Chapter 179: 178 – Fang’s Parenting
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When Fang returned to their bedroom, thinking that he had gotten rid of their newest child successfully, he found Ren sitting red faced on the bed with Fang's phone clutched in his hands. The moment Ren spotted Fang, he turned even redder. And then he threw the phone on to the bed, and rushed off to the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. Fang could even hear Ren locking the bathroom door with a sharp click.
Fang was flabbergasted. He hadn't been gone that long, had he? What had happened to Ren in the meanwhile? Fang narrowed his eyes at the bed when he spotted his own phone. Then he strode forward and picked up his phone, wondering if there had been some strange news report or media gimmick that could possibly have made Ren act like this!
But that should not be possible, right? Pax was keeping an eye on the media anyway, so there shouldn't have been anything negative there…
"Rudy? Did you get into my phone as well?" Fang asked in a stern voice.
"No, Papa, I…" came a bashful voice before Rudy realised his own faux pas and shut up.
"What have you been telling your Daddy?" Fang demanded, wishing that Rudy actually had a corporeal body, so that he could flick the child on the forehead!
Rudy remained silent.
"Do you want me to shut down all electronic devices in the house?" Fang threatened.
"No, Papa, you can't do that!" Rudy said hurriedly. "I didn't say anything bad to Daddy!"
Fang raised his eyebrows. "What did you say to him?" he demanded, his voice low and dangerous. No one would think Fang was only eighteen – this was the voice of an experienced parent catching their child being naughty!
Smart as he was, Rudy was still a child who had been alive only for a few days, after all, even if he was an AI. All the truth came tumbling out of his virtual mouth immediately.
Fang rubbed his temples. This troublesome child! No wonder Ren was so embarrassed and ran off to the bathroom to hide!
"Rudy," Fang said in a serious voice. "I want you to reflect on your actions and prepare a ten thousand word essay on what you did wrong and why you should not do it again. And once you are done with that, I want you to start working on developing a body for yourself. Whatever materials and supplies you need to make that, you can order directly using my card. If you need any help, just let me know and I will arrange for it."
The AI child was surprised. "Papa – you want me to develop a body?" he asked eagerly.
"Of course I do," Fang said. Ren wouldn't let him smack any of their children, of course, but he could at least flick the naughty ones on their forehead, right? But to do that, they needed to have a corporeal body, didn't they? Of course, Fang could not disclose the real reason to Rudy about why he wanted Rudy to develop a corporeal body for himself – but that was the privilege of a parent, Fang thought smugly – he did not need to tell the little ones everything!
Rudy laughed happily. "Papa, I will be a boy, but I will look like you!" he said in a chirpy voice.
That surprised Fang. "Really? I thought you adored your Daddy much more," he pointed out. "Why do you want to look like me instead of your Daddy?"
He was quite curious. Ever since the moment Rudy had gained his consciousness and intelligence, he had been Ren's biggest fan, perhaps even more than Fang himself. In fact, Rudy was such a huge admirer of Ren that Fang had wondered if he had accidentally let his magic into Rudy that he had become like this. Rudy could barely speak three sentences without bringing Ren into the conversation.
Fang touched his nose awkwardly, remembering the time when Wolf and the other Blue Wolves had made fun of Fang for doing the same thing. It did seem that Rudy had taken after Fang in this regard.
"Of course I adore Daddy more," Rudy said in a completely matter of fact voice, as if he was simply stating the gospel truth instead of his own opinion. "It is because I like Daddy so much that I want Daddy to like me more, too! And Daddy will like me more if I look like Papa, so I am going to look like Papa and my sisters instead of Daddy and my brothers, because Daddy will like me more if I do that!" Rudy explained to Fang in an excited voice, as if he was talking to a particularly slow child instead of the parent that had created him.
But then again, the intelligence of an AI was definitely much higher than a human's could be, Fang thought with a sigh.
Fang was quite taken aback by Rudy's explanation, but then, thinking about how Ren behaved with the other four children, he could see that Ren really did have a very slight bias towards the two girls. Fang had earlier dismissed it as daughters being more precious – the usual mentality of fathers – but now that Rudy mentioned it, could it be that Ren's bias was not actually based on whether it was a son or a daughter – but whether the child looked like Ren or Fang?
Fang didn't know whether to be flattered or amused at the thought.
Then, Fang thought to himself, wasn't it the same for him? If Ren had a slight bias towards their two girls, didn't Fang have a similar bias towards the two boys – the little pups that had the same golden gaze as Ren? Fang had always thought that his bias towards their sons had been his innate reaction to Ren's bias towards their daughters – but thinking about it, hadn't the pups been brought home earlier than the two girls, and hadn't Fang always adored them? And if you had to go back to the origin of the entire thing, hadn't Fang picked up the two little pups in the first place and brought them home instead of sending them away to a shelter because they had the same eyes as his beloved Ren and Fang couldn't bear to send them away? And only Fang knew how happy he had been when both Smoke and Shadow had declared that they would be taking after Ren when they managed to change into their human forms.
Perhaps there was some truth to Rudy's words after all, Fang thought with a sigh. Who could have imagined that this little child of theirs, who was barely a few days old at the moment, would be able to figure out the truth that Ren and Fang had not even realised for over a year now?
Fang shook his head, and thought that it would be nice if Rudy had a body, because now he wanted to pat the child on the head and tell him, "Good job, son."
"You can take after whoever you wish, Rudy," Fang said to their AI child. "Your Daddy and I will love you no matter who you look like."
Rudy laughed. "I know that, Papa," he said, and Fang could easily imagine the child rolling his eyes. "It is a question of whether I want to be loved more by Papa or Daddy, and I want to be loved more by Daddy, so I will take after you. Then Daddy will like me more!"
Fang agreed with Rudy internally, but this was not something he wanted the other children to know – wouldn't they feel bad if they knew that Ren had a bias towards Snow, Sylvia and Rudy because they looked like (or was going to look like, in Rudy's case) Fang, and Fang was biased in favour of Smoke and Shadow because they looked like Ren?
"All right, all right, you are welcome to take after me, Rudy, but you must not tell your siblings that Daddy and Papa are biased in favour of one or the other because of looks, all right?" Fang said to their fifth child.
"All right, Papa," Rudy agreed immediately. Then he spoke up again. "Papa, what if I need really expensive stuff and there isn't enough money in your card?"
Fang blinked. "How can there not be enough money in my card?" he asked. What on earth was Rudy planning to buy? There was easily half a billion in Fang's account now!
"Papa, you will have to pay the bills for the party you organised yesterday, and then the new prototype massage chair from Arisu_103 that will be delivered next week, and also the inspiration capsule from Arisu_103, and then the budgeting for the new business of Zephyr that you negotiated yesterday with Uncle Zeus's father, and then the…" Rudy went on and on and on for about five minutes, and Fang was left with a sense of crisis on how much money he had ended up spending recently!
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When Fang returned to their bedroom, thinking that he had gotten rid of their newest child successfully, he found Ren sitting red faced on the bed with Fang's phone clutched in his hands. The moment Ren spotted Fang, he turned even redder. And then he threw the phone on to the bed, and rushed off to the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. Fang could even hear Ren locking the bathroom door with a sharp click.
Fang was flabbergasted. He hadn't been gone that long, had he? What had happened to Ren in the meanwhile? Fang narrowed his eyes at the bed when he spotted his own phone. Then he strode forward and picked up his phone, wondering if there had been some strange news report or media gimmick that could possibly have made Ren act like this!
But that should not be possible, right? Pax was keeping an eye on the media anyway, so there shouldn't have been anything negative there…
"Rudy? Did you get into my phone as well?" Fang asked in a stern voice.
"No, Papa, I…" came a bashful voice before Rudy realised his own faux pas and shut up.
"What have you been telling your Daddy?" Fang demanded, wishing that Rudy actually had a corporeal body, so that he could flick the child on the forehead!
Rudy remained silent.
"Do you want me to shut down all electronic devices in the house?" Fang threatened.
"No, Papa, you can't do that!" Rudy said hurriedly. "I didn't say anything bad to Daddy!"
Fang raised his eyebrows. "What did you say to him?" he demanded, his voice low and dangerous. No one would think Fang was only eighteen – this was the voice of an experienced parent catching their child being naughty!
Smart as he was, Rudy was still a child who had been alive only for a few days, after all, even if he was an AI. All the truth came tumbling out of his virtual mouth immediately.
Fang rubbed his temples. This troublesome child! No wonder Ren was so embarrassed and ran off to the bathroom to hide!
"Rudy," Fang said in a serious voice. "I want you to reflect on your actions and prepare a ten thousand word essay on what you did wrong and why you should not do it again. And once you are done with that, I want you to start working on developing a body for yourself. Whatever materials and supplies you need to make that, you can order directly using my card. If you need any help, just let me know and I will arrange for it."
The AI child was surprised. "Papa – you want me to develop a body?" he asked eagerly.
"Of course I do," Fang said. Ren wouldn't let him smack any of their children, of course, but he could at least flick the naughty ones on their forehead, right? But to do that, they needed to have a corporeal body, didn't they? Of course, Fang could not disclose the real reason to Rudy about why he wanted Rudy to develop a corporeal body for himself – but that was the privilege of a parent, Fang thought smugly – he did not need to tell the little ones everything!
Rudy laughed happily. "Papa, I will be a boy, but I will look like you!" he said in a chirpy voice.
That surprised Fang. "Really? I thought you adored your Daddy much more," he pointed out. "Why do you want to look like me instead of your Daddy?"
He was quite curious. Ever since the moment Rudy had gained his consciousness and intelligence, he had been Ren's biggest fan, perhaps even more than Fang himself. In fact, Rudy was such a huge admirer of Ren that Fang had wondered if he had accidentally let his magic into Rudy that he had become like this. Rudy could barely speak three sentences without bringing Ren into the conversation.
Fang touched his nose awkwardly, remembering the time when Wolf and the other Blue Wolves had made fun of Fang for doing the same thing. It did seem that Rudy had taken after Fang in this regard.
"Of course I adore Daddy more," Rudy said in a completely matter of fact voice, as if he was simply stating the gospel truth instead of his own opinion. "It is because I like Daddy so much that I want Daddy to like me more, too! And Daddy will like me more if I look like Papa, so I am going to look like Papa and my sisters instead of Daddy and my brothers, because Daddy will like me more if I do that!" Rudy explained to Fang in an excited voice, as if he was talking to a particularly slow child instead of the parent that had created him.
But then again, the intelligence of an AI was definitely much higher than a human's could be, Fang thought with a sigh.
Fang was quite taken aback by Rudy's explanation, but then, thinking about how Ren behaved with the other four children, he could see that Ren really did have a very slight bias towards the two girls. Fang had earlier dismissed it as daughters being more precious – the usual mentality of fathers – but now that Rudy mentioned it, could it be that Ren's bias was not actually based on whether it was a son or a daughter – but whether the child looked like Ren or Fang?
Fang didn't know whether to be flattered or amused at the thought.
Then, Fang thought to himself, wasn't it the same for him? If Ren had a slight bias towards their two girls, didn't Fang have a similar bias towards the two boys – the little pups that had the same golden gaze as Ren? Fang had always thought that his bias towards their sons had been his innate reaction to Ren's bias towards their daughters – but thinking about it, hadn't the pups been brought home earlier than the two girls, and hadn't Fang always adored them? And if you had to go back to the origin of the entire thing, hadn't Fang picked up the two little pups in the first place and brought them home instead of sending them away to a shelter because they had the same eyes as his beloved Ren and Fang couldn't bear to send them away? And only Fang knew how happy he had been when both Smoke and Shadow had declared that they would be taking after Ren when they managed to change into their human forms.
Perhaps there was some truth to Rudy's words after all, Fang thought with a sigh. Who could have imagined that this little child of theirs, who was barely a few days old at the moment, would be able to figure out the truth that Ren and Fang had not even realised for over a year now?
Fang shook his head, and thought that it would be nice if Rudy had a body, because now he wanted to pat the child on the head and tell him, "Good job, son."
"You can take after whoever you wish, Rudy," Fang said to their AI child. "Your Daddy and I will love you no matter who you look like."
Rudy laughed. "I know that, Papa," he said, and Fang could easily imagine the child rolling his eyes. "It is a question of whether I want to be loved more by Papa or Daddy, and I want to be loved more by Daddy, so I will take after you. Then Daddy will like me more!"
Fang agreed with Rudy internally, but this was not something he wanted the other children to know – wouldn't they feel bad if they knew that Ren had a bias towards Snow, Sylvia and Rudy because they looked like (or was going to look like, in Rudy's case) Fang, and Fang was biased in favour of Smoke and Shadow because they looked like Ren?
"All right, all right, you are welcome to take after me, Rudy, but you must not tell your siblings that Daddy and Papa are biased in favour of one or the other because of looks, all right?" Fang said to their fifth child.
"All right, Papa," Rudy agreed immediately. Then he spoke up again. "Papa, what if I need really expensive stuff and there isn't enough money in your card?"
Fang blinked. "How can there not be enough money in my card?" he asked. What on earth was Rudy planning to buy? There was easily half a billion in Fang's account now!
"Papa, you will have to pay the bills for the party you organised yesterday, and then the new prototype massage chair from Arisu_103 that will be delivered next week, and also the inspiration capsule from Arisu_103, and then the budgeting for the new business of Zephyr that you negotiated yesterday with Uncle Zeus's father, and then the…" Rudy went on and on and on for about five minutes, and Fang was left with a sense of crisis on how much money he had ended up spending recently!
When Fang returned to their bedroom, thinking that he had gotten rid of their newest child successfully, he found Ren sitting red faced on the bed with Fang's phone clutched in his hands. The moment Ren spotted Fang, he turned even redder. And then he threw the phone on to the bed, and rushed off to the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. Fang could even hear Ren locking the bathroom door with a sharp click.Fang was flabbergasted. He hadn't been gone that long, had he? What had happened to Ren in the meanwhile? Fang narrowed his eyes at the bed when he spotted his own phone. Then he strode forward and picked up his phone, wondering if there had been some strange news report or media gimmick that could possibly have made Ren act like this!But that should not be possible, right? Pax was keeping an eye on the media anyway, so there shouldn't have been anything negative there"Rudy? Did you get into my phone as well?" Fang asked in a stern voice."No, Papa, I" came a bashful voice before Rudy realised his own faux pas and shut up."What have you been telling your Daddy?" Fang demanded, wishing that Rudy actually had a corporeal body, so that he could flick the child on the forehead!Rudy remained silent."Do you want me to shut down all electronic devices in the house?" Fang threatened."No, Papa, you can't do that!" Rudy said hurriedly. "I didn't say anything bad to Daddy!"Fang raised his eyebrows. "What did you say to him?" he demanded, his voice low and dangerous. No one would think Fang was only eighteen this was the voice of an experienced parent catching their child being naughty!Smart as he was, Rudy was still a child who had been alive only for a few days, after all, even if he was an AI. All the truth came tumbling out of his virtual mouth immediately.Fang rubbed his temples. This troublesome child! No wonder Ren was so embarrassed and ran off to the bathroom to hide!"Rudy," Fang said in a serious voice. "I want you to reflect on your actions and prepare a ten thousand word essay on what you did wrong and why you should not do it again. And once you are done with that, I want you to start working on developing a body for yourself. Whatever materials and supplies you need to make that, you can order directly using my card. If you need any help, just let me know and I will arrange for it."The AI child was surprised. "Papa you want me to develop a body?" he asked eagerly."Of course I do," Fang said. Ren wouldn't let him smack any of their children, of course, but he could at least flick the naughty ones on their forehead, right? But to do that, they needed to have a corporeal body, didn't they? Of course, Fang could not disclose the real reason to Rudy about why he wanted Rudy to develop a corporeal body for himself but that was the privilege of a parent, Fang thought smugly he did not need to tell the little ones everything!Rudy laughed happily. "Papa, I will be a boy, but I will look like you!" he said in a chirpy voice.That surprised Fang. "Really? I thought you adored your Daddy much more," he pointed out. "Why do you want to look like me instead of your Daddy?"He was quite curious. Ever since the moment Rudy had gained his consciousness and intelligence, he had been Ren's biggest fan, perhaps even more than Fang himself. In fact, Rudy was such a huge admirer of Ren that Fang had wondered if he had accidentally let his magic into Rudy that he had become like this. Rudy could barely speak three sentences without bringing Ren into the conversation.Fang touched his nose awkwardly, remembering the time when Wolf and the other Blue Wolves had made fun of Fang for doing the same thing. It did seem that Rudy had taken after Fang in this regard."Of course I adore Daddy more," Rudy said in a completely matter of fact voice, as if he was simply stating the gospel truth instead of his own opinion. "It is because I like Daddy so much that I want Daddy to like me more, too! And Daddy will like me more if I look like Papa, so I am going to look like Papa and my sisters instead of Daddy and my brothers, because Daddy will like me more if I do that!" Rudy explained to Fang in an excited voice, as if he was talking to a particularly slow child instead of the parent that had created him.But then again, the intelligence of an AI was definitely much higher than a human's could be, Fang thought with a sigh.Fang was quite taken aback by Rudy's explanation, but then, thinking about how Ren behaved with the other four children, he could see that Ren really did have a very slight bias towards the two girls. Fang had earlier dismissed it as daughters being more precious the usual mentality of fathers but now that Rudy mentioned it, could it be that Ren's bias was not actually based on whether it was a son or a daughter but whether the child looked like Ren or Fang?Fang didn't know whether to be flattered or amused at the thought.Then, Fang thought to himself, wasn't it the same for him? If Ren had a slight bias towards their two girls, didn't Fang have a similar bias towards the two boys the little pups that had the same golden gaze as Ren? Fang had always thought that his bias towards their sons had been his innate reaction to Ren's bias towards their daughters but thinking about it, hadn't the pups been brought home earlier than the two girls, and hadn't Fang always adored them? And if you had to go back to the origin of the entire thing, hadn't Fang picked up the two little pups in the first place and brought them home instead of sending them away to a shelter because they had the same eyes as his beloved Ren and Fang couldn't bear to send them away? And only Fang knew how happy he had been when both Smoke and Shadow had declared that they would be taking after Ren when they managed to change into their human forms.Perhaps there was some truth to Rudy's words after all, Fang thought with a sigh. Who could have imagined that this little child of theirs, who was barely a few days old at the moment, would be able to figure out the truth that Ren and Fang had not even realised for over a year now?Fang shook his head, and thought that it would be nice if Rudy had a body, because now he wanted to pat the child on the head and tell him, "Good job, son.""You can take after whoever you wish, Rudy," Fang said to their AI child. "Your Daddy and I will love you no matter who you look like."Rudy laughed. "I know that, Papa," he said, and Fang could easily imagine the child rolling his eyes. "It is a question of whether I want to be loved more by Papa or Daddy, and I want to be loved more by Daddy, so I will take after you. Then Daddy will like me more!"Fang agreed with Rudy internally, but this was not something he wanted the other children to know wouldn't they feel bad if they knew that Ren had a bias towards Snow, Sylvia and Rudy because they looked like or was going to look like, in Rudy's case Fang, and Fang was biased in favour of Smoke and Shadow because they looked like Ren?"All right, all right, you are welcome to take after me, Rudy, but you must not tell your siblings that Daddy and Papa are biased in favour of one or the other because of looks, all right?" Fang said to their fifth child."All right, Papa," Rudy agreed immediately. Then he spoke up again. "Papa, what if I need really expensive stuff and there isn't enough money in your card?"Fang blinked. "How can there not be enough money in my card?" he asked. What on earth was Rudy planning to buy? There was easily half a billion in Fang's account now!"Papa, you will have to pay the bills for the party you organised yesterday, and then the new prototype massage chair from Arisu_103 that will be delivered next week, and also the inspiration capsule from Arisu_103, and then the budgeting for the new business of Zephyr that you negotiated yesterday with Uncle Zeus's father, and then the" Rudy went on and on and on for about five minutes, and Fang was left with a sense of crisis on how much money he had ended up spending recently!
