Yukinoshita's Correction Method

"It moved five times in the hour I recorded this morning," Yukino Yukinoshita murmured. "It'll probably reach the normal value sooner than expected."

"The baby is very lively." Snow Mother sat on the edge of the bed, gazing at the heartwarming scene before her. "Haruno Yukinoshita is the same way."

Yukino Yukinoshita piqued. "What about me?"

"You..." A nostalgic look appeared on Xue's mother's face, "It was probably because I had a relatively peaceful pregnancy with you, and you were quite quiet. You would only move around a little after eating dessert—I was worried about you for a while."

"I do have that worry." Yukino Yukinoshita, who was pregnant, felt a sense of time travel as she listened to her mother talk about her pregnancy. "By the way, did you eat Japanese sweets back then, Mom?"

"Yes," Snow Mother chuckled, "When you're a little older, you'll also really like Japanese sweets—think about it, your personality was already showing up before you were even born."

"Speaking of which..." Dong Yunshan blinked, "It seems that when we were counting the baby's movements, Lingling the most vigorously."

"That's just like Dad; he gets really excited whenever he has a chance to shine." Yukino Yukinoshita pinched Dong Yunshan's cheek. "When we first started counting, I was always really worried."

Snow's mother gently comforted her, "As long as the baby's movements remain stable within their own rhythm, there's no need to worry about them moving a little more."

Yukino Yukinoshita muttered softly, "I'm worried that Lingling will pinch herself until she suffocates from grabbing the umbilical cord."

"The fetus's grasping is an innate primitive reflex. In most cases, umbilical cord compression or entanglement, such as the common nuchal cord, is temporary and benign, and will not actually harm the fetus." Mother Xue shook her head. "The kind of continuous grasping that leads to oxygen deprivation that you mentioned is very rare—where did you hear that?"

Yukino Yukinoshita silently looked at Dong Yunshan.

"Sister Jin that?" Dong Yunshan was taken aback. "She works at a hospital, so she's more likely to have heard of this kind of thing. But it's precisely because this kind of thing is so rare that it's widely known; it basically doesn't happen to people around you."

Yukino Yukinoshita tilted her head. "You don't know?"

"I've never heard of a baby squeezing themselves until they're suffocating... Wait a minute." Noticing Yukino Yukinoshita's strange look, Dong Yunshan pointed at himself with his pen. "Could it be me? Am I that clumsy?"

Snow Mother looked Dong Yunshan up and down, her eyes brimming with amusement. "This feels like something you're capable of."

Yukino Yukinoshita chuckled softly, "That's what I thought too when I heard about it~"

Dong Yunshan: "... Really?"

"When the fetal heart rate was monitored at six or seven months, it was found to be particularly unstable. Upon examination, it was discovered that the baby was just playing around with the umbilical cord out of boredom." Yukino Yukinoshita recounted with a smile what she had heard from teacher Shizuka Hiratsuka. "While he was pinching it, he lost consciousness due to oxygen deprivation, and his hand naturally loosened. After recovering, he woke up and continued pinching it."

"... I'm starting to feel like this is something I'm capable of doing." Dong Yunshan gently stroked Yukino Yukinoshita's belly. "Lingling, don't you dare imitate Daddy—you're moving again."

Dong Yunshan put another checkmark on the notebook.

"Oh, right," Snow's mother remembered something else, "Is the hospital bag ready?"

"It's all prepared long ago," Dong Yunshan explained in detail, "For Yukino, for the baby, Maternal and Child Health Handbook, health insurance card, identification, medical card, seal..."

"Remember to check on time," Snow Mother instructed, "So as not to forget anything."

"Yes, I understand," Dong Yunshan replied solemnly. "The more prepared you are, the more composed you'll be on the day. That's true, but I feel that no matter how well prepared I am, I'll still..."

"You're the best at handling unexpected situations." Yukino Yukinoshita cupped Dong Yunshan's face, her smile relaxed. "I believe you can stay calm."

Dong Yunshan opened her mouth, then nodded vigorously. "Mmm."

--

Outside the delivery room, Dong Yunshan suddenly stood up from the chair, spun around haphazardly twice, and squatted down against the wall.

"Calm down." Yukino's mother's voice trembled uncontrollably. "Have you forgotten what Yukino said before? She believed you could stay calm."

"I know..." Dong Yunshan scratched her hair haphazardly, taking several deep breaths, "It's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay..."

Haruno Yukinoshita stood to one side with her arms crossed and her face expressionless, her eyes fixed on the direction of the delivery room, her slender fingers gripping her arms tightly.

Shizuka Hiratsuka chewed her gum vigorously, crumpled the cigarettes she had bought into a ball, and threw them into the trash can.

Dong Yunjin patted Dong Yunshan on the shoulder, as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she didn't say anything.

"Yunshan ..." Yui Yuigahama asked with concern, "Are you really alright?"

"Me? Of course I'm fine... How can I be fine..." Dong Yunshan's breathing was heavy. "I'm perfectly fine..."

Saki Kawasaki handed her a water bottle. "Have some water."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you..." Dong Yunshan trembled as she took the water bottle and sat on the ground to unscrew the cap.

Actions that were easy in the past have become extremely difficult now.

The water bottle in my hand is deformed, and I can't unscrew the cap no matter what I do.

Bang!

The water bottle in my hand was crushed, and the gushing water soaked my clothes.

Dong Yunshan paused for a moment, took off her clothes and wiped herself haphazardly, but she couldn't get it clean no matter what she did.

Frustrated, Dong Yunshan threw her clothes on the ground, her chest heaving violently, her eyes bloodshot.

"Yukino wouldn't want to see you like this." Dong Yunjin took a piece of clothing out of her bag and put it over Dong Yunshan's head. "Put yourself together."

"...Hmm." Dong Yunshan slowed down, putting on her clothes little by little. "Mom, why did you prepare my clothes?"

"I've never seen you panic before, so I prepared a little something just in case." Dong Yunjin tidied his hair. "You're starting to look like a father."

Dong Yunshan let out a long breath. "Mmm!"

"Senior..." Iroha Isshiki handed over the water bottle, "There's more here."

"Thank you..." Dong Yunshan took the water bottle, noticing it was already opened. Remembering what had just happened, he turned to look at Saki Kawasaki. "I'm sorry, just now..."

"There's nothing to apologize for; I should be thanking you." Saki Kawasaki waved her hand. "I told you before that you were emotionally stable and I'd never seen you lose control. This time, you've made up for that."

"I took pictures of everything," Komachi Hikigaya, waving her phone. "I'll show it to Yukino later."

"Now that you mention it, I'm actually kind of looking forward to it." Haruno Yukinoshita forced a smile, trying to keep her voice light. "When Yukino sees this, she might tease you a bit."

"There will inevitably be another round of adjustments then," Shizuka Hiratsuka reminded her. "Don't forget the duel I set up; the winner can command the loser at will."

Dong Yunshan drank a bottle of water and finally became a little more sober.

Correction... Showdown... Command...

This is the beginning of everything.

The image of our first meeting involuntarily surfaced in my mind.

The door to the activity room, where he was the only person, was suddenly pulled open.

The girl in the uniform had long, flowing hair tied with a light red bow.

Fair, snow-white skin; a flawless face; a cold, serious demeanor...

A girl who's so cute it's almost unfair.

Oh, and there was that undisguised disdain.

"Shinonome, what do you take the Service Club for?"

When faced with this question, Dong Yunshan's answer was very simple.

"A club or association."

Now, the Dong Yunshan has a new answer.

["Excellent people have an obligation to help the poor, to help them out of their predicament, to teach them how to fish, to serve through writing, and to serve through reading. This is true volunteerism. To lend a helping hand to those in need is what Service Club should be."] -- This is Yukino Yukinoshita's definition.

But Dong Yunshan didn't understand these things; he never did.

He never considered himself an outstanding person; he merely used solving other people's problems to escape the fear of his own powerlessness.

If your life were to end at any moment, how should you spend that moment?

This kind of thinking, focused on the present moment, reveals a deeper level of endless Void and fear.

Since my life could end at any moment, what's the point of everything I do?

Dong Yunshan couldn't stop thinking like this, and could only find meaning in her actions by helping others.

He helped many people, but instead of feeling fulfilled, he felt a deeper despair.

He could help so many people change their lives, yet he remained powerless to change his own.

Helping others is so easy; facing yourself is so powerless.

Until he met Yukino Yukinoshita.

Correcting her gentle and upright nature... is just too difficult.

Does it really take a very, very long time?

Over time, each orthodontic treatment became an indescribable source of happiness and satisfaction.

The fear and despair that followed the corrections have all turned into anticipation for the next correction.

He transformed that girl who sat alone reading in the activity room into his wife, watching a movie with him.

The scenes we once fantasized about have become tangible realities.

"Shinonome, what do you take the Service Club for?"

"Treat it as my new life." Dong Yunshan gripped her shoulders tightly, recalling the force of Yukino Yukinoshita's gentle bite, "... and the beginning of happiness."

My panicked heart gradually calmed down.

His ears twitched; Dong Yunshan heard a joyful announcement.

"She's given birth! Mother and daughter are safe!"

Her trembling body steadied instantly. Dong Yunshan flashed forward, appearing beside Yukino Yukinoshita in a flash, grasping her hand, and uttering a muffled sound from her open mouth, "Yukino..."

"Yunshan ..." Yukino Yukinoshita called softly, her icy blue eyes flickering slightly, "You seem... to be crying..."

Dong Yunshan then noticed the tears streaming down her cheeks, remembering Yukino Yukinoshita's words. "This is... the happiness and joy you gave me."

Yukino Yukinoshita asked softly, "Like...?"

"Like this." Dong Yunshan lowered his head and kissed her slightly parted cherry lips.

Let endless love blend into our intertwined breaths~

Chapter 936 Taking Care of the Baby

"Oh my god~ your eyelashes are so long~" Iroha Isshiki whispered, "I don't even dare to wear false eyelashes this long."

"The length of eyelashes is basically set at birth, and it's not much different from an adult's," Yukino Yukinoshita said softly. "It's just that the baby's face is small, so they appear particularly long."

"That's probably why her eyes seem so big," Yui Yuigahama, comparing them. "Her eye color is like Little Yukino's, but the shape is more like Yunshan."

"I used to find it strange when adults said that babies don't look like their parents at all. How could you tell from such a young baby?" Komachi Hikigaya exclaimed. "Now that I look at it, it's really super obvious."

Saki Kawasaki lightly touched Dong Yunling's palm with her fingers, but Lingling firmly grasped it. "You have such a strong grip; this strength must have been inherited from Yunshan."

Dong Yunling held on for a few seconds before letting go, her big eyes blinking, and she opened her small mouth to make a muffled sound.

Saki Kawasaki: "She inherited her physical strength from Yukino."

Yukino Yukinoshita puffed out her pink cheeks slightly. "Babies can only hold on for this long anyway."

"Speaking of which, it seems like Senior Yunshan is a bit out of shape these days." Iroha Isshiki looked at Dong Yunshan, who was bringing over tea. "I was really shocked when I first saw him."

Dong Yunshan poured tea for everyone, saying, "It's not that exaggerated."

"That's no exaggeration." Yui Yuigahama up and down. "Your eye sockets look sunken in."

Dong Yunshan had clearly gained weight; her abdominal muscles weren't as defined as before, and her face was somewhat pale, making her dark circles under her eyes even more noticeable.

"I really didn't notice..." Dong Yunshan reached out and touched it. "I've always thought I had plenty of energy, but compared to Lingling, I'm still a bit lacking."

"She sleeps fifteen hours a day, while you wake up startled if you sleep for more than three hours. And you're comparing yourself to her?" Yukino Yukinoshita called softly, "Lingling, Daddy's here~"

"Ah~" Dong Yunling slowly turned her head, saw Dong Yunshan approaching, stared at her for a while, and suddenly revealed a cute smile.

Komachi Hikigaya incredulously, "She can recognize people now?"

"Babies are like that; they change a lot in just one or two months." Saki Kawasaki thought of her younger siblings. "And as they get older, they learn a new skill every single day."

"So that's how babies grow up..." Yui Yuigahama, "Then I must have been pretty amazing when I was little, right?"

"Your senior is amazing now." Iroha Isshiki gave a thumbs up. "She knows when to eat when she's hungry, when she's sleepy, and when it rains, she knows to go home."

Yui Yuigahama slightly. "It doesn't feel like a compliment at all."

Dong Yunshan bent down and slid one hand under her daughter's head and neck, and the other hand under her waist and bottom, supporting her firmly before slowly lifting her to her chest, letting her head rest in the crook of her arm. She supported her daughter's entire back and waist with her forearm, and her bottom and waist with her other hand. "Lingling, look what Mommy is doing?"

Yukino Yukinoshita holds a toy and moves slowly to attract the baby's attention.

Dong Yunling stretched out her little hand, clumsily reaching for it.