"Who are you……"

Zhang Lin was momentarily stunned.

She calls herself "Dad," so "Mom" must be Xia Xiaonuan.

But... the age doesn't seem to match.

"Dad, my name is Zhang Xiaonian, and I'm your daughter!" Zhang Xiaonian hugged Zhang Lin's leg and cried, "Mom and I have been looking for you for so long!"

"Where did this brat come from?" Zhang Lin's face darkened, and he grabbed Zhang Xiaonian by the collar and lifted her up. "You're over ten years old, right? Xiao Nuan is only 23 this year. She gave birth to you when she was 13?"

Zhang Xiaonian: "..."

She genuinely didn't know Xia Xiaonuan's age, since Xia Xiaonuan usually didn't talk to her about these things. She also knew that Xia Xiaonuan was young, but she didn't expect her to be this young.

"Uh... let me explain... ptooey, let me explain!" Zhang Xiaonian quickly said, "I was adopted by my mother, and she even made me take your surname because she always thought you were dead. She's doing this to continue your family line!"

"That makes some sense," Zhang Lin said, stroking his chin.

Zhang Xiaonian breathed a sigh of relief. He shouldn't be dead now, right? Even if the two of them had a big conflict, Zhang Lin shouldn't lay a hand on a child like him, especially since he had now recognized Zhang Lin as his godfather.

"Where's Xiao Nuan?" Zhang Lin asked, putting her down.

"The city lord summoned me." Zhang Xiaonian said, deliberately acting cute, clinging to Zhang Lin's arm, and looking up at him, "Dad, what do you want to see Mom about?"

She was still unsure why Zhang Lin had come over.

However, Xia Xiaonuan was very angry when she left Zhang Lin's house, and Zhang Xiaonian knew that she must have had a falling out with Zhang Lin.

Zhang Lin then sneaked over under the cover of darkness...

Poor Zhang Xiaonian grew up in the apocalypse, experiencing much killing and deception, but knew little about matters between men and women.

In her mind, what else could she do besides kill someone if she sneaked in at midnight?

But little did she know, there were many things that could be done at night.

Zhang Lin naturally wouldn't tell a child what he was going to do, so he just laughed it off and said, "Just chatting with her."

"Hehe..." Zhang Xiaonian certainly didn't believe it, but on the surface, she could only continue to act cute and pretend to be stupid. 'Dad, sit here, I'll make you some tea, okay?'

"Good girl." Zhang Lin was a little surprised and reached out to ruffle her hair. "Go on, I'll try the tea my good daughter brewed."

He now truly believes that Zhang Xiaonian was adopted by Xia Xiaonuan.

After all, Xia Xiaonuan wouldn't bring a child out of nowhere. Besides, her surname is Zhang.

"The tea is on the first floor, I'll go get it for Dad!" Zhang Xiaonian let go of Zhang Lin's arm, ran downstairs, held his breath, quietly opened the door, and slipped out.

"Oh my god, I was so scared! Luckily, I was smart enough to run away." Zhang Xiaonian ran several hundred meters before stopping, panting heavily.

A moment later, she leaned against the tree, thinking about a question.

"Should I ask Xia Xiaonuan to tell her so she can prepare?" She actually wanted to run away, but she was worried that Xia Xiaonuan would catch her again.

"What do you want to say to me?" Just then, Xia Xiaonuan returned home, saw Zhang Xiaonian, and heard her words. She immediately grabbed Zhang Xiaonian by the collar, lifted her up, narrowed her eyes, and asked with murderous intent, "You want to run away?"

"No...no, absolutely not!" Zhang Xiaonian was almost scared to death and hurriedly said, "Auntie, your ex-boyfriend is here. I was afraid he would do something to you, so I secretly ran away to report to you."

"He's here?" Xia Xiaonuan's attitude softened upon hearing this. She put her down, then took her hand and walked towards Villa No. 1. "Hmph, at least he has a conscience."

Zhang Xiaonian looked completely bewildered.

I already tipped you off, why did you go back?

We're doomed.

These two are definitely going to fight!

However, when Xia Xiaonuan returned home, Zhang Xiaonian found that the two had not fought. Xia Xiaonuan coldly ignored Zhang Lin, while Zhang Lin stood up with a grin, hugged Xia Xiaonuan, and even kissed her. Xia Xiaonuan responded with feigned resistance, and her coldness quickly turned into warmth.

"Pah, shameless!"

Zhang Xiaonian was dumbfounded.

This is completely different from what she expected.

A moment later, the two separated. Xia Xiaonuan sat on Zhang Lin's lap, her arms around his neck, and said, "Have you figured it out?"

Zhang Lin immediately changed the subject, pointing to Zhang Xiaonian, "Where did you find this kid? He's quite clever."

He had realized that he had just been fooled by Zhang Xiaonian. She used her harmless appearance to force him to acknowledge her as her father, which made him feel some paternal love and successfully lower his guard against her.

"Heh...you actually got fooled by a little kid." Xia Xiaonuan knew he was changing the subject and scoffed, "Really, someone like you won't survive long in the apocalypse!"

Zhang Lin's face darkened; it was indeed somewhat embarrassing to be fooled by a little girl.

“My dear daughter, come here. Daddy has some gifts for you.” He beckoned to Zhang Xiaonian.

Zhang Xiaonian walked over with a bitter face.

She felt like she was caught in the middle, having even tipped off Xia Xiaonuan, only to find the two of them eating together as soon as they entered the room.

Gift?

Just don't hit me!

With a mix of trepidation and excitement, Zhang Xiaonian walked up to Zhang Lin.

Zhang Lin took out a thick stack of exam papers from his spatial ring. There were more than a dozen papers covering various subjects, and the words on the cover were quite eye-catching: "Five Years of College Entrance Examination, Three Years of Simulation." He had accidentally put these papers into his spatial ring before, and he never expected them to come in handy now.

"Kids need to study a lot. Dad is giving you some review materials, so you have to study hard!" Zhang Lin said with a smile. "You have a week to finish them all. Go back and start writing now. By tomorrow morning, I want to see you finish at least a third of one book!"

Zhang Xiaonian stared wide-eyed at Zhang Lin.

Five years of college entrance exam preparation and three years of mock exams?

I'm 11!

Are you serious?

She looked at Xia Xiaonuan pleadingly, "Auntie, please forgive me for tipping you off earlier."

This is the end of the world!

You can ask me to kill someone, but what's with asking me to do an exam?

Xia Xiaonuan glanced at her coldly, "Why are you looking at me? Didn't you acknowledge him as your father? Don't you listen to your father?"

"I...I'll listen!"

Zhang Xiaonian's mental state collapsed. She suspected that she must have done something heinous to have encountered this despicable couple.

Was this apocalypse something I created?

Otherwise, why would they punish me like this!

She left carrying a set of five years' college entrance exam simulation materials weighing over ten kilograms.

After she left, Zhang Lin smiled and said, "Now the New Year won't bother us anymore."

Xia Xiaonuan brought up the old issue again, "I'm asking you, what are you going to do with those women? I'm not pursuing your infidelity, that's already the biggest concession I've made!"

Zhang Lin picked her up and carried her to the bedroom. "Ugh, why bring up such upsetting things? It's been so long since we last met, don't you miss me?"

"I want to~~"