Chapter 2425: Sonia (II)

She listened for a moment. The nursery was quiet—her daughter should still be sleeping. She put on a robe, got out of bed, and went to wash up.

Although the Lisbon nobleman's daughter Sonia Lily Sharper was an undeniable blonde beauty, limited by the era and years of drifting at sea, her hygiene habits when she first arrived at the Lin household left Lin Hanlong, a man who considered himself a "rough guy," dumbstruck.

Just getting her to develop the habit of washing her face every day took Lin Hanlong much effort—he had to remind her every day. If he wasn't home, this task was handed to Lin Hanlong's maid Lin Huanyu.

Now she had adapted to the new Australian-style hygiene habits: wash face and brush teeth in the morning, wash hands before meals, bathe in the evening. But when Lin Hanlong wasn't around, Sonia would still often skip the evening bath. After all, bathing easily led to colds, and colds easily led to death—she had seen too many such examples.

After washing up, Sonia came to the living room outside. As the Senate's territory continued to expand, many Senators gradually left the Bairen City dormitory area and built more comfortable new residences near their workplaces. This dormitory area, originally criticized as "two maids would have to sleep in the living room," gradually experienced "population decline." Many vacant apartments appeared. The Chief of Staff Office then allocated the extra apartments to Senators remaining in Lingao, to help relieve space constraints.

Lin Hanlong's original apartment was just a 40-square-meter small apartment. When it was just him and the maid, there was naturally no inconvenience. But after Sonia arrived, it was obviously insufficient. So the Chief of Staff Office allocated another medium-sized apartment, and connecting them made it reasonably convenient. Only recently with the baby, and the General Hospital specifically assigning a nanny, housing became tight again. Fortunately, there were many vacant apartments, and the Chief of Staff Office gave him an adjacent vacant small apartment.

On the living room table was breakfast prepared for her by Lin Huanyu.

"I'm just one of this Australian harem after all," she couldn't help thinking wistfully each time she saw Lin Huanyu.

But Lin Huanyu didn't have so many feelings about it. Regarding Sonia's arrival, she neither showed much welcome nor revealed anger. The two were somewhat awkward at first, but gradually Sonia got used to her presence. The maid managed household affairs, instructed Sonia on how to live in this household, use various never-before-seen facilities, taught her simple Chinese, took her shopping, to the Senators' special supply stores, and introduced her into the social circle of life secretaries. Gradually, she became one of the indispensable people in Sonia's life—because Lin Hanlong was rarely home, and when encountering difficulties, she could only ask the maid for help.

Due to language issues, at first Sonia and Lin Huanyu had difficulty communicating. Only after several years when her language ability had greatly improved could they have deeper exchanges. Sonia quickly learned about Lin Huanyu's tragic past and how she came to be at Lin Hanlong's side.

As a scientist, Sonia was curious about Lin Huanyu's view of her own situation. But Lin Huanyu's response was that she had no view.

"The Chief treats me very well. As long as he still wants me, I'll stay here. If someday he doesn't want me anymore—" at this point Lin Huanyu showed a trace of sadness—"the Chief of Staff Office will also take care of me."

Lin Huanyu was very satisfied with the current situation, because without the Senate, without Lin Hanlong, she "would have died long ago," let alone "lived such a good life." Her greatest regret was "not having given Chief Lin a child."

Sonia could somewhat understand Lin Huanyu. In her father's plantation, those black slaves trafficked from afar—their greatest dream was just to encounter a not-too-harsh master and overseer who wouldn't excessively exploit and torture them. When all was said and done, what could a woman who once had nothing and was on the verge of death hope for? Just like herself—if she hadn't fallen into that Englishman's hands, she might already be living in hell.

Breakfast was toast—this was also one of the changes since Sonia came to this household. The Lin household's orders to the special food store at Nanhai Farm now included more bread, cheese, and butter. Although Lin Hanlong had lived in America for many years in the old timeline, he still had a Chinese stomach and was more accustomed to Chinese-style breakfast.

As a Portuguese, Sonia had eaten rice—the Iberian Peninsula, influenced by the Arabs who once ruled there, cultivated and consumed rice. But rice foods were ultimately just embellishments; she was still more accustomed to bread.

The bread delivered by the Nanhai Farm special food store was soft and fine—although for health reasons, 20% bran was mixed in. Its delicateness still far surpassed any bread Sonia had ever eaten—probably only the Italian butter rolls specially baked for ladies could compare.

The bread slices had been carefully toasted, golden on both sides. If hot, it would certainly be delicious. Unfortunately, it was already cold. Sonia didn't mind. She picked up a butter knife, lifted the white napkin, cut off a thick slice from the butter dish, spread it on the bread, and ate in big bites.

The milk pitcher contained fresh milk. Sonia poured herself a full glass, then added two big spoonfuls of sugar—an excessive love of sugar was perhaps one of her few "dietary bad habits." She was essentially a person with simple dietary preferences. Someone who grew up on a colonial sugarcane plantation and drifted at sea wouldn't be picky about food. Bread, butter, and dairy products were enough.

After breakfast, she quietly came to the nursery. The nanny was leaning on an armchair dozing—she too was exhausted. The little daughter was snoring in the wicker cradle.

She gazed at her daughter's face with affection and delight. Her daughter's features combined European and East Asian characteristics. The slightly curly hair was hers; the black hair color was obviously the father's. A pair of very large eyes—"these are also mine," she thought. And her daughter's nose seemed to combine both their features: neither too high nor too large, feeling just right.

Sonia thought of how she had once been intensely interested in mixed-race children—in the plantation she had seen many mixed-race children. Some were black and white, others Indian and white, or Indian and black. Due to differences in the races, ethnicities, and generations of mixing, they presented vastly different appearance characteristics. Each mixing would bring some features to the next generation's children. These features would gradually fade with mixing generations, sometimes suddenly reappearing. This aroused her curiosity, and she began collecting data in the plantation to research this area. However, this research was mercilessly mocked by her several brothers.

She hadn't expected to give birth to a mixed-race child herself—what a wondrous thing! Recalling the scenes of pregnancy and childbirth, she still found it somewhat incredible that she had "manufactured" a person. Nature was truly too wondrous...

She reached into the blanket in the cradle and felt around—the diaper and sleeping pad were both dry. The nanny had probably just changed them. If the Chief of Staff Office hadn't assigned the nanny, she really would have been at her wit's end—she had never taken care of a baby before.

The nanny suddenly woke up. The middle-aged woman quickly rose to greet: "Miss..."

Sonia made a "shush" gesture and asked quietly: "Did she wake up?"

"She woke up once at nine-thirty. Changed her diaper, fed her milk, and she fell asleep again," the nanny said. "She made too much fuss last night—wore herself out."

Sonia said: "Does this child look big to you?"

"No need to ask! Senators' children are all big!" the nanny said flatteringly. "Only eight months old and already over eighteen jin! At the Mother-Child Center, eight-month-old boys aren't even this heavy!"

Sonia mentally converted "jin" to "pounds." Actually, she didn't know how big or heavy an eight-month-old child should be, but each time she took the baby to Bairen General Hospital for checkups, the same-age infants she saw seemed slightly smaller.

"This child drinks milk every day. Of course she grows big," the nanny said with slight pride. "She's already teething. Once she eats supplementary food, she'll grow even bigger."

Sonia returned to the living room. Lin Huanyu wasn't home—she was out shopping. Sonia knew that shopping was more for meeting colleagues. This was their recreational activity.

Lin Hanlong wasn't home either—in a month, the days he was home could be counted on one hand. Most of the time, he stayed overnight in the single room at the optical factory. So much so that some joked that Cai Junjie, who constantly accompanied him, was Lin Hanlong's real wife.

Sonia greatly admired and respected this master, and also harbored some affection. He was different from all the men she had met. A rough man and a scholar combined in one. He could stare at machines in a noisy workshop for hours on end, and could also eloquently explain many profound knowledge. His clothing and food could be said to be plain to the point of crude, yet when he wanted refinement, even Roman emperors and Turkish sultans couldn't compare.

Such contradictions were reflected to varying degrees in every Senator she knew. But there was one thing they shared—no matter how modest Senators appeared on the surface, they carried pride in their bones. This pride came neither from bloodline, nor from position, nor from religious faith. It was a heartfelt recognition of their own thoughts and knowledge—speaking of which, the Australian Senators were really the most worthy group to study.

Sonia returned to the bedroom, tidied up the bed linens, and changed into outdoor clothes. She had an appointment for fitness at eleven. Then a simple lunch outside, and in the afternoon she'd go to the museum. She had a private office there that let her settle down and fully focus on research. But this afternoon her main work was lesson preparation—that evening she still had to give a natural history lecture to Fangcaodi students.

(End of Chapter)