“You and he are obviously not the same!”
Qi Mo was crouching on the ground, fiddling with the hem of his clothes, then suddenly stammered as he stood up, “I know you like me, actually… I like you too. If you don’t like me playing with Lin Yan, I won’t play with him anymore. I won’t play with any other girls either, I’ll just play with you!”
Bai Xia’s gaze was a little strange—so it was true, she really was born to be a kindergarten teacher, no wonder kids liked playing with her.
“I don’t like people who fail math. You’re overthinking it.”
She hugged her head and continued to stare at the computer.
Qi Mo immediately got anxious, “How could you not like me? You don’t have to be embarrassed. Liking me isn’t something shameful!”
Bai Xia hesitated, looking at the person in front of her, then took out a mirror from her desk and handed it to him.
Qi Mo blushed, not expecting her to actually give him a gift.
“Take a look in the mirror. Your teeth haven’t even grown in properly. Stop thinking about those silly things. Eat less snacks and read more books, that’s what you should be doing.”
Bai Xia said helplessly.
Hearing her words, Qi Mo looked as if he’d been dealt a heavy blow, taking two steps back in disbelief.
He hadn’t expected that she really didn’t like him—all because of his teeth!
He clenched his fists.
“One day, my teeth will grow out!”
With that, he ran out of the classroom.
The others all snickered secretly—Bai Xia was so pretty, had the best grades, and knew everything.
How could she possibly like someone like Qi Mo, who couldn’t even pass math?
***
After thinking about it all day, Bai Xia finally decided to take the most direct approach to promotion: the celebrity effect.
She just needed a few celebrities to make some soft advertisements, and the exposure would go up.
Fans would also come to check in, especially in a university town full of young people.
As for where to find people, there was no need to worry—why not use the ready-made channels?
In the afternoon, when she got home, she found that Lu Jinnian was in the hall listening to opera while making tea, as if he’d already handed the company entirely over to the male lead to manage.
“Great-grandpa.”
She greeted him politely.
Seeing his dear great-granddaughter, Lu Jinnian’s face instantly broke into a loving smile, and his tone softened.
“Back so early today? Are you hungry? Should I have the kitchen make you some little cakes?”
Bai Xia shook her head.
“I already ate at school.”
As she spoke, she walked over and said earnestly, “Great-grandpa, can you help me with something?”
Lu Jinnian put down his teacup with a smile, curious about what his great-granddaughter needed his help with.
“What is it?”
Bai Xia took a phone from her bag and pulled up a picture of a brand logo.
“This is my mom’s new milk tea shop. Doesn’t your company have an entertainment division? Could you ask some of the company’s celebrities to help promote it?”
He hadn’t expected her request to be about this.
Lu Jinnian’s expression became a bit unreadable.
He glanced at the butler, who kept his head down and said nothing.
It was obvious Bai Ruanwen had been here.
Lu Jinnian patted her head.
“Did your mom ask you to say this?”
That Bai Ruanwen really was something.
Since she’d already decided to marry Song Dong, she was actually using her own daughter.
“No, my mom didn’t say anything. It’s just that I saw the shop wasn’t doing well, so I wanted to help her.”
Bai Xia replied seriously.
Lu Jinnian took a sip of tea.
“Whether your mom’s business does well or not has nothing to do with you. You’re still young, but you need to be cautious—even with your parents, you can’t trust too easily.”
Now Bai Xia finally understood where the male lead’s way of thinking came from—it was inherited.
“How does it not matter? Mom only has me. If she makes a lot of money, she’ll give me a lot of pocket money.”
She blinked.
Hearing the child’s innocent words, Lu Jinnian couldn’t help but laugh.
“But your mom is about to marry Song Dong, and she’ll definitely have more kids in the future. Maybe her money will go to someone else. But your dad is different—his fortune will all go to you.”
Meeting his ambiguous gaze, Bai Xia frowned.
“Then won’t Dad have kids with other women?”
Lu Jinnian shook his head.
“Of course not. Even if your dad gets married, he definitely won’t have any more kids. Don’t worry about that.”
No one knew his grandson better than he did.
His heart was set on Bai Ruanwen—he couldn’t see any other woman.
“What about Grandpa?”
Bai Xia looked puzzled.
“Why did he remarry just a year after Grandma died, and then have another child? What if Dad inherited Grandpa’s genes and has a little brother twenty years younger than me—what then?”
Lu Jinnian was suddenly speechless and could only cough lightly.
“Go to class now.”
“What about this, then?”
Bai Xia held up the milk tea shop logo.
Lu Jinnian waved his hand.
“Fine, fine, fine.”
Hearing that, Bai Xia immediately turned and ran upstairs, with only the butler wiping sweat from his brow as he followed.
Miss really dared to say anything.
Only Lu Jinnian took a sip of tea, his face slightly dark.
Every time he thought of his disappointing son, he felt a fire smoldering in his chest.
Now even his great-granddaughter was making fun of him.
There were two more judo classes that afternoon.
Bai Xia didn’t dare slack off at all. Life in a wealthy family was too dangerous—what if she got kidnapped one day?
Learning something for self-defense was always good.
That evening, Lu Qihui also came home.
Maybe the art exhibition was over, and he was in a good mood, bringing her some gifts—a few beautiful fairy figurines.
***
That night, when Lu Lin returned to the villa, he heard that Lu Jinnian was looking for him, so he changed clothes and went to the study.
When he pushed open the door, he saw his father was there too.
He didn’t greet him, but looked straight at the elderly man.
Seeing these two who didn’t seem like father and son, Lu Jinnian felt that fire burning in his chest again.
He tapped his cane.
“It’s just a woman! We still have business dealings with the Song family. You can’t disregard the bigger picture over such a trivial thing.”
Lu Lin’s face was expressionless.
“She’s the mother of my daughter, not just anyone.”
Lu Jinnian stared at him.
“So what? Are there no other women in the world? Do you have to fall out with the Song family over Bai Ruanwen? You’re the CEO of a conglomerate, with so many people depending on you, but you put everything aside for a woman? You two really disappoint me!”
Lu Lin walked over to the window, his face dark, staring at the trees outside through the night.
Seeing the tense atmosphere, Lu Qihui hurried to smooth things over.
“Actually, Lu Lin is doing this for Xia Xia’s sake. After all, the child grew up without her mother around—it’s natural for her to have some emotional gaps.”
Lu Jinnian shot him an annoyed look.
“Lu Shuo doesn’t have any emotional gaps, but look at how you raised him! He’s so much older, but not as smart as Xia Xia, who’s only three. I don’t even want to say anything about you two—Xia Xia gives me less trouble than either of you!”
Feeling that his blood pressure was about to rise if this went on, Lu Jinnian closed his eyes and said in a deep voice, “There’s a project in Zhejiang next week. You go handle it personally.”
Lu Lin frowned slightly, one hand resting on the windowsill, quietly clenching.
Lu Qihui wanted to say something, but at this point, even if he wanted to help his son, it was useless.
Bai Ruanwen had already decided to marry Song Dong, and what’s done was done.
The bigger picture mattered most.
The next day was Saturday.
When Bai Xia got up, she found the villa especially noisy.
When she went out, she saw Lu Shuo hugging a game console in the living room, shouting.
After asking, she learned the male lead had gone on a business trip that morning and wouldn’t be back for about a week.
No wonder Yao Yun was so eager to pick up her son—she was taking advantage of the male lead’s absence.
Next week was the female lead’s wedding to Song Dong.
The male lead going on a business trip at this time—was he planning to crash the wedding?
After probing the butler a bit, he said he wasn’t sure, only that Lu Jinnian and Lu Lin had argued last night and things hadn’t ended well.
So it was Lu Jinnian’s doing.
After all, in his mind, he never really planned to let the female lead and male lead get married, let alone fall out with the Song family over it.
Sending the male lead away was the best move.
But she didn’t think the male lead would give up so easily—she’d have to stay on guard.
The noise in the living room was really too much.
She went downstairs with a cold face and stared straight at the person on the sofa.
“Playing like that, and you still have the nerve to yell?”
Hearing the childish voice behind him, Lu Shuo turned around and saw it was Bai Xia.
Since Dad and Grandpa weren’t home, he forgot Yao Yun’s instructions and immediately snapped at her: “What do you know? This is a game console. Do you even understand it?”
Bai Xia sat down on the sofa.
“How about this—if I beat the game for you, you give me a hundred thousand. If I lose, I’ll give you a hundred thousand.”
Lu Shuo almost burst out laughing.
She was just a little kid—she wanted to play games with him?
“You said it!”
He handed over the console right away, then grabbed a bag of chips and tore it open.
Free pocket money—why not? He could use it to buy a new game console.
Bai Xia took the console and saw he was stuck on the second level of a fighting game.
This was basic—there was no challenge at all.
Within a few minutes, when the victory sound played, Lu Shuo’s eyes widened in disbelief at the little girl.
How was that possible?
He’d been stuck there all day.
“A hundred thousand, I’ll have the butler give you the account number. Remember to transfer the money.”
Bai Xia handed him back the console.
She could beat the second level not because she was naturally gifted at games, but because it was only the second level.
Once you figured out the rules, you could get through it with your eyes closed.
This little brat couldn’t beat it because he hadn’t figured out the game mechanics yet.
If he didn’t study, of course he couldn’t understand the big block of skill descriptions.
“How did you…?”
Lu Shuo reluctantly took the console.
Bai Xia pointed at the screen.
“Didn’t you see the skill descriptions? The red button triggers the passive skill. You can’t read, so of course you couldn’t get through.”
Lu Shuo’s face changed.
Who reads all those descriptions when playing games?
Besides, he could only understand half of them anyway.
“You can read all those words?”
He looked at her in disbelief.
Bai Xia was speechless.
“You think everyone’s like you?”
Lu Shuo couldn’t help sizing her up.
She was so much younger, yet she could read so many words.
When he was three, he couldn’t even write his own name.
Mom said Bai Xia was first in every subject—so it was true.
“What’s so great about that? It’s just knowing a few words. I can play lots of games too. I can play basketball—can you?”
He snorted.
Bai Xia smiled slightly and raised her fist.
“I just started learning karate. Want to try?”
Lu Shuo’s face changed.
She was so young and already learning karate—was it to fight him?
Three years old and taking so many classes every day—crazy.
“Hmph! Go to class then, see if you don’t drop from exhaustion!”
He grabbed his chips and ran upstairs.
Bai Xia ignored him and went to the kitchen to have the chef make her some noodles.
Eating too much in the morning was hard to digest.
She heard that Lu Jinnian and Lu Lin’s blood pressure had shot up from arguing with the male lead, and the family doctor had come by in the morning.
The male lead had a lot of problems, but the others weren’t perfect either.
Lu Qihui, for example, looked cultured but was actually the weirdest of all.
He had a son but didn’t raise him, blamed his wife when things went wrong, and only thought of making up for it when problems arose with his eldest son.
What was he doing before?
No time to be with his son, but plenty of time to find a new wife.
While Lu Shuo was still young, maybe there was hope for change.
Kids were easily influenced by others.
If he really turned into a lawless rich second generation, it wouldn’t just harm her, but society as a whole.
After breakfast, she went upstairs to open her computer and saw Lu Jinnian hadn’t lied.
Several of the company’s signed artists had already promoted the milk tea shop, all in a subtle way—just showing the milk tea on their table in selfies, so it didn’t look forced.
This could save a lot on advertising.
Business was all about connections, and with ready-made ones, of course she wouldn’t let them go to waste.
After class in the morning, she called the female lead and learned she was trying on wedding dresses today, so she had the butler take her to the Song family.
The butler seemed worried and secretly made a call before leaving, definitely to Lu Jinnian.
Because the male lead was like a powder keg now—mention the Song family and he’d explode.
No one dared to contact him.
When the car entered the Song family’s villa district, she soon spotted the female lead and male supporting character through the car window.
Obviously, they had been waiting for her.
As soon as the car door opened, she jumped out and ran over.
“Mom!”
Bai Ruanwen knelt down and hugged her, her eyes soft.
“No classes today?”
Bai Xia nodded.
“I finished my morning classes. I wanted to have lunch with Mom. I’ll go back for afternoon classes.”
Hearing that such a young child had extra classes, Song Dong frowned.
“Who arranged so many classes for you? Isn’t it Saturday?”
“Great-grandpa arranged most of them, and some I chose myself. I want to become really strong so I can protect Mom!”
She hugged the female lead’s waist.
Bai Ruanwen smiled and picked her up.
She didn’t dare tell Song Dong that the milk tea shop was actually Xia Xia’s idea—she’d only handled the procedures.
Even the recent jewelry orders were all Xia Xia’s doing.
But she couldn’t say it—she had to protect her daughter’s privacy.
“Then Uncle and Xia Xia will protect Mom together.”
Song Dong reached out and tapped her nose.
From a distance, the butler watched and felt this was what a family of three should look like.
No wonder Miss didn’t like the CEO—he really wasn’t approachable.