That year.
At a certain military district hospital.
Outside the delivery room, a crowd of people waited. No one seemed particularly tense; they were all chatting and laughing.
Everyone was looking forward to the birth of the newest generation.
Old Cao was there, and Ren's mother was too.
This was their first great-grandson, so of course they had to be present.
The old patriarch wasn't there; he was busy.
But the 'Grand Lady' had quietly arrived, with security personnel stationed outside.
As for Chen Yi's family elders, they had all come as well.
...
Cao Decheng, the son of Young Master Cao, was also among the crowd.
He stepped out now and then for a smoke.
This time it wasn't a C-section, so it was taking longer.
Otherwise, the baby would have been out in no time. Why else would so many people be waiting here?
"Kid." Old Old Cao walked out to the hallway and lit a cigarette with Cao Decheng. "Nervous?"
Cao Decheng nodded. "Of course I am, Grandpa. How did you feel when my dad was born?"
Cao Decheng was a bit curious.
Old Old Cao was taken aback, then shook his head. "How could I possibly remember that? It's long forgotten. But I vaguely recall it took a very long time. You know, your father was never an easy one, never did anything decent even as a kid... Your own grandmother never got to enjoy much fortune. If she were still here, she'd probably be able to see her great-grandson being born with her own eyes now."
Old Old Cao sighed with a touch of emotion.
To be honest,
Old Old Cao's marriage to the factory girl was indeed a product of its time.
There was no love at first.
Later, the feelings weren't deep either.
But they were at least respectful to each other.
If she hadn't passed away from illness later, they probably wouldn't have divorced, and naturally, there wouldn't have been so many subsequent events.
At this point,
Old Old Cao spoke again, "Did you call your father? Is he coming or not? Shouldn't he show his face for his first grandson? I think he's gotten outrageously lazy."
Cao Decheng smiled wryly. "I did. He said he's stuck in traffic. He spent three minutes on the phone with me cursing the traffic conditions. Mom went down to the entrance to wait for him."
Old Old Cao shook his head. "It's like looking for toilet paper only when the shit's at the door. What was he doing earlier? He knew traffic would be bad at this hour; why didn't he leave sooner?"
Cao Decheng just smiled and didn't respond.
He knew this was just how things were in the family...
...
Soon,
Cao Cheng appeared.
He hadn't been home for a while.
At this moment, Tang Xin was holding his arm as they walked over together, looking somewhat travel-worn.
Young Master Cao had stubble on his chin.
He looked a bit unkempt.
"Dad." Cao Decheng hurried forward.
Cao Cheng nodded and asked casually, "Has my daughter-in-law come out yet?"
"Not yet. She's been in for almost three hours."
Cao Cheng shook his head. "That's too much suffering. I don't know what you kids were thinking. Why insist on a natural birth? Wouldn't a C-section work? It's not like we lack the means. I'll give the little one some medicine later; it can make up for any innate deficiencies."
Cao Decheng explained, "I talked to Xiao Yi about this. But she said it's her first time being a mother, and she doesn't want any regrets. She wants to do as much as she can for the child. Also, the fetal position looked good, and the doctor said a natural birth shouldn't be a problem."
Young Master Cao could understand his feelings.
They say natural birth is better for the child.
After all, it's their first time being parents; they always want to do their best.
It's understandable.
...
Afterwards,
Cao Cheng's arrival made the scene even more lively.
Young Master Cao still had his ageless face, but the stubble now made him look a bit more mature.
But no matter how you looked at him, he didn't seem much older than Cao Decheng.
Even in terms of skin smoothness, he wasn't far off from a young woman.
The Grand Lady now pulled Cao Cheng aside, chattering on about something.
Cao Cheng treated this mother-in-law like his own mother, so he couldn't very well argue with her. He just kept nodding in agreement. Whatever she said was right.
Even if it was wrong, it was right.
If anyone dared to contradict the Grand Lady, Young Master Cao wouldn't stand for it.
Then he was pulled over by Ren's mother.
Actually,
What they talked about wasn't really about the child, but other matters.
Mainly because Young Master Cao hadn't shown up for a long time, and the two elder mothers really had a few things they needed to nag him about.
...
...
Finally.
10 PM.
The delivery room door opened.
Mother and child were both safe.
Many people had already left, but even so, there were still dozens waiting here.
Everyone fussed over the sleeping, eyes-closed baby for a bit. Then, Chen Yi's mother took the child and left first for the hospital room to wait.
The others gradually dispersed too, leaving only Cao Decheng to wait for his wife to come out.
Tang Xin also stayed to keep him company.
Although Tang Xin was now a grandmother, she had only glanced at her grandson earlier. Her main attention was on Cao Decheng and Chen Yi.
This was her eldest son, after all.
And just by looks, Cao Decheng strongly resembled Tang Xin.
...
After that, things proceeded step by step. Cao Cheng didn't slack off either; following his own inclination, he stayed at the hospital with Tang Xin for a few days.
While it was said to be to accompany their son and daughter-in-law, in reality, it was more about accompanying Tang Xin.
In this life...
With Tang Xin as the matriarch, Young Master Cao truly had much less to worry about.
Even now, Tang Xin looked like a young woman under thirty.
...
One day.
Tang Xin and Cao Cheng were strolling and chatting in the courtyard.
Tang Xin suddenly said, "From now on, you can't have any more children."
"Huh?" Cao Cheng was speechless.
Tang Xin shot him a look. "You have plenty of children already. And now your first grandson is here. If you have more kids later, your sons might be younger than your grandsons. That's just not proper."
"..."
Cao Cheng chuckled.
He didn't really see a problem with it.
After all, the future path lay beyond.
In the stars and the cosmos.
The children wouldn't be staying under his wing forever; they'd all have their own lives and careers.
Even if he had more sons and daughters in the future, they'd likely grow up and go work beyond the stars.
Exploring.
Or even mining asteroids.
They wouldn't stay by his side forever.
So,
While having a son younger than a grandson might happen, it wouldn't necessarily be awkward.
However...
Since Tang Xin had spoken up.
And counting his children, he did have quite a few already. It was probably best to stop for now.
He could wait until they truly started developing things in outer space.
Besides,
Over the last couple of years, no new women had appeared around Cao Cheng.
It wasn't like he'd throw a tantrum over not having more children.
After all, all the previous ones had their own offspring now.
Whether their children were boys or girls, they would all receive a substantial share of the family wealth, which was enough.
So taking a break for a few years was fine.
Cao Cheng agreed to Tang Xin's request.
As for wanting more in the future, he didn't discuss it with Tang Xin.
Because such things shouldn't have rigid rules.
What if he suddenly felt like it later, right?
It would be ridiculous to be bound by some ancestral 'rules and regulations'.
Young Master Cao's current state of mind was no longer constrained by anything.
close your eyes and open them again, only to find yourself transmigrated into the role of a villainous male supporting character. Readers familiar with urban wish-fulfillment novels know that it is only through the relentless antics of the villainous male supporting character that the plot between the male and female leads can progress. As the villainous male supporting character, Long Aotian not only has to bully the female lead, harass the second female lead, and flirt with the third female lead, but he also has to go all out to antagonize the male lead. In the end, when his body is discovered, he is still clutching half a moldy fried dough stick in his hand. Fully aware of the plot, Long Aotian is determined to change his fate, starting with the female lead! In the beginning, the female lead lacks confidence: "Big brother, I hope I didn't scare you?" In the middle, the female lead treads carefully: "Brother Long, please don't hit me, okay?" Later on, the female lead becomes coquettishly clingy: "Aotian, it's time to pay the 'public grain' tonight." Long Aotian's legs go weak, and he feels like crying: "I taught you to be thick-skinned, not shameless!"
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
