Translator: Noodletown Translations Editor: Noodletown Translations
“Qin Chu was with a mont ago and just left. He’s not in a good mood. Don’t ntion the baby in front of them. It would be like adding insult to injury.”
“I know. I won’t ntion 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 mont, 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 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. Co on, let 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 nad the baby?”
Xixi’s father asked.
Xixi glanced at Rick. “You tell them.”
Rick said slowly, “Her English na is Christine. But we want to give her a Chinese na, too. We’ll give her mother’s family na Nie to her.”
Hearing his words, Xixi’s family were all surprised...
“This...” Xixi’s father felt flattered.
“She’ll have our family na? Great.” Nie Lingxuan smiled.
“Dad, say sothing. Are you happy?”
Xixi stuck out her tongue playfully.
“I’m so happy... It’s our fortune that our granddaughter is taking our family na.” 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 nas, then the children will have two-character nas.”
“Right. My na is Nie Tao which has two characters, so my daughters’ nas have three characters—Nie Lingxuan and Nie Lingxi.”
To illustrate the tradition, Xixi’s father even used his own na as an example. It was adorable of him.
Rick said with a smile, “So I plan to give our child a two-character na with the family na of Nie.”
“Have you decided on the na?” Nie Lingxuan asked eagerly.
Lying in bed, Xixi looked smug. “Rick gave this important task to . We decided to na 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 ca from a Chinese idiom ‘Liang Chen Si Jin,’” said Xixi proudly. （Note: the idiom ans good monts of life are as beautiful as brocades.）
“Wow. A great na... I like it.” Xixi’s father laughed happily.
“I see our Xixi didn’t waste her ti when she was in school. Great na.” Xixi’s mother praised.
Nie Lingxuan said with a chuckle, “Sis, so you don’t waste the other na, you should have a son, too. That way, you can na 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 ?”
Like a spoilt child, she leaned her head into her mother’s arms.
“In my ti, the dical 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 na is Nie Jin. How about a nickna?” Xixi looked at Rick.
“Dad, you give the nickna to the baby.” To show his respect to his father-in-law, Rick gave the honor to the older man.
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