Chapter 661: Chapter 661: Naming

"I’m not eating. I need to lose weight," Wyatt Vaughn said, patting her stomach. In times like these, she was probably the only one who needed to lose weight from overeating.

"What diet? You’re not fat at all," Quincy began with his over-the-top compliments. "Your figure is perfect. It’s called being pleasantly plump—a sign of good fortune."

"You can have this good fortune, how about it? I’ve already got a two-layered spare tire around my waist. If I don’t go on a diet, I bet a third layer will show up before long."

Officer Graham asked around, and it turned out Evelyn Ford was the only one who wanted a midnight snack.

"My appetite seems a little bigger than usual lately."

Wyatt Vaughn and Joelle Finch ran over to her, giving Evelyn Ford a mischievous look. "A big appetite, eating well... Don’t tell me you’re pregnant?"

The moment she said that, everyone looked over. Ronan Kendrick, however, wore an expression of complete indifference.

"No way. I have a big appetite because my workload has been heavy lately. My body just needs the energy."

Everyone looked disappointed. "It’s really not true? Evelyn, don’t you know how to read a pulse? You should check yourself, quick!"

"I’m really not pregnant. Besides, don’t you think I’d know if I were?" Evelyn Ford was exasperated.

"Things have stabilized now, so if you two want to have kids, you could really start thinking about it. We can all help you look after the baby. Besides, with genes as good as yours, it would be a shame not to have a child, wouldn’t it?"

"We’ll let nature take its course," Evelyn Ford replied. She never thought she’d be the one getting pressured to have kids one day.

Still, everyone’s concern was well-intentioned, so she wasn’t offended.

"You can only let nature take its course with something like this; it can’t be rushed. But you can think of names ahead of time!" Quincy said, coming over to join the fun while holding Zoe. Taylor Vance and Zion Lowell even stopped practicing their tai chi, and everyone gathered around to stare at Evelyn Ford.

Evelyn Ford put a hand to her forehead. "There’s no baby in sight. Why are we picking out names?"

"We’re just picking out a name, not telling you to have a baby this instant."

"Let me do it! I’ve come up with several names for your kid. I think my ideas are brilliant." Quincy wiggled his eyebrows at Ronan Kendrick. "If you end up using one, you have to buy me a drink."

Quincy cleared his throat, his expression turning serious. "For a boy, how about Sam or Connor Kendrick? For a girl, Eva or Tanya Kendrick."

"You little rascal, you’ve got a wicked sense of humor," Taylor Vance said, slapping Quincy on the shoulder. "Those are all terrible puns in Chinese! The name ’Jiang Cong’ sounds exactly like ’ginger and scallion.’ The ’Su’an’ in ’Jiang Su’an’ sounds like garlic. ’Jiang Tang’ is a homophone for ’ginger soup.’ I guess ’Jiang Ye’ is the only decent one since it combines their surnames, but the rest... You’ve managed to name a baby after ginger, scallions, and garlic soup! You’ve covered the whole spice rack."

"Hahahaha..." Everyone roared with laughter, and even Evelyn Ford couldn’t help but crack up.

"Calling me uncultured, and you all are just giggling like idiots," Quincy retorted. "The names have great meanings! ’Su’an’ contains the character for ’peace.’ ’Cong’ means ’intelligent.’ ’Jiang Ye’ combines their surnames, Jiang and Ye—how perfect is that? And ’Jiang Tang’ means ’ginger candy’—it’s so sweet. You can just hear the love in it!"

"Let’s just use the one I thought of: Winnie Kendrick," Taylor Vance said. "From the Chinese name ’Weiyi,’ meaning ’the one and only.’ Our one and only treasure." As soon as he said this, everyone gave him a thumbs-up. Even Ronan Kendrick raised an eyebrow.

"I thought of some too! Susanna, Zoe, Zachary, Riley..." Before Miles Vaughn could finish, Joelle Finch clapped a hand over his mouth.

"You’d better stay out of this."

Miles Vaughn retorted indignantly, "If Quincy can suggest names, why can’t I?"

"Quincy at least put some thought into his names, even if they were puns. The ones you picked are so generic the kid would get made fun of."

"Hahahaha..." Everyone exploded with laughter again. Quincy, feeling completely vindicated, relentlessly teased Miles Vaughn for having no taste.

"Even if we have children in the future, they won’t take my last name." The previously silent Ronan Kendrick suddenly spoke, and his words left everyone stunned for a moment.

"They won’t take your name? Are you planning for the child to take Evelyn’s last name?"

Ronan Kendrick nodded. "If we have a child, they’ll take Evelyn’s last name. If we don’t, that’s fine too. We don’t care about it."

"That’s a good way to do it," Officer Graham said with an open-minded attitude. "Living in this world, you don’t have to follow the same path as everyone else. There’s no need to get hung up on conventions." He had said before that if his daughter, Wendy, chose to never marry, he would support her decision.

"My children," Zion Lowell said, beaming at the group, "now that life is starting to stabilize, go and enjoy it. Don’t let yourselves be tied down by convention."

Evelyn Ford and Ronan Kendrick shared a look. They would just let nature take its course.

——

The next morning at eight o’clock, Ronan Kendrick and Liam Sterling went to the base warehouse to deliver fodder and wheat straw. After they were done, the two of them paid a visit to Rhys Chase.

Inside Rhys Chase’s office, both men frowned as they saw his dark circles, which seemed to be getting heavier by the day.

"Mr. Chase, haven’t you been resting at all these past few days?"

"I got four hours of sleep last night. After I woke up this morning, I personally went to the mining district to check on the rare metal extraction. I had just gotten back when my assistant told me there was an issue at the power station, so I went over there. Then I came back for a meeting, and now you’re here."

Rhys Chase opened a bottle of vitamins and downed half of it in one go.

"Mr. Chase, you’re treating those vitamins like a meal! How can your body handle that? Let me come back to work. You need to get some proper rest for a few days. Don’t work yourself into the ground." Liam Sterling was deeply concerned about Rhys Chase’s health, and seeing him pop pills so recklessly only made him more anxious.

"I’m fine. This has nothing to do with you. I’m this busy whether you’re here or not, so don’t flatter yourself by feeling guilty. The base is in the early stages of reconstruction. I have to sign tons of documents and attend countless meetings every day. Being busy is the new normal. I know my own body. I’m a little sleep-deprived, but there are no major issues."

Liam Sterling sighed and said no more.

"Those twenty people are already in Warehouse C. Ronan, you can pick them up later. By the way, the base has prepared a twenty-mu experimental plot to test-grow sweet potatoes, cassava, and potatoes. Ronan, I’ll also need to trouble you to deliver the seeds to the warehouse."

Ronan Kendrick nodded. "The seed potatoes are ready. I’ll go pick up the people in a bit and drop the seeds at the warehouse. The sweet potato vines and cassava stems need to be delivered to the experimental plot for planting as soon as possible, otherwise they’ll wilt."

"Good. I’ll have my people take the sweet potato vines and cassava stems over to be planted first. Did you two come here today for something else?"

"One more thing. Evelyn suggested that the base plant cacti and Earth-Surging Golden Lotuses in the desert. She can provide some seedlings for a trial run. Both plants can grow in arid land and have a high yield. The cacti and lotuses can be used as livestock feed, which would save on fodder and grain. Plus, people can eat them too. Mr. Chase, I already told her you’d agree."

Rhys Chase looked at Ronan Kendrick. "I agree as well. Evelyn is never wrong about these things. Will the profit-sharing be the same as before? Ronan, do you agree?"

"For the Cactus Fruit, Evelyn only wants ten percent. For the Earth-Surging Golden Lotuses, she only wants two tons. I’ll go with what she wants. Whatever she says, goes."

"Alright, let’s do this then. Ten percent of the Cactus Fruit harvest per year, and three tons of the Earth-Surging Golden Lotuses per year. A partnership is only fair when there’s give and take."

"Deal."

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