After enjoying two peach blossom pastries that Jiang Chi had brought back, Chaochao, under Pei Yushen's tutelage, finally embarked on her long journey of arithmetic.

"Nine, ten, eleven..."

Inside the room, Chaochao was counting her toes with great concentration, her head bowed. On the simple wooden desk sat Little Green, who had finally been promoted from the outer room to the inner room.

After ensuring that Pei Yushen would truly treat Xiao Lü well and wouldn't destroy the house, Chaochao solemnly handed Xiao Lü over to him, along with the house and land, while recalling the past with a melancholy expression: "Xiao Lü has had a very difficult journey..."

These past five or six days have been filled with storms and hardships, sigh...

Pei Yushen: "…………"

While Chaochao was still diligently doing his calculations, the boy's gaze kept drifting to the particularly eye-catching cream-colored wooden house.

"Thirteen...fourteen..."

While engrossed in counting her toes, Chaochao suddenly caught Pei Yushen's blank stare. She paused her work, tilted her head, and asked him curiously, "Brother Yushen, do you still want to go back to school?"

The boy calmly covered his eyes: "I don't want to."

That's true. The students at the young man's school are probably all like the ones they met today. Besides Pumpkin Bro, there might also be Winter Melon Bro, Watermelon Bro, and Bitter Melon Bro...

Chaochao thought of what the cobra had said to her in the toilet earlier that day.

Pei Yushen heard the little dumpling's faint sigh. He paused, lowered his eyes, and slowly said, "The school can't teach me anything anymore, so it's okay if I don't go."

Before the car accident, he had already completed all the high school courses through self-study.

"Brother Yu Shen, do you still want to study physics...?"

"Brother, why do you like it?"

Chaochao recalled the name Pei Yushen had mentioned last time, hmm... was it Wuli or Physics again...?

Pei Yushen's eyelashes trembled slightly, and the soft, warm light cast a dark shadow on his fair skin.

He began to reminisce about the past.

The reason I like physics is simple.

Pei's parents were both highly regarded academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Pei Yushen was given great expectations from a young age. In his childhood, he was just like millions of ordinary little boys.

When I grow up, I want to be a physicist like my parents.

In first grade, the little boy said this with bright eyes during his "My Dream" themed class: he wanted to become a great physicist for the well-being and needs of people.

Many years have passed...

But after that, everything changed.

Those people...

Like someone lost in a vast ocean without a lighthouse, without direction or meaning.

"I have no idea."

The boy was silent for a moment, then his voice came softly.

Chaochao didn't quite understand, and looked away from her toes: "Why? Brother Yushen, if you like it, just go for it! Chaochao will definitely support you. Although I don't really like math either, it seems like this will make me a little smarter..."

When math or arithmetic was mentioned, Chaochao suddenly looked down at her feet, her big eyes blinking with a serious and puzzled look: "Wait... where was I counting to?"

Even when they couldn't recall the generals and soldiers, Chaochao, with an excellent attitude, started counting from the beginning, "One, two, three..."

As the little dumpling counted cheerfully, the boy in the wheelchair silently fell into a jumble of thoughts.

"Why does everyone support me...?"

He murmured softly.

What if he doesn't want to continue? Will he be as utterly disappointed in him as the professor was...?

When going to bed at night, after taking a bath, Chaochao put on her milky white bunny onesie and placed her little twig on the bedside table with extra reverence, right next to the bunny doll.

On the right is Dad, and on the left is Little Rabbit and her magic sword. Feeling safe and secure, Chaochao happily climbs into bed.

Huo Qin, standing to one side, remained silent: "..."

He felt that it wasn't just the little dumpling's imperial sword, but also a sharp sword hanging over his own neck.

In the past, it was fine if the little dumpling didn't perform in her dreams with props, but if she actually grabbed a twig...

Huo Qin felt that it wasn't impossible for him to have died in his dream.

He pondered for a moment, then quietly moved to the side of the bed.

Climbing into bed and covering herself with a small blanket, Chaochao begins her daily self-reflection.

Did you eat candy today? Did you drink peach milk? Did you watch Peppa Pig?

...Oh no, no!

Chaochao shook her head and started over.

Did you work hard today to earn money to support your family?

—Yes! It's just that it's already inside the stomach a few miles in.

Did you do anything particularly cool today?

—Yes! Three bad guys were taught a lesson!

Did I become a little smarter today?

—Yes! Even when Yu Shen praised her for her math skills, she tore her socks even faster!

After finding that she had received a positive answer to every question, a victorious smile appeared on Chaochao's rosy face. Just as she was comfortably preparing to lie down and go to sleep—

"???"

The little dumpling suddenly sat up, her round eyes solemnly measuring the vast distance between her and her father.

She was thinking.

In addition to the three provinces we have today, should we add a fourth province?

—Has the love between her and her father faded?

At this moment, Huo Qin was leaning against the bedside, his head turned to the side. Under his dark silk nightgown, a section of his well-proportioned and powerful wrist bone was exposed, dazzling like the silver moonlight in the dark night.

The man was reaching for Chaochao's bedtime storybook.

Chaochao, who was good at taking a direct approach, immediately crawled out of the quilt, and the soft little ball rolled from one side of the bed to the other, "chua" rolling into Huo Qin's arms!

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!