VHBF -Chapter 144 The School Tyrant Daddy (Part 6)

After finishing a full day’s work, Shen Huainan leaned back against his chair, eyes closed, breathing lightly. The assistant tiptoed in and carefully placed a stack of documents on the desk in front of him.

At the very top, a few photos were faintly visible.

Holding his breath, the assistant moved with great care, thinking he hadn’t disturbed Sir, and turned to leave.

Behind him came the man’s low, slightly hoarse voice.

The assistant turned back.

The refined, handsome man opened his eyes, pinched the bridge of his nose with long fingers, and asked, “You’ve already looked into it?”

The assistant nodded. Since Sir was awake, he didn’t leave, but stood where he was and said, “Young Master seems to have taken in a child.”

“Taken in?”

The assistant’s expression grew a little conflicted. “Sir, the child is three years old, named Yinyin. Her background is unclear—she followed Young Master home on her own. Today, Young Master even took her to school.”

“Oh, right. Last night, it wasn’t really Young Master who went to the hospital to get treated—it was mainly to take that child. She tripped while trying to catch up to Young Master and got a minor injury.”

As he said this, the assistant smiled slightly, somewhat surprised. “Didn’t expect Young Master to be so caring.”

From childhood to adulthood, Young Master had never given Sir any peace of mind. Fights and brawls were minor things—he’d always been like an irritable furnace, flaring up at the slightest spark, with very little patience. No one knew how many girls he’d bullied to tears. Who would’ve thought he’d soften toward a three-year-old child?

Taking her to the hospital for bandaging was already surprising enough. He’d even kept her at home, carrying her along to school—this was truly unexpected.

When the assistant first received the news from Lincheng, he hadn’t quite believed it. Only after confirming it several times did he barely accept it as half-true.

Shen Huainan picked up the documents on the desk and flipped through them. The top few pages detailed everything Shen Lian had been up to recently in Lincheng.

His gaze paused on the photos.

One was from hospital surveillance: Shen Lian holding a three-year-old little girl, head lowered as if speaking to her. Perhaps because of the angle, the usually arrogant, domineering blue-haired boy looked much gentler.

Another showed the boy with a child strapped to his front, riding a motorcycle down the main road. His short blue hair was blown straight up by the oncoming wind—the scene looked somewhat absurd and funny.

The corners of Shen Huainan’s mouth lifted unconsciously.

After looking for a while, he casually flipped through the materials again and said, “Keep watching. Report anything immediately. And check into that child’s background.”

The assistant acknowledged. As he was about to leave, he paused when Sir’s voice came from behind him again. “Call Shen Lian and tell him he must come back by the end of this semester at the latest. As for next semester—whether he takes the college entrance exam or goes abroad to study, he needs to make a choice.”

The assistant responded and, as he closed the door, stole a glance inside.

The man had already buried his head in the documents, completely focused, as if he hadn’t just spoken at all.

The assistant sighed. Sir was still the same—clearly concerned about Young Master, yet never communicating with him directly. Even a phone call had to be relayed through people like them.

And Young Master too—he’d been in Lincheng for so long and hadn’t once called home. The relationship between father and son was worse than that of strangers.

Shen Lian had just tossed his phone aside when it rang again.

The caller ID read: “Old Man’s Lapdog.”

Shen Lian: “……”

He stared at the screen for more than ten rings, then, as if heading to his doom, finally answered, his voice lazy. “Hello?”

The assistant said, “Young Master, Sir just mentioned you again and asked how you’ve been lately.”

Shen Lian dug a finger into his ear. He didn’t believe that old fox would be this sentimental. “Get to the point. What do you want from me?”

The assistant said, “…Sir wants you to return to the capital as soon as possible.”

Shen Lian replied, “Anything else? If not, I’m hanging up.”

The assistant’s mouth twitched. Given this little devil’s personality, he really would hang up without warning. He hurriedly said, “Sir says you must come back before this semester ends. If you’re taking the college entrance exam, you’ll take it in the capital. If not, he’ll send you abroad to study.”

Though the assistant privately felt that, with Young Master’s grades, there was no way he’d get into college—he’d probably have to rely on donations again, and studying abroad would be better—he still dutifully relayed the message. “Young Master, please don’t make Sir angry again. When you have time, it’d be good to give Sir a call.”

Pa! Shen Lian hung up and casually tossed the phone aside.

“Oh, right. I heard that… you brought a child back… back home…”

He hadn’t even finished speaking when he looked again—the phone screen had gone black.

It showed that the call had ended.

The assistant: “……”

He shook his head and sighed. He’d originally wanted to ask the young master about that child’s situation, but now there was no chance to ask anymore.

Shen Lian had been hesitating over whether to ask the old man to lend him some people. Now there was no need to ask. He couldn’t show weakness—otherwise, how would he have the confidence to keep going head-to-head with that old fox?

The little dumpling woke up groggily, calling out “Daddy” a few times. No one answered. She rolled around on the bed a few times—still no one.

The bedroom door opened. The dumpling clung to the door, rubbing one eye with a hand, and called out in her soft, milky voice, “Daddy.”

“Daddy, aren’t you sleeping?”

Shen Lian glanced at the time on his phone. It was just nearing nine o’clock.

The earliest he’d ever gone to bed was around eleven or twelve. How could he possibly feel sleepy at this hour?

The dumpling was small and easily sleep-deprived. She’d listened attentively in class all day at school, hadn’t taken a nap at noon, and in the evening, right after dinner—before Shen Lian could even pick up his phone to call the police uncle—she had already fallen asleep.

Shen Lian beckoned to her. “Come here.”

When her favorite daddy called her, the dumpling immediately toddled over on her short little legs, happily scampering over and throwing herself against his leg, looking up at him.

“Daddy!”

Shen Lian’s mouth twitched slightly. Where did she get that much enthusiasm from?

Still, he was somewhat satisfied. Troublesome as the kid was, at least she was obedient—unlike the other kids he’d seen, always crying and fussing and annoying as hell.

He lifted the dumpling and set her down beside him, then lowered his head and asked, “Do you remember your family?”

The dumpling poked her little fingers together and shook her head. Her chubby face looked a little dejected. She didn’t have family—she only had Daddy.

Shen Lian thought she was just too young to remember, so he didn’t pursue that question and continued, “Then do you remember where you came from?”

The dumpling shook her head again. She knew the neighborhood she lived in was called Happiness Community, but where it was exactly, she didn’t know. Uncle System said this world was different from where she used to live.

“In that case, I won’t go to school tomorrow. I’ll take you to the police station to help you find your family.”

The dumpling looked up, tears welling in her eyes. “Daddy doesn’t want Yinyin anymore?”

She counted on her fingers. “Yinyin can cook, can sweep the floor, can pick up bottles to earn money. Yinyin can also tell Daddy stories.”

Shen Lian’s mouth twitched. What did she take him for, a three-year-old? Storytelling, seriously?

“If you’re that capable, then you should find your family even more. They’ll definitely like you.”

Shen Lian straightened the dumpling, saw her eyes reddened, pulled a tissue from the table and wiped her face, saying, “Stop crying. If you keep staying like this, sooner or later your police uncle is going to arrest me and throw me in jail.”

Shen Lian still understood the law. This would count as… illegal keeping?

He shook his head. For a poor student like him, what it was called legally didn’t matter. What mattered was that he really wasn’t her dad!

The dumpling climbed down from the sofa and went pattering off toward the kitchen. Shen Lian was a bit curious. He tiptoed after her and peeked from outside the door.

That tiny little dumpling dragged over a chair, climbed up with great effort, took a cup and a spoon from the cupboard, then took out a bag of milk powder. Clumsily, she scooped a spoonful into the cup. Her little brows furrowed. She hesitated, added another spoonful—then another…

Shen Lian: “……”

Seeing her reach toward the water dispenser to get hot water, Shen Lian was startled. There were so many news reports about kids getting scalded by hot water. He rushed in and pressed down on her hand.

“What are you doing?”

The dumpling looked aggrieved, lifting her chubby little face to look at Daddy. “Making… making milk.”

Shen Lian assumed the kid was hungry and helped her pour in hot water. When he saw the cup was already more than half full of milk powder, his eyelids twitched violently.

A cup of overly rich milk was ready. Shen Lian stirred it a couple of times and handed it to her. “Can you hold it?”

The dumpling nodded, reached out with both hands, and carefully took it, her little expression filled with satisfaction.

The cup was insulated, so holding it like this wouldn’t burn her—as long as she didn’t spill it. Seeing that she was holding it steadily, Shen Lian turned and walked out.

The dumpling followed step by step, carefully inching her way forward with the milk in her hands, like a slow little snail cradling a piece of treasure.

Shen Lian found it amusing and casually took a photo of her. Then his gaze fell on the clothes she was wearing…

He frowned slightly. He seemed to have… forgotten to buy clothes for the kid. She was still wearing yesterday’s torn clothes.

Thinking about how he’d taken her to school like that today, Shen Lian suddenly felt it was a bad move. Anyone who didn’t know better would think he couldn’t afford to raise a child. He was the richest boss in the whole school!

The dumpling didn’t know what Daddy was thinking. After inching her way over, she stopped in front of him.

Shen Lian asked, “Why are you just standing here? Why aren’t you drinking it?”

The dumpling lifted a flattering smile and offered the milk like a treasure, holding it high in front of him. “Here.”

“Daddy drink.”

Shen Lian raised an eyebrow. Looking at the overly sweet, thick milk in the cup, his brows knit together as he was about to refuse.

The dumpling said carefully, “Daddy, drink it, okay? Yinyin… Yinyin can do lots of things.”

She lowered her little head, an unconscious inferiority in her posture. She looked like a small flower battered by the wind and rain—dejected and lost. “D-don’t send Yinyin away.”

“Other than Daddy, Yinyin has no family.”

Shen Lian froze.

Looking at the pitiful little dumpling in front of him, dejected to the depths of despair, something suddenly caught in his throat. He grabbed the scalding, cloyingly sweet milk from her hands and gulped it down in a few swallows, enduring the sweetness, draining it in just a few breaths. After finishing, he casually wiped his mouth and said gruffly, “Alright, alright, I’ll drink it.”

He reached out, lifted the dumpling’s chubby little face, and pinched her cheeks. The texture felt pretty good, so he pinched them a few more times.

“Does that count as me losing, okay?”

The dumpling didn’t understand. She tilted her head at him in confusion.

Shen Lian scratched his prickly blue short hair, feeling extremely irritable, as if a fire were pressing in his chest—damn uncomfortable.

“I’ll raise you, alright?!”

“What are you staring at? Say that kind of thing again and I’ll hand you over to the police uncle!”

The dumpling stared blankly at his retreating back, then a sweet smile bloomed on her little face.

She asked the system in delight, “Uncle System, did Daddy agree to let Yinyin stay?”

“I knew Daddy liked me the most!”

The system snorted and turned away. He didn’t feel good either. “Little cub, if your daddy stops raising you someday, we’ll go home!”

Go home—home to where?

Thinking of the little cub’s tiny, run-down shack, the system fell silent.