Zuo Ying watched helplessly as the tender cabbage she had carefully nurtured was plucked away by someone else.
Though reluctant, she understood her daughter best.
Despite her daughter’s soft and adorable appearance, she was an extremely determined child who would persist in whatever she set her mind to.
From childhood to adulthood, she had never given Zuo Ying much to worry about.
But no matter how much she had anticipated, she never expected her daughter to fall for someone at first sight.
Was this fate?
Sigh.
Zuo Ying sighed inwardly. Since things had come to this, she might as well accept it. After all, she would keep a close watch.
“So, judging by your demeanor, you must be quite intelligent?” Zuo Ying asked Mo Qingyan.
Before Mo Qingyan could respond, Yu Ning immediately chimed in, rattling off how extraordinary Mo Qingyan was—graduating from the most prestigious university abroad in his teens, and so on.
In short, the message was: Our CEO is exceptionally gifted, far beyond ordinary intelligence!
Hearing this, Zuo Ying’s expression softened considerably.
After all, which parent doesn’t admire a high-achieving child?
“Alright, my daughter is about to take the Gaokao. You’re in charge of tutoring her. The requirement isn’t high—just a top-tier university will do.”
Mo Qingyan agreed without hesitation: “Sure.”
Zuo Yang, however, uncomfortably rubbed her nose.
Seeing her daughter’s reaction, Zuo Ying couldn’t help but smile faintly.
At that moment, Mo Qingyan had no idea that tutoring this child would become the most challenging task he had ever encountered.
From then on, a little shadow named “Zuo Yang” began following Mo Qingyan everywhere.
This little shadow was always full of energy, and in her eyes, the world was a place of pure beauty, without a trace of impurity.
And Abbot Liao Wu’s prophecy seemed to be coming true.
Since Zuo Yang started accompanying him constantly, Mo Qingyan’s condition gradually stabilized.
Of course, the illness wasn’t cured.
But Mo Qingyan was no longer as gloomy. Whenever his inner turmoil surfaced, a single smile from the child was enough to quell his agitation and bring him peace.
As a result, Mo Qingyan began smiling more often.
This made Yu Ning, who had always felt like he was walking on eggshells around his boss, genuinely happy!
So, whenever he came across anything fun or interesting, Yu Ning would collect it and give it to the girl.
After learning that Zuo Yang particularly loved drinking milk, the big shot personally oversaw the construction of a complete milk production line at Mo Yuan.
From raising dairy cows and growing pasture to producing milk and developing various flavors, the big shot supervised every step.
Perhaps it was because the quality of Mo Qingyan’s milk was exceptionally good—definitely far superior to what Zuo Yang had been drinking—but the girl, who had been stuck at 158 cm, actually grew two centimeters taller.
Watching the child jump for joy, the big shot felt an overwhelming sense of accomplishment. Raising a child was actually this fun.
Then, Yu Ning was happy again, extremely happy.
All because he once accidentally called the girl “shorty”—truly by mistake.
The girl reacted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, instantly flaring up and clawing at Yu Ning as if she wanted to scratch him to death.
It took Mo Qingyan a long time to calm her down, punishing Yu Ning with half an hour of frog jumps before the girl was finally pacified.
Even Zuo Ying found the scene both amusing and exasperating.
Not only Yu Ning, but even she, as the girl’s biological mother, wasn’t allowed to call her that.
She remembered the first time she called her daughter “shorty,” which made the little girl cry all night with swollen eyes and even refuse to speak to her for a whole day.
Back then, she had to coax her for a long time.
From then on, Mo Qingyan knew his child’s biggest taboo: never call her “shorty.” Whoever did would face her wrath, no matter who they were.
As for Zuo Ying, she was ultimately won over by Mo Qingyan’s doting on Zuo Yang, growing fonder of him with each passing day.
How did that saying go again?
Ah, yes—”A mother-in-law’s fondness for her son-in-law grows with each glance.”
Pfft!
Son-in-law? What son-in-law!
Nothing’s even settled yet! Her daughter was still young, for goodness’ sake!
Turning back to look at her increasingly spoiled and unruly daughter, Zuo Ying felt nothing but a growing headache.
Zuo Ying didn’t have high expectations for Zuo Yang’s academic performance. She just wanted her child to study happily and get into a relatively good university.
So Zuo Yang’s grades were neither outstanding nor terrible—if she performed normally, getting into an ordinary undergraduate program wouldn’t be a problem.
The key issue was that the girl didn’t seem to have much natural aptitude for studying, yet no one could accuse her of not working hard, as she genuinely burned the midnight oil.
Knowing how brilliant Mo Qingyan was, Zuo Ying’s first test for him was to help her daughter get into a top-tier university.
If he succeeded, that would be ideal.
After all, for a child from an ordinary family, getting into a good university would be her greatest asset.
If he failed, Zuo Ying wouldn’t actually hold it against him.
Of course, this was on the condition that her daughter’s grades didn’t decline.
Watching Mo Qingyan patiently explain the same type of problem to her daughter over and over, his throat dry but his composure unwavering, Zuo Ying’s fondness for him skyrocketed.
Honestly, even she as the biological mother wasn’t as patient as him.
Then, witnessing all the subsequent ways Mo Qingyan spoiled her daughter, Zuo Ying truly couldn’t find a single fault.
Just as he had promised her that day, he gave her daughter the very best in every aspect.
This young man was even better at raising her daughter than she was—he truly treated her like a child to be cherished.
She was genuinely impressed.
But that didn’t stop Zuo Ying from occasionally “scolding” Mo Qingyan: berating him for spoiling her daughter rotten!
Mo Qingyan would just smile and then spoil his child even more.
Yet the fonder Zuo Ying grew of Mo Qingyan, the more melancholy and worried she became.
She often thought: If only Mo Qingyan weren’t sick… She hoped he would truly recover… As the two children grew closer, if either were to lose the other someday, the pain would be unbearable…
…
Thanks to Mo Qingyan’s genius tutoring, Zuo Yang’s Gaokao went exceptionally well.
In her own words, she performed beyond expectations!
Her “big boss” had predicted many of the exam questions!
Forget top-tier universities—she could choose any prestigious institution she wanted!
Just when everyone thought everything was moving in a positive direction, no one expected the nightmare to arrive so suddenly.
After Zuo Yang’s Gaokao ended, her class organized a graduation trip that would last a week.
At first, she refused to go because she wanted to stay by Mo Qingyan’s side.
Mo Qingyan had limited mobility, and coincidentally, the Mo Group was unusually busy. He could have canceled all his work to accompany the girl, but that would have prevented her from fully enjoying and experiencing the trip, as she’d constantly be worrying about him.
He wanted to keep her by his side too, but the graduation trip held special meaning for her, and he didn’t want her to miss it.
So Mo Qingyan coaxed her for a long time and repeatedly promised to take good care of himself before finally convincing Zuo Yang.
On the day of departure, for some unknown reason, Zuo Yang’s eyelids kept twitching uncontrollably, leaving her restless and uneasy.
Upon reaching the destination, the unease in her heart magnified infinitely.
Zuo Yang called Mo Qingyan to report her safe arrival. Hearing that everything was normal on his end, she still couldn’t feel at ease.
Yet not wanting to worry Qingyan, she chatted with him for a while longer before ending the call.
Zuo Yang gazed out at the pitch-black night where you couldn’t see your own hand, pressing her lips together.
She decided to return, to go back to Mo Qingyan’s side.
The two had long grown accustomed to informing each other of their whereabouts, no matter where they went or where they were.
By the time Zuo Yang rushed to the apartment near the school, it was already 1 a.m.
What met her eyes was the soaring flames shooting up toward the sky.
In that moment, Zuo Yang’s mind went completely blank.