Chapter 45: Brain Overload

Half an hour later, Jiang Wanyi finished her recovery exercises, drenched in sweat, and went to the bathroom to take a shower.

When she came out, she was wearing a loose nightgown, her hair still slightly damp, and she tiptoed to the doorway of the second bedroom.

Looking at the sleeping child, she gently kissed the little girl's cheek, then looked at Chen Yuan and whispered in a low voice, "I'll go back to my room for now. I'll come over when the baby wakes up."

"No need, just sleep peacefully."

Jiang Wanyi paused for a moment and decided not to stand on ceremony with Chen Yuan.

She lay down to play with her phone for a while, and soon Chen Yuan fell asleep too.

At a little past one in the morning, he fed the baby and changed her diaper, and she woke up again around five in the morning.

Although it seemed like there was a long stretch of time to catch up on sleep, the intervals required changing diapers, burping the baby, and coaxing her back to sleep—it was far from an easy task.

And this was with Chen Yuan, whose natural affinity charm made the baby much easier to soothe; if it had been Jiang Wanyi, it probably would have taken much longer.

When Jiang Wanyi woke up and saw that Chen Yuan and the baby were still fast asleep, she quietly slipped out.

She wiped down his shoes and prepared the ingredients for breakfast so she could cook them once they woke up, avoiding any sudden noises.

*Ah——*

Chen Yuan's sudden yelp made Jiang Wanyi instantly drop what she was doing and trot toward the second bedroom.

Pushing the door open, she saw little Mili in Chen Yuan's arms, while he was looking down at his chest, where a small tooth mark was clearly visible.

"Your daughter has saved all her strength just for me."

Jiang Wanyi smiled as she walked over. "She must be hungry. She's bitten me before too."

Chen Yuan cradled the baby closer to his chest.

"Ah—open wide."

Chen Yuan opened his mouth, and little Mili, imitating him, opened her mouth wide as well.

"Another little tooth has popped out. The previous ones have all grown in too."

"Thanks to you, I feel like she's grown quite a bit plumper over the past half month."

"Don't blindly worship me. If you want an autograph, go talk to my manager."

"All right, stop being so vain. Go wash up," Jiang Wanyi said with a smile.

Chen Yuan went to the bathroom, and when he came out, Jiang Wanyi was already feeding little Mili.

Breakfast consisted of buttered toast, ham, fried eggs, and a glass of milk~~~

Since he wouldn't be able to come over tonight, Chen Yuan stayed until noon. While little Mili was sleeping, he helped Jiang Wanyi with her postpartum recovery session.

"That feels so good..."

Stepping down from the bed, Jiang Wanyi stretched her body, rolled her neck and shoulders, and walked up to Chen Yuan, standing with her legs together.

"I can really feel the difference now. The gap is definitely not as wide as before."

"Don't exaggerate. It wasn't that big to begin with."

Chen Yuan looked at the space in question; it was indeed visibly smaller to the naked eye, but this was a protracted battle that required continued persistence.

Knowing Chen Yuan had to leave at noon, Jiang Wanyi cooked him lunch—braised prawns in oil and stir-fried eggs—showcasing her exceptional culinary skills.

"Take a look at this..."

Jiang Wanyi brought her phone right in front of Chen Yuan and said, "These are some things I picked out online. They're similar to the ones at the early education center. I want to buy a few so I can play with her at home when I have free time."

Chen Yuan leaned in to take a look. The designs were much the same as what he had seen yesterday, largely similar with minor variations.

"Don't buy things like this online. I'm worried about the material quality. Later, I'll go buy some for you and have a courier deliver them."

There was a large maternity and baby store in the underground shopping mall near the university, which he had noticed last week while buying coffee with Song Jianian.

"Is that convenient? Don't let me waste your time."

"Very convenient, just a matter of convenience."

"Well, I won't stand on ceremony with you then, big brother. Hand me your phone."

Chen Yuan looked defensive. "You're not allowed to check my browser history."

A knowing, meaningful smile crept across Jiang Wanyi's face.

Even though he was in university, he was still only eighteen, a young man right in the middle of puberty. It was completely normal for his phone to harbor some unknown secrets.

"Relax, I won't go snooping around," Jiang Wanyi said with a laugh.

Chen Yuan handed over his phone. Holding her own phone in one hand and Chen Yuan's in the other, she transferred 1,000 yuan over.

"I've transferred 1,000 yuan to you. That should be enough to buy the items."

"You're even worse than checking my browser history."

"Fair is fair. Regardless of the amount, there's no reason for you to spend your own money on this. Let's not be so overly meticulous about accounts."

Since the money had already been transferred, Chen Yuan didn't dwell on such trivial matters; being overly coy about it would just feel contrived.

After lunch, Chen Yuan left and headed back to the campus.

On the way, he received a message from Wang Shoucheng containing his home address, telling him to arrive around three o'clock.

Going empty-handed was out of the question, so he needed to buy a few gifts.

With a bit of time left before three in the afternoon, Chen Yuan returned to his dorm. Among the three "sons," only Sun Pengnan was there.

"Boss, where on earth were you ghosting around last night?"

"Accidentally wandered into Niflheim, didn't find the exit until dawn."

"That doesn't sound like a domestic place. Did you ask the traffic police?"

"Traffic police don't manage those jurisdictions."

"Are you talking about a novel? What's it called?"

"Dragon Raja."

"I'll have to check it out."

Back in his dorm, Chen Yuan didn't waste time. He gathered his dirty clothes and socks, took them to the bathroom to wash, and by the time he finished, it was already around two in the afternoon.

Sending a message to Song Jianian and learning she was at the hotel, Chen Yuan hurried over.

Passing by a nearby fruit stall, he bought a fruit gift box along with a half-meter-tall plush toy—Uncle Wang's child was only three years old, right at the age for such toys.

Inside the hotel, Song Jianian was sitting on a sofa in the lobby with four gift boxes placed beside her, containing sea cucumbers, tea leaves, and two boxes of premium fruits. By comparison, the things Chen Yuan bought looked like they belonged straight in the trash bin.

However, these items weren't chosen by Song Jianian; Uncle Zhang had learned about the visit and bought them in advance on her behalf.

"Miss, why are you sighing? Did something happen?" Uncle Zhang asked.

"I'm pondering how to survive on a budget of only 500 yuan a week."

"Given the food prices at the university, eating every meal in the cafeteria should make 500 yuan plenty."

Uncle Zhang came from an impoverished background and had lived through hard times since childhood. To him, spending only 500 yuan a week was entirely effortless and actually seemed quite normal.

"Then I suppose I'll only be able to eat at the first and second cafeterias. The food at the third cafeteria is a bit too expensive."

Uncle Zhang paused for a moment.

"Miss, you want to limit your living expenses for next week to under 500?"

Song Jianian nodded.

"But..." Uncle Zhang searched for the right words. "Your family has the means, there's no need to be so thrifty. The daily revenue of this hotel alone is enough to cover your living expenses for a month."

"But diligence and thrift are virtues, aren't they? If I learn how to save money, I'll have gained yet another virtue."

"Diligence and thrift are indeed virtues, but..."

Uncle Zhang wanted to say something, yet he didn't quite know how to explain it.

He wanted to tell her that the family possessed vast wealth and she didn't need to economize.

Yet what she said was entirely correct—diligence and thrift truly were virtues.

Operating at maximum mental capacity, Uncle Zhang's vocational school diploma found itself slightly ill-equipped to answer such a high-level philosophical dilemma.