During a break in his office at the group, Huo Qin dialed Chaochao's phone watch. The cheerful "Green Grassland" ringtone was answered after only three rings.

"Daddy!" The little dumpling's voice was full of energy.

"Hmm." Huo Qin's eyes remained fixed on the documents, his phone set aside, his voice calm. "How was your time at the Ji family's?"

"I had so much fun! I played hide-and-seek, 'Statues', and toy racers with Sister Lingling and Brother Shize!"

Chaochao reported the battle results in a childish voice.

"I'm really good at hide-and-seek. Lingling and Brother Shize couldn't find me for ages."

It's probably because the other two games are harder to manipulate.

Huo Qin thoughtfully refrained from asking her how she fared with the wooden figure and toy racer. Instead, he casually inquired, "Do you remember what I said when I took you to the Ji family's house?"

There was a two or three-second pause on the other end, then the little dumpling's adorable, cheerful voice rang out: "Of course I remember! Daddy, you said you love Chaochao the most!"

Huo Qin's fingertips paused on the document. He slowly lifted his eyelids and looked at the phone next to him.

"Hmm." The man's voice was calm, as if he were just asking casually. "Anything else?"

At this moment, in the Ji family's living room.

Ji Shize looked dazed. In front of him, his younger sister Chaochao, who was sitting cross-legged on the floor mat, grabbed a handful of puffed corn chips and stuffed them into her mouth, while Xiaojing, who was next to him, was talking to Uncle Huo with a phone watch.

Is it because he opened his eyes incorrectly?

Ji Shize rubbed his eyes and opened them again!

—Chao Chao, the younger sister, "woof," stuffed another bite into her mouth.

Ji Shize: "..."

"And also, Chaochao loves her dad the most!"

Chaochao, covering her mouth and trying to keep her chewing noises down, gave her spokesperson a knowing look.

Upon hearing this, Huo Qin's eyebrows twitched slightly, and he chuckled very softly, as if speaking to himself: "You're not wrong at all..."

Then, a calm, serene voice came from Chaochao's smartwatch—

"Little Whale, what is Chaochao secretly eating next to you?"

The robot, which quickly switched sides, answered fluently: "She is eating Lihua brand corn chips, and has already consumed 53 grams."

They were caught red-handed just like that.

"Sigh." Little Ji Shize let out a regretful sigh.

The greedy little cat, Chaochao, shuddered, its tiny paws twitching, and the corn chips it had just grabbed fell back into the bag with a clatter. Its almond-shaped eyes widened in surprise.

Doesn't everyone say they can't hear it at all?

She turned her head and questioned the little "traitor" with her wide, round eyes.

And Little Whale, how could you sell me so easily!

"Um."

The next second, Huo Qin spoke in a calm and steady voice.

"Every morning".

My father gave the order.

The child who was called out immediately jumped up, grabbed the phone watch in a flurry, and quickly logged in with their real name:

"I'm here, Daddy!"

Huo Qin: "Did you wipe your mouth clean?"

Chaochao: "..."

Ten seconds later, Chaochao, having wiped her mouth with a tissue, came back online, bouncing around like a carefree little lamb: "Daddy, I'm all done~"

Huo Qin responded, then asked the same question: "What did I say when I brought you here?"

Suddenly, the lively, bouncy little lamb became a whole roasted lamb on the table.

Chaochao, though feeling guilty, confidently gave the correct answer: "I traded my afternoon snacks for five extra pieces of roasted meat and three big shrimp at noon. Daddy, you told me to eat less this afternoon because I still have dinner to eat when I get home."

As Chaochao spoke, her pained little eyes glanced at the unfinished bag of corn chips.

Waaah, she had just opened the bag when her dad called.

Once you've eaten it, you won't be discovered.

The system pleaded earnestly: "...Sweetie, you can bear with it and eat after your dad hangs up the phone."

As soon as she finished speaking, Xiaoqi realized something was wrong! It was an excellent parenting system, so she shouldn't have said that.

Chaochao replied to Xiaoqi with a straight face: "Of course it's because I can't stand it anymore!"

The fragrance had already entered her nostrils.

The bag wasn't closed when it was opened!

Is that what you mean?

Then, Huo Qin asked indifferently:

"Have you finished the snacks you brought?"

Did Daddy put an eye on her?

Chaochao: "...I finished eating very early."

Ji Shize, holding his workbook, nodded in deep agreement.

He can testify! After waving goodbye to Uncle Huo at the door, Chaochao went inside and took out a bag of cookies to eat.

The little dumpling's honest, childlike voice came from the phone speaker. Huo Qin lowered his long eyelashes and smiled silently.

What are we going to play later?

Ten minutes later.

Chaochao lay on the soft cushion, drawing in a picture book with a pen in hand. In front of her was a tablet she had borrowed from Ji Shize, where she was having a video call with Huo Qin.

In landscape mode, Huo Qin's tall and slender figure occupies most of the screen. Dressed in a suit and tie, he leans lazily in a leather office chair, the 45-degree angle of the camera making his sharply defined jawline appear even more profound and smooth.

When working, President Huo usually has little expression, unless he sees a particularly bad proposal, in which case his brow will furrow involuntarily.

Then, in the next second, the booklet landed precisely in the trash can.

The father and daughter were busy with their own things—one reviewing documents, the other drawing a puppy—and their interactions were remarkably harmonious.

Meanwhile, the other two children in the Ji family, Lingling, were engrossed in watching cartoons, while Ji Shize was practicing math problems in his room. The different spaces had miraculously achieved a certain balance.

When Huo Qin looked up again, he found that Chao Chao was asleep with her chin resting on the picture book, her soft baby cheeks rising and falling with her breathing, and the marker was still loosely held in her hand.

He stared at it for a long time before finally letting out a barely audible sigh.

For the first time, President Huo, who had never shown much emotional reaction to anything other than Chaochao, experienced other strong feelings.

—The feeling of helplessness when you can't reach your hand into the screen.

Lin Cheng knocked on the door and entered, having something to report.

Huo Qin raised his hand and tapped the screen.

I turned off the microphone during the video chat.

I absolutely couldn't bear to hang up the video call.

"..." Lin Cheng glanced at his boss's actions out of the corner of his eye. He pursed his lips, already used to Huo Qin's various actions concerning the dynasty.

“Mr. Huo,” Lin Cheng said calmly, taking a deep breath, “a colleague from the overseas branch in Country C left an email yesterday stating that a Chinese woman repeatedly and explicitly requested to see you.”

Lin Cheng's Adam's apple bobbed up and down.

"That person was Ms. Wen Nian."

Huo Qin paused as he clicked the CC email.

Wen Nian—Chao Chao's biological mother.

Huo Qin's eyelashes were half-closed, and others could not see the expression in his eyes. They only knew that his gaze had fallen back on the screen beside him.

There, the little dumpling, fast asleep, lazily rolled over.