Deng Yuyuan was perplexed.
She thought, "If he wants to hold her, just let him. Someone is offering to help watch the baby, so I might as well take advantage of it."
Remembering his characterization in the book as someone children adored, Deng Yuyuan half-doubtfully handed Tuantuan over to him.
As soon as Zhang Ci Hao took the baby, he skillfully rocked her in his arms.
"Does she have a name?" Zhang Ci Hao looked at the little, red-faced infant in his arms. She felt like she weighed less than half of what his nephew did, and her cries were weak.
He looked up, meeting Deng Yuyuan's surprised gaze, and explained with a grin, "When my sister-in-law was recovering after childbirth, I was the one who took care of the baby. My parents said that since I was idling at home with nothing to do anyway, I might as well watch the kid."
So that was it. Deng Yuyuan stepped forward to tease the baby. "Her name is Tuantuan."
Tuantuan had tired herself out from crying. She grabbed her mother's finger and tried to stuff it into her mouth. Feeling mischievous, Deng Yuyuan deliberately resisted, making it impossible for the baby to pull her hand.
Feeling the dampness through the swaddle, Zhang Ci Hao frowned slightly. "She probably peed. She needs a diaper change."
A diaper? Deng Yuyuan's mind went blank for a moment. When she was packing up, she hadn't seen any extra diapers in the room, nor had she even thought about it. Now that the moment had come, she couldn't even produce a clean diaper to change her with.
Zhang Ci Hao asked her in a low voice, "Did you leave the diapers at the Zhang Family's home and forget to bring them back?" His next sentence was about to be a suggestion that they return home.
Deng Yuyuan whispered back, "The Zhang Family never prepared any diapers for her. I bought this swaddle and the current diaper with my own money before I gave birth."
Deng Yuyuan sighed, patted him on the shoulder, and took the baby back. "Don't try to persuade me. Brother Zhang is a good man, but he's useless. With your rice, the two of us can eat our fill for the next month. If we go back to Brother Zhang's house, we'll just go hungry again."
Feeling the woman's soft fingers on his shoulder, Zhang Ci Hao felt a mix of sympathy and pity, along with a sense of brotherly loyalty toward Zhang Jiahua. His heart ached sourly, but his earlobes betrayed him first, turning a thorough shade of red. He knew that Jiahua's wife meant nothing by it, but this was the first time any woman other than his mother had ever made such an intimate gesture toward him.
"I have some extra new diapers at home, I'll give them to you!" Blurting the sentence out in a single breath, Zhang Ci Hao turned and sprinted away.
Deng Yuyuan assumed he had just fled out of sheer embarrassment and didn't take his words seriously.
She went inside and removed the soiled diaper, then placed a bare-bottomed Tuantuan back into the swaddle. She whispered to the infant, "Tuantuan, please try your best to hold it in today. No more peeing."
Meanwhile, Tian Tian stopped by the fields to inform the educated youths that Deng Yuyuan had returned to the Knowledge Youth Institute. She explained that the situation wasn't great, and though it wasn't convenient to go into details, she asked everyone to look out for her.
Zhao Erdong called out to her. "Did Yu Yuan come back alone?"
Tian Tian slapped her forehead. "No, no, she brought her little baby along. When you guys go inside, keep it down so you don't wake the child." She added, "That's my request, by the way. Sister Yu Yuan didn't ask for this."
"Got it," the educated youths laughed. "Now we'll have a baby to play with."
There were currently three men and two women living at the Knowledge Youth Institute. Having passed their initial adjustment period and with the village cadres looking after them, these young, able-bodied youths weren't having a hard time in the village. Supporting a mother and child wouldn't be too much of a burden to bear.
What's more, when Deng Yuyuan first lived at the Institute, she had a wonderful temper and got along well with everyone. When a friend was in need, it was only natural to help out.
Tian Tian glanced around the area and asked the group, "Do you guys know where the production team leader is?"
The team leader often patrolled the fields and was rarely at home except during meal times and at night.
"The village chief's wife came looking for him just now. It sounded like they were heading to the Zhang Family's fields together," a male educated youth replied, suddenly growing tense. "Is it about Deng Yuyuan?"
"I'll go take a look," Tian Tian said. "If you guys finish work and head back first, don't touch the porridge cooking in the pot. That's for Sister Yu Yuan and the baby."
As soon as Tian Tian arrived, she heard Granny Zhang's booming voice. "She expects my son to go to her door and beg her to come back? Bah! If she wants to return to the Zhang Family, she has to kowtow and apologize to us first!"
Zhang Jiahua stood nearby, looking at his mother in a tough spot. "Mom, Yu Yuan is just throwing a little tantrum. Don't be angry. I'll pick her up and bring her home after I finish work."
The team leader wore a stern expression. "Auntie, this is where you're in the wrong. We aren't in a famine anymore. Even if every family isn't eating meat at every meal, no one has problems staying fed and warm. If word gets out that you're even withholding her food, it's not just the Zhang Family that will be cursed at—the whole village will lose face. Deng Yuyuan just gave birth, and this is the time she needs her family the most. If for nothing else, you should consider the fact that she gave the Zhang Family a child—"
"Don't bring that up with me! An older worthless burden giving birth to a little worthless burden." Granny Zhang turned her face away.
The team leader blinked at Zhang Jiahua, signaling him to talk some sense into his mother.
"Mom, we really didn't handle this well. Yu Yuan is always going hungry..." Zhang Jiahua started to say.
Granny Zhang glared at him, and he instantly lost his nerve.
The team leader was frustrated by his lack of backbone. "Zhang Jiahua, give me a straight answer. Do you still want your wife and child or not? If you do, I'll go with you to the Knowledge Youth Institute and help talk her into coming back. After that, you need to treat both of them right."
"What's there to talk about! Where else can she go but here? Just give her the cold shoulder for a while, and she'll come creeping back with her tail between her legs."
"Mom!" Zhang Jiahua raised his voice. Seeing that his mother had stopped being so aggressive, he turned to the team leader. "I'll discuss it with my family. Once we have a plan, I'll go to the Knowledge Youth Institute right away and coax Yu Yuan into coming back. It just so happens she hasn't gathered with her friends in a long time. It's good for her to stay there for a bit and chat."
"Fine!" The team leader let out an angry laugh. Who mistreated a girl like this? Unfortunately, Deng Yuyuan was an educated youth sent down to the countryside, and no one had ever seen letters sent to her from the city. The Zhang Family had figured they had her trapped because she had no maiden family to back her up.
Zhang Zhuang simply couldn't stand this toxic trend in the village of bullying the weak. As long as he was around, if Jiahua's wife didn't want to go back on her own, he absolutely wouldn't try to persuade her. The village chief's wife had given her a bag of rice, and he would go deliver some too. He'd make sure Jiahua's wife could stay at the Knowledge Youth Institute a little longer to chip away at the Zhang Family's arrogance.
"Team Leader!" Tian Tian ran out and called to him. "Can you come to the Knowledge Youth Institute for a moment? We need to rearrange the living quarters."
The team leader nodded. "It's about Comrade Deng Yuyuan, right? I've already gathered some of the situation. I'll go take a look with you now."
Zhang Jiahua hurriedly put down his farm tools and lifted his leg to follow them, but Granny Zhang grabbed hold of him. "Do you want today's work points or not? Are you seriously trying to sneak off right in front of the team leader!"
The team leader subtly slowed his pace, but unfortunately, Zhang Jiahua did not follow them. Instead, Tian Tian anxiously gave the leader a push. "Team Leader, how can a grown man like you walk even slower than me!"