His neck looked like it had been gnawed on by a wild beast, densely covered in bizarre hickeys—even more abstract than the heart-shaped ones from last time.
Fang Xingzhou leaned closer to the mirror and identified them as marks left by tiny suckers. At a glance, they spelled out:
“Love ❤ Zhou ❤ Chuan”
“Beloved”
“Forever”
…As if his neck had been used as a canvas for an all-night monster performance art piece.
It was as juvenile as a middle schooler carving cheesy confessions into a desk.
Fang Xingzhou stared silently for a long moment: “…”
He spent nearly an hour in the bathroom, carefully extracting the remnants of the melted hectocotylus before selecting a high-necked black sweater to cover himself completely.
Lu Jianchuan was cooking in the kitchen.
The egg was strapped to his chest, nestled against his heart, emitting a stream of incomprehensible syllables to voice its demands. Astonishingly, Lu Jianchuan was holding a conversation with it despite the mutual lack of understanding.
Fang Xingzhou leaned against the kitchen doorway, listening to their surreal exchange.
Lu Jianchuan: “It’s just a tiny crack—pretend you bumped it by accident. Or I can tape it up with black duct tape?”
Egg: “Wah! La!”
Lu Jianchuan: “Of course we care about you, baby. You’re our precious little one after nineteen grueling months of pregnancy—how could we not?”
Egg: “Zhi-zhi! Ah! Wah!”
Lu Jianchuan: “You’re almost half a month old and still haven’t improved your language skills. We’ll have Zhouzhou teach you Chinese later—education starts young.”
The egg, frustrated, thumped against his chest several times before unleashing another torrent of noise.
Lu Jianchuan smiled contentedly: “Curious about last night? Your dads were just… exercising. You’ll understand someday.”
Fang Xingzhou couldn’t take it anymore.
His temple twitched as he interrupted: “It’s just asking you to hurry up with the formula. It’s hungry.”
Lu Jianchuan froze.
He turned, gazing at his lover with admiration: “Zhouzhou, you’re amazing! How did you understand that?”
“…” Fang Xingzhou: “Because it keeps pointing at the formula canister with its shell.”
Lu Jianchuan blinked, looking down at the fuming egg.
“Oh… right.” He patted its shell. “Sorry, Dad forgot. Let’s get you fed.”
Unhurried, he plated the fried eggs, drizzled them with soy sauce, then turned to Fang Xingzhou: “Could you grab the bottle? I think I left it in the bedroom last night.”
Fang Xingzhou sighed and went to retrieve it.
The moment he left, Lu Jianchuan slid the kitchen door shut, sliced off a tentacle tip with a knife, mashed it into paste, and mixed it into the formula, creating blood-infused milk.
Fang Xingzhou soon returned with the bottle.
Lu Jianchuan casually poured the mixture in and began dripping it onto the eggshell.
The starving egg eagerly absorbed the special milk—
Two seconds later, a distinct puke sounded from inside the shell as the egg spat everything back out.
“yue.”
Lu Jianchuan: “?”
He glanced furtively at Fang Xingzhou, whispering: “This is good for you—might help you hatch. You used to love it, remember?”
He stubbornly dripped more.
The egg protested louder this time: “YUEEEE!”
Fang Xingzhou frowned worriedly: “Is it feeling unwell? It’s never rejected milk before.”
The egg launched itself into Fang Xingzhou’s arms, putting maximum distance between itself and the bottle.
Lu Jianchuan: “…”
“It’s nothing, darling,” he said, discreetly dumping the milk. “Maybe the temperature was off.”
Fang Xingzhou: “I’ll make a fresh batch later. Don’t waste this one—I’ll drink it.”
Hearing this, Lu Jianchuan panicked and chugged the entire bottle in one go to avoid detection.
…So fishy.
His mouth twisted in disgust, suddenly understanding the egg’s reaction.
But that was fine—as long as Xingzhou still enjoyed his tentacles.
Suppressing his nausea, he smiled at Fang Xingzhou: “I was thirsty anyway.”
Fang Xingzhou chuckled: “Eat your breakfast first. I’ll join you soon.”
Lu Jianchuan: “Beef noodles okay? I braised some this morning.”
Though he’d forgotten to feed the child, he’d remembered to cook for his wife. He lifted the lid to reveal perfectly braised beef, eyes shining with anticipation.
Fang Xingzhou praised: “Looks fantastic. Extra beef, please.”
Lu Jianchuan beamed: “Coming right up!”
Fang Xingzhou prepared fresh formula and returned to the bedroom, feeding the dizzyingly hungry egg an entire bottle. Then, sterilizing a needle, he pricked his wrist and let a few drops of blood well up.
The egg squealed excitedly, bouncing in his arms as it cried: “Papa…!”
Fang Xingzhou pressed the wound to its shell.
The egg glowed pink as it frantically drank, the crack visibly healing slightly, no longer spanning the entire surface.
Fang Xingzhou watched quietly, lost in thought.
Once satisfied, he bandaged the nearly invisible puncture, sprayed on cologne to mask the scent, and rolled down his sleeves to cover the evidence.
Lu Jianchuan called him downstairs for noodles. Fang Xingzhou kissed the shell and whispered: “Don’t be sad, baby. In a few days… I’ll help you hatch.”
The egg nuzzled his cheek softly: “Ah.”
…
That afternoon, Fang Xingzhou began systematically teaching the egg Chinese, starting at 1 PM and continuing until 5.
The adult monster in attendance napped soundly, while the egg stood rigidly on the desk for five uninterrupted hours, absorbing every word with terrifying focus.
Fang Xingzhou’s throat was parched. After drinking some water, he pulled out paper and ink for a pop quiz—asking the egg to write all 23 initials and 24 finals from memory.
The egg swayed thoughtfully before confidently diving into the ink, using its shell to swiftly transcribe everything.
Fluid strokes, executed in one breath.
Two minutes later, Fang Xingzhou held a flawless answer sheet—handwriting still wobbly, but otherwise perfect.
He stared in disbelief before looking up at the proudly erect egg, utterly stunned. Retrieving another sheet, he asked: “Remember how to write the names I taught you?”
The egg huffed and jumped up, scrawling:
Fang Xingzhou
Lu Jianchuan
Then it bounced excitedly, shrilly chanting: “Papa! Papa!”
After just one lesson, its pronunciation was markedly clearer than that morning.
Fang Xingzhou examined the paper, pupils dilating in shock. He’d mentally prepared for a repeat of tutoring Lu Jianchuan through finals—
Taking a deep breath, he shook the napping monster awake and thrust a blank sheet at him: “Deer, please write all the initials and finals we learned today.”
Lu Jianchuan, face still creased from the desk: “…Huh?”
The egg perched on Fang Xingzhou’s shoulder, peering down at Lu Jianchuan with pride.
Under their joint scrutiny, Lu Jianchuan gulped, hesitantly picked up a pen, and began demonstrating “writer’s block,” “ear-scratching,” “squirming,” and “stammering”—
Fang Xingzhou smiled.
He showed Lu Jianchuan the egg’s test.
“Baby scored higher than you,” he said.
Lu Jianchuan: “?!”
He took the paper. Though he couldn’t judge accuracy, it was undeniably complete.
Stunned, he scrutinized it repeatedly before his ears turned red. Deflecting with excessive praise: “So brilliant! Must’ve inherited Zhouzhou’s IQ—what perfect genetics!”
The egg wiggled happily: “Ah!”
Fang Xingzhou’s smile deepened as he retrieved another sheet, using a compass to draw a circle divided into 64 segments—each containing a name from their list.
“Now that you understand basic characters, let’s choose your name,” he said, stroking the shell. “Pick your favorite by landing on it three times in a row.”
The egg hopped onto the wheel, examining each option seriously.
Lu Jianchuan, sweating at its solemnity, wondered if he was still dreaming: “Darling… can it actually read these?”
Fang Xingzhou: “Maybe.”
They waited patiently.
After a full revolution, the egg seemed to have made its decision and looked up at them.
Fang Xingzhou: “Done?”
The egg nodded gravely.
Fang Xingzhou placed it at the center, marking a line on its shell: “Stop when this points to your choice. Understood?”
The egg tilted—the complex sentence was challenging.
Fang Xingzhou simplified with gestures, repeating slowly until—
Egg: “Ah!”
Got it.
Fang Xingzhou smiled: “Let’s begin.”
Holding it like a spinner, he flicked the egg into rapid rotation.
One lap, two, three…
Finally, it slowed, landing on:
“Yanzhou”
Fang Xingzhou noted it down: “A good name. Two more tries to confirm.”
The egg, already resolute, chose “Yanzhou” three consecutive times without hesitation.
Fang Xingzhou laughed.
He presented another wheel—half marked “Lu,” half “Fang.”
“For your surname,” he explained. “Choose naturally if undecided.”
Egg: “Ah!”
Three spins.
The results were unanimous: three “Fang”s.
Fang Xingzhou kissed the shell, combining its selections into a full name:
Fang Yanzhou.[mfn]方砚洲[/mfn]
Dizzy, the egg wobbled upright to inspect before toppling over, managing a weak nod.
Fang Xingzhou cradled it, holding up the freshly written name.
Lu Jianchuan peered closer and, after a moment, ventured uncertainly: “Fang… Jianchuan?[mfn]方见川[/mfn] Sounds like my name.”
Fang Xingzhou: “…”
At least he remembered the rule of thumb: When in doubt, read the phonetic component.
“Wrong?” Lu Jianchuan coughed.
Fang Xingzhou enunciated: “Fang. Yan. Zhou.”
Lu Jianchuan: “!”
His ears turned crimson from tip to lobe.
Fang Xingzhou: “I taught it to write our names today. It probably only recognized ‘Jianchuan,’ so it picked ‘Yanzhou’ and paired it with ‘Fang’—combining us into its new identity.”
Lu Jianchuan was awestruck: “That’s… incredibly sweet!”
The egg chirped excitedly, diving back into the ink to practice its name. The complex strokes proved challenging, but it persevered until the characters flowed smoothly across the page.
It turned expectantly to its fathers for approval.
Lu Jianchuan gave a thumbs-up: “From today, you’re Fang Yanzhou—nickname…”
He paused.
“How about Fangtang (Rock Candy)?” He glanced at Fang Xingzhou. “Sweet—may your life be as smooth as sugar, never bitter.”
T/N:
hhhhh this was a funny and difficult one to translate. I was thinking about how to explane the name thing and why LJC said the name wrong, but in the end I think its the most easy to just explain the picture:
this is the baby’s choosen name: Fang Yanzhou 方砚洲， if u break it apart you get : 方 ＋ 石见 + 氵州
known that Fang Xingzhou is 方行舟， Lu Jianchuan is 陆见川
u know that the baby is not clever enough to know all chinese words, so it doesn’t reallly understand the meaning of the name, but as in the chapter says, ‘At least he remembered the rule of thumb: When in doubt, read the phonetic component.’ and when you don;t know how the word spells, read the parts you do know hhhh. so what it did is that it reconizes its parents names, and sees that 石（见) + 氵(州) is so familiar to 见川！
so the name just kinda combinds the 2 MC’s name lol.
