No longer threatened, Xia Lei had moved his wives and children back to the Peace Mansion. He began researching bomber planes and fighter jets after settling his family down. His time was scarce and he was painfully aware of that. To come up with the fighter jet and bomber plane is considered one of the things he wished to accomplish before death. So no matter what happens, Xia Lei was adamant on finishing it.
After swallowing the last AE capsule, his brain’s calculation and simulation ability had seen great improvement. This was reflected at the moment he entered his superbrain mode. The calculation run time and simulation building had gotten incredibly fast and the outcome was more refined and precise. In that case, perhaps Thunder Horse’s mass production for the fighter jet and bomber plane would’ve happened sooner than expected.
If Lockheed Martin’s super fighter jet was named the Dragon Slayer, Xia Lei had decided to name his own super fighter jet the Yan Wang. The bomber plane in progress would be named Kun Peng.
[Note: ‘Yan Wang’ is short for Yanluo Wang, the ruler of the underworld. ‘Kun Peng’, on the other hand, is a Chinese mythical beast; It is a massive fish (Kun) that lives in the northern sea that can transform into a giant bird (Peng).]
Soon, the gigantic Peng’s would rise with the wind and soar an impressive distance of nine thousand miles. With the birth of the Kun Peng and Yan Wang, China’s air combat force would be reborn. When that time comes, no country would dare to trespass into the southern waters and the military bases of the neighbouring countries would never see American fighter jets and bombers in the skies ever again.
Though this was just a dream, Xia Lei was going to work himself to the bone to realize it. He was like an oil lamp, burning himself till his very last breath for the sake of illuminating the whole of China.
He’d work in the mornings and return to his family in the Peace Mansion at night. He was running out of time. Every second spent with his women and children were precious.
Before long, a week had passed.
As the dusk had settled into night, lights were lit at every corner of the Peace Mansion. Multiple troupes of Special Force members were on their patrol rounds across the perimeter. Other than that, they had even set up checkpoints to inspect cars and personnel entering and exiting the premises. A few anti-aircraft missile launchers were erected, ready to attack at any time. In addition to the ensemble, the Sweeper infantry fighting and the ZTZ100 main battle tanks were out to guard the Thunder Horse Military Factory. There were no blind spots. The tension was at an all-time high. But the atmosphere inside the Peace Mansion was different.
After dinner, Xia Lei and his four children were left in the living room while the women were busy cleaning up the table.
Xia Lei turned on the television and settled on a cartoon channel for the kids. Boonie Bears was currently airing, beginning with an intense fight scene between the bald villain, Vick and the bears, Briar and Bramble. The cartoonish voices were lively.
However, none of the children was interested in the cartoon. They all had their own agendas. Liang Jiayu and Xia Long were busy disassembling toy excavators, tanks and so on into their parts and then re-assembling them. Xia Jianghe and Xia Fan were scribbling around with oil pastels on their art blocks. Xia Jianghe had drawn what looked like a milk bottle. Xia Lei scooted closer to inspect Xia Fan’s drawing and immediately felt the urge to pull his hair out. Xia Fan had drawn a single breast.
Xia Lei rigidly inched closer and smiled at his daughter wryly. “Xia Fan, what did you draw?”
With the children’s crazy daily improvements, holding a simple conversation was no longer a problem.
“Milk bottle,” answered Xia Fan curtly.
At this moment, the five women had joined them in the living room. Now, the common area was bustling with activities.
As soon as Fan Fan realized what her daughter had drawn, she frantically rushed over and pried the pastel in her grip. “Xia Fan, what did you draw?”
“Milk bottle.” Xia Fan repeated her answer with a childish gurgle.
Fan Fan’s smile looked forced. “Darling… Why did you draw a milk bottle?”
“Hungry.” Xia Fan said, “Draw milk to stop hunger.”
There was dead silence in the living room before everyone burst out laughing.
The four children were in the middle of learning the Chinese language. One part of the curriculum consisted of Han characters and the other was classic idioms. Xia Fan was the most outstanding student among the four children. For her to be able to say something coherent like that was nothing weird anymore. But if news about it were to travel out, she would’ve been hailed as an internet-famous prodigy. Most children around her age would’ve only been able to express their discomfort and hunger through wailing. Xia Fan, on the other hand, was already able to doodle breasts to satiate her hunger.
Xia Lei could feel his heart hurt for his daughter. He went over and nudged Fan Fan. “You hear that? Your daughter is hungry, she needs some milk now.”
Fan Fan’s expressions soured. “But I just fed her before dinner. I don’t have enough milk yet to feed her now.”
Xia Lei decided to volunteer himself. “How about I help you with that?”
“Help your fucking ass, bastard.” Fan Fan reprimanded him teasingly before lifting her shirt to allow Xia Fan to suckle on her breast.
Noticing that Xia Fan had milk, the other three children began to ask for the same. Soon, all four babies were clung to their mother’s bosoms. To Xia Lei, this was truly a sight to behold.
The four children had extraordinary appetites. Thankfully, their mothers were capable of producing enough milk to satiate their ferocious hunger. Everything was literally a super standard. However, when the occasionally gigantic man baby decides to join in the feeding frenzy, the mothers would be incredibly occupied. Hence, the four children had made it a habit to stare at Xia Lei from time to time when feeding as a stern warning.
And as expected, when Xia Lei pretended to lunge for Liang Siyao’s other unoccupied breast, Liang Jiayu had already raised a palm in preparation to hit him. He turned around and inched closer to Long Bing, prompting Xia Long to raise a palm to defend his meal. Xia Lei moved to Jiang Ruyi’s side and Xia Jianghe quickly covered her mother’s other breast with her palm. No child was willing to share their food with Xia Lei.
The man pouted. “Hmph, stingy babies. You’re all so stingy, I’m never going to play with you again.”
Liang Siyao stifled her amusement. “Hubby, if you really want to have some, isn’t there one just beside you? Why the need to fight your own children?”
Xia Lei’s gaze immediately fell onto Tang Yuyan.
Tang Yuyan, who was in the middle of admiring the lovely breastfeeding scene was caught aback. It took her awhile to come up with a response. Her cheeks were a furious red as she spat, “Siyao, everyone is feeding babies but you’re asking me to feed hubby. What the hell? I refuse to feed this big baby. If you wish to feed, you all should be the ones feeding him instead.”
Xia Lei extended his arms and pounced onto Tang Yuyan with a poor imitation of a child’s voice. “I’m so hungwy… I wanna eat… I’m starving!”
Weirdly, Tang Yuyan did not dodge. Instead, she jabbed a finger against his forehead. “Quit fooling around, I’ve got some good news for you.”
“What is it?” Xia Lei asked.
Tang Yuyan gestured for him to come closer. “Put your ear closer to my lips and I’ll tell you what it is.”
And so Xia Lei heeded her request.
Tang Yuyan whispered into his ear, her warm breath tickling its shell. “Hubby, I’ve got it.”
“Got what?” Xia Lei feigned ignorance.
That earned a dramatic eye roll from Tang Yuyan. “Idiot, a child of course. Sister Fan Fan’s test results are out. I’m indeed pregnant with your child.”
“Haha!” Xia Lei held her up by the waist and began to twirl. “I’m going to be a father again!”
“Oi! Be careful! Don’t you dare drop me!” Tang Yuyan panicked and grabbed onto Xia Lei’s neck taut.
It was only then that Xia Lei stopped turning around. Despite that, he did not place Tang Yuyan down. “Is it a son or a daughter?”
“It’s just a fertilized egg. There’s no way to tell its sex yet. You need to calm down,” said Fan Fan.
“Hehe, you’re right. I am a little too excited.” Xia Lei’s grin was wide and broad.
Tang Yuyan whispered meekly into his ear again. “Hubby, now that I’m pregnant and one week is over, I won’t be sleeping alone with you any more. Is that alright with you?”
Xia Lei’s heart thumped. “You mean… You’re able to accept that?”
Tang Yuyan nodded bashfully. “Now that I’m pregnant, I won’t be able to withstand your bedroom torment. With them around, they’ll be able to protect me.”
Xia Lei was overjoyed. “Then I’ll go set up a bigger mattress now, yeah? My loves, come over when you’re done feeding the children.”
“Pervert.” Jiang Ruyi spat.
“Why are you so naughty?” Liang Siyao shook her head in exasperation.
“Are you asking for another child?” Long Bing asked.
Fan Fan had nothing to say. She opted to tear her coat down and threw it onto Xia Lei’s face.
Xia Lei unfazed peeled it away and sniffed it hard. “Haha, this smells so good.”
Laughter and lighthearted scoldings filled the living room.
As soon as he was out of the living room, Xia Lei suddenly felt a surge of melancholy. A noble job, enjoyed both fame and wealth, had a mountain of wives and children. Those were everything he possessed. It was wonderful, it was admittedly something everyone would kill for. However, the reality was that Xia Lei was running tight on time. Every day passed and one day less. Xia Lei could not imagine how painful it would be to leave his family behind.
He entered the biggest room in the Peace Mansion and laid on the massive bed. He couldn’t help but imagine how life would be for his wives and children after his departure.
Beep beep beep…
A text was received by his regular number.
Xia Lei produced the phone and tapped into his inbox.
It was a text from Shentu Tianyin that only bore one line. Congratulations on marrying another gorgeous wife.
The man smiled bitterly at that. He hesitated briefly but replied anyway. Thank you. Please take good care on your end too.
Shentu Tianyin’s second message was received almost immediately. I wasn’t expecting a reply from you. Why did you decide to reply this time?
That seemed to put him in deep thought. He then replied, Sometimes we need to brace ourselves and face uncomfortable realities. No matter what, I hope you’ll take good care of yourself and treat yourself kindly. Career is important but it’s not all there is to life. Love is important but it too isn’t all there is to life. Please treasure whatever you have now. Don’t overwork yourself. If you break down from exhaustion, you’ll lose everything.
Shentu Tianyin: What’s the matter? Why are you so sentimental today?
Xia Lei: Nothing. I just felt like saying that. Alright, it’s bedtime for me now. Good night.
Shentu Tianyin: Goodnight. I really wish to see your children. May I visit you someday?
Xia Lei could feel a headache brewing but replied anyway. Sure.
Shentu Tianyin: Thank you. I’ll prepare some gifts and come to visit your children when suitable. I heard they’re all very smart.
Xia Lei: Hehe, they’re not just smart. They’re literally little demons.
All parents were the same. At the mention of their children, they would feel the urge to boast about their offsprings a little. Evidently, Xia Lei was no different.
Shentu Tianyin: Ah, that makes me more eager to see your children. I’ll be looking forward to the visit. Alright, I’ll stop disturbing you now. Good night.
Xia Lei did not exchange another pleasantry this time. If they went on, there wouldn’t be an appropriate stop to this conversation. He kept his phone and thought, “Why does she want to see my children all of a sudden? If she comes here, what would all the women think? Ah, fuck. Better not think about it anymore!”
Xia Lei could feel his head throb as soon as he imagined how the meeting between his five wives and Shentu Tianyin would potentially be.
Suddenly, footsteps were heard padding towards this door. A crowd was heading here.
Xia Lei frantically got up from the bed and stood by its side. He was ready to welcome the arrival of his five madames.
His five lovely wives entered the room. Long Bing, who was at the tail of the convoy, locked the door behind her back. As soon as the door clicked shut, Tang Yuyan turned around and wished to flee. Her face was flushed red. “Uh, I… I think it’s better if I return to my room. I…”
Long Bing blocked her path. “You really think you’ll be able to escape us?”
Without warning, Liang Siyao lunged forward and grabbed Tang Yuyan’s forearm. “You’ve already breached the first line of the Xia family rule. To run away at the face of battle. You will now receive your punishment.”
Tang Yuyan sputtered, “What family rule? What the hell is that? Why do I know nothing about it?”
Xia Lei smirked deviously. “I’m the rule and the rule is I. So there is only one rule we abide by in this family.”
Tang Yuyan screamed, “No! Don’t come near me! ...Kya!”
Due to the sinful acts, the moon grew shy and went to hide behind the thick clouds.
Since he was running out of time, he would have to make the most out of it.