Having been through childbirth once before, the second time naturally felt more familiar. At the very least, Shen Yuan had experience raising a baby already. Even if he still couldn’t compare to Qiao Hailou, he managed well enough and didn’t end up flustered or overwhelmed.
When Little Peanut was born, he had already been on the smaller side compared to most newborns. Little Rice Cake was even tinier. She arrived a full month before her due date and spent a week in an incubator.
Shen Yuan doted on Little Rice Cake even more than before. After bringing her home, he practically never left her side and personally took care of everything.
This baby was incredibly clingy.
If Shen Yuan set her down in the cradle and stepped away for just a few minutes to grab something, she would cry. The moment she woke up, she had to see Shen Yuan—if she couldn’t, she cried. As long as she wasn’t asleep, she had to be stuck to him; if she couldn’t cling to him, she cried. Once she had enough strength, she would use her tiny hands to cling onto him, like a little koala hugging a tree.
Whenever Shen Yuan was at home, he ended up wearing a baby carrier most of the time, like a kangaroo dad, carrying her against his chest. He even placed a crib in the studio, right next to his chair. After coaxing Little Rice Cake to sleep, he would lay her in that small bed. As long as she could see her dad, she would sleep obediently.
She was also very particular about who held her. Anyone else picking her up was unacceptable—Qiao Hailou included. The only exception was if someone held her while staying right next to Shen Yuan; even then, she tolerated it at best. But if someone carried her out of his line of sight, she would definitely cry and demand her dad.
Shen Yuan went to Qiao Hailou for parenting advice, troubled. “I don’t remember Little Peanut being this clingy when he was little. Why is Little Rice Cake so attached to me?”
Qiao Hailou thought about it for a moment. “Even kittens born in the same litter have different personalities. Every baby is different. Hmm… maybe it’s because you named her ‘Little Rice Cake.’ Rice cakes are supposed to be sticky.”
Shen Yuan said, “Wasn’t it because I really loved eating rice cakes back then?”
Qiao Hailou replied seriously, “Maybe you ate too many rice cakes.”
Shen Yuan sighed. “Stop with the dad jokes… If she’s this clingy, how am I supposed to go back to work? I can’t just leave her behind.”
“She probably won’t be like this forever,” Qiao Hailou said. “Once she’s a little older, it’ll get better. Look—she doesn’t cling to me at all, only to you. She likes you more.”
Shen Yuan felt a tiny, tiny sense of vanity-filled satisfaction. He had once felt a bit jealous of the bond between Qiao Hailou and Little Peanut. He couldn’t even say whether he had been jealous that Qiao Hailou’s affection was partly given to Little Peanut, or that the child he had gone through so much to give birth to ended up closer to Qiao Hailou. But thinking about it, he couldn’t blame him—back then, he had been too busy with school to help raise the child.
Now things were different. Little Rice Cake clearly liked him more.
Aside from being clingy, the little one had no other issues. As long as she stayed near him, she would quiet down and barely move. She wasn’t like Little Peanut at all. When Little Peanut was this age, he had already been a chatterbox. Even before he could speak a single real word, he would babble away in baby gibberish—“ba bu,” “yi ya”—chatting endlessly with himself.
Little Peanut had thick, straight black hair and dark, bold eyebrows. Little Rice Cake was different. Her hair was soft, fine, and slightly yellow, with a faint curl to it. Her eyebrows were so light they were almost invisible, and her eyes were a lighter color too.
Little Peanut didn’t get jealous seeing Shen Yuan carry his sister all day. Every afternoon when he came home from school, he loved to lean over the railing of her cradle and babble nonstop to her, whether or not she understood.
Shen Yuan worked on his design drafts while listening to the two of them.
Little Peanut said, “Little sister, the teacher taught me a song today. I’ll teach you too.”
Then he belted it out at the top of his lungs, singing wildly off-key. The tune was so badly mangled that Shen Yuan couldn’t even tell what song it was—probably a children’s song.
Shen Yuan silently noted to himself that this was definitely inherited from Qiao Hailou. It seemed Little Peanut had absolutely no talent for music.
After singing, Little Peanut coaxed her, “Was it good?”
Little Rice Cake smiled at him and blew a spit bubble.
Encouraged, Little Peanut turned around and proudly announced to Shen Yuan, “Daddy, Daddy, Little Rice Cake thinks I sang really well.”
Shen Yuan: “…Sure, if you say so.”
Little Peanut continued his one-sided conversation with his sister. “I’ll teach you how to talk…”
“Did you learn it? Try saying it.”
“Don’t just smile.”
“Why aren’t you talking? You’re so dumb, you can’t even learn this? I already taught you three times.”
“Ah, being a little teacher is so tiring. I’m thirsty.”
He talked for about half an hour straight before getting tired, panting with his tongue out like a puppy. Little Rice Cake laughed when she saw him, flailing her tiny arms, her sleeves a bit too long.
Wiping nonexistent sweat from his forehead, he jumped down from the small stool—about six inches high—that he used as a footrest, landing with a “heave-ho,” then scampered over to Shen Yuan. “Daddy, I want water.”
Shen Yuan handed him his own cup. Little Peanut held the mug with both hands and gulped the water down.
“Drink slowly,” Shen Yuan said. “Don’t choke. No one’s competing with you.”
Little Peanut drained the entire cup in one go and handed it back. “All done! Thank you, Daddy.”
Then he ran back to continue chatting with his sister. Shen Yuan let them be. After who knew how long, he heard Little Peanut complain, “You’re so rude. I’m talking to you and you actually fell asleep. I’m not playing with you anymore.”
Shen Yuan turned his head. Little Peanut was puffed up with anger and even reached out as if to push his sister.
Shen Yuan laughed and lowered his voice. “Don’t bother your sister. Babies need a lot of sleep—they can’t control it. Let her sleep more, and she’ll grow faster and be able to play with you.”
Reluctantly, Little Peanut accepted this. “Okay.”
Shen Yuan ended up placing a soft, round play mat in the studio room, with raised padding all around, filled with small plush toys and cushions.
He let both kids play together in it.
Little Peanut not only loved copying how adults talked, but also how they did things. Show him something once, and he could learn it.
He had been eyeing the way his dad fed the baby for a long time. One day, he volunteered to feed his sister himself. Qiao Hailou wasn’t the type of father who underestimated children or assumed Little Peanut couldn’t do it just because he was young. Instead, he taught him patiently from the side.
Little Peanut sat on the play mat, leaning against a big teddy bear, holding his sister in his arms. He picked up the bottle properly and even shook it like he’d seen adults do.
Little Rice Cake really wanted the milk. She stared eagerly and reached for it. Then she looked up and saw her brother take her milk and drink it himself. She froze. “?!”
Qiao Hailou immediately corrected him. “If you want milk, Daddy can make you some. Why are you drinking your sister’s?”
Little Peanut smacked his lips, glanced at his dad with disdain, and huffed. “Don’t you always take a couple sips first before feeding her? I don’t even like milk anymore. I’m almost four years old—I’m a big kid now. I don’t drink milk. Little Rice Cake drinks milk.”
Qiao Hailou: “…”
In the end, he put the bottle nipple into his sister’s mouth. Little Rice Cake finally got to eat. She grabbed the handles on both sides of the bottle and gulped eagerly.
Little Peanut said seriously, “Drink slower, you’ll choke. No one’s stealing your milk. I was just tasting it.”
By the time Little Rice Cake learned how to crawl, Shen Yuan had already made all the preparations to return to the country and open his own studio.
The first move had to make an impact—and he successfully secured a collaboration with the Palace Museum.