Chapter 103
After Xu Gui became a human being, he discovered that he was actually quite popular with children, whether it was Wu Xueya, Zhao Di, or later Wang Xingxing...
However, she never expected that her efforts to attract children would reach this point, with children even grabbing her legs while she was just standing on the sidewalk.
Xu Gui: "..." Has his child's affability evolved to this extent?
She looked around uncertainly, but did not see anyone who appeared to be the child's parents.
Just then, the little dumpling clinging to her leg spoke up again, saying longingly, "Sister, I'm hungry, I want to eat KFC..."
Upon hearing this, Xu Gui looked down and met the child's large, grape-like eyes. She paused for a moment, then squatted down to be at eye level with the child and asked, "Little one, where are your parents? Why are you all alone here? Who did you come out with?"
When the topic of parents came up, the child pouted, looking somewhat resentful, but still honestly said, "My mom and dad went on a trip abroad, and I came here alone. I'm running away from home right now!"
Xu Gui: "..."
She decided to call the police first.
But just as she was about to make a call, the child tugged at her clothes, looked at her with teary eyes, and said, "Sister, I'm hungry QAQ."
"..."
After a few seconds of silence, Xu Gui resignedly closed his eyes, took the child's hand, and said, "Alright, I'll take you to eat the KFC you want to eat first!"
Upon hearing this, the child, whose eyes were still brimming with tears just a moment ago, exclaimed, "Wow, you're so kind, sister! Yuan Yuan loves you so much!"
His beaming face showed no trace of his previous pitifulness.
Xu Gui, watching the changes in her expression: ...I feel like I've been deceived, and I even have evidence.
...
Meanwhile, in his office on the eighth floor of the Lu's Building in City A, Lu Boyi received a phone call. Upon seeing the caller, he gestured to his secretary, who was talking about work, and answered the phone directly.
"Hello, Teacher Lin," Lu Baiyi said, "Is there something you need, Yuan Yuan?"
—Teacher Lin is a kindergarten teacher and also the homeroom teacher of his younger sister Lu Baiyuan's class. Because his parents went abroad for travel, the kindergarten kept his contact information.
But... why would the kindergarten call him at this time? Lu Baiyi wondered, a subtle sense of unease creeping into his heart.
After he answered the phone, the person on the other end did not speak immediately. Lu Baiyi first heard the other person's rapid and uneasy breathing. It wasn't until a few seconds later that the other person's anxious, guilty, and cautious voice came through.
“…Mr. Lu, Yuan Yuan is missing.”
"..."
Lu Baiyi suddenly stood up from his seat, his face turning extremely ugly in an instant. He asked in a deep voice, "What did you say? Yuan Yuan is missing?"
The secretary, who was standing nearby waiting for Lu Baiyi to finish his call before continuing her report, widened her eyes in disbelief—what was going on? Why was the general manager reacting so strongly?
Lu Baiyi listened to the voice on the phone with a gloomy expression: "Mr. Lu, please don't worry. We are already working hard to find the child and have reported it to the police. I believe we will find Yuan Yuan soon."
Lu Boyi had only one question: "When did you discover that Yuan Yuan was missing?"
opposite:"……"
After a few seconds of silence, the person on the other end whispered, "Well, after the children finish their afternoon nap."
Upon hearing this, Lu Boyi glanced at the time and was so angry he laughed. He questioned, "You discovered the child was missing after his afternoon nap, and you're only calling me now?"
The kindergarten children's nap time is after lunch, from 12:30 to 2:00, but it is already 3:30 now, and an hour and a half has passed since 2:00.
In other words, the kindergarten did not notify him immediately after discovering that the child was missing. Instead, they only thought of calling him an hour and a half later, after searching unsuccessfully.
"Our family spent a lot of money to send our child to your kindergarten, but now you're telling me that our child is missing inside your kindergarten? Do you think this is reasonable?" Lu Baiyi was furious and asked, suppressing his anger.
The person on the other end hurriedly explained, "Mr. Lu, we didn't expect this to happen either..."
Lu Boyi took a deep breath to calm himself down. He got up and walked out, saying as he went, "I'll come to the kindergarten right now."
After hanging up the phone with the kindergarten, he naturally didn't dare to delay for a moment. He hurriedly gave his secretary a few instructions and then drove directly to the kindergarten. Once there, he went straight to the principal's office.
Upon seeing him approach, the kindergarten staff were naturally extremely nervous, yet they had no choice but to bite the bullet and come over to talk to him.
However, Lu Baiyi wasn't there to cause trouble, at least not now. Even if he wanted to cause trouble, he'd have to get his child back first. So, facing the guilty and embarrassed principal and Lu Baiyuan's homeroom teacher, Lu Baiyi's first words were:
"So, do you know where the child went?"
Upon hearing this, the kindergarten director felt as if he had been granted a pardon and hurriedly said, "The police have arrived and are currently reviewing the surveillance footage..."
As he spoke, he led Lu Boyi toward the kindergarten's monitoring room. When they arrived, Lu Boyi saw two police officers in uniform watching the surveillance footage. He quickly walked over and asked about the situation.
"Ah, found it!" At this moment, a policeman who had been watching the surveillance camera suddenly shouted, pointing to a spot on the paused camera and saying, "The last place the child was seen at the kindergarten was here!"
Lu Boyi looked over and saw a figure crawling through a dog hole on the paused surveillance footage.
Lu Baiyi: ?
Meanwhile, on the other side, Xu Gui had already brought the little dumpling dressed in what was clearly a kindergarten uniform to KFC. Amidst the hustle and bustle, the two of them, carrying their ordered food, sat down at a window seat.
They ordered hamburgers, fries, and egg tarts. At that moment, the child held up a hamburger almost as big as her face and opened her mouth wide: "Mmm!"
Xu Gui had already eaten and wasn't too hungry, but she felt she could still eat. So, another person joined in, opening their mouth wide to devour a hamburger. The two, one big and one small, with their chubby cheeks, looked remarkably alike.
While eating his hamburger, Xu Gui looked at the child in front of him and said, "Tell me, do you know me?"
Although her demeanor might seem kind to a child, Xu Gui didn't think that this alone would make the child cling to her leg so precisely in front of so many people on the street.
Moreover, the tone of the child's voice when she called out that she was hungry was familiar and trusting, all of which showed that she knew her.
Xu Gui pondered, carefully examining the child. Perhaps it was just a preconceived notion, but looking at the child now, she seemed somewhat familiar; it was as if she had seen another face somewhere before that resembled hers…
Xu Gui pondered whether he should calculate it.
Just then, the child who was eating a hamburger spoke up, nodding emphatically, "Yes, I know you, sister! You're a friend of Grandpa and Brother."
Grandpa and brother...
Xu Gui looked at her and asked, "What's your name?"
"..." When asked her name, the child's face showed obvious reluctance, even a dejected expression. It seemed that even the hamburger in her hand didn't taste good anymore. However, although she looked unwilling, she still obediently answered Xu Gui's question.
“My name is Yuan Yuan…” she said.
Xu Gui lifted his eyelids: "What's your full name?"
The child, who was still trying to struggle, said: "...Lu Baiyuan."
ah!
When her suspicions came true, Xu Gui wasn't too surprised—she had just remembered that Lu Baiyuan looked somewhat like Lu Baiyi, especially when he smiled.
However, although they look very similar when they smile, the feeling they give off is completely different.
Lu Baiyuan's smile is sweet and innocent, but Lu Boyi's smile... looks somewhat charming and alluring? His eyes seem to be filled with a delicate and captivating smile.
...Xu Gui thought to himself casually.
"By the way, why are you out on the street all alone? Where's your brother?" Xu Gui managed to pull her thoughts back to the main point, "Did he really run away from home?"
Lu Baiyuan puffed out his cheeks, nodded heavily, and clenched his fist, saying, "That's right, I ran away from home. I want to show them with my actions that I'm very angry!"
Faced with her agitation, Xu Gui remained calm and asked indifferently, "So, they made you angry?"
Lu Baiyuan nodded again.
Xu Gui asked again, curious, "What did they do to make you so angry?"
“They, they…” Lu Baiyuan’s cheeks puffed up like an angry pufferfish, but after Xu Gui asked the question, her puffed-up cheeks slowly deflated, and then tears welled up in her eyes.
Seeing this, Xu Gui was shocked—had he said something he shouldn't have?
“I hate the name they gave me,” Lu Baiyuan said in a low voice, refusing to eat the hamburger in her hand.
"..." Upon hearing her answer, Xu Gui asked uncertainly, "Name?" It was her name?
Lu Baiyuan nodded, then said to Xu Gui earnestly and with a wronged expression, "My parents don't love me at all. They must think I'm too fat and too ugly, so they don't like me at all."
Xu Gui: "Why?"
Lu Baiyuan sniffed and said in a serious tone, "Look, my brother's name is Six Hundred Billion, my sister's name is Six Million, but only I... am Six Hundred Yuan!"
Xu Gui opened his mouth: "Ah, this..."
Tears welled up in Lu Baiyuan's eyes. She said aggrievedly, "Look, my brother's and sister's names are so expensive, but only mine is so cheap! My parents must really hate me to have given me this name!"
Xu Gui: "..."
If she had to describe Xu Gui's feelings at this moment, she felt that the phrase "loading" would be the most fitting. She truly hadn't expected that the reason Lu Baiyuan "ran away from home" would be for such a reason.
but……
Six hundred billion, six million, six hundred yuan... How come this family has such unique names?
She looked at Lu Baiyuan, whose eyes were brimming with tears, and still said, "Your parents gave you this name, not necessarily because they don't like you, right?"
Lu Baiyuan shook her head. She said, "They definitely don't like me. Baozi and the others said that it's because they don't like me and think I'm a money-loser that they gave me such a cheap name!"
Xu Gui frowned upon hearing this. What a money-losing good...
Looking at the child who seemed genuinely distressed, Xu Gui thought for a moment, then suddenly had a brilliant idea and suggested, "How about we let your brother take his name and give it to you? From now on, you'll be called Lu Baiyi, and he'll be called Lu Baiyuan. That way, you'll be the most expensive one!"
Lu Baiyuan's eyes lit up: "Is this okay?"
But she blinked and then became dejected, muttering, "Then forget it. If my brother had this name, he would be laughed at too. I don't want him to be laughed at by others."
Xu Gui raised an eyebrow, looking at Lu Baiyuan with a hint of admiration—this is a good child, even in such a sad state, he is still thinking about his older brother.
Xu Gui glanced down at her phone, sent a message, and then looked up to continue talking to her child.
Xu Gui didn't blame Lu Baiyuan for "running away from home." Perhaps because of this, she showed a different kind of trust in Xu Gui, answering whatever Xu Gui asked.
"I want to change my name..." the child muttered. "I think 'Diamond' would be nice. Diamond sounds expensive. Or 'Gemstone' would be good too!"
Xu Gui: "..." Actually, I think Lu Baiyuan is better, at least he looks good.
"Otherwise, let's call her Xuanzhu!" she suddenly said.
After finishing his hamburger, the child, who was munching on an egg tart, opened his eyes wide and asked, "Xuanzhu? Is it expensive?"
Xu Gui nodded: "It's very expensive."
The Xuanzhu is a treasure of the Xuan Turtle clan. It is a bright and dazzling pearl. Since it is a treasure of the Xuan Turtle clan, it is naturally very expensive. It is something that cannot be bought.
“No, it seems your generation is the Bai generation, you should be called Lu Bai…” Xu Gui remembered this, she had heard Lu Baiyi mention it before.
"No, I want to be called Xuanzhu!" Lu Baiyuan said urgently. "Xuanzhu! It sounds so nice."
Xu Gui watched as she cupped her face in her hands, murmuring the name "Xuanzhu" with a look of delight on her face, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly involuntarily.
She felt that Lu Baiyuan liked the name simply because he said the bead was priceless and invaluable... to put it bluntly, he just thought the name was expensive.
Xu Gui rubbed her forehead, feeling a little guilty—she hoped Lu Baiyi would come over and not think she had led her sister astray.
*
Lu Baiyi never expected that he would suddenly receive a message from Xu Gui, and what surprised him even more was the content of Xu Gui's message.
"...How did Yuan Yuan end up with Xu Gui? How did they meet?"
On his way there, this question filled his mind, and his heart was pounding with anxiety. It wasn't until he rushed into the KFC lobby and saw the two people, one big and one small, sitting by the window that his heart, which had been pounding, slowly calmed down.
Because he had run all the way after getting off the bus, he was not only out of breath, but his face was also covered in sweat. He stood at the door for two seconds, took a breath, and then exhaled before walking steadily toward Xu Gui and the others.
He walked up to the two of them and called out, "Yuan Yuan..."
Lu Baiyuan, who was playing with the toys given away by the store with Xu Gui, subconsciously turned her head. When she saw Lu Baiyi, she showed a guilty expression and jumped off the chair to run away, but her older brother ruthlessly grabbed her by the back of her collar.
"Let me go! Let me go!" She stretched out her hands and kicked her feet on the ground, glaring at me for a long time, but she was still standing still.
Lu Baiyi grabbed her overalls, lifted her up with one hand, and put her back in her original position. Then he looked at Xu Gui and thanked her, "Xiao Gui, thank you for taking care of my sister..."
Otherwise, he would still be like an ant in a hot oil pan, anxiously running around in circles.
Xu Gui: In the past month, I feel like I've heard "thank you" so many times?
"How come you two are together?" Lu Baiyi was filled with doubt at this moment. "And how do you know that Yuan Yuan is my sister?"
Seeing that he was standing, Xu Gui asked him to sit down and talk. Lu Baiyi then sat down on the other side of Lu Baiyuan, hooking one hand around her overalls to prevent the girl from trying to run away again.
Seeing that there was no hope of escaping, Lu Baiyuan pouted, crossed her arms, and sat there sulking like an angry pufferfish. However, the two adults who were talking at the time did not look at her and did not see her actions.
Xu Gui said, "You two look somewhat alike, and your names are exactly the same, so it's not surprising that I guessed she was your sister... As for how I ended up with her, you'll have to ask your sister. I was standing on the street when she suddenly ran over and hugged my leg, saying she was hungry."
Lu Baiyi never expected things to turn out this way: "..."
He looked sharply at Lu Baiyuan, who had just been fuming but was now feeling guilty. Lu Baiyuan turned his head away, avoiding his gaze.
“She said I’m a friend of her grandfather and brother, and that her grandfather and brother always watch my live streams…” Xu Gui’s voice carried a hint of amusement, “That’s probably why she remembers me.”
That's why when they see you on the street, they suddenly rush over and hug your leg.
She told Lu Boyi about how she met Lu Baiyuan. After listening, Lu Baiyuan seemed to understand. He then told Xu Gui that Lu Baiyuan had secretly slipped out of kindergarten.
"...She crawled out through the dog hole behind the kindergarten!" Lu Boyi said, his tone somewhat unsettling, probably because he hadn't expected his younger sister to run out through the dog hole.
As Xu Gui listened, he couldn't help but glance at Lu Baiyuan, who looked guilty and unusually obedient.
Lu Baiyi looked at her and questioned her sternly, "Lu Baiyuan, do you know how much trouble your secret departure from the kindergarten has caused everyone? All the teachers at the kindergarten are looking for you, and even the police have been called in, just to find you!"
Seeing the child, the worry and fear in my heart disappeared, and what emerged from my heart was anger, a mixture of anxiety and rage.
"Do you know how worried I was when the kindergarten teacher told me about this? Didn't I tell you that if you have any grievances, you can have the teacher call me? But I don't think I ever taught you to do something so irresponsible, did I?"
Lu Baiyi's expression was very serious, and his tone was also very stern. Lu Baiyuan, who had originally been pretending to be well-behaved and guilty, suddenly became teary-eyed and felt very wronged after being spoken to like that.
However, compared to feeling wronged, the expression on her face was more one of resentment. She stared at Lu Baiyi with her big eyes wide open, unwilling to accept defeat.
"I'm going to sneak away and you won't be able to find me!" she said loudly, though her voice sounded childish and completely lacking in power.
Looking at her defiant expression, Xu Gui thought to himself: I can tell, she's a stubborn one too!
The atmosphere here was off, and there were many people in the store. It was inevitable that curious gazes would fall on them. Lu Baiyi glanced around and realized that this was not the place to talk, so he reached out and picked up Lu Baiyuan.
“Let’s talk outside,” he said, looking at Xu Gui questioningly.
Xu Gui nodded, having no objection. She got off the stool, and the two of them took Lu Baiyuan back to Lu Baiyi's car. Lu Baiyi had driven himself there, with Xu Gui sitting in the passenger seat and the two siblings sitting in the back.
As soon as he got in the car, Lu Baiyuan, like a tender white worm, crawled to the place furthest away from his brother, and then turned his stubborn and unconvinced back to his brother.
Lu Baiyi: "..."
He sighed, bent down slightly, and said to Lu Baiyuan, "Alright, Yuanyuan, it was my fault just now. I shouldn't have lost my temper with you. I'm sorry, okay? But I didn't mean to be mean to you. I was just worried about you. Do you know how scared I was when I heard you disappeared from kindergarten?"
From the company to the kindergarten, he considered every possible worst-case scenario.
“Brother was really worried about Yuan Yuan. I was so scared the whole way here that I broke out in a cold sweat.” He pointed to the sweat on his face.
As Lu Baiyuan listened to his words, she secretly glanced at her brother. Only when she actually saw sweat on Lu Baiyi's face did her resentful expression soften slightly.
Lu Baiyi pressed his advantage, continuing, "Brother, please sincerely apologize to Yuan Yuan. Yuan Yuan, please forgive your brother, okay?"
Lu Baiyuan finally turned her head. She looked at Lu Baiyi and said, "Brother, you were really, really mean to Yuanyuan just now! You looked like a monster!"
"I'm sorry, brother scared Yuan Yuan..." Lu Boyi apologized and moved closer to sit next to his sister, saying softly, "But Yuan Yuan, you have to think about your brother too. I was really scared when I found out that Yuan Yuan was missing today."
Lu Baiyuan buried her face in her brother's arms and cried out, "I'm sorry, brother. I made you worry! I'm naughty! Don't be angry with me, brother."
Upon hearing this, a smile flashed in Lu Baiyi's eyes. When he looked up, his gaze met that of Xu Gui, who was sitting in the front passenger seat and looking back. The two exchanged a glance and then naturally looked away.
"But Yuan Yuan, why did you secretly leave the kindergarten?" Lu Baiyi calmed down and started asking about the important matter.
As the youngest daughter of Lu Baiyi's parents, Lu Baiyuan was pampered by everyone since birth. Although she was spoiled, she was definitely not a willful child. Therefore, she would not have secretly left the kindergarten without a reason.
"Did someone bully you at kindergarten?"
Lu Baiyi's voice was deep.
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