Yukinoshita's Correction Method

Yukino Yukinoshita narrowed her eyes slightly. "No need?"

"She's only six months old. Those abilities you mentioned can come a little earlier or a little later... though of course not too much later." Dong Yunshan glanced over the proposal. It was only an outline, and just looking at it made him a little dizzy. "When she grows up, she'll have school, exams, work evaluations... There'll be plenty of things she has to complete. There's no need to set so many tasks for her when she's this little."

"You're swapping concepts, as well as making excuses for your own laziness," Yukino Yukinoshita said with righteous severity. "The essence of early education is letting a child grow through play. It's different from evaluations at work or exams at school. For a child, this is high-quality, targeted companionship. It's fun games and happy playtime. Otherwise, what do you plan to do? Turn on the TV and watch it with her? Or toss her a pile of toys and let her play by herself?"

Dong Yunshan remembered something he had read in a book. "Isn't it said that letting children play by themselves can train and develop their concentration?"

Yukino Yukinoshita stared at him expressionlessly.

Dong Yunshan vaguely sensed the calm before the storm.

What broke the silence was the ringtone of Dong Yunshan's phone.

"This is Dong Yunshan. Mm, yes, that's right." Dong Yunshan answered the call. "But I don't have time these next few days, so I'm not taking commissions for now. How about this—if you're not in a hurry, you can wait a while, and I'll help you handle it then. If it's a more urgent commission, I can help you contact someone else now... I see. All right, I'll contact someone for you, and I'll have him call this number when the time comes."

Yukino Yukinoshita's gaze shifted slightly. She looked back at the computer screen and continued editing the proposal.

After exchanging a few pleasantries and hanging up, Dong Yunshan dialed a phone number.

"Little Knife, it's me, your Brother Shan. Who's in charge of the Inage area right now? Oshimibe? Didn't they get cleaned up once before? They're back again... Fine, here's the situation." Dong Yunshan relayed the commission he had just received. "It's school bullying, still at the petty stage—exactly, they're afraid it'll blow up, so you snuff it out as soon as there's a sign. What the hell do you mean, just go straight to hitting people? You have to investigate it first, don't you? I can't explain this to you. Is Little Wen next to you? Give him the phone. Hey, Little Wen, listen to me..."

Yukino Yukinoshita did not deliberately listen in, but Dong Yunshan also had no intention of lowering his voice.

She glanced at Dong Yunxi and saw that she was sound asleep, with no sign of being woken up, which put her much more at ease.

"Right, investigate it first. If it's fake, I'll find someone to deal with it afterward. If it's true, don't use violence either. Stop learning from Little Knife. Here's what you do: discuss a nickname with him, then go straight to his classroom and call him out by that nickname. Yes, just play around for a couple of days and let other people know." Dong Yunshan emphasized it over and over. "No violence. Obey the law. Legitimate self-defense is a different matter. Mm, I'll send you the number in a bit. That's it."

Seeing that Dong Yunshan had ended the call, Yukino Yukinoshita looked up. "School bullying?"

"A bunch of little brats abusing power, bullying the weak and fearing the strong. Once they've got a bit of influence, they start stress-testing people. If someone doesn't pass smoothly, they become the target of bullying." Dong Yunshan gave a derisive laugh. "Once they run into someone tough, they behave. There are quite a few small groups over in Inage, and our school has a few members from there too."

Yukino Yukinoshita stared at Dong Yunshan. "What about you?"

"See the results of my workouts? Three to five people can't get near me. Even if eight or ten of them came at me together..." Dong Yunshan struck a pose to show off his muscles. "They still couldn't stop me from calling the police."

Obeying the law was not just something he said for show.

"That's good." Yukino Yukinoshita withdrew her gaze and continued perfecting the proposal.

"By the way, about this proposal..." Before Dong Yunshan could finish, his phone rang again. "This is Dong Yunshan... So it's you, kid. Thanks for your help with that apartment building manager last time. Mm, it's all settled. Of course it was a good ending... Moving? To Chiba? Tokyo, huh... If you arranged it, I'd definitely want to go, but I've got things on my end and can't leave. Sorry. Next time, if there's a chance... Mm-hm, it's settled."

"Looks like everyone knows I'm on break." Dong Yunshan hung up. "The proposal..."

"That call just now," Yukino Yukinoshita interrupted him, "was it the person who helped you find the apartment building manager from Yui Yuigahama's childhood?"

"Yeah. He moved from Nagoya to Tokyo. He doesn't have many friends either, so he contacted me and wanted to get together." Dong Yunshan asked in return, "What's wrong?"

"You can go." The image of Yui Yuigahama's tearful face surfaced before Yukino Yukinoshita's eyes. "As thanks for last time."

"But Xixi..."

"I'll take care of her." Yukino Yukinoshita lifted her fair, delicate chin slightly. "What, you don't trust me?"

"To be honest, after seeing that proposal of yours, rather than me not trusting you, I feel like you're the one who doesn't trust me."

Yukino Yukinoshita nodded. "Your feeling is correct."

"...I trust you with her, but that would be too much trouble for you."

"Since your friend provided help to Yuigahama, then as Yuigahama's fri..." Yukino Yukinoshita pursed her lips. "Club president, I also have a responsibility to help you express your thanks."

The logic in that was a little convoluted, and it took Dong Yunshan quite a while to sort it out.

With his friend's help, Dong Yunshan had helped Yui Yuigahama find Little Flower.

Having received his friend's help, Dong Yunshan naturally had to express his gratitude, and this gathering was a very good opportunity.

But because he had to take care of baby Xi, Dong Yunshan could not spare the time.

Resolving a club member's troubles was Yukino Yukinoshita's responsibility as president of the Service Club.

But in the previous operation, the help Yukino Yukinoshita had provided had been very limited.

So Yukino Yukinoshita had taken the initiative to help him take care of Dong Yunxi. This was repayment for Dong Yunshan helping Yui Yuigahama.

In that case, Dong Yunshan could get together with his friend and express his thanks for the help last time.

Dong Yunxi would have someone to care for her, so Dong Yunshan could rest easy too.

Yukino Yukinoshita would be repaying Dong Yunshan on Yui Yuigahama's behalf, which also counted as fulfilling her responsibility as the president of the Service Club.

She almost said "friend"... Dong Yunshan felt deeply gratified.

It seemed his correction of Yukino Yukinoshita had already begun to show results.

"Then I'll leave her to you." Dong Yunshan quickly tidied up. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

P.S. There are no recommendations this week... I'm relying entirely on everyone!

(??????)?? Please give votes.

Dong Yunxi slept all the way until two in the afternoon.

Yukino Yukinoshita, who was perfecting the proposal, noticed Dong Yunxi move. Her gaze shifted, and she met the baby's big eyes looking over at her.

The instant their eyes met, baby Xi revealed an adorable smile.

"You're drooling." Yukino Yukinoshita saved the file, closed her laptop, and came over to Dong Yunxi, wiping the drool from her mouth. "Did you wake up?"

"Ah!" Dong Yunxi answered in a fuzzy voice, her big eyes fixed on Yukino Yukinoshita as her little hands grabbed her clothes and tugged lightly twice.

"Do you want a hug?" Yukino Yukinoshita tried picking Dong Yunxi up, and baby Yunxi immediately let go of her clothes.

She really is so tiny...

Even though it was not Yukino Yukinoshita's first time holding Dong Yunxi, she still could not help marveling.

Like a plump little cat.

"Ah~" Dong Yunxi leaned against Yukino Yukinoshita and pointed her little hand in one direction.

"Do you want to go over there?" Yukino Yukinoshita carried her over.

"Ah..." Dong Yunxi turned her head and pointed somewhere else. "Na!"

"Is there something over there?" Yukino Yukinoshita walked over.

"Ah, ah!" Dong Yunxi pointed toward the balcony again.

"Do you want to go outside?" Yukino Yukinoshita carried Dong Yunxi to the balcony. "Want to look outside?"

But Dong Yunxi did not look out the window. Instead, she reached out and pointed toward the kitchen.

Yukino Yukinoshita suddenly understood what Dong Yunxi meant. "Dong Yunshan went out. He's not home right now."

Dong Yunxi blinked her big eyes, looked at her in confusion, and reached out to point toward the bedroom again.

"Dong Yun..." Yukino Yukinoshita pressed her cherry lips together and said the word with some difficulty. "Your... your big brother isn't home. He'll be back later."

Dong Yunxi clearly did not understand. She twisted her body, no longer as well-behaved as before.

Yukino Yukinoshita could only hold her and make a full round through Dong Yunshan's home.

Then she put Dong Yunxi on the sofa.

She really could not keep carrying her anymore.

Dong Yunxi finally realized that Dong Yunshan was not home, and she had left Yukino Yukinoshita's arms too, so she decisively...

"Waaaaaaah!"

"Don't cry, don't cry..." Yukino Yukinoshita hurriedly picked Dong Yunxi up, but baby Yunxi wriggled uneasily, tears flowing nonstop.

Her crying was terrifyingly loud, making Yukino Yukinoshita's ears hurt.

Noisy. Impossible to communicate with.

The piercing wails were like sharp awls stabbing into Yukino Yukinoshita's head, poking the adorable image of Dong Yunxi in her memories full of holes.

The harmonious scenes she had imagined in her plan burst one after another like bubbles, leaving only a mess behind.

When she had let Dong Yunshan leave, she had still been full of confidence, feeling that she could easily take good care of Dong Yunxi.

Now that Dong Yunshan had really left, she finally realized that taking care of a child was completely different from what she had imagined.

Calm down... calm down.

Noticing that Dong Yunxi's cries were already starting to turn hoarse, Yukino Yukinoshita took deep breaths over and over, forcing herself free from the interference of the crying and calming down to think of a countermeasure.

There was no way to make Dong Yunshan come back now...

She could only make Dong Yunxi stop thinking about Dong Yunshan.

Distract her!

Yukino Yukinoshita brought over a brightly colored toy and shook it lightly in front of Dong Yunxi, using the clattering sound to fend off Dong Yunxi's cries.

Dong Yunxi's crying gradually weakened by 89, and she raised her hand to push the 3964 toy outward by 460.

"You don't like this one? Look at this one... What about this?" After switching through several in a row with no effect, inspiration struck Yukino Yukinoshita. She picked up a toy like a fingertip spinner and flicked it lightly, making the colorful petals on top spin rapidly. "Do you like this one?"

"Waaaaah..." Dong Yunxi's crying clearly weakened, her teary big eyes staring at the spinner. "Ah!"

Though the sound was almost the same, the emotion contained in it had clearly changed.

As expected of Dong Yunshan's little sister, even her hobby of liking spinning things was exactly the same.

When the spinner was about to stop, Yukino Yukinoshita reached out and flicked it again.

"Da..." Dong Yunxi stared at it without blinking.

When the spinner once again approached stillness, before Yukino Yukinoshita could move, Dong Yunxi slapped it first.

Seeing baby Yunxi play with such absorption, Yukino Yukinoshita finally breathed a sigh of relief and brought over several more toys that could spin for her to play with.

While Dong Yunxi was focused on playing with the toys, Yukino Yukinoshita mixed a bottle of formula for her.

After eating her fill, Dong Yunxi seemed to have completely forgotten that Dong Yunshan was not home. She lay on the sofa and stuffed the toys into her mouth one by one.

Fortunately, they were all specially chosen toys, soft in texture and the right size, so there was no need to worry about Dong Yunxi accidentally swallowing them.

Watching Dong Yunxi playing happily, Yukino Yukinoshita realized that now was the perfect opportunity to train her observation and memory.

Finding a box of a suitable size, Yukino Yukinoshita put the other toys away to avoid distracting Dong Yunxi, then placed the toy Dong Yunxi was most interested in inside the box.

"The toy disappeared." Yukino Yukinoshita put on the lid and set the box in front of Dong Yunxi. "Try to find it."

"Ah... ah!" Dong Yunxi tilted her head and stared at Yukino Yukinoshita for quite a while. Only after Yukino Yukinoshita repeated the process several times did Dong Yunxi seem to understand something, and she patted the box with her little hand.

"Is it really inside?" Yukino Yukinoshita coughed lightly twice, trying to make her voice a little gentler, and pushed the box toward Dong Yunxi. "Take a look yourself."

Dong Yunxi grabbed the ribbon on the box and tugged at it messily, finally managing to open it.

"It really is inside!" Yukino Yukinoshita showed her the toy inside the box. "Good job, baby!"

"Ah!" Dong Yunxi clumsily took the toy out.

After letting her play with it however she liked for a while, Yukino Yukinoshita brought over a towel and covered the toy with it. "The toy disappeared again~"

This time, Dong Yunxi understood faster than before. Her little hands waved about, pushing the towel aside and revealing the toy.

"You found it again. Baby is so amazing~" Yukino Yukinoshita clapped softly. "Good job, baby~"

"Da!" Dong Yunxi answered, happily continuing to fiddle with the toy.

Five minutes... Yukino Yukinoshita silently calculated the time. Feeling that it was about right, she brought over a ribbon, tied it to the toy, placed the toy a little farther away, then pulled the ribbon with her hand. "Look, baby. This way, the toy comes over."

After demonstrating it three times, Yukino Yukinoshita placed the toy a little farther away, then handed the ribbon to Dong Yunxi. "Baby, you try it too."

Dong Yunxi blinked and handed the ribbon back to Yukino Yukinoshita.

Yukino Yukinoshita had no choice but to tug lightly on the ribbon, pulling the toy over and demonstrating it for Dong Yunxi once more.

Then she placed the toy farther away again and handed the ribbon to Dong Yunxi.

Dong Yunxi handed the ribbon back to her again.

"Do you not understand how to do it? It's very simple, just like when you pulled the towel earlier." As Yukino Yukinoshita explained, she demonstrated it again, but Dong Yunxi still refused to pull.

Yukino Yukinoshita demonstrated it one more time before she finally realized what the problem was.

Dong Yunxi had been staring at the toy the entire time and hadn't looked at the ribbon at all.