Iris’ heart softened upon seeing the white cat’s pitiful appearance and miserable sobbing. It sounded similar to how Little Jun cried. In fact, Ketchup based her crying on a mixture of her human cousin Little Jun and her kitty siblings Ice Cream and Popcorn. She was able to maximize the intended effect on her mommy. Iris turned to Jin Liwei.
“Darling, don’t you think that grounding Ketchup for one month is too much? She already said sorry.”
Jin Liwei wavered at his baby girl’s expression. However, his sternness returned when he thought about the potential consequences of exposing Drakon’s real identity to the wrong people, not to mention the fact that Ketchup, a.k.a. KittyBaby, was not a real person but a highly advanced AI. He knew that there were people in the world who would kill to acquire the cat AI once they discovered about its existence. And as the creator, his baby girl would also be in grave danger. He couldn’t risk it. His wife and kids were his life. He would protect them with everything he had.
“No, love. This is for her own good. Ketchup needs to learn the consequences of doing things that she shouldn’t do the hard way. She’ll learn discipline this way,” he told his baby girl.
Iris glanced at the pitiful Ketchup who was now mewling softly while curled in a puddle of her own tears. Then she looked at Jin Liwei again.
“I still think that one month is too long. It’s torture for a hacker like us not to play around online for one month. How about let’s ground her for one week instead?”
Ketchup immediately stopped crying and peeked at her parents behind her paws. Her expression was hopeful after hearing her mommy pleading her case to her daddy.
A furrow formed between Jin Liwei’s brows. Now he felt like a bad guy. He almost gave in…almost. Good thing that he kept in mind what could’ve happened if the information Ketchup revealed to Hou Liang went into the wrong hands.
“Love, you’re too soft on her. If we don’t discipline her now, she’ll start thinking that she could get away with almost anything because she could count on you, her mom, to defend her. She’ll grow a hard head. Not good. What if she makes more mistakes in the future because of carelessness that we could’ve prevented by properly disciplining her? It would be too dangerous, especially with both of your hacker identities.”
Iris sighed with a sad expression. “I understand…but I think that one month is still too long. How about ten days? Or maybe twelve?”
“Two weeks?”
“Fine. Two weeks. No less than that.”
Iris smiled after he agreed. Two weeks sounded more reasonable than one month. She glanced at Ketchup who was now swishing her tail a little bit, grateful that her punishment was shortened from one month to two weeks instead.
“She needs to learn her lesson. She can’t just reveal anything about both of your identities to anyone without our permission. Like I said, it’s too dangerous. If any of these information gets into the wrong hands, all of us will suffer,” Jin Liwei said, reminding the two about the consequences.
Iris nodded. “Ketchup, you heard your dad. You’re grounded for two weeks. You’re only allowed to go online for tasks we’ve assigned you. No Black Stars or playing around for these two weeks. If you don’t obey, I won’t stop your dad if he makes your punishment longer. Do you have something to say?”
Ketchup stood up and wiggled her fluffy white butt. “Meow~ Thank you, Mommy and Daddy for reducing my punishment to two weeks only! Ketchup is very sorry and won’t do it again! I promise! Meow~”
Jin Liwei nodded, satisfied. Iris sighed in relief.
“Mommy, Daddy, can Ketchup still talk to Uncle Dom and the others? Or does that count as playing around too? Meow?”
“Of course, you can still talk to them and to us,” Iris replied.
“Meow? Weird words? Oh, like ‘boobies’ and ‘boom-boom’?”
“Yes,” Jin Liwei replied through gritted teeth, a scowl on his face.
Iris chuckled softly.
“Okay, Daddy! Ketchup will compile any new words that I hear from Uncle Dom and the others from now on, and then ask Mommy and Daddy which ones are weird and which ones I could use! Meow~”
“En.”
With that, the couple finished disciplining their naughty third kitty baby. Ketchup’s two-week punished started that morning. That cat AI sulked a little for a few minutes before returning to her tasks that Iris and Jin Liwei assigned to her.
Afterwards, Iris felt relieved that Jin Liwei was a firm disciplinarian. If it was just her, she would have already given in. Jin Liwei was right. She was too soft-hearted when it came to their kids. It wasn’t only Ketchup but to Ice Cream and Popcorn as well. Of course, to Little Jun too.
Jin Liwei was also right in saying that it would be too dangerous to give Ketchup free rein. They needed to discipline her in this early stage of her rapid development in order to prevent her from going out of control.
His attitude just proved that he would be a great father to their own (human) children in the future. But would she be a good mother? She wasn’t sure.
The weather was a little chilly today, so Jin Liwei made sure that his baby girl was well-covered before allowing her to step out of the car. The bodyguards following behind them carried the abundant souvenirs they brought with them.
Huang Yuyan and Grandma Li welcomed them at the front hall. To Iris and Jin Liwei’s surprise, there were other people present as well.
“Members of the branch families,” Jin Liwei whispered to her.
“Oh.” Understanding flashed in Iris’ eyes.
Based on the expressions of both Huang Yuyan and Grandma Li, it seemed that they didn’t invite the branch families. They must have heard that Iris and Jin Liwei would be coming, so they invited themselves for lunch.
Iris could feel the hostility from some of them directed towards her, especially from the younger female members of the group. She inwardly sighed and felt a minor annoyance—like someone trying to ignore an annoying mosquito buzzing all around, attempting to suck her blood.
The couple greeted Huang Yuyan and Grandma Li first.
“Oh, Xiulan! I’m so happy to see you again! You look even more beautiful than the last time I saw you!” Huang Yuyan exclaimed.
She immediately pulled Iris into a tight hug. She didn’t even greet her own son yet. One would think that Iris was her own child and not Jin Liwei by how she treated the two of them right now.
After Jin Liwei’s mother, Iris greeted the matriarch next. Grandma Li’s cold aura—which was very similar to Jin Liwei’s—warmed a lot after hugging Iris.
“Yuyan is right. You look more beautiful than the last time we saw you,” she said.
“Of course,” Jin Liwei interjected. “My fiancée has always been beautiful but she has become even more so because of my tender loving care.”
