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Chapter 26: System Upgrade
Early summer passed quickly, and midsummer quietly arrived.
Xiao Wen grew day by day, his height and weight increasing steadily. His body became sturdier, no longer soft and squishy. He could now move his body by crawling and could occasionally sit up for short periods.
Zhu Jia’s system, which had been dormant for a while aside from the point notifications, suddenly spoke again: “Host, the baby will be six months old next week! Our system is about to upgrade.”
“Upgrade? What do you mean…?”
System: “Our current version is the [0-5 months Baby] version, and it’s about to upgrade to the [5-12 months Baby] version.”
Zhu Jia propped her chin. “Will babies over six months be very different? Will the point system change?”
The system’s mechanical voice lazily responded, “Yes, babies over six months are indeed very different, so our point system will also undergo corresponding changes.
For example, from six months, babies will begin to eat solid foods, starting with simple liquid rice porridge and soft, thick congee, moving on to solid foods with higher nutritional density. Our 8888 system will offer substantial support for meal preparation and feeding.”
The system paused for a moment. “Host, your current point balance is exactly 1.5 million. I believe that within the next six months, you will easily earn 3 million points. At that time, you will regain your freedom and a new life!”
Zhu Jia nodded vigorously. Fortunately, in her previously hopeless life as a cannon fodder, she encountered the 8888 system, which gave her a chance to change her fate.
The system continued, “In addition to the noticeable change in feeding, babies over six months will have stronger physical abilities. They are no longer content with just eating and sleeping; they need to develop their intellect and social skills.
By around one year old, babies may begin expressing themselves and saying a few words. Therefore, our system will offer greater support for early childhood education.”
Zhu Jia wholeheartedly agreed. Xiao Wen’s daytime sleep had noticeably decreased, and milk was no longer the most captivating thing for him.
She recalled when Xiao Wen was younger, and as long as he had milk, he wouldn’t care about anything else. But now, sometimes when drinking milk, Xiao Wen seemed distracted, possibly watching the small spotlights on the ceiling or the red ball that moved nearby.
When Zhu Jia spoke seriously to Xiao Wen, he no longer seemed as clueless as before and could even read some simple meanings from her expressions.
The system continued: “Of course, in these next six months, the baby’s gross motor development will be the most astonishing. From the current stage of tummy time and rolling over, babies will gain the ability to sit independently, crawl, and even stand with support. By one year old, they will take their first steps and begin walking independently!”
Zhu Jia rubbed her hands in anticipation, looking at Xiao Wen, who was currently lying on his stomach playing. She couldn’t quite imagine what it would be like when he takes his first steps. Would she be the first to witness it?
System upgrading… System upgrading…
Zhu Jia saw the system progress bar running on the panel.
“100%… System upgrade complete.”
Zhu Jia curiously opened the points section and found that a lot more tasks had appeared. It seemed that in the next six months, it would be easier to earn points, and the process of reaching 3 million points would speed up.
[Applicable to 5-12 months]
“System, do I need to start preparing baby food for Xiao Wen now?”
System: “Yes, host. You need to start doing a lot of baby food preparation. Start with the simplest ones. From six months, babies need to start high-iron rice flour because the iron they got from their mother’s body has already been used up.
Additionally, at six months, babies can start eating pureed foods, like vegetable purees or fruit purees. Be sure to start with small amounts of new foods, one at a time, and observe for any allergic reactions.”
There were so many things to consider! Zhu Jia carefully wrote these new pieces of knowledge in her mind.
“Ahem, host, this is just the beginning. I won’t say much more; you’ll understand once you experience it yourself,” the system said, before disappearing. A few books appeared in the panel: “Complete Guide to Baby Food: Rules for Adding Foods at Different Ages,” “Teach You to Make Baby Food in 3 Minutes,” “Kids Don’t Like Eating? That’s Because You Don’t Know How to Make It!” and “Scientific Feeding: The First Step for Successful Moms.”
Zhu Jia stared at the book titles and fell into thought. She felt like she was about to learn a whole new subject. She had a bad feeling—scientific feeding would likely be the biggest challenge throughout her child’s early years!
A few years later, when Zhu Jia looked back at this day, she realized her premonition had been right.
That afternoon, Zhu Jia immediately went shopping and bought a full set of baby food tools for Xiao Wen.
She bought a box of rice flour for different-aged babies, boxes of fruit puree, vegetable puree, meat puree, a baby food maker, blender, baby-specific knives and chopping boards, an electric stewing pot, a children’s dining chair, silicone bowls and spoons, leak-proof bibs…
She thought she had prepared almost everything. While searching for baby food tips from other mothers in the city on her phone, she was also checking the items. She decided to start Xiao Wen on his first bite of high-iron rice flour on his six-month birthday.
Xiao Wen’s six-month milestone arrived, and Zhu Jia planned to feed him baby food around 12:00 PM, which was also his regular milk time. If he didn’t get full, she could top him up with more milk.
Following the instructions, Zhu Jia prepared the high-iron rice flour, mixing it with warm water and stirring quickly. Soon, she had a bowl of smooth, slightly thick rice porridge that looked just right.
“Ding! 100 points have been credited.” The system’s prompt sounded.
It seemed that preparing rice flour was the simplest and most basic kind of baby food, earning only 100 points.
Zhu Jia placed Xiao Wen in a dining chair suitable for five-month-old babies and carefully fastened the five-point harness.
Xiao Wen curiously tried out this new thing, touching the small table in front of him, wiggling his little bottom left and right, feeling his body securely held by the child’s seat.
He was happy. Though the chair wasn’t as comfortable as mommy’s arms, from this angle, the view seemed much wider.
Zhu Jia put a waterproof bib around Xiao Wen’s neck and brought the warm rice porridge.
“Xiao Wen, this is high-iron rice flour. If you eat it, you’ll grow tall and strong, just like your daddy.”
Zhu Jia scooped a spoonful of the rice porridge with a small silicone spoon and gently fed it to Xiao Wen.
Xiao Wen’s little mouth was suddenly filled with a gooey mass.
Huh? What’s this? This isn’t the milk he loves, and it tastes really strange!
Xiao Wen pushed the rice porridge out with his tongue. It dripped down his chin onto the bib.
Zhu Jia: …
Zhu Jia continued to feed him with a smile, but Xiao Wen accidentally swallowed a little, and the rest was pushed out.
After a few more tries, Xiao Wen wouldn’t even open his mouth. He shook his head, trying to avoid the annoying spoon.
“Xiao Wen, you need to eat it. You’re getting bigger now, and you can’t just drink milk.” Zhu Jia tried to stay patient, smiling as she tried to communicate.
To her surprise, Xiao Wen completely lost his patience. He started squirming in the chair, making disgruntled sounds.
“I don’t want to sit here! I want mommy’s arms! Why do I have to sit still and have strange things shoved into my mouth?”
Xiao Wen cried, and the rice porridge that hadn’t been spat out yet dripped down from the corners of his mouth.
Zhu Jia, still determined, extended the spoon again, but Xiao Wen was faster. He swatted the silicone spoon away, sending the rice porridge flying everywhere. It even splattered onto Zhu Jia’s clothes.
Looking at Xiao Wen’s tear-streaked face, smeared with rice porridge, Zhu Jia stood with her hands on her hips, her brows furrowed deeply.
She took nearly a minute to calm down, suppressing the urge to scold him.
Finally, Zhu Jia gave in, wiped Xiao Wen’s messy face with a wet wipe, took off the dirty bib, and picked him up.
Once in her arms, Xiao Wen immediately stopped crying and looked innocent and obedient.
Zhu Jia: …
System: “Hahaha, that was too funny. Host, I regret to inform you that this feeding doesn’t count for points. You need to feed him at least half of the meal for it to count as a proper feeding.”
Looking at Xiao Wen’s big, wide eyes, Zhu Jia sighed, pressing her hand to her forehead. “Oh well, it’s okay. We’ll take it slow.
This time, Xiao Wen still drank milk. After getting the familiar milk, Xiao Wen eagerly sucked it down, looking quite hungry.
Zhu Jia felt helpless inside and decided to try again the next day.
While Xiao Wen was taking a nap, Zhu Jia lay on the bed, bored, and scrolled through her friend circle. She saw an update from her friend and neighbor, Liang Sisi.
“Thinking of you day and night: Why can Yuan Yuan eat so much? (crying jpg), the portions I make every day aren’t enough!”
The picture below showed a bowl of children’s butterfly pasta, with Yuan Yuan sitting in a high chair, finished eating.
Zhu Jia bit her lip. The difference was too big! She remembered when she first met Liang Sisi, her daughter Yuan Yuan was also about half a year old, but at that time, Liang Sisi said Yuan Yuan was already a good eater.
Zhu Jia opened the chat with Liang Sisi: “Sisi, are you there?”
Thinking of you day and night: “Yes, Jia Jia~”
Jia Jia: “Today I tried feeding Xiao Wen rice cereal. It really made me so mad!”
Thinking of you day and night: “Well… New foods take some time to get used to, right? Did your son just start adding solid foods today?”
Jia Jia: “Yes.”
Thinking of you day and night: “At this stage, you can only feed him plain rice cereal, vegetable puree, and fruit puree. I can teach you how to make it more interesting later.”
Jia Jia: (kneels and thanks jpg) (cat star eyes jpg) “Okay, we’ll keep that promise~”
Thinking of you day and night: (OK.jpg)
Xeda[Translator]
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thanks for translating, i enjoyed novels with little kids alot haha, curious to find out who Xiao Wens real parents are!