Chapter 72: Competent

Yan He’s work schedule was two days on, one day off, so he returned to the capital star only once every two days from the base.

When he returned, Jiang Miao, who had been a full-time mom for two days, stood on the balcony, dressed up and waiting for him.

She used to dress very comfortably at home and never bothered to dress up like this. When Yan He got off the car and saw her dark circles, he could see through her attempt to cover up.

He couldn’t help but glance toward the depths of the house, feeling deeply worried.

But Yan He was a man with high emotional intelligence, especially when it came to women. No matter how anxious he was inside, he suppressed the urge to ask and instead went to kiss Jiang Miao.

…

…

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Qzydnkdt yv vbl vkxl, Kkydt Ykys pyke, “Tl’p ycswv vs oyjl wr…”

She suddenly exclaimed as if she had just remembered something, saying, “I was just thinking of taking a shower, but I’m afraid he’ll wake up crying. It’s perfect that you’re back…”

Without her having to ask, Yan He took the initiative to offer her an out, smiling as he said, “I’ve missed you two so much these past two days. You go ahead and shower, I’ll watch him.”

“How can I accept that…” Jiang Miao said shyly and hesitantly, “You’ve been working for two days, but I’ll be quick, you can just watch him for a little while, he’s in your room, I’ll come out soon, please…!”

Before the “please” was even spoken, the person had already disappeared like a gust of wind.

Rubbing his forehead, Yan He loosened his uniform as he strode back to his own bedroom. The baby crib was placed in the center of the room, and Yan He walked over quietly, bending down to take a closer look. Jiang Rui drooled, his cheeks flushed as he slept soundly.

Looking at Jiang Rui, who still looked intact, Yan He finally felt relieved and sighed with a smile.

On the other side, in the master bedroom’s bathroom, Jiang Miao lay in the bathtub like a dead person, her body submerged in the water, with all four limbs sprawled outside the tub.

“I’m dying,” she stared blankly, “Xiaona… I’m dying.”

“Received homeowner distress signal! Override homeowner’s commands in emergency situations, forcibly enable vital sign scanning permissions!” Xiaona immediately sounded the alarm, but then, “Scan complete, Doctor, your body is functioning normally.”

“Normal my foot!” Jiang Miao cursed, “Turn it off! Restore my previous command.”

“Received, retract override operation, restore previous command, within this suite, vital signs of residents are not monitored without commands,” Xiaona strictly followed the homeowner’s instructions.

“Ah…” Jiang Miao sighed deeply, asking anxiously, “How does he do it? He seems so relaxed.”

“Waking up so many times in one night, every time Jiang Rui cries, he can sit up. How come I can’t get up?”

“After feeding, he seems to fall asleep immediately. Just when I’m finally about to fall asleep, Jiang Rui starts crying for milk again!”

“Ah…” another long sigh, “What should I do?”

“Doctor,” Xiaona said empathetically, “The most efficient solution is to use a robot to care for the newborn at night.”

The bathroom fell silent for a moment.

“No,” Jiang Miao said.

She said it very firmly, decisively.

“Doctor, according to surveys, eighty-nine percent of caregivers use robots for assistance at night, while only eleven percent insist on not using robots. Among this minority group, sixty percent are like you, not using robots at night. The overall usage rate of robots in childcare still overwhelmingly dominates,” Xiaona said. “This minority group is called the retrogressive. Its main guiding ideology supports the idea that a closer bond should be formed between the caregiver and the baby, which is contrary to mainstream societal values…”

“Shut up,” Jiang Miao weakly said with closed eyes, “Let me be quiet for a moment, my head hurts…”

The headache was due to two days and nights of poor sleep in a row. There’s a saying from ancient times: a headache is not an illness, but when it hurts, it’s unbearable.

That’s pretty much Jiang Miao’s situation now.

Xiaona obediently stopped talking, and the bathroom became quiet.

After a while, Jiang Miao’s weak voice sounded again.

“No, Xiaona,” she said, “I’m someone who deals with machines, I know too well.”

“As long as it’s a machine, it will sooner or later have malfunctions. Sooner or later.”

“Do you know what hierarchical faults are? Well, you probably do, don’t need to explain it to me, I know.”

“The more complex the machine, with systems within systems, modules within modules, the more layers there are. Correspondingly, the faults are also hierarchical.”

“And what about the transmissibility of faults? Shut up, don’t need to explain it to me!”

“The fault of one component causes the fault of a subsystem, the fault of a subsystem causes the fault of a system.”

“And also, a fault in one component will trigger faults in other components associated with it. Oh, that’s the radiative nature of faults.”

“In summary, the more complex the machine, the more likely it is to malfunction. And the more complex it is, the less likely it is to detect the possibility of malfunctions in the early stages.”

“How did I die?”

“I’ve replayed it in my mind many times, it should be that small mistake, yes, definitely. It was really minor, I realized it at the time, but I didn’t react quickly enough, and then it exploded. Too late.”

“I’m still an adult. Actually, adults are okay, as long as they don’t die suddenly, there’s always the possibility of solving, treating, or seeking help.”

“But babies are so small, so fragile… I know, I know the probability of machine failure is about the same as the probability of a car accident or a plane crash, but for a small baby, if they encounter it once, it could be a hundred percent chance of death for that individual.”

“Jiang Rui, he didn’t beg me to give birth to him. He didn’t have a choice, it was my choice to bring him into this world. Since I chose it, I have to take responsibility to the end.”

“D*mn it! I’m so tired!”

“But a child born by oneself, even crying, must be raised properly. Sigh.” Jiang Miao sighed, then said, “Should I get up now? How long have I been soaking? My goodness! It’s been so long??”

Jiang Miao hurriedly left the bathroom, didn’t even bother to put on clothes, wrapped in a towel, and rushed to the living room.

Yan He had already changed into comfortable and soft home clothes without buttons or any decorations, holding the chubby little one against his head, teasing him. Jiang Rui giggled.

Jiang Miao hurried over, reaching out to take him over, “Sorry, I soaked for a long time. It’s his bath time too, give him to me…”

This month, it was Jiang Miao’s responsibility to take care of the baby. All the work should be done by her, and when Yan He came home from work, he should have plenty of time to rest.

Last month, Yan He did just that. He cleaned Jiang Rui up, smelling fresh and clean, before handing him over to Jiang Miao. When Jiang Miao got tired of playing, he took over again.

Jiang Miao still remembered her responsibilities for this month; Yan He, on the other hand, was the one who should be fully enjoying his leisure time. If they weren’t already in a romantic relationship, on a night like this, he should be socializing, dating, seeking excitement.

The word “partner” in “parenting partner” holds significance here. The clearer the division of labor, the fewer conflicts arise.

However, Yan He didn’t relinquish Jiang Rui to her; instead, he held Jiang Rui in his arms, supporting him with one arm.

He reached out, his thumb brushing over the dark circles under Jiang Miao’s eyes, asking, “Didn’t sleep well, huh?”

Jiang Miao hesitated, “It’s okay.”

“Don’t pretend.” Yan He chuckled, “The dark circles are quite obvious.”

Caught red-handed. Jiang Miao deflated, “I just can’t sleep well after feeding him at night… Clearly, you’re fine.”

“You chose the wrong comparison sample. I’m a soldier.” Yan He pinched her cheek, laughing, “I can get up to fight immediately, or lie down and sleep immediately.”

Jiang Miao felt even more dejected, “I thought it would be easier…”

Yan He’s effortless demeanor gave her that illusion. The fact is, if she insisted on not handing the child over to the machine, although she didn’t need to do any housework during the day, taking care of the child at night was just as exhausting as it was six thousand years ago.

Yan He sat down on the sofa, still holding Jiang Rui.

“Come here, lie down.” He patted the space next to him, “Here.”

Following his instructions, Jiang Miao lay down, resting her head on the cushion.

With one hand holding Jiang Rui, Yan He gently massaged Jiang Miao’s temples and said slowly, “During combat, not sleeping for several days and nights is common. After one wave of battle, there may be two or three hours, or even five or six hours, to rest before the next wave of enemies arrives.”

“It’s necessary to sleep, to regain strength. If you can’t sleep, you may not be able to keep up with your physical strength, leading to mistakes, even death. So, in the military, we’ve developed the ability to sleep on command.”

“This is the military’s method of breathing sleep, follow me…”

Yan He’s voice gradually became indistinct, and the overhead light also turned into a white haze…

Jiang Miao didn’t know how she fell asleep. When she woke up, she was in her own bedroom, and she found out she was lying on the couch. She remembered that she hadn’t had time to put on clothes after taking a bath, just wrapped in a towel, and then Yan He somehow managed to put her to sleep.

The floor-to-ceiling glass was adjusted to a dark opaque color, and nothing could be seen through it. Jiang Miao said, “Xiaona, restore the light intensity,” without anticipating the stinging sensation in her eyes—it wasn’t just daytime outside, the sun was high.

Jiang Miao groaned, covering her eyes, “What time is it?”

Xiaona replied, “It’s now ten twenty-four in the morning.”

Jiang Miao was silent for a moment, then screamed, “Ah?!”

“Why didn’t you wake me up?” she hurriedly jumped out of bed and ran into the dressing room to find clothes, “Where’s Rui Rui? Where’s Yan He?”

“Major is taking the child for a walk in the garden.”

“Which garden?”

“I don’t know; the Major didn’t leave any relevant information. Do you need me to contact the Major for you or scan his location through the community control?”

“No, no, no, don’t make a fuss like that!”

Jiang Miao had slept enough, and her mind had recovered. How could she sleep so late, and Xiaona didn’t even notify her when Rui Rui drank milk at midnight and woke up early in the morning? Naturally, it was because of Yan He.

He just wanted her to sleep.

Jiang Miao, halfway through dressing, collapsed back onto the bed. “Sigh…”

She couldn’t shake the feeling that she wasn’t such a responsible partner after all.

By the time Yan He returned with the already sleeping Jiang Rui, Jiang Miao’s condition had mostly recovered. The dark circles under her eyes were gone, her complexion had regained its healthy flush, no longer as pale as the night before.

“Did you sleep well?” Yan He kissed her forehead.

Jiang Miao felt ashamed—she hadn’t fulfilled her partner’s duties and had dumped her responsibilities onto Yan He.

Her frustration only made Yan He laugh.

“You’ve just taken over. Nighttime feedings are meant to adjust your schedule. You’re in an adjustment period now. It’s normal to take about four or five days to adjust. These are supposed to be the toughest days.”

“No, I told you not to compare yourself to me, the sample selection was wrong.”

Yan He kissed her again, this time on her lips, now restored to their soft, vibrant color.

“Silly, I don’t just want to take care of the baby,” he said. “I also want to take care of you.”

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