He acted very friendly. Xu Yangxia instinctively glanced at Qi Du first, and seeing that he did not object but instead smiled and nodded at him, he no longer had any worries.
He trotted forward and threw himself into 0617’s arms.
He was still a little shy. After gently wrapping his arms around 0617’s neck, he lowered his head and did not say much.
0617 picked him up and said warmly to Qi Du, “He’s quite sturdy. Looks like he’s been eating well these past few days.”
Qi Du looked proud. “I’m the one raising him, of course I’m careful. How could I possibly mistreat our Little Treasure?”
“He gets three meals a day taken care of, and he’s very well-behaved too. He’s easy to raise.”
0617 laughed. “Then our Little Treasure really is a good baby~”
“Has school been decided?”
Qi Du nodded. “It has. If you have time in a couple of days, we can go take a look together.”
The two of them spent nearly all their time discussing how to raise the child. After talking about food, clothing, and daily needs, they discussed his schooling and whether he should develop some hobbies or interests…
If he was going to be raised as the family clan heir, he would definitely need many other art classes. Children from wealthy families never have it easy, and they did not know whether Xu Yangxia would be willing to accept all of that.
The little male lead was held by Qi Du for a while, then passed into 0617’s arms. He was like a little doll, being passed back and forth between the two of them, with one coaxing him and then the other.
After talking for half an hour straight, 0617 finally got a little thirsty and took a break to drink some tea.
Xu Yangxia seized the opportunity and tugged at his sleeve. “Mr. Lu.”
“Hm? What is it, Little Treasure?”
Xu Yangxia climbed down from his lap. “I have a gift for you.”
0617 and Qi Du had actually already known that he had prepared something, so they were not surprised at all. But in front of the child, they still acted very pleasantly surprised.
“Wow… thank you, Little Treasure! I’m really looking forward to it!”
Seeing his gentle smile, Xu Yangxia also broke into a bright smile. “I’ll go get it.”
Qi Du said, “Be careful, don’t rush.”
The little male lead was quite lively, and he ran very fast. In no time at all, he came back holding a gift box.
“For you. I hope you’re happy every day~”
Under his expectant gaze, 0617 naturally took it very solemnly. “Thank you first, Little Treasure~”
“Whatever it is, I’ll like it very much.”
As he said that, 0617 carefully opened the box. But just as it was halfway open, a sharp perfume smell mixed with all kinds of bloody, strange odors drifted out.
Qi Du and 0617 immediately sensed that something was wrong. When they opened it, there was no gift the little male lead had prepared at all. Inside was only a small dead kitten.
Their expressions changed at the same time, and they quickly closed the box again.
However, the nearby servants had still seen it.
Xu Yangxia also screamed in fright. Looking panicked, he glanced at Qi Du and 0617, probably even imagining for a moment that he would be thrown out of the house.
0617 hurriedly picked him up. “It’s okay, it’s okay. Don’t be afraid. Daddy and I are here.”
Xu Yangxia’s eyes were red, and his face had gone pale from fright. Clutching 0617’s clothes, he hurriedly explained, “That, that wasn’t the gift I prepared for you…”
“I didn’t do it on purpose. Please don’t be angry at Daddy.”
0617 held him close and patted his back to comfort him. “We know. Don’t worry, we’ll find out the truth.”
Qi Du immediately had the servants handle it. He also called Auntie Wang and the young maid who looked after Xu Yangxia, asking very carefully who had gone in and out of the Little Young Master’s room today.
The maid had reported the progress earlier, so he and 0617 both knew that the little male lead had prepared a bouquet of sunflowers for 0617.
The child had done it many times before he was satisfied, making it beautiful and fragrant, and he had been looking forward to meeting 0617.
No one had thought that someone in the estate would actually target a child. No one knew when such malice had been planted, swapping out the gift that Little Treasure had painstakingly prepared.
Qi Du’s face darkened. He reached out and patted Xu Yangxia on the head. “Don’t be afraid. Daddy will definitely give you an explanation.”
He really was quite angry. This matter was not huge, but Xu Yangxia was still a child. What if it left him traumatized?
His parents had just died in a car accident, and to put a dead cat inside like that was, to be blunt, vicious.
And today was also Xu Yangxia’s first meeting with 0617. No matter who the intruder was targeting, it was obvious they did not want the three of them to get along properly.
The fire in Qi Du’s heart shot up. “Damn it! Which blind bastard doesn’t want me to get married, and doesn’t want me to raise a child, huh?”
“Go check the surveillance!”
Seeing him lose his temper, the butler quickly got to work. Having served in the Qi family for so many years, he naturally knew exactly how to handle it.
With Auntie Wang and the young maid testifying for Xu Yangxia, the little male lead felt somewhat relieved. But he was still uneasy, staring at 0617 anxiously. “I didn’t do it. I didn’t mean to not welcome you…”
“Please don’t be angry, okay?”
0617 pinched his little cheek. “I won’t be angry, baby. That little thing can’t scare me~”
“Someone is making underhanded moves behind the scenes. They don’t want you to be Daddy’s treasure, and they don’t want me and you to become a family.”
“Those people scared Little Treasure. They’re bad! Little Treasure prepared a gift for me, so Little Treasure is good~”
He was better than Qi Du at coaxing children, and he was more patient too. He even took the frightened little male lead to have some dessert and calmed him down.
Qi Du also acted quickly, and before long there were results. Today, because the family was welcoming 0617, they had started a thorough cleaning early in the morning, and the garden greenery had been replaced with a new batch.
Among them, an unfamiliar young maid had somehow slipped in. She seemed to have an accomplice who helped her distract people. After that, she entered the room, swapped the item, and quietly left.
She was not a servant from the estate. She had come in with the landscaping team and left after finishing her work. There was a maid in the Qi family who knew her, so the butler had not been very guarded at first and had thought she was an acquaintance. He had never expected this kind of mishap.
Normally, only Qi Du’s personal domain was guarded extremely strictly. They had not expected to overlook the Little Young Master’s area.
The servants in the house did not dare breathe too loudly. After all, Qi Du’s iron-fisted methods were indeed formidable.
0617 also roughly understood what had happened. “They deliberately caused trouble on the day I came over. I’m afraid they were not only targeting Little Treasure. This trouble may have been brought on by me.”
Qi Du’s eyes darkened. He turned and looked at him. Seeing that Xu Yangxia did not look too panicked, he let out a slight sigh of relief.
Indeed, having an ally nearby was very useful.
“I know what’s going on. You don’t need to worry. I’ll investigate this thoroughly to the end. Don’t take this little matter to heart. Let’s go have a happy meal first.”