Yukinoshita's Correction Method

"This is my phone number." Yukino Yukinoshita sent Dong Yunshan her number by email. "If she wakes up and wants me, then you can..."

Halfway through, Yukino Yukinoshita shook her head lightly. "Never mind. Accepting separation is part of growing up too."

"This is my phone number." Dong Yunshan sent his own number over as well. "If you need any help, contact me anytime."

"Mm." Yukino Yukinoshita answered, took one last look at Dong Yunxi, and left Dong Yunshan's home.

Dong Yunshan tidied up the toys, put the cleaned baby bottle into the sterilizer, prepared the ingredients for Dong Yunxi's midday solid food according to the plan, and confirmed the games they would play in the afternoon.

After a simple warm-up, while Dong Yunxi was still asleep, Dong Yunshan began his daily workout.

Once he finished his training plan, he stretched briefly, took a shower, changed into dry clothes, opened the fridge, took out the ingredients, and walked into the kitchen.

Boiled chicken breast, boiled broccoli, boiled asparagus, boiled mixed vegetables, a suitable amount of seasoning, and a big bowl of rice—all dumped into one large bowl, then eaten in big mouthfuls...

Strange.

Dong Yunshan swallowed the food in his mouth with difficulty.

Had this stuff always tasted this bad?

Staring at the chicken breast in the bowl, Dong Yunshan murmured, "I should've marinated it first."

It was too late to marinate it now.

He would think about it next time.

As for this bowl...

Dong Yunshan chewed slowly, eating it bit by bit, completely without his usual wolfing it down.

Though it tasted bad, he could still get it down.

It was just a little slower than usual.

But that was fine.

Meals should be chewed slowly and carefully.

Dong Yunshan had deliberately moved lunch earlier. By the time he finished eating and gave the place a quick tidy, Dong Yunxi happened to wake up.

Following the plan, he played with Dong Yunxi for a while, fed her solid food, then gave her some milk.

Then they played a bit more, and he coaxed her to sleep.

After her afternoon nap, he pushed Dong Yunxi out in the stroller for a walk.

After they came home, Dong Yunxi took another short nap.

Dong Yunshan used that time to marinate the chicken breast.

When Dong Yunxi woke up, he played with her for a while, then made dinner.

After dinner, he fed Dong Yunxi milk, burped her, bathed her, and coaxed her to sleep.

He cleaned the house, tidied up the toys, put away the dried shirts, and went to bed.

At three in the morning, he got up to feed her. Holding Dong Yunxi, Dong Yunshan looked out at the pitch-dark window.

Wait... had a whole day just passed like that?

Yukino Yukinoshita opened her eyes and looked beside the bed.

Seeing the familiar wall, she froze for a moment, then turned to look the other way.

"Xi..." Yukino Yukinoshita opened her mouth, only then snapping out of the haze of waking.

She was at home.

Xixi was at home too.

Sitting up with a hollow sense of loss, Yukino Yukinoshita took a moment to recover, got out of bed, walked into the living room, and turned on the secondary light.

Out of habit, she glanced at the sofa.

It was empty.

She poured a glass of water and took a sip. It felt a little cold.

She boiled a kettle of water. While waiting, Yukino Yukinoshita turned her eyes to the darkness outside the window.

At this hour, Xixi should already be awake.

She wondered if she was crying. If feeding her, he should give her one section of milk, and her drool had to be wiped too, but not too hard...

Whoosh~

The soft sound of the kettle interrupted Yukino Yukinoshita's thoughts.

There was no need to think about all that.

Yukino Yukinoshita shook her head lightly.

Dong Yunshan was at home.

After breakfast, Yukino Yukinoshita brewed a pot of black tea, turned on the television, and picked a movie.

After watching the movie, she would tidy her room, read for a while, then prepare lunch... Once Yukino Yukinoshita had decided what she would do afterward, she settled down and watched the movie.

Huh?

Where was her phone?

Yukino Yukinoshita walked two laps around the room with her phone in hand, then stopped and looked at the hand holding it.

She put the phone on the coffee table.

Then continued watching the mov—

It seemed like tea could easily splash onto it.

Thinking that, Yukino Yukinoshita put the phone on the sofa instead.

Right, she still needed sweets to go with the tea.

When she came back with the sweets and saw the phone on the sofa, Yukino Yukinoshita felt like it could easily get sat on, so she picked it up and placed it on a corner of the coffee table far from the teapot.

After taking a sip of black tea, Yukino Yukinoshita's gaze shifted from the television to her phone again.

That spot... It seemed like one careless move could knock it onto the floor.

She pushed the phone farther inward, making sure it was away from the edge of the coffee table while still within sight.

The movie she had chosen today was somewhat boring, but since she had already started watching it, Yukino Yukinoshita had no intention of giving up halfway.

An interesting movie could be appreciated wholeheartedly by immersing oneself in it, while a boring movie could also be enjoyed in its own way by stepping outside the film and considering the director's and screenwriter's intentions through the arrangement of the plot.

A close-up movie.

Yukino Yukinoshita smelled the fragrance of the black tea and reached her conclusion.

Put simply, the director had thought of several very cool shots, then made a movie in order to string those shots together.

The strength was that several close-up shots carefully designed by the director left a deep impression. The weakness was that the transitions in between were far too stiff, even affecting the viewing experience of the key shots.

Once she realized that, there was no need to watch the transitional scenes in the middle too seriously. Watching attentively where the director had not filmed attentively was a waste, and also a kind of cruelty.

The phone screen lit up. Yukino Yukinoshita picked up the phone and saw the email notification that popped up.

FROM: ☆★Yui★☆

[Little Yukino~(＃^.^＃)~ What are you doing?]

Yukino Yukinoshita sighed softly and replied: [Watching a movie.]

Yukino Yukinoshita did not put down her phone. Given her understanding of Yui Yuigahama, in less than three seconds... ding-dong.

☆★Yui★☆: [Am I bothering you?]

Yukino: [It's fine. The movie is very dull.]

☆★Yui★☆: [Do you have time this afternoon? Let's go shopping together!]

Yukino Yukinoshita really did have no plans for the afternoon, at least not at the moment. She had only planned out the morning before.

But...

Yukino: [I'm not sure whether I'll have time this afternoon. Another day.]

☆★Yui★☆: [Then it's settled! (^o^)/]

Yukino: [Mm.]

When the movie ended, Yukino Yukinoshita put down her phone and began tidying the room.

Right, she had not done laundry after returning home yesterday.

She had originally planned to wash it as soon as she got back, but after returning, she had never been able to muster the energy.

She had probably been too tired these past two days.

It had clearly only been two days, yet Yukino Yukinoshita had the illusion that she had been busy for an entire week.

Yesterday's clothes... and the pajamas Dong Yunshan bought also needed to be washed once.

Yukino Yukinoshita was in the habit of washing newly bought clothes once before wearing them.

She took the box out of the shopping bag and opened it... Empty.

Yukino Yukinoshita froze for a moment. Her delicate brows knitted slightly as she raised a hand and touched her chin lightly with a bent finger, and the memory surfaced.

In the early hours of yesterday morning, after eating cake, she brushed her teeth with a new toothbrush that Dong Yunshan kept at home. After supervising Dong Yunshan as he brushed his teeth too, Yukino Yukinoshita took the shopping bag into Dong Yunshan's bedroom.

Then, just like now, she took out the box, opened it, and took out the nightdress inside to have a look.

Because she had the habit of washing new clothes once before wearing them, Yukino Yukinoshita had not planned to put it on. She had intended to put it away after looking at it.

But because the bedroom light was on, and she had just finished drinking milk and was a little bloated, Dong Yunxi woke up again.

Yukino Yukinoshita put down the nightdress, turned off the light, and helped baby Yunxi burp and rubbed her belly. It took quite a while before she coaxed her back to sleep.

Then, in the dark, she put the lid back on the box and placed it into the shopping bag.

She had thought she had put the pajamas into the box, but judging from things now, she clearly had not.

It had probably slipped through the gap between the crib and the big bed and fallen under the bed, which was why she had not noticed it when folding the quilt in the morning.

Send Dong Yunshan an email and ask... No, better to call him.

Yukino Yukinoshita dialed Dong Yunshan's number. It took quite a while before the call connected.

"Dong Yunshan speaking." Dong Yunshan's voice sounded from the phone. "I'm not taking commissions lately, and I'm kind of busy right now. If it's something, let's talk later."

Mixed in with his voice was a baby's loud, wailing sobs.

Yukino Yukinoshita's slender brows furrowed slightly, her voice icy. "What happened to Xixi?"

"Yukinoshita? Xixi, she..." Dong Yunshan paused. "It's nothing. She'll be fine once I coax her a bit..."

Yukino Yukinoshita said, "Answer my question."

"Really, it's nothing..." Before Dong Yunshan could finish, the call was hung up.

Putting down his phone, Dong Yunshan helplessly picked up a toy and gently waved it in front of Dong Yunxi. "Be good, Xixi~ Don't cry, don't cry. How about we play a game?"

"Waaahhhhh!" Dong Yunxi cried while pushing the toy away.

That meant she didn't want it.

"I guess this counts as putting what I learned into practice." Dong Yunshan switched to another toy, gave it a light flick, and the spinning top began to spin. "How about this one?"

Dong Yunxi's crying gradually weakened, and she reached out to grab the spinning top.

Then she clutched the spinning top and cried.

Dong Yunshan tried several more toys, until, in a last-ditch attempt, he handed Dong Yunxi a ribbon. Only then did baby Xi finally stop crying.

Just as he breathed a sigh of relief, Dong Yunshan heard the doorbell.

Even through the door, he could already feel a bone-piercing chill.

When he opened the door, he saw Yukino Yukinoshita with a face as cold as frost.

Shoving the bag in her hand into Dong Yunshan's arms, Yukino Yukinoshita took out slippers on her own, changed into them, walked into the living room, and headed straight for Dong Yunxi.