RDD 9

Chapter 9




"15... 16... 17..."


I'm counting my push-ups. The sweat covered my topless body. Doing push-ups was quite tiring but I have to do it to finish the mission. 


However...


'Why is the timer running so slow? Is it just me or the time is really slow?'


Probably because my body was focusing much on the timer that I feel like the time was running slow even though it was not. There are 14 minutes remaining yet my arms are already aching. 


"Ugh!"


I fall down once I reached 22 push-ups. I looked up and realized that my wife was staring at me, there was confusion in her eyes as she looked at my topless body and doing push-ups in the living room. 


"What are you doing?"


"Push-ups."


"I know... But why?"


I could understand why she was bewildered. This was the first time that I exercised. Usually, at this time, I should be watching sports or sleeping yet here I was, tiring my arms to the limit. 


"I realized that I have to exercise. A healthy body is a must. Besides... My belly fat is quite big."


"Ah! Yeah, you have a fat belly. If you're not a guy, maybe someone will mistaken you as a pregnant woman because of your belly."


"..."


I decided to start doing push-ups again. I have 14 minutes to spend. 


"Fufu, anyway. I will not stop your fun. Let's see... Sophia, do you want to join your father?"


Sophia was currently playing with her bald dolls when she heard her mother. 


"Hm?"


"Come here, sweetheart!"


My daughter innocently approached my wife with wobbling legs. 


"My princess is really a genius, she can walk straight now! Do you want to fly sweetheart?"


"Yes!"


Penelope coaxed and Sophia easily agreed. 


Huh?


"Honey?"


"You want to exercise, right? Sophia is not that heavy, she can help you burn more fat."


She said as she put Sophia on my back while I'm doing push-ups. I glanced at her and realized that she was making fun of me... Aight. 


I continued doing push-ups with more weight on top of me.


"Yay!"


Sophia giggled and she was having fun. In her imagination, I was a horse-- pony, that she was riding. That's right, I'm nothing but a pony in her eyes.


"Jajjy Unicorhn!"


Never mind, I was not a pony, I was actually a Unicorn. Not bad.


"Hehe!"


Well, as long as she was happy, I'm fine carrying her on my back. 


"Roman, come join your sister here."


"..."


Honey? Are you being serious right now? 


"Why are you looking at me like that?"


Penelope smiled and fixed her hair. I could see in her eyes that she was having fun. Perhaps she was holding a grudge after what happened last time. I made her cry the last time we fought and she realized that this was one of the moments to get revenge. 


Okay, I just have to carry two kids, right?


"Guh--!"


I fucked up. Two kids are actually heavy. Still, I have to persevere. Roman's weight was thrice of Sophia's. 


"7... 8... 9..."


I didn't stop my push-ups. 


"Honey, you can stop if you want to."


My wife said even though she was smiling and watching us.


"No, I have to persevere for at least 10 minutes."


"Hm, your kids miss you. You never have the time to spend with them."


"... I will try to change."


I see. 


This exercise was one of the rare moments where I can be with my kids and have fun. Although my arms hurt to be honest. 


"I have to work hard!"


"That's the spirit."


"Wife, I want to tell you something once I'm done with exercise."


"Hm, I will wait for you."


Ten minutes later, I was gasping for air on the floor and my two kids were staring at me innocently. Roman is always quiet while Sophia was wiping my sweat with her tiny towel. 


"Jajjy you diwty. Shmell sour. Mama shaid. It's bad to stay on the floor."


"Thank you sweetheart."


I weakly stood up and Penelope gave me a towel to wipe my body.


[Mission complete!]


[You earned 1 point]


I heard the system notification in my head and nodded in satisfaction. Now I felt that all of my hard work was worth it, at least I gain 1 point... 


I'll check later what I can do with this 1 point. For now, let's have a conversation with my wife. 


The Grind System gave me another mission which was to start a business and the reward was quite interesting. The system is right, if I want to give my family a prosperous life, starting a business is one of the best options. 


So I have to talk and convince my wife that I want to start a business. Let's hope she would agree. I swallowed hard and took a deep breath. 


"Why are you acting like that? Honey I'm not gonna eat you."


Considering that we lived for almost six years together, I found her statement false... Ahem, anyway, we went to our room. We don't want the children to hear our conversation. 


"Penelope... I want to start a business."


"Business, huh? Looks like being a businessman runs in your veins."


She touched her chin and nodded, recalling something. 


"Let's not talk about that. What do you think? Do you agree?"


I was kinda nervous. Perhaps my wife would not agree. To be fair, my job pays a good salary and in this economy, losing a job means a lot. 


I was waiting for my wife's reaction. 


"I'm fine with it. We're going to receive your Bonus and 13-month and we can use it to invest in a business."


"So you agree?"


"Well, I'm actually thinking of the same thing."


"Huh?"


She smiled and averted her gaze. 


"Wife?"


"My Mom called earlier and she wanted us to go back to our province and spend Christmas and New Year there."


Mrs. De Guzman has a landline phone and sometimes we use it to contact Penelope's family.


"I guess it's great, your parents love Roman. Looks like I have to buy gifts for them."


I pondered.


Penelope's parents only met Roman because Sophia was still not born when we came there last time. 


To be fair, my first meeting with Penelope's parents was memorable. His father punched my face, he was angry that I destroyed their daughter's life. Yeah, I can understand their sentiment. 


I impregnated their daughter and eloped, and only returned when we were already married and had a child.