"What did you say?"

Huo Jiayuan repeated very seriously, "You're not as handsome as the prince!"

"You brat!"

Lin Zhaojiang raised his hand as if to hit her, but he was just teasing her. Huo Jiayuan couldn't dodge his iron hand and was lifted up by his large hands, held in his arms and tickled. Huo Jiayuan giggled non-stop.

However, the poor ice cream cone was once again "completely destroyed," landing upside down on Lin Zhaojiang's coat collar.

Huo Jiayuan was stunned for a moment, looked at the bare ice cream cone in her hand, then looked at Lin Zhaojiang, her little face turned red, she was silent for a few seconds, and then burst into tears!

"Yuan Yuan, don't cry!" Lin Zhaojiang had never comforted a child before, and he had no idea that a little girl of a few years old could have such a large lung capacity.

This caused passersby to look at him with strange eyes.

Lin Zhaojiang had never been so humiliated in his life. Would these people think that a strange old man was bullying a little girl?

"Hey, Yuan Yuan!" He hurriedly tried to cover her mouth, "Don't cry!"

As a result, Huo Jiayuan slapped his hand away.

"I told you to stop crying!" Lin Zhaojiang raised his voice, becoming stern. "Is this never going to end?"

"Wow--"

"Why are you crying over such a small thing! If you want an ice cream cone, your great-uncle will just buy you another one!"

"You big bad guy!" Huo Jiayuan swung her little arm and punched him. "You...you scratched me, it's all your fault!"

"You brat!"

"You don't need to buy it for me, I won't eat it!" The Huo family's little princess had quite a temper. "Even if you buy another one, it won't be the same one! I don't want it, I don't like it!"

"I want the original one!"

Lin Zhaojiang was slightly taken aback.

Do you want the original one?

Ah, so even a little kid knows what irreplaceable means... but he used to know nothing about it.

Lin Zhaojiang fell silent, neither arguing with Huo Jiayuan nor speaking up. He sat quietly to one side. His tall figure appeared somewhat forlorn, his mind filled with the image of Song Wan he had just seen.

He looked down and saw that the ice cream had melted on his clothes.

After an unknown amount of time, Huo Jiayuan stopped crying.

The little girl couldn't understand why her great-uncle, who had just been yelling at her fiercely for not crying, suddenly seemed like a deflated balloon.

She frowned, wondering if she had cried too loudly and scared him.

Huo Jiayuan wiped away her tears. Kind-hearted by nature, she hesitated for a moment, then gently leaned against him and took his hand.

"Uncle, what's wrong?"

Lin Zhaojiang lowered his eyelids and remained silent.

"Uncle, are you sad? What's making you sad?"

Lin Zhaojiang looked at her earnest and adorable little expression, chuckled, pinched her cheek, and said softly, "I'm fine."

"Hmm... I was wrong just now," Huo Jiayuan muttered softly. "I... I shouldn't have said you weren't as handsome as Prince. If I hadn't said that, you wouldn't have scratched me, and my ice cream wouldn't have gotten on you!"

"Wow, you're quite good at analysis."

“Then I apologize to you.” Huo Jiayuan looked into his eyes. “My grandfather said that a person should have the courage to admit their mistakes!”

"Is that so?" Lin Zhaojiang smiled. "Your grandfather's excellent quality of admitting his mistakes is probably only used on your grandmother, isn't it?"

Huo Jiayuan pouted, not understanding what she meant.

Lin Zhaojiang patted her head, preparing to take her home.

Huo Jiayuan suddenly grabbed his hand, "Uncle, apart from being a bit old, you're actually... more handsome than the prince!"

Lin Zhaojiang laughed heartily, thinking it was just a child's innocent remark. But the little princess's next sentence was: "That prince is younger than you! I saw his picture in Teacher Song's office!"

"What did you say?"

Lin Zhaojiang's eyes narrowed. He vaguely remembered that at that banquet, Lin Yuqing had mentioned to him that Song Wan now had a boyfriend and was about to get married. She was living a normal life and he should stop bothering her...

At that time, he still thought Lin Yuqing was lying to him!

Lin Zhaojiang clenched his fists, his breathing becoming unsteady.

"Uncle..." Huo Jiayuan said cautiously, "I want to go home."

"Oh." Lin Zhaojiang snapped out of his thoughts, took out a tissue from his pocket to wipe his collar, and then picked up Xiao Yuanyuan.

"Uncle, you don't seem very happy."

Lin Zhaojiang forced a smile.

"If you're unhappy about anything, just tell me. Mom always says that I'm the joy of my grandparents and maternal grandparents!"

“Because to them, you are their most precious person,” Lin Zhaojiang said in a low voice. “By the way, Yuan Yuan, do you think your great-uncle is good to you?”

"Yes!" Huo Jiayuan nodded vigorously, "My great-uncle gave me a super big amusement park!"

"Then... can you do my great-uncle a favor?"

Huo Jiayuan looked at him quietly, her large, expressive eyes twinkling like stars in the sky.

"Well..." the little guy thought for a moment, "You have to tell me what you need my help with before I can tell you!"

"This little girl!" Lin Zhaojiang was once again at a loss for words, "She truly lives up to her reputation as a member of the Huo family; she's got a lot of tricks up her sleeve!"