"Wow, so cute." Xia Xia’s eyes lit up, and everyone voiced their praise together.
The newborn baby wasn’t particularly good-looking, but Sun Yuhua’s daughter was delicate, chubby, and pink, making her very adorable.
Everyone marveled at such a tiny new life.
"What’s her name?" Ning Hui asked.
"Gao Meili," Sun Yuhua answered.
"Gao Meili, that’s a nice name. Who thought of it?" Xia Xia asked.
"I just thought of it," Sun Yuhua said aloud.
Upon hearing the name, Zheng Xianghong said, "It might as well be Gao Lili. Why choose the character ’Mei’?"
Xia Xia and the others immediately thought of Li Shengmei and Dong Meihua. They were, after all, outsiders and didn’t feel it right to intervene.
Sun Yuhua became angry, "If you don’t like it, pick a name yourselves."
Gao Jiazhi also didn’t seem too keen on the name Gao Meili, and out of respect for Gao Guoqiang, he said, "Let Dad pick the name."
Being the first small life in the Gao family, Gao Guoqiang was very pleased, he had even secretly looked up dictionaries. Now, with Sun Yuhua and Zheng Xianghong disagreeing, Gao Guoqiang wouldn’t delay further and said, "How about Gao Weilin, with ’Wei’ as in ’sky-blue,’ and beside ’king’ character a ’double forest.’"
The moment this name was proposed, Xia Xia and the others nodded unanimously, finding it to be a good choice.
Better than Gao Meili or Gao Lili.
Sun Yuhua chose to remain silent, and Gao Jiazhi also thought that the name Gao Weilin was good, so he quickly noted it down happily.
A granddaughter was added to the Gao family. Everyone who saw them congratulated them. Li Shengmei, in particular, was even more delighted; upon seeing that Sun Yuhua’s child wasn’t a son, she was overjoyed.
Previously, Li Shengmei had been worried that Sun Yuhua might have a son which would put Zheng Xianghong at an advantage over her. Now that Sun Yuhua had a daughter, Li Shengmei said to Dong Meihua, "I’ll ask Xuegang to come back, and you must outdo her for me. I’ve already beaten Zheng Xianghong in having a son, and we shouldn’t let Zheng Xianghong win with a grandson either."
Dong Meihua felt very frustrated about this. Initially relaxed that Sun Yuhua had a daughter, she now felt pressured by Li Shengmei.
"Mom, why don’t I visit Xuegang in the military?" Dong Meihua suggested, thinking that visiting He Xuegang in the military might also mean a few days off from work.
Li Shengmei’s eyes lit up, "Yes, you can go see Xuegang."
So, Li Shengmei began to write a letter to He Xuegang, hinting at Dong Meihua’s visit, and waited for her son’s reply.
Meanwhile, Xia Xia received letters from both Gao Jiaxing and Xia Fei. Gao Jiaxing expressed his frustration in the letter, saying the training tasks were so heavy that he might not be able to come back to see her even during the New Year.
Xia Xia smiled slightly after reading Gao Jiaxing’s letter and then opened the package from Xia Fei. Xia Fei had sent a bag of dates to Xia Xia, informing her of the good news in the letter that she was pregnant.
Xia Xia felt happy for Xia Fei, promptly replied to her letter, and wondering what to send, Xia Xia sent some dried vegetables to Xia Fei.
"Xia Xia," Sun Yuhua approached Xia Xia again.
"Yu Hua Sister, what’s the matter?" Xia Xia asked, looking at Sun Yuhua. Over the past few months, Xia Xia’s impression of Sun Yuhua wasn’t so good, mainly because Sun Yuhua was quite negligent towards her daughter, Gao Weilin.
Now that Weilin was already five months old, she was almost always taken care of by Zheng Xianghong, Gao Jiazhi, or even Gao Guoqiang. Sun Yuhua, aside from nursing, hardly managed anything else and even neglected Weilin.
Since Xia Xiao had also experienced parental gender bias favoring sons over daughters, she disliked this disregard for daughters. Being a woman herself and despising her own daughter, Xia Xiao felt rather displeased.
Wanting a son was normal, and many women felt more secure in their married homes after bearing a son. But it wasn’t as if more children couldn’t be had, and neither Zheng Xianghong nor Gao Guoqiang had shown disdain towards Weilin; it was Sun Yuhua who dismissed her first.
Xia Xia couldn’t understand it; it wasn’t as if she hadn’t talked to Sun Yuhua about it, but Sun Yuhua was stubborn and often obstinate, not open to just anyone’s advice.
At first, Xia Xiao didn’t want to involve herself, but since she was dating Gao Jiaxing and would eventually be sisters-in-law with Sun Yuhua—with Weilin being her niece—Xia Xiao cared greatly for Weilin and naturally held some dissatisfaction towards Sun Yuhua.
"When are you going back?" Sun Yuhua asked.
"I’m leaving right away," Xia Xiao replied.
"Can you take this letter to my family?" Sun Yuhua handed a letter to Xia Xiao.
Xia Xiao said, "Yu Hua Sister, why don’t you mail it back yourself?"
Sun Yuhua silently said, "Just do this favor for me, thank you."