Chapter 115 Exceptions and Favoritism

After taking the photos, Dan Anwen led Gu Zhaodi onto the deck of the yacht.

"Uncle Dan, do you have another surprise?" Gu Zhaodi looked at the calm sea in front of her. The night was dark, and the vast sea was rippling.

Dan Anwen lowered his eyes and looked at the beautiful girl in front of him, a smile that seemed to linger on his lips. His brown phoenix eyes, behind his gold-rimmed glasses, shone with a faint light. "Little girl, look up at the sky."

Upon hearing this, Gu Zhaodi looked up at the star-studded night sky, which, apart from its boundless expanse, held nothing particularly special about it.

Before she could think any further, a loud bang was heard, and streaks of colorful light streaked across the night sky.

Fireworks of various colors shot straight into the sky from the nearby island, soaring into the dark sky and blooming into beautiful and dazzling patterns in mid-air.

The rising fireworks formed the words: "Happy 18th Birthday, Little Princess."

The fireworks gradually stopped after the characters circulated in the air several times.

The girl remained in the same position watching the fireworks, her eyes glistening with tears, and her crimson lips trembling slightly.

"Happy 18th birthday, little princess. Tonight's dazzling fireworks are all for you." The man's handsome eyes were filled with doting affection, and his tone was as gentle as a sponge soaked in water.

As he spoke, the man gently stroked the girl's hair with his large, well-defined hand, his deep, dark eyes resembling the dazzling fireworks from before. "Little girl, you must continue to be a happy and carefree little princess."

The girl pursed her trembling lips, suppressing the bittersweet emotions in her heart, and said softly, "Thank you, Uncle Dan. I really like this coming-of-age ceremony, and I'm very happy."

The man's slightly upturned eyes drooped slightly, and his thin lips parted slightly, "There's no need for thank you among family members."

He had actually wanted to say this to the child for a long time, but he never had the chance. In the two years he had known her, she had thanked him countless times.

The word "thank you" always made him feel that there was still a distance between him and the children.

"Huh?" The girl was clearly taken aback. Had the topic been changed a bit too quickly?

Dan Anwen pinched her red nose and said in a deep, magnetic voice, "If you really want to thank me, then don't say thank you to me in the future."

Gu Zhaodi had always considered "thank you" as a polite expression and never thought that saying "thank you" between family members was too formal.

"Then I won't thank you." With that, the girl took out a piece of candy from behind her back and opened the man's warm palm. "Consider this a thank you gift."

The man looked at the chocolate in his palm, and for a moment he didn't know whether to laugh or cry. It seemed to be the candy he had just given her.

"Then I'll accept this gift as a token of my gratitude. Just say thank you to me less often in the future." A indulgent smile played on the corners of the man's lips.

"Don't worry, I'll definitely say less in the future." The girl nodded vigorously, indicating that she really remembered.

Dan Anwen's deep eyes, like a vast blue ocean, asked slowly, "Little friend, would you like to see the sunrise at the beach?"

Gu Zhaodi blinked as she looked at the dark, boundless sea and replied with a smile, "Okay, I've never seen a sunrise over the sea before."

Over the next few hours, the passengers gradually returned to their rooms to rest, leaving only men and girls on deck chairs on the deck.

Seeing that the girl's eyes were almost closed, the man's smile spread across his lips, and he said gently, "Little girl, you can sleep for a while. I'll wake you up when the sun rises."

"Mmm-hmm." The girl had already closed her eyes, which were bright and clear, without a trace of impurity.

The fiery sun peeked over the boundless sea. The girl's sleepy eyes were not yet fully open. Golden rays dyed the entire sky red. Accompanied by the sound of seabirds flapping their wings, she finally woke up a little.

The rising sun on the horizon resembled the birth of new life, and the feeling of being reborn reached its peak in the girl's heart at that moment.

"Uncle Dan." Gu Zhaodi was about to turn around and call the man behind her to watch the sunrise together when she found that he was already standing next to her.

Dan Anwen's indifferent eyebrows softened slightly under the golden light. Standing on the deck with his back to the cruise ship, his tall figure blended into the new morning sun.

Hearing the girl's soft voice, the man lowered his eyes slightly and placed a pink envelope from behind him into her palm.

"What is this?" The girl looked at the delicate-colored envelope in her palm, momentarily puzzled.

The man's voice was deep and hoarse, as if he hadn't slept all night. "Open it and take a look."

The girl's slender, fair fingers opened the envelope, revealing a household registration booklet with a dark red cover.

She immediately looked up at the man whose eyes were full of doting affection, her gaze questioning.

"Open it and take a look." Dan Anwen nodded slightly.

The girl flipped to the first page of the household registration book and found that the head of household was Gu's father; this was the Gu family's household registration book.

"Turn to page three," the man said again, his tone indifferent.

When she turned to the third page, she saw a name that was both familiar and unfamiliar.

"Gu Ji?" The girl's pupils contracted slightly, and her rosy lips parted slightly, revealing her pearly white teeth.

"This is my... name?" She pointed to herself with her pale finger, her tone hesitant.

The man gently rubbed the back of the girl's head, a slight smile curving his lips. "It's my own business, little girl. I'm so glad to welcome your eighteenth birthday."

Changing a name is like changing a soul. The name Gu Zhaodi will always contain the meaning of hoping for the arrival of a younger brother. She will never completely belong to the girl.

Gu Ji is the best symbol and expectation for a girl to become herself. It is a name that belongs to her alone, and will no longer be defined by anyone else. She will no longer live in anyone else's expectations. It belongs completely to her alone.

"Uncle Dan, how did you know I wanted to be called this name?" Gu Ji (who will officially become Gu Ji from now on) asked, his voice trembling slightly as he stroked the name on his household registration book with his fingertips.

Dan Anwen's eyes narrowed upwards. "I had Guan Xiang trick you into revealing information."

The idea of ​​changing the child's name has always been in his plans. Even though the child no longer cares much about whether her name is Zhao Di or not, he still hopes that the child can completely become herself.

Gu Ji sniffed slightly, his nose stinging with tears. "No wonder Xiangxiang asked me about my name back then."

It turns out that all of this was part of the man's plan; she was always the exception and the favorite in his plan.

It was always part of his plan.

As she thought about it, tears welled up in the girl's eyes and streamed down her delicate cheeks, disappearing at her collarbone.

The man sighed softly, wiping away her tears as he slowly said, "I'm not giving you this surprise to make you cry; this is a happy occasion."

"Mmm." The girl tried to calm the chaotic thoughts in her mind, blinking her reddened eyes frantically to prevent the tears that were welling up in her eyes from falling.

She found that since living with Uncle Dan, she was often moved to tears by his surprises, and her tear threshold had become much lower.

No, it might not be that she's easily moved to tears, but rather that it touched on a point that resonates with her.

Seeing this, the man could only say helplessly and indulgently, "Alright, you're a little princess today, so cry if you want to."

As soon as she finished speaking, the girl wrapped her arms around the man's lean and strong waist, buried her petite body in his broad chest, pouted, and tears streamed down her face onto his white shirt.

The man's muscular arms tightly embraced the girl's slender back, his warm hands patting her back soothingly to calm her unstable emotions.

After Gu Ji finished crying, she withdrew from the man's hot chest, her face flushed suspiciously, and said in a muffled voice, "Uncle Dan, I think I've ruined your shirt again with my crying."

The man's thin white shirt was soaked with tears, and his well-defined abs could be vaguely seen beneath the wet shirt, making him alluringly handsome.

Dan Anwen chuckled slightly. He was used to the little boy crying and ruining his white shirt; after all, this wasn't the first time.

Being a germaphobe, he would never wear a flawed shirt a second time, let alone dirty clothes stained with tears and unknown liquids. Even if they were washed clean, he would never wear them again.

He doesn't mind anything about the child, except that this shirt can't get wet, and it looks like it's going to be ruined again.

"It's okay, it's not the first time anyway," the man joked.

Upon hearing this, the girl immediately lowered her head, her already flushed cheeks turning an even more suspicious red, and her bright red nose and watery eyes looked as if they had been ravaged.

"Alright, let's go back to sleep." The man gently lifted the girl's delicate chin with his long, slender fingers and said softly.

The girl, who was in a state of tension, was completely unaware that the man's words and actions carried a hint of ambiguity.

Only the rising sun in the east witnessed this scene and knew the man's hidden thoughts.