Translator: Noodletown Translations Editor: Noodletown Translations
“Qin Chu was with me a moment ago and just left. He’s not in a good mood. Don’t mention the baby in front of them. It would be like adding insult to injury.”
“I know. I won’t mention it before them. I just talked about it with you.”
“Chu didn’t say it but I know he is sad.”
They felt heavy-hearted when they talked about Qin Chu and Huo Mian.
At this moment, the door opened and Xixi’s mother walked in with the baby in her arms.
Xixi’s sister and father filed in after her with stuff in their hands.
“Xuan, make formula milk for the baby.”
“How much?”
“The doctor said 30 ml is enough.”
“Do we have water? Dad, didn’t I tell you to boil water?”
Inexperienced, Nie Lingxuan scrambled to do the task.
“I did. The water is kept warm at a fixed temperature. You can use it now.”
Xixi’s mom walked to the bed with the baby.
“Mom, let me have a look at her.”
“You can see her every day. The most important thing for you is getting good rest…”
Her mother cherished her and wanted her to sleep.
“But I’m not sleepy. Haha. Come on, let me see her.”
Xixi’s mother brought the baby to Xixi.
“Is she asleep?” Xixi asked in a whisper.
“Yeah. She’s very good. She fell asleep after washing twice… She didn’t cry even during the bath.” Xixi’s mother couldn’t bear to put the baby down.
“By the way, have you two named the baby?”
Xixi’s father asked.
Xixi glanced at Rick. “You tell them.”
Rick said slowly, “Her English name is Christine. But we want to give her a Chinese name, too. We’ll give her mother’s family name Nie to her.”
Hearing his words, Xixi’s family were all surprised…
“This…” Xixi’s father felt flattered.
“She’ll have our family name? Great.” Nie Lingxuan smiled.
“Dad, say something. Are you happy?”
Xixi stuck out her tongue playfully.
“I’m so happy… It’s our fortune that our granddaughter is taking our family name.” Xixi’s father grinned with honest joy.
Then Rick continued, “I heard there’s a naming tradition in the north. If the parents have three-character names, then the children will have two-character names.”
“Right. My name is Nie Tao which has two characters, so my daughters’ names have three characters—Nie Lingxuan and Nie Lingxi.”
To illustrate the tradition, Xixi’s father even used his own name as an example. It was adorable of him.
Rick said with a smile, “So I plan to give our child a two-character name with the family name of Nie.”
“Have you decided on the name?” Nie Lingxuan asked eagerly.
Lying in bed, Xixi looked smug. “Rick gave this important task to me. We decided to name the baby Nie Chen if it’s a boy and Nie Jin if it’s a girl.”
“Jin?” Xixi’s sister was surprised.
“Yeah. The words came from a Chinese idiom ‘Liang Chen Si Jin,’” said Xixi proudly. （Note: the idiom means good moments of life are as beautiful as brocades.）
“Wow. A great name… I like it.” Xixi’s father laughed happily.
“I see our Xixi didn’t waste her time when she was in school. Great name.” Xixi’s mother praised.
Nie Lingxuan said with a chuckle, “Sis, so you don’t waste the other name, you should have a son, too. That way, you can name him Nie Chen. Haha…”
“No. Right now, I don’t have plans to have another baby… Pregnancy is hard work. Mom, did you suffer so much when you had my sister and me?”
Like a spoilt child, she leaned her head into her mother’s arms.
“In my time, the medical conditions were crude, and we ate poorly, too… You each weighed about 1,500 grams when you were born. I thought you’d die…”
Xixi’s mother was emotional when she recalled the past.
“Hon, her formal name is Nie Jin. How about a nickname?” Xixi looked at Rick.
“Dad, you give the nickname to the baby.” To show his respect to his father-in-law, Rick gave the honor to the older man.
