WRA CH83

To immediately fork over forty-odd million in cash, even Mother Shen had to get a little extra from her husband and eldest son.

Eldest Brother Shen chipped in over ten million as well. He certainly loved money, but his younger brother had practically reached straight into his pockets. When paying up, he couldn’t help but make a snide remark, “Forgot your mother the second you got a wife.”

Mother Shen: “I am perfectly happy to do it! My son found a wife. If you were getting married, your mother would sell all her jewelry to raise money for you, too.”

Eldest Brother Shen: “No need, thank you.”

Actually, the family already owned villa properties, but Shen Ku complained that the gardens weren’t big enough. Who knew exactly how much space he wanted—he might as well have moved to the countryside, considering their ancestors still had two acres of farmland left.

Regardless, the coffee sprite moved into a sprawling villa.

Strictly speaking, he was the last of the three little sprites to move into a villa. Shen Ku really needed to reflect on that.

After the three sprites finally gathered together, Shen Ku’s stress levels doubled. He simply couldn’t understand how a quiet, artsy, stunning beauty like Dou Manning could end up participating in a “Prevent Our Husbands From Getting Vasectomies Seminar.”

“Next time they hold this kind of meeting, let’s not go, honey,” Shen Ku suggested softly while driving.

Dou Manning: “Just tell me if it was effective or not.”

Shen Ku: “…”

Dou Manning admired the photos they took, wondering where to hang them once they got home. The bedroom, I suppose, to leave Engineer Shen a little dignity.

He curved his eyes into a smile and told Shen Ku, “Stealing other people’s labor is shameful, but sharing other people’s intellectual achievements is a joy.”

Once he adopted Zhenzhen’s intellectual achievements, they multiplied into two portions. When Bai Qi adopted them, they became three. Shen Ku thought to himself, That’s surprisingly philosophical.

Auntie Guihua had said that it was incredibly difficult for sprites to get pregnant. Zhenzhen was a special case, and Bai Qi hadn’t managed to conceive in ten years. Hearing this, Dou Manning tossed the matter of pregnancy to the back of his mind.

That was, until Xiang Zhen gave birth to Xiao Guazi, and Auntie Guihua came to Hai City to visit.

Dou Manning never expected that simply going to the hospital to visit Xiang Zhen would result in him being diagnosed as pregnant. Calculating the timeline, it was likely the very night he returned from the mountain after self-checking and finding he wasn’t pregnant—the night Shen Ku had been exceedingly fierce.

Sprites had to face a lightning tribulation when pregnant, and Shen Ku absolutely refused to let him leave the safety of a building under any circumstances.

The coffee sprite was trapped in the hospital, catching up on the nine-year compulsory education curriculum alongside Xiang Zhen.

The days weren’t boring. It was just reading books in a different location, plus he got to play with baby Xiao Guazi.

Xiao Guazi was fair and tender. Since Dou Manning had personally delivered the baby, he adored him deeply.

Occasionally, Xiao Guazi’s crib would be wheeled into Dou Manning’s room at night. Dou Manning would lie in a rocking chair, holding the baby while gently swaying by tapping his toes against the floor. Newborns slept more than they woke, their eyes and mouths shut tight. He could support the little dumpling with just one hand, leaving the other free to hold a book.

Every two days, Shen Ku would climb onto the roof to inspect the lightning rods. Only after checking everything thoroughly would he feel relieved enough to push open the door to his wife’s recovery room and witness this heartwarming scene.

He walked up behind the rocking chair, looking down to see Xiao Guazi’s tender little hand gripping a strand of Dou Manning’s curly hair, sleeping incredibly soundly.

Shen Ku sighed. Zhou Sicheng and Xiang Zhen were always so chaotic and impulsive, yet the baby they produced was so well-behaved and low-energy.

Engineer Shen couldn’t help but imagine the scene of their two babies playing together in the future. The older Melon Seed baby could protect his Coffee Bean baby.

“Honey, is he pressing on your belly?”

Dou Manning: “How many ounces can a melon seed possibly weigh? Just imagine a single melon seed hanging on a five-meter-tall coffee tree.”

Shen Ku: “You can’t compare it like that. He’s asleep now, you can put him in the crib.”

Dou Manning: “Leaning against a tree gives him a sense of security.”

Shen Ku reached out his hands: “Then let him lean against a human instead.”

Dou Manning let him hold the baby.

Thanks to Xiao Guazi, before Dou Manning’s belly even showed significantly, Shen Ku had already mastered feeding, changing diapers, and rocking a baby to sleep.

According to Zhou Sicheng, where else in the world could Engineer Shen find another sprite baby to practice on? Shen Ku ought to pay him a tuition fee.

A pure, unadulterated capitalist—Zhou Sicheng even made Shen Ku and Chu Ren pay for his honeymoon travel expenses. And they actually paid it completely willingly.

Xiang Zhen being the first to get pregnant wasn’t entirely without its perks; Zhou Sicheng used this advantage to collect heaven knows how much in “patent fees.”

The covert scheming between the brothers-in-law remained completely submerged. The sprites had absolutely no idea about these mysterious financial flows.

Shen Ku gently patted Xiao Guazi. You are a golden melon seed, alright.

After the lightning tribulation, Shen Ku brought his wife back home. His arm had been injured by a falling light fixture during the strike. The metal arm of the light had slashed a seven-centimeter wound, prompting an overnight trip to the nurse’s station for stitches.

While getting stitched up, Shen Ku kept laughing the entire time, making the nurse wonder if she had administered the wrong type of anesthesia.

Dou Manning stood by, touching Shen Ku’s forehead. “Hubby, did the lightning strike make you stupid?”

Shen Ku returned to normal in a second. After hearing about Xiang Zhen’s lightning tribulation, he knew the pregnancy lightning always demanded blood. Since he was the one injured this time, how could he not laugh? He had even wanted to get stitched up without anesthesia.

The late October sunlight was just right. Dou Manning spent a long time every day basking in the garden, catching the tail end of the autumn sun, absorbing as much solar energy as possible to help the coffee bean grow.

During the day, time flowed peacefully, and the beauty slept soundly.

At night, Dou Manning slightly broke his habit of sleeping early and waking early. Sometimes, he was perfectly willing to fool around with Shen Ku until one or two in the morning.

There was no need for the restraint they had practiced in that corrugated iron house; Engineer Shen had liquidated all his assets for a massive, detached villa.

Shen Ku realized his previous judgment was entirely wrong. A wife who cried out loud was far more blood-boiling than a wife who suffered in silence.

During their breaks, Dou Manning picked up his phone. Catching a glimpse of the three sprites’ group chat from the corner of his eye, Shen Ku subconsciously went on high alert.

Xiang Zhen mentioned that Zhou Sicheng had chosen a very nice name for their baby: Xiang Zhoushen.

So Dou Manning suggested naming their Coffee Bean baby Dou Shen.

Shen Ku wasn’t happy about it. Why should they follow Zhou Sicheng’s naming convention? It was as if they really were brothers-in-law, and the first person to have a sprite baby got to dictate the naming format for all the babies that followed!

He might have used Zhou Sicheng’s guide, but he never said he would copy it completely! It was far too simple; he objected!

Dou Manning looked surprised. “Do you not want our names joined together?”

Shen Ku: “No.”

He honestly couldn’t think of a reasonable counterargument on the spot. He could only sink deeply into the great beauty and grit his teeth, “Pick another one.”

Dou Manning hadn’t thought of any particularly good names either, and getting thoroughly screwed made it even harder to think of one.

He could only bring up the other sprites. “Bai Qi seems to be pregnant too. He’s also planning to name his snake baby Bai Chu.”

Shen Ku: “Change.”

For a moment, Dou Manning couldn’t tell if he meant changing the name or changing the position.

Engineer Shen had the patience to drag this out. After all, when he was sucking the life out of his wife, he wasn’t sleepy in the slightest.

Dou Manning’s pregnancy was longer than Xiang Zhen’s. His due date was set for Labor Day by the little sunflower guide.

Prior to this, Shen Ku hadn’t breathed a single word to his family. During the New Year, he lied and said he was accompanying Dou Manning to visit his in-laws, pushing away all of the Shen family’s social obligations to stay in the villa and keep his wife company.

On May 1st, Xiang Zhen helped Dou Manning deliver the Coffee Bean.

A long pregnancy had its benefits. The Coffee Bean baby weighed seven jin at birth, a full two jin heavier than Xiao Guazi.

The entire tree’s nutrients were supplying a single bean, so seven jin was perfectly normal.

The size of a sprite baby couldn’t simply be judged by the size of the father’s pregnant belly. Both Xiao Guazi and Coffee Bean were just tiny seeds when plucked; their actual weight was determined only after they took human form.

After looking at the Coffee Bean baby and then glancing back at Bai Qi’s modest belly, Chu Ren suddenly had an epiphany. He had been constantly worried that their baby would need to stay in an incubator after birth. Going by this trend—the smaller the belly, the bigger the baby—his child might just weigh nine jin!

Plumper even than Xiao Guazi. President Chu would no longer have to worry about his son being too scrawny and getting bullied by Zhou Sicheng’s son.

Shen Ku looked at his swaddled son. Big eyes, a perky nose, and skin that wasn’t exactly fair. He looked at his pale and exhausted wife. “I’m sorry, honey. The baby’s skin tone takes after me.”

Dou Manning propped himself up, took a look, and smiled. “He takes after me.”

Shen Ku: “But you’re so pale, honey.”

Dou Manning replied, “The color of the coffee kernel hasn’t completely faded yet. He’ll get fairer as he grows.”

Sure enough, by the time he was a month old, the Coffee Bean baby’s cheeks had developed a very rosy, healthy complexion.

It was only then that Shen Ku finally said, “Honey, I think I should tell my family.”

It was quite a coincidence. Just past the one-year anniversary of meeting Dou Manning, they already shared a baby connected by blood.

Dou Manning: “How… are you going to explain this?”

Shen Ku: “I’ll say we had him together. If worse comes to worst, I’ll say I gave birth to him. I’ll just carve a scar on my stomach. If my parents start asking too many questions, they can reflect on how they managed to give birth to such a weird son themselves.”

Dou Manning was amused. “Say whatever you like.”

That very day, Engineer Shen gave his mother two choices: accept a ready-made grandson, or interrogate him to the bitter end and get no grandson at all.

Mother Shen naturally chose the former! Those forty-odd million were entirely worth it! She wouldn’t ask; she wouldn’t ask a single question.

The grandson’s genes contained his daughter-in-law’s artsy temperament, perfectly rectifying her son’s tall, goofy genes.

Father Shen was also thrilled and declared he would give his first grandson a hundred million.

Despite having ten million gouged out of him, Eldest Brother Shen actually treated his younger brother amicably. “I hear you and Zhou Sicheng are brothers-in-law now. You’ve really married up. Married up indeed.”

He never would have imagined that his brother-in-law was actually blood brothers with Zhou Sicheng’s wife! And blood brothers with Chu Ren’s wife, too!

Eldest Brother Shen hadn’t misjudged his little brother. With a gratified look in his eyes, he said, “I knew since you were young that you had the makings of a great political marriage.”

Shen Ku: ? You have no idea how many dishes you have to wash when you’re Zhou Sicheng’s brother-in-law! Forget it… as long as they respect my wife.

The Coffee Bean baby was incredibly well-behaved. Whenever Dou Manning held the baby and the two of them—one large, one small—looked over with identical dark, round eyes, Shen Ku would instantly feel that this father and son were incredibly frail and desperately needed protection.

Engineer Shen never wanted to go on a business trip again. He pondered getting a Ph.D. and staying on to teach at a university.

Dou Manning disagreed at first. He felt Engineer Shen had technical skills and could truly shine on the construction site.

Shen Ku said, “Construction sites don’t need this many lightbulbs right now. Honey, just wait until I get hired as a specialized talent—they offer spousal job placements. Do you want to try working at a university library?”

Dou Manning blinked. Ah, humans can find jobs like that? “Hubby, you’re amazing.”

Shen Ku finally understood why Zhou Sicheng, despite having a perfectly normal IQ, was always so delusional about having a marriage certificate with Xiang Zhen. Being spoken to like this feels fantastic.

Anyway, there were always other ways to achieve a goal. All roads lead to Rome.

The Coffee Bean baby was so well-behaved that even Eldest Brother Shen lavishly spent a ton of money on him.

Overall, raising a kid was a very comfortable experience for Shen Ku. He considered himself a very zen father.

That is, until the three sprite babies were mixed together.

Fairy Village, a summer night. Under the twinkling stars, Shen Ku was still complaining that Zhou Sicheng used the little sunflower guide to supervise him washing cups.

In just a short span of time, Shen Ku had washed three lifetimes’ worth of dishes.

Li Guihua mediated fairly: “It’s true, none of them wash as cleanly as you do. Just do your own thing, don’t let them influence you.”

Shen Ku: “…”

While the adults chatted, the three little cubs held slices of watermelon, eating until their faces were entirely covered in sticky juice.

Mid-bite, Little Bai Chu put down his watermelon and pricked up his ears.

The white snake baby’s ears were the most sensitive.

Seeing this, Xiao Guazi also put down his watermelon, and then heard a rustling sound.

Deep in the night, field mice were poking their heads out, sneaking bites of the wheat and peanuts in the fields.

The three sprite babies instantly tossed their watermelons aside and ran over to squat by the ridge of the field, looking like three milky-white mushrooms sprouting from the earth.

“Shh—”

Chu Ren returned with a freshly washed plate of grapes. Seeing the three little cubs left completely unattended, his heart skipped a beat. He walked over and asked, “What are you all doing?”

“Shh.” Baby Melon Seed turned his head. “Uncle Chu, I’m catching a field mouse for Little Brother Bai Chu to eat.”

Little Brother Bai Chu was the shortest of them all, so his fellow sprite felt duty-bound to step up.

What! Chu Ren almost flipped the entire plate of grapes in his hands. You’re catching WHAT for my son to eat?!

“Wife! Wifey, come quick!”

Bai Qi strolled over slowly, arms crossed. “What is it?”

Chu Ren: “They’re trying to catch mice.”

Bai Qi paused for a moment, guiltily averting his gaze. “Let them catch them. It’s not like they’re actually going to eat them.”

Chu Ren processed this for a second. “Did you teach them this in the mountains?”

Bai Qi glanced around, looking for any sprite to come cover up his lie.

It was him who had let it slip that snakes could eat mice on the mountain. This was a disaster. It was practically carved into their genes now—all three cubs had memorized it completely.

Xiang Zhen and Dou Manning stood up with righteous loyalty. “No way, we definitely don’t teach them that.”