Seeing him, Feng Qingxue’s heart ached terribly. She first applied some ointment on him to treat his frostbite and chapped skin, meticulously covering the entirety of his face and hands. She then moved his legs, which were hanging over the edge of the bed, onto the bed itself. She placed his head next to Xibao, using her pillow, and finally covered him with Xibao’s quilt.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, Feng Qingxue greedily took in the sight of her husband, whom she hadn’t seen for over a year, while occasionally glancing at her son.
Everyone said that Xibao resembled Lu Jiang, but she couldn’t see any similarities between them at all.
The father and son were starkly different.
The elder was dark and thin, with sunken cheeks, while the younger was chubby and pale, with two layers of baby fat on his chin.
The elder’s skin was coarse like tree bark, while the younger’s was as delicate as a peeled eggshell.
Both the elder’s cheeks sported a pair of highland roses, while the little one’s cheeks were flushed.
Both were asleep, their eyes closed, making it impossible to discern any resemblances. However, upon closer examination, their eyebrows and noses bore a striking similarity, with their thick, diagonally slanted eyebrows sweeping into their temples, the high bridge of their nose, and even the shapes of their mouths were very alike.
Overall, Xibao did indeed resemble Lu Jiang.
She decided that once Lu Jiang had recovered, they would take lots of father-son photos before he returned to the army.
Having thought of this, Feng Qingxue contentedly fetched the bathwater, poured it out, tucked the empty bathtub away in a corner, and put Lu Jiang’s discarded clothes in the laundry basket for washing. The next moment, she noticed that Xibao had woken up.
Lil’ Xibao wagered his limbs as usual, half his body emerged from under the blankets. He wriggled around, propping himself up. Just as his pursed lips prepared to wail for some sympathy and assistance, he sensed an unfamiliar presence nearby.
"Huh?" Xibao flailed his limbs again, finally managing to heave his chubby little body towards Lu Jiang’s face. He sat up, examining Lu Jiang’s face, and drooled all over it.
Noticing that the man wasn’t fair, pretty, or fragrant, and he lay completely still, Xibao, propping himself up with one hand, extended the other to petulantly pat and push at his dark, weathered face— as if he was trying to shove him off the bed. Unfortunately, the arm that was holding up his little body gave out too soon and he ended up face-planting onto Lu Jiang’s face.
Feng Qingxue stifled a laugh at the sudden turn of events.
The sound of her laughter instantly caught Xibao’s attention, and his eyes lit up like lanterns. He got excited, reaching out both chubby little hands towards her and began babbling joyously. He tried crawling towards her as if he was climbing a mountain.
Feng Qingxue quickly scooped him into her arms, then sat on the edge of the bed before chuckling, "Xibao, that’s your dad!"
Xibao didn’t know what ’dad’ was. Once in his mom’s soft and fragrant arms, his little head began to bobble, and he searched urgently for food. Even after much effort, and increasingly loud whining, he still couldn’t locate his desired pacifier because of the layers of clothing Feng Qingxue was wearing. Worried that he might wake Lu Jiang, Feng Qingxue quickly undid her clothes to meet his hunger.
The little guy was very quick and frantic in consuming his food. Once he was satisfied, he burped contentedly.
Fearing that he would start throwing a tantrum in the house and wake Lu Jiang, Feng Qingxue changed his diaper and took him out to the exterior room, where the other children had started to come back. "Acheng, Tianjun, could you two watch Xibao for me? I need to wash your uncle’s clothes and Xibao’s diapers."