Xiao Changyi didn’t say anything else, he just tightened his hold on An Jing’s arm a bit more.
Yet in his heart, he thought, "I’d willingly give up ten years of my life for the sake of my son’s health."
Half a month after An Jing gave birth, Xiao Changyi finally permitted her to see visitors, and the first outsider An Jing saw was Shi Xiaolan.
"An Jing, your belly has really done great!" Even though she had already known half a month ago that An Jing had given birth to four sons, seeing these four little boys with her own eyes still made Shi Xiaolan both shocked and delighted.
Watching Shi Xiaolan’s disbelief as she looked at the four little ones in the cradle, An Jing couldn’t help but laugh.
To be honest, she really hadn’t expected to give birth to four sons in one go.
Shi Xiaolan continued to look at the four little ones in disbelief for a long while, then excitedly said to An Jing, "An Jing, you have no idea how envious everyone is of you. Four sons in one birth, it’s unprecedented! Everyone wants to come over to share your joy, but Brother Xiao was worried about disturbing your peace and didn’t let them in."
An Jing glanced at her aloof husband sitting by the bed, feeling both warm and sweet inside, and then she said to Shi Xiaolan with a smile, "Having four children in one birth took a toll on my body, and that’s why my husband is a bit worried. If my recovery hadn’t been alright, you might have made a wasted trip here today."
Shi Xiaolan said with great envy, "Brother Xiao is just concerned about you."
"Mhm, I know he’s concerned about me," An Jing said, sweetly glancing at Xiao Changyi.
Shi Xiaolan was truly envious of the loving relationship between An Jing and Xiao Changyi. However, she had grown accustomed to this envy, so her attention wasn’t drawn away by the affection between An Jing and Xiao Changyi, and remained focused on the four children.
"May I hold them?" asked Shi Xiaolan.
An Jing didn’t immediately respond to Shi Xiaolan. Her husband was very protective when it came to watching the children, and she didn’t want to decide without his consent and make him uncomfortable. So, she looked to her husband first, and only when she saw him nod slightly did she say to Shi Xiaolan, "Of course, go ahead and hold them."
Shi Xiaolan did hold one, the eldest, Su Yi Jing, first.
Yet, Su Yi Jing started crying as soon as he was in Shi Xiaolan’s arms, and although Shi Xiaolan had two children of her own and knew how to soothe them, before she could even try to calm him, Xiao Changyi had taken the child back into his arms.
As soon as Su Yi Jing found himself in Xiao Changyi’s embrace and saw his face, he stopped crying at once.
Shi Xiaolan felt extremely awkward.
An Jing, on the other hand, found the whole thing amusing. Although her husband had a cold demeanor, he cared greatly about her and their children. If he could prevent their sons from crying, he would not let them cry.
Seeing Shi Xiaolan looking quite embarrassed, An Jing said, "Xiao Lan, don’t mind it. All four of our children are really shy with strangers. But it’s strange, they particularly love their father and are very close to him. If it weren’t for my husband helping me, they wouldn’t be so affectionate with me now, making me somewhat jealous of how much the kids like him. You don’t know, but at first, these kids would also cry really loudly in my arms."
Shi Xiaolan felt relieved at this, and even laughed, "Blood is thicker than water. Brother Xiao is their father, after all. They should be close to him."
Three days later, Li Wuyu and Wang Youbao also came to visit.
In fact, Li Wuyu and Wang Youbao had tried to visit twice before, but they could only get as far as the courtyard each time.