Wen Min · Chat

The second week after Jiaojiao came back—— Wen Min could tell that Wen Jiaojiao was a first-time mother. At night, the little one woke up every hour or two—either hungry or needing a diaper change—and she was staying up until dark circles piled thick under her eyes, her steps even beginning to waver and stumble. During the day there was soothing the baby to sleep, feeding her, and always the thought of making breakfast for Wen Min. In just a few days, her already slender frame had lost another notch off her chin. Wen Min saw it all, and it ached in his heart. He came home early every day to snatch away whatever chores she was about to do, and in the middle of the night he'd figure out what time the baby would wake and get to her room first to carry the baby out and warm up the breast milk she'd left to feed her. After a few days, his precious daughter was looking better, her cheeks flushed with color again. Finally able to breathe easy, he went back to making nourishing tonics to build her strength back up. It came as no surprise when Jiaojiao's milk ducts got blocked——that night, just after he'd gotten the little one to sleep, he heard Jiaojiao crying softly in the bathroom. Worried, Wen Min asked through the door, and Jiaojiao opened it while rubbing her eyes, looking wronged. Seeing her milk-swollen breasts, now several sizes bigger from nursing, he quickly grabbed a bath towel and wrapped it around her, then carried her to the living room and set her down on the sofa. As he coaxed her, his fingers never stopped scrolling through his phone for a solution. His face full of heartache, his voice gentle, he said: "Jiaojiao, be good. Daddy's heart twists in pain when he hears you cry. Daddy's finding a way—it'll be better soon."