How to raise a random guy's wife

"Daddy~" Eriri threw herself into her father's arms, "Daddy's the best~"

"The next game you guys made with RER should be released soon, right?" Leonard asked excitedly. "When can we play it? Can we play it a little earlier?"

Eriri: "...Give me back my feelings of being touched!"

-

Kasumigaoka's mother opened the door and saw Kasumigaoka Utaha standing in the doorway. She paused for a moment, then peeked out, looked behind Utaha, and then looked to both sides.

Kasumigaoka Utaha crossed her arms over her chest. "You seem to be trying to find something that doesn't exist."

"Well... it's not that I can't understand it." Kasumigaoka's mother sighed. "After all, it's you."

Kasumigaoka Utaha: "......"

I should never have come back.

But after calming down and thinking about it, I realized that my current work has come to an end, and there's nothing else I need to do for the time being.

It just so happens to be Valentine's Day. I originally planned to go to Kobayashi's house with Eriri, but after thinking about it carefully, I realized that I had already bothered them once on Valentine's Day before, so it wouldn't be very appropriate to go again.

Eriri hadn't been home for a long time and wanted to take advantage of her day off to go home for a couple of days to relax.

In the end, only Kasumigaoka Utaha was left.

After much deliberation, Kasumigaoka Utaha decided to spend Valentine's Day with her parents rather than staying home alone.

And now I regret it.

"Who is it?" Kasumigaoka's father's voice came from inside the house. "Utaha?"

“It’s someone who’s all alone on Valentine’s Day.” Kasumigaoka’s mother said with a smile as she took Kasumigaoka Utaha’s bag. “Even if you can’t bring back a boyfriend, bringing back a girl will do.”

Kasumigaoka Utaha: "......"

I regretted it even more.

Before I knew it, I had reached the age where I would be pressured to get married.

Not only that, the mother even lowered her requirements regarding gender.

-

"Dad!" Lin Lan pushed open the door. "I'm home!"

"Welcome back." Kobayashi Sora said, putting her hands behind her back as she approached the mother and daughter who had returned home.

Kobayashi Megumi tilted her head slightly, revealing a knowing expression.

Ran Kobayashi's nostrils twitched. "It smells so good! A sweet and fragrant scent!"

"Clang clang!" Kobayashi Sora brought her hands, which had been behind her back, to the front. "Happy Valentine's Day!"

"Wow!" Lin Lan's eyes immediately lit up. "Thank you, Daddy!"

Kobayashi Megumi took the box and said, "Thank you for your hard work, Dad."

Just seeing the happy expressions on their faces when they received the gifts made Kobayashi Sora feel that all her previous efforts were worthwhile.

Megumi Kobayashi and Ran Kobayashi sat down at the table, opened the box, and saw six different shaped cookies inside.

An even richer aroma wafted out as the box was opened, and Xiaolin Lan took a deep breath, "So many kinds! Daddy's amazing!"

Chapter 712 Curiosity and Resistance

"Give it a try," Kobayashi Sora said with a gentle smile, "and see how it tastes."

"Hmm..." Xiaolin Lan pointed with her finger, "One, two, three, four, five... six kinds, Mom, which one should we eat first?"

"Lanlan can eat whichever one she likes first." Kobayashi Megumi picked up a square chocolate chip cookie, took a small bite, and the crisp cookie made a soft sound between her cherry lips. She tasted it carefully and found that the sweet cookie had just the right amount of bitterness, and after the brief bitterness, the sweetness became more delicate and mellow.

Kobayashi Megumi smiled sweetly, "It's quite different from our first love."

"Huh?" Ran Kobayashi asked, puzzled. "What first love?"

"Chocolate chip cookies represent memories of first love," Kobayashi Megumi explained. "They're sweet with a slightly bitter taste."

Ran Kobayashi tried a piece and exclaimed, "It really is! What did Mom mean by 'different'?"

"The feeling of first love." Kobayashi Sora recalled everything from the past. "My parents' love was always sweet, without any bitterness."

Ran Kobayashi pressed further, "How sweet is it?"

Kobayashi Megumi wiped the cookie crumbs from her daughter's mouth with her fingertips, saying, "Just as sweet as Lanlan's smile."

"Is it really that sweet?" Ran Kobayashi exclaimed seriously. "That's really amazing!"

Kobayashi Megumi looked at Kobayashi Sora, her daughter's serious yet unserious manner was exactly like Kobayashi Sora's.

"And this one?" Ran Kobayashi pointed to the prettiest of the six cookies, the one that looked like a flower. "What does this represent?"

"These are butter flower cookies, representing the excitement of a wedding." While Kobayashi Sora was researching, Kobayashi Megumi also learned some related information by browsing the records. "That's why they're so pretty."

"Yes~" Kobayashi Sora thought of Kobayashi Megumi in her wedding dress, and even now, the excitement she felt then hadn't faded at all. "She was so, so beautiful~"

Kobayashi Megumi glanced at him.

Kobayashi Sora doesn't seem to be talking about cookies.

Ran Kobayashi hesitated, her outstretched hand not picking up the butter cookie, but pointing to another one, "How about this one?"

"This is a chocolate raisin cookie," Kobayashi Megumi remembered clearly. "It represents a child's smile, just like Lanlan's smile."

Xiaolin Lan happily picked up the chocolate raisin cookie, took a big bite, closed her little mouth to savor it, and exclaimed, "It's so sweet, just like Lanlan's smile!"

-

At the Kato family home, Yoshinaga Hiromi and Kato's grandmother stared at the dark, unappetizing cookies in silence for a long time.

Finally, looking at the silent Grandpa Kato, the two of them, with the resolve to die for their cause, took a bite.

After the brief sound of cookies breaking, the living room was quiet for a while.

Grandma Kato looked at the half-eaten, dark cookie in her hand. "It's surprisingly good?"

"I thought I'd need anesthesia to eat it, but it just looks a little scary." Yoshinaga Hiromi ate another piece. "It tastes really good."

Grandpa Kato breathed a sigh of relief.

"We can't expect too much," Grandma Kato comforted her. "It's already quite good that you've achieved this much."

Hiromi Yoshinaga shared a similar thought: "After all, not everyone can be like Sora Aoi."

"Speaking of Sora Ao..." Grandma Kato changed the subject, "You and Megumi just talked about the children's issues, right?"

"You changed the subject way too abruptly," Hiromi Yoshinaga bluntly exposed. "If you want to give me advice, just say so. Why do you have to act like you just suddenly remembered to ask a random question?"

"I'm not trying to persuade you, I'm just a little curious," Grandma Kato said without changing her expression, "Do you not want to do it for now, or not at all in the future? Have you not thought it through, or are you very resistant?"

"Hmm... how should I put it?" Hiromi Yoshinaga leaned back on the sofa, "Once you have a child, you have to raise it, right?"

Grandma Kato rolled her eyes. "Nonsense."

“That’s the problem. Time, energy, and money are all issues. I don’t think I can raise a child well, so I’d rather not have one,” Yoshinaga Hiromi answered seriously, a rare occurrence for her. “Besides, his career is on the rise, and he doesn’t have time to spend with me. If I’m going to raise and educate a child myself, I’d rather not. I’m too lazy to have one.”

"If that's your mindset, then we won't have any more children." Grandma Kato was very open-minded. "It's good to live your own life. I'm just worried that you might resist."

"To be honest... I do have some resistance." Yoshinaga Hiromi paused. "Giving birth and raising children is very hard work. I don't think there's any need for my bloodline to continue, and I don't care about what to do when I get old, so why should I do things that make me suffer?"

Do you think taking care of children is just hard work?

"Of course it's not that absolute, but most of the time it's very hard and troublesome." Yoshinaga Hiromi thought about Kobayashi Megumi and then Kobayashi Ran. "But comparing the two, it's still more hard. As for the children to support you in your old age, that will probably have to wait many years. For a vague future, you risk your present. This kind of high-risk, low-return investment is something that no one in business would be interested in, but many people flock to it and rush to have children."

Grandma Kato murmured, "So that's what you were thinking..."

“I still remember some things from when I was little. I still have some memory of how you were so busy taking care of me and Megumi.” Yoshinaga Hiromi spread her hands. “Having seen how hard you worked, I decided I couldn’t let myself suffer.”

Grandma Kato looked at her daughter earnestly, "It's not hard work."

"what?"

"That's a bit of an overstatement. There are some hardships, but compared to that, there are more happy ones."

Hiromi Yoshinaga muttered, "It's clearly already so hard..."

"How should I put it..." Grandma Kato thought for a moment, "Working to earn money is hard work, isn't it?"

"Ah."

"You feel happy when you spend money, right?"

"right......"

"So you can't just assume I'm unhappy when I spend money because you see how hard I work to earn it, right?"

"Hmm..." Yoshinaga Hiromi vaguely understood something.

"On the other hand, because work can earn money, when the salary is high enough, hard work can also be a kind of happiness." Grandma Kato chuckled. "That's how I felt when I was taking care of you. The happiness you brought me made those hardships seem less arduous."

“If you’re old and Megumi and I take good care of you, then what you’re saying isn’t wrong,” Yoshinaga Hiromi waved her hand. “But so far, the happiness we’ve brought you isn’t much, is it?”

Chapter 713 Checkered Cookies

“Yes, there are many,” Grandma Kato replied earnestly. “Every smile of yours brings Mom so much happiness.”

"It sounds like the kind of vague advice elders give to younger generations." Hiromi Yoshinaga slumped lazily on the sofa. "What about the idea that a child's smile is happiness? If you don't have children, true happiness is just traveling around and having fun on your own."

Grandma Kato blinked. "Do you consider yourself a burden?"

“I don’t want to think this way, but it’s the truth.” Yoshinaga Hiromi avoided her mother’s gaze. “You gave birth to me when you were younger than I am now, and then raised me, and then you had Megumi. It must have been very hard for you. If I hadn’t been born, you would have had a much easier life.”

“I understand.” Grandma Kato finally saw through her daughter’s thoughts. “From childhood to adulthood, both teachers and family members have been telling you how hard your parents worked to raise you, so you should be grateful to your parents—that’s why you think this way.”

Hiromi Yoshinaga retorted, "Otherwise what?"

“Mom and Dad should thank you too,” Grandma Kato chuckled. “Thank you for being such a lovely child, willing to come into this world and become our precious child.”

Hiromi Yoshinaga was stunned; this was a thought she had never had before.

“You experienced the joy of being a child, and your parents also experienced the happiness of being parents—how should I describe it…” Grandma Kato thought for a moment, “Don’t Megumi and Sora have cats?”

Hiromi Yoshinaga nodded slightly. "Mm."

"It's similar to that feeling." Grandma Kato looked on with a nostalgic expression. "Buying cat food, emptying the litter box, washing the cat bed—there are so many things to pay attention to when raising a cat. Why do they still keep them?"