The baby's eyes were still open, his gaze fixed on Chen Hao's face, and he remained motionless.
No one spoke in the ward.
A few seconds later, his lips twitched slightly, as if he was about to laugh, but then he closed his eyes again.
Susan leaned against the headboard, her fingers slowly tracing the child's forehead. "He should have a name."
Chen Hao was looking down at his son's face when he heard this and was taken aback. "Huh?"
“We can’t keep calling him ‘baby’,” Susan said softly but clearly. “He’s part of our family; he needs a proper name.”
Carl immediately pulled out his tablet from his pocket, opened the recording interface, and wrote, "Naming ceremony initiated, timestamp: 23:05."
"Can you stop making a fuss about everything?" Chen Hao glared at him.
“This is a major family event.” Karl didn’t look up. “History needs witnesses.”
Nana stood at the foot of the bed, the blue light flickering slightly. "We have connected to the Chinese Name Database, which can provide phonetic analysis, character meaning analysis, stroke statistics, and cultural compatibility assessment."
"You actually prepared a set?" Chen Hao turned to look at her.
"The database contains 370,000 name cases from the pre-Qin period to the present," Nana said calmly. "It also supports intelligent recommendations based on birth time, Five Elements tendency, and parents' surnames."
"Wait a minute." Chen Hao waved his hand. "Why does this sound like we're picking lottery numbers?"
Susan smiled. "So, what kind of name do you want?"
"Me?" Chen Hao scratched his head. "Just something simple, easy to shout, and not easy to write wrong. It would be best if it could also be a bit funny."
"Comedy?" Susan raised an eyebrow.
"Look at me, I'm fat, lazy, and I never study for exams, but I'm happy," Chen Hao grinned. "I hope he'll be like that in the future, as long as he's happy."
"So you want to name him 'Little Fun'?" Susan asked.
“It’s better than that.” Chen Hao chuckled. “How about… ‘Chen Da Le’? It sounds auspicious.”
Susan reached out and pinched his arm.
"Ouch!" Chen Hao pulled his hand back. "Why did you hit me?"
"Do you want him to be laughed to death by the whole class on his first day of school?"
Carl turned a page on the tablet. "According to the social pressure model, there is an 89.3% probability that 'Chen Dale' will be given a nickname during his school years, with 'Big Mouth' and 'Foodie Le' appearing most frequently."
Where did you get this data?
"Results of a questionnaire survey conducted last year in Class 2, Grade 5 of primary school."
Chen Hao rolled his eyes. "Can't you robots store less useless stuff?"
Nana suddenly spoke up: "I suggest considering the character '乐' (le) in the name."
"Oh?" Chen Hao sat up straight.
“The character ‘乐’ has a clear pronunciation and a steady tone, which is conducive to early language imitation in infants,” Nana explained. “Furthermore, it ranks among the top 120 in the ‘List of Commonly Used Characters in Modern Chinese,’ making it easy to write and widely recognized in society.”
"That sounds pretty promising." Chen Hao looked at Susan. "How about adding the word 'joy' to it?"
Susan didn't answer immediately, but looked down at the sleeping child in her arms. "I hope he's safe and sound."
"Um?"
“I don’t ask him to be smart or successful.” She said softly, “I’ll be content as long as he lives a peaceful and healthy life.”
Chen Hao quieted down.
Carl closed the tablet and, unusually, remained silent.
Nana added softly, "The combination of the characters '安' (ān, peace) and '乐' (lè, joy) forms a positive and complementary semantic relationship. '乐安' (lè ān, joyful peace) means 'a joyful heart and a peaceful body,' which aligns with the happiness-building model in positive psychology."
"Le'an?" Chen Hao repeated.
“Chen Le’an,” Susan continued, “sounds… pretty smooth.”
“It’s much better than the name my dad gave me,” Chen Hao muttered. “When I was little, people always called me ‘Mouse’.”
"Is that because you can run fast and steal rice balls?" Carl asked.
"I meant homophones!"
“The data shows that there is indeed a pronunciation confusion between ‘浩’ and ‘耗’ in Northern dialects,” Nana nodded, “especially when queuing in the cafeteria.”
Chen Hao sighed, "You guys are all ganging up on me today, aren't you?"
Susan patted the child gently, a smile on her lips, "Le'an... Le'an... try calling out a couple of times."
Chen Hao cleared his throat, leaned close to the baby's ear, and asked, "Le'an?"
The child didn't react; his eyelids didn't even move.
"He's fast asleep," Chen Hao called out again, "Le'an!"
This time the voice was louder, startling Susan. "Why are you yelling?"
“I want him to remember,” Chen Hao chuckled, “that’s the first name he’ll call out.”
Carl reopened the tablet. "Formal proposal: The newborn will be named 'Chen Le'an'. The naming rationale is that the father hopes for his optimism and open-mindedness, and the mother prays for his peaceful life. Naming members: Chen Hao, Susan, Carl, and Nana."
"Shall we vote?" Chen Hao asked.
“No need.” Susan squeezed his hand. “It’s settled then.”
Nana lightly tapped the air with her finger, and a light screen appeared, displaying, "Generating a family electronic naming profile..."
A few seconds later, a card slowly fell and was projected onto the wall beside the bed:
[Name confirmed: Chen Le'an]
[Naming time: 23:18, April 3, 2077, Earth Standard Time]
[Naming message: May you always be happy and at peace throughout your life.]
[Participants: Chen Hao, Susan, Carl, Nana]
"It's quite formal." Chen Hao stared at the line of text for a long time.
Carl muted the tablet and put it back in his pocket.
Nana's blue light slowed down, as if she had breathed a sigh of relief.
Susan held the child, her eyes slowly closing, then she forced them open again, "In the future... when he fills out the forms for school, he'll be able to write his name in the first column."
"Let's wait until he learns to write," Chen Hao said, reaching out to pat his son's head. "He can't even clench his fist properly right now."
“He will,” Susan murmured. “He will eventually.”
It was late at night, and the lights in the ward were turned down to their dimmest setting.
Five people were crammed into one room—four adults and a little one who had only been in the world for a few hours.
Nobody left.
Chen Hao sat on the edge of the bed, one hand on Susan's shoulder, the other hand occasionally touching the baby's little hand.
Carl stood against the wall, his eyes never leaving his younger brother.
Nana stood in the corner. The system entered low-power mode, but the blue light remained on.
After an unknown amount of time, Le'an's little hand suddenly moved, and her fingertips brushed against Chen Hao's thumb.
Chen Hao immediately looked down. "He moved again!"
Susan opened her eyes. "What's wrong?"
"He arrested me!" Chen Hao exclaimed excitedly. "Look! He arrested me again!"
But that touch was too light, like a breeze.
The next second, Le'an's hand fell limply to her side again, and she continued to sleep.
“You’re too tense,” Susan laughed. “He’s only a few hours old, how could he have the strength to grab someone?”
"It did move just now!" Chen Hao insisted, "and it was aimed at me!"
Carl silently took out his tablet, then tried to turn it on.
Chen Hao immediately raised his hand, "You dare to write this down or I'll really throw it away."
Carl withdrew his hand, but a slight smile appeared on his lips.
Nana said softly, "A slight muscle contraction signal was detected, occurring in the right hand flexor muscles, lasting for 0.8 seconds."
"Look!" Chen Hao exclaimed smugly, "Even the robot is saying it!"
Susan shook her head and smiled, then closed her eyes again.
Chen Hao looked down at his son's face; his little nose twitched, and his breathing was even.
He whispered, "Le'an, you'd better remember this: the people who named you today are your biological parents and two strange people."
He pointed to Karl and Nana.
Carl did not refute.
Nana's blue light flickered slightly.
Chen Hao leaned closer, almost whispering in the child's ear: "If anyone bullies you in the future, just say your dad's name—Chen Hao. Although he has poor grades, is overweight, and has a blank resume, he has never lost a fight."
Susan mumbled incoherently, "You even instigated him to fight?"
"I mean the passing down of the spirit!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Le'an's small mouth suddenly opened, emitting a very short "uh".
It's like a response.
All four people held their breath at the same time.
The next second, the child let out a small hiccup.
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