[Shout out to Kieta Aki, Sczx, and Mitia RAKOTOFIRINGA!]

Chapter 9

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

I counted my push-ups. Sweat covered my topless body. Doing push-ups was quite tiring, but I have to do it to complete the mission. 

Anyway...

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

Probably because my body was concentrating a lot on the timer. I feel like time is moving slowly even though it is not. There are 14 minutes left, but my arms are already hurting. 

"Ugh!"

I fall down as I reach 22 push-ups. I looked up to see my wife staring at me. There was confusion in her eyes as she looked at my topless body doing push-ups in the living room. 

"What are you doing?"

"Push-ups."

"I know. But why?"

I could see why she was confused. This was the first time I was exercising. Usually at this time, I should be watching sports or sleeping, but here I was, pushing 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! Yes, you have a big belly. If you're not a man, someone might mistake you for 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 you from having fun. Let's see... Sophia, do you want to join your dad?"

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

"Hm?"

"Come here, sweetheart!"

My daughter innocently approached my wife with wobbly legs. 

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

"Yes!"

Penelope coaxed, and Sophia easily agreed. 

Huh?

"Honey?"

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

She said as she put Sophia on my back while I did push-ups. I looked at her and realized that she was making fun of me... Okay. 

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

"Yay!"

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

"Dajjy Unicorhn!"

... I was not a pony, I was actually a unicorn. Not bad.

"Hehe!"

Well, as long as she was happy, I didn't mind carrying her on my back. 

"Roman, come over here and join your sister."

"..."

Honey? Are you 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 enjoying herself. Maybe 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 only have to carry two kids, right?

"Guh--!"

I messed up. Two kids are painful. Still, I have to persevere. Roman's weight was four times that of Sophia's. 

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

I didn't stop doing my push-ups. 

"Honey, you can stop if you want."

My wife said, although she was smiling and watching us.

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

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

"... I will try to change."

I see. 

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

"I have to work hard!"

"That's the spirit."

"Wife, I want to tell you something when I'm done exercising."

"Hm, I will wait for you."

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

"Dajjy, you diwty. You smell swour. Mama said. It's bad to stway on the floow."

"Thank you, sweetheart."

I weakly stood up and Penelope handed me a towel to wipe myself down.

[Mission completed!]

[You earned 1 point]

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

I'll think about what to do with this 1 point later. For now, let's have a talk with my wife. 

The Grind System gave me another mission. The mission 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 to my wife and convince her that I want to start a business. Let's hope she agrees. I swallowed hard and took a deep breath. 

"Why are you acting like this? Honey, I'm not going to eat you."

Considering that we lived together for almost six years, I found her statement wrong... 

Anyway, we went to our room. We don't want the kids to overhear our conversation. 

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

"Business, huh? Looks like business runs in your veins."

She touched her chin and nodded, remembering something. 

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

I was kind of nervous. Maybe my wife would disagree. To be fair, my job pays well, and in this economy, losing a job means a lot. 

I waited for my wife's reaction. 

"I'm fine with it. We'll get your bonus and 13 month and we can use it to invest in a business."

"So you agree?"

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

"Huh?"

She smiled and averted her gaze. 

"Wife?"

"My mother called earlier and she wants us to go back to the province and spend Christmas and New Year there."

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

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

I thought.

Penelope's parents had only met Roman because Sophia had not yet been born the last time we were there. Since then, we kept sending money every three months to Penelope's family because we knew how hard the life in the province. 

To be fair, my first meeting with Penelope's parents was memorable. His father punched me in the face, angry that I had destroyed their daughter's life. Yes, I can understand their feelings. 

I got their daughter pregnant and eloped, returning only when we were already married and had a child. 

[Note: The creation of this novel was a bit simple. After finishing my last novel MNPOTS (526 chapters), I created a poll and my patrons voted between the two novels I want to write. 

The first one is a Zombie Apocalypse with a female MC. 

The second is a slice of life with a male MC. 

Obviously they chose the second one, which is now the RDD. 60 percent of them voted for Slice of Life with a male mc to be exact. 

Of course, since all my patrons are male (I think), I promised that the novel will have smut...].