Before Li Xiuzhe could react, a soft little body wrapped itself around his thigh. The next moment, a warm, babyish voice called out to him with unmistakable excitement.
“Daddy!”
His dark, severe eyes narrowed slightly. Looking down, he met a pair of enormous eyes as black and round as grapes. When the little girl realized he was looking at her, she broke into a sweet smile.
“Daddy! Huahua came to find you!”
Li Xiuzhe froze. The anger that had been building inside him dissipated by more than half before he could stop it.
It was not because the little girl’s face looked remarkably like his own, nor because he had any special fondness for children. It was because he sensed the pure joy and complete dependence she felt toward him—joy utterly free of even the slightest trace of selfishness.
The only thoughts he could hear were her repeated, syrup-sweet cries of “Daddy.” They were a little noisy, but not unpleasant.
Yes, he had a secret.
He could hear the thoughts in other people’s minds.
However, the ability had a range limit. Once someone was more than a meter away, he could no longer hear them.
Because of this, he could always anticipate his opponents’ thoughts. He had enjoyed one victory after another in the business world, and his company had flourished along with him. But as a result, he disliked being too close to people. The more he knew, the more disappointed he became in human nature.
The only people who could approach him without making him uncomfortable were innocent, ignorant children.
Even so, he was often so stern-faced that not even his own nieces and nephews dared to get close to him. Whenever their parents ordered them to approach, they did so with hearts full of fear and apprehension.
This was the first time he had encountered a child who felt nothing but happiness toward him. That intense emotion, as though she had found her entire world, gave him a rare trace of goodwill toward the child clinging to his leg. He did not immediately have someone throw her out for boldly claiming him as her father.
When he got a clear look at the little girl, he was stunned again.
She looked not quite three years old, a tiny bundle plastered against his leg. Her little face was exceptionally pretty. A glasslike sheen covered her large eyes, which were as clear as the waters of a heavenly lake. She had long, curled eyelashes, a small nose, and a tiny mouth. She was as beautiful as a porcelain doll.
She was simply too thin and small. Compared with the plump, well-fed children in his family, she was nearly half their size and looked malnourished.
She wore a yellow shirt made of mediocre material and a pair of blue suspender pants. Two neat, adorable braids fell against her chest. Her simple, plain clothes looked exceptionally cute against her outstanding features.
If not for the long braids, she would have looked exactly as he had when he was a child.
Realizing this, Li Xiuzhe’s thoughts churned.
He reached down and peeled the tiny girl from his leg. Supporting her beneath the arms with his large hands, he lifted her to eye level and carefully examined her eyes, whose shape was identical to his own. His brows drew tighter and tighter, while his heart began to race uncontrollably.
“Who is your mother?” he asked.
Huahua dangled in midair. Thinking Daddy was playing with her, she giggled and kicked her short little legs. When she heard him finally speak to her, her delighted face flushed bright red.
In a babyish voice, she replied, “My mommy’s name is Mu Qingrou.”
Li Xiuzhe silently committed the unfamiliar name to memory. His gaze swept toward the employees who were deliberately—or seemingly accidentally—passing by the doorway. The employees, who had been walking at an unhurried pace, vanished at once.
Li Xiuzhe turned back and continued questioning her. “Where is your mother?”
“Mommy went to work to earn money.”
“How did you get up here?”
Huahua pointed at the little white cat rubbing itself back and forth against his feet. “The kitty brought me in.”
Li Xiuzhe looked down. Only then did he notice the white cat he had allowed to live beside his private elevator.
“Daddy, the kitty says he’s hungry and wants to eat some canned food. Hurry and feed him.”
Halfway through, she suddenly realized something. She covered her little mouth in surprise.
“Ah! So Daddy is the kitty’s two-legged beast!”
Li Xiuzhe did not correct her choice of words. Having realized something, his gaze suddenly sharpened.
“You can hear it speak?”
Huahua answered without the slightest guard, “Yes.”
Li Xiuzhe’s gaze grew even sharper. His stare made the onlookers tremble with fear, while a whole crowd of Huahua’s daddy fans and mommy fans worried themselves sick over her.
【Silly child, how can you say that so carelessly? We don’t even know whether this man is a beast in respectable clothing.】
【Exactly! What if he becomes blinded by greed and uses Huahua to do something bad?】
【It’s so inconvenient that Huahua can’t read.】
Hearing her answer, Li Xiuzhe’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He was about to question her further, but then remembered that there were too many people around and that this was not the place to discuss the matter. He forcibly swallowed the words and instead asked in a hoarse voice, “Why did your mother send you to find me?”
Reminded of her purpose, Huahua—who had turned into a little fool the moment she saw Daddy—finally remembered what her mother had told her. She immediately began waving her short limbs in the air like a tiny turtle.
“Daddy, Daddy, put me down. Huahua has a letter for you.”
Li Xiuzhe placed her on the desk and sat her down properly. He watched her intently as she pulled a thick letter from the little bag on her back. Struggling, she held it up high and handed it to him.
“Daddy, here.”
Li Xiuzhe raised his brows slightly. His long fingers opened the envelope and took out several neatly folded sheets of paper.
He set aside two documents that were obviously hospital reports and first read the letter, which was filled from top to bottom with neat, graceful handwriting.
He read it at a glance, ten lines at a time, then anxiously examined the medical reports. When he set down the papers and looked at Huahua again, his expression had completely changed.
His current feelings could only be described as both shocked and delighted.
After reading the hospital reports, there was no need to ask anything else, nor was there any need to conduct a paternity test. He could already be certain that this little bundle was his biological daughter.
The proof was the tumor in Huahua’s brain. It was a hereditary illness in his family.
He had the same kind of tumor in his own brain.
Not every member of the family knew about this illness. It was a secret known only to those who had contracted it and the family head.
It was a rare disease that only a very small number of people in each generation had any chance of inheriting. Sometimes, an entire generation would not produce a single patient. No one from his father’s generation had been afflicted.
He was the only one in his generation.
He had never expected that this daughter who had appeared out of nowhere would inherit the same illness.
The letter explained everything clearly. The child’s mother was that insatiably greedy woman!
Unable to shoulder her daughter’s exorbitant medical expenses, she had no choice but to send the child to him and beg him to save her.
The entire letter was filled with a mother’s plans and hopes for her child’s future, as well as her protective love. She had openly stated that she knew he disliked her and guaranteed that she would never appear before him of her own accord. All she hoped for was that he would provide their daughter with a comfortable, privileged life.
Li Xiuzhe was very satisfied with her tact. Whether she was trying to manipulate him by withdrawing or truly meant what she had written, he did not care. If she showed up, he would give her some money and send her away. If she did not, he would simply pretend she did not exist.
As for his daughter…
He looked at the little bundle who was not even as tall as his thigh and curved his lips slightly. Although he did not know how this child had come into being, she was his flesh and blood and had inherited that ability. Naturally, he had to acknowledge her as a member of his family.
His child. His only child.
There was no way he would send her back.
【Stunned, aren’t you? This is your own daughter!】
【Man, accept this gift. Raise Huahua properly, or you’ll regret it!】
Li Xiuzhe lifted the little bundle, who had been gazing at him expectantly, down from the desk. Then he took a can of cat food from a drawer and cleared his throat.
“Huahua, let’s go.”
Huahua followed him, but her short legs could not keep up with her tall, long-legged father. She puffed and panted for a long while without catching up.
“Daddy, wait for Huahua!”
Li Xiuzhe turned back to look at his freshly acquired daughter. The imposing executive, who was unaccustomed to waiting for anyone, paused for a moment before stopping where he was and waiting for the little child to catch up.
Huahua slowly ran to his side and stretched out her arms as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
“Daddy, carry me.”
The employees covertly watching from nearby were utterly shocked when they saw their president—their sacred, untouchable high mountain flower, as aloof and solitary as though it grew atop the heavens—actually bend down and pick up the child.
Inside, everyone was screaming like startled marmots.
Huahua was held stiffly in her father’s arms. She wrapped her little hands around his neck, adjusted herself automatically into a comfortable position, then affectionately leaned over and rubbed her soft cheek against the man’s strong, angular chin.
Li Xiuzhe restrained the urge to draw back and quietly looked at his overly familiar daughter. The warm little body in his arms was so light that it seemed as though the slightest increase in pressure would crush her.
This tiny life was actually his daughter.
Because he could not get physically close to people without involuntarily hearing their thoughts, he had not been this intimate with anyone since he was five years old. The feeling was incredibly strange.
In her soft, babyish voice, Huahua asked, “Daddy, where are we going?”
Having already heard Huahua think that she was hungry, the new father immediately replied, “We’re going to eat first.”
Huahua happily clapped her little hands. “Okay, okay! Huahua’s so hungry!”
Father and daughter took the little white cat down in the elevator. After they reached the ground floor, Li Xiuzhe crouched down and opened the can for it. The little white cat, which had been waiting for a long time, buried its head in the food and began eating frantically.
Huahua stroked its back and waved. “Goodbye, kitty! I’ll come play with you again next time!”
The little white cat lifted its head amid its busy eating and meowed in farewell.
Li Xiuzhe watched their interaction, a look of understanding flashing through his eyes. He picked up Huahua, found his luxury car, and drove away.
What neither of them knew was that a slender figure emerged from behind a large tree in the distance.
Mu Qingrou, who had been standing there for a long time, watched her daughter leave with red-rimmed eyes. She gazed in the direction Huahua had gone, feeling both delighted and heartbroken, until the cramps of hunger twisting her stomach finally made her wipe away her tears and leave.
With that man there, he would surely find the best doctor for Huahua.