Grandmother Chen’s tireless and attentive care made Ye Xiaomei feel very uncomfortable. She felt she had only done something simple, but Grandmother Chen treated her like a living Bodhisattva, which put her under immense pressure. To repay her kindness, Ye Xiaomei had little Chen An stay overnight at her home.

Wang Liting had already returned to work. Little Chen An woke up several times at night to drink milk. To ensure Wang Liting got enough sleep, he could only sleep with Grandmother Chen. After all, Grandmother Chen was already in her fifties, and getting up in the middle of the night to heat bottles was too much for her. So Ye Xiaomei took over this task.

At first, Grandmother Chen refused. This wasn’t just a matter of one more person, one more pair of chopsticks. Taking care of a baby at night was exhausting, and taking care of two—how could anyone rest well?

But Ye Xiaomei was adamant. If Grandmother Chen didn’t agree, Ye Xiaomei wouldn’t provide milk in advance. Grandmother Chen had no choice but to agree, and she worked even harder and more carefully during the day to take care of Cheng Lele.

Cheng Lele was much easier to care for than Chen An. Cheng Lele was an especially quiet child who didn’t like to cry. The moment someone played with her, her attention would be drawn away—she was extremely lovable. Grandmother Chen truly treated her as her own granddaughter. When doing chores, she never favored her own grandson. If both children wet their diapers at the same time, she always helped Lele first.

Boys could be raised a bit rougher—no problem. Girls needed to be raised more carefully.

This was Grandmother Chen’s childcare philosophy.

Strangely enough, ever since little Chen An went to sleep at the Cheng family’s home, he stopped crying at night. Like Lele, he would eat then sleep, sleep then eat, becoming a quiet, peaceful lump of flesh that contended with no one. The two of them shared a bed like this, living in peaceful contentment for a period of time.