, and Alu rushed out after him.

Chen Shiying put down his wine glass and also got up to leave. Eager to catch another glimpse of his grandsons, the usually diligent man had taken the day off from work.

The old master laughed heartily again, saying to Chen Ming, "Let’s go and take another look at my chubby great-grandsons."

If Chen Shiying weren’t there, Chen Ming would naturally feel certain that he was Afu’s biological father and the biological grandfather of both children. But when Chen Shiying was present, he felt a little uncertain, as if he couldn’t compete with him. Especially when Chen Shiying and Mrs. Wang were crying and calling out "Afu" at the window, he felt even more unsettled. No matter how good he was to Afu, how much he liked Afu, he was not her biological father. So, when Chen Shiying hurried off to see his grandson, he had to wait until the patriarch sent for him before he would follow to the upper room.

Chu Lingxuan and the three children went straight into the bedroom, Alu and Chu Lingzhi felt too embarrassed to go in, so they just stood at the door and peeked inside. While the great-grandfather and two grandfathers were sitting in the main room, waiting for someone to bring the child out for them to see.

As soon as Chu Hanyan and Li Xuan entered the room, they started circling the small bed, particularly Chu Hanyan, her heart and mind were entirely engrossed by the baby brother, she simply couldn’t get enough of him.

Chu Lingxuan and Chen Dabao were eager to talk to Chen Afu, especially Dabao, whose eyes were constantly red - he had a lot to tell his mother.

Chu Lingxuan sat by the bed and said, "Afu, you’ve worked hard, I ..."

Before he could finish his heartfelt words, Dabao squeezed in front of him and interrupted Chen Afu by saying, "Mother, I was so upset and heartbroken to hear you crying out. I wanted to stay right outside with you, but they forcibly took me away. Mother, I will not have any more brothers or sisters from now on, it’s too hard on you when you have them ..."

Chen Dabao rattled on with a sobbing voice, making Chu Lingxuan twitch at the corner of his mouth.

Chen Afu laughed and touched Dabao’s face saying, "Dabao, mom is very happy that you care for her. However, it’s the same for every mother giving birth. Despite the hardship, birthing a new life brings joy. The hardship is temporary, but the joy is forever."

After hearing this, Dabao fell silent. Did his own mother also suffer such pain when giving birth to him? After going through such hardship to give birth to him, why did she then abandon him?

This child is too sensitive.

Seeing him fall silent, Chen Afu guessed his thoughts. She said with a smile, "Go and look at your brothers, you are their elder brother; in the future, you need to look after and protect them."

Dabao came to the crib to see how small his two brothers were, one with his left eye open and the other with his right eye open - they were incredibly adorable. He touched each of his brothers and then broke into a grin. He finally understood what his mother meant, for such cute and delicate brothers, not only his mother, but he himself would also willingly endure hardship and exhaustion for them.

As the patriarch cried out to see the great-grandsons in the living room, the wet-nurses Mrs. Jiang and Mrs. Lin carried Yu and Ming into the main room. The Marquis and Chen Shiying argued again - the Marquis stated that the children looked like him, where Chen Shiying insisted that they resembled him.

At last, the two babies managed to lure the other children into the main room, and the bedroom quieted down again.

Chu Lingxuan gently touched her cheek and said in a low voice, "Afu, the past day and two nights were too long and terrifying ... I’ve never been so scared, I’m afraid ... afraid if you would like ..." He wanted to say "like Mrs. Ma", but he felt that it wasn’t right, so he paused and continued, "If you were no longer here, how could I go on living?"

By the time he finished speaking his voice was choking. He was truly scared. From the moment Chen Afu started screaming, his mind would flash images of Mrs. Ma’s face; he feared that Chen Afu might die like Mrs. Ma. He even thought that the clear image of Mrs. Ma, which had almost faded from his memory, reappearing so vividly before his eyes was perhaps Mrs. Ma’s spirit "coming" to "take" Afu away. This thought made him even more terrified. After Chen Afu safely gave birth to their sons, amidst his extreme joy, he thought that he should take Yan’er to the temple to burn incense for Mrs. Ma and bless her soul.

Hearing Chu Lingxuan’s words, Chen Afu’s tears flowed. Touching the hand that placed on her face she said, "Each time when I felt I was close to death, I would hear your calls and your choked voice. I thought about what would happen to you and the children if I was gone... I also heard my parents crying... I can’t bear to part with you all... How wonderful to have so many loved ones to care about in this life..."