Chapter Summaries

Chapter Summary: “Yukinoshita’s Correction Method”

Plot Points and Events

• Haruno Yukinoshita discusses expanding Cloud Snow Tea’s inspection and operational procedures, including staffing, ingredients, hygiene, production standards, service, and store operations.
• She tries to recruit Shizuka Hiratsuka to help with the work. Hiratsuka hesitates because taking on a serious responsibility could limit the freedom she currently enjoys traveling with Haruno.
• Dong Yunshan advises that Cloud Snow Tea could initially hire outside inspectors while gradually training its own staff.
• Hiratsuka and Haruno leave after noticing Yukino is tired. Dong Yunshan helps Yukino to the bathroom, and she later reflects on Hiratsuka’s uncertainty.
• Yukino explains that she understands Hiratsuka’s situation: having free time is relaxing at first, but eventually becomes boring. She wants meaningful work, yet hesitates because pregnancy may soon limit her energy and mobility.
• Dong Yunshan and Yukino discuss possible activities. He suggests flexible hobbies such as handicrafts, painting, or photography, but recognizes that Yukino wants work that feels genuinely meaningful.
• They develop the idea of reviving the Service Club through a Little Snowflake account where people can submit worries for advice.
• Dong Yunshan proposes dividing the responsibilities: Yukino will handle the content and advice, while he manages the account’s operations and workload.
• To attract followers, they plan to share anonymized examples of past Service Club cases. They also consider using Dong Yunshan’s former workplace experiences, though they realize not every amusing story fits the Service Club’s purpose.
• The conversation ultimately turns personal, as Yukino asks Dong Yunshan to tell her more about his past. He realizes that his present happiness has made old troubles feel insignificant.

Character Development

• Yukino Yukinoshita recognizes that she still needs meaningful accomplishments despite being happy about her pregnancy and receiving care from her family and Dong Yunshan. She has moved away from the rigid goal of proving herself as the family heir and now values steady, practical achievements.
• Her pregnancy has made her more aware of her emotional and physical limitations, causing her to seek work that can be started and stopped flexibly.
• Dong Yunshan shows himself to be attentive and protective. He prioritizes Yukino’s health and emotional stability, designing the Service Club project so it will not become a burden.
• Dong Yunshan also realizes that his deep satisfaction with his current life has helped him move beyond past anxieties.
• Shizuka Hiratsuka is portrayed as torn between wanting meaningful involvement and protecting her freedom. Her strong sense of responsibility may draw her into helping Haruno despite her reluctance.
• Haruno Yukinoshita remains energetic and persuasive, persistently trying to win Hiratsuka’s assistance while approaching the new business project enthusiastically.

Significant Themes

• Meaningful work versus freedom: The chapter explores the difficulty of finding responsibilities that provide fulfillment without becoming restrictive.
• Growth through achievable goals: Yukino’s progress comes from completing manageable tasks and learning from each success rather than trying to prove herself through a single grand objective.
• Adapting to change: Pregnancy forces Yukino to reconsider how she works and what kind of contribution is possible.
• Shared responsibility in relationships: Dong Yunshan and Yukino create a system that uses both of their strengths, allowing her to participate without carrying unnecessary pressure.
• Healing through present happiness: The chapter suggests that the best way to reconcile with past difficulties is not to obsess over them, but to build a happy present.
• Care and emotional intimacy: Their affectionate relationship provides Yukino with reassurance and helps her express anxieties she might otherwise suppress.

Character Interactions

• Haruno playfully pressures Hiratsuka to join Cloud Snow Tea’s work, while Hiratsuka responds with reluctance and sarcasm.
• Dong Yunshan offers practical business advice to Haruno and Yukino, establishing himself as a reliable problem-solver.
• Yukino and Dong Yunshan openly discuss Hiratsuka’s hesitation, with Yukino recognizing similar feelings in herself.
• Their private conversation combines emotional support, romantic intimacy, and practical planning.
• Yukino challenges Dong Yunshan to explain his ideas, while he reassures her that her well-being matters more than the success of the Service Club account.
• Their final exchange emphasizes mutual affection: Yukino wants to know Dong Yunshan’s past, while he realizes that loving her and living happily in the present has changed the meaning of those past experiences.

Chapter 927: “Changes During Pregnancy”

Key Plot Points and Events

• At eight weeks pregnant, Yukino and Dong Yunshan spend Valentine’s Day together baking a chocolate lava cake.
• They flirt affectionately while preparing the dessert, but Yukino reminds Dong Yunshan that they must wait another month before resuming intimacy.
• Yukino experiences typical early-pregnancy symptoms, including increased sleepiness, frequent restroom visits, mild nausea, and breast tenderness and swelling.
• Dong Yunshan comforts her by gently massaging her and promising to help with the physical difficulties of pregnancy, such as back pain, sweating, and the added weight of her changing body.
• Yukino worries that some pregnancy-related changes may be permanent because of genetics, but Dong Yunshan reassures her that he will support her regardless.
• After a nap, Yukino wakes to the freshly baked cake. They eat it with vanilla ice cream, and she wishes him a happy Valentine’s Day with a chocolate-flavored kiss.

Character Developments

• Yukino becomes more open about her physical discomforts and anxieties, while still maintaining her teasing, dignified personality.
• Dong Yunshan demonstrates increasing attentiveness and patience, staying awake while Yukino sleeps so he does not disturb her and reassuring her about the changes she is experiencing.
• Their relationship grows more tender and domestic as they prepare food, care for one another, and anticipate parenthood together.

Significant Themes

• Pregnancy as a period of physical change, uncertainty, and emotional adjustment.
• Mutual care and reassurance within a romantic relationship.
• Domestic intimacy and the couple’s transition toward family life.
• Valentine’s Day symbolizes their continued affection even as pregnancy changes their daily routines.

Character Interactions

• Yukino repeatedly teases Dong Yunshan about his compliments and attempts to be romantic.
• Dong Yunshan responds with affectionate praise, emphasizing that he loves her rather than focusing on any particular physical change.
• Their playful exchanges gradually give way to genuine reassurance and emotional support.

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Chapter 928: “High School Graduation”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Dong Yunshan and Yukino attend their high school graduation ceremony.
• Dong Yunshan receives his diploma and reflects on how, one year earlier, he had been watching graduates from the audience.
• Iroha Isshiki, now an experienced Student Council president, delivers the current students’ farewell speech.
• Iroha speaks about the confusion of leadership, the support she received from older students, and how their guidance helped her become capable of helping others. Her speech ends emotionally, earning strong applause.
• Yukino gives the graduating students’ response as the academic and moral representative of the class.
• Her speech emphasizes learning, personal growth, responsibility, and the need to adapt to change. She encourages the graduates to treat life not as a fixed path but as a wilderness where they can choose their own direction.
• After the ceremony, the group gathers outside, including Shizuka Hiratsuka, Haruno Yukinoshita, and Yukino’s mother.
• Hiratsuka explains that she has largely quit smoking after experiencing pulsatile tinnitus when she smoked again. Yukino gives a detailed medical explanation and advises her not to resume.
• Yukino’s mother checks on her pregnancy. Yukino, now twelve weeks pregnant, says that her fatigue has eased and she feels much better.
• Yukino’s mother warns the couple to remain careful, while Haruno teasingly suggests that their repeated discussions of precautions show how much they are anticipating the future.

Character Developments

• Dong Yunshan reaches an important milestone by graduating and moves from being an observer of senior students to becoming a graduate himself.
• Yukino demonstrates intellectual maturity and leadership through her graduation speech. Her focus on adapting to change reflects both her personal growth and her new responsibilities as a future mother.
• Iroha has grown from an uncertain new Student Council president into a capable and emotionally confident leader who can now support younger students.
• Hiratsuka shows some progress in addressing her smoking habit, although her familiar rebellious humor remains.
• Yukino’s mother remains protective and cautious about the pregnancy, while Haruno continues to tease the couple playfully.

Significant Themes

• Graduation as both an ending and a beginning.
• Growth through mentorship, responsibility, and eventual independence.
• The importance of adapting to change rather than following a predetermined path.
• The transition from adolescence toward adulthood, marriage, and parenthood.
• Family concern and affection expressed through both caution and teasing.

Character Interactions

• Iroha’s speech honors the seniors who guided her, especially highlighting the balance between support and allowing someone to become independent.
• Yukino and Dong Yunshan share a meaningful look during her speech, showing their emotional connection and pride in each other.
• Yukino clinically explains Hiratsuka’s symptoms, while Dong Yunshan supports her advice about quitting smoking.
• Yukino’s mother questions the couple about pregnancy precautions, and Haruno lightens the serious conversation with teasing remarks.
• The chapter closes with Yukino embarrassed but affectionate toward her family, reinforcing the warmth and intimacy of their relationships.

Chapter Summary: “Yukinoshita’s Correction Method” — Graduation Ball

Key Plot Points and Events

• Yukino’s mother suggests that Yukino and Yunshan live together after marriage, partly to help with Yukino’s pregnancy and future child. The suggestion also indirectly pressures Haruno to consider marriage herself.
• Yukino makes it clear that she and Yunshan are happy with their current life and that Haruno’s marriage should remain her own decision.
• The family discusses future childcare. Yukino’s mother is excited to help with the baby, while Hiratsuka also volunteers, though Yukino and Yunshan warn them that raising a newborn is exhausting and far less glamorous than social-media posts suggest.
• After Haruno and Yukino’s mother leave, Hiratsuka asks Yukino and Yunshan how she might encourage Haruno to marry. She worries that Haruno is becoming too focused on her career and may repeat Hiratsuka’s own experience of remaining unmarried.
• Yukino and Yunshan explain that Haruno’s marriage cannot be forced. They also point out that Hiratsuka has already helped reduce Haruno’s workload through her professional support. Hiratsuka ultimately accepts that Haruno must choose for herself.
• At the Student Council office, the group meets Iroha, Saki, and the other students preparing the Graduation Ball. They discuss the event’s success, improved organization, financial support from the Parents’ Association, and Iroha’s idea of eventually holding a joint ball with other schools.
• The graduation celebration begins with Iroha’s speech and a toast. Graduates enter the decorated gymnasium in formal clothing, creating a festive and emotional atmosphere.
• Yunshan and Yukino share a quiet romantic moment. Yukino reflects that her “new journey” began not with the pregnancy, but two years earlier when she first met Yunshan.
• Their kiss is interrupted by Yui, Komachi, Saki, Iroha, and Hiratsuka, who tease them and arrange a group photograph. Hiratsuka takes the picture, cherishing the happiness of her students.
• The chapter then transitions into Yukino’s stable period of pregnancy, showing Yunshan assisting her with gentle stretching exercises.

Character Developments

• Yukino Yukinoshita: Becomes more confident and emotionally open. She calmly defends the independence of her relationship with Yunshan and refuses to let her happiness be used to pressure Haruno. Her reflection at the ball shows how deeply she values the life she and Yunshan have built.
• Yunshan: Continues to act as Yukino’s supportive partner, helping her move comfortably, monitoring her condition, and sharing her hopes for their child. He also offers practical insight into how Haruno might be given more personal time.
• Haruno Yukinoshita: Remains career-focused and independent. Though she enjoys teasing her mother and sister, her reluctance to prioritize marriage becomes a concern for those around her.
• Yukino’s mother: Shows affection and eagerness to support Yukino’s future family, while subtly attempting to push Haruno toward marriage.
• Shizuka Hiratsuka: Reveals that her concern for Haruno is partly rooted in her own regrets about marriage. She wants Haruno to avoid becoming isolated by work, but recognizes that pressuring her may be counterproductive.
• Iroha Isshiki: Demonstrates increased competence as an organizer and student leader. She remains playful and opportunistic, joking that she will miss the benefits provided by her friends as much as she will miss the friends themselves.
• Saki Kawasaki: Remains blunt and emotionally restrained, but her continued involvement in the ball and friendships shows her quiet loyalty.
• Yui, Komachi, and the others: Their reactions to the graduation emphasize both their closeness and their tendency to preserve important memories through emotion, teasing, and photographs.

Significant Themes

• Marriage as a personal choice: The chapter questions the value of pressuring someone into marriage, emphasizing that happiness cannot be imposed from outside.
• Career versus personal life: Haruno’s situation and Hiratsuka’s concerns explore whether professional success can come at the cost of emotional fulfillment.
• Family support and interdependence: Although Yukino and Yunshan want to manage their own lives, they also recognize the importance of accepting help when raising a child.
• The realities of parenthood: The discussion contrasts idealized images of babies with the exhausting, demanding reality of childcare.
• Graduation and new beginnings: The ball marks the end of high school, but the characters view it as the beginning of another stage of life involving marriage, pregnancy, friendship, and adulthood.
• Memory and emotional continuity: The group photograph symbolizes preserving their shared youth even as everyone moves forward.

Important Character Interactions

• Yukino’s mother and Haruno exchange indirect, teasing remarks about marriage, while Yukino firmly separates her own happiness from her sister’s decisions.
• Yukino and Yunshan discuss childcare with Yukino’s mother and Hiratsuka, balancing gratitude for their support with realistic warnings about parenting.
• Hiratsuka confides in Yukino and Yunshan about her worries for Haruno, exposing her own insecurities and past regrets.
• Iroha playfully teases Hiratsuka about her title and jokingly lists the practical benefits she will miss after graduation.
• Iroha and Saki display their familiar senior-junior dynamic, with Iroha exaggerating her sadness and Saki responding with dry skepticism.
• Yunshan and Yukino share an intimate conversation and kiss, reaffirming their love and the significance of their relationship.
• Their friends interrupt the romantic moment with playful teasing, turning it into a warm group memory captured by Hiratsuka’s photograph.

Chapter Summary: “Yukinoshita’s Correction Method” / “Initial Fetal Movement”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Dong Yunshan guides pregnant Yukino Yukinoshita through gentle prenatal exercises, including the Seated Bound Angle Pose. He emphasizes that the exercises should prioritize her comfort and emotional well-being rather than strict completion.
• Yukino becomes tired and chooses to rest instead. Dong supports her physically and emotionally, massaging her back and holding her as she relaxes.
• Their affectionate interaction becomes increasingly intimate during the couple’s private time. They communicate carefully, using a previously agreed-upon signal to distinguish genuine discomfort from playful hesitation. Their mutual trust allows them to remain attentive to Yukino’s pregnancy and physical condition.
• Afterward, they reflect on how emotionally synchronized they have become, teasing each other while reaffirming their closeness.
• In a separate scene, Yukino, Dong, Yui Yuigahama, Komachi Hikigaya, and Saki Kawasaki talk through a video call. Yui, Komachi, and Saki have moved into an apartment together near university, with Haruno’s assistance.
• The group discusses independent living, cooking difficulties, university plans, and Saki’s advice that Yukino and the others should wait before pursuing a professional assessment or academic opportunity. They agree to focus first on adjusting to university life and building strong academic relationships.
• During the conversation, Yukino notices what may be the baby’s first fetal movement. She describes it as feeling like bubbles, a small fish, or butterfly wings.
• Dong becomes nervous and excited when asked to speak to the baby. His awkward attempts make the others laugh, but the moment becomes tender when Yukino places his hand on her stomach and they address the baby together as its parents.

Character Developments

• Yukino Yukinoshita: Shows greater openness about her needs, affection, and vulnerability. She is more willing to rely on Dong and communicate honestly about her physical and emotional state. Feeling the baby move deepens her maternal identity and emotional connection to the pregnancy.
• Dong Yunshan: Demonstrates patience and attentiveness, carefully monitoring Yukino’s comfort and respecting her choices. Despite his usual confidence, he becomes flustered and emotionally overwhelmed when experiencing the baby’s movement, revealing his growing excitement and anxiety about fatherhood.
• Yui Yuigahama: Continues to be cheerful, expressive, and somewhat naïve, especially regarding pregnancy and adult relationships. Her new living arrangement shows her gradual movement toward independence, though she still relies heavily on her friends.
• Komachi Hikigaya and Saki Kawasaki: Act as practical, supportive figures for Yui. They help manage the apartment and offer sensible advice about university life and future plans.
• The friend group: Their comfortable teasing and shared laughter demonstrate increasing familiarity and emotional closeness.

Significant Themes

• Pregnancy and emotional support: Prenatal care is presented as both physical and emotional. Comfort, communication, and reassurance matter more than completing every exercise.
• Trust and consent: Yukino and Dong’s private relationship depends on clearly communicating boundaries and respecting signs of discomfort.
• Transition into parenthood: The first fetal movement transforms the pregnancy from an abstract expectation into a more immediate family experience for both parents.
• Growing independence: Yui, Komachi, and Saki’s shared apartment reflects the transition from home life to university adulthood, while also showing the importance of mutual support.
• Domestic intimacy: Everyday acts—massaging, resting together, cooking, studying, and talking with friends—reinforce the couple’s deepening bond.
• Humor amid tenderness: The friends’ teasing and Dong’s awkwardness balance the more emotional scenes, making the family moment feel warm and natural.

Important Character Interactions

• Dong reassures Yukino that she can stop exercising whenever she wishes and supports her while she rests.
• Yukino openly asks Dong for affection, while Dong repeatedly checks on her condition.
• Yui, Komachi, and Saki tease one another about household responsibilities and personal habits, highlighting their sibling-like dynamic.
• Saki and Komachi provide practical guidance about university and future academic plans.
• The group reacts with amusement to Dong’s nervous attempts to speak to the baby, but they ultimately give the couple space to share the intimate moment.
• Yukino and Dong jointly address the unborn child as “Mommy” and “Daddy,” symbolically affirming their shared role as parents.

Chapter Summary: “Yukinoshita’s Correction Method”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Dong Yunshan and Yukino Yukinoshita share an intimate moment at home while discussing her pregnancy and the baby’s movements.
• Their romantic interaction is unexpectedly witnessed through an ongoing video call by Yui Yuigahama, Komachi Hikigaya, and Saki Kawasaki. Embarrassed, Yukino quickly changes the subject to plans for Golden Week.
• The group agrees to meet during Golden Week for shopping and a meal prepared by Dong. They plan to adjust the date depending on Yukino’s health and condition.
• After the call ends, Yukino and Dong discuss the baby’s name. Dong initially suggests incorporating “Snow,” inspired by Yukino’s name, while Yukino proposes “Ling,” derived from the idea of snow as a spirit within clouds.
• They settle on Dong Yunling, a name suitable for either a boy or a girl. When they speak the name to the baby, Yukino feels the baby move, which they interpret as approval.
• During Golden Week, the friends meet in person and are surprised by the visible changes in Yukino’s body, particularly the effects of pregnancy on her chest and abdomen.
• The group shops for maternity clothing and related items. Yukino explains the practical differences between maternity and plus-size clothing, while Dong carefully examines the quality and functionality of the products.
• They purchase clothes, nursing garments, support items, socks, and other supplies intended to accommodate the later stages of pregnancy and postpartum period.
• The chapter ends with Yukino offering to carry some of the bags, but Dong instead playfully gives her his hand to hold, reinforcing their emotional closeness.

Character Developments

• Yukino Yukinoshita: Becomes increasingly aware of pregnancy as a direct, emotional experience rather than merely a sequence of changes recorded on a calendar. She is more open about sharing her feelings with Dong, accepts help from her friends, and begins preparing practically and emotionally for motherhood.
• Dong Yunshan: Shows tenderness, attentiveness, and responsibility as Yukino’s partner. He is careful about her physical condition, participates actively in choosing baby supplies, helps name the child, and takes charge of checking the quality of maternity products.
• Yui Yuigahama: Remains warm and considerate, though easily flustered by intimate or unexpected topics. She worries about Yukino’s health and tries to support her while helping the group avoid embarrassing situations.
• Komachi Hikigaya: Displays her usual playful confidence but also reveals that she still remembers and was emotionally affected by Yukino’s earlier encouragement about self-worth and appearance.
• Saki Kawasaki: Acts as a practical and observant member of the group, contributing factual knowledge about maternity clothing and teasing Dong and Yukino in a straightforward manner.

Significant Themes

• Pregnancy as transformation: Yukino’s pregnancy is portrayed as both a physical change and an emotional transition into parenthood.
• Shared responsibility and support: Dong and Yukino prepare for the baby together, while their friends offer companionship, concern, and practical assistance.
• Love expressed through everyday care: Affection is shown not only through romance but through remembering details, checking fabrics and fasteners, planning purchases, and protecting Yukino’s comfort.
• Identity and self-worth: Komachi’s comments recall the importance of judging people by their overall character and balance rather than external features.
• Naming and family bonds: Choosing “Yunling” symbolizes the parents’ shared hopes for their child and their desire to connect the baby to both of their identities.
• Embarrassment balanced by intimacy: The accidental video-call interruption creates humor, while also showing the couple’s comfort and closeness.

Character Interactions

• Dong and Yukino exchange affectionate kisses and playful teasing, with Dong reassuring her that he will remember anything she forgets during pregnancy.
• Their video call with Yui, Komachi, and Saki shifts from awkwardly witnessing the couple’s intimacy to planning a group outing.
• Yukino and Dong collaborate closely on naming the baby, with Dong initially offering an idea and Yukino refining it into “Ling.”
• The friends react with surprise to Yukino’s pregnancy changes, teasing one another while ultimately expressing admiration and concern.
• Yukino explains maternity products to Yui and Komachi, while Saki and Dong add practical information.
• Dong takes a protective and attentive role while shopping, and Yukino responds by staying physically close to him and holding his hand at the chapter’s conclusion.

Chapter Summary: “Yukinoshita’s Correction Method”

Key Plot Points and Events

• After returning from shopping, Dong Yunshan turns on the humidifier while Yukino Yukinoshita changes clothes. The others discuss how unusually stable Yukino’s emotions have remained during pregnancy.
• Yui Yuigahama wonders whether Yunshan’s severe sympathetic-pregnancy symptoms would have caused extreme mood swings if he were actually pregnant. The group recalls that Yunshan almost never loses control of his emotions, except for one past incident in which he pretended to be angry while defending someone.
• Yukino and Yunshan return from the bedroom, prompting teasing about what they had been doing. Yunshan explains that he had been massaging Yukino’s sore lower back, though the others suspect their interaction was more affectionate.
• Yui reveals that they were discussing what Yunshan would look like if he were pregnant. Yukino imagines him with a swollen belly and breasts, causing everyone—including Yunshan—to laugh.
• Yunshan prepares an elaborate pregnancy-friendly dinner, carefully choosing foods rich in protein, iron, folate, calcium, DHA, and other nutrients. He refuses help so the others can keep Yukino entertained.
• Yukino initially eats very little because of poor appetite and nausea. Yunshan then performs an intense workout until he sweats. Yukino smells his fresh sweat, finds relief, and is able to eat normally again.
• Yukino explains that a strong, familiar, nonthreatening smell can temporarily override nausea-related signals. Yunshan’s natural scent also provides comfort and may reduce stress, though it must remain fresh and his toiletries must be unscented.
• The group discusses how pregnancy-related “strange needs” often appear irrational only because their underlying causes are not immediately obvious. Once explained, many of them become reasonable.
• Yunshan mentions that Yukino dislikes his thick right arm because she uses it as a pillow while sleeping on her left side, which is more comfortable during pregnancy. He eventually stops working out temporarily so his arm will become thinner and more comfortable for her.
• The chapter ends with Yukino embarrassed by the implications of their “solution,” while Yunshan changes the subject by asking everyone about university life.

Character Developments

• Yukino Yukinoshita: Remains emotionally composed despite pregnancy but develops specific physical and sensory preferences. She becomes more open about her needs, though she is easily embarrassed when the group teases her. Her explanations show her practical, analytical nature.
• Dong Yunshan: Demonstrates exceptional attentiveness and devotion. He researches and prepares nutritious meals, massages Yukino, exercises to relieve her nausea, adjusts his sleeping position, and even stops training to make her more comfortable.
• Yui Yuigahama: Continues to ask blunt, unconventional questions out of genuine curiosity. Her odd observations often initiate the group’s discussions.
• Komachi Hikigaya: Acts as an interpreter, translating Yui’s incomplete or unusual comments into understandable explanations. She also recognizes the practical logic behind Yukino’s needs.
• Saki Kawasaki: Provides a skeptical but rational perspective, often questioning the others and helping normalize the situation. She is amused by the group’s unusual domestic life.
• The group as a whole: Their friendship has matured into a comfortable, family-like dynamic, with teasing, shared meals, and concern for Yukino’s well-being.

Significant Themes

• Pregnancy and individuality: Pregnancy does not affect everyone in the same way; Yukino’s stable mood and relatively mild symptoms challenge common assumptions.
• The logic behind “strange” behavior: Needs may seem bizarre when viewed without context, but they often have physical, psychological, or emotional explanations.
• Care expressed through practical action: Yunshan’s love is shown through cooking, exercise, massage, dietary planning, and willingness to alter his habits for Yukino.
• Intimacy and domestic partnership: The couple’s private routines—sleeping arrangements, scent preferences, and physical affection—illustrate their closeness and mutual trust.
• Friendship and acceptance: The others tease Yukino and Yunshan but ultimately accept their unusual circumstances without judgment.
• Humor through misunderstanding: Yui’s strange questions and the group’s attempts to interpret them create much of the chapter’s comedy.

Important Character Interactions

• Yui, Komachi, and Saki analyze Yukino’s stable pregnancy symptoms and Yunshan’s unusually controlled emotions.
• Yukino and Yunshan share affectionate and teasing moments, especially when Yukino laughs at the idea of Yunshan being pregnant.
• Yunshan supports Yukino by preparing a nutritionally balanced meal and using his post-workout scent to ease her nausea.
• Yukino explains the scientific reasoning behind her sensory preferences, while Komachi summarizes and clarifies the situation for everyone.
• Saki and Yui tease Yukino about her preference for Yunshan’s arm and the embarrassed way she reacts to questions about their solution.
• The chapter closes with Yunshan gently redirecting the conversation toward the group’s university experiences.

Chapter Summary: “Yukinoshita’s Correction Method”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Yui, Yukino, Saki, Komachi, and Dong Yunshan discuss university life, including the emotional distance between classmates and their decision to postpone formally restarting the Service Club until Iroha and Yukino can join.
• They discuss Iroha’s growing popularity as Student Council president and her travel posts on Little Snowflake. Yunshan and Yukino also explain that they jointly manage the Service Club account, with Yukino creating much of the content and Yunshan handling its operation to protect her from online hostility.
• The group talks about Haruno’s expanding Little Snowflake and Cloud Snow Tea businesses, including a humorous story about a frighteningly strict restaurant inspection.
• Saki reveals that Crimson Cloud Malatang now has twenty-eight branches. The friends compare the difficulties and expense of cooking for themselves after leaving home.
• The conversation turns toward Yukino and Yunshan’s relationship. Yukino worries that Yunshan has devoted too much of himself to caring for her and wonders whether he should pursue more activities independently.
• Komachi analyzes Yunshan’s emotional development. Before meeting Yukino, his apparent calmness was largely caused by dissociation and emotional numbness. After falling in love with Yukino, his stability came from genuine emotional security and happiness.
• Yunshan credits Yukino with “correcting” him, but Yukino insists that they changed and supported each other. The group jokingly discusses whether Yunshan might become emotionally unstable—or even “pregnant”—before Yukino reassures him through an affectionate kiss.
• In the latter part of the chapter, Yukino’s mother visits with supplies for the pregnancy, while Yunshan’s mother has also sent nutritional supplements and baby items.
• Yukino, now in her third trimester, admits to sleeping poorly and having frequent dreams about her childhood. Her mother advises Yunshan to be especially careful with Yukino’s mood and pregnancy.
• Yunshan appears eager to take Yukino to the bedroom after hearing her mother’s comment about what is still medically permissible, but it turns out he only intends to help count fetal movements. The chapter ends with him carefully recording the baby’s movements according to medical guidelines.

Character Developments

• Yunshan: His emotional history is examined in depth. His former stability was revealed to have been defensive numbness, while his current stability is based on love, trust, and his bond with Yukino. He continues to be attentive and protective during the pregnancy, though his playful behavior creates comic misunderstandings.
• Yukino: She shows increased emotional awareness and concern about Yunshan’s independence, recognizing how deeply he has centered his life around caring for her. She also acknowledges that their relationship has helped both of them grow. Her affectionate blessing demonstrates her desire for Yunshan to experience genuine happiness.
• Komachi: She provides the psychological interpretation of Yunshan’s past dissociation and present emotional security, showing perceptiveness and confidence in understanding the couple.
• Yui and Saki: Both remain supportive friends who tease the couple, observe their relationship closely, and help recreate the warm atmosphere of the former Service Club.
• Yukino’s mother: She acts as a caring but strict maternal and medical presence, supplying necessities, checking Yukino’s condition, and reminding Yunshan of his responsibilities.
• The friend group: Though now university students, they retain the familiarity, humor, and emotional closeness of their high-school Service Club days.

Significant Themes

• Healing through love: Yunshan’s recovery from dissociation is presented not as a simple cure, but as a transition from emotional numbness to genuine security through his relationship with Yukino.
• Mutual correction and growth: Yukino and Yunshan have helped reshape one another; neither is solely the rescuer or the person being rescued.
• Care versus dependence: Yukino questions whether Yunshan’s constant care has created dependence, while the chapter suggests that healthy love can involve both support and mutual empowerment.
• Maturity and adulthood: The characters confront university life, work, cooking, business, pregnancy, and future family responsibilities.
• Continuity and friendship: Despite entering adulthood, the group preserves the emotional bonds and playful dynamics formed through the Service Club.
• Pregnancy and family support: The closing scenes emphasize practical care, parental involvement, medical caution, and the transition into parenthood.

Important Character Interactions

• The friends collectively discuss and tease Yukino and Yunshan, but their humor is balanced by genuine concern for their emotional and physical well-being.
• Yunshan and Yukino openly discuss the foundations of their relationship, with Yunshan expressing that his accomplishments mean little without Yukino and Yukino recognizing how much his care has affected her.
• Komachi’s psychological explanation prompts both Yunshan and Yukino to reflect on his past and the changes brought about by their romance.
• Yukino’s kiss becomes her sincere way of wishing Yunshan happiness, replacing the false emotional display the others jokingly request.
• Yukino’s mother and Yunshan cooperate in caring for Yukino, while her advice creates a comic misunderstanding between the couple.
• The chapter concludes with Yunshan and Yukino working together to monitor the baby, highlighting their shared responsibilities as expectant parents.

Chapter Summary: “Yukinoshita’s Correction Method”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Yukino, heavily pregnant, discusses fetal movement with her mother and Dong Yunshan. Her mother recalls that Yukino was a quiet fetus, while Haruno had been more active.
• Yukino worries that the baby, Dong Yunling—nicknamed “Lingling”—might accidentally harm herself by grasping the umbilical cord. Her mother explains that such behavior is usually harmless and that serious oxygen deprivation is extremely rare.
• Yukino reveals that Yunshan himself apparently pinched the umbilical cord repeatedly before birth, even losing consciousness from oxygen deprivation and then resuming the behavior afterward. Everyone agrees that this sounds characteristically like him.
• The family confirms that the hospital bag is fully prepared. Yukino reassures Yunshan that he will remain calm in an emergency because he is good at handling unexpected situations.
• During the delivery, however, Yunshan becomes extremely distressed outside the delivery room. He paces, hyperventilates, struggles to open a water bottle, crushes it, and soaks himself.
• His family and friends support him. His mother brings spare clothes, while Saki, Iroha, Yui, Haruno, Hiratsuka, Komachi, and others try to calm him. Komachi even records his panic for future teasing.
• Hiratsuka reminds Yunshan of the old “correction” contest connected to the Service Club, prompting him to reflect on his first meeting with Yukino and the role she has played in his life.
• Yunshan realizes that Yukino and the Service Club became his “rebirth” and the beginning of his happiness. His fear finally settles when he hears that both Yukino and the baby are safe.
• Yunshan reunites with Yukino, cries from relief and joy, and kisses her. Their daughter, Dong Yunling, is introduced to the family.
• In the final section, everyone observes Lingling’s features and inherited traits. She has long eyelashes, large eyes resembling Yukino’s, facial features reminiscent of Yunshan, and a strong grip.
• Yunshan, exhausted from sleeplessness and anxiety, carefully holds his daughter for the first time while Yukino uses a toy to attract the baby’s attention.

Character Developments

• Dong Yunshan: His carefully maintained emotional control collapses during Yukino’s labor, revealing how deeply afraid he is of losing her and the baby. His panic also demonstrates his vulnerability beneath his usual competence. After reflecting on Yukino and their shared history, he regains composure and openly expresses his happiness and love.
• Yukino Yukinoshita: She remains calm, knowledgeable, and reassuring throughout the pregnancy and labor. She gently supports Yunshan emotionally and shows warmth as a mother, teasing him while also affirming her trust in him.
• Yukino’s mother: She provides medical reassurance, shares memories of Yukino’s childhood, and helps care for Yunshan during his panic. Her amused acceptance of his prenatal mischief adds warmth to the family dynamic.
• Haruno Yukinoshita: Although she tries to appear composed and humorous, her tightly clenched arm reveals her anxiety about Yukino’s delivery.
• Dong Yunjin: She recognizes Yunshan’s unusual panic and takes practical action by providing him with spare clothing and encouraging him to regain control.
• Friends and relatives: The group demonstrates strong affection for Yunshan and Yukino through teasing, reassurance, practical help, and shared excitement over the newborn.

Significant Themes

• Love expressed through vulnerability: Yunshan’s breakdown contrasts with his usual stability and shows that his fear comes from profound love rather than weakness.
• Transformation and “correction”: The chapter reinterprets the Service Club’s mission and Yunshan’s relationship with Yukino. What began as “correcting” one another gradually became mutual growth, healing, and happiness.
• Birth and renewal: The baby’s arrival symbolizes not only the beginning of a new family stage but also Yunshan’s personal rebirth through his relationship with Yukino.
• Family resemblance and inheritance: The characters humorously discuss how Lingling has inherited physical traits, habits, and personality tendencies from both parents.
• Preparation versus uncertainty: Despite careful preparation for childbirth, Yunshan discovers that no planning can eliminate emotional fear. True calm comes from trust and the reassurance that Yukino and the baby are safe.

Character Interactions

• Yukino and her mother share an intimate conversation about pregnancy, childhood, and maternal worry.
• Yukino and Yunshan tease each other about his supposed prenatal habit of pinching the umbilical cord.
• Yukino reassures Yunshan before labor, while his mother and friends later help him endure the crisis outside the delivery room.
• Hiratsuka’s reminder about the Service Club contest connects Yunshan’s present emotions to his first encounter with Yukino.
• After the birth, the friends affectionately inspect Lingling’s features and joke about which traits come from each parent.
• Yunshan and Yukino share a tender reunion, with Yunshan crying tears of happiness and expressing that their daughter’s birth represents the joy Yukino gave him.
• The chapter ends with the new parents jointly engaging Lingling, as Yukino draws her attention with a toy and Yunshan learns to hold her safely.

Chapter Summary: “Yukinoshita’s Correction Method”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Yukino, Dong Yunshan, and their friends spend time caring for baby Lingling. The baby demonstrates new abilities, such as lifting a toy ring, but soon becomes hungry.
• Yukino feeds Lingling with a bottle while Saki explains how bottle-feeding can allow Yunshan to handle nighttime feedings and give Yukino more rest. In practice, however, both parents still wake whenever the baby cries.
• After feeding, Lingling becomes sleepy but cannot settle herself. Yunshan soothes her by holding, patting, walking, humming, and even doing squats. When she wakes upon being placed in the crib, he has to continue holding her.
• The friends recognize how exhausting childcare has made Yunshan and insist that he and Yukino rest while they prepare lunch and clean up.
• During the afternoon, Yunshan continues caring for Lingling, performing bicycle exercises with her and holding her while she sleeps. He and Yukino affectionately tease each other about the baby preferring their arms.
• In the evening, Lingling experiences prolonged crying caused by typical “evening fussiness.” Yukino comforts her while Yunshan prepares dinner and promises to handle the baby’s nighttime care.
• Yunshan bathes and massages Lingling, enjoying her smiles and planning future activities with her. After feeding and changing her, he and Yukino put her to bed.
• During the night, Lingling wakes again. Yunshan quietly gets up, changes her diaper, warms her milk, and tries to calm her while reciting an explanation of vectors and matrices. The attempt fails when the hungry baby bites him, revealing the limits of his improvised “learning and practicing” method.

Character Development

• Dong Yunshan is shown as a devoted but exhausted father. He handles feeding, burping, soothing, bathing, massaging, and nighttime care with patience and tenderness. Despite fatigue and occasional pain, he willingly keeps holding Lingling because he wants her to feel secure.
• Yukino Yukinoshita is recovering from the demands of motherhood but remains actively involved in caring for Lingling. She accepts help from her friends and shows a playful, affectionate side with Yunshan while continuing to worry about his exhaustion.
• Lingling develops from a passive infant into a more expressive baby who can grasp objects, distinguish feeding methods, smile, cry from hunger or fatigue, and react strongly to being put down.
• Yui, Saki, Komachi, and Iroha become more supportive and practical. They move from observing the parents’ struggles to actively taking over cooking and cleaning so the couple can rest.

Significant Themes

• The exhaustion and unpredictability of parenthood: Feeding, burping, crying, sleep difficulties, and evening fussiness make childcare physically and mentally demanding.
• Parental devotion and sacrifice: Yunshan repeatedly gives up sleep and comfort to care for Lingling, while Yukino also struggles to balance her own recovery with motherhood.
• Community support: Their friends recognize the couple’s fatigue and help without being asked, emphasizing that raising a child does not have to be done alone.
• Growing family intimacy: Everyday childcare becomes a source of affection, humor, and emotional closeness between Yunshan, Yukino, and their daughter.
• Learning through experience: The parents gradually learn to interpret Lingling’s cries and needs, though the final failed attempt to soothe her with an academic lecture humorously shows that experience cannot always replace trial and error.

Character Interactions

• Saki educates Komachi and Iroha about infant feeding and explains how bottle-feeding can help Yunshan share nighttime responsibilities.
• The friends tease Yui about her limited cooking abilities while agreeing to prepare lunch for the exhausted parents.
• Yunshan and Yukino exchange playful remarks about Lingling preferring their arms, comparing the baby’s need for comfort to their own affection for each other.
• Yunshan jokingly flirts with Yukino while caring for the baby, and they share kisses with both mother and daughter.
• Yukino and Yunshan work as a coordinated parenting team, with Yunshan taking on much of the physical care and Yukino remaining attentive to the baby’s needs.
• The chapter ends with Yunshan attempting to comfort Lingling through a sleepy lesson on mathematics, only to be bitten when her hunger overwhelms her.

Chapter Summary: “Yukinoshita’s Correction Method”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Yunshan wakes to feed baby Lingling, carefully warming her milk, burping her, and returning her to the crib before cleaning and sterilizing the bottle.
• Yukino wakes because of breast engorgement and asks Yunshan for help expressing milk. Afterward, she playfully persuades him to help remove the remaining milk manually, leading to an intimate marital moment.
• Later, Haruno Yukinoshita and Shizuka Hiratsuka visit. Haruno comments that Yunshan has gained weight, indirectly hinting that his recent indulgence may be connected to Yukino’s abundant milk supply.
• Haruno holds Lingling, while Shizuka nervously takes her turn. Lingling responds happily to facial expressions and sounds, demonstrating her growing awareness and ability to imitate people.
• The adults joke about what Lingling should call Shizuka, with “Auntie,” “Grandma Shizuka,” and “Big Sister Shizuka” all being suggested. Shizuka rejects the more embarrassing options.
• Haruno reports that Shizuka’s auditing work for Cloud Snow Tea has been highly successful. Shizuka explains that many adult employees behave much like students when slacking off or being caught.
• The conversation shifts to Cloud Snow Tea’s research and development. Haruno worries that the company’s formal R&D center cannot match Saki’s spontaneous creative talent.
• Yunshan proposes a more flexible system: modular product innovation, competition between internal development teams, and professional partnerships to strengthen quality and consumer trust.
• Drawing on his concerns as a father, Yunshan suggests creating a maternal-and-infant-focused research partnership or dairy innovation center emphasizing safety. Haruno is impressed once again by his practical insight.

Character Developments

• Yunshan is shown as a highly attentive father and husband. He handles feeding, cleaning, burping, and childcare competently, while also supporting Yukino physically and emotionally. Despite being occupied with family responsibilities, he continues to produce sophisticated business ideas.
• Yukino Yukinoshita appears more relaxed, affectionate, and playful in her role as Yunshan’s wife and Lingling’s mother. She confidently asks for help, teases Yunshan, and gently guides Shizuka in interacting with the baby.
• Dong Yunling is developing rapidly. She can follow facial changes, imitate sounds, smile, kick excitedly, and respond differently to familiar people.
• Haruno Yukinoshita remains perceptive and business-minded. She recognizes Yunshan’s unusual ability to generate solutions and is increasingly impressed by his strategic thinking.
• Shizuka Hiratsuka is nervous but emotionally moved while holding Lingling. Her successful auditing work reveals that her direct, teacher-like personality is effective even in a corporate environment. She also shows lingering sensitivity about being unmarried and being called “Grandma.”
• Saki, though absent, is characterized as a naturally gifted innovator whose intuitive ideas outperform the company’s more systematic R&D efforts.

Significant Themes

• Family care and intimacy: Parenting is presented through practical acts of feeding, cleaning, soothing, and learning a baby’s needs. Yunshan and Yukino’s marital intimacy is intertwined with mutual trust and domestic cooperation.
• Growing into parenthood: Yunshan and Yukino are becoming more confident and natural as parents, while their friends are forced to confront how much their lives have changed.
• Generational and social roles: The jokes about Shizuka’s title reflect discomfort with aging, marriage, and changing relationships as the characters move into adulthood and parenthood.
• Talent versus systems: The chapter contrasts Saki’s instinctive creativity with the R&D center’s structured processes, suggesting that successful growth requires both individual brilliance and reliable systems.
• Safety and responsibility: Yunshan’s concern over infant nutrition leads to a broader business philosophy centered on professional standards, maternal-and-infant safety, and consumer trust.
• Innovation through balance: The proposed combination of modular experimentation, internal competition, and expert validation offers a compromise between efficiency, creativity, and quality control.

Character Interactions

• Yunshan and Yukino share a tender, teasing relationship, with Yukino confidently directing him while he remains eager to care for her.
• Haruno playfully probes Yunshan about his weight and possible indulgence, while Yukino redirects the conversation by asking about Haruno’s work.
• Haruno and Shizuka banter about Shizuka’s new status as an “aunt” or “grandmother,” highlighting their familiar, teasing friendship.
• Shizuka’s nervous interaction with Lingling contrasts with Yukino’s calm maternal confidence. Yukino explains the baby’s behavior and helps Shizuka understand Lingling’s imitation.
• Yunshan, Yukino, and Haruno collaborate intellectually on Cloud Snow Tea’s future, with Yunshan supplying ideas and the two sisters evaluating their practical business value.
• Through Lingling, the adults recognize how much their relationships and identities have changed, especially Shizuka, who briefly reflects on having once entertained Yunshan as a baby.

Chapter Summary: “Yukinoshita’s Correction Method”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Haruno Yukinoshita discusses her mother’s increasing pressure for her to marry. She considers moving into Shizuka Hiratsuka’s villa to escape the pressure, though Yukino correctly suspects she mainly wants to use Shizuka as a shield against their mother.
• Yukino and Dong Yunshan decide to move closer to Chiba University before returning to school in April. Their new home will make it easier to care for their six-month-old daughter, Dong Yunling, and will also provide space for Mother Yukinoshita to help.
• Haruno recommends a family villa near the university. After quickly reviewing the information, Yukino and Yunshan decide to move there and begin packing.
• Friends from the Night Escape Agency transport their belongings, while Iroha, Yui, Komachi, and Saki help unpack, decorate, and prepare dinner.
• During the housewarming meal, the group discusses childcare. Yunshan and Yukino explain that babies’ behavior often requires looking beyond surface appearances and understanding the underlying cause—an approach referred to as Yukino’s “correction method.”
• The chapter shifts toward the couple’s concern about Mother Yukinoshita’s arrival. She will help care for Lingling, but everyone understands that she is also monitoring Yukino and Yunshan’s marriage and parenting.
• Yunshan reflects on how difficult it must be for parents to worry about their children while allowing them to live independently. He calls his siblings to express affection indirectly: he tells his sister he loves her and asks his brother about alcohol, signaling his appreciation without saying it openly.
• The chapter ends with Yukino and Yunshan recognizing that they understand one another well, but still wondering how they will manage their relationship with Mother Yukinoshita.

Character Developments

• Yukino Yukinoshita demonstrates greater decisiveness and maturity. She takes initiative in arranging the move, thinks practically about Lingling’s needs, and shows a deeper understanding of her mother’s motives.
• Dong Yunshan continues developing as a husband and father. He has become more confident in interpreting Lingling’s needs, while also gaining empathy for the anxieties of parents and in-laws.
• Haruno Yukinoshita remains clever, evasive, and resistant to marriage pressure. Her plan to live with Shizuka is exposed as an attempt to avoid their mother’s interference.
• Shizuka Hiratsuka acts as both Haruno’s friend and a perceptive observer, immediately recognizing Haruno’s strategy and the potential consequences of becoming too involved.
• Mother Yukinoshita never appears directly, but her strong personality and controlling concern dominate the chapter. Her intentions are portrayed as loving but intrusive.
• The supporting cast—Iroha, Yui, Komachi, and Saki—strengthen their bonds with Yukino and Yunshan by helping with the move and offering practical observations about babies and family relationships.

Significant Themes

• Family concern versus personal independence: The adults’ attempts to protect and guide their children often become pressure or control, especially regarding marriage and parenting.
• Understanding beneath appearances: Yunshan applies Yukino’s principle of examining the “essence” of a situation rather than reacting only to what is immediately visible.
• The difficulties of parenthood: Lingling’s needs are unpredictable, and both parents are still learning how to distinguish genuine danger from ordinary infant behavior.
• Emotional expression within families: The chapter contrasts direct affection with indirect communication, particularly among Yunshan and his siblings and between parents and children.
• Marriage and parenting balance: Mother Yukinoshita worries that the couple may neglect either their relationship or their child, revealing the tension involved in maintaining both responsibilities.
• Community and support: The friends’ assistance with the move emphasizes that raising a child and managing a household need not be done alone.

Character Interactions

• Haruno and Shizuka banter over Haruno’s attempt to move in with her, while Yukino exposes Haruno’s real motive.
• Yukino and Yunshan repeatedly demonstrate efficient marital communication, making decisions quickly through shared understanding.
• The friends collaborate during the move, with Yukino caring for the baby, Yunshan handling physical work, and the others organizing and preparing food.
• The group exchanges differing perspectives on childcare: Yukino and Yunshan emphasize careful observation, while Saki advocates remaining calm and avoiding unnecessary anxiety.
• Yunshan’s calls to Dong Yunjin and Dong Yunyan reveal his affection for his family, though he expresses it indirectly. The others tease him for his unusual emotional openness.
• The final exchange between Yukino and Yunshan shows that, despite their confidence in one another, they are both apprehensive about living under Mother Yukinoshita’s watchful care.

Summary of “Yukinoshita’s Correction Method” / Chapter 940: “Leave It to Me”

Key plot points and events

• Yukino’s mother proposes a shared nighttime childcare schedule. She will handle Lingling’s middle-of-the-night feeding so that Dong Yunshan and Yukino can sleep more consistently, while the couple continues sleeping together.
• She rejects Yunshan’s suggestion that all three adults stagger their schedules completely, explaining that separating the parents’ sleep schedules could reduce their time together and create resentment or emotional distance.
• Yukino’s mother studies Yukino’s detailed notebook about Lingling’s routines and quickly demonstrates her childcare experience. She soothes, feeds, and entertains the baby with ease.
• Relieved that Lingling is in capable hands, Yunshan and Yukino sleep peacefully for about an hour and a half. They discuss their mixed feelings: gratitude toward Yukino’s mother, insecurity about their own parenting skills, and the comfort of having help.
• While resting, the couple becomes affectionate and playful. They tease each other, exchange sweet remarks, kiss, and reflect on how Lingling has allowed them to understand the experiences their own parents once had while raising them.
• After waking, they find that Lingling has been successfully cared for. Yukino’s mother explains that the baby briefly became upset when she could not see her parents but was distracted by a spinning toy.
• The family shares dinner. Yunshan recognizes that Yukino’s mother prepared food according to Yukino’s tastes and jokingly claims that he first enjoyed being “corrected” by Yukino before gradually coming to love Yukino herself. Yukino embarrassingly steps on his foot for saying this in front of her mother.
• The parents later handle Lingling’s bedtime routine: bathing, massage, dim lighting, feeding, pajamas, a picture book, and white noise. Lingling falls asleep successfully in her crib.
• During the quiet afterward, Yunshan massages Yukino’s shoulders and back while they discuss the baby’s future stages. Yukino worries about the difficulty of teething and recalls the stressful experience of caring for Xixi.

Character developments

• Yukino’s mother is shown as experienced, confident, and emotionally perceptive. She not only knows how to care for a baby but also understands the importance of protecting Yunshan and Yukino’s marital bond. Her support is practical yet affectionate.
• Yukino Yukinoshita remains conscientious and highly attentive to Lingling’s habits, keeping detailed records and carefully managing the baby’s routines. At the same time, she admits her fatigue and vulnerability, relying more openly on both her mother and Yunshan.
• Dong Yunshan proves affectionate, observant, and supportive. He recognizes Yukino’s preferences, helps with childcare and bedtime, comforts her through physical affection, and uses humor to ease her self-doubt.
• Lingling demonstrates a developing personality: she responds happily to familiar voices, enjoys spinning objects, becomes upset when separated from her parents, and settles through play, feeding, and a consistent bedtime ritual.

Significant themes

• Shared parenting and marital balance: Yukino’s mother emphasizes that childcare should not come at the expense of the parents’ relationship. Emotional closeness is treated as essential to family stability.
• Generational experience and learning: The younger couple gains insight into the sacrifices and skills involved in raising children, while Yukino begins to understand her mother’s past efforts.
• Parental insecurity and reassurance: Both parents compare themselves to Yukino’s more experienced mother, but the chapter frames learning and accepting help as normal rather than a failure.
• Routine and caregiving: Detailed schedules, soothing techniques, and repeated bedtime cues show how patience and consistency help create security for a baby.
• Affection amid exhaustion: Yunshan and Yukino maintain humor, romance, and tenderness despite sleep deprivation, reinforcing their partnership.

Character interactions

• Yukino’s mother and the couple: She acts as both childcare helper and relationship adviser, firmly insisting that Yunshan and Yukino continue sharing a sleep schedule and emotional life.
• Yunshan and Yukino: Their interaction is intimate and playful. They comfort one another, joke about Yukino’s habit of correcting Yunshan, and use affection to recover from the strain of parenting.
• Yukino’s mother and Lingling: Their interaction highlights the grandmother’s competence. Lingling responds positively to her gentle voice, feeding, and playful distraction.
• Yukino’s mother and Yunshan: Their relationship contains affectionate teasing and mild tension. She notices his nervousness around her and jokingly invokes her authority as his mother-in-law.
• The parents and Lingling: Their coordinated bedtime routine demonstrates growing teamwork and confidence, even as they remain anxious about the challenges ahead.

Chapter 553 Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Dong Yunshan and Yukino Yukinoshita discuss how to manage university attendance while caring for their three-month-old daughter, Lingling. Yunshan suggests using online classes and submitting reports based on businesses and projects they completed during high school.
• Yukino worries that relying on special arrangements could be dishonest, but Yunshan argues that their previous accomplishments were earned through their own abilities. They agree to adjust their schedules.
• At home, Yukino asks Yunshan to massage her back. Their domestic routine is interrupted when Lingling wakes, leading them to share feeding, burping, diaper-changing, and soothing duties.
• Yunshan reflects emotionally on how his former hopes of building a family with Yukino have come true. Yukino recalls an earlier night when she cared for Xixi, realizing that their current family life grew from those early moments.
• Yukino quietly tells her sleeping mother, “I love you,” after recognizing that she is now a grandmother. Her mother secretly hears her but does not reveal it.
• Later, Yukino’s mother comforts Lingling during the night and returns the baby to the couple’s room. Before leaving, she kisses both the baby and her sleeping daughter goodnight. Yunshan, who is awake, silently agrees to keep the moment secret.
• Yunshan handles Lingling’s early-morning feeding and then helps relieve Yukino’s discomfort from breastfeeding, allowing her to sleep through the night.
• In the morning, Yukino feels unusually rested. She and her mother discuss Yunshan’s attentiveness, physical sensitivity, and the influence his decisive nature had on their relationship.
• Yukino’s mother reflects on how their relationship developed faster than she expected. She concludes that Yunshan’s “correction” encouraged Yukino to become more proactive, while their mutual efforts to correct one another helped shape their marriage and family.
• The chapter ends with Yukino’s mother comparing her own controlling approach with Dong Yunjin’s more hands-off attitude. Although their methods differed, both ultimately allowed Yunshan and Yukino to marry and have a child.

Character Developments

• Dong Yunshan: Demonstrates maturity, initiative, and tenderness as a husband and father. He takes responsibility for childcare, supports Yukino’s health, and remains emotionally moved by the family life he once imagined.
• Yukino Yukinoshita: Becomes more emotionally open and flexible. She accepts Yunshan’s practical solutions, acknowledges their shared accomplishments, expresses love to her mother, and recognizes how his decisiveness influenced her own growth.
• Yukino’s mother: Softens significantly. Beneath her usual controlling and intimidating exterior, she reveals deep affection for her daughter and granddaughter. She also reassesses her former concerns about Yunshan and accepts that their relationship has become stable and healthy.
• Lingling: Serves as the focus of the household’s shared responsibilities, bringing Yunshan, Yukino, and her grandmother closer together.

Significant Themes

• Family intimacy and domestic happiness: The chapter emphasizes quiet, ordinary acts—feeding a baby, preparing milk, changing diapers, and caring for a spouse—as the fulfillment of long-held dreams.
• Mutual correction and personal growth: Yunshan and Yukino have improved one another. His ability to act counterbalanced her cautious, analytical nature, while her discipline helped keep his impulsiveness within limits.
• Parenthood and intergenerational bonds: Yukino’s mother caring for Lingling and kissing Yukino evokes the continuity between generations and reveals her lasting love beneath her stern personality.
• Different paths to the same result: Yukino’s mother’s controlling strategies and Dong Yunjin’s relaxed approach both ultimately lead to the same outcome: Yunshan and Yukino building a family.
• Emotional openness: Yukino’s whispered confession to her mother and her affectionate exchanges with Yunshan show her gradually moving beyond emotional reserve.

Character Interactions

• Yunshan and Yukino tease and support each other while discussing university, massages, childcare, and breastfeeding.
• Their playful romantic exchanges are balanced by genuine cooperation in caring for Lingling.
• Yukino shares a tender but secret moment with her mother by expressing her love, while her mother later responds with an equally quiet kiss.
• Yunshan and Yukino’s mother develop a silent understanding, agreeing to protect Yukino’s embarrassment.
• The final conversation between Yukino and her mother reframes Yunshan and Yukino’s relationship as the result of mutual influence, growth, and complementary personalities.

Chapter Summary: “Yukinoshita’s Correction Method”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Mother Yukinoshita reflects on her practical, long-term approach to managing both the family business and personal problems. She realizes that her method and Dong Yunjin’s more instinctive approach are simply different strengths, not competing paths.
• In the morning, Dong Yunshan affectionately greets Yukino and their daughter, Lingling. Mother Yukinoshita reassures him that he does not need to hide his affection around her and encourages him to wash up while she prepares breakfast.
• The family continues adjusting to life with a growing baby. Lingling has learned to roll over and sleep in unpredictable positions, while everyone struggles with exhaustion despite her increasingly stable routine.
• During Girls’ Festival, Mother Yukinoshita prepares an elaborate meal of chirashi sushi, hishi mochi, and other symbolic foods. The family celebrates Lingling’s first festival and wishes her health, happiness, and a bright future.
• While Yukino feeds Lingling, the baby begins experimenting with sounds. After patient encouragement, she clearly says “Mama,” then appears to say “Papa Mama.” Although she does not yet understand the meanings of the words, she recognizes that the sounds make her parents happy and repeats them.
• Yukino and Dong Yunshan become deeply emotional at Lingling’s first words. Dong Yunshan cries, while Yukino comforts and praises the baby. Their affectionate reaction emphasizes the emotional rewards of parenthood.
• Haruno tells Mother Yukinoshita that she wants to become more involved in the family business after graduation. Mother Yukinoshita refuses to let her inherit it merely out of temporary emotion, explaining that Haruno is capable of building an independent business of her own.
• While cleaning up afterward, Yukino suddenly calls Mother Yukinoshita “Mama” and embraces her. Mother Yukinoshita initially offers to hug her like a child, but Yukino clarifies that she simply wanted to embrace her mother. The chapter ends with a tender reconciliation and expression of familial affection.

Character Developments

• Mother Yukinoshita is shown as disciplined, strategic, and emotionally perceptive. Although she manages situations through careful planning, she understands that others must follow their own strengths. Her interactions with both daughters reveal a softer, more nurturing side.
• Yukino Yukinoshita continues growing into motherhood. She patiently supports Lingling’s development, accepts the exhaustion of childcare, and openly displays joy and vulnerability when the baby says “Mama.” Her final embrace of her mother shows her own desire to receive maternal affection.
• Dong Yunshan is affectionate, cooperative, and emotionally invested in his family. He shares childcare responsibilities, respects Mother Yukinoshita, and is overwhelmed with happiness when Lingling says “Papa.”
• Haruno Yukinoshita remains playful and teasing, but demonstrates increasing maturity by seriously considering her future and expressing a desire to take responsibility for the family business. Her conversation with her mother also reveals a more thoughtful, ambitious side.
• Lingling reaches an important developmental milestone by imitating “Mama” and “Papa.” Though she does not yet understand the words, she learns that her vocalizations bring joy to her parents.

Significant Themes

• Different strengths and methods: The opening reflection establishes that people can achieve similar results through completely different approaches. Neither Mother Yukinoshita’s planning nor Dong Yunjin’s natural approach is inherently superior.
• Parenthood and emotional exhaustion: Caring for a baby is physically and mentally draining, but moments of affection and development make the hardship meaningful.
• Family bonds across generations: Lingling’s first words connect her to both parents, while Yukino’s embrace of her mother reveals that children—even as adults and parents—still long for maternal comfort.
• Independence versus inheritance: Mother Yukinoshita encourages Haruno not to limit herself to the established family business, suggesting that true success may mean creating something new rather than simply inheriting the past.
• The emotional power of small milestones: A baby’s first sounds, a shared meal, or a simple hug become deeply significant expressions of love and belonging.

Important Character Interactions

• Dong Yunshan and Mother Yukinoshita develop a warm, respectful relationship, with her treating him like family while teasingly directing him around the household.
• Yukino and Dong Yunshan share emotional intimacy as they jointly celebrate Lingling’s first words and support each other through their tears.
• Haruno playfully teases Yukino and Dong Yunshan about parenting, while Mother Yukinoshita counters her teasing with practical observations about exhaustion.
• Mother Yukinoshita and Haruno have a serious conversation about Haruno’s future, balancing affection, realism, and expectations.
• Yukino and Mother Yukinoshita share the chapter’s most intimate interaction: Yukino calls her “Mama,” embraces her, and receives a gentle, unconditional response.

Chapter Summary: “Yukinoshita’s Correction Method”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Dong Yunshan approaches Professor Tachibana, whose research focuses on society’s inadequate “exit mechanisms”—ways for people to withdraw from jobs, relationships, or social roles without being trapped by fear or consequences.
• Yunshan discusses concepts such as the “Once-in-a-Lifetime Meeting,” Night Escape Agencies, Resignation Agencies, and Special Cleaning services. He offers the professor access to firsthand interviews and internal materials through his extensive network.
• In exchange for conducting a major independent research project, Yunshan negotiates a flexible university schedule and obtains a large clubroom. He establishes a new university Service Club.
• Yukino Yukinoshita, Iroha Isshiki, Komachi Hikigaya, Saki Kawasaki, and Yui Yuigahama join him. Their project will examine one of three fields—Night Escape Agencies, Special Cleaning, or Resignation Agencies—and require online meetings, in-person reports, and a lengthy written report.
• The club members discuss university life and its social isolation. Yui regrets failing to make friends because university lacks the fixed classrooms, seats, and daily interactions of high school.
• At home, Yunshan and Yukino care for their six-month-old daughter, Dong Yunling, while Yukino’s mother helps with childcare. The baby begins teething, causing severe discomfort, frequent crying, disrupted sleep, refusal to feed, and difficulty settling in her crib.
• Yunshan and Yukino take responsibility for soothing Lingling at night so that Yukino’s mother can rest, though she insists on helping.
• While caring for the baby during the night, Yunshan and Yukino reminisce about their first night sleeping together. Their memories lead to affectionate teasing and intimacy, but they ultimately prioritize resting before the baby wakes again.
• The chapter ends with Lingling waking roughly every hour because of teething pain, forcing both parents to repeatedly comfort her.

Character Development

• Dong Yunshan demonstrates maturity, resourcefulness, and social awareness. He turns his connections with unconventional service workers into an academic opportunity while also creating a supportive community for his friends.
• Professor Tachibana is impressed by Yunshan’s preparation and recognizes that Yunshan’s network could help advance his research into aging, isolation, withdrawal from society, and lonely deaths.
• Yukino Yukinoshita is shown as a devoted and capable mother. She shares childcare responsibilities with Yunshan and becomes nostalgic about their earlier relationship while remaining attentive to their daughter’s needs.
• Yukino’s mother is caring and self-sacrificing, willing to endure sleepless nights to help with the baby. Her interactions with Yunshan also show that she has become more comfortable with his playful personality.
• Yui Yuigahama reveals her loneliness and difficulty adapting to university’s impersonal structure, contrasting it with the close relationships of high school.
• Saki Kawasaki remains practical and relaxed, immediately imagining the clubroom as a place where she can work and prepare drinks.
• Iroha Isshiki and Komachi Hikigaya contribute enthusiasm and logistical understanding, helping establish the club’s lively group dynamic.

Significant Themes

• The need for healthy ways to leave: The chapter examines how modern society encourages constant participation but provides few humane ways to withdraw. Yunshan’s research reflects the importance of allowing people to leave jobs, relationships, or social roles without being permanently cut off.
• Community and mutual support: The Service Club is built on cooperation among friends, while Yunshan’s professional network helps connect isolated people with academic and social resources.
• University alienation: The lack of fixed classes and stable daily relationships makes university life more anonymous and isolating than high school.
• Family responsibility and exhaustion: Parenting is portrayed realistically through sleepless nights, shared labor, and the emotional strain of caring for a teething infant.
• Memory and continuity: Present experiences with Lingling echo Yunshan and Yukino’s early relationship, showing how family life carries the past into the present.
• Balancing individual freedom with obligations: Yunshan seeks a flexible academic life while still accepting responsibility for his research, friends, and family.

Important Character Interactions

• Yunshan and Professor Tachibana: Their conversation establishes the chapter’s intellectual focus and leads to the creation of the Service Club.
• Yunshan and the university group: He organizes the club and negotiates the conditions that allow his friends to study and work together more freely.
• Yunshan and Yukino: They cooperate as parents, tease one another affectionately, and share nostalgia for their first night together. Their intimacy is portrayed alongside, rather than apart from, the exhaustion of raising a child.
• Yunshan and Yukino’s mother: Their playful disagreement over childcare shows growing familiarity and mutual respect.
• Yunshan, Yukino, and Lingling: The family works together through the baby’s teething troubles, emphasizing both the tenderness and difficulty of parenthood.

Chapter Summary: “Yukinoshita’s Correction Method”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Dong Yunshan and Yukino Yukinoshita continue struggling through their baby daughter Lingling’s teething. Her crying and disrupted sleep leave both parents exhausted, though chilled cucumber pieces help ease her discomfort.
• Lingling demonstrates new developmental progress: she begins crawling, learns to hold her own bottle, and imitates her parents by giving Yunshan and Yukino milk-scented kisses while drinking.
• The family shares a tender moment as both parents praise Lingling. Yukino affectionately calls both the baby and Yunshan “good,” highlighting the warmth of their family dynamic.
• At the clubroom, Saki Kawasaki introduces a rich, concentrated milk tea. Yunshan feels guilty drinking it because its strong milk flavor reminds him of the milk he feeds Lingling. The others tease him about his intense parental concern.
• Yunshan and Yukino explain why they have begun studying at school rather than at home: Lingling’s newly developed ability to crawl makes it nearly impossible for them to concentrate.
• The couple discuss their research on resignation agencies. Yukino explains that the subject is complex because it intersects with labor law, legal gray areas, economics, labor mobility, psychology, and Japanese social customs such as shame culture, collectivism, and the distinction between honne and tatemae.
• Their friends compare their own research and academic efforts, with Iroha jokingly realizing that Yunshan and Yukino seem more academically serious than students who spend their time socializing.
• Mother Yukinoshita decides to take Lingling home for a while, deliberately giving Yunshan and Yukino time alone. Haruno helps transport them.
• Once Lingling leaves, the house feels strangely empty to Yukino. She misses her daughter almost immediately, though Yunshan comforts her by comparing the separation to a child going to school.
• The chapter ends with Yunshan and Yukino teasing and flirting while planning to exercise together. Their playful intimacy helps lift Yukino’s mood, and they share a private romantic moment.

Character Developments

• Lingling: Shows clear developmental growth by crawling, holding her bottle, imitating affection, and responding to familiar voices. Her actions reveal increasing awareness of her parents and their behavior.
• Dong Yunshan: Becomes increasingly attentive and sentimental as a father. He is exhausted by childcare but remains fascinated by every small sign of Lingling’s growth. He also struggles to separate his parental concerns from ordinary activities, such as drinking milk tea.
• Yukino Yukinoshita: Demonstrates both intellectual maturity and emotional warmth. She gives detailed, structured explanations of their research while also showing deep affection toward Lingling and Yunshan. Her immediate sense of emptiness after Lingling leaves reveals how deeply motherhood has become part of her daily life.
• Mother Yukinoshita: Acts as a perceptive and supportive parent. She recognizes that the young couple needs time to focus on their studies and their relationship, and she intentionally takes Lingling away to give them privacy.
• Saki Kawasaki: Displays creativity and business-mindedness through her experimental milk tea and contributes to the group’s academic discussion.
• The friends: Yui, Iroha, Komachi, and Saki provide humor and contrast, while also showing varying degrees of seriousness toward their own studies and projects.

Significant Themes

• Parenthood and exhaustion: The chapter portrays the repetitive hardship of caring for a teething baby while emphasizing that small milestones make the struggle worthwhile.
• Imitation and family bonds: Lingling’s kisses reflect how babies learn through observation, reinforcing the emotional connection between children and parents.
• Balancing family and personal ambitions: Yunshan and Yukino struggle to pursue academic work while remaining attentive parents. Their decision to study outside the home illustrates the need to create boundaries.
• The complexity of social systems: The resignation-agency research reveals how legal, economic, psychological, and cultural forces overlap in modern employment practices.
• Separation and emotional dependence: Lingling’s temporary absence exposes how central she has become to the household, while also allowing Yunshan and Yukino to reconnect as a couple.
• Affection and playful intimacy: Humor, teasing, physical affection, and mutual care help Yunshan and Yukino manage stress and maintain their romantic relationship.

Character Interactions

• Yunshan encourages Lingling to crawl toward him and proudly praises her progress, while Yukino explains the developmental reasons behind the baby’s behavior.
• Lingling kisses both parents, creating a shared moment of affection that brings Yunshan and Yukino closer.
• The group jokes about Yunshan’s guilt over drinking milk tea, with Yukino exposing the sentimental reason behind it.
• Yunshan and Yukino collaborate closely on their research, with Yukino providing the theoretical framework and Yunshan offering practical information and contacts.
• Mother Yukinoshita gently but deliberately separates Lingling from her parents so Yunshan and Yukino can focus on work and spend private time together.
• After Lingling leaves, Yunshan comforts Yukino, and their playful exchange gradually shifts her from missing the baby to enjoying their renewed couple time.

Chapter Summary: “Yukinoshita’s Correction Method”

Key plot points and events

• Yukino Yukinoshita examines her post-pregnancy body and worries about gaining weight and losing control of her physique.
• Dong Yunshan reassures her that the change is not unhealthy and explains that exercise should not be treated solely as a method for losing weight. Instead, it should help her understand, control, and safely reconnect with her body.
• He guides her through a series of physical assessments, including diaphragmatic breathing, a modified plank, glute bridges, squats, posture checks, flexibility, strength, and endurance tests.
• During the exercises, Dong repeatedly distracts Yukino with affectionate and flirtatious physical contact. Although she scolds him, she realizes that some of his interruptions are intentional: he is trying to stop her from overexerting herself without provoking her stubbornness.
• Based on the assessment, Dong creates a modest fifteen-minute routine involving breathing exercises, pelvic-floor work, cat-cows, glute bridges, and wall sits. He emphasizes that she can add more depending on how she feels.
• The chapter ends with the couple turning their post-workout time into a private, intimate reunion, followed by a shower and Dong drying Yukino’s hair. Yukino notices that her hair has grown longer.

Character developments

• Yukino shows insecurity about her changed body, but also determination and competitiveness. She initially focuses on weight and visible results, then begins to accept Dong’s healthier perspective about bodily awareness and gradual progress.
• Her stubbornness remains prominent: she pushes herself despite fatigue and dislikes being treated as fragile. However, she is perceptive enough to recognize when Dong is protecting her from overtraining.
• Dong Yunshan acts as both affectionate husband and informal fitness coach. He combines technical knowledge with emotional reassurance, designing a routine suited to Yukino’s current condition rather than forcing an excessive regimen.
• His playful behavior often blurs the line between coaching and flirtation, but his underlying concern is genuine. He watches her form, notices fatigue, and prioritizes safety.
• Their relationship is portrayed as comfortable, teasing, physically affectionate, and strengthened by their shared experience of parenthood.

Significant themes

• Body acceptance and control: The chapter distinguishes between disliking weight gain and feeling disconnected from one’s body. Yukino’s real goal is presented as regaining confidence and bodily awareness.
• Healthy exercise philosophy: Exercise is framed as a process of listening to the body rather than punishing it or measuring success solely through weight loss.
• Post-pregnancy adjustment: Yukino is learning to adapt to physical changes after childbirth while maintaining her sense of identity and attractiveness.
• Balance between discipline and self-care: Dong encourages progress but warns against pushing through fatigue or sacrificing proper form.
• Marital intimacy and reconnection: Their flirtation and private time reinforce their emotional bond after the exhaustion and limitations of raising a child.

Character interactions

• Yukino’s embarrassment and irritation repeatedly clash with Dong’s teasing affection, creating a playful domestic dynamic.
• Dong’s hands-on guidance during breathing, planks, bridges, and squats becomes both instructional and flirtatious, while Yukino alternates between reprimanding him and accepting his attention.
• Yukino correctly interprets Dong’s behavior during squats, realizing that his deliberate teasing was partly a strategy to make her stop before her form deteriorated.
• Their later private interaction reflects mutual desire and familiarity, with Yukino maintaining her usual competitive attitude even in intimacy.
• The closing hair-drying scene shifts back to tenderness and everyday companionship, underscoring the couple’s close domestic relationship.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Yukino considers cutting her long hair short because baby Lingling often grabs it and caring for it takes time.
• Dong Yunshan reassures her that he enjoys washing and caring for her hair because it symbolizes her trust and reliance on him. Their conversation turns playful and affectionate, ending in a kiss.
• In the morning, ten-month-old Lingling wakes in her crib and calls for attention. Yunshan carries her to Yukino after realizing she wants her mother rather than simply wanting to be awake.
• Lingling successfully calls both “Mommy” and “Daddy” for the first time in a meaningful way. Yukino becomes emotional, while Yunshan is overwhelmed with excitement. His enthusiastic kiss startles Lingling, causing her to cry and call repeatedly for Mommy.
• Yukino explains that Lingling woke Yunshan because she was still tired but did not want to sleep alone. The parents discuss the baby’s developing ability to understand cause and effect.
• Yunshan shares the milestone with Yukino’s mother, who jokes that the parents will eventually get headaches from hearing “Mommy” and “Daddy” constantly.
• The chapter then shifts to Lingling’s first-birthday celebration. Friends and relatives arrive with gifts, snacks, decorations, and traditional objects for a “first birthday grab” ceremony.
• The guests discuss the meanings of the objects placed before Lingling, such as a pen, book, abacus, wallet, ruler, rice spoon, microphone, stethoscope, comb, seal, and ball.
• Haruno adds a Little Snowflake badge, symbolizing a possible future in new media or a similar modern career.

Character Development

• Yukino Yukinoshita shows her selfless concern as a new mother, considering cutting her hair to reduce Yunshan’s workload. She also reveals how deeply she values his care and reassurance.
• Dong Yunshan expresses that caring for Yukino is not a burden but a meaningful act of intimacy. He views her dependence on him as a sign of trust and responds warmly to Lingling’s milestones.
• Lingling demonstrates rapid growth: she can stand while holding onto furniture, communicate her needs through sounds and actions, recognize cause and effect, and intentionally call for her parents.
• Yunshan’s excitement at hearing “Daddy” reveals his emotional investment in fatherhood, though his overenthusiasm briefly frightens Lingling.
• The extended family and friends are shown as affectionate and involved, helping prepare and celebrate Lingling’s first birthday.

Significant Themes

• Trust and marital intimacy: Yukino’s hair becomes a symbol of the trust she places in Yunshan by allowing him to care for something she has maintained for years.
• The adjustments of parenthood: Both parents balance affection, exhaustion, household responsibilities, and the baby’s changing needs.
• Child development and attachment: Lingling’s behavior shows that she seeks comfort and security from her mother while relying on her father to help her reach her.
• Family celebration and continuity: The first-birthday ceremony connects traditional hopes for a child’s future with modern possibilities.
• Love expressed through everyday actions: Hair washing, carrying a sleepy baby, soothing cries, preparing food, and organizing a birthday all serve as expressions of familial love.

Character Interactions

• Yunshan and Yukino share teasing, romantic banter, reassurance, and physical affection while discussing her hair.
• Yunshan tries to soothe Lingling alone, but she persistently reaches for Yukino, highlighting the baby’s attachment to her mother.
• Yukino and Yunshan jointly interpret Lingling’s behavior and celebrate her first meaningful words.
• Yunshan’s mother-in-law responds warmly to the news but humorously warns him about the future repetition of the baby’s words.
• The visiting friends interact casually while preparing the birthday event, with Haruno teasing Iroha about drinking and Hiratsuka trying to discourage her.
• The older generation discusses the traditional first-birthday objects, while Haruno introduces a modern symbol through the Little Snowflake badge.

Chapter Summary: “Yukinoshita’s Correction Method”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The family and friends gather to celebrate Dong Yunling’s first birthday with a traditional First-Birthday Selection. Various objects are placed before her to symbolize possible future careers and interests:
  • Car keys for travel or work
  • A cartoon accessory for anime or manga
  • A Cloud Snow Tea cup for beverage development
  • A USB drive for science and research
  • A phone representing photography—or simply her affection for her parents
  • A seal symbolizing authority or government work
  • A stethoscope symbolizing medicine
• Lingling first reaches for the phone and pushes it toward her father, suggesting that she wants him to photograph her. She also calls both Dong Yunshan and Yukino “Daddy” and “Mommy,” moving everyone emotionally.
• She grabs both the seal and stethoscope but soon discards them, using the stethoscope as a toy. The adults conclude that her actions are more playful than prophetic.
• The family discusses their own childhood selections. Yukino supposedly chose a book, though she actually fell asleep on it; Haruno rejected everything; Dong Yunshan picked up a ruler but merely waved it around. These stories emphasize how unreliable such ceremonies are as predictions of the future.
• During the birthday meal, Yukino serves Lingling a homemade baby-friendly cake. Lingling plays with the food as much as she eats it, while the adults observe her habits and body language.
• After eating, the group cleans up and socializes. The women discuss childcare, business, and family life, while Komachi enthusiastically photographs and records the celebration.
• Lingling crawls toward a spinning toy, stands without support, and takes her first independent steps. Everyone is stunned and delighted. Yukino becomes emotional at the thought that Lingling will one day walk farther away from her, but Lingling immediately walks back into her arms and asks to play.
• At twenty months old, Lingling feeds fruit to her father. When Dong Yunshan assumes she is happily sharing, she suddenly becomes possessive and repeatedly slaps him.
• Yukino explains that toddlers are developing strong self-awareness but lack the language to express themselves. She stops Lingling from hitting and asks her to repeat what happened, beginning the “correction method” implied by the chapter title.

Character Development

• Yukino Yukinoshita: Demonstrates her attentive, knowledgeable, and nurturing side as a mother. She prepares Lingling’s food, interprets her gestures, monitors her physical development, and calmly corrects her behavior. Her happiness at Lingling’s first steps is mixed with anxiety about her daughter eventually becoming independent.
• Dong Yunshan: Acts as a playful and affectionate father. He photographs Lingling, indulges her games, and takes pride in her apparent gentleness, only to be humorously reminded that she is entering a more difficult developmental stage.
• Dong Yunling: Shows strong attachment to both parents, curiosity, and an emerging personality. Her first steps mark a major developmental milestone, while her later outburst reveals growing independence, possessiveness, and difficulty communicating.
• Dong Yunjin: Reveals a practical, protective attitude toward Lingling’s future. Though pleased when Lingling grabs the seal, she is visibly relieved that the stethoscope is only a toy and expresses concern about the hardships of a medical career.
• Mother Yukinoshita: Takes the First-Birthday Selection seriously and is delighted when Lingling chooses the seal. Her pride in her grandchild is evident despite her attempts to remain composed.
• Haruno Yukinoshita: Remains teasing and mischievous, joking about babies and provoking her mother. Her childhood story also reinforces her independent, unconventional personality.
• Yui, Komachi, Saki, Iroha, and Hiratsuka: Participate enthusiastically in the celebration, contributing symbolic objects, entertaining Lingling, recording memories, and helping with the meal and cleanup.

Significant Themes

• The uncertainty of the future: The First-Birthday Selection is treated as a charming tradition rather than a reliable prediction. The adults’ own childhood examples show that early actions do not determine a person’s career or character.
• Parental attachment and independence: Lingling’s first steps symbolize her growing ability to move away from her parents. Yukino’s mixed joy and sadness reflect the emotional difficulty of watching a child become independent.
• Child development and communication: Lingling’s behavior illustrates how toddlers understand and feel more than they can express verbally. Her hitting is not treated simply as misbehavior but as a sign that she needs help communicating.
• Family and shared memories: The celebration brings multiple generations and friends together. Their teasing, cooperation, and affection create a warm family atmosphere.
• Love expressed through care: Food preparation, photography, observation, teaching, and play all become ways the adults show affection for Lingling.

Important Character Interactions

• Yukino gently guides Lingling during the selection and interprets her actions for the others.
• Lingling’s attempts to give Dong Yunshan the phone reveal her desire for interaction with her father, while her calls of “Daddy” and “Mommy” strengthen the family’s emotional bond.
• Dong Yunjin and Mother Yukinoshita share contrasting but equally strong reactions to Lingling’s possible career choices.
• The group exchanges stories about their own childhoods, using humor to challenge the idea that the selection predicts destiny.
• Dong Yunshan and Yukino discuss Lingling’s emotional development, with Yukino offering practical knowledge and Yunshan responding with playful optimism.
• After Lingling hits her father, Yukino intervenes and begins teaching her that physical aggression is unacceptable while also helping her express what she wants—establishing the chapter’s central “correction method.”

Summary of “Yukinoshita’s Correction Method”

Plot Points and Events

• Dong Yunshan plays with his two-year-old daughter, Dong Yunling, by teasing her while she tries to feed him fruit. Yukino Yukinoshita realizes that Lingling is not actually trying to feed him; she wants to place the fruit in his mouth and take it back. Once Yunshan understands this, he cooperates, allowing Lingling to “correct” him by repeatedly filling and emptying his mouth.
• Afterward, Lingling stops Yunshan from exercising with a dumbbell because she remembers Yukino previously warning her that it was dangerous. She insists that he put it down and later refuses to let him play with her parents separately. Her growing sense of self and possessiveness are presented humorously, while also showing that she is observant and considerate.
• When Lingling wakes from her nap, she asks for milk and specifically wants both parents involved: Yunshan should prepare it, while Yukino holds and feeds her. She ultimately drinks from the bottle herself, showing that the physical comfort of being held matters more to her than being fed.
• When Yukino’s mother returns, Lingling complains that Yunshan bit her hand. The incident leads to a discussion about parenting and the possibility of getting a cat.
• Yunshan proposes adopting a cat, reminding Yukino that she had wanted one before Lingling was born. Yukino worries about the child’s age, safety, and the demands of studying, working, and raising a child. Yunshan suggests keeping the cat in a separate room initially and supervising all later interactions.
• Yukino’s mother approves of the idea, explaining that a pet could help Lingling develop empathy, language, flexibility, and the ability to cope with disrupted routines. She criticizes Yukino and Yunshan for accommodating Lingling too completely, warning that excessive protection may prevent her from learning how to handle disorder and change.
• Reassured by this advice, the couple decides that adopting a kitten now may be beneficial. They visit a familiar cat café, where the clerk recognizes them and comments on Lingling’s age and her tendency to say “no” to everything.

Character Development

• Dong Yunshan is playful, affectionate, and willing to submit to Lingling’s rules, even when this leaves him frustrated. He is also supportive of Yukino’s wishes and practical about solving the risks involved in adopting a cat.
• Yukino Yukinoshita is attentive and nurturing but overly cautious. She understands Lingling’s thoughts and routines so well that she may unintentionally shield her from frustration and unpredictability. Through her mother’s criticism, Yukino begins recognizing the need to balance protection with independence.
• Dong Yunling demonstrates a developing personality and stronger self-awareness. She communicates preferences, remembers warnings, asserts control over play, seeks both parents’ attention, and shows attachment to her grandmother. Her behavior reflects both emerging independence and dependence on familiar routines.
• Yukino’s mother acts as an experienced observer and mentor. Rather than simply criticizing the young parents, she evaluates their methods and offers a broader developmental perspective on language, order, empathy, and resilience.

Significant Themes

• Parenting and overprotection: The chapter examines how accommodating a child’s every demand can support security but may also limit adaptability.
• Order versus flexibility: Lingling’s need for routine is treated as an important developmental stage, but she must also learn that rules and routines can change.
• Learning through interaction: A pet may provide natural opportunities for Lingling to practice empathy, boundaries, communication, and coping with unpredictability.
• Family cooperation: Parenting is shown as a shared effort, with Yunshan, Yukino, and her mother dividing responsibilities and compensating for one another’s weaknesses.
• Affection and domestic intimacy: Humor, teasing, physical closeness, and ordinary household activities emphasize the warmth of the family’s relationships.

Character Interactions

• Yunshan and Lingling’s fruit game showcases their playful father-daughter relationship, with Yukino interpreting Lingling’s intentions.
• Lingling asserts authority over Yunshan’s exercise and demands exclusive playtime with him, while Yukino teases him and helps negotiate with their daughter.
• Yunshan and Yukino work together to care for Lingling, alternating between preparing milk and comforting her.
• Lingling’s complaint to her grandmother exposes Yunshan’s teasing and transitions the chapter into the parenting discussion.
• Yunshan encourages Yukino to pursue her long-standing wish for a cat, while Yukino’s mother challenges both parents to consider how their protective habits affect Lingling’s development.
• The final visit to the cat café marks the couple’s decision to move forward with adopting a cat and opens the next stage of the family’s development.