Honestly, pacifying the baby was more difficult than school, exams, competitions, and creative work combined. But they had managed it, and they felt pretty awesome about themselves!

Meanwhile, Zhang Yuxi and Lin Feng glanced at the time, their minds on the children back home.

Lin Rui suggested, "Alright, let's call it a day. It's about time we headed back."

No one objected. Lin Jiajun lay on his chair, exclaiming how long it had been since he had last stayed up late. Now, just staying up a little late made his heart race. It was better to go home early. At their age, if there was an opportunity to sleep early, they took it without delay. Otherwise, the next day would be unbearable; they would feel off in every way.

Everyone headed to their respective homes. When Zhang Yuxi arrived and didn't see the children, she began to panic.

Lin Feng comforted her, "Don't jump to conclusions."

They checked each room, but the children weren't in theirs. Zhang Yuxi was on the verge of tears until she reached the master bedroom and let out a sigh of relief.

There, she saw Si Bao leaning against the bed in Lin Feng's pajamas, sound asleep while holding the baby. Her hand was still subconsciously patting the baby's back. Next to her, Da Bao and the others were sprawled out asleep, their faces etched with exhaustion.

Lin Feng walked over and gently tapped Si Bao on the shoulder.

She jolted awake. Seeing the baby sleeping soundly in her arms, she breathed a sigh of relief before turning her head and seeing Lin Feng.

Lin Feng motioned for Si Bao to pass the baby to him and urged her to go back to her room to sleep. Zhang Yuxi woke the other children one by one.

"Mom, Dad, you're finally back..."

Zhang Yuxi whispered softly, "You all worked hard today. Go back to your rooms and get some sleep."

It was clear the children were genuinely exhausted.

Er Bao quickly said, "It wasn't hard at all." Are you kidding me? It took four of us to look after one baby. That's not a sign of hard work; that's a sign of incompetence!

Lin Feng called out to Si Bao and pointed at the pajamas she was wearing.

Only then did Si Bao realize, and she quickly took off the pajamas to return them to Lin Feng.

The children lay down on their beds and drifted off into a daze. Now, finally free from worry, they could enjoy a good night's rest.

「The next day.」

The children chattered about their experience taking care of the baby the previous night, which made both Zhang Yuxi and Lin Feng chuckle.

Lin Feng said, "It'll be better once the baby is weaned. She always wants her mother's milk at this time of night."

Today, Lin Feng was going to introduce solid food to the baby, starting with rice cereal. He washed the rice, pulverized it in a high-speed blender, and then slowly cooked it in a small ceramic pot. Having already raised four children, taking care of the baby wasn't much of a challenge for him.

After the rice cereal was cooked, Zhang Yuxi held the baby while Lin Feng tried to coax her to eat. To entice her, they hadn't breastfed her for several hours.

After one spoonful, the baby promptly pushed the cereal out with her tongue, making her refusal clear. Lin Feng scraped the spoon and offered it to her again. The baby, playing with a toy in her hand, remained uninterested and continued to spit it out.

After several attempts, the baby grew irritated and knocked the spoon away.

Lin Feng recalled how the other children had first taken to solid food. Da Bao, Er Bao, and Si Bao had been enthusiastic eaters and were always well-behaved. San Bao was picky, but he wouldn't outright refuse to eat something he disliked. All in all, the children had been cooperative, nothing like what was happening with the baby now.

Luckily, Lin Feng reacted swiftly, otherwise the rice cereal on the spoon would have splattered everywhere.

He patiently tried to feed her again, but the baby completely ignored him. After a few more tries, she lost her temper again, smacking the spoon away and babbling loudly.

Zhang Yuxi frowned, "Honey, the baby doesn't seem to want to eat. What should we do?"

Lin Feng took out a toy, and while distracting the baby, he sneakily fed her a spoonful when she wasn't paying attention.

It took nearly half an hour for the baby to finish a small bowl of rice cereal. In the middle of it all, the cereal went cold three times, and Lin Feng had to go back to the pot to get more. As long as the baby was willing to eat, that was what mattered. Once she was consistently eating solids, they could start the weaning process.

Zhang Yuxi had consulted a doctor, who advised weaning at eight months, provided the baby's solid food intake was sufficient. Some mothers insisted on breastfeeding until one year, but it all depended on the child. Some babies naturally transitioned from milk as their main food source to it becoming more of a snack. Other babies, by the time they reached one year of age, were still so fixated on milk that they wouldn't eat anything else. This could lead to one-year-olds refusing to eat solid food. By then, milk alone no longer satisfied their hunger, and its nutritional content couldn't keep up with their body's developmental needs. Therefore, weaning at eight or nine months was better for both the baby and the mother.

Lin Feng planned to gradually introduce solid foods over three months and see if a natural weaning process could follow.

「In the blink of an eye, New Year's Eve arrived.」

The family sat together watching the New Year's Gala, counting down together.

"10, 9, 8, 7... 3, 2, 1, Happy New Year!"

Si Bao sprang up from the sofa and said to Lin Feng and Zhang Yuxi with a wide grin, "Dad, Mom, Happy New Year! Wishing you prosperity!"

After speaking, she held out her hands, smiling expectantly at them. Isn't that the saying now? 'Wishing you prosperity, so hand over the red envelope!'

Er Bao quickly came over, imitating her sister. "Dad, Mom, in the new year, I wish you good health and success in all your endeavors! Wishing you prosperity!"

Da Bao came over too, and San Bao also looked at their parents with a smile. It was quite a sight: four children, the girls over 1.6 meters tall and the boys both 1.8 meters, all lined up to ask for red envelopes!

Lin Feng and Zhang Yuxi were momentarily taken aback. They always prepared red envelopes for the children every year, but this was the first time they had actively asked for them.

"You want red envelopes?" Lin Feng asked.

Zhang Yuxi chimed in with a teasing tone, "Oh? You're all in your first year of high school now, you're not so little anymore. You still want red envelopes?"

Suddenly, things became a bit awkward.

Er Bao's mind raced, and she quickly said with a smile, "We weren't asking for red envelopes! We just wanted to wish our mom and dad a happy new year."

Si Bao hurriedly added, "Right! We didn't ask for any!"

The others echoed the same sentiment.

Lin Feng said, "Oh," and patted his coat pocket. "Well, in that case, I'll just keep these red envelopes for myself."

Zhang Yuxi also smiled.

Er Bao immediately turned on the charm. "Dad, even though we didn't ask, I'm sure you were going to give them to us anyway."

Si Bao quickly followed up, "Yeah, yeah! No matter how old we get, we'll always be your little kids who never grow up."

Da Bao, ever the composed one, decided that acting coy wasn't his style and chose to stay quiet.

San Bao was more philosophical about it. A red envelope was nice, but not necessary; they really were older now. It was just a red envelope, after all. It wouldn't be a big deal not to get one, especially after so many years.

In the end, Lin Feng still handed out the prepared red envelopes to his children.

As the New Year's bells rang, the new year arrived. The family joyfully went to bed.

If there was anything special about this year, it was that Lin Jie's marriage had been settled, with both families having agreed on a wedding date. This New Year was exceptionally lively, thanks to this happy news and the birth of Zhang Yuxi's second child.

They spent their days eating, drinking, and having fun. Before they knew it, the holiday was over, and people began returning to work one after another.

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