I Just Started College, How Could I Become a Part-Time Papa?!

Chapter 43: Chapter 43: CPU Overload

More than half an hour later, Jiang Wanyi, drenched in sweat, finished her recovery exercises and went to the bathroom to shower.

When she came out, she had changed into a loose nightgown, her hair slightly damp. She quietly approached the door of the secondary bedroom.

Seeing the soundly sleeping child, she kissed her small face, then looked at Chen Yuan and whispered:

”I’ll head back for now. I’ll come back when the baby wakes up.”

”Don’t worry about it. Just get some rest.”

Jiang Wanyi hesitated for a moment, then didn’t press the issue.

He lay down and scrolled on his phone for a bit before falling asleep as well.

Around one in the morning, he fed the baby and changed her diaper. He woke up again a little after five.

It seemed like a long stretch of time to catch up on sleep, but he still had to change diapers, burp her, and coax her back to sleep in between. It was no easy task.

And this was with Chen Yuan, who had his ”one-hundred-percent affinity” making the baby easier to soothe. Had it been Jiang Wanyi, it probably would have taken even longer.

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

She cleaned his shoes for him, then prepped the ingredients for breakfast. She planned to cook after they woke up to avoid making any noise.

AH—

A sharp cry from Chen Yuan made Jiang Wanyi immediately drop what she was doing and trot toward the secondary bedroom.

She pushed open the door and saw Mili in Chen Yuan’s arms. He was looking down at his chest, where there was a tiny bite mark.

”Your daughter’s using what little strength she has on me.”

Jiang Wanyi walked over, smiling. ”She’s probably hungry. She’s bitten me before, too.”

Chen Yuan hugged the baby to his chest.

”Ahhh—open wide.”

Chen Yuan opened his mouth, and Mili, mimicking him, opened hers as well.

”Another little tooth has popped up, and the others have all come in now.”

”It’s all thanks to you. I feel like she’s gotten a lot chubbier in the last couple of weeks.”

”Don’t be so quick to idolize me. If you want an autograph, you’ll have to talk to my agent.”

”Alright, alright, stop being so full of yourself. Go get washed up,” Jiang Wanyi said with a smile.

Chen Yuan went to the bathroom. When he came out, Jiang Wanyi was breastfeeding Mili.

Breakfast was pan-fried toast, ham, a fried egg, and a glass of milk~~~

Since he couldn’t come over that evening, Chen Yuan stayed until noon. While Mili was asleep, he helped Jiang Wanyi with her postpartum recovery exercises.

”So relaxing...”

Jiang Wanyi got off the bed, stretching and rolling her neck and shoulders. She stood in front of Chen Yuan, her legs held tightly together.

”I can feel a difference. The separation really isn’t as wide anymore.”

”Don’t exaggerate. It wasn’t that wide to begin with.”

Chen Yuan glanced at the gap between her muscles. It was visibly smaller, but this was a long-term battle; she had to keep at it.

Knowing Chen Yuan had to leave at noon, Jiang Wanyi cooked him a meal of braised prawns and scrambled eggs. Her cooking was excellent.

”Take a look at this...”

Jiang Wanyi held her phone out to Chen Yuan.

”I picked out a few things online. They’re similar to what they have at the early childhood education center. I was thinking of buying some so we can play with her at home when we have free time.”

Chen Yuan leaned in for a look. The items were all pretty similar to what he’d seen the day before—mostly the same, with only minor differences.

”You shouldn’t buy things like this online. I’m worried the materials might be shoddy. I’ll go buy some for you in a bit and have a courier deliver them.”

There was a big maternity and baby store in the underground mall near campus. He’d seen it last time he was out getting coffee with Song Jianye.

”Would that be convenient? I don’t want to waste your time.”

”It’s no problem. It’s on my way anyway.”

”Alright then, I won’t stand on ceremony. Let me use your phone for a second.”

Chen Yuan looked wary. ”You’re not allowed to look at my browser history.”

A knowing smile spread across Jiang Wanyi’s face.

’He might be in college, but he’s still only eighteen. Just a teenage boy. It’s perfectly normal for his phone to hold a few little secrets.’

”Don’t worry, I won’t snoop,” Jiang Wanyi said, smiling.

Chen Yuan handed over his phone. With her phone in one hand and his in the other, she transferred 1,000 yuan to him.

”I sent you 1,000 yuan. That should be enough for the toys.”

”This is even worse than looking at my browser history.”

”Let’s keep things separate. There’s no reason for you to be spending your own money on this, no matter the cost. So let’s not get fussy over the details.”

Since the money had already been transferred, Chen Yuan didn’t fuss over it. That would just be petty.

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

On the way, he got a message from Wang Shoucheng with his address, telling him to come over around three.

Of course, he couldn’t show up empty-handed, so he needed to buy a gift.

It was still a while before three in the afternoon, so Chen Yuan went back to his dorm. Of his ’three sons,’ only Sun Pengnan was there.

”So, Boss, where were you sneaking off to last night?”

”I accidentally stumbled into Nibelungen. Didn’t find my way out until dawn.”

”Doesn’t sound like anywhere in China. Did you ask a traffic cop for directions?”

”Traffic cops don’t have jurisdiction there.”

”Is that from a novel or something? What’s it called?”

”Dragon Race.”

”I’ll have to check it out.”

Back in the dorm room, Chen Yuan kept busy. He gathered his dirty clothes and socks and took them to the washroom to clean them. By the time he finished, it was already around two in the afternoon.

He sent Song Jianye a message and, upon learning she was at her hotel, he hurried over.

On his way, he passed a fruit stand and bought a gift basket of fruit. He also picked up a plush toy that was nearly two feet tall. The Wangs’ kid was only three, the perfect age for that sort of thing.

In the hotel lobby, Song Jianye was sitting on a sofa with four gift boxes next to her. There was sea cucumber, tea, and two crates of premium fruit. By comparison, the items Chen Yuan had bought could be thrown straight in the trash.

However, Song Jianye hadn’t bought these things herself. Uncle Zhang had heard about the visit and prepared them for her in advance.

”Miss, why the sighing? Has something happened?” Uncle Zhang asked.

”I’m trying to figure out how to survive on just 500 yuan a week.”

”Given the prices at the school cafeterias, 500 yuan should be enough if you eat every meal there.”

Uncle Zhang came from a poor background and had grown up in hardship. To him, living on only 500 yuan a week posed no difficulty whatsoever; in fact, it seemed perfectly normal.

”Then I’ll just have to stick to Cafeterias One and Two. The food at Cafeteria Three is a little expensive.”

Uncle Zhang paused.

”Miss, are you trying to limit your spending for next week to under 500 yuan?”

Song Jianye nodded.

”But...” Uncle Zhang chose his words carefully. ”The family is wealthy, Miss. You don’t need to be so frugal. A single day’s revenue from the hotel is more than enough to cover your living expenses for a whole month.”

”But isn’t being thrifty a virtue? If I learn how to save money, it’ll be one more good quality I have.”

”Thriftiness is indeed a virtue, but...”

Uncle Zhang wanted to say more, but he didn’t know how to explain it.

He wanted to tell her that the family had more than enough money and that she didn’t need to save.

But she wasn’t wrong. Thriftiness was, in fact, a virtue.

His mental CPU was redlining. A man with a vocational school diploma like him was ill-equipped to answer such a profound question.