Chapter 69.1

After giving birth, Xu Yuan could clearly feel that time was flying by too quickly.

Baby Panda was very clever; by around one year old, he had already learned to walk and say some simple words. Watching him stomp around the living room with his little short legs, Xu Yuan felt as if giving birth to him had happened just yesterday.

She had seen a saying on Weibo before: after having a baby, time flies by rapidly, and Xu Yuan particularly agreed with it.

Although everyone was quite exhausted by him, they had to admit that having such a little child at home made things much livelier.

Meng’s father and Meng’s mother visited almost every day to see Baby Panda. Xu Yuan knew that Meng’s mother had considered asking them to move back to the old house. After all, as people grew older, they liked a lively home and wanted to personally take care of their grandchildren. Eventually, it took Meng Zhengrong a long time to talk his mother out of that idea.

Xu Yuan breathed a sigh of relief. The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationship was a longstanding issue that even the wisest of sages had trouble solving.

Although her relationship with Meng’s mother was harmonious, appearing almost like that of a mother and daughter to outsiders, it was because they didn’t live under the same roof. Whether conflicts would arise if they lived together was something no one could predict.

Meng Zhengrong had always handled this aspect very well; whenever something might cause Xu Yuan trouble, he would stand in front of her to help resolve it, alleviating many of her worries.

That said, the quality of the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationship ultimately depended on how the husband balanced things out.

Xu’s father and Xu’s mother also visited every couple of days. Both of them loved Baby Panda dearly. Xu’s father had remarked more than once that given Xu Nuo’s troublesome nature, he might only have Baby Panda as a grandson for the rest of his life.

Of course, they had to dote on him.

Baby Panda was quite lovable; the several nannies and caretakers taking care of him adored him and were very attentive in their care.

That night, after Meng Zhengrong finished his shower, he lay down on the bed. Xu Yuan had just come back from the nursery and closed the door behind her with a worried expression, saying, “Zhengrong, I feel like Baby Panda has inherited a particularly huge flaw from you. What should we do?”

Meng Zhengrong raised an eyebrow. “Do I have flaws?”

What kind of nonsense was this?

In her eyes, he should be perfect!

Xu Yuan rolled her eyes at him, sitting on the bed and sighing, “Haven’t you noticed how much Baby Panda loves looking in the mirror?”

“I thought it was something serious,” Meng Zhengrong replied dismissively. “Kids find mirrors fascinating. It’s normal.”

Not just kids—even cats and dogs get curious when they see themselves in the mirror.

“The key point is that he can sit in front of the full-length mirror for one or two hours without moving!” Every time Xu Yuan thought about it, she wanted to laugh. The nanny had told her about this before, but she hadn’t paid it much attention. Over the past few days, she had taken time off work to accompany Baby Panda and discovered this habit of his. Other little kids who had just learned to walk couldn’t stay still for even a moment, eager to run around with their little short legs. Baby Panda was similar, but now he knew where the mirrors were in the house. Every day, he would run to Xu Yuan’s dressing room and sit on the carpet, looking at himself in the mirror. It was no exaggeration to say he could easily spend one or two hours doing this.

Meng Zhengrong was amused. “Sitting in front of the mirror for one or two hours?”

Xu Yuan nodded. “Yes! How can he like looking in the mirror so much? You know he doesn’t smile often, but every time he looks in the mirror, he can’t help but laugh and seems so happy!”

“So?” Meng Zhengrong thought his son’s little habit was quite cute. Just imagining the scene made him melt.

Xu Yuan said very seriously, “So, I think your son is quite narcissistic.”

“What does a little kid know? There’s nothing wrong with liking to look in the mirror. He’ll get tired of it eventually; how does that even relate to narcissism? You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Xu Yuan replied, “Then how do you explain that he smiles whenever someone praises his looks?”

“He doesn’t understand many words right now.” Meng Zhengrong tried his best to defend his son. “That’s just a coincidence; it doesn’t mean anything.”

“Why don’t you come over and see for yourself?”

“Fine, let’s go.”

Meng Zhengrong followed Xu Yuan to the nursery, where Baby Panda was indeed still awake. He was a very special boy who didn’t particularly enjoy listening to stories or having people sing him lullabies to help him sleep; he just wanted to keep his eyes wide open, staring at the ceiling in complete silence. Before long, he would fall asleep.

At that moment, Baby Panda was deep in thought.

Meng Zhengrong and Xu Yuan leaned over the edge of the crib, and Baby Panda glanced at his parents, his expression unchanged and calm.

“Give it a try,” Xu Yuan nudged Meng Zhengrong.

Meng Zhengrong looked at his son and, in an exaggerated tone meant for praising children, said, “Oh, our Baby Panda is so handsome! I can’t imagine how many girls will like him in the future!”

The moment of truth had arrived!

Baby Panda, who had previously looked aloof and absorbed in his own world, unexpectedly grinned widely.

Meng Zhengrong stroked his chin, wondering if his son really understood what they were saying.

Did this mean that when he was alone with Baby Panda and told him not to sleep with them at night because it would annoy Dad, Baby Panda understood?

Could it be that his son had become intelligent?

Impossible, impossible.

The two stopped disturbing their little handsome boy’s sleep and returned to the bedroom. As soon as they closed the door, Meng Zhengrong helplessly said, “It seems that Baby Panda might indeed be a bit narcissistic.”

“Also, we can’t stop him from looking in the mirror, nor can we prevent others from praising him for being handsome.” Baby Panda was still very young, and his narcissism was often seen as cute and adorable by others. But if he continued like this as he grew older… that would be a different story.

Meng Zhengrong: “…”

“However, if giving him a mirror can keep him quiet for a few hours, that’s not too bad.” There might be very well-behaved little babies in the world, but their Baby Panda was definitely not one of them.

Previously, Xu Yuan hadn’t taken care of Baby Panda much and didn’t realize how challenging it could be. Baby Panda knew who his mom was and was especially clingy to Xu Yuan. Whenever there weren’t many things going on at the company, she would take a day or two off to spend time with Baby Panda. But when she truly took care of him, even for just one day, she found it very tiring.

“Song Ci’s wife is pregnant again,” Meng Zhengrong casually mentioned.

Xu Yuan responded, “I know; I saw it on his social media. Their oldest son seems to be almost three years old now.”

Thinking back to when they attended Song Ci’s son’s full moon banquet two years ago, Xu Yuan couldn’t help but marvel at how quickly time had passed.

“He’ll be three in a few months.” Meng Zhengrong glanced at Xu Yuan. “Today, Song Ci even asked me if we were planning to have a second child.”

Xu Yuan lay down. “What did you say?”

Meng Zhengrong wouldn’t bring up the topic of a second child without reason; he must be trying to gauge her thoughts.

But she didn’t know if he himself wanted a second child.

“I said we didn’t have any plans; Baby Panda is still young.”

“Hmm.”

Meng Zhengrong leaned closer and held Xu Yuan in his arms. “What about you? Do you want one?”

In fact, he had no intention of having a second child in the next few years; he just wanted to know Xu Yuan’s thoughts on it.

Xu Yuan shook her head first, then nodded, “I do want another one, but not now. Baby Panda is still young, and there are many matters at the company; I really can’t find the time right now.”

“That’s good.” Meng Zhengrong felt relieved. “Song Ci doesn’t actually want a second child so soon either, but his wife wants to have one, so there’s nothing he can do about it.”

Having one Baby Panda at home was already enough trouble; he insisted on sleeping with them every other night, and Meng Zhengrong found him particularly annoying at night.

Baby Panda used to be willing to sleep in his crib, but that had changed. Every time they slept together, he had to sleep in the middle. Sometimes, when he finally managed to get Baby Panda to sleep and tried to carry him back to the nursery, Xu Yuan would fall asleep out of exhaustion, and he couldn’t bear to wake her.

Now that Xu Yuan didn’t want another child, it was perfect.

Sometimes Meng Zhengrong regretted letting Baby Panda be born so early. They could have enjoyed more time in love for over a year!

Meng Zhengrong pulled the blanket up and nestled close to Xu Yuan, leaning in to whisper, “Do you want to drive manual or automatic today?”

This was their secret code.

During her pregnancy, Xu Yuan had only driven manual cars.

As everyone knew, driving a manual car was less comfortable than an automatic one; just pressing the clutch was enough to make one’s foot sore.

==

After Baby Panda was born, Meng Zhengrong finally understood why many men wanted a daughter.

Baby Panda treated him and Xu Yuan completely differently, with extreme bias, favoring his mother to the utmost.

Baby Panda was very clever; he knew Meng Zhengrong wore a suit every day to go to work and that Xu Yuan wore high heels and carried a handbag while putting on delicate makeup to also go to work.

Little kids always woke up early and slept early. After Baby Panda finished his breakfast, they would prepare to leave for work.

Before leaving for work, Meng Zhengrong would always hold Baby Panda and kiss him, saying, “Dad is going to work to earn money. Baby Panda, be good at home.”

Baby Panda showed no signs of attachment; sometimes, when he was in a good mood, he would kiss Meng Zhengrong back, giving him a good mood for the entire day.

However, when it came to Xu Yuan, it was completely different. When Xu Yuan held him and kissed his chubby face, tickled his double chin, Baby Panda would cling to her like an octopus, refusing to let go. If anyone dared to come over and try to take him away, he would cry out loudly, alarming the neighbors, who might think something serious had happened.

Everyone knew he couldn’t bear to leave his mom, and Xu Yuan couldn’t bear to leave Baby Panda either.

At this time, Xu Yuan and Baby Panda would cuddle for a long while, while Meng Zhengrong watched coldly from the side.

His son was perfect in every way, except he was a bit of a rascal.

When Baby Panda grew up, he would always find reasons to teach this chubby kid a lesson.

But having a daughter would be different. Listening to Song Chaowen bragging, his daughter was only six or seven months old, and every time he wanted to go out, she would cling to him like a little crybaby, not wanting him to leave.

Sigh.

Comparing people is bound to make one miserable. Comparing things will only get you thrown away.