She and Xuan Yanyu had always maintained a very even hand, and yesterday had been the very first time something like that had happened.

Xuan Yanyu felt that as the children were gradually growing up, there were certain things they ought to start doing themselves.

Ruirui, for his part, felt that Xuan Yanyu had been ignoring him.

He Qingxia pinched the little chubby one’s fair and clean little cheeks. “Auntie loves a lively household. What if Ruirui stays at Auntie’s place and treats Uncle Gu as your new daddy? How about it?”

The little chubby one’s eyes shifted around as he gave it a serious thought, then shook his head. “I don’t want a new Daddy anymore. I just want my own Daddy.”

“Oh?” He Qingxia curved her lips into a grin. “How come you’ve changed your mind?”

The little chubby one chewed the small strawberry that Gu Jingye had fed him, his voice softening. “My daddy is so good to me.”

If he went and recognized someone else as his daddy, what if his real daddy cried? He couldn’t have that.

Besides, if his daddy were the one getting replaced and finding a new child — if Daddy didn’t want him anymore — he would be devastated.

If Yan Yunning could hear the little chubby one’s inner thoughts, she would certainly tell him he was overthinking it. Cry? Not a chance. Xuan Yanyu would simply spank him until he was the one crying.

“Just how good is your daddy?” Wen Zhilu asked, his tone mild and even.

Back in his school days, he had once heard a phrase:

“Even if you’ve failed, you still want to look, to find out what the correct answer actually was — how far away from success you really were, and how many steps it would have taken to get there. Otherwise, how could you ever resign yourself to defeat?”

Yes — how could he ever resign himself.

“Daddy / Daddy is the best person in the whole wide world.” In this moment, the brother and sister were surprisingly in perfect agreement.

Wen Zhilu lowered his gaze and suddenly smiled. “Is that so?”

“It is.” The little girl seated beside Wen Zhilu, speaking of Xuan Yanyu, had eyes that sparkled and shimmered. “Daddy is the absolute best.”

She was a small child, after all — if pressed to explain specifically how her father was good, she would inevitably mention things like Daddy buying her favorite little cakes, getting her the dolls she wanted, reading her bedtime stories, and other small everyday things.

Whatever they wanted, within reason, Xuan Yanyu would see that they had it. In the eyes of children, that made for a perfectly wonderful father.

Noticing that Yan Yunning and He Qingxia were deep in conversation and not paying attention to this side of the table, Wen Zhilu drew out a paper napkin and wiped the little girl’s small hands. “Does your daddy treat your mommy very well too?”

Xuan Youyi’s pretty brows and eyes curved warmly. “The absolute best. Daddy says Mommy is the person who loves us most in the whole world, so we all have to listen to Mommy, love Mommy, and be good to Mommy. If we don’t listen to Mommy, Daddy will get very angry.”

Wen Zhilu understood what the little girl was really expressing — it wasn’t just that Xuan Yanyu treated Lingning well; these children of theirs also had to treat Lingning well.

“Zhilu, in these six years, has there been no one who’s caught your heart?” Gu Jingye had been chatting with He Qingxia and Yan Yunning when the conversation gradually drifted over to Wen Zhilu.

Wen Zhilu felt his chest rise and fall in a way he couldn’t quite suppress. “There will be, someday.”

Gu Jingye cleared his throat and laughed, lightening the atmosphere. “Of course there will. And when the time comes and you have a girlfriend, don’t forget to treat us all to a meal.”

Yan Yunning raised her drink and took a small sip.

“Naturally.” Wen Zhilu clinked his wine glass against Gu Jingye’s and drained it in one go. He then smiled and said, “It’s getting late. I’ve delivered my congratulations. I’ll take my leave first.”

“Why don’t you finish dinner before going?” He Qingxia couldn’t help speaking up.

“No, I won’t.” Wen Zhilu rose to his feet, ruffled Xuan Youyi’s hair, and pulled his lips into a faint smile. “Little Lingning, goodbye.”

“Uncle, my name is Jiaojiao.”

Wen Zhilu withdrew his hand. Without another word, he turned and walked out of the private dining room.

He Qingxia felt a heaviness settle in her heart. Back when they were all in school, the four of them would see each other almost every day. Now, they couldn’t even manage a single shared meal.

That “goodbye” he said to Jiaojiao — it was the goodbye Wen Zhilu had wanted to say to Lingning all along, wasn’t it.

Gu Jingye pressed his lips together, picked up the serving chopsticks, and fed the little chubby one in his arms a spoonful of millet congee. “Come on, eat up. Let’s eat.”

He Qingxia shook her head, putting the past behind her. She smiled and lifted a piece of crispy roasted duck onto Yan Yunning’s plate. “Lingning, try some.”

Yan Yunning smiled and nodded. “Of course.”

After the meal, Yan Yunning had the two children wave goodbye to He Qingxia and Gu Jingye, and then, led on by her little darling Jiaojiao’s soft, sweet coaxing, she brought the two children over to the company.

“My Lady, Miss, Young Master.” The moment they stepped inside, employees smiled and greeted them warmly.

The three of them were regular visitors to the company. No one could ever predict when or at what hour they might appear, and the employees had long since grown perfectly accustomed to it.

She had just been about to press the elevator button when her phone rang. Yan Yunning saw that it was Xuan Zhaoranran calling and answered with a puzzled frown.

Hearing Xuan Zhaoranran’s stuttering, incoherent voice on the other end, she asked for the address and told her to wait right where she was.

She then crouched down and said a quick word of explanation to the two children, asked an employee to take the two little ones upstairs, and hurried out of the building to find Xuan Zhaoranran.

The eighteenth floor.

The elevator opened, and the employee safely handed the two little treasures over to Ye Jian.

Ye Chen, who had been reviewing a document nearby, looked up with curiosity at the two small, exquisitely adorable little figures. “Is the Lady not with you? Did the two of you sneak away to come find Mr. Xuan?”

Xuan Youyi pursed her lips. “I really don’t want to listen to you talk. You’re a bit dim.”

Ye Chen: “…”

Xuan Yunzhao pursed his lips in an identical fashion. “How could we possibly have snuck away on our own? Our little legs would be worn to the bone — we’d need you to carry us here before we’d ever walk here ourselves.”

Ye Chen: “…”

Ye Jian smiled and walked to the office door, raised his hand and gave a knock. Hearing Xuan Yanyu’s permission to enter, Ye Jian pushed the door open for the two little ones.

“Daddy.” The moment the door swung open, the little girl took off on her short little legs, running toward Xuan Yanyu, who sat at his office chair reviewing documents.

“Slow down.” Xuan Yanyu dropped his pen, stretched out his long arms, and caught the little girl running toward him, settling her onto his lap.

“Daddy.” The little girl’s round little face scrunched up. She puffed out her small lips, then pointed her small finger at Xuan Yunzhao, who was rummaging through the snack stash in front of the sofa. “Little Brother said I wasn’t pretty. Mommy says you’re going to settle this for us.”

The little chubby one crouching on the floor blinked in bewilderment, momentarily unable to recall when exactly he had said those words.

What he had said was that the hat didn’t look nice on her — he hadn’t said Older Sister wasn’t pretty…

The little chubby one scratched his head. Though admittedly, it sort of amounted to the same thing.

Xuan Yanyu glanced at Xuan Yunzhao, who was squatting on the floor eating biscuits. “Where is my wife?”

The little chubby one chewed on his biscuit and replied unhurriedly, “She doesn’t want you anymore.”

Xuan Yanyu’s eyes sharpened. “Come here. Apologize to your sister.”

The little chubby one blinked his eyes lightly. “Daddy darling, I don’t think I said anything wrong. No need to apologize.”

He had witnessed it himself — two days ago, when Mommy wasn’t feeling well, Daddy had been feeding her congee, but Mommy kept insisting she wanted ice cream.

At the time, Daddy had worn the same stern expression as today and wouldn’t agree. Then Mommy had blinked her eyes and called Daddy “darling.”

And sure enough, Mommy ended up getting ice cream. And he and his brother and sister got ice cream too.

Mommy had succeeded. He could succeed too.