Chapter 18: A Family Divided

Bai Xia closed her eyes, planning to take a nap before being discharged, listening to the male lead’s emotionless reading by her ear.

She felt that this book was the most suitable for the male lead.

She no longer expected the male lead to have a strong sense of social responsibility, but at the very least, he should be a law-abiding citizen.

That’s the most basic bottom line for being a person.

Lu Lin read for a few minutes.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the girl had already closed her eyes, so he immediately shut the book and took a sip of water.

He covered the girl with the blanket, glanced at the time, and quickly walked out of the ward.

Xu Assistant was standing outside, looking anxious.

“President… Miss Bai has already exchanged rings with Song Xun…”

Xu Assistant handed over the tablet.

In the video, the two embraced and wept.

She wore a pure white wedding dress and the diamond tiara she designed herself, looking at the man opposite her with emotion in her eyes.

Seeing the President’s assistant’s gloomy face, Xu Assistant quickly turned off the tablet.

“So… are you still going over now?”

Miss Bai was already asleep and her health was fine.

Although the President would be a bit late if he went now, according to his investigation, Miss Bai and Song Xun hadn’t gotten their marriage certificate yet.

If Miss Bai was willing to leave with the President, the wedding wouldn’t count.

Lu Lin closed his eyes and was silent for a while, then suddenly sat down on the corridor bench, rubbing his brow with his hand.

His fingers gradually clenched into a fist until the veins on the back of his hand bulged.

After a long time, his voice was calm.

“I’m not going.”

He knew Ruan Wen only chose to marry Song Xun because she was moved, but if he forcibly took Ruan Wen away, it would only push her further from him.

Maybe the girl was right—he needed to let Ruan Wen feel respected, let her remember the feelings they once had.

Sooner or later, she would come back.

He absolutely didn’t believe Ruan Wen liked Song Xun.

After all these years, that Song guy had never succeeded—how could there be love between them?

It was just that Song was taking advantage of the situation.

The girl needed care right now, and he’d already been absent for three years—he couldn’t leave again this time.

“Chairman called just now. You didn’t answer. It’s probably about Miss Bai being sick. Do you want to call the Chairman back?”

Xu Assistant asked carefully.

Lu Lin took out his phone and indeed saw several missed calls.

When he called back, an unhappy rebuke came from the other end, “What on earth are you doing? I sent Xia Xia over for a few days, and you just ended up sending her straight to the hospital! Can’t you take care of a child? If not, hire a child-rearing expert to learn how to raise a kid! Your father was like this, and you’re not much better—always thinking about women, can’t even look after your own daughter!”

Even from that distance, Xu Assistant could hear the Chairman’s rebuke.

Sure enough, Miss Bai was the Chairman’s precious one, and now even the President had to take a back seat.

“Arrange a private jet and send Xia Xia back to me immediately! Who knows what will happen if you keep taking care of her? She’s only three years old—if you don’t watch what she eats and she eats something she shouldn’t, her life could be in danger! This is outrageous!”

The call was suddenly hung up. Lu Lin stared at his phone in silence.

This time, he felt the old man wasn’t wrong.

It was his own negligence.

The girl was smart, but he’d forgotten she was only three.

No matter how smart a child is, self-control is limited, and her diet must be strictly managed.

“Go find a nutritionist immediately,” he said to the assistant.

Xu Assistant nodded knowingly.

“Yes, sir.”

Actually, he thought the President needed to find a child-rearing expert even more.

Maybe that would help ease the relationship with Miss Bai.

Every day, Miss Bai called out for Lu Lin, clearly not fully accepting the President yet.

Bai Xia slept for three hours. Her stomach felt better, but the butler insisted on taking her home.

This was Lu Jin’s order—even the male lead couldn’t stop it.

When she was discharged, she did see the male lead.

He seemed emotionally stable; maybe he’d found someone to vent to in private.

After all, the female lead got married, and he didn’t stop it in time.

He couldn’t blame the girl, so he could only blame others.

Working for a domineering President was never easy.

She thought Xu Assistant deserved a raise.

Serving such a volatile person every day, and not being able to talk back—it must be tough.

“I still have some things to do here. I’ll be back in a few days. Do you need any gifts?”

Lu Lin squatted down, looking at the girl gently.

Bai Xia climbed into the car herself, glanced at the man outside, and said, “Be nicer to Uncle Xu. He has a child to support, too.”

That childish voice made Xu Assistant’s eyes instantly redden.

Miss Bai was so considerate. She really was well-taught by Miss Bai.

Lu Lin paused.

“You’re right. I’ll give him a raise.”

His daughter was so young yet already knew how to win people’s hearts.

Clearly, those books she read weren’t for nothing.

Bai Xia signaled the butler to close the door, then leaned against the back seat and took out her phone.

She wanted to ask the female lead if everything went well today, but remembering it was her wedding night, she could only chat with He Yue Hua.

The latter kept talking about how delicious the hotel cake was today, not greasy at all, and how the wedding favours looked great—her mother loved them, too.

Sure enough, the female lead had taken her advice.

After all, not using such a good advertising spot for her own promotion would be a waste.

On the way back, the butler kept asking if she was feeling unwell, almost like he wanted to glue his eyes to her.

By the time they got off the plane, it was already late at night.

The car stopped at the villa gate.

The butler carried her schoolbag and held her hand as they went in.

As if he already knew when she’d return, Lu Jin was sitting in the hall reading the newspaper.

When he saw his great-granddaughter appear, he immediately put down the paper, leaned on his cane, and stood up.

“Come, come, come, come to Great-Grandpa.”

Bai Xia had no choice but to walk over and spin around in front of Lu Jin.

“Great-Grandpa, I’m all better now. It was me sneaking food—it had nothing to do with Uncle Butler.”

The butler looked at the girl with loving eyes.

Miss Bai was the most polite and sensible child he’d ever met.

Although she sometimes complained about the President, it was understandable—after all, the President had never looked after Miss Bai.

“Of course Great-Grandpa knows. It’s all your father’s fault. He can’t even take care of a person. What can he do? Don’t go out to play with him again.”

Lu Jin patted the girl’s head with heartache.

Bai Xia nodded.

“I want chicken congee.”

Upon hearing this, Lu Jin quickly looked toward the kitchen.

“Quick, cook some chicken congee for Miss Bai!”

It had only been a few days, but he felt his great-granddaughter had lost a lot of weight.

That scoundrel Lu Lin—he’d given him a chance to mend things with his daughter, but all he cared about was Bai Ruan Wen, even sneaking back to attend the wedding and neglecting his own daughter.

Outrageous!

Lu Shuo lay by the corridor, secretly watching this scene.

When he was sick, Grandpa had never cared about him like this, nor had his father.

“I want congee too! And I want roast lamb leg!”

He couldn’t bear to be left out and walked over.

Lu Jin, sitting at the dining table, glanced at his grandson.

“You’re already so fat and still want to eat? From now on, you must control your diet.”

Hearing this, Lu Shuo glared at Bai Xia.

“I don’t care! I just want to eat! I want to eat, I want to eat!”

Listening to his shrill shouting, Lu Jin couldn’t help but frown.

He wondered how his son had raised him—so grown up, yet all he did was play games and eat snacks, not paying attention in class, not even knowing as many characters as a three-year-old.

If only he were half as smart as Xia Xia, he’d be burning incense in gratitude.

“So noisy!”

Bai Xia glared at him, annoyed.

“You’re just a servant. If you want to eat, go do some work! If you have nothing to do, mop the floor instead of yelling all the time.”

Lu Shuo widened his eyes, but remembering the bet, he could only swallow his anger.

Fine, tomorrow he’d pick an obscure game and see if this little brat could still beat him.

“Then I won’t eat!”

He turned and stormed upstairs in anger.

***

Lu Jin looked at this scene in confusion, not understanding what the two were up to.

Only when the butler whispered a few words to him did he show a look of realization.

In an instant, the way he looked at the girl was even more full of pride.

But then he thought of Lu Shuo—eight years old, yet not as good at games as a three-year-old.

He really couldn’t bear to look.

“Xia Xia is still the smartest. What kind of game console do you like? Great-Grandpa will have someone buy it for you. At your age, you should balance work and rest, too.”

Hearing this, Lu Shuo was so angry he could grind his teeth to dust.

Why was it that he couldn’t play games, but this little brat could?

“I don’t play games—it hurts your eyes. If I get nearsighted, that’s not good.”

After finishing her congee, Bai Xia looked up at the old man.

“Great-Grandpa should also drink less. At your age, you should take better care of your health. A calm mind can cure all ills.”

Hearing the girl’s words, Lu Jin’s eyes grew even gentler as he watched her trot upstairs with her little short legs.

After a while, he suddenly looked at the butler.

“Have Wang Lawyer come by tomorrow.”

The butler’s heart skipped a beat when he heard this.

The Chairman hadn’t changed his will in two years.

It seemed he truly cherished Miss Bai this time.

But it was understandable.

Miss Bai was sweet and smart, with great grades—no one could dislike her.

The next morning, Bai Xia went back to school as usual.

Unexpectedly, many people asked her to take their orders, and all were for custom designs.

Clearly, the advertisement at the female lead’s wedding had worked well.

Plus, with the Song Jia connection, most people were willing to give her face.

She took eight orders in the morning alone, totaling three million.

Why didn’t these parents go directly to the female lead and instead chose her?

It was definitely to help their kids build a good relationship with her.

At first, they didn’t want their children to get close to her, thinking she wasn’t recognized by the Lu family.

But now that the Lu family had made their attitude clear, these people naturally knew what to do.

“Class, in half a month, it will be the final exam, which is also your advancement exam. After that, everyone will leave kindergarten and become elementary school students. Every step on the road to growth must be taken seriously. I hope everyone will get good grades,” the teacher announced solemnly from the podium.

Everyone applauded, but their expressions didn’t change.

No matter how they did, their parents had already arranged schools for them.

When class ended, a group of kids surrounded Bai Xia, asking in childish voices, “Bai Xia, which school are you going to?”

“Your grades are so good—will you skip a grade?”

“I want to be in the same school as you. Then we can play together!”

Hearing the voices around her, Bai Xia smiled.

“I haven’t asked my family yet, but I probably won’t skip a grade. After all, I’m still little—at least not until I’m five.”

Hearing this, Qi Mo at the back desk finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He was afraid Bai Xia would skip a grade and he wouldn’t be able to catch up.

Thinking of this, he went to find Lin Yan in the back row.

“Which school are you going to? Why didn’t you tell me?”

Lin Yan glanced at him.

“Are we that close?”

Qi Mo slapped his desk in anger.

“What do you mean? We’re brothers!”

Lin Yan was expressionless.

“Didn’t you say we’re not close?”

Their eyes met, and Qi Mo’s expression turned awkward.

He could only look around and whisper, “I was lying to her. Girls need to be coaxed—don’t you know that? We’re best bros!”

Lin Yan ignored him, instead secretly staring at Bai Xia’s back.

He had to be in the same school as Bai Xia.

Only then could he build a good relationship and do business together, achieving win-win cooperation.

After school, Bai Xia sent today’s order info to the female lead.

Only then did she learn that the female lead also had many more orders now, some because of Song Jia’s influence, others because her designs were beautiful.

At least this month, she wouldn’t have much free time.

Seeing this, Bai Xia suggested the female lead expand her business, change the studio into a small company, and hire more staff for operations.

That way, she wouldn’t have to watch over everything herself.

Of course, doing it herself was safer, but being so busy now, there was no other way.

The female lead said Song Xun also suggested this.

Because orders were overwhelming, their honeymoon had been postponed, but Song Xun didn’t complain—instead, he was very happy.

That’s the difference between a supporting male and the male lead.

One only cared about his own feelings, while the other cared more about his partner’s state.

As long as the male lead didn’t go crazy, the female lead and the supporting male would surely have a smooth life together.

After returning home, she started judo class again.

Young children have good flexibility—it’s the best time to train. Laying a solid foundation now would mean she wouldn’t be powerless if kidnapped in the future.

Lu Lin was still out of town.

At dinner, Lu Qi Hui was also there for once.

Halfway through eating, Bai Xia suddenly looked at Jin Nian.

“Teacher said the final exam is in half a month. Which school will I go to for first grade?”

At her age, she actually couldn’t start first grade.

After all, she was only three and a half. Most public schools required children to be at least five, unless their grades were exceptionally good.

“Yes, Xia Xia is going to elementary school. Why not let her and Shuo Shuo go to the same school? That way, they can look out for each other,” Lu Qi Hui suddenly said seriously.

Yao Yun, sitting beside him, put a chicken leg in her son’s bowl, looking a bit dissatisfied.

When her son started elementary school, he’d never been this concerned.

Now he was attentive to every detail for his granddaughter.

Lu Jin nodded, pondering.

“I’ve already arranged it. They’ll go to the same school. They’ll go to and from school together. Let Shuo Shuo learn from Xia Xia’s attitude—can’t let you all spoil him anymore.”

“I don’t want to!”

Lu Shuo slammed his chopsticks on the table.

“I don’t want to go to the same school as her!”

This little brat had so many classes every day—if he had to be like her, he’d rather hang himself with a rope.

“What are you yelling for!”

Bai Xia glared at him.

“From now on, you’re not allowed to talk during meals!”

Lu Shuo glared at her fiercely, but still shut his mouth, resentfully picking up his chopsticks and biting into the chicken leg.

No one expected their son would actually listen to his granddaughter.

Lu Qi Hui found it odd—this kid never even listened to him, yet now he was so obedient?

Lu Jin smiled.

“It’s settled then. Let Xia Xia keep Shuo Shuo in check.”

“I’m her uncle! I should be the one in charge of her!”

Lu Shuo protested, but when he met Bai Xia’s gaze, he silently lowered his head and focused on eating.

“Who wants to take care of you?”

Bai Xia snorted.

“You better remember your own identity. You’re just a servant, yelling all the time, not the slightest bit of manners—”