This was Shi Kai’s widow, Wei Juan Hong.

Xia Xiao Lan quickened her pace, “Sister Wei, I’m Zhou Cheng’s girlfriend, Xia Xiao Lan. I came to see if I could help with anything.”

Wei Juan Hong hastily wiped away her tears and stood up with the baby:

“H-hello…”

Xia Xiao Lan was too beautiful, and Wei Juan Hong, disheveled as she was, felt too self-conscious to meet her gaze.

She was a city girl, beautiful as if glowing, with such a pleasant voice. Wei Juan Hong stood awkwardly holding her child.

“Please sit down, Sister Wei, you’re holding the baby!”

Xia Xiao Lan guided Wei Juan Hong back to the chair.

Tears still stained Wei Juan Hong’s face as Xia Xiao Lan softened her voice: “Sister if there’s anything you’re uncomfortable telling Zhou Cheng, you can tell me. We’re both women, there’s no need for hesitation, right?”

Xia Xiao Lan had never spoken this gently even with Zhou Cheng.

Wei Juan Hong’s situation was special, so Xia Xiao Lan naturally needed to be more patient.

Thanks to her previous life’s sales experience, she had conversation skills. After speaking softly with Wei Juan Hong for about ten minutes, she finally eased the woman’s tension.

Wei Juan Hong’s face reddened:

“I don’t know what’s wrong, but since coming to Beijing, my milk has dried up…”

Her infant of several months wasn’t weaned yet and cried from hunger when there wasn’t enough milk.

Zhou Cheng had arranged for the Shi family to stay in a guesthouse, booking them a suite and ordering good meals.

Such meat dishes were rarely available to the Shi family before.

Rural people were accustomed to frugality. Although Shi Kai had a salary, the family had several mouths to feed, and Wei Juan Hong couldn’t bring herself to spend money.

For the baby’s sake, she forced herself to eat meat, but despite eating better than at home, her milk supply remained low.

The hungry baby would cry until its voice went hoarse before falling asleep.

Only Wei Juan Hong worried about this. Who could she tell? She’d reluctantly asked the guesthouse for rice water. While this was a temporary solution, she didn’t know what to do long-term. Everything in the capital made Wei Juan Hong nervous and frightened. She just wanted her mother-in-law’s eyes treated quickly so they could return home.

Since Xia Xiao Lan said she was Zhou Cheng’s girlfriend, Wei Juan Hong finally couldn’t help but share this problem.

She had an idea – this being a hospital, there must be new mothers. Wei Juan Hong wanted to ask other mothers to share their milk – this was common in villages. When breast milk wasn’t available, some used goat’s or cow’s milk, though some babies would vomit and have diarrhea from fresh cow’s milk. Village folk knew that was for calves – how could humans and cows be the same?

After Shi Kai’s death, the two children were what kept the family together. Wei Juan Hong couldn’t risk anything happening to either of them – the cost would be too great for her to bear.

Her difficulty lay in wanting to “borrow milk,” but the hospital was huge, and all the doctors and nurses were busy. Wei Juan Hong didn’t know where to find someone to help.

Xia Xiao Lan felt heartache listening to this. She didn’t respond with surprised questions like “You don’t know about formula?” because it wasn’t strange for someone from a remote southwestern village to be unaware of infant formula.

“Sister, you were right to ask me. I brought two cans of formula today. You can mix this with water for the baby – it’s just as nutritious as breast milk. Use the formula for now. Your sudden loss of milk might be related to diet or mood. Wait here a moment while I ask a nurse for a bottle.”

The formula wasn’t yet differentiated by stages, but Xia Xiao Lan had brought imported products. The hospital’s maternity ward would surely have bottles.

By the time Xia Xiao Lan returned with the prepared formula, Wei Juan Hong’s younger son had just woken up.

Rice water couldn’t satisfy hunger. The little one sucked eagerly at the bottle. Wei Juan Hong was stunned that what seemed like an insurmountable problem had been solved so easily by Xia Xiao Lan.

Xia Xiao Lan had guessed correctly – Wei Juan Hong truly didn’t know about the formula. In her village, she’d only seen malted milk powder. People who’d tried it said it was sweet, and Wei Juan Hong had considered using it to feed the baby, expensive as it might be.

After Xia Xiao Lan solved her urgent problem, Wei Juan Hong asked if she could switch to malted milk powder back home if the formula wasn’t available. Xia Xiao Lan shook her head, “Don’t worry about formula, Sister. Forget about malted milk powder – that’s just a beverage. It’s fine for adults to drink, but it doesn’t have enough nutrition to replace breast milk.”

“You know so much.”

Having eaten his fill, the younger son was more energetic, no longer frowning uncomfortably as he had when finally being coaxed to sleep before.

Wei Juan Hong gently rocked her son, and her worries somewhat lessened.

This might be the resilience of rural women. Tang Hong En admired this resilience in Liu Fen, but in fact, most rural women possessed this quality. They couldn’t spend too much energy dwelling in sorrow – the living needed to eat… Only someone in Xie Yun’s circumstances could afford to spend twenty years grieving a dead husband. Only those free from worry about food and clothing had the luxury of suffering. Xie Yun could neglect her son – the Kang family’s circumstances wouldn’t let Kong Wei go hungry.

Could Wei Juan Hong afford to spend her days crying and neglecting her children?

If Xia Xiao Lan hadn’t brought formula today, just the lack of milk could have been devastating!

Wei Juan Hong sat outside Mother Shi’s ward, but neither Mother Shi nor Zhou Cheng was inside.

Upon asking Wei Juan Hong, she learned Zhou Cheng had accompanied Mother Shi for examinations.

“They say specialists will examine her. I don’t know how to thank your Zhou Cheng. Shi Kai was blessed to have such a colleague…”

Wei Juan Hong’s eyes reddened, alarming Xia Xiao Lan.

Did the Shi family not know that Shi Kai died saving Zhou Cheng?

Xia Xiao Lan didn’t want to think the worst of people, but this was truly a potential problem. Even if Zhou Cheng didn’t tell them himself, other unit members should have informed the Shi family.

“Xiao Lan?”

Zhou Cheng pushed a wheelchair, with Guan Hui E beside him and two doctors nearby. Guan Hui E chatted with them as they walked: “Thank you both so much for taking care of the surgery arrangements.”

“We must do our best for patients. Ophthalmology and Surgery will consult first before operating.”

After thanking the doctors, Guan Hui E spoke to Xia Xiao Lan, “No classes today? Why are you here at this time?”

“I have afternoon classes. I brought two cans of formula. Auntie Guan, could you help find specialized infant formula? Sister Wei seems to have lost her milk supply after relocating.”

Zhou Cheng had taken Mother Shi into the ward, and Wei Juan Hong went in with the baby to keep her mother-in-law company, leaving only Guan Hui E and Xia Xiao Lan outside to talk freely.

Guan Hui E understood upon seeing the empty bottle and formula can.

A man like Zhou Cheng wouldn’t think about Wei Juan Hong’s milk supply issues. Guan Hui E had been busy contacting doctors since arriving at the hospital, but Xia Xiao Lan had helped address this oversight. Thinking about how Xia Xiao Lan was still an unmarried young woman, Guan Hui E felt moved by her thoughtfulness:

“…Thank you for your effort.”

Xia Xiao Lan glanced at her, “Auntie, it’s no trouble – bringing some supplies doesn’t cost much. But Sister Wei doesn’t know why Zhou Cheng is doing all this. The Shi family probably doesn’t know the truth. Don’t you think this might lead to some unfortunate consequences?”