Chapter 37

Chapter 37

Children grow up fast—seemingly in the blink of an eye. In what seemed like no time, he went from being a baby who only knew how to drink milk to a toddler who could speak a few words and pull on people’s hands while walking.

Mao Mao ate a lot and grew fast. While other children would finish a can of milk powder costing over six hundred yuan in four or five days, he needed only three days. Even the private doctor taking care of him was amazed at the child’s huge appetite and special talent.

Mao Mao was talking before he turned one. The first thing he said wasn’t "Mom" or "Dad," but "Nan Nan."

Yao Xianqing and You Nan were both by the child’s side at the time. When they heard their son’s halting pronunciation, both were too stunned to react.

Yao Xianqing reacted quickly. He immediately put on a serious face and began correcting his son on what to call him. "You should call him Little Dad."

Mao Mao didn’t listen to him.

His big, round eyes glanced left and right, making a point of not looking at his Big Dad, and he held out his chubby little arms toward You Nan, silently expressing his wish for his Little Dad to hold him.

Yao Xianqing stared at Mao Mao, who acted clueless, with a helpless expression on his face.

You Nan was especially attached to the child who had come from his own body. He immediately picked the child up from the cradle and held him in his arms.

He also blamed his husband for the "Nan Nan" address.

You Nan couldn’t help but complain, "He calls me that because you call me that every day. They say parents are a child’s first teachers. If you keep doing this, the child will learn it from watching you every day."

That was indeed true.

Yao Xianqing used to call You Nan "Xiao Nan," but later he started calling him "Nan Nan" to be affectionate.

And every time he held You Nan and spoke softly, You Nan could never say no.

Yao Xianqing had found it worked so well and never changed his ways.

"It’s my fault," Yao Xianqing admitted right away. "We’ll get him to call you something else when he’s a bit older."

After saying this, Yao Xianqing took his son from his wife’s arms, held the chubby boy, and bounced him a little. "Now, call me Dad."

The moment Mao Mao was picked up by Yao Xianqing, he pouted and blew raspberries, clearly unhappy.

He totally ignored his old man.

Yao Xianqing and You Nan both laughed at Mao Mao’s reaction, not thinking much of it.

Both Yao’s mother and the doctor had said that this was normal for little kids. They couldn’t understand much yet, and before they can really communicate with adults, they would have to wait a bit longer.

All the adults in the family felt the same way. Only 007 knew that Mao Mao wasn’t like that.

Mao Mao was a very smart kid.

Mao Mao liked 007 very much, and 007 would sleep next to Mao Mao every night.

Both of them were small and short, and saw eye-to-eye.

In this household, Mao Mao’s first favorite person was You Nan, and his second favorite was 007.

007 also liked Mao Mao very much.

Because Mao Mao could also give it Energy Points.

Although neither it nor You Nan knew why, the diligent 007 had already started gathering Energy Points from Mao Mao. It thought it might be because Mao Mao was blessed with a golden finger, which was why he had Energy Points.

007 stuck close to the child all day, so it naturally discovered things that the busy adults hadn’t noticed.

It found that Mao Mao would listen carefully when adults were on the phone, seemingly able to understand the meaning of what was being said.

This discovery shocked 007, but it puffed out its chest proudly.

007’s golden finger was amazing!

As Mao Mao grew a bit older, his intelligence couldn't be hidden anymore.

The adults didn't watch what they said around him when chatting. Both fathers were busy working to provide for the family, while Yao’s mother and the nannies enjoyed talking with the child.

One day, Yao’s mother carried Mao Mao to the kitchen, and the cook happily called out, "Mao Mao’s here!"

Mao Mao suddenly pointed at the vegetables in her hand and said two words, "Cucumber."

The clear, tiny voice made Yao’s mother’s eyes light up.

"Mao Mao knows this is a cucumber?"

The child neither nodded nor shook his head.

Yao’s mother, like she'd made a huge discovery, excitedly carried Mao Mao from room to room.

Their conversation could be heard throughout the entire house, and Yao’s mother’s excited voice was impossible to miss.

"Mao Mao, what’s this?"

"Sofa."

"And this!"

"Computer."

Yao Xianqing was in a meeting when his phone rang. The man looked down and saw that it was his mother calling.

Yao Xianqing reached out and hung up the call, and texted her to just message him.

Before he could send the text, his mother called again.

Yao Xianqing had to step out to take the call.

"Hello? Mom."

"Xianqing! Mao Mao can talk!"

Yao Xianqing said flatly. Mao Mao had been talking for a while now—he still remembered Mao Mao’s first word, "Nan Nan."

"Ugh!" Yao’s mother was displeased by her son’s unenthusiastic response. She frowned and said, "I’m telling you, Mao Mao is smart! He recognizes vegetables, furniture, and appliances!"

Yao Xianqing was surprised. Even if he didn't know much about how kids develop, he now realized there was something special about his son.

Their Mao Mao was just a year and a half old—how did he know so much?

"Did you teach him?"

"..." Yao’s mother had no words. "I can't even talk to you. I’ll call Nan Nan instead!"

Yao Xianqing: "..."

"Okay, okay. Now that his mom has Mao Mao, she doesn't want her son anymore. In his mom's heart, he can't even compare to Mao Mao's pinky toe now."

You Nan was astonished and delighted by his son's amazing display.

"Mao Mao is super amazing!" You Nan brought out a small gift he had bought for Mao Mao after work. "A little cake—Little Dad is treating Mao Mao."

The one-and-a-half-year-old Mao Mao chimed in a tiny, baby voice, "Thank you, Little Dad."

You Nan: "!!!"

"My son is so smart!"

Just what you'd expect from the main character's kid!

You Nan never doubted Mao Mao's intelligence—after all, how could the genes of a protagonist's child be anything less than excellent!

Granny Yao, seeing that her daughter-in-law also believed Mao Mao was a genius, felt very satisfied and proud. But when she turned and saw her son's unimpressed look, her anger flared up again.

"What's wrong?" she asked stiffly. "Look how happy Xiao Nan is—why can't you be like him?"

Yao Xianqing, caught in the crossfire: "..."

Yao Xianqing said with a sigh, "Mom, don’t you think you’ve been a bit too harsh on me lately?"

"Mao Mao is your favorite grandson, but am I not your favorite son anymore?"

Granny Yao shot back, "How can you compare the two!"

She said, "How old is Mao Mao, and how old are you? How can you still be jealous of a baby!"

Yao Xianqing had nothing to say and could only go to his wife to complain.

You Nan patted the man's head but was at a loss for words.

"Mom really loves Mao Mao, and Mao Mao is indeed very smart."

007 had already told him that Mao Mao was the genius child from a CEO romance novel—the kind who would master eighteen languages by the age of three.

You Nan believed 007's words.

Yao Xianqing understood.

He couldn't compare to Mao Mao in his mother's eyes, and he couldn't compare to little Mao Mao in his wife's eyes either.

Clenching his jaw in frustration, he got angry for a moment, then simply scooped up his wife and carried her off to the bedroom.

The title of "genius little treasure in a CEO novel" was something 007 had come up with on its own.

Otherwise, it couldn't explain why Mao Mao could understand the foreign dramas Granny Yao and the nannies loved to watch—and even repeat the lines.

This shocked 007.

It immediately scoured a lot of data and finally found the type of child Mao Mao could correspond to in the category of CEO novels.

A genius! Their Mao Mao was a genius!

007 was shocked, 007 was ecstatic, 007 celebrated wildly.

It immediately shared the good news with You Nan, who was also pleasantly surprised.

You Nan couldn't help but theorize, "Our Mao Mao is so smart—he could definitely be the protagonist in other stories too."

007's eyes lit up. "Then it makes sense that we can now gain Energy Points from Mao Mao!"

It said, "Yao Xianqing was the protagonist of the previous story, but now he has a 'protagonist's successor,' so it's actually Mao Mao's story now! That's why Mao Mao has Energy Points, and Yao Xianqing doesn't!"

"And Mao Mao can even understand what I'm saying!"

007's tail lifted proudly.

Looking at it this way, Yao Xianqing couldn't even compare to Mao Mao!

But it didn't share this little secret with You Nan.

You Nan thought 007 made a lot of sense. "Yeah!"

This explanation was quite convincing!

By the time Mao Mao turned three, just as 007 had predicted, he had already begun to show the makings of a "protagonist."

The little child combined the best features of You Nan and Yao Xianqing, inheriting their attractive features. Even before starting kindergarten, he followed Granny Yao and the nannies around watching TV, learned all the common Chinese characters, and understood languages like English, French, and Thai—even speaking them fluently.

This blew everyone away.

They all wanted to treasure Mao Mao like the apple of their eye.

But Mao Mao didn't think he was anything special. In his heart, 007 was the most amazing.

Whenever he encountered something he didn't understand, he only needed to ask 007, and he'd get an answer.

Others, seeing his modesty, were even more impressed with him.

007 couldn't help feeling embarrassed when it saw this.

It was all thanks to hacks—there were some questions from Mao Mao that it didn't know the answers to, but it had a database, which allowed it to answer Mao Mao's questions.

After Mao Mao started kindergarten, the amount of time the two adults spent together increased significantly.

Yao Xianqing knew that You Nan got pregnant very easily and usually avoided pulling out.

But on the first day they sent their son off to school, he was so excited he got carried away. Both You Nan and Yao Xianqing were in shock.

007, back at the Yao family's old residence, saw the notification on its system and couldn't help but shake its head.

Talk about a daytime scandal! The world's going to the dogs!

But the story between Mao Mao and his younger brother, who would be born later, was a tale for another time.