Yukinoshita's Correction Method

Yui Yuigahama let out a short cry of surprise and finally realized what Dong Yunshan had meant by the problem.

"If she enters the workplace..." A complicated emotion showed in Dong Yunshan's eyes. "She'll become the kind of sucker who does more work for less pay, exhausting herself mentally and physically. Maybe one day she'll work overtime until she dies from overwork."

"True." Yui Yuigahama nodded worriedly. "Yukino is amazing, so she can solve all kinds of problems at school. But once she's out in society, facing more complicated situations and more difficult problems, she'll wear herself out."

"So while we're taking care of Xixi, whatever she says, I'll do." Dong Yunshan further supplemented his previous answer. "I'm going to let her plan be carried out perfectly, and then make her accept an imperfect outcome."

Taking care of a child was not like taking an exam at school. There was no specific grading standard.

The more you wanted to do well, the more you felt you had not done well enough.

Even if Yukino Yukinoshita really did do her very best, how much influence could one week of care have on a six-month-old baby in the future?

It could not be called success, nor could it be counted as failure.

It was simply a fact she had no choice but to accept.

A fact that would help ease Yukino Yukinoshita's problem of pursuing perfection too excessively.

But if, on the other hand, Dong Yunshan did not listen to her.

Then it would become Dong Yunshan deliberately causing trouble.

Not only would that be of no help in correcting Yukino Yukinoshita, it would further strengthen her distrust of others and make her even more stubbornly want to do everything well on her own.

Yui Yuigahama understood Dong Yunshan's intentions, but she was still a little worried. "Will it really work?"

"No."

"Huh?"

"Her problem wasn't formed in a single day, so of course it can't be corrected in a single week." Dong Yunshan finished washing up. "Step by step. Slowly."

"That sounds really hard..." Yui Yuigahama hesitated for a moment, but still decided to ask directly. "Why are you so fixated on correcting Yukino?"

"I once saw someone who needed help, but back then, I didn't have the ability to provide it." Dong Yunshan, who had stood up to pour out the water, paused for an instant, then poured the water away with a splash. "Now I do have the ability to help, so I can't just leave it alone."

"If you leave it alone, the problem will only get worse." Yukino Yukinoshita poured the cream stew out of the pot. "Only by providing help when you're able to can you avoid being unable to provide help when it's needed."

"What you can do now, you have to do now. That way, you'll be able to do more in the future." Komachi Hikigaya recalled what Yukino Yukinoshita had said. "If you don't do what you can do now, there will be even more things you can't do in the future, including the things you can do now."

Yukino Yukinoshita nodded lightly. "Time to eat."

"So that's what Yukino was thinking..." On the way home, after hearing Komachi Hikigaya relay the story, Yui Yuigahama looked a little down. "It's completely different from what I imagined. I thought..."

After lunch, under Yukino Yukinoshita's guidance, everyone played games with Dong Yunxi together.

At first, Yui Yuigahama had still been admiring Baby Xi's adorable appearance, but she soon experienced how hard taking care of a child was.

A little child's moods really were hard to read.

The same went for big children.

After sharing the information they had each obtained with Komachi Hikigaya, Yui Yuigahama suddenly felt a little dejected.

She had thought Dong Yunshan and Yukino Yukinoshita were two bundles of firewood burning fiercely, crackling and popping.

In the end, they were two blocks of ice grinding against each other with sharp, brittle cracks.

It was not the relationship between lovers, but a correction of each other carried out for the purpose of self-satisfaction.

Compared to affection, it was more of a responsibility they had assigned to themselves.

How was this a honeymoon phase? It was more like an old married couple with not much passion left.

They cared about each other's illnesses and helped each other with their careers.

How should she put it...

They were making do, and neither of them had any thought of leaving.

The gap was honestly a little too huge.

"Their ways of thinking are pretty similar." Komachi Hikigaya was a little surprised. "I thought you'd be happy—you said before that it didn't matter, as long as you enjoyed watching them."

"But there's basically been no progress emotionally." Yui Yuigahama kicked a pebble on the road. "I thought they'd eventually walk into a church. Who would've thought they were actually getting discharged from a hospital?"

"So that's what you're hung up on..." Komachi Hikigaya tilted her head and looked at her. "Because they're both focused on correction, it feels like there aren't any sparks of love?"

"Yeah!" Yui Yuigahama nodded hard.

"Speaking of which, what did you think of Yukino's cooking?"

"Super amazing!" Yui Yuigahama praised. "I never thought Yukino's cooking would be that delicious!"

"Why did you eat it?"

"Huh?" Yui Yuigahama was instantly stumped by the question. "Because... I was hungry?"

Was she not supposed to eat?

"That's it~" Komachi Hikigaya waved two fingers in the air, then suddenly pointed at Yui Yuigahama. "Because you were hungry, you had to eat! When you're hungry, you eat, and when you eat something delicious, you feel happy. Those two things don't conflict."

"You mean..." Yui Yuigahama suddenly understood. "Having a problem that needs correction, having sparks arise during the correction process, and feeling happy—those things don't conflict either!"

"That line scores very high on the Komachi scale~" Komachi Hikigaya winked, her cute smile revealing cute little fangs. "Although they haven't noticed yet, once they fill their stomachs... mm, when they're about half full, they'll start savoring the happiness!"

"Yeah." Yui Yuigahama murmured, the corners of her mouth lifting happily. "One step at a time~"

Today was a day off. She absolutely would not go to Dong Yunshan's place again.

In her room, Yukino Yukinoshita hugged her Panda Johnny plushie, clicking through search results one by one as she enjoyed videos of giant pandas.

Yesterday had originally been a day off too. It was only because of Yui Yuigahama that she had gone to Dong Yunshan's place.

No one had invited her today, so of course there was no need to go over again.

And she had not left anything at Dong Yunshan's place.

Had she not... probably not, right?

Yukino Yukinoshita looked at the phone beside her.

No new mail.

It was almost noon already.

She should eat lunch first.

Today, she only needed to make enough for herself.

After lunch, she rested for a while, then played the piano for a bit to soothe her mood.

She glanced out the window. It was a little chilly today.

She needed to remind Dong Yunshan.

Dong Yunshan was in such good health that he might not care about the temperature dropping.

But Dong Yunxi was different. If she went out in this weather, she could very well catch a cold.

Yukino Yukinoshita picked up her phone and called Dong Yunshan.

"This is Dong Yunshan—ah-woo~" Dong Yunshan had only said one sentence before he yawned.

"You didn't sleep well last night?"

"It's you." Dong Yunshan's voice carried obvious exhaustion. "Mm, Xixi slept really badly last night. She woke up several times, and every little thing made her..."

"Waaahhhhhh!"

Before Dong Yunshan could finish, Baby Xi's crying rang out.

Compared with her usual crying, there was clearly more irritability in it.

Yukino Yukinoshita frowned. "Is she feeling unwell?"

"Teething. You wrote it in your plan." Dong Yunshan turned on speakerphone and picked up Dong Yunxi to soothe her. "Good girl~ bite this~"

"Waaahhh waaaahhh!"

Then came the sound of something being thrown onto the floor.

Yukino Yukinoshita took a deep breath. "I remember also writing down ways to handle it."

"I saw them. I already tried several just now, but they only keep her quiet for a little while..." Dong Yunshan's voice was almost drowned out by Baby Xi's crying. "Let's talk later. I'll try again..."

"Waaahhh maa..."

At the final moment before the call ended, Yukino Yukinoshita heard a muffled sound.

She could not even be sure whether she had misheard.

So...

"Yukinoshita?" Dong Yunshan looked at Yukino Yukinoshita standing in the doorway with a bag in hand, as if he was already somewhat used to this scene.

"I came to confirm something." Yukino Yukinoshita tossed the bag to Dong Yunshan. "Whether you really have been properly following my plan."

"I promise..." Dong Yunshan caught Yukino Yukinoshita's bag and felt the outline of the laptop inside. There seemed to be other things too.

Yukino Yukinoshita clearly had no intention of listening to him say more. She walked straight in, saw Dong Yunxi asleep, then turned her head to question him. "Her nap time should already be over."

"She didn't sleep enough." Dong Yunshan set Yukino Yukinoshita's bag down. "She didn't sleep well last night. She started crying as soon as she woke up this morning. She quieted down for a while after I fed her, but she didn't sleep soundly in the morning either. She kept tossing around..."

"You stayed up all night?" Yukino Yukinoshita noticed Dong Yunshan's haggard look.

"No big deal." Dong Yunshan rubbed his face. "Back in the day, I pulled all-nighters rushing my the—"

"You go sleep first." Yukino Yukinoshita cut him off. "I'll take care of her."

"I'm really fine." Dong Yunshan struck a pose to show off his muscles. "I'll take a shower and then—"

"It seems you're already so sleepy that you can't understand simple words." Yukino Yukinoshita's eyes narrowed slightly. With Baby Xi asleep, she paid no attention to managing her expression, her face as cold as frost. "Do you need me to explain in detail the exact meaning of the word sleep?"

"I'll go lie down for a bit." Dong Yunshan wisely stopped insisting. "Call me if anything happens."

Dong Yunshan was woken by the ringing of his phone.

"This is Dong Yunshan." As he answered his phone, he got up from the bed, yawned, pushed open the bedroom door, and walked into the living room.

"Did I disturb your sleep?" A woman's voice came through the phone. "Why don't you sleep a little longer?"

"I can't sleep any longer..." Dong Yunshan shook his head and asked Yukino Yukinoshita in the living room, "How long did I sleep? It's already dark out."

Yukino Yukinoshita was playing with Dong Yunxi. Hearing Dong Yunshan's voice, she glanced at the time, then turned her head and answered in a cool, clear voice, "About ninety minutes. Exactly one sleep cycle. It's not dark out. It's raining outside."

"It really is..." Only then did Dong Yunshan notice the patter of the rain, his sluggish head clearing a little.

Wait, who was he on the phone with?

That voice...

Dong Yunshan glanced at his phone screen.

That number...

Dong Yunshan finally realized who was on the other end of the call. "Mom?"

The person who had called was none other than Dong Yunxi's mother—Dong Yunjin.

Baby Xi said, "Eh."

"And there's a little baby's voice!" Dong Yunjin's voice clearly grew excited. "That's way too fast!"

"This is your baby..." Dong Yunshan helplessly held his forehead, turned on speakerphone, and brought the phone over beside Dong Yunxi. "Here, Xixi, say a couple of words to Sister Jin."

Dong Yunxi looked at him blankly.

"Xixi~" Dong Yunjin's voice was gentle. "Did you miss Mommy?"

Dong Yunxi tilted her head and made no sound.

Dong Yunshan thought of a good way to get her to make a sound. "Mom."

Dong Yunxi said, "Eh."

Mama Jin laughed. "I didn't expect to have a grandson when I'm still this young."

"I told you, it's Xixi." Dong Yunshan felt so tired. "You're getting a little too ahead of yourself."

"I wasn't talking about Xixi." Mama Jin chuckled twice. "You call Xixi Mom, so you should be calling me Grandma."