VHBF – Chapter 20 The Playboy Daddy (Part 20)

Mu Bai had always been someone who treated others gently, smiling at everyone he met. But for some reason, he wasn’t smiling this time, nor did he respond to the little dumpling. He merely tugged at the corners of his mouth. Obedient? That man probably wouldn’t be associated with that word in his entire life.

But the innocent little dumpling wholeheartedly believed her father was the best, and she excitedly boasted about him.

Out of the corner of his eye, Mu Bai spotted the tall man—who knew how long he had been standing there. He had changed into a set of casual clothes and lazily strolled over. When he noticed Mu Bai looking at him, he gave him a provoking smile, as if to say: See? My kid still likes me the best!

Mu Bai couldn’t help but laugh. How could a childish man who even gets jealous over his daughter chatting with someone else be the same person who had used cunning tactics to take down his opponents in such a short time?

Feeling reassured, he leaned closer to the little dumpling and pulled out a small bag of candies from his bag.

The candies were in a small bag with opaque packaging, so you couldn’t see what was inside. Mu Bai deliberately dangled the bag in front of the dumpling.

Sure enough, the greedy little dumpling was immediately distracted. She sneakily swallowed her drool and looked up with hopeful eyes, “Pretty uncle, what’s inside?”

“It looks so pretty!” Afraid of exposing her intentions, she tried to praise it in a roundabout way.

Mu Bai said he didn’t know. The dumpling’s eyes lit up. “Then uncle, how about I help you taste it?”

But just as she said that, a large hand lifted her from behind. Her arms and legs flailed in the air, struggling to get down like a baby animal caught by the scruff.

The dumpling was panicking—this was her first time defying her dad. “Daddy! Let me go! I want to help pretty uncle taste the candy!”

Luo Sheng gritted his teeth and hissed darkly into her ear, “You’ve already gone over today’s candy limit. No more!”

Seeing that she was still unwilling to give up, he gave a cold laugh and gently patted her round little tummy. “Do you want to be mocked by Mianmian again?”

The dumpling froze instantly, then shook her head furiously, “No no no! Uncle Mianmian is mean, I don’t want him to laugh at me!”

She turned her head with effort to tell Mu Bai, “Pretty uncle, you have to hide it, don’t let me see! If I see it, I’ll want to eat it. If I eat it, my tummy will grow chubby!”

Mu Bai hid the candy just as she asked. But the dumpling added in agony, “Pretty uncle, you should hide yourself too. Don’t let me see you!”

“If I see you, I’ll think of the candy!”

Mu Bai: “……”

From that day onward, perhaps because he liked the dumpling too much—or maybe he was just naturally sociable—Mu Bai started visiting the Luo household whenever he had free time.

He was refined and polite, clearly the ideal, well-raised son from someone else’s family—a complete contrast to Luo Sheng.

Mrs. Luo liked this “other people’s child” very much and enjoyed chatting with him while holding the dumpling.

Mu Bai had a natural charm with women. He could read the room, say the right things at the right time, and keep any conversation going. With older women like Mrs. Luo, he chatted about family and household matters.

With the three-year-old dumpling, he could coax her into giggling non-stop. She called him “pretty uncle” sweetly and warmly.

But in Luo Sheng’s eyes, Mu Bai was extremely annoying. He was at the top of his blacklist. Every time he saw him walk through the door, he wanted to kick him out.

Recently, the Bai Group had started negotiations with a multinational corporation. It was the biggest project since the company’s founding. As soon as the news broke, Bai Group’s market value soared, and the entire company was suddenly overwhelmed with work.

Luo Sheng didn’t have time to pick up the dumpling from school for several days in a row. But worried that another incident like the previous fight might occur, he assigned his most trusted assistant to handle pickups and drop-offs.

The assistant was a man in his forties, slightly balding, a bit chubby, always smiling—especially when looking at the adorable dumpling. He was a kindly uncle-type.

Zhao Wen smiled as he watched the little dumpling in pink waving goodbye to her teacher and classmates, then quickly running over with her rosy cheeks puffed up.

Seeing the chubby uncle, the dumpling looked a little disappointed. She pouted and asked, “Uncle Zhao, Daddy didn’t come again today?”

She asked this question every single day. Zhao Wen smiled, “The company took on a big project. President Luo is really busy.”

Seeing her sulking with her head down in the child seat, Zhao Wen gently tried to explain, “Miss Yinyin, your daddy is an adult. He needs to earn money to support you, right?”

Afraid she wouldn’t understand and it might affect their relationship, he added, “Our company is your company, Miss Yinyin. Your daddy is managing it for you. When you grow up, you won’t have to worry about anything. You’ll be able to buy all the pretty dresses you want!”

Yinyin didn’t quite get it. She had always been a little dumpling so poor she had to split even a single candy into two bites. She had no concept of being a little rich girl. Talking to her about companies was less useful than saying she could earn money by picking up bottles.

But she understood this much—Daddy worked hard. He was so busy earning money to support her that he didn’t have time to pick her up and came home really late every day.

She frowned in worry. “Uncle, you have to tell Daddy to eat properly. He can’t work too hard.”

Zhao Wen’s smile grew even gentler. No wonder their boss spoiled this little princess so much. Despite his bad reputation and domineering personality, he always asked about the dumpling whenever he had a moment.

The way he doted on her was no different from a biological father. Zhao Wen thought—if anything ever happened to this little girl, their boss would probably lose his mind.

Yinyin asked many questions in the car. Zhao Wen told her Daddy was so busy he sometimes forgot to eat. He just wanted the dumpling to understand that Luo Sheng didn’t mean to neglect her—he was really just too busy. He even used missing meals as an example.

When Yinyin heard this, she was heartbroken. Her little chubby face was still scrunched up when she got home.

Mrs. Luo was at home and scooped her into her arms. “What’s wrong today, Yinyin? You look like a little old man!”

The dumpling hesitated for a long time before saying, “Grandma, Daddy works so hard!”

Mrs. Luo was comforted. It was a good thing that the child could understand adult hardships. She smiled and stroked her head. “Once this busy period is over, we’ll ask Daddy to take you out to play, okay? To the amusement park?”

Yinyin’s eyes lit up, but then she remembered—the amusement park, that heavenly place, was very expensive.

She immediately waved her hands. “No! Daddy works so hard, we can’t waste money!”

The next day was the weekend. No school, no need to wake up early.

That night, Luo Sheng came home past 11 PM. The living room was dark, with only a few dim wall lights left on near the entrance. He turned on the lights, poured a glass of water, loosened his tie, and slumped onto the sofa.

As he reached to the side, his hand touched something soft and warm.

Startled, he looked down.

There, curled up in a corner of the sofa in a pale green dinosaur onesie, was the little dumpling. She was even covered with a small green blanket.

She was so tiny that the blanket covered her completely. Luo Sheng hadn’t noticed her before. If he hadn’t touched her, he might not have seen her at all.

Her mouth was slightly open, breathing softly in sleep. Just as he was about to pick her up, the dumpling murmured in her sleep, “Daddy… you’re back…”

He froze. When he came back to his senses, the little dinosaur in his arms had already woken up. She blinked sleepy eyes at him for a long moment before suddenly realizing: “It’s not a dream… Daddy, you’re back!”

Her voice was exactly the same as when she spoke in her sleep.

Luo Sheng: “……”

“Why are you sleeping here?”

He looked upset, his face dark, brows furrowed. The dumpling looked guilty and whispered, “Yin… Yinyin snuck down. Grandpa and Grandma don’t know.”

She usually fell asleep by eight or nine, and her grandparents went to bed before ten. The dumpling was worried they’d find out, so she secretly asked the system uncle to wake her up after ten—she wanted to wait for Daddy.

She knew very well how it felt to come home after a long day and find no one there. Daddy must be scared!

Since she could remember, she’d often been home alone, still wobbling when she walked. That awful woman who raised her was gone every few days, leaving her by herself.

Later, she learned how to collect bottles and sold them for money. She returned home happily with her earnings—only to find an empty house.

So in her heart, coming home alone after a hard day’s work must be scary—just like she used to feel.

Sitting on Daddy’s lap, her chubby little hands clutched his neck as she gave him a beaming smile. “Daddy, you’re not alone when you come home! You don’t have to be scared!”

Luo Sheng froze, staring at her radiant little face. He awkwardly turned his head and gruffly warned, “Don’t come downstairs at night alone! The rats will carry you away!”

But the dumpling wasn’t scared. She wasn’t some sheltered child—she’d seen rats before. She had even nearly tried to catch one to eat when she was starving. Back where she used to live, rats were everywhere.

She almost said, I’m not scared! but seeing her daddy’s expression, she decided to spare his pride and sweetly replied, “Daddy is right! It’s too late at night, I’ll be carried away. So Daddy can’t come home this late anymore either!”

Luo Sheng carried her upstairs.

He washed her hands and feet and made her a cup of warm milk. It was his first time doing all this—usually Mrs. Luo or the nanny handled it.

Clumsy as he was, he didn’t adjust the water temperature at first and almost scalded his fingers.

All while the dumpling watched from the side, laughing and cheering, “Daddy’s amazing!”

Luo Sheng: “……”

Before bed, the dumpling tugged on his shirt. “Daddy, sleep with Yinyin tonight!”

But Luo Sheng was stubborn and domineering. He’d slept alone all his life, and his sleeping habits were as wild as he was. Looking at the tiny, soft little dinosaur dumpling who looked like she’d squish if he wasn’t careful, he frowned and refused, “No.”

The dumpling pouted and looked up at him with big, watery eyes, trying to melt his heart.

She was very good at reading the room. But when his expression still didn’t soften, she made a request instead. “Okay… but Daddy has to give Yinyin a kiss.”

She lifted her little face, eyes closed, and pointed to her forehead and cheek. “A goodnight kiss!”

She had learned this from her classmate Zhenzhen, who said her dad stopped kissing her after finding a new stepmom. She believed kisses were the way to tell if Daddy still loved you.

Yinyin, besides being sad for her friend, had taken it to heart. System Uncle always said Daddy didn’t remember or like her anymore—but Yinyin firmly believed he still loved her!

To prove it, she closed her eyes and nervously waited for his kiss.

Luo Sheng froze, his whole body stiff like wood. Staring at her pale chubby little face, he forced a twitch of a smile.

Kiss his kid? No way!