Extra Story Four - Darling Shaw... and Friends

As the product of a computer science genius and the department beauty, little Junior Shawn showed a passionate interest in computers from a very young age. This was first demonstrated when he had just learned to crawl. He fearlessly crawled over to his dad's open laptop and, quite satisfied, peed all over the keyboard, completely ruining the computer.

Of course, the consequences were dire—his young father, who had just returned to the living room after answering a phone call, caught him and gave his chubby little bottom a couple of firm pats.

As he grew a bit older, he clung to his father's leg and wouldn't let go: "Daddy, buy Ming a little computer."

Father: "Why do you need a little computer?"

Junior Shawn answered with great ambition: "For work."

The young father was immediately filled with pride at having a successor and picked him up: "What kind of work?"

Ming : "Pressing A, B, C, D!"

Father: "..."

Baby Shawn's full name was given by his grandfather, Mingtson Shawn . Grandfather solemnly explained the name—'Ming' means sun and moon, the essence of heaven; 'Zong' refers to jade, the essence of the earth.

So, our Mingtson Shawn , Darling Shaw, is undoubtedly the spirit of heaven and earth, the essence of the sun and moon!

Ahem...

Let's not worry about the old man's self-satisfaction. As for the little one himself, calling him the essence is not an exaggeration. He resembles his beautiful mother more in appearance, with well-defined eyebrows and bright eyes, handsome and charming... though a bit chubby. His sharp and agile mind is said to be just like his father's, with a clear sense of logic and a particular sensitivity to numbers. However, his lively and destructive personality is a mystery.

One evening, Vivian finally managed to coax him to sleep and sat on the living room floor with Nai Shawn to fix toys. Looking at the pile of broken toys, Vivian was a bit troubled: "Who does Ming take after? I wasn't this mischievous as a child. I still have some toys in good condition that my mom kept. Is he like you?"

"Not like me," Nai Shawn denied immediately, attaching the wheels to a toy car, "I never took apart my own toys as a child."

... Uh, so?

"I probably took apart quite a few of others'," Nai Shawn mused.

Vivian: "..."

Alright, now we know who Ming takes after. But Ming , you should still learn from your dad! Don't take apart the toys your parents buy you.

Ming is full of energy, overly lively, and never content with solitude. Before he could crawl, he loved to babble in alien baby talk in his cradle, and he needed an audience to respond, or he would kick and squirm in protest. Once he could crawl, he rolled around with his diaper and bottle, exploring the terrain. When he could walk, it was even more chaotic.

Putting him to sleep was the most challenging task for the whole family. The little one knew how to assign tasks to his parents. Every day, after his parents got off work and picked him up from his grandparents, he would sit in his dad's lap, watching him use the computer, babbling suggestions. Before bed, he liked to play with toys and listen to stories with his mom, and he wouldn't sleep unless she stayed with him.

One day, while Vivian was putting him to sleep, she unknowingly fell asleep herself. After a while, she felt her body lighten as someone picked her up and carried her to another soft bed.

Vivian opened her eyes slightly, pushing away the hands unbuttoning her pajamas: "No, I'm too tired."

The buttons were only half undone, leaving a hint of allure. The person beside her stopped unbuttoning and instead pulled the pajamas down, slipping a hand underneath, whispering in her ear: "Vivian, let's make the most of our time and have all the children we want."

"Huh?" Vivian was breathless from his actions and didn't quite understand.

The person on top of her seemed a bit annoyed, speaking decisively: "Let's have another one, so they can play together."

Since both were only children, according to the current policy in City B , they could have two children. They had already agreed on this and decided to have two kids, but Vivian hadn't thought about having another one so soon. It wasn't a concern about work; Vivian was quite lucky, inheriting her mother's constitution, with no morning sickness during pregnancy, and her skin remained fair and smooth. As long as she was careful in the first three months, she could work normally afterward.

Having another child wasn't the issue, but raising them was. Currently, Ming was mostly taken care of by his grandparents. As university professors, they had relatively flexible schedules, and they had hired a nanny to help, barely managing. If they had another little troublemaker like Ming , would the grandparents rebel?

Nai Shawn only mentioned it once in bed and didn't bring it up again, so Vivian thought it was just a passing thought. A few days later, Nai Shawn took their son to a bookstore and brought back a pile of children's books. He sat on the sunlit floor, reading to their son.

His voice was as cool as ever, but under the sunlight, with the child's occasional babbling, it seemed inexplicably soft and lazy. Vivian leaned against him, casually flipping through a cookbook, half-listening to him read stories... until she realized something was off.

As was Nai Shawn's habit, the names of the little protagonists in the fairy tales were all changed to Obviously or Ming .

The first children's book went like this:

"Obviously took his sister to herd sheep. They came to a small hill, covered in green grass..."

The second children's book:

"Little Bug, Little Duck, and Little Pig lived in the forest, happy as three siblings..."

The third children's book:

"Brother Bug and Sister Pig..."

...

After listening to several stories, Ming felt wronged and protested seriously: "Why doesn't Ming have a little pig sister!"

Vivian heard Nai Shawn's casual response, "You'll have one soon."

Vivian: "..."

Vivian sat up and tapped him with a book: "What are you doing?"

Nai Shawn: "Cultivating Ming 's sense of responsibility as a big brother."

Vivian: "..."

Ming concluded, "Mommy, Ming wants to play with a little pig sister."

So, two years later, Vivian was pregnant again. The elders were the first to know and were overjoyed. In their old age, what more could they wish for than to enjoy the happiness of grandchildren?

Vivian's roommates quickly found out and called to express their shock.

Sally : "Vivian, why is your husband so keen on having kids?"

Vivian: "... He's keen on blitzkrieg."

Erica : "You and your husband fell in love as soon as you met, got married right after graduation, had a child soon after marriage, and now you're having a second child. Vivian, what's next for you?"

Vivian: "... I'll ask him about his next plan tonight."

Cecilia : "Boohoo, you already have two kids, and I'm still single. No way, I'll marry the next guy I meet on a blind date, no matter what!"

As for the company, since Vivian was wearing a radiation-proof suit again, everyone knew without being told. The colleagues, feeling left behind, expressed their frustration, thinking Nai Shawn was shameless. How could he be so far ahead, not just one step, but two, and now even further?

George Yu lamented, "When will I ever have kids?"

Mozar Ta: "You should lose your virginity first..."

George Yu: "We know you've lost yours, no need to show off."

Mozar Ta gloomily retorted, "I lost the kind that can't have kids, what's the use of that!"

Before everyone could grasp the depth of his words, the supposedly gynophobic Sammuttered, "I don't want a wife, but I want kids. How do I do that?"

Everyone chimed in, saying it was difficult: "... We've heard of hitting a bull across the mountain, but never of having kids from a distance..."

Vivian's second pregnancy was particularly peaceful, even more comfortable than the first, with almost no discomfort. Everyone thought it was a girl and had already picked a name, Luna Pearl Shawn .

However, when the baby was born, it turned out to be another boy. There was a bit of unexpected disappointment, but more joy for the new life. They considered changing the name, but a familiar fortune teller said that with this birth time and weight, Luna Pearl Shawn was the best name and shouldn't be changed. So, even though it was a boy, he was still called Luna .

Luna was very quiet from birth, mostly sleeping or lying in the cradle deep in thought. If someone came to see him, he would quietly lie in the cradle, make eye contact, study them for a while, then turn his head and continue sleeping.

It was hard to tell who he resembled, but Vivian thought he looked more like Master , though Master wasn't this quiet.

Sigh~~~

Vivian was puzzled. Why did she have two children, one extremely lively and the other extremely quiet? Couldn't they be a mix? How were these genes distributed?

During her confinement, Vivian passed the time pondering this question.

Since his brother's birth, Ming had calmed down a lot, often standing on a small stool, leaning over the cradle to watch his brother, talking to him, occasionally touching or pinching him, but Luna just ignored him.

Mingtson sang songs he learned from TV to him, and the little baby, who was deep in thought, listened for a while, then turned his chubby body, showing his butt, and went back to sleep. The big brother didn't like singing to a chubby butt, so he stopped, feeling lost for a while, then worriedly ran to his mother's bed and said, "Mommy, I think my brother is a bit dumb."

Vivian, who was drinking chicken soup, choked.