Chapter 174 - My Compilation

Reuben's eyes remained closed for a few seconds after which he gradually opened them.

Opening his eyes, he looked around only to find himself on his bed back in the Ming family's ancestral house.

He scratched his head and was wondering how he had gotten here when he heard something.

"Ruby, get up! You'll be late for work!" A sweet yet firm voice rang from outside the bedroom door.

Turning towards the door that had been pushed open, he was greeted with the sight of his Kitten walking in with a chubby little child in her arms.

Reuben stared blankly at the pair who waltzed in and came closer to his bed.

"Baby, say good morning to Papa!" Lina gently poked the child's round cheeks as she cradled the toddler from side to side.

'Papa?' His gaze alternated between the woman and then the child who was making cute spit bubbles.

Reuben's eyes widened when he saw the child stretch those chubby little arms and gesture to be carried.

His body moved on his own and he willingly took the child in his arms.

The big brown eyes which concealed tiny flecks of gold in them reminded him of Lina's hazel-golden irises.

After gazing at the child cheerfully playing in his arms, he looked up and broke into a wide smile when he saw his Kitten smiling back at him.

'Why is she so beautiful today?' His eyes did not leave her face for even a single second.

He smiled contentedly when her soft fingers brushed through his hair as she patted his head a couple of times.

"Don't be lazy, Ruby. We need to visit the hospital before lunch as well." Lina's soft grumbles reached his ears and this made him frown.

"Hospital? Why?" He questioned and glanced all over her body but she seemed fine to him.

Lina rolled her eyes when she saw his panicked face and shook her head.

"For the monthly checkup, silly!" She giggled while rubbing her belly.

Only then did Reuben notice the slightly bulging belly that had been hidden behind the loose fitted maxi dress that she had worn today.

It took him a couple of seconds to understand the meaning of her words combined with those actions.

"You're pregnant!?" He croaked in a loud voice which seemed to have startled the child in his arms.

Lina shot him a menacing glare before taking the baby back into her arms and began trying to coax the now sniffling child.

"Why are you acting as if you are hearing this for the first time!?" She smiled at him sweetly but the words coming out of her mouth did not match her expression.

"You were there when it happened! If I recall correctly, you were the one who wanted to do it without any protection!" She scowled at him but the smile never faded.

"Without protection? Wait…! That child is mine!?" He widened his eyes as his finger raised itself and pointed at her protruding belly.

However, the very next second he regretted his actions and gulped when he saw the look of ultimate fury flash through Lina's eyes.

"Are you doubting whether the child in my womb is yours or not?" She stalked towards him and leaned closer to his face.

The child in her arms was absolutely silent, as though it had understood that any actions now would just be disastrous for oneself.

Staring into those fierce eyes, Reuben felt a time of fear he had never experienced before.

"Listen here, Reuben Ming! This child and this one …" She pointed at the child in her arms and then the one in her belly.

"Both are the result of your insatiable drive, so don't you dare try to run away from your responsibility by using such lame excuses!" She threatened and then handed over the child to him.

"Either come with me to the check-up or I can ask someone else to take your place!" She declared before striding out of the room.

Left in the room with the baby, Reuben stared at the shut door and then at the toddler who was staring back at him.

"My baby?" He muttered, still confused by what was happening.

"Gu.. Gah…" The toddler's incoherent babble brought him back from his thoughts.

Looking down at the child playing in his lap, Reuben was unaware of what to do next.

However, his hands securely yet cautiously held the child whose responsibility was handed over to him before Lina stormed out of the room.

'My baby? Mine and Kitten's combined DNA?' His heart felt a strange warmth when he thought of this.

"Who are you calling 'your baby', you fool!? I am your grandpa!" 

Reuben's eyes opened wide when he heard his grandfather's loud shrieks.

Looking around the room, he noticed that he was back inside the guest room in Luo Residence and shook his head.

'Was that entire thing just a figment of my imagination?' He sulked when he realized that was exactly what had happened.

"He's calling ME a baby!" Aloysius kept mumbling in anger after hearing Reuben calling him 'my baby' twice in a row.

Reuben rolled his eyes at his narcissistic grandfather and snickered.

"Grandpa, no one in this world would think of you as a baby." He openly mocked him and was countered with a growl.

"Shut it, boy! Now tell me what did you imagine earlier?" The elderly was more interested in knowing what had appeared in Reuben's mind.

'I cannot tell him about what I saw or he will make it into something perverted again!' Reuben shook his head and came to a quick conclusion on how to answer the old man.

"I saw us dating each other. Nothing more and nothing less." He declared in a firm voice which instantly made Aloysius's eyes roll.

'Oh Old man Yang, looks like your granddaughter will have to teach this dull-headed boy from my family to express himself better.' He looked up at the ceiling and shook his head in dismay.

Grandpa Ming thought in this way because during this entire emergency phone call, he had realized something crucial and completely new about Reuben.

'He surely seems to have deep feelings for her but refuses to acknowledge them. Hmm… Looks like I will have to keep my mouth shut until he realizes them all by himself.' Grandpa Ming smirked and got up from his seat.

"Is it? Then my answer is the same as usual." He sneered as he made his way back to the comfy and warm bed that he had left for his ungrateful grandson who couldn't even be honest with his feelings.

Reuben tilted his head and tried to recall what his grandfather was talking about.

"You like her, I'll give you that. But do you like her enough to date her? I don't think so." Aloysius bit his lower lip to stop the chuckle that was about to leak out because he was blatantly misleading this hopelessly antisocial young man.

Reuben was stumped to hear those words of judgment from his wise old man and wondered whether they were true indeed.

While he was still thinking of what was right and what was wrong, he heard his grandpa's voice once again.

"Until you realize that… I don't think Yang girl will be willing to date you. Wasn't that her condition in the first place?" He muttered and shrugged as though he did not care about his grandson's love life.

Reuben panicked because that was exactly what Lina had mentioned in her condition.

'Lina wants a man who loves her and grandpa now tells me that I don't like her enough?' He grimaced and decided to ask his grandpa for help.

"What should I do then?" He questioned softly to which he got an immediate reply.

"How about I compile a list of tricks that I had used to court your grandmother?" Aloysius rubbed his chin as he wondered out loud.

Reuben's jaw dropped when he heard this seemingly innocent and harmless offer.

'Grandpa got grandma pregnant and that was why they got married!' He shook his head but before he could politely decline, he heard Aloysius's excited voice.

"I'll send it to you in the morning! I'm sleepy now so good night!" Having said his goodbye, Aloysius hung up without waiting for Reuben's reply.

"Wait! Grandpa, no!" Reuben screamed but all he heard were beeps coming from the other side.

He stared at the phone for a couple more seconds and then sighed.

'I'll throw it in the bin if his first suggestion is to impregnate her!' He scoffed and then decided to head to the bed.

On the other side, Aloysius stared at his phone and cackled like a hyena.

"Oh, just you wait till I send my compilation of things to do to get a girl!" He hummed the latest pop song by the famous singer Ren Phillipe and got underneath the covers.

'Not only will they help him get closer to Yang girl… They will also help this dull-headed boy to get in touch with his own inner feelings.' He smiled and then closed his eyes to fall asleep.

No matter how much he teased his grandson, Aloysius still loved him the most and would look out for him whenever he reached out his hand in need of help.

This was how the night filled with twists and turns for the Ming family's grandfather and grandson came to an end.

While everyone was fast asleep there was someone busy making plans for the future that may or may not hold disasters for certain people in the Yang family.