VHBF – Chapter 18 The Playboy Daddy (Part 18)

Inside the office.

The little pink dumpling had a red patch on her cheek and a tiny bite mark on her chubby arm. She pursed her lips without crying, eyes fixed on the other two children with a wary and fierce gaze. To the teacher, she looked like a little cub ready to attack at any moment—both adorable and fierce.

The other two parents had arrived early. Their children had been pampered and spoiled at home, and getting hit by another child naturally upset them. One of them, a plump middle-aged woman, pointed at the dumpling, her fingertip nearly poking the little girl’s nose.

With a condescending and commanding tone, she said, “Expel her. How can such an ill-mannered child be allowed to stay in kindergarten and corrupt the others?”

“My little Ai has always been well-behaved, never causing trouble. Only a wild child with no parents would be so unreasonable and start hitting people!”

The middle-aged woman was plump and round-faced, her face resembling a large pancake. Her eyes were so big they bulged slightly, and when she got angry, she looked downright frightening.

The dumpling instinctively wanted to take a step back, but when she heard “a wild child with no parents,” she stubbornly held her ground. Her short little legs stayed rooted to the spot. She mustered up all her courage, looked up, and glared back. “I have a daddy! I’m not a wild child!”

The middle-aged woman was displeased at being talked back to by a brat and raised her hand as if to slap the child, only to be stopped by the homeroom teacher.

Teacher Wang thought of the child’s father—that young and handsome man. He looked like he didn’t care about much, but someone like that, if angered, would probably be terrifying.

The other child’s parents were a couple. Compared to the middle-aged woman, they seemed more refined, but still carried an air of superiority. They couldn’t be bothered to deal with a three-year-old child, nor would they ever lay hands on one—but the words they spoke weren’t exactly pleasant.

The middle-aged man said, “Teacher Wang, we entrusted our child to you because we trusted you. Now that she’s been hit, what are you going to do about it?”

Angry as she was, the dumpling still had a bit of bite to her. She had fought two opponents on her own, launching the first strike with a fierce momentum. Yet surprisingly, the other two weren’t hurt any less than she was.

But really, how strong could a three-year-old be?

It was nothing more than pinching and biting, pushing and shoving. The red mark on the dumpling’s face looked quite swollen because of her delicate skin, but it was only a minor surface injury.

It was summertime, and the dumpling was wearing a short-sleeved little dress. Her exposed arm had also been bitten, leaving behind a visible tooth mark.

The other two children were called Xiao Ai—the middle-aged woman’s daughter—and Pengpeng, the child of the couple.

Xiao Ai and Pengpeng looked just as battered. Their hair was messy, dresses torn, and faces marked with little red welts. Xiao Ai had bitten the dumpling, and the dumpling had bitten her right back, leaving another matching tooth mark on her hand.

Now that both had their parents present, they hid behind them, making faces at Yinyin.

The dumpling was furious. In her childish voice, she cried out, “Teacher, they said bad things about my daddy!”

Because she was still young, her speech wasn’t entirely fluent. Her emotions had gotten the better of her, and her words came out a little jumbled. But Teacher Wang, who was experienced in dealing with children, immediately understood what she meant.

She asked, “Yinyin, did Xiao Ai and Pengpeng say something bad about your daddy, and that’s why you hit them?”

The dumpling nodded her little head. “They’re bad!”

Her baby voice was tinged with a bit of a nasal tone now, but she was still stubborn and refused to cry. She firmly declared, “My daddy is not a bad. He’s very good!”

“Daddy takes me to school every day, picks me up after, and even does my hair. Daddy can cook eggs, and he can fly me high up in the air. Daddy can do so many, so many things. Daddy’s not a bad kid. You’re the bad kids!”

She blurted all that out in one breath, swallowed hard, then turned to the middle-aged woman and said, “Auntie, I’m Daddy’s little baby—I’m not a little stray!”

Her eyes were red as she gave her fierce little warning: “If you keep talking nonsense, my daddy will beat you up!”

Outside the door, a man had apparently been standing there for some time before he finally knocked and came in.

Everyone looked up to see a tall, strikingly handsome young man enter the room. Even without considering his looks, his imposing presence alone was enough to silence the room.

The middle-aged woman immediately noticed the watch on his wrist—a globally limited edition Patek Philippe with only three in existence. It was a vintage timepiece, its current value immeasurable, starting at least in the millions.

Her eyes lit up, just about to speak, when the other pair of middle-aged adults fell silent upon seeing the newcomer for some reason and even took a step back, saying nothing more.

At that moment, a tiny little dumpling came bursting out from inside. She darted out from in front of the middle-aged woman and threw herself at the man’s leg, hugging it tightly. Her eyes were sparkling, and her voice was sweet and soft, “Daddy!”

The man gave a faint “Mm” and allowed her to cling to his leg. But when his eyes landed on the injuries on her face and arms, they darkened significantly.

He looked toward the child’s homeroom teacher. “Two against one?”

Faced with the man’s dark and heavy gaze, Teacher Wang inexplicably flinched. She hesitated, “Y-yes, but…” But your daughter hit first!

The corners of the man’s lips curled up slightly. He turned to look at the well-dressed couple and the middle-aged woman, then looked down at the two little girls who had shrunk behind their parents the moment he walked in, peeking out in fear.

“Did you hit my daughter?”

Faced with the towering man who looked like a tree to the three-year-old girls, they both instinctively took a step back. They shook their heads frantically, but under his terrifying gaze, they guiltily nodded. Then they shook their heads again. Then nodded again. Then shook, then nodded—until it looked like they were about to shake their brains loose.

Seeing that this young man was actually the child’s father, the middle-aged woman stopped staring at the watch on his wrist. Her eyes darted around and she said, “Your kid hit ours first! Look at what she did—bit her and everything!”

After speaking, she scoffed disdainfully, “Where did such a wild child come from, acting so rough and rude?”

“I don’t care! That dress on my daughter was a limited edition, and she got hurt too. You have to take responsibility!”

“Oh, and Teacher Wang, for the sake of the kindergarten’s reputation, I suggest you expel this uncivilized child!”

The well-dressed couple quietly took a step back, distancing themselves from the crazy woman.

They recognized the young master of the Luo family. Even if they usually looked down on him, his status was real. He had just taken over the Bai family recently—he was now considered the most valuable man in all of City A. So what if he was a rich second-generation playboy? He had real power!

The middle-aged man grew increasingly uneasy. He reached over and pinched his unfortunate child, prompting a sharp yelp. “Daddy, why are you pinching me?”

“Keep your voice down!” the man hissed. Don’t attract Luo Sheng’s attention.

He had heard what that little dumpling from the Luo family said earlier. It was his own daughter and the other one who repeated the things he and his wife casually said at home to pick on the girl. They had assumed that Luo Sheng, being a careless man and not the biological father, wouldn’t care. Who would’ve thought he’d actually come in person…

Thinking back to the careless words he’d said at home, without avoiding the kids, the man now bitterly regretted it.

But that middle-aged woman clearly had no sense of restraint. Her family had made its fortune through mining—classic nouveau riche. She had lived through hard times in the countryside and knew how to throw a fit when needed. Now, seeing that the girl’s father was dressed so impeccably, she had an idea.

“Well, I suppose we can settle this civilly. Just pay for the damages to our little Ai, along with medical bills and emotional distress. If you do that, I might let it go and not report you to the principal!”

Luo Sheng raised an eyebrow. Even in a sleek black tailored suit, his natural roguish aura and ruthless edge were impossible to hide. “How much?”

Her eyes turned and she flipped over her thick hands, holding up a number with her fingers. “This much!”

“Five million?”

The woman froze. She had meant fifty thousand…

Her wide, flat face broke into a grin. “So generous and understanding, young man. Although our little Ai was scared out of her wits, five million should be just enough for a few gifts to help her recover. I won’t ask for more. Let’s call it five million.”

The wife of the well-dressed couple twitched at the corner of her mouth and muttered to her husband, “Nouveau riche will always be nouveau riche. This woman is so tacky.”

Luo Sheng picked up the dumpling. “Who hurt you?”

Held in her dad’s arms, the little dumpling’s earlier courage to face multiple people alone had vanished. All her fear and grievances surged up. She buried her face in his neck and rubbed against it, making his neck damp—but for once, Luo Sheng didn’t mind.

The little dumpling sniffled, red-eyed, and lifted a chubby hand to point at the red mark on her plump little face. “This one was from Bad Pengpeng biting me.” Then she raised her arm to show the teeth marks. “This one was from Xiao Ai biting me too. And here…”

Still nestled in her daddy’s arms, the dumpling struggled to lift her short little leg. There was a big bruise on her calf. She scrunched her chubby little face, thinking hard, but couldn’t remember who had hit her. So she shook her head and declared, “This one was from Xiao Ai and Pengpeng hitting me together!”

As soon as the dumpling began talking about the fight, she remembered how Xiao Ai and Pengpeng had badmouthed her dad earlier. Dumpling knew they didn’t like her—they never played with her, and once they even broke her watercolor paint set.

But this time they talked bad about her daddy. That made her really, really mad. Her eyes were red, practically burning with fire. Her little milky voice was thick with emotion as she said, “Daddy, I only hit them because they were saying bad things about you! Talking behind someone’s back is not what good kids do!”

After speaking her piece, the dumpling reached out with her chubby little paws and cupped her daddy’s handsome face. “Daddy isn’t a bad kid, right?”

Luo Sheng stiffened for a moment. Faced with the dumpling’s clear, expectant gaze, he could only hum in response, “Mm.”

Dumpling was satisfied and beamed. “Daddy is a good kid! The best!”

The middle-aged couple twitched at the corners of their mouths. The most notorious, lawless troublemaker in all of City A, from childhood to adulthood, being called a “good kid”??? Wasn’t this dumpling’s filter a bit too thick?

This tall, unruly, intimidating man was now holding a soft and adorable little dumpling in his arms, letting her play with his face and ramble on with childish words.

Teacher Wang’s heart melted at the sight. She silently thought to herself how deep this father-daughter bond ran. After so many years working with children, she had rarely seen a dumpling so expressive and affectionate.

Even she, who was used to seeing all kinds of parental relationships, felt a little envious. She thought this young dad was really blessed—good-looking, rich, and with such a cute little baby. A true winner in life.

While Teacher Wang was still lost in thought, the dumpling had already clumsily recounted the entire story, over and over emphasizing just a few key points: saying bad things about her daddy was wrong, her daddy is a good kid, no one should say bad things about her daddy!

Luo Sheng’s lips curved upward as he adjusted his arm to help the dumpling sit more comfortably.

The hostility and anger he had felt before entering the room had now completely dissipated, all thanks to the dumpling’s innocent ramblings. If it had been according to his usual style, anyone who dared bully his daughter would’ve been dealt with harshly—he wasn’t someone to forgive or forget. Even minor slights were repaid tenfold if they made him uncomfortable. Concepts like tolerance and restraint simply didn’t exist in Luo Sheng’s vocabulary.

The dumpling squeezed her daddy’s big hand. “Daddy, you can’t do bad things, okay? You have to keep being a good boy.”

Even though Yinyin firmly believed her daddy was a good person, she still faithfully fulfilled her responsibility to Uncle System, always reminding her daddy to be good. Because Uncle System had said that if daddy ever did something bad, he would disappear. And disappear meant never ever being found again!

Luo Sheng gave Teacher Wang a small nod. “I’ll have my lawyer contact you tomorrow about this matter.” Then he carried the dumpling and left.

The middle-aged woman was completely dumbfounded. By the time she came to her senses, that father and daughter had already walked away. She spat in the direction of the door. “Tch, no money but acting all high and mighty!”

The couple, now holding their daughter’s hand, were ready to leave too. Just moments ago, before the man arrived, they were still demanding the kindergarten resolve the issue. Now, they didn’t mention a word of it. They simply exchanged pleasantries with Teacher Wang and were about to walk away.

The middle-aged woman waved from behind. “Wait! Don’t leave yet! This matter hasn’t been settled—we need to discuss it!”

The middle-aged man was irritated by her stupidity and kindly warned, “That man is not someone you can afford to mess with. If we made it out of this unscathed today, count it as dumb luck. Don’t go stirring up trouble again.”

Even he found it odd. Based on that tyrant’s past behavior, anyone who messed with him would’ve been torn apart—he never let things slide. And yet today, he’d let them off this easily? Could it be that fatherhood had mellowed him out?

Then again, maybe it was possible. After all, he’d also taken over the Bai Group. Rumor had it that even the vice president of Bai Group had resigned. From now on, Bai Group would be under his full control.

The middle-aged man figured the matter had come to a close. He convinced himself that he’d simply gotten lucky. Even at home, he didn’t dare say much—worried the kid might overhear and repeat something. No matter how decent his company looked, it couldn’t compare to even one finger of the Luo or Bai families. He couldn’t afford to mess with them.

But just three days later, his assistant hesitantly came to report that a long-time client had canceled a project. It wasn’t a big one, worth just about five million, but—

The key issue was that this client had always been a regular. Their annual orders totaled over ten million. If one project was suddenly canceled, what about the rest?

He ran around frantically for days, and finally heard from others that this client had gone to work with the Luo family instead. Luo Group was huge—they wouldn’t normally even look at businesses that only moved a few million a year. They only did deals in the hundreds of millions.

The former client was thrilled to sign the new contract, grinning from ear to ear like he’d scored a great deal. He kept saying that doing business with a big company was the way to go—fair pricing, no greed for your little profits, and a great reputation to boot.

Sure enough, the moment word got out that he was working with the Luo Group, new business orders came flooding in. The benefits were immense. That’s what they call enjoying the shade under a big tree.

Xu Yuan’s heart sank. He suddenly remembered how Luo Sheng had asked in the teacher’s office, “How much compensation do you want?” That woman had held up five fingers and said—what was it again? Wasn’t it five million!?

He immediately sent his assistant to investigate whether that woman’s family business had run into any trouble, especially anything involving a five-million-yuan loss.

It wasn’t hard to find out. The Li family was a newly rich household in City A—almost like a legend. They’d once been poor farmers but struck it rich overnight and moved to the city. But no matter how much money they made, the upper circles still looked down on them.

No one could tell whether that family was truly ignorant enough to believe that being rich made them invincible, or if they had simply given up on themselves. Either way, their behavior was ostentatious, and they constantly offended people. If you asked whether something had happened to them—well, that was an easy guess.

The assistant didn’t question why the boss wanted to investigate this, but he went ahead and asked around. When he came back, he said in surprise, “Boss, the Li family really is something. Madam Li bought a counterfeit painting at an auction—spent five million on a fake. Now she’s making a scene with the organizers.”

“And their company was planning to switch over to real estate, right? I heard Mr. Li tried to pull some strings through industry contacts, only to get conned out of another five million…”

He scratched his head, puzzled. “Don’t tell me five million is cursed these days? Everyone who touches it seems to get screwed.”

Xu Yuan slumped into his chair, not sure if he was relieved that the blade had finally dropped, or if it was something else. After a pause, he said, “From now on, don’t sign off on any five-million-yuan deals. I’d rather take a smaller profit on more orders—just raise the total amount overall.”

The assistant agreed, and as he walked out, he muttered to himself, “Is the boss really spooked by the five-million curse?”

Truth be told, Xu Yuan did feel relieved. Compared to the old tactics of that “tyrant,” this was already merciful. Just look at what happened to the Zhang, Su, and Liu families not long ago. At first, it all looked like they’d simply brought it on themselves, but when he thought about it more deeply, something just didn’t sit right. There was no evidence, but it all felt off.

Most likely, it was the Luos behind it. Who else could have turned the tables so quickly and utterly crushed them? At the time, Mr. Luo had been hospitalized, so it probably wasn’t him personally—but if not him, who else in the Luo family?

Mrs. Luo was the classic homemaker type—no way it was her. That left only Luo Sheng.

Even if it was hard to believe, that was the only possibility.

Thinking about it, Xu Yuan felt fortunate. That five million was a bribe for silence—he’d just have to keep his mouth shut in the future.

As for the Li family… that fool—if they kept being so blind, it was only a matter of time before the whole lot of them got sent back to the countryside to farm.

Yinyin came home covered in dirt, with scrapes on her face, hands, and even feet. When Luo Sheng carried her in, Mr. and Mrs. Luo were startled.

Mrs. Luo quickly took Yinyin into her arms, distressed as she gently touched the little marks on her face. “Who pinched you?”

“Yinyin, who bullied you? Tell Grandma!”

Luo Sheng gave a concise account of what happened. It had all started from a little squabble driven by childish jealousy, which eventually escalated into a minor scuffle. Thankfully, they were only three years old—not much strength—nothing serious.

Mrs. Luo fetched the first-aid kit and was about to treat Yinyin when Luo Sheng, after washing his hands, said quietly, “I’ll do it.”

Surprised, she handed over the medicine and tools without a word.

She then pulled her husband to the side, where they peeked from behind. They watched their son fumble his way through treating a toddler, looking awkward and clumsy. Meanwhile, the little dumpling didn’t seem afraid of the pain at all. When his hand pressed too hard, she just encouraged him: “Daddy, Yinyin doesn’t hurt!”

That one little sentence made Luo Sheng’s hands much gentler, though his movements also became more hesitant and slow. By the time he’d finished disinfecting and applying ointment, nearly an hour had passed.

He looked at the bite mark on her arm, concerned. “Will this leave a scar?” he muttered. The three-year-old Yinyin was already a little girl who cared about her looks. She was frowning at the tooth mark on her arm, sighing deeply—her fat little face full of worry, which for some reason made people want to laugh.

Luo Sheng’s lips curled upward. Suddenly, he picked up his phone and searched: “Do you need a shot if someone bites you?”

He frowned at the results for a long while. Then, finally, he picked Yinyin up and started to head out.

Mrs. Luo called out from behind, “Hey! You haven’t even eaten—where are you going?”

“To get a shot.”

The moment Yinyin heard that, she shivered and resisted her dad for the first time, struggling in his arms. “I don’t want a shot! I don’t mind having a scar!”

“Wuwuwu, no shots!”

Luo Sheng held her tighter. “Be quiet.”

Yinyin: “……”

After Luo Sheng left with Yinyin, Mr. and Mrs. Luo sat down to eat by themselves.

Mrs. Luo sighed emotionally, “Our son really has grown up. Becoming a father really changes a man. Remember how he used to dislike kids? Now look—he can carry a child without batting an eye.”

“He can even do Yinyin’s hair. And just now—you saw it too, right? He’s learned to treat wounds. In my entire life, I’ve never seen him serve me like that!”

She laughed. “I used to worry he was too playful and irresponsible. But now that he has Yinyin, he’s calmed down a lot.”

Mr. Luo nodded. “She’s a good kid.”

Of course, he would only say that behind his son’s back. In front of Luo Sheng, he still scolded him like usual. When Luo Sheng returned with a teary-eyed Yinyin in his arms, Mr. Luo immediately put on a stern face and gave his son a scolding.

“You going hungry is fine, but the child has to eat first, got it? Blah blah blah…” He went on and on, as if avenging Yinyin.

Yinyin clung to Grandpa’s arm and swung it back and forth, her little voice soft and sweet. “Daddy was good. Yinyin isn’t hungry!”

Well, that was expected—this little dumpling couldn’t stand to hear anyone badmouth her daddy. Mr. Luo was so angry he nearly burst a vein.

“Fine, fine! You two are great. I’m the villain here!”

Yinyin said sweetly, “Daddy’s good, Grandpa’s good too!” Then she looked at Grandma and quickly added, “Grandma’s good too!”

Yinyin didn’t actually know what “good” meant, but grown-ups always praised her for being “good,” so she had decided it must be the best word in the world—the most sincere compliment.

With wide eyes, she said earnestly, “Daddy is the best, Grandpa and Grandma are second-best, and Yinyin is third-best!”

Mrs. Luo burst out laughing and collapsed onto the sofa, heart both warm and aching. “Okay, okay—we’re all good!”