Two grown men holding babies naturally drew the others forward to watch. In an instant, the two little ones were surrounded by the crowd, like stars orbiting the moon.
The group began to murmur
"Oh my goodness, these two children are just too handsome. They're truly adorable."
It had to be admitted that if a mother was beautiful enough, the children she bore were generally not far off.
With Mu Xueqing's unrivaled beauty in Heilongjiang Province, combined with Wang An's "not-so-ugly" appearance, the children born from their union were naturally stunning.
Although the two little treasures, Xingfu and Kuaile, were a boy and a girl, they currently looked identical.
To be honest, sometimes Wang An, as the father, had to look closely to tell them apart.
Wu Dong and Wang Shuai had only held them for a short while before Zhang Shuya spoke up
"Alright, alright, that's enough holding. Quick, it's my turn."
As she spoke, Zhang Shuya took Xingfu from Wang Shuai's arms.
Immediately after, Zhang Shuya gave Xingfu's little cheek a kiss and said
"Call me Auntie. Auntie will give you candy."
While speaking, Zhang Shuya kissed Xingfu's little cheek several more times, looking as if she couldn't get enough of the child.
Seeing Zhang Shuya holding Xingfu affectionately, Sun Nian's eyes flickered, and she said to Wu Dong
"Brother Wu, you're not holding the baby right. The baby will be uncomfortable. Look at how I hold them."
Hearing this, Wu Dong said with a face full of confusion
"Really? This is how I hold my nephews and nieces. My sister-in-law and the others taught me this."
Despite saying that, Wu Dong still handed Kuaile over to Sun Nian, seemingly wanting to learn the correct way to hold a baby.
However, once Kuaile was in Sun Nian's arms, she completely ignored Wu Dong and focused all her attention on teasing Kuaile.
With a smile on her face, Sun Nian said to Kuaile
"Little baby, call me Godmother. Godmother, giggle giggle..."
Strangely enough, when Kuaile was in Wu Dong's arms, the baby had neither cried nor laughed, simply looking at Wu Dong with a face full of curiosity. But once in Sun Nian's arms, the little one's mouth curled into a smile.
It seemed that being held by Sun Nian was a very happy experience for Kuaile.
However, Sun Nian's words left everyone in the room momentarily stunned.
Mainly because Sun Nian wasn't even married yet, but she already had thoughts of being a godmother; it was truly surprising.
Seeing Kuaile smile, Sun Nian felt as if she had discovered a new continent and laughed happily, telling the others
"Look, this child really agrees to let me be the godmother! Giggle giggle..."
In this manner, after the six second-generation youths took turns being affectionate with the two little treasures, the babies—perhaps because they had been passed around so much—began to cry simultaneously.
The moment these two little ones cried, it left Wu Dong and Wang Shuai in an incredibly awkward position.
Because Xingfu and Kuaile happened to be in Wu Dong's and Wang Shuai's arms respectively when they started crying, the two men immediately became the targets of condemnation from the other four.
Fortunately, the two little ones were easy to soothe. Once they returned to the arms of Wang An and Mu Xueqing, they quickly fell asleep.
Only then did the six people bring out the gifts they had brought for the babies.
Wu Dong's gift consisted of two small Pixiu carved from natural crystal. The size of the Pixiu was roughly the size of an adult's thumb.
With Wang An's knowledge, he could naturally tell that the quality of these two crystals was very good, and the carving craftsmanship was far superior to his own. Even in this era, these two Pixiu could be worth eight hundred to a thousand yuan.
Of course, this was only if they were in the hands of someone with the relevant knowledge; in the hands of an ordinary person, nine times out of ten, no one would think much of them.
Wang Shuai's gift was two vividly carved roosters, slightly smaller than a palm. They looked very imposing. Most importantly, these two roosters were carved from chicken-blood stone, with a value also around eight hundred to a thousand yuan.
Since the two little treasures were born in the year of the Rooster, Wang Shuai's gift of two roosters was very fitting.
He Liang's gift was two yellow agate bracelets. The patterns were beautiful, and it was obvious that the agate beads on these bracelets had been around for a significant amount of time—what the antique world called "old stock."
The value was likely slightly higher than the gifts from Wu Dong and Wang Shuai.
Ma Guoqiang's gift was even more valuable, as he had brought two bracelets made of red coral.
It must be said that while coral looks like stone and is very hard, when it is alive, it is genuinely a biological organism!
Most importantly, starting from 1988, red coral had become strictly regulated; buying and selling were prohibited, and killing them was forbidden. Even those who already owned some could only keep them as collectibles for private viewing.
Perhaps because his gift overlapped slightly with He Liang's—since both gave bracelets—Ma Guoqiang remarked
"They can wear the bracelets He Liang gave and mine on opposite wrists. Yellow agate on the left, red coral on the right; it'll actually look quite nice, hahaha..."
As for Zhang Shuya's gift, even Wang An couldn't accurately name the price.
Mainly because Zhang Shuya had brought two small circular plaques, each about 3 centimeters in diameter.
The reason Wang An couldn't accurately price them was that these two circular plaques were green—specifically, the color that those who love gambling on stones pursue their entire lives: Imperial Green.
Anyone with a bit of knowledge knew the value of these two plaques, so Mu Xueqing immediately said
"Big Sister, these two plaques are too..."
Before Mu Xueqing could finish, Zhang Shuya interrupted nonchalantly
"It's fine. Regardless, they're just two pieces of stone. One for my grand-nephew and one for my grand-niece, hahaha..."
While Zhang Shuya was technically correct—since whether it was agate, jadeite, chicken-blood stone, or crystal, they were all types of stone—just as people cannot be compared to other people, can one stone be compared to another?
Sun Nian's gift was also a pair of plaques: a pair of rectangular "Peace and Safety" plaques about five or six centimeters long, made of Lantian jade.
While the value had a gap compared to Zhang Shuya's Imperial Green plaques, it was not at all inferior to the gifts from Wu Dong and Wang Shuai.
One must know that Lantian jade is considered an equal to Hetian jade.
The gifts from these six people were all incredibly valuable, showing just how much importance they placed on Wang An.
Thanks to "Xiao Sha—eC" for the tip, thank you, thank you!
(End of Chapter)