Fu Shichang glared at his third son, then gently patted his little granddaughter’s head, his stern expression softening with affection. “Fufu’s awake, huh? I’m your grandpa.”
The chubby little one was bold and unafraid of strangers. With Baba’s constant influence in her mind, she felt no barrier with the Fu Family.
She cracked a sweet smile and called out, “Grandpa!”
“Yes, yes, yes!” The old man beamed, his eyes crinkling into happy slits.
The others quickly gathered around, eagerly introducing themselves.
The chubby baby’s bright, wide eyes gradually grew confused.
Annoyed, the old man shooed them away one by one, then softened his voice to speak to the little chubby bundle. “Don’t be scared, Fufu. Tell Grandpa, how did you come here all alone? Who were you living with before?”
The little one suddenly grew excited, waving her arms and legs as she shouted, “Baba!”
Father?
Everyone turned to look at Huaming Fu, who was standing protectively behind the mother and daughter.
Huaming Fu…
It wasn’t him. He hadn’t done it.
Could his daughter have another father? Huaming Fu felt as if he’d swallowed a truckload of lemons, sour bubbles rising in his chest.
He wasn’t her only father anymore. His Fufu had another father now.
But he could understand. His daughter had been lost when she was just a month old. At such a young age, she couldn’t have survived without help. Calling her savior “Father” made sense.
Still, this other father was utterly incompetent. Sure, he’d raised her sturdy, but she was too rough around the edges—dirty and without a single piece of clothing.
It was early autumn, with chilly mornings and evenings. How could she endure wearing just a leaf?
Other fathers were clearly unreliable. It had to be him.
Fourth Brother Fu took off his own jacket and wrapped it around his daughter.
Baba… it was the most qualified, most advanced Childcare Robot, absolutely reliable.
The old man glanced at Fourth Brother Fu, who was smugly pleased with himself. Pathetic.
“Fufu, where did your father go? Why didn’t he come with you?”
“Here.” Her little short hand patted her own chubby forehead as she shook her head and shouted, “Baba, Baba!”
Baba responded eagerly in her mind, Here, here, little master!
Everyone froze, then collectively gasped in shock. Dead?
No wonder the little one had appeared here alone, so dirty and without a single piece of clothing.
How long had he been dead? How did he die? Did he send Fufu here? Why hadn’t he sent her sooner?
Or had Fufu found her way here on her own?
But how could Fufu possibly know who her biological parents were?
The Fu Family’s brains were fried trying to figure it out, but they couldn’t make sense of it.
Baba… its data was running smoothly. It wouldn’t crash.
“Fanfan,” the chubby baby habitually reached out but couldn’t find her little bottle. She grew anxious. “Fanfan, Fanfan!”
The chubby little bundle began to squirm.
The chubby baby was solid, and her squirming was surprisingly forceful.
Qingqing Yin, who had been mentally and physically deteriorating over the past two years after losing her child, was too weak to hold on. She nearly dropped the chubby bundle, sending a wave of cold sweat through the group.
Fourth Brother Fu quickly reached out to steady both mother and daughter. “Is Fufu hungry?”
“Fanfan, Fanfan…” Unable to find her bottle, the baby wailed, too upset to answer.
Everyone grew frantic. The child was clearly hungry, but they were locked in here with nothing. Where could they find food?
Fourth Brother Fu stood up, ready to bang on the door.
The youngest of the Fu Family’s third generation, six-year-old Fu Little Six, raised a dirty bottle in his hand and asked, “Is little sister looking for this?”
“Fanfan, Fanfan!” The chubby bundle stopped crying instantly, excitedly waving her arms and legs as she reached for the bottle. “Fanfan, Fanfan!”
So that was what she wanted. Fu Little Six quickly handed the bottle to the little bundle.
Little Fufu took a couple of sips from her milk bottle and felt satisfied.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, though they were a bit puzzled. The bottle was empty—was she hungry or not?
While the others were debating whether she was hungry or not, Grandma Fu touched the small milk bottle and noticed something unusual about its texture.
The little chubby girl generously handed it forward for Grandma to feel: “Fanfan.”
Grandma had a sudden realization: “Fufu, is the milk bottle called Fanfan?”
The little girl’s eyes sparkled as she nodded: “Fanfan.”
Everyone couldn’t help but laugh. So, she wasn’t hungry—she just missed Fanfan.
Grandma smiled and patted her little granddaughter’s chubby hand, then spoke seriously to the others: “Milk bottles are rare items; you can only buy them at foreign exchange stores.
But Fufu’s milk bottle is countless times better than anything you could buy at a foreign exchange store.
It feels smooth and warm to the touch—not like plastic or glass. In fact, it feels even better than jade, yet it’s incredibly lightweight.
Take a closer look. Even though it’s so dirty and worn, there isn’t a single scratch on it.
This means the person who raised Fufu is no ordinary person.”
The Fu Family had been a prominent family for centuries—what treasures hadn’t they seen or used? Grandma Fu was also born into wealth and had a keen eye for quality, so she couldn’t be mistaken.
Baba…
Well, it wasn’t all that extraordinary. It was just an ordinary, unremarkable little robot from a highly advanced civilization, something Ancient Earth could never hope to match.
As for this little milk bottle, Baba felt a pang of sadness.
After losing its physical form upon arriving on Ancient Earth, it gained another ability—an energy marketplace connected to the interstellar network.
It was filled with high-tech products, and the milk bottle was the most ordinary among them.
Even the most ordinary item was far beyond what Ancient Earth could achieve.
Not to mention scratches—even if the most advanced weapons on Ancient Earth were used to bombard it, it wouldn’t leave a single mark.
But after becoming data, Baba didn’t know how to accumulate energy anymore.
This little milk bottle was bought with the tiniest bit of energy it managed to squeeze out, so much so that aside from this bottle, it couldn’t even buy a single piece of clothing for its little master.
Its poor little master had to wear leaves.
【Wah wah…】Baba shed a long stream of data tears.
Little Fufu tilted her chubby head in confusion, mimicking Baba’s “wah wah.” While Baba was crying, she was giggling.
Baba…
Qingqing Yin watched her daughter intently, her eyes filled with tenderness as she observed the lively expressions on the little girl’s face.
Little Fufu met her mother’s gaze and broke into a wide, joyful grin.
Mother and daughter simply stared at each other, smiling happily.
Everyone else was carefully examining Little Fufu’s Fanfan milk bottle. Little Fufu was very generous and handed it over for them to inspect slowly.
As Grandma had said, this milk bottle was no ordinary item.
Whoever could buy such a thing was certainly no ordinary person.
But if such a person didn’t know how to raise a child and died mysteriously, they worried that this person might have brought trouble or had enemies.
If so, Fufu could be in danger.
Fourth Brother Fu instinctively held his wife and daughter tighter. No matter who that person was or what troubles or enemies they had, he would never allow his family to be harmed again.
“Dad, if something really happens, you can publicly disown us in the newspaper.
No matter who that person is, if they dare to lay a finger on my daughter, I, Huaming Fu, haven’t been idle all these years. I’ll make sure they never return.
But I might have to take action…”
The old man glared at him sharply: “Enough! Don’t scare yourself. Everything is still just speculation for now. We should stay calm and observe the situation before making any moves.”
Besides, we’re already surrounded by wolves. What’s one or two more enemies?
No matter how powerful the opponent is, as long as our family stays together and works as one, we won’t fall.
If anyone dares mention cutting ties again, I’ll break their legs.”
The three Fu brothers didn’t say anything, just patted Fourth Brother Fu on the shoulder.
They were brothers, family. They could never abandon or give up on anyone.
Fourth Brother Fu smiled helplessly.
“Hungry, Fanfan.” The little one patted her belly, asking for food.
This time it was really food.
The light coming through the small window above had grown dim.
They had been brought in at noon, and now it was almost dark. Not just the children, even the adults were getting hungry.
But those people wanted to torment them, so they might not send any food.
Just then, the sound of a lock turning came from the door.
“Five minutes. Deliver the stuff and get out fast, or you’ll regret it.”
After the arrogant scolding came a fawning, ingratiating voice: “Yes, yes, of course. I’ll come right out after delivering. Thank you for your trouble, thank you.”
He slipped ten yuan over, and only then did the other person snort coldly and leave.
The door was pushed open. The Fu Family could make out the visitor in the dim twilight from the window.
Fu Laoda looked surprised: “Zhang Jianguo?”