Crimson Instinct

Eight years later.

The door opened and two pairs of footsteps slowly trotted inside. They were extremely quiet as they approached the couple sleeping on the bed. There was complete darkness.

The intruders looked at each other and nodded as they evilly smiled. One of them brought a box and held in his hand. They slowly walked up to the edge of the bed and stood straight.

One of them raised his hand and put three fingers out as countdown.

Three.

Two.

One.

They were just about to press the button when the man on the bed suddenly caught his hand. They froze and looked at him. That man's eyes weren't even open as he caught them.

They looked at each other in panic.

"Liang. Luan." The man said with a warning. "Don't play pranks on your parents so early in the morning."

Bai Li switched on the lamp light and looked sideways at his eight-year-old son, Liang and five-year-old daughter, Luan.

Beside him, Xin Lei aka Bai Lei now, yawned and rubbed her eyes. She looked at them and smiled. "Aww my sweet honey pies! Good morning!"

Bai Li snorted. "Your sweet honey pies were going to ruin our morning."

Bai Liang tsked. "Tch. Sharp as always you old man."

"You have a long way to go before you can trap in your tricks, young man. And Luan. I told you to stay away from your brother. He is not a good influence."

"Hey!"

Both mother and son exclaimed in displeasure.

"Don't talk like that about my son."

She hit him hard on his head.

Bai Liang proudly smiled. Bai Luan said, "Bro said he will give me lots of candies with his pocket money."

Bai Li said, "I have more pocket money than your brother here so come to me for any treats."

Bai Luan gleamed. "Done!"

Bai Liang rolled his eyes. Bai Li twisted his ear and he shrieked. "Hey!"

"This is for trying to ruin our lovely morning. Your mother was very tired yesterday. How dare you interrupt her sleep?"

Bai Luan curiously asked, "Mom was fine last night though."

Xin Lei widened her eyes. His cheeks flushed. Last night, Bai Li and her had a long intense and passionate lovemaking night. Bai Li seemed energetic but she was dead tired.

She coughed. "Nothing." She elbowed him secretly and he slightly flinched.

Bai Liang raised his eyebrow and a naughty smile curled his lips. Bai Li and Xin Lei had yet to initiate talking about matters of sex and intimacy but Xin Nianzu being Xin Nianzu, he already revealed it without a care in the world.

"Grandpa. Why was Mom looking so tired? And why was Dad looking so happy? Just what do they do in the room?"

Bai Liang asked this question once to him.

Xin Nianzu chuckled. "Oh that. Your Mom and Dad were spending some quality time with each other."

"What kind of quality time makes Mom tired and Dad happy?"

"Oh trust me, your Mom is happy too. It just gets overwhelmed by the physical activity called as sex."

"Sex?"

"Yup. I will give you some good and simple to understand articles to read. You will know what is going on. By the way, that is why you and your sister were born. For that matter, everybody in this world."

Bai Liang was curious just like any other child.

"If you have any doubts, come to me," Xin Nianzu winked. "We will have a nice man-to-man chat. I guess it's time for you to learn a little about yourself and your body now."

And so it didn't take long for Bai Liang to understand the process. He was sharp and clever as his parents so he understood why they never directly talked to him about this.

Maybe they felt he was too young to understand the concept of lovemaking.

Bai Liang grinned as he looked at Bai Li. "Hmmm...I see."

Poor Bai Li and Xin Lei had no clue that Xin Nianzu had already explained everything there was to have to his grandson.

Bai Luan pouted. "Get up Mom and Dad. Uncle and Aunt are coming soon. I will get busy with sis Qiao and bro Rong. Breakfast! Breakfast!"

Xin Lei sighed.

Bai Li held her arm. "You stay here. I will make them."

Bai Liang looked at him in disdain. "Old man, you burned our egg and toast last week. I don't wanna eat charred eggs again. It's not good for my health."

"Shut up. I have improved a lot! Let me show you today. Also," he narrowed his eyes and twisted his ear again, "Why did you skip the martial arts class yesterday? Why didn't I see you?"

"I was sick."

Bai Li glanced at Xin Lei. 

"You can lie when your Mom is a top-notch doctor sitting right next to us?"

After the whole episode with Zhang Ning ended, Bai Li decided to live a simple life by joining a company to work with. He could have returned to the Army but he refused because he knew the risks in the missions.

Today he was alive. Tomorrow, he might not be. He didn't want Xin Lei or his future children to live with that uncertainty. So, he joined a big security company.

Aside from that, he opened a small dojo for anybody interested to learn martial arts for attack and defence. His very first student was none other than Chu Jie and slowly it grew bigger and larger.

He was the instructor himself, so obviously he knew his son was shamelessly absent from the class.

Bai Liang didn't falter. "How could I bother Mom with such petty sickness?"

"Yet you could ditch the class."

"Yup."

Xin Lei chuckled. "Just tell us what were you doing skipping the class? Martial arts is important."

Bai Liang could not say that since their parent's wedding anniversary was approaching, he skipped to buy a gift for them. That would just ruin the whole surprise.

"Oof. You two are so nosy! Has this poor son got no freedom at all?"

Bai Luan giggled at her brother's dramatic acting.